Wall to Wall Workers - Part 2
Apr-15-2018-AM-Wall-to-Wall-Part-2.docxPosted by: craigaledbetter <craigaledbetter@...>
What Does a Busy Church Look Like?
(Nehemiah 3)
April 15, 2018 AM
Pastor Craig Ledbetter
Bible Baptist Church, Ballincollig, Cork, Ireland
I. Introduction
A. Nehemiah is a book about REBUILDING things. Fixing things. Mending things. Repairing, Restoring things – not leaving things as they are
1. Which is exactly what is needed today!
2. Bible believing Christians do not just look on, as the world tears itself apart – we get busy doing something to slow it down and fix those who have been broken by it!
B. We are looking way back at about 445 years Before the birth of Christ (B.C.) – that's 2,462 years ago!
C. What was wrong with the city of Jerusalem?
1. Heaps and piles of rubbish everywhere throughout the city streets of Jerusalem (4:2)
2. These were OLD wastes - they had been there for a long time – almost 160 years!
3. This was the Result of a load of SIN on the part of God's people (2Chron 36:11-21)
4. 3km of 15 foot thick walls that were broken through, and thrown down and piled up into heaps of burnt stones…
5. Sounds like something so far removed from our "normal" life now, BUT…
D. So many things are broken TODAY!
1. MARRIAGE is broken – been that way for a very long time
2. People's MINDS are broken – unable to sleep, forgive, reason and think through their problems
3. People's TRUST is constantly broken – no one takes responsibility anymore for ANYTHING! Always blaming others!
4. People's HEARTS are broken – haven't been happy for so many years
5. People's FAITH is broken – trusting in themselves, and in religious icons, and priests and prayers, and in fairies, and angels, and Bitcoins! Only to be constantly let down!
6. Society is broken – believing that abortion is a good thing, and Same Sex Marriage is fine and dandy, and that no one should have to work! BROKEN!
7. EVERY ONE OF THESE ARE REPARABLE – REBUILDABLE! God's way!
II. Review
A. Since the first Sunday in January, we have worked verse by verse so far through the Book of Nehemiah up until chapter 3, verse 1.
B. This morning, we continue through the rest of Nehemiah Chapter Three
1. Thirty-eight individual workers are named in this chapter
2. Forty-two different kinds of people are identified (masons, carpenters, Levites, priests, merchants, apothecaries, goldsmiths, men and women, fathers and daughters) besides the many workers that Nehemiah did not name whose labours were ALL important to the task of rebuilding the ruined city of Jerusalem.
3. Evangelist D. L. Moody said, "A great many people have got a false idea about the church. They have got an idea that the church is a place to rest in ... to get into a nicely cushioned pew, and contribute to the charities, listen to the minister, and do their share to keep the church out of bankruptcy, is all they want. The idea of WORK for them—actual work in the church—never enters their minds."
4. I aim to change that!
C. Nehemiah in this chapter Writes Down an Overview of the Work going on:
Nehemiah starts to record all the work in a counter-clockwise direction
1. Started at the SHEEP Gate (3:1)
2. Then the FISH gate was started (3:3)
3. Then the OLD Gate (3:6)
4. The VALLEY Gate (3:13)
5. The DUNG Gate (3:14)
6. The FOUNTAIN Gate (3:15)
7. WATER Gate (3:26)
8. The HORSE Gate (3:28)
9. The EASTERN Gate (3:29) – that is a special gate!
10. MIPHKAD Gate (3:31)
11. There have been more gates added over time, and some have been sealed (like the Eastern Gate), but Nehemiah lists TEN
12. By the way, the NEW Jerusalem has TWLEVE gates (Rev 21:10,12,21)!
D. Evidently, there was a LOT of work involved in rebuilding a city
1. Clearing the rubble and rubbish - heaps and piles of rubbish (4:2)
a. You cannot BUILD upon rubbish and rubble – it has to be cleared away (Jer 1:10)
b. In other words, you cannot leave things broken for very long (i.e., broken leg) or it will settle to be that way for the rest of your life – it has to be RESET!
2. THEN, there was a lot of building and rebuilding massive sections of the wall around the city of Jerusalem, along with all the gates
3. TRUTH: Broken things do NOT fix themselves over time!
a. People say, Time heals all wounds – but not normally
b. Wounds, and broken things usually only grow worse and spread more and more until someone sets things back in place and cleans things up!
E. What Was Everybody Rebuilding? Three Things…
1. They were repairing a long winding protective Wall around Jerusalem
2. They were repairing Ten Main Gates into and out of the city
a. It controls what come in and goes out
b. Every HOME has WALLS, and GATES
1) Walls, doors, windows, fences
2) Why do we think that just because modern cities don't have walls anymore, that we don't need walls still?
3) Don't let the world talk you into just letting anything and everything into your home and heart and lives in the name of diversity and open mindedness!
c. Every BODY has walls and gates
1) Your SKIN is a wall, backed up by both bone and muscle
2) Your body has basically 5 gates in and out of your body
a) Ear Gate
b) Eye Gate
c) Nose Gate
d) Mouth Gate
e) Refuse Gate
f) And a Reproductive Gate
3) When they don't work, and crumble under attack (from germs, or abuse) you become crippled, or YOU DIE!
d. These ten gates kept things decent, and orderly
1) It is like having several delivery doors into a Shopping Mall
2) Refuse goes out the DUNG Gate… NOT the Fish Gate!
3) Sheep come in the gate where they are expected, and inspected – not in one end of the city only to get lost on the way to the market at the other end of the city
4) Made it so that people didn't mix fresh fish with dung – kept things very healthy
5) GOD is not stupid! He didn't have to explain germs, to just command His people to do nothings that kept them very healthy compared to the other cities of the ancient world!
3. And Ultimately, they were rebuilding their Nation
a. Jerusalem was and still is known as the eternal city
b. And yet here it was in ruin
c. These people NEEDED their capital city rebuilt - Their government, and courts rebuilt - The streets and houses and markets and schools
d. Otherwise, they were only nomads, wandering with no permanent city
e. Always at the mercy of a more powerful army that might pass through and rob them
4. These three things were priority for them! Like OUR homes, and our church and our nation should be!
5. Thankfully, there were a lot of Workers
6. So here, in Nehemiah's Journal, as he is looking out at all the people gathered, It must have been awesome to see hundreds and hundreds of people gather every morning, and take their places and work from sun-up to sun down, on a BIG task; on something very hard, and get it done!
F. How Were They Doing It?
Just THREE things were working together to successfully accomplish this work!
1. Hard work
a. There was a lot more to do than any of them had figured – always is that way
b. Clearing the rubble and rubbish - Heaps and piles of rubbish (4:2)
1) You cannot BUILD upon rubbish and rubble – has to be cleared away (Jer 1:10)
2) In other words, you cannot leave things broken for very long (i.e., broken leg) or it will settle to be that way for the rest of your life – it has to be RESET!
c. Slow work (3:8)
d. Will need to stay at it until it is completely finished
2. Teamwork
a. It took many hands and shoulders and backs to clear stuff away and rebuild
b. Team effort – ordinary people who worked together (Heb 10:25)
as a body (1Cor 12:12-22)
3. And Knee-work. Nehemiah prayed constantly throughout the entire project. Did not rely on the people, or on his leadership abilities, or on the walls even. He constantly turned to God in desperate prayer, begging for help and wisdom and protection and encouragement!
III. Message
A. Some Amazing Things About the Builders
1. They had NAMES – 38 names to be exact
a. Eliashib the high priest
b. Zaccur the son of Imri
c. Meremoth the son of Urijah, the son of Koz
d. Meshullam the son of Berechiah, the son of Meshezabeel
e. Zadok the son of Baana
f. Jehoiada the son of Paseah
g. Meshullam the son of Besodeiah
h. Melatiah the Gibeonite
i. Jadon the Meronothite
j. Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, of the goldsmiths
k. Hananiah the son of one of the apothecaries
l. Rephaiah the son of Hur, the ruler of the half part of Jerusalem.
m. Jedaiah the son of Harumaph
n. Hattush the son of Hashabniah.
o. Malchijah the son of Harim
p. Hashub the son of Pahathmoab
q. Shallum the son of Halohesh, the ruler of the half part of Jerusalem, he and his daughters.
r. Hanun
s. Malchiah the son of Rechab, the ruler of part of Bethhaccerem
t. Shallun the son of Colhozeh, the ruler of part of Mizpah
u. Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, the ruler of the half part of Bethzur
v. Rehum the son of Bani
w. Hashabiah, the ruler of the half part of Keilah
x. Bavai the son of Henadad, the ruler of the half part of Keilah.
y. Ezer the son of Jeshua, the ruler of Mizpah
z. Baruch the son of Zabbai
aa. Benjamin
bb. Hashub
cc. Azariah the son of Maaseiah the son of Ananiah
dd. Binnui the son of Henadad
ee. Palal the son of Uzai
ff. Pedaiah the son of Parosh.
gg. Zadok the son of Immer
hh. Shemaiah the son of Shechaniah
ii. Hananiah the son of Shelemiah
jj. Hanun the sixth son of Zalaph
kk. Meshullam the son of Berechiah
ll. Malchiah the goldsmith's son
2. Evidently, GOD thinks names are important! (Luke 10:17-20) And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.
3. And when it is YOUR name being recorded, or called in heaven, or in hell, you will think so too!
B. There Were Many KINDS of Workers
1. Brethren - families (3:1) – people related to one another
a. The sons of a man named Hassenaah (3:3)
b. A father and his daughters worked on a wall (3:12)
2. Immigrants
a. Gibeonites (3:7) – these were ancient Canaanites, who had obtained protection from God's judgment only to be abused by king Saul. They could have still been very bitter for their mistreatment by king Saul, but they weren't!
b. The Rechabites (3:14) – again! Another foreign nationality that had found refuge under the grace of God when they should have been judged by God!
3. Long distance Workers – travelled to Jerusalem
a. The men of Jericho (3:2) – travelled 25 kilometers – a day's journey – to help
b. The Tekoites (3:5) – travelled 18 km. And by the way, they brought enough people to work on TWO different sections of the wall (3:27)
4. Rulers, governors, TD's (3:9,12,14,15,16,17,18,19)
5. Religious people were not above hard work
a. Levites (3:17)
b. Priests (3:1,22,28)
c. The Nethinims – servants to the Priests (3:26), worked alongside the priests
6. Businessmen picked up shovels, and wheelbarrows and pickaxe's and trowels
a. Apothecary / Chemist / Pharmasist (3:8)
b. Goldsmiths (3:8; 3:31)
c. Merchants – shop keepers (3:32)
7. Feet draggers – the "uppity" type!
8. These were common people – all worked alongside each other (except feet draggers)
a. Not one is mentioned as being a mason, or carpenter or brick layer
b. But they became known as BUILDERS, REPAIRERS, LAY-ERS, SETTER-UPPERS, and FORTIFIERS of the city (3:8)
c. And they were not ashamed of it
d. The same is true in a Bible believing church (Mark 12:37) – so many people gathered together to do something for God (Rev 5:9)
C. The Attitudes of the Workers
1. They were VOLUNTEERS, from start to finish
a. They were not forced to do this work – they decided of their own free will (2:17,18)
b. That meant they willingly took on double work
1) The work they already had (jobs, farms, families, etc)
2) As well as now adding a double shift to their day to work on the wall
3) This schedule would not be forever
4) No one except Nehemiah was paid
2. They were INSTANT (3:1) – jumped at the work (cf Acts 8:29,30)
3. They were EARNEST (3:20) – excited, passionate, determined to get this job done
a. With desire – God is not going to force you, but He will leave you in your rubbish as long as you want, and in the end, you will only have regret!
b. Like everything depends upon you – even though it doesn't
4. They were CAREFUL and THOROUGH, but NOT Perfectionists
a. They rebuilt the walls – did not build new walls, or expanded walls.
1) They just built on the already laid foundation, and according to how it used to be
2) Nehemiah oversaw everything, and guided their work
3) They didn't have to figure out everything
4) They just needed to work on their section until it was finished
5) Didn't worry about anyone else, or any other part of the wall
b. None of us should be worried about trying to figure everything out, like what went wrong, and why things are broken… just start building on the foundation of Jesus Christ and the Bible (1Cor 3:9-11)
c. They did NOT worry about doing everything perfect
1) It's a wall for heaven's sake – not a painting
2) It is meant to withstand storms and armies and spears and ramparts
3) Not to be compared with all the other walls around
4) When you build something, just make it to last!
d. So, neither should any of us worry about building things perfect
1) You will never have a perfect church, or marriage, or child, or body
2) You will never teach the perfect Bible lesson, or preach the perfect Bible message
3) And you will never have the perfect answers to everyone's problems
e. Just jump in and go ahead make a little mess
1) Yes, you will probably do many things wrong, so be sensitive to correction and help
2) But, just PLEASE, get busy!
3) If you had a short CPR class, and were in an elevator, and someone just collapsed and stopped breathing – and no one else does anything – don't just stand there… DO SOMETHING! SAVE THEIR LIFE! No matter the risks!
f. Let me show you something VERY humbling! 1Cor 6
1) 1Co 6:1 Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints?
2) 1Co 6:2 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
3) 1Co 6:3 Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?
4) 1Co 6:4 If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church.
5) 1Co 6:5 I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren?
6) 1Co 6:6 But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers.
g. So, the best marriage advice is not really what people need – HUMILITY and REPENTANCE is far more needed than being RIGHT in a marriage problem
h. Same goes in a business failure, or in a problem in training your children!
5. They were TEARFUL (Cf 2:17; Psalm 126:5,6)
a. They had experienced great troubles and afflictions and defeats up until this point
b. So when they started, they were not victors, and success stories
c. They were still hurting
d. And the pain continued as they worked day after day
e. And that is okay – it goes with the territory!
f. Anything worth building is going to be hard, and will hurt
g. 2Co 1:8,9 For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life: But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:
6. They were WATCHFUL – of the circling enemies, that were like vultures, waiting for them to quit, and to fail. Eph 5:15,16 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
D. The ENEMIES of the rebuilders will be learned from NEXT MONTH – and there are plenty of them!
E. Next Week… Part 3 – Why the Walls and Gates Are Important!
IV. Conclusion
A. Just THREE things were working together to accomplish this work!
1. Hard work
2. Teamwork
3. And Knee-work. Desperate prayer, begging for help and wisdom and protection and encouragement in all that we do in our homes, at school and at work!
4. I believe we are failing in ALL three areas!
a. Many are Apathetic about their homes, their walk with God, the sin they allow in their lives
b. I find so few doing anything of a spiritual nature – waiting on a feeling, or on a calling, or on being pushed and manipulated
c. Not many work WITH other people and especially won't work UNDER someone – God forbid!
d. And how many in this room actually prayed for this pastor, for this meeting this morning, for souls, for their testimony and witness on the job??? Huh?
e. I think we are failing in our KNEE-WORK most certainly!
B. We have learned Some Amazing Things About the Builders
1. They had names – 38 names to be exact
a. Evidently, GOD thinks names are important!
b. The most fearful words to hear from the lips of Jesus Christ one day are found in Matthew 7:21-23…
1) Mat 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
2) Mat 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
3) Mat 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
c. Rev 20:11-15
2. There are many Kinds of Workers in a Church
a. Brethren - families (3:1)
b. Immigrants
c. Long distance Workers – travelled to Jerusalem
d. Rulers, governors, TD's "important people" – all worked alongside each other
e. Religious people were not above hard work
f. Businessmen picked up shovels, and wheelbarrows and pickaxe's and trowels
g. A church is filled with common people who are not ashamed of being known as BUILDERS, REPAIRERS, LAY-ERS, SETTER-UPPERS, and FORTIFIERS of our homes and cities and nation!
3. Their Attitudes Were Awesome
a. They were VOLUNTEERS – they WANTED to be a part of Jerusalem
b. They were INSTANT (3:1) – jumped at the work (cf Acts 8:29,30)
c. They were EARNEST (3:20) – excited, passionate, determined to get this job done
d. They were CAREFUL and THOROUGH, but NOT Perfectionists
e. They were TEARFUL (Cf 2:17; Psalm 126:5,6)
f. They were WATCHFUL – of the circling enemies, that were like vultures, waiting for them to quit, and to fail. Eph 5:15,16 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
g. I think we should all gladly have such feelings and attitudes about this church and the work we do!
V. It all begins with Some Bad News
A. People are falling apart – everywhere
B. Society is falling apart – can't make up its mind about who is a girl or a guy, what marriage means, what real love costs, and has lost its mind about abortion!
C. Some things can never be fixed on our part
1. Our sins against almighty God
2. And the coming judgment against all ungodliness
D. So, like I remind you every week, God stepped down from heaven, and did the hardest work… took the wrath of the justice of God IN OUR PLACE on the cross. Romans 5:6,8 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
E. Here is the Good News
1. Amazingly, the same God who WILL judge you, INVITES you to simply, and ONLY believe that His Son already took your place! And with all your heart, ask Him to save your soul right now!
2. He will! God made the greatest promise ever…
3. Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
4. God made you. Sin broke you. Jesus saves you!
5. Believe it today!
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