A Spiritual Rebuilder – Preparation for Building

13 August, 2018 /

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Introduction

Nehemiah, prayerfully, seized the opportunity that God has given to him and all things appeared to be set for the rebuilding of the temple.

Neh 2:9 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.

  • Nehemiah has arrived at Jerusalem with the letters of authorisation to rebuild
  1. There was proper authorisation

Matthew 28:18 – 20

We are given authorisation to do the work of God

  • Matthew 16:18-19 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
    • This is an amazingly awesome and yet a very heavy responsibility for the local church, to have the keys to Heaven. It does not mean literally keys but when we preach the word of God, it presents the forgiveness of sins to the indivduial and when they receive it by faith, Heaven is unlocked for them to enter. The local church is the only institution on earth vested with that authority and privilege. This is further emphasised in the next verse.
  • John 20:23 Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.
    • Through the preaching of the word, whoever believes, their sins will be forgiven (remiited). And whoever rejects their sins will be retained.
  • 2 Corinthians 5:18-20 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.
    • God has given to us the ministry of reconciliation.

Our work of reconciliation, rebuilding others for Christ is a mandate for the local church, and we are authorised to do so.

  1. There must be preparation for enemies when we will be care for the welfare of God’s people

Neh 2:10 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.

  • Sanballat was a Persian
  • Tobiah was a Samaritan and his name means the goodness of Jehovah. It would have been a blessing if Tobiah supposed Nehemiah in the work of God. But it is possible that Christians can be Christians by name and still oppose the work of God.
    • Diotrophes did so / the legalistic Judaizers at Galatia did so and Paul stated that there were many false brethren. 2 Cor 11:26.

Philippians 3:15 – 19

  • This passage teaches that we need to be of the mind to be pressing towards perfection. V15 Wherever we are in our Christian life, let us walk by the same rule, and mind the same thing, to press towards spiritual growth, to live in the freedom of Christ v16
  • Follow those who are aiming towards such aims v17
  • Who are the enemies of the work of God? 18 – 19
    • Satan
    • The world
    • False teachers
    • Professing Christians who are like the world
  • The enemies of the cross are professing Christians who mind earthly things, being worldly, whose end is destruction (perdition). And it is therefore possible that these are actually professing believers.

Whenever we are doing something for the Lord, whether rebuilding lives, serving in the local church or doing God’s work in any situation, there will be opposition.

  1. There must be a Careful Scrutiny Of the Damage / Problem

Nehemiah 2:11 So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days.

Ne 2:12 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.

Ne 2:13 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.

Ne 2:14 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.

Ne 2:15 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.

Nehemiah went to Jerusalem with some of the leaders and he assess the problem. And it was bad!!

Whenever we seek to rebuild someone else’s life, we need to determine what is real problem. Everything that is broken down in a life always have its root in spiritual problem.

Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. Ezekiel 16:49 

Sodom refers to Israel. And the Lord told Ezekiel to tell the children of the southern kingdom Judah that the reason why Israel fell was because of pride, self – satisfaction and laziness.

When we look at the problems of individual and churches, as a rebuilder for Christ, we must look to the bible, realise that the problem is almost always a spiritual problem.

Ne 2:16 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.

  1. Rallying the leaders

Nehemiah 2:17 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.

Ne 2:18 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.

Nehemiah presented the state of Jerusalem, who was in such ruins. And shared how the Lord led him there. When we want to help any spiritual rebuilding, God must be the leader in our work. Nehemiah shared how God led him. Then the people themselves said – let us rise up and build and they strengthened the hands for the work… God has to rally the people to build.

  1. Dependence on the Lord in the face of the needs of the work and presence of enemies

Nehemiah 2:19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king?

  • There will be people who will oppose the rebuilding . As Nehemiah aimed to start the work, Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem came to insult them in the work.

Ne 2:20 Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.

  • There needs to be faith in the work. Nehemiah said that it is the God of Heaven, the God who oversees all, and is sovereign over all, He will be the one who will prosper the work of God in Jerusalem.
  • The God of heaven has started the work in Ambassador. We have been through many things from the time we started unto now. We have gone through good times of growth. But we have also gone through trying times.
  • But God is asking us to rebuild, on His word, in prayer, in evangelism and fellowship.

 

Conclusion

  • We have the authority to rebuild
  • Are we ready for enemies as we do?
  • Do we see the need and will we be committed to the building of the assembly? In discipling, in reaching out, in edification of each other through caring, loving admonishment and helps.
  • Do we believe the Lord to help us build?

Let us pray