A life of service
Series: A Time To Build
Speaker: Steve Jeffrey
Date: 28th July 2013
Passage: Nehemiah 3:1-4:15
00:00:00 --> 00:00:02 Keep your Bibles open there at Nehemiah.
00:00:02 --> 00:00:04 We're actually going to kick off at Nehemiah 3,
00:00:04 --> 00:00:05 and then move into 4.
00:00:05 --> 00:00:07 So let's pray as we do that.
00:00:08 --> 00:00:12 Gracious Father, we stand on the promise of the Lord Jesus
00:00:12 --> 00:00:15 that we were reminded of last week,
00:00:15 --> 00:00:17 where he said that he would build his church
00:00:17 --> 00:00:20 through the confession that Christ is Lord.
00:00:20 --> 00:00:23 And we pray, Father, that as we open up your word now,
00:00:23 --> 00:00:24 that you would send your spirit,
00:00:25 --> 00:00:28 and that you would be about the building of your church now.
00:00:28 --> 00:00:31 So plant your word deep in our hearts, we pray in Jesus' name.
00:00:32 --> 00:00:32 Amen.
00:00:35 --> 00:00:40 Individualism is the mindset that dominates our value system in the Western world.
00:00:41 --> 00:00:46 It even influences the way we approach our relationship with God.
00:00:46 --> 00:00:51 The result is what you might call Lone Ranger Christianity.
00:00:52 --> 00:00:56 Lone Ranger Christianity thinks in terms of personal salvation,
00:00:56 --> 00:01:00 but doesn't think in terms of the people of God.
00:01:02 --> 00:01:05 In his book, Stop Dating the Church, Falling in Love with the Family of God,
00:01:05 --> 00:01:09 Josh Harris profiles a Lone Ranger Christian.
00:01:09 --> 00:01:11 He calls them a church dater.
00:01:12 --> 00:01:13 He says,
00:01:13 --> 00:01:18 First, the attitude towards church tends to be me-centered.
00:01:18 --> 00:01:22 We go for what we get, social interaction, programs, activities.
00:01:22 --> 00:01:25 The driving question is, what can church do for me?
00:01:26 --> 00:01:29 The second sign of a church dater is being independent.
00:01:29 --> 00:01:32 We go to church because that's what Christians are supposed to do.
00:01:33 --> 00:01:38 But we're careful to avoid getting involved too much, especially with people.
00:01:39 --> 00:01:47 We don't pay much attention to God's larger purposes for us as a vital part in a specific church family.
00:01:47 --> 00:01:51 We go through the motions without really investing ourselves.
00:01:52 --> 00:01:56 Most essentially, he says, the church dater tends to be critical.
00:01:57 --> 00:02:00 We are short on allegiance and quick to find fault in our church.
00:02:00 --> 00:02:07 We treat church with a customer mentality, looking for the best product for the price of our Sunday.
00:02:07 --> 00:02:12 And as a result, he says, we're fickle and not invested for the long term.
00:02:12 --> 00:02:17 Like a lover with a wandering eye, always on the hunt for something better.
00:02:18 --> 00:02:24 Church dater will not make a whole lot of sense of the book of Nehemiah.
00:02:25 --> 00:02:31 Among the many strengths of Nehemiah is the passion he displays and fosters for the people of God.
00:02:31 --> 00:02:41 As I said last week, Nehemiah is about rebuilding the people of God, even as he seeks to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
00:02:42 --> 00:02:45 And the rebuilding of the walls was a huge task.
00:02:46 --> 00:02:52 It was more than one and a half kilometers long, over one and a half meters thick and four to six meters high.
00:02:52 --> 00:02:54 So it's a bit more than a fence.
00:02:54 --> 00:03:04 Rebuilding Jerusalem's walls had to be seen as a corporate responsibility of the people of God.
00:03:05 --> 00:03:07 Nehemiah could not do it by himself.
00:03:08 --> 00:03:11 And this corporate responsibility, in the end, was the problem.
00:03:12 --> 00:03:17 Notice at the end of chapter two, we read it but didn't kind of get into it much last week.
00:03:18 --> 00:03:22 Nehemiah takes a secret tour of the walls of Jerusalem, middle of the night kind of thing.
00:03:22 --> 00:03:25 Why does he do a secret tour?
00:03:26 --> 00:03:36 Well, I think we can say with a fair degree of confidence that comatose is a fitting description of God's people in Jerusalem at this time.
00:03:37 --> 00:03:42 There was a total lack of vision and vitality as far as service to God was concerned.
00:03:44 --> 00:03:50 And so Nehemiah's concern was not so much just the people outside of Jerusalem, but even the people that are in Jerusalem.
00:03:50 --> 00:03:57 And what they're going to think about this project that he had been called to do and whether or not they'll just say no.
00:03:58 --> 00:04:02 And he was worried about it because they've been there for a hundred years.
00:04:03 --> 00:04:06 The first exiles returned a hundred years earlier.
00:04:07 --> 00:04:11 They've had a hundred years to rebuild these walls and they lay in ruins.
00:04:11 --> 00:04:19 They came back from exile and in their own little family units, they built their homes and their farms and their businesses.
00:04:20 --> 00:04:27 They forgot that God's purpose to display his glory to the world from Jerusalem.
00:04:27 --> 00:04:27 Jerusalem.
00:04:31 --> 00:04:35 And that's when you move into chapter three in this long list of names.
00:04:36 --> 00:04:39 It's actually, it's the commencement of the building work.
00:04:40 --> 00:04:42 And it's a really exciting read.
00:04:42 --> 00:04:47 I know at first glance it doesn't appear to be, but it's a really exciting read.
00:04:47 --> 00:05:00 The real building of Jerusalem is a symbol of the people starting to pursue God's eternal purposes and not their own personal advancement or the advancement of their families, which is what they've been doing for a hundred years.
00:05:02 --> 00:05:05 Now, rather than go through verse by verse, I'm going to make a few observations.
00:05:05 --> 00:05:08 So we need to be at Nehemiah 3 if you're not quite there yet in your Bible.
00:05:09 --> 00:05:12 We see their immediate priority in verse 1.
00:05:12 --> 00:05:18 Eliashib, the high priest and fellow priests, went to work and rebuilt the Sheep Gate.
00:05:20 --> 00:05:23 And they dedicated it and set its doors in place.
00:05:24 --> 00:05:28 It's quite symbolic that they start the rebuilding at the Sheep Gate.
00:05:29 --> 00:05:31 And eventually they come back around to the Sheep Gate.
00:05:32 --> 00:05:39 This gate is near the wall's northeastern corner and it was the easiest access to the temple.
00:05:39 --> 00:05:47 And it was named the Sheep Gate because that's where the animals were brought through to sacrifice in the temple for the sins of the people.
00:05:47 --> 00:05:53 And by starting here, it's symbolically saying we are now going to put God first.
00:05:54 --> 00:05:57 Our relationship with God is going to come first.
00:05:58 --> 00:06:06 A very important symbolic statement from a people who are coming out of apathy and inertia in service of God.
00:06:06 --> 00:06:11 Notice 2 in chapter 3, the unity in which the people work.
00:06:11 --> 00:06:17 The priests set a good example by ripping off their robes and lugging stones and timber and building the gate themselves.
00:06:18 --> 00:06:24 It's a symbol that what we see as we go through here, the teamwork is just so needed for this job.
00:06:25 --> 00:06:31 People from a variety of backgrounds and trades and places all chip in to get this wall built.
00:06:31 --> 00:06:32 And they do it together.
00:06:33 --> 00:06:34 See how the list reads.
00:06:34 --> 00:06:41 Verse 2, the men of Jericho built the adjoining section and Zucur son of Imri built next to them.
00:06:41 --> 00:06:44 Verse 4, Merimoth repaired the next section.
00:06:44 --> 00:06:45 Next to him, Meshulam.
00:06:45 --> 00:06:47 And next to him, Zadok.
00:06:47 --> 00:06:48 And on it goes.
00:06:48 --> 00:06:49 Next to him.
00:06:49 --> 00:06:50 Next to them.
00:06:50 --> 00:06:51 Next to him.
00:06:51 --> 00:06:53 Until verse 30.
00:06:53 --> 00:07:04 Now I suspect there must have been some wall building experts in the team somewhere to guide the project.
00:07:04 --> 00:07:09 But the workers who get mentioned are the priests in verses 1 and 28.
00:07:09 --> 00:07:12 The goldsmith in verses 8, 31 and 32.
00:07:13 --> 00:07:15 Perfume makers in verse 8.
00:07:15 --> 00:07:16 Merchants in 32.
00:07:17 --> 00:07:19 District rulers, probably like a mayor kind of person.
00:07:19 --> 00:07:24 In verses 9, 12 and 14 to 19.
00:07:24 --> 00:07:30 And in verse 12, Shalom had the help of his daughters.
00:07:30 --> 00:07:33 Great memory verse for those of us who have just got girls.
00:07:36 --> 00:07:47 Sacrificial service was rendered by men and women who threw themselves into the enterprise even though they were totally lacking in experience as builders or laborers.
00:07:48 --> 00:07:52 And it's because of this common unity of purpose.
00:07:53 --> 00:07:58 These people are not coming and saying, I'll do my bit but providing I do it my way.
00:07:58 --> 00:08:01 It's not like one guy builds a wall.
00:08:01 --> 00:08:04 Beside him someone's constructing a fence.
00:08:04 --> 00:08:07 Beside him someone's building a flower bed.
00:08:07 --> 00:08:09 Beside him, oh actually that guy's just gone on holidays.
00:08:10 --> 00:08:12 When he gets back he'll do his bit however he likes it.
00:08:13 --> 00:08:17 In his time, when he feels led, when he gets around to it and after he's cut his own grass.
00:08:18 --> 00:08:19 They're working together.
00:08:19 --> 00:08:28 The whole thing would be doomed to failure if their ranks became disrupted by rivalry and pride and individualism.
00:08:29 --> 00:08:39 It seems I think that when I glance through here, Nehemiah experienced what would be any pastor's delight in building up the family of God.
00:08:39 --> 00:08:40 Here I am.
00:08:41 --> 00:08:42 How can I help?
00:08:42 --> 00:08:44 And how do you want me to do it?
00:08:44 --> 00:08:50 It's such a wonderful picture in chapter 3 of selflessness.
00:08:52 --> 00:08:57 Quite remarkable for a people who returned from exile and basically just pursued their own agendas.
00:08:57 --> 00:09:16 Volunteers came from Jericho, verse 2, Toccoa, verse 5, Gibeon, verse 7, Mispah in 7, 15 and 19, Zenoa in verse 13, Ben-Hakarim, Beth-Hakarim in verse 14, Beth-Zer in 16 and Keelah in 17 and 18.
00:09:16 --> 00:09:23 These people had their own paddocks to cultivate, their own sheep to tend, their own shops to look after.
00:09:23 --> 00:09:31 And instead, they left their homes and their families, came to Jerusalem to offer themselves to rebuild the walls.
00:09:32 --> 00:09:40 Notice 2 in verse 4, Merrimoth completed one part of the wall and then we see him pop up again in verse 21, repairing another section of the wall.
00:09:40 --> 00:09:46 Same with Mishlam in verse 4, he did this, pops up again in verse 31.
00:09:47 --> 00:09:50 They enthusiastically went the extra mile.
00:09:51 --> 00:09:55 There's no sense of, whoop, there you go, done my bit, over to you guys.
00:09:57 --> 00:10:01 It's now time for some other generation to take care of it or some other people to look after it.
00:10:03 --> 00:10:10 It seems that they regarded their work on the wall not as a chore, but as a privilege.
00:10:10 --> 00:10:12 A priceless opportunity.
00:10:12 --> 00:10:17 God had done so much for them and there was an opportunity to live and labor in gratitude.
00:10:18 --> 00:10:24 I think it's the same selflessness and gratitude that you read in 2 Corinthians 8.
00:10:24 --> 00:10:37 That resulted in the Macedonian churches urgently pleading with Paul to allow them the privilege of sharing in the service to the saints in Jerusalem.
00:10:39 --> 00:10:45 Which what it meant for them was that they wanted to sacrificially give to the church in Jerusalem.
00:10:45 --> 00:10:48 A bunch of people who they've probably never met.
00:10:48 --> 00:10:51 Why did they do such a thing?
00:10:52 --> 00:10:56 Because right at the beginning of 2 Corinthians 8 we are told it's because of the grace of the Lord Jesus.
00:10:58 --> 00:11:06 And at least for some people on this wall, their selflessness and their generosity was a privilege
00:11:06 --> 00:11:10 because they had been forgiven of serious mistakes in the past.
00:11:10 --> 00:11:15 Take for example verse 11, Maokiah son of Haram.
00:11:16 --> 00:11:20 He was one of the men who had disobeyed God by marrying a foreign wife.
00:11:21 --> 00:11:30 And he had been convicted of covenant unfaithfulness under Ezra's ministry 13 years earlier in Ezra chapter 10 verse 25.
00:11:31 --> 00:11:33 And he'd put the matter right.
00:11:33 --> 00:11:34 He's been convicted of covenant unfaithfulness under Ezra chapter 10 verse 25.
00:11:34 --> 00:11:35 And he's been convicted of covenant unfaithfulness under Ezra chapter 10 verse 25.
00:11:35 --> 00:11:45 And now he is mentioned here rebuilding Jerusalem's walls, reaffirming his commitment to the covenant God and his promises.
00:11:47 --> 00:11:56 This selfless and enthusiastic partnership is an example of what the people of God have done over the centuries
00:11:56 --> 00:11:59 in response to God's grace to them in the Lord Jesus.
00:11:59 --> 00:12:07 Friends, every week, dedicated prayer partners spend hours earnestly praying for some country that they'll never visit.
00:12:09 --> 00:12:15 Millions of Christians sacrificially give money for projects that they will never see
00:12:15 --> 00:12:20 or ministry that they will never personally experience the benefit of.
00:12:20 --> 00:12:30 No personal benefit to them other than the privilege of participation and doing it for their Lord.
00:12:31 --> 00:12:38 Those who love Christ have been liberated from the curse of selfishness and individualism
00:12:38 --> 00:12:42 and found their greatest joy in serving others in the service of the Lord.
00:12:42 --> 00:12:50 And if I may just use, just go offside here just for a moment.
00:12:51 --> 00:12:56 And that I believe is what we are, we've been calling us to do as a church here.
00:12:58 --> 00:13:08 Our own building project is but just one opportunity that we have to selflessly sacrifice for the sake of others.
00:13:08 --> 00:13:17 I'm calling us to put a fair bit of effort and resources into a project that many other people will get the benefit of.
00:13:19 --> 00:13:27 That is, selflessness means we give for the sake of others, not just if there's some personal benefit to me.
00:13:27 --> 00:13:38 For instance, put your hand up now if you were here when they built this building that we're sitting in right now.
00:13:43 --> 00:13:46 There was a few people in the morning congregation who put their hand up.
00:13:46 --> 00:13:50 And I said, leave your hand up if you paid for the building this morning.
00:13:50 --> 00:13:55 And one person put their hand up.
00:13:55 --> 00:13:57 And I said, did you pay for it all?
00:13:57 --> 00:13:59 No, not at all.
00:14:00 --> 00:14:06 But aren't you glad that some parish council and there were ministers and parish councils and people and builders
00:14:06 --> 00:14:15 who envisaged it and went with it and paid for it and we sit here and we have the benefit of it.
00:14:15 --> 00:14:21 Sacrificial service from people in the past.
00:14:21 --> 00:14:23 And we get the benefit of it.
00:14:23 --> 00:14:29 The St. Paul's Church family stands on the shoulders of over 110 years of sacrifice for God's people in this place.
00:14:31 --> 00:14:35 Now I'm not just talking in terms of generations past sacrifice for buildings.
00:14:35 --> 00:14:37 I'm talking about for people.
00:14:37 --> 00:14:43 I know the person who witnessed to me and displayed the glory of the Lord Jesus to me.
00:14:43 --> 00:14:46 But I don't know the person who did it to him.
00:14:47 --> 00:14:49 And I'm so glad he did.
00:14:52 --> 00:14:55 Chapter 3 is a wonderful picture of unity and sacrifice.
00:14:57 --> 00:15:00 And yet the note of realism is not missing.
00:15:01 --> 00:15:05 It's quite painful to read that not everyone came rushing forward with their picks and shovels.
00:15:06 --> 00:15:13 The leading citizens of Tekoa were well aware of the need, but they refused to roll up their sleeves.
00:15:13 --> 00:15:14 It says in verse 5,
00:15:15 --> 00:15:17 The next section was repaired by the men of Tekoa.
00:15:17 --> 00:15:18 Woohoo!
00:15:18 --> 00:15:24 But their nobles would not put their shoulders to the work under their supervisors.
00:15:25 --> 00:15:33 That is, they weren't prepared to get in and do their bit under someone else.
00:15:33 --> 00:15:38 I'll do it, provided I do it my way.
00:15:40 --> 00:15:45 And it suggests that it was pride rather than inability that kept them from the work.
00:15:45 --> 00:15:50 This working bee in Jerusalem was, well, it was below them.
00:15:52 --> 00:15:54 Pride is a cruel enemy.
00:15:54 --> 00:15:58 It inflates our self-importance and makes holiness impossible.
00:15:59 --> 00:16:01 And pride is at the heart of selfishness.
00:16:04 --> 00:16:08 A further dose of realism comes in chapter 4, which was just read out to us by Tim.
00:16:09 --> 00:16:14 That menacing duo that I said, let's remember these guys because we're going to see them again.
00:16:14 --> 00:16:16 They reappear here.
00:16:17 --> 00:16:18 They're from chapter 2.
00:16:18 --> 00:16:20 So let's have a look from verses 1 and 3.
00:16:20 --> 00:16:27 When Sambalat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed.
00:16:27 --> 00:16:32 He ridiculed the Jews and in the presence of his associates in the army of Samaria, he said,
00:16:32 --> 00:16:34 What are those feeble Jews doing?
00:16:34 --> 00:16:36 Will they restore their wall?
00:16:36 --> 00:16:37 Will they offer sacrifices?
00:16:37 --> 00:16:38 Will they finish in a day?
00:16:39 --> 00:16:43 Can they bring the stones back to life from these heaps of rubble, burned as they are?
00:16:44 --> 00:16:47 And standing beside him is Tobiah the Ammonite.
00:16:47 --> 00:16:51 He's hearing the taunts of his mate Sambalat and he comes in.
00:16:51 --> 00:16:52 He says, yeah, yeah.
00:16:52 --> 00:16:53 What they're building?
00:16:54 --> 00:16:57 If a fox climbed up on it, it would just fall over.
00:16:58 --> 00:16:59 Yeah, take that.
00:17:01 --> 00:17:02 They start with the ridicule.
00:17:02 --> 00:17:03 What a joke.
00:17:04 --> 00:17:05 What a joke.
00:17:05 --> 00:17:05 Look at them.
00:17:06 --> 00:17:10 Priests and goldsmiths and perfume makers.
00:17:11 --> 00:17:12 It's going to look good.
00:17:12 --> 00:17:13 It's going to smell good.
00:17:13 --> 00:17:18 But stick a squirrel on it and what a joke.
00:17:19 --> 00:17:24 Now, the verbal taunts are one thing, but they're followed by the plots in verse 8.
00:17:24 --> 00:17:28 To come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it.
00:17:29 --> 00:17:33 To bring this project to a standstill, they're going to need more than just verbal taunts.
00:17:34 --> 00:17:37 They're going to need to be supplemented with dangerous weapons.
00:17:37 --> 00:17:43 And verse 2 says that Sambalat was accompanied by the army of Samaria.
00:17:43 --> 00:17:51 Verse 7 says, Tobiah, the Arabs, and the Ammonites, and the men of Ashdod were also plotting against them.
00:17:51 --> 00:17:59 What that means is that as they built the wall in Jerusalem, they were surrounded by armies.
00:17:59 --> 00:18:05 It's one thing to hear the taunts.
00:18:06 --> 00:18:13 It's another thing to have sweat dripping off your bowels, your brows being hammering and chipping and carrying on and lumping stones.
00:18:13 --> 00:18:18 And look up from your work, stretch your back and just see armies.
00:18:18 --> 00:18:29 Verse 11 reveals the clear and present danger before they know it or see us.
00:18:29 --> 00:18:34 We will be right there among them and we will kill them and put an end to the work.
00:18:35 --> 00:18:40 And so verse 10, we see the discouragement that God's people felt.
00:18:41 --> 00:18:45 And this is exactly what the enemy wanted to see happen.
00:18:45 --> 00:18:53 It says, the people in Judah said the strength of the laborers is giving out and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall.
00:18:55 --> 00:19:02 And if the people, the workers in Jerusalem didn't have enough to cope with, they get some more issues to deal with.
00:19:02 --> 00:19:07 In verse 11, it says, the people in Judah, men and women from the surrounding villages and towns,
00:19:08 --> 00:19:14 came to Nehemiah grieving about the dangers that their families were exposed to in the countryside.
00:19:15 --> 00:19:22 The enemy had threatened to attack the homes and the families of the men who were building the walls.
00:19:24 --> 00:19:29 And those threats and propaganda were there repeated to the workers on the wall.
00:19:29 --> 00:19:30 See it there in verse 12.
00:19:31 --> 00:19:35 These people are coming and the Jews who lived near them came and told us,
00:19:35 --> 00:19:41 10 times over, wherever you turn, they will attack us.
00:19:41 --> 00:19:43 10 times over.
00:19:43 --> 00:19:48 It's like they're coming to Nehemiah and saying, Nehemiah, a lot of people are saying,
00:19:49 --> 00:19:52 Nehemiah, a lot of people are unhappy with this.
00:19:54 --> 00:19:59 It's gossip and it's propaganda that is designed to discourage.
00:19:59 --> 00:20:03 It threatens to unravel the unity and the focus and the purpose of this work.
00:20:03 --> 00:20:11 These Jews were coming and urging their fellow countrymen to abandon the work on the walls
00:20:11 --> 00:20:16 simply because it was physically exhausting.
00:20:16 --> 00:20:17 There were practical problems.
00:20:18 --> 00:20:19 There were hostile opponents.
00:20:20 --> 00:20:24 They considered the task too hard and the sacrifice too much.
00:20:24 --> 00:20:32 And so in verses 13 to 23, we get Nehemiah's organized perseverance.
00:20:34 --> 00:20:41 Far from abandoning the work when it got tough, what Nehemiah does is he calls for more sustained effort.
00:20:42 --> 00:20:43 He turns the heat up.
00:20:45 --> 00:20:48 He doesn't call a holiday break, long weekend.
00:20:48 --> 00:20:49 He gets them to work harder.
00:20:49 --> 00:20:54 People were placed in the most vulnerable positions on the wall.
00:20:55 --> 00:21:00 Swords and spears were carried with buckets and shovels and picks.
00:21:01 --> 00:21:03 Nehemiah had a permanent guard placed with him.
00:21:04 --> 00:21:05 He installed an alarm system.
00:21:06 --> 00:21:10 Shifts were extended so that they worked until the stars came out.
00:21:11 --> 00:21:13 And there would be no more commuting to work.
00:21:14 --> 00:21:19 As they were now required to live, sleep, eat, the whole lot on the work site.
00:21:19 --> 00:21:24 Those working on the wall from outside of Jerusalem were now needed.
00:21:24 --> 00:21:28 When you finished your shift on the wall, you were now needed for guard duty.
00:21:28 --> 00:21:31 And Nehemiah himself didn't even change his clothes.
00:21:31 --> 00:21:33 I don't know what that would have smelled like.
00:21:33 --> 00:21:36 But he's leading by example.
00:21:37 --> 00:21:44 And God uses the opposition to increase the work.
00:21:44 --> 00:21:53 Nehemiah's confidence was not, however, in his organizational ability to meet the immediate crisis
00:21:53 --> 00:21:56 or the greater effort that everyone was going to put in.
00:21:56 --> 00:21:57 His confidence was in God.
00:21:57 --> 00:21:59 See it there in verse 14?
00:21:59 --> 00:22:27 Fear is conquered by reflecting on the sufficiency
00:22:27 --> 00:22:30 of the promise-keeping God.
00:22:30 --> 00:22:32 Nehemiah calls the people to remember the Lord.
00:22:32 --> 00:22:38 He uses the words of his opening prayer in chapter 1 verse 5
00:22:38 --> 00:22:41 when he first heard of Jerusalem's plight.
00:22:42 --> 00:22:46 Do not forget that our God is a great and awesome God.
00:22:46 --> 00:22:52 The narrative of chapter 4 with its problems and dangers
00:22:52 --> 00:22:57 is deliberately interspersed with affirmations of faith
00:22:57 --> 00:22:59 and confidence in the God of heaven.
00:23:02 --> 00:23:03 And so with such confidence in God,
00:23:03 --> 00:23:08 Nehemiah and his colleagues continue to build despite verbal assault,
00:23:08 --> 00:23:13 psychological pressure, physical danger, natural discouragement,
00:23:14 --> 00:23:17 difficult work, crippling fear and extreme danger.
00:23:18 --> 00:23:22 The people worked hard, organized well, sacrificed much,
00:23:22 --> 00:23:28 but in the last analysis, the success would depend upon their great and awesome God.
00:23:28 --> 00:23:36 We read last week in Matthew 16 of Jesus' commitment to build his church.
00:23:37 --> 00:23:38 He said,
00:23:38 --> 00:23:40 Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah,
00:23:40 --> 00:23:45 for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.
00:23:45 --> 00:23:47 And on this rock I will build my church,
00:23:47 --> 00:23:52 and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
00:23:52 --> 00:23:55 Jesus promises there, as I said last week,
00:23:55 --> 00:23:57 in person to build his church,
00:23:57 --> 00:24:03 and it will triumph over all forms and powers of death and evil and wickedness.
00:24:03 --> 00:24:07 He will build his church as the truth about him is declared
00:24:07 --> 00:24:12 and received as people respond to the Lord Jesus in repentance and faith.
00:24:12 --> 00:24:14 That is how he will build his church.
00:24:15 --> 00:24:17 And our confidence ought to be
00:24:17 --> 00:24:20 that as the truth of Jesus is declared,
00:24:20 --> 00:24:26 Jesus will do his work and bring people to repentance and faith.
00:24:27 --> 00:24:29 Do we have that confidence that that's what he will do?
00:24:34 --> 00:24:35 Let me just say that again.
00:24:35 --> 00:24:38 Do we have that confidence that that is what he will do?
00:24:40 --> 00:24:41 I find it hard.
00:24:44 --> 00:24:48 I find it hard to have that confidence week after week after week after week.
00:24:50 --> 00:24:52 And yet just tonight,
00:24:52 --> 00:24:56 someone told me a story about someone who committed their faith
00:24:56 --> 00:25:00 to the Lord Jesus when I preached this event in 2007.
00:25:02 --> 00:25:04 Just heard about it tonight.
00:25:05 --> 00:25:06 Praise God.
00:25:07 --> 00:25:08 He's doing what he said he'll do.
00:25:08 --> 00:25:13 Jesus also said this earlier in Matthew.
00:25:14 --> 00:25:17 I am sending you out like sheep among wolves.
00:25:17 --> 00:25:20 Therefore, be as shrewd as snakes and as innocents as doves.
00:25:21 --> 00:25:24 Jesus never promised that the building of the church,
00:25:24 --> 00:25:27 that the Christian life, the mission of the church,
00:25:27 --> 00:25:30 would be painless and trouble-free.
00:25:30 --> 00:25:32 Expect it to be hard.
00:25:32 --> 00:25:33 Expect opposition to the gospel.
00:25:33 --> 00:25:36 Expect to sacrifice.
00:25:36 --> 00:25:37 Expect hard work.
00:25:38 --> 00:25:39 Expect discouragement from within the church
00:25:39 --> 00:25:41 and pressure from outside the church.
00:25:42 --> 00:25:45 But don't be repelled by it.
00:25:46 --> 00:25:51 God will use it to advance his work in us and in others.
00:25:52 --> 00:25:55 We should expect that Jesus will build his church as he promised.
00:25:56 --> 00:26:00 The local church is where God's eternal purposes
00:26:00 --> 00:26:01 are being worked out in his world.
00:26:01 --> 00:26:05 People are still being saved by Christ
00:26:05 --> 00:26:06 and growing in Christ,
00:26:07 --> 00:26:10 even amongst us and even in the last few weeks.
00:26:11 --> 00:26:12 Praise God for that.
00:26:13 --> 00:26:17 For those here who have been saved by Christ
00:26:17 --> 00:26:19 and included in his eternal purposes
00:26:19 --> 00:26:20 and get to work,
00:26:20 --> 00:26:24 you get to work for something that will last forever.
00:26:25 --> 00:26:28 All service and sacrifice and hardship for Christ and his church
00:26:28 --> 00:26:30 should be seen as a privilege.
00:26:30 --> 00:26:35 The church is the vehicle that God chose
00:26:35 --> 00:26:39 to take the message of the gospel to every generation and people
00:26:39 --> 00:26:41 and even to the heavenly realms.
00:26:42 --> 00:26:46 This is how the apostle Paul puts it in Ephesians 3 verses 10 to 11
00:26:46 --> 00:26:51 right before he talks about unity and partnership in the church.
00:26:52 --> 00:26:52 He says this,
00:26:52 --> 00:26:55 His intent was that now through the church,
00:26:55 --> 00:26:57 the manifold wisdom of God
00:26:57 --> 00:26:59 should be made known,
00:26:59 --> 00:27:04 displayed to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms
00:27:04 --> 00:27:07 according to his eternal purpose,
00:27:07 --> 00:27:10 which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.
00:27:10 --> 00:27:16 The church matters because God chose it
00:27:16 --> 00:27:22 to show and tell the eternal message of his love and salvation.
00:27:22 --> 00:27:25 This message is the world's only hope.
00:27:26 --> 00:27:27 And so if you're a Christian,
00:27:27 --> 00:27:32 then your life is so much bigger than a job.
00:27:32 --> 00:27:38 It's so much bigger than an understanding spouse.
00:27:39 --> 00:27:42 It's so much bigger than having non-delinquent kids
00:27:42 --> 00:27:45 or a beautiful house and gardens.
00:27:45 --> 00:27:49 It's so much bigger than overseas trips and nice clothes and cars.
00:27:49 --> 00:27:52 And you are part of something immense.
00:27:52 --> 00:27:58 It is something that began before you were born
00:27:58 --> 00:28:02 and it was something that will continue after you die.
00:28:02 --> 00:28:04 God is rescuing fallen humanity,
00:28:05 --> 00:28:06 transporting them into his kingdom
00:28:06 --> 00:28:09 and progressively shaping them into his likeness.
00:28:11 --> 00:28:12 And he's called you to be part of it.
00:28:15 --> 00:28:17 God not only saves us,
00:28:17 --> 00:28:20 but includes us for our joy
00:28:20 --> 00:28:24 as part of his master plan for all of eternity.
00:28:25 --> 00:28:26 This is our duty,
00:28:26 --> 00:28:28 our calling and our privilege.
00:28:29 --> 00:28:32 Isn't it just like God that he should design the church
00:28:32 --> 00:28:36 so that we get the joy of loving and being loved
00:28:36 --> 00:28:39 and he gets the glory for the goal of it all?
00:28:41 --> 00:28:43 This is where our core value of treasuring Jesus
00:28:43 --> 00:28:46 is so essential for us.
00:28:46 --> 00:28:47 Let me read it to you.
00:28:47 --> 00:28:51 Core values are meant to shape the culture
00:28:51 --> 00:28:53 of who we are as a people.
00:28:54 --> 00:28:55 And here's one of them.
00:28:55 --> 00:28:56 Treasuring Jesus together.
00:28:57 --> 00:28:59 Having been led individually by the Spirit of God
00:28:59 --> 00:29:01 to receive Jesus Christ as the Lord,
00:29:02 --> 00:29:04 Saviour and Supreme Treasure of our lives,
00:29:04 --> 00:29:06 we now most solemnly and joyfully
00:29:06 --> 00:29:08 enter into covenant with one another
00:29:08 --> 00:29:09 as one body in Christ.
00:29:10 --> 00:29:13 We believe the people whom Jesus has called
00:29:13 --> 00:29:15 into relation with himself are his church
00:29:15 --> 00:29:18 and not an institution or a building.
00:29:18 --> 00:29:20 In an age of individualism,
00:29:20 --> 00:29:22 we value vigilance and accountability
00:29:22 --> 00:29:24 in treasuring Jesus together.
00:29:24 --> 00:29:26 And therefore, we are committed to
00:29:26 --> 00:29:30 our corporate life, ministries and church policies
00:29:30 --> 00:29:31 to give explicit evidence
00:29:31 --> 00:29:35 that we treasure Jesus Christ above everything.
00:29:36 --> 00:29:39 Making corporate worship a weekly priority.
00:29:40 --> 00:29:41 Meeting together in small groups
00:29:41 --> 00:29:44 for more intimate opportunities for nurture and service.
00:29:44 --> 00:29:47 Small groups being the main network
00:29:47 --> 00:29:50 for discipleship and pastoral care and relationships.
00:29:51 --> 00:29:52 Treasuring Jesus together by engaging
00:29:52 --> 00:29:55 to watch over one another in brotherly love.
00:29:55 --> 00:29:57 Remembering one another in prayer.
00:29:57 --> 00:29:59 Aiding one another in sickness and distress.
00:30:00 --> 00:30:02 Cultivating Christian sympathy and joy.
00:30:03 --> 00:30:04 Being courteous in speech.
00:30:05 --> 00:30:06 Being slow to take offense,
00:30:06 --> 00:30:08 but always ready for reconciliation.
00:30:09 --> 00:30:11 And mindful of the command of our Saviour
00:30:11 --> 00:30:13 to secure it without delay.
00:30:14 --> 00:30:16 Welcoming people from every background.
00:30:17 --> 00:30:18 Openness towards new people
00:30:18 --> 00:30:20 and the avoidance of cliquishness.
00:30:21 --> 00:30:23 Purging our lives of the sin
00:30:23 --> 00:30:25 that causes division.
00:30:25 --> 00:30:28 Pursuing increasingly visible,
00:30:28 --> 00:30:31 authentic, practical ways of loving each other.
00:30:31 --> 00:30:32 And being personally involved
00:30:32 --> 00:30:34 in one ongoing ministry
00:30:34 --> 00:30:37 toward building up the St. Paul's family
00:30:37 --> 00:30:39 according to our gifts.
00:30:42 --> 00:30:43 For those amongst us
00:30:43 --> 00:30:45 who are living out,
00:30:45 --> 00:30:46 treasuring Jesus together,
00:30:46 --> 00:30:48 I just want to say thank you.
00:30:50 --> 00:30:52 Thank you for helping me
00:30:52 --> 00:30:55 keep my focus
00:30:55 --> 00:30:56 on the glory
00:30:56 --> 00:30:58 and the purpose of God.
00:30:59 --> 00:31:02 Thank you for investing in me,
00:31:03 --> 00:31:04 in my life,
00:31:04 --> 00:31:05 and in the life of my family,
00:31:05 --> 00:31:07 and the life of the St. Paul's church family.
00:31:08 --> 00:31:10 For those struggling with it,
00:31:11 --> 00:31:13 can I say for your own soul
00:31:13 --> 00:31:15 and for God's glory,
00:31:16 --> 00:31:17 this core value
00:31:17 --> 00:31:19 calls you to step away
00:31:19 --> 00:31:20 from individualism
00:31:20 --> 00:31:24 and seek the Christ-exalting joy
00:31:24 --> 00:31:26 of treasuring Jesus together
00:31:26 --> 00:31:27 for His glory
00:31:27 --> 00:31:29 and the joy,
00:31:29 --> 00:31:30 not just of yourself,
00:31:30 --> 00:31:31 but the joy of all people.
00:31:32 --> 00:31:33 Amen.