August 11th, 2024
From The Series: When God Rebuilds…
Part 26 "We Each Have a Role in
Building The Kingdom"
Nehemiah 3:1-32
Mountain View Evangelical Missionary
Church
Thank you for being here this morning. The last time we were together
we examined what power a Godly civic leader could wield and the things one in
government could accomplish when they put the goals of the Lord ahead of
personal selfish goals.
The Godly civic leader who the LORD raised was Nehemiah.
Nehemiah was a gifted organizer and motivator. This morning, we will read what
amazing things God can accomplish through a dedicated group of followers who
are willing to respond to the call that Jesus puts on their lives.
We are going to do things a little different this morning as
we are going to cover the entire third chapter of the Book of Nehemiah. So,
before we open our Bible this morning, would you join me in a word of prayer.
PRAY
Please open your Bibles or turn on your devices to the third
chapter of Nehemiah beginning at verse 1. If you did not bring your Bible this
morning, you should find one underneath one of the chairs in the row in front
of you. Nehemiah chapter three will be found on page 384 of the pew bible. If
you do not have a bible at home, please take that bible with you as a gift from
Mountain View Church. We feel that it is vitally important that you have easy
access to God’s Word.
Like I said, we are going to do things a little different
this morning. Instead of you listening to me stand up here and read the entire
third chapter, I am going to ask that you go home this week, perhaps even today
after the service and read the third chapter on your own. Instead, I will read
selected passages as we go along, but before we do let me ask you a couple of
questions.
We have all heard some well-meaning Christian say something
like, "God has a plan for your life". Perhaps you have said it
yourself. Have you ever really thought about what the answer to that statement
was? With a show of hands, how many have ever studied the Westminster Shorter
or Longer Catechism?
The first three questions of the Westminster Shorter
Catechism teach us what exactly the plan is that God has for our life. Question
one starts with mankind.
Question 1.
What is the chief end of man?
Answer.
Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.
The chief end of man is to glorify God, and to enjoy
him forever. How are you doing with that? Are you glorifying Jesus in your
life. I'm not just talking about living a perfect Holy life. None of us can do
that. We are to pursue holiness as a lifestyle, but perfection is out of our
fallen reach. I mean are you glorifying Jesus in the way that you live. Do you
glorify Jesus with the way you treat your spouse? With the way you treat your
children? Are you glorifying Jesus in the way that you interact with your
neighbours?
If someone from the outside were to look at your actions,
would they see a marked difference between your actions and your unsaved
neighbour's actions? Are you living your life just like the rest of the world? Or
are you living in such a way that brings Jesus the glory.
1 Corinthains 10:31 gives us this instruction, "31 So whether you eat or drink or
whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." Are you doing all
that you do for the glory of God, or are you living your life for your own fame
and glory? Are you accumulating goods and money simply for your comfort and
sake?
The following is a quote from the prince of preachers the
great Charles Spurgeon, "Some persons have the foolish notion that the
only way in which they can live for God is by becoming ministers, missionaries,
or Bible women. Alas! how many would be shut out from any opportunity of
magnifying the Most High if this were the case. Beloved, it is not office,
it is earnestness; it is not position, it is grace which
will enable us to glorify God. God is most surely glorified in that cobbler’s
stall, where the godly worker, as he plies the awl, sings of the Savior's love.
The name of Jesus is glorified by the poor unlearned carter as he drives his
horse, and blesses his God, or speaks to his fellow labourer by the roadside,
as much as by the popular divine who, is thundering out the gospel. God is
glorified by our serving him in our proper vocations. Take care, dear reader,
that you do not forsake the path of duty by leaving your occupation and take
care you do not dishonor your profession while in it. Think little of
yourselves, but do not think too little of your callings. Every lawful
trade may be sanctified by the gospel to noblest ends. Turn to the Bible, and
you will find the most menial forms of labour connected either with most daring
deeds of faith, or with persons whose lives have been illustrious for holiness.[1]"
Turning to the Bible, as Spurgeon puts it, leads us to the
second question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism.
Question 2.
What rule hath God given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him?
Answer. The
Word of God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New
Testaments, is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him.
We read here that the Bible is to be our source for
instruction. Not the latest best-selling Christian book, not the instruction of
the pastor with the biggest mega-church. Not even the words of your local
pastor when they run contrary to the words of Scripture. Sola Scriptura,
scripture alone is to be our guide along with the empowerment and guidance of
the Holy Spirit. Scripture tells us… if you are truly saved, you have been
given a guarantee of your inheritance and that is the indwelling of the Holy
Spirit. The Holy Spirit will act as a guide in the proper interpretation of
God's Word. That doesn't mean we cannot use tools such as dictionaries and
commentaries to also aid us. But dictionaries and commentaries are not the
inspired writings of God. Therefore, when there is a contradiction, the Bible
is King.
So far this morning, we have seen that the chief end of man
is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. And we are to look to His Word
for the instruction on how to glorify God. But in a short sentence, what
does the Bible teach?
Question 3.
What do the Scriptures principally teach?
Answer. The
Scriptures principally teach, what man is to believe concerning God, and
what duty God requires of man.
We see there are two primary functions of the Bible. The principal
purpose of the Bible is to teach us what to believe concerning God. The
Bible is intended to teach us who God is in all the glory of all
His attributes. Man does not have the freedom to craft on image of God of their
own making. We must follow the whole counsel of God to man. We are not free to
pick and choose which portions we will follow and which commands we can ignore.
We see entire denominations forgetting this core principle
and are offering up doctrines that are meant to do little else but tickle the
ears of false-converts. I was listening to a quote from the Pastor Voddie
Baucham and his answer to the question of why are there so many false teachers
and false mega-churches out there? Voddie's answer, "Because the Bible is
true!"
What? The answer to why there are so many false teachers in
the world today is because the Bible is true? On the surface that seems like a
stupid answer but, if you know your Bible, you will know that Voddie is
referencing 2 Timothy 4:3-4 which says, "3 For
the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to
suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers
to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn
their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths."
Let me repeat that, "3 For
the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to
suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers
to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn
their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths."
Ahhh. So, the answer to why there are so many false teachers
that have such great reach is that the Bible is true when it tells us
that "they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to
myths".
As important as that fact is, I don't want you to miss the
second half of the answer of the third question. The Bible also teaches, "
and what duty God requires of man." We are going to spend
the rest of the morning speaking about certain aspects of our duty, but I first
want to make this very important point.
God does not require duties from all mankind. God only requires duty from His
chosen people. It is not the duty of the lost to further God's Kingdom. It is
not the duty of the lost, to support the local church. It is not the duty of
the lost to share the Gospel. These are all duties that are placed on
each of God's own people. When we were chosen, by the mercy of God, we were
called to duty. This is one of the greatest shortfalls of the church today. A
failure to teach this call of duty to our young people in Sunday School and to
the rest in Sunday morning services. Too many services are built around a
"consumer-mentality" and are more man-centered than God-centered in
their teaching.
When you come to church Sunday morning, you shouldn't come
expecting to "get" something. You should be coming with the attitude
of "what can I give this morning?" Give your worship, give
your attention to the teaching of God's Word, give your love and care to the
person sitting next to you. Don't worry about "getting", worry about
"giving". You'll be much happier, and you will get much more
satisfaction from your walk with Christ and from your attendance at church.
Ok, let's dive into the lesson that we can glean from chapter three of
the Book of Nehemiah. This is a map of the ancient city of Jerusalem at the
time of Nehemiah.The area that this morning's chapter is concerned with is the
yellow border in the city. These are the sections of the wall that are being
described in the text. Notice here is the site of the rebuilt temple which Zerrubable
and Ezra oversaw the construction of. This is the site which we spent all those
weeks in the Book of Ezra reading about.
Here is a zoomed in view which will allow us to look at the map in greater detail. I have a few of these slides printed out on the back table if you wish to take one home with you to help with you Bible reading this week.
The third chapter of Nehemiah begins with a description of
the Sheep Gate which is directly under the red arrow here. The descriptions
will then move in a counterclockwise manner across the top section of the map
and then move down the left side.
The Sheep Gate was where the animals that were to be used for
sacrifice at the Temple were led through. According to John 5:1 & 2, Jesus
used this very gate at least once to enter Jerusalem Himself. Scripture says, "1 Some time later, Jesus went up to
Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. 2 Now there is in
Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and
which is surrounded by five covered colonnades."
Isn't it appropriate that Jesus, the one whom John the
Baptist said, "behold, the Lamb of God" should enter Jerusalem
through the Sheep Gate. Perhaps this was the gate He usually used to enter
Jerusalem. That was the belief of one commentator. It would make sense that
Jesus would enter through the Sheep Gate, the Bible is full of such wonderful
imagery. Imagery which is meant to demonstrate the providence of God. When you
read and study God's Word on ever deeper levels, God unlocks gems like these to
demonstrate His wonderful power and control of all things. You must be paying
attention to catch these details. I encourage you to study God's Word
and not simply read it in a routine way to fulfill a Bible reading plan.
Of course, Jesus would enter through the Sheep Gate. He was
to be the sacrificial Lamb for the sins of all His people. For all of those,
who through faith, have accepted the gift of the completed work of the first
earthly ministry of Jesus Christ. Jesus, who was divine in person and nature,
left His privileged place at the right-hand of the Father in Heaven, to enter
His Creation and to add human form to His divine form, so that He could walk
among us and experience all the manners of temptations that we face, yet remain
sinless.
A sinlessness that would be required of Him, so that He would
be a suitable sacrifice to atone for our sins and allow us back into a rightful
relationship with the Father. For from the time of our first forefather, Adam, we
have all rebelled against our Heavenly Father. We were all destined for Hell,
until the Father extended mercy to those who were predestined before the
foundations of the earth were laid and rescue, salvation could be found in the
accepting of the work of Jesus. So, Jesus walked through the Sheep Gate.
Look with me at verse one of chapter three of the Book of
Nehemiah. " Eliashib the high priest and his fellow
priests went to work and rebuilt the Sheep Gate. They dedicated it and set its
doors in place, building as far as the Tower of the Hundred, which they
dedicated, and as far as the Tower of Hananel."
The Sheep Gate is where Nehemiah begins his description of
the rebuilding of the wall. If you notice on the slide, there are different
color arrows of different lengths. There is also a legend on the left side of
the slide that explains the verses that are describing the locations and the
color-coded arrow of each section of Scripture.
We can notice one thing right away just by looking at this
slide that not all contributions were equal. Some families and some groups of
people working together were able to accomplish more than others. The amount
of work accomplished by each is not the most important aspect here. What is
most important is that almost all contributed. I say almost all because there
is a group who refused to contribute, and we will get to them in a bit.
Each worked on their section according to their abilities.
Some were blessed with more so they accomplished more. Some could only be
concerned with repairing the small section of the wall where it met their home.
They contributed to their section according to their abilities.
Look at the slide, the priests mentioned in verse 1 were able
to tackle a good portion of the wall and see to the repairs. Others like the
sons of Hassenaah in verse three or the two men Joiada and Meshullam could only
repair a single gate each as mentioned in verses three and six respectively.
Now, anyone who has done finished carpentry like Robert, can attest that the
installation of doors or gates, especially ones made from scratch, would
require a great deal of time and effort. Not to mention hand forging the
hinges, bolts, and bars that are mentioned. Building and repairing a gate would
have been a major undertaking. But on the map it seems like such a small
undertaking, especially when compared to the longer arrows of some sections.
Some sections, like the purple arrow to the left of the Royal
Palace were repaired by multiple families, even including the daughters of one
of the families.
You will also read that some came from other places to
participate in the reconstruction effort. In verse five we read about the
Tekoaites, men from the town of Tekoa (the town where the Bible tells us that
the prophet Amos was born) more about them in a bit. In verse seven we read
that men came form the city of Gibeon, a city to the north of Jerusalem and the
site of many battles in the Bible. Meronoth was another location that people
came from to work on the wall. In verse 14, we read about Beth Hakkerem which
was a city to the south of Jerusalem at which signal fires could be lit warning
others of encroaching dangers. Verse 15 mentions rulers of the district of
Mizpah also assisting. Verse 18 refers to rulers of the district of Keilah.
These two places were the sites of major battles fought by Jeremiah and David
respectively.
Another thing to notice in your reading of these passages is
that there were people of all walks of life contributing to the rebuilding
effort. Rulers and priests are mentioned, as are scribes who were experts in
the Law, the Levites are also mentioned as they were the protective class for
the Temple. Tradesmen such as goldsmiths and perfume makers who would have been
more used to sitting at a bench and lifting things much smaller than the stones
required to repair an exterior wall. I also mentioned earlier that one man even
had his daughters assist in the repairing of their section.
Some groups repaired more than one section. The men from the
town of Tekoa are mentioned twice repairing two different sections. They are
mentioned once in verse 5 and again in verse 27. Look with me and read what it
says there, "27 Next to them, the
men of Tekoa repaired another section, from the great projecting tower to the
wall of Ophel." Did you catch that, "another section". These
working men were so dedicated and proficient that they were able to assist in
two different places. But not all the men from Tekoa were so responsible. Look
back with me to verse five.
Verse five says, "5 The
next section was repaired by the men of Tekoa, but their nobles would not put
their shoulders to the work under their supervisors." The footnote says,
"or lords or governors". Scripture tells us that some of the nobles
from that city felt that this work was beneath them, and they refused to
"put their shoulders to the work". They refused to get their hands dirty.
Some of the nobles felt that they were too good to get involved with Kingdom
work. Notice that their names are not recorded here for the following
generations to honour. Their names are not found in the book.
I just want to take a couple of minutes to point out some
things. Notice that the work was not left up to the professional
religious types. The priests were not required to do all the work. They were
not excluded from the work, but it was not left up to them to accomplish all on
their own. Another thing to notice is that several of the people stepped out
from their comfort zones and contributed anyway. I'm not sure how many priests
knew construction methods. Or how many Levites could quarry a stone to fit a
wall. I mentioned earlier that goldsmiths and perfume makers were certainly
used to dealing with smaller and lighter loads than they would have dealt with
while repairing a stone wall. A wall thick enough and high enough to offer
protection from invading forces.
I also want to talk about some of the various gates. The
water gate is not mentioned as needing repairs, so this may have been the only
gate left intact following the Babylonian invasion. This may have been done as
a sign of mocking, for what use would a standing gate be if all the surrounding
walls had been destroyed and leveled. A closed gate would be pointless, because
you would simply step around it.
The Old Gate was the first and original gate at the city of
Jerusalem. The dung gate was where the garbage of the city was taken and then
thrown into the Kidron Valley for disposal. The East Gate is the Gate where
Jesus makes His triumphal entry when He arrives in Jerusalem at the start of Holy
week which culminates in the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus.
A keen observer will notice from this later map of
Jerusalem from the time of Jesus right up to the destruction in 70 AD, that
Herod moved the location of the Temple when he decided to remodel and expand
the temple which Zerubbabel and Ezra rebuilt. Herod's Temple was more about
Herod than it was about God. The location was moved over to where the East Gate
was.
You can also see that the city grew and expanded in the 400
years between Nehemiah and the arrival of Jesus.
This morning, we started off with talking about how God has a
plan for our lives, then we moved to learn that we have a duty to God
and then we noticed that each of these plans and required duties is as
individual as we are and is unique to our abilities and our gifting from God.
What we all have in common is the unifying call of duty to play our role in the
building of God's Kingdom.
CONCLUSION
Names are important and we just looked at an entire chapter
where there was a biblical record of the names of the people who joined God's
work. Those who did not contribute their names were not written in this book.
Nehemiah was a great organizer and a great motivator. The Israelites
had national pride in their capital, a city captured and made beautiful by
their beloved King David. In the days of Nehemiah, a portion of Jerusalem was
still named the City of David and there was a reference to the tombs of David
in this chapter. These were all great motivating factors for those who stepped
up and despite the lack of formal training, still did their part.
As Christians, we should need look no further than our
Saviour and His Word for motivation. If, the fact that He saved you from an
eternity of torment in the Lake of Fire is not enough motivation to move you to
action and join the construction effort of building His Kingdom for His Glory,
then the words of your pastor will have little effect. The Jews had King David,
we have the King of Kings, Lord Jesus. If you do not have a love for Jesus that
is strong enough to be all the motivation required, then my words will bounce
off you like rain off a hot tin roof.
Jesus told us, "If we love Him, we will keep His
commands". Including the commands to build His kingdom through the
spreading of the Gospel. We all have a gift, or service, or effort to
contribute to God's work. I beg of you to join Him.
If you know Jesus, if you love Jesus, then don't just limp
across the finish line by doing the bare minimum required to enter Glory.
Matthew 16:27 gives us these encouraging words, "27 For
the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then
he will reward each person according to what they have done." I
encourage you to do all you can to ensure the largest reward you can. Do it all
for the love of Jesus.
You are
dismissed, go in peace.
Pastor
Paul’s Points:
1) Not all contributions were equal.
2) Each worked on their sections
according to their abilities.
3) All walks of life contributed.
4) Those who did and did not contribute
were recorded.
Questions
to meditate on this week:
1. Are you glorifying God and enjoying
Him in the way you live your life?
2. Are you more concerned with getting
rather than giving?
3. Are you living up to the
"duty" that Jesus has called you to?
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