God's Work, Our Hands.

Steve Gentry

[0:00] If you’re new here, welcome to the Village. [0:03] My name is Steve. [0:04] I’m one of the other pastors here. [0:06] I want to welcome you to the final Sunday of 2012. [0:11] Just to give you guys a heads up of what’s coming or where we’re going, today I want [0:16] to cast a little vision for the new year of the work that God has for each and every

[0:21] one of us. [0:22] Next Sunday, I want to cast a vision for the community that God is building, how we want [0:28] to relate, how we want to build a culture of people following God, of people loving [0:34] one another, people caring for one another, and people discipling one another. [0:39] Then we’re headed into a couple of weeks where I’m on Baby Watch, so we’ll see what happens. [0:45] But as soon as I get back from Baby Watch, we will begin the book of Genesis.

[0:50] What we’re going to do is, I don’t know if you know this or not, but that’s a really [0:52] long book. [0:54] So what we’re going to do is we’re going to split it up into three different parts. [0:58] And from chapters one through chapter 11, we’re going to start there, and that’s going [1:01] to take us through the spring. [1:03] Then we’re going to take a break, preach a couple of other series, and we’re going

[1:06] to pick back up in Genesis, and then again for a third time as well. [1:10] But that’s where we’re going in the new year. [1:12] If you have your Bibles, go ahead and open them up to Nehemiah chapter one. [1:17] Hold your finger there and turn over to Nehemiah chapter four. [1:20] We’re going to be in both chapters this morning. [1:22] You’ll see why in just a minute.

[1:25] But basically, God has done a great deal over the past year in the life of our church. [1:31] We’ve grown numerically. [1:33] It’s just a remnant here today, but we’ve grown numerically over the past year. [1:37] God has blessed us with this facility, and we have done a great work here. [1:44] God has worked through our hands to build this place out. [1:47] But the work has just begun in reality for us as a church.

[1:53] God gifting us with so many things, with so many lives, with so many disciples, with [1:58] so many tools to steward as a church, He’s not brought us here to give us rest and just [2:05] kind of give us some time off, just some leisure as a church, where we just gather, we come [2:10] together, we sing some songs, we hear a sermon, we leave. [2:13] Instead, God has given us all these things to steward as a people and to use to advance [2:19] His mission of the gospel in this community and beyond.

[2:23] So what I want to talk about today is I want to talk about what does it look like to be [2:28] used by God to advance the gospel in the lives of ourselves, number one, because that’s [2:34] very vitally important, but also into the lives of others. [2:39] Because each and every one of you, if you’re here and you trust Jesus, you’re trying to [2:44] follow Him with everything in your life, if you really have faith in Jesus, each and [2:49] every one of you are called by God to live His mission and be used by Him to further

[2:59] His gospel, to build His kingdom. [3:04] And I want to look at a man named Nehemiah. [3:06] This is one of my favorite sections of Scripture. [3:09] There’s going to come a day when I’m done with all the other ones I don’t want to go [3:12] through, and we’re going to go through the book of Nehemiah verse by verse. [3:16] But when I was early in ministry, when I was thinking about planting a church, Nehemiah

[3:22] was one of those books that I always gravitated towards when I was discouraged. [3:25] I don’t know if you’ve ever dealt with discouragement in your life, but I know I have. [3:29] When I was discouraged, when things weren’t going my way, when things seemed like they [3:33] were falling apart all around me, I would go there and it would give me great encouragement, [3:37] but it would also give me great conviction as to what God will call us to if we will [3:44] trust in Him.

[3:46] Because if you trust in God, He has a work for you to do. [3:54] And this is kind of the part that we struggle with in our lives, because I have a work [3:59] that I want to do. [4:02] I have a life that is kind of mine. [4:04] I’m the puppet master of that life. [4:07] All of the pieces are where I want them to be, and I want to move over here, I want to

[4:11] go over here. [4:11] This is the life I have, because this is the life that will make me as comfortable as possible [4:16] in this world, as secure as possible in this world, and have as much stuff in this world [4:20] as I possibly can. [4:21] And so that’s kind of my default mode. [4:24] And my suspicion is, because I know some of you, is your default mode too.

[4:28] No one, D.A. Carson, a great theologian, once said that no one naturally drifts towards [4:34] a life of discipleship. [4:36] Our natural drift is towards a life where we are God, where we have the remote control [4:43] in our hands, where we’re pushing ourselves forward in the direction that we’ve just [4:47] decided on.

[4:49] But Nehemiah is this great example of a man who God just kind of confronts with his sin, [4:58] confronts with his destiny, confronts with his purpose, and it changes him forever and [5:03] sends him on a path that I really, according to scripture, I don’t believe he would have [5:07] ever seen it this way. [5:10] Nehemiah is a man who is in a period of Israel’s exile. [5:14] He’s not in Israel.

[5:15] He’s actually in the Persian Empire. [5:18] If you read the book of Jeremiah, this takes place after Jeremiah. [5:22] Jeremiah is a prophet that was called to go to Israel, and he’s called to cry, hey guys, [5:26] we’re sinning, God’s not pleased with us, we’re going to go into exile. [5:29] And he’s called the weeping prophet because he preaches to Israel, repent, repent, turn [5:35] from your sin, trust in God, and they won’t.

[5:37] And because he has a prophecy of what God’s going to do with Israel, is he’s overcome [5:41] and he weeps.

[5:46] The Babylonian Empire comes into Israel, they take them into exile, God delivers them [5:51] over because of their sin, and then another empire rises up, the Persian Empire, they [5:57] overtake the Babylonian Empire, so now Israel’s under Persian rule. [6:02] And Nehemiah is a guy who, according to the timeline here, he probably lived most of his [6:07] life under Persian rule.

[6:12] And Nehemiah rises to a prominent position in the Persian Empire where he is a cup bearer [6:17] to the king. [6:19] And this is a position that, you know, you bring him his cup when he’s thirsty, basically. [6:24] It’s a position where you are given access to the king, where if you read throughout [6:29] the Old Testament in these empires, people didn’t just naturally have access to the king, [6:33] you read the book of Esther, the wife of the king didn’t even have access to the king.

[6:38] She had to be called upon. [6:40] But Nehemiah has access to the king.

[6:44] And in chapter one of the book of Nehemiah, we find Nehemiah in this position and we [6:49] find that he has some people come from Israel, and he asks them a very simple question. [6:59] He says, how are things back home?

[7:02] And their answer devastates him because they look at Nehemiah and it’s kind of just this [7:07] response of like, what are you talking about? [7:09] It’s in ruins.

[7:12] There is no Israel. [7:16] There was a remnant that did not go into captivity, but they stayed and they basically lived in [7:20] poverty. [7:21] They lived on the outskirts of town. [7:23] They lived with no support. [7:24] They were just basically people that were just living in campsites.

[7:30] And they come and they tell Nehemiah, there’s only devastation in Israel, man. [7:35] There’s no kingdom there anymore. [7:38] And the scripture tells us in chapter one that Nehemiah is devastated by this. [7:41] And in verse six, if you turn there real quick, I want to start in verse six. [7:44] I know it starts in verse seven up there. [7:45] That’s my fault.

[7:46] But in verse six, Nehemiah is praying to God and he says, let your ear be attentive and [7:53] your eyes open to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and [7:58] night for the people of Israel, your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, [8:04] which we have sinned against you. [8:06] Even I and my father’s house have sinned. [8:10] It’s a great prayer of repentance where Nehemiah has been confronted with the reality of the

[8:17] life that he’s living in, that he’s not living as God intended him to live. [8:20] God did not intend for Israel to be a nation under the rule of other people. [8:26] He intended for them to be faithful to God, for them to be their own kingdom, and for [8:31] them really in reality to lead the entire world to faith in God. [8:36] And they failed miserably. [8:38] But I want you to notice what Nehemiah does.

[8:40] Nehemiah instantaneously goes to his knees in prayer and then he begins to repent of [8:44] sin and notice the cycle here. [8:46] He repents of the sin of Israel, but he doesn’t just say, oh God, I’m sorry. [8:49] Everybody else is so wicked.

[8:52] That’s a shame.

[8:55] No, he says, even I and my father’s house. [8:58] He personalizes it.

[9:02] This is the reason we’re in this mess, isn’t it? [9:05] Because I’m a sinner.

[9:08] Friends, the first step in catching the vision of God for your life is to understand that [9:14] you are not following God the way in which you were designed to follow him.

[9:21] That’s step one. [9:23] When we’re living a life that’s outside of the realm of what God has revealed about [9:28] himself and what God has revealed about us in Scripture, he calls us to turn to him [9:31] and it’s personal.

[9:35] But then he continues and he says, we have acted corruptly against you and have not [9:40] kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses. [9:44] Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses saying, if you are unfaithful, [9:48] and he’s quoting both Leviticus and Deuteronomy here, if you are unfaithful, I will scatter [9:52] you among the peoples. [9:53] But if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though you’re outcasts in the

[9:58] uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that [10:01] I have chosen to make my name dwell there. [10:05] They’re your servants and your people whom you have redeemed by your great power and [10:09] by your strong hand. [10:11] Nehemiah in his repentance, he catches a vision that what it is to turn from sin is not just [10:16] to admit it, but rather it’s to turn from it and say, God, I will follow your way.

[10:22] You have a plan for my life and I will follow it. [10:25] I will go with you. [10:28] So Nehemiah understood a very important thing here. [10:30] Nehemiah trusted God enough to follow God.

[10:37] So there’s a very strange thing that often happens in some of our lives. [10:42] We trust God by word.

[10:46] Is there a God? [10:48] Absolutely. [10:49] Who is he? [10:49] He’s the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. [10:52] He’s the God that brought Jesus Christ to the world. [10:54] Jesus went to the cross.

[10:55] He died for my sins. [10:55] He rose again from the dead. [10:56] Winning victory over sin and death. [10:58] And he has a great plan for my life. [11:00] And I’ll figure it out once I get everything done that I need to get done.

[11:06] The reality is that’s not trusting God.

[11:11] The reality is that’s you trusting you and just kind of paying lip service to something [11:16] because you hope it works out after you’re dead.

[11:21] But God is not just the God of the dead.

[11:25] He’s the God of the living. [11:27] And he shows that through Jesus Christ that he has a plan for your life. [11:31] But that’s his plan.

[11:34] The reality is that Nehemiah realized that God had made the calling clear to him. [11:40] And that to trust God in his life meant to follow God. [11:45] The same way that when a doctor prescribes me medicine that he says is going to cure my illness. [11:49] To trust that doctor is to take the medicine. [11:53] It’s not to look at the medicine up on my shelf and say that’s some pretty good medicine. [11:57] I bet it works great.

[11:59] The bottle just sits there day after day and you get sicker and sicker and things aren’t getting any better. [12:05] And you’re like that is some great medicine there. [12:09] No, to trust that the medicine is going to cure you what are you going to do? [12:11] You’re going to take the medicine.

[12:14] It’s a simple analogy but it works.

[12:19] If you truly trust God, if you truly trust the words of scripture, you will follow him.

[12:28] So Nehemiah follows. [12:31] In chapter 2 the story unfolds where Nehemiah is being the cup bearer to the king. [12:35] And the king looks at him and says Nehemiah what is wrong with you? [12:39] He’s so close to the king that the king understands when he’s pretty sad. [12:43] So Nehemiah explains to him, he says my nation Israel is in ruins. [12:49] He makes a bold request to the king.

[12:51] He says can I leave my position and can I go rebuild my city? [12:55] He has so much favor in the eyes of the king that the king says yes.

[13:02] Not only that but I’m going to give you supplies. [13:04] I’m going to go cut timber and I’m going to send you with some supplies so you can go and you can rebuild your city. [13:09] And Nehemiah goes, he uses the position that God had put him in for that point in that time [13:14] and he uses it in order to further the mission that God had given him to rebuild the nation of Israel.

[13:21] What’s interesting is quite frequently we don’t necessarily have a mode where we look at the position that we’re in in our lives [13:28] and say how does God want to use this? [13:31] How does God want to further his mission through this? [13:35] Each and every one of you are somewhere going through something in your life. [13:39] Some of you are like up here. [13:40] Things are working out really well.

[13:42] Got a great job, you got a great family. [13:46] Everything’s working great. [13:47] Some of you are down here. [13:50] You don’t have a great job. [13:52] Maybe you don’t even have a job. [13:54] Things aren’t going great for you.

[13:56] You feel alone. [13:58] You’re sick. [13:59] You’re suffering.

[14:01] There’s one thing I want you to understand.

[14:04] Nehemiah was not in the nation that God intended him to be [14:08] but he was right where God wanted him to be.

[14:13] Because God had a plan for right where he was at that specific time at that specific moment [14:18] in that specific position. [14:21] He had access to the king so that he could make a request to the king [14:23] and he used that position in order to further the mission that God had given him. [14:27] Wherever you are in any point in your life right now, [14:30] I want you to understand that you are where God wants you to be for where God wants you to move.

[14:38] Notice I didn’t say for where God wants you to stay.

[14:42] For where God wants you to move.

[14:46] We do not serve a God that has us in positions where we’re just going to stay and we’re going to sit [14:51] and we’re going to stagnate. [14:52] But rather God is a God that moves. [14:53] He wants us to go. [14:54] He wants us to use our positions and our places and our times and our tools as catalysts [15:00] in order to get us moving and following him and having the faith to go exactly where he wants us to go.

[15:06] Doing exactly what he wants us to do. [15:08] But the reality is that you have to trust him in order to follow him. [15:12] You have to trust him in order to make those moves. [15:15] And when you do not make those moves, the sad reality is that you’re revealing that you don’t trust him.

[15:23] And so Nehemiah goes. [15:24] He gets the king’s blessing to return to Israel and rebuild the city.

[15:30] Nehemiah trusted God rather than anything else.

[15:34] Secondly, this morning, Nehemiah knew the work that God wanted him to do. [15:38] He knew the work that God wanted him to do.

[15:43] Faith produces works. [15:45] Nehemiah believed God and that translated into action. [15:48] He left Persia, returned to Israel to find the remnant of Israelites that remained there. [15:53] He cast a vision to them in chapter 2 and at the beginning of chapter 3. [15:57] He casts a vision for rebuilding the city and they get to work.

[16:03] I mean, it was that simple.

[16:07] Simple faith produces a radical life.

[16:13] Simple faith produces a radical life.

[16:18] I mean, if you look at the story there, Nehemiah leaves, Nehemiah says, then they do. [16:25] One, two, three. [16:26] It’s that simple. [16:28] We think through faith so much, so stringently. [16:33] It’s got to be precise. [16:34] It’s got to be exact.

[16:36] Then years have passed and we’ve done nothing. [16:39] Well, God hasn’t made it clear to me. [16:41] I just don’t know what to do. [16:43] I’m trying to figure out what His will is. [16:46] I don’t know what it is. [16:47] So I’m just going to stay.

[16:48] I’m not going to move. [16:49] I’m not going to do anything. [16:51] I’ve got to be right here.

[16:57] That’s not faith. [16:58] That’s fear.

[17:01] That’s a lack of trust.

[17:04] When we do not move, we run the risk of not believing.

[17:15] The radical life that Scripture has of the gospel being moved forward, [17:20] it typically didn’t happen through the smartest of the bunch.

[17:25] Look through Scripture.

[17:28] It’s a lot of failure of people whom God redeems to do radical things.

[17:36] The very man that Nehemiah quoted in chapter 1 was a guy with a stuttering problem [17:43] who trusted God enough to leave the mission that he had [17:46] and spend a bunch of decades in a desert with people he didn’t even know.

[17:51] But God worked radically in his life.

[17:55] It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to bear a cup. [17:59] And God’s about to use that guy to rebuild the entire nation of Israel.

[18:04] Oftentimes, we think about our own abilities before we think about God’s abilities.

[18:15] There’s a huge lack of trust in what God can do through you [18:19] because you feel unimportant and you feel unequipped. [18:23] God does not care how equipped you feel. [18:26] He knows how equipped he is. [18:30] And time and time again in Scripture, he reveals himself over and over and over and over again, [18:35] working through those who aren’t able until he sends the one who’s ultimately able,

[18:39] who has enough power to raise himself up from the dead. [18:42] That’s the kind of God that might be able to use a guy like me and a girl like you or a guy like you.

[18:49] Wherever you are, whoever you are, with whatever ability you have,

[18:56] God can and will use you if you will follow.

[19:03] The reality is that when we say we don’t know the will of God, [19:05] it’s because we’ve ignored everything that he’s done to show it to us. [19:09] God has very easily revealed his will. It’s in Scripture. [19:13] His will is for people to follow and worship him [19:15] and for those who trust him to get people to follow and worship him. [19:18] There it is.

[19:19] I just gave you God’s will for your life. [19:21] You can stop worrying about the rest.

[19:28] The reality is that God always has a work for his followers to do. [19:36] Always. [19:37] And so Nehemiah returns to Israel. [19:40] The remnant of Israel, a bunch of people living in the hills.

[19:44] And they come together and they begin to build the wall.

[19:49] What’s interesting about the life of Nehemiah here is that he had it made. [19:53] He was a cupbearer to the king, most likely. He lived in the palace. [19:58] He had an easy position. He had a great life. [20:02] But he left that life because he was confronted with who God is [20:09] and what God wanted him to do and the promises that God had for him. [20:13] So his belief that God had a work for him to do moved him to go and do it.

[20:19] If you believe something, it places a burden on the thing or person that you are trusting. [20:27] And if it doesn’t, then you really don’t believe it.

[20:31] See, if you really believe God, if you believe that he’s given something to be done, [20:36] if you believe that there is a life that he would have you to live, [20:39] and you never actually go and do the thing that you believe God for, [20:43] you didn’t really believe it.

[20:48] Because there was no burden on whether or not that belief was true or not.

[20:54] Imagine if I believed that my wife loved me before we got married, [20:57] and I never even went up and asked her out. [21:00] But man, I believe she loved me. You know what would have happened? [21:02] I would have died alone.

[21:05] That’s just, there it is. I would have died alone.

[21:10] Because my belief without the burden of actually going up and saying, [21:13] I think this chick digs me. You want to go out? [21:18] Guess what? I didn’t really believe it. I was afraid. [21:21] I didn’t trust it.

[21:25] She did like me though.

[21:31] When you believe something, it places a burden on it. [21:35] And you actually live what you believe. [21:37] James chapter 2 verse 18 says it this way. [21:41] The half-brother of Jesus writes, [21:43] but someone will say, you have faith and I have work, [21:46] show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

[21:51] It’s just the burden of faith. The burden of faith isn’t on the one believing. [21:54] The burden of faith is on the one that’s giving. [21:57] And that’s always God. [21:59] So if I say, God, I believe that you’re giving. [22:01] I believe that you’re going. I believe that you want me to do. [22:04] I’m going to say, God, give so I can go.

[22:08] Because I have faith that he is who he says he is. [22:11] He’s going to do what he said he was going to do. [22:14] Nehemiah understood that God wanted Israel built. [22:17] And so against all odds, one guy goes and in the face of all that rubble [22:21] and all those hillbillies, he says, okay, let’s get to work.

[22:28] In chapter 4, we find Nehemiah with the remnant of Israel. [22:34] And they’re building the wall.

[22:37] They’re doing the work. [22:39] And they’re paying the price. [22:41] Because I think sometimes when we’re thinking about the vision that God has for our lives, [22:46] oftentimes we’re like, that sounds great. [22:48] So that means I show up to church next Sunday and the Sunday after that. [22:51] And we just we come together like, that’s good.

[22:54] I need this type of inspiration. [22:57] You’re like, don’t flatter yourself, Steve.

[23:00] But here’s the key.

[23:03] It is not just a place to come and sit. [23:08] It’s a life to go and build. [23:10] Because as soon as they go and they’re about to build the wall, [23:14] all of these unequipped people, the nations that are surrounding Israel hear about it. [23:18] And they say, we’ve got to go stop this or else they’re going to become a threat to us. [23:23] And so all these nations begin to gather together and they begin to hatch the plan.

[23:26] And they say, we’re going to go kill them. [23:29] And so the Israelites catch word of this and they come together. [23:32] And they say, OK, let’s arm ourselves. [23:35] So here’s where we find them in Nehemiah, Chapter four, verse fifteen. [23:39] When the enemies heard that it was known to us, Nehemiah writes that God had frustrated their work. [23:44] Excuse me, their plan.

[23:45] We all returned to the wall, each to his work. [23:49] So as soon as they heard that the attack was coming because they were going to do a secret attack, [23:54] God reveals it to them through their prayer. [23:56] And they go and they come together and they say they’re going to do this. [23:59] But God’s fold their plan. [24:00] They can’t come and attack us in secret.

[24:04] They don’t run.

[24:08] They don’t just go and grab their swords.

[24:12] They keep building.

[24:15] Because they trust that no matter what happens, God wants that built and he’s got a promise that it will be built. [24:20] So they trust him enough and they keep building. [24:21] But notice how they keep building. [24:24] From that day on, half of my servants worked on constructions and half held the spears, shields, bows and coats of mail. [24:30] And the leaders stood behind the whole house of Judah who were building on the wall. [24:35] Those who carried burdens were loaded in such a way that each labored on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other.

[24:42] And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built. [24:46] The man who sounded the trumpet was beside me. [24:48] And I said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, the work is great and widely spread. [24:53] And we were separated on the wall, far from one another. [24:57] And the place where you hear the sound of the trumpet rallied to us there. [25:01] And then Nehemiah tells the people, our God will fight for us.

[25:06] I want you to get a picture of what’s taking place in this story. [25:09] They hear that attack is coming, that people are not happy about what they’re doing.

[25:14] So there’s this ragtag group of construction workers. [25:19] And Nehemiah hands out tools and with your tool you get a sword.

[25:24] While you’re working, understand, someone could come up behind you and try to kill you. [25:28] So here’s a sword. [25:30] While you’re digging that ditch, while you’re digging that trench, have your hand on your sword and the other hand digging.

[25:39] Think about that. [25:41] Think about being a guy that’s, they’re trying to rebuild the security wall that was around Israel that will protect them while they rebuild the buildings. [25:47] So that they could just keep all of the enemies out. [25:50] And they’re on their hands and knees, they’ve probably got trowels, they’ve probably putting the mortar in, [25:55] and they’re just covering the wall up. [25:57] And Nehemiah says, look, things aren’t looking too good where the enemies are concerned.

[26:01] So I’m going to handicap your work. [26:02] So while you’re putting that mortar on, use one hand on your trowel and have the sword in your other hand just in case. [26:08] And if things get really bad, you’re going to hear a trumpet, so come over here with me.

[26:15] That was their new members class for that church.

[26:20] They got the tool for their job and they got a sword for their side. [26:25] And it says half the people were working and the other half were standing there with spears and bows and arrows ready to throw at any advancing military forces.

[26:38] Guys, I want you to understand that when God calls you to live his mission, [26:43] when God calls you to have faith in him enough to follow him, he’s not calling you to an easy existence on this earth. [26:52] He’s calling you to a work. [26:55] He’s calling you to a work that will need you to pay a price. [27:00] He’s calling you to a work that will require sacrifice. [27:04] He’s calling you to a work that may risk your physical life.

[27:09] See, so often what we do is we say, I’ll follow God, but I’ve got this time and this time and this time. [27:17] That’s me time. That’s that’s time for me and my wife. [27:21] That’s time for me and my kids. [27:22] That’s time that I just can’t sacrifice. [27:24] So you guys that you know you want to do your thing, you go do my thing. [27:28] We’ll be back here doing our thing.

[27:31] And trust me, there’s wisdom in spending time with your family. [27:33] I don’t discount that. [27:35] But I want you to come up face to face with scripture. [27:38] And I want you to understand that the people that God called to build that wall, they were fathers, they were mothers, they were children, they were people with families. [27:47] And God said, I want you to risk your life. [27:49] I want you to risk your all.

[27:51] I want you to do backbreaking work. [27:52] I want you to rebuild my city because to trust him is to follow him. [27:58] And God calls his people into a work. [28:02] When he calls them to follow him.

[28:06] Trust.

[28:09] Makes you follow. [28:12] No matter what the cost.

[28:17] We live in a day and age where. [28:21] When we were renovating this building, we didn’t hand out rifles.

[28:28] And say, OK, guys, we’re going to do some landscaping today. [28:31] We got snipers in the trees. [28:33] And. [28:34] I’m really glad for that. [28:36] I’m quite frightened. [28:37] That type of thing.

[28:42] But here’s the reality. [28:44] I think oftentimes because.

[28:47] Of our ease and culture.

[28:52] Takes us to a place where we don’t think there’s any work to do. [28:56] And so we begin to build our kingdom and we begin to trust the lives that we’re building rather than the life that God would have us build.

[29:06] And so we sit. [29:08] We take it easy for a little while.

[29:12] A few people do the work and we get used to it and we get happy about it and we come and we say, man, look at what God’s doing here. [29:20] But we don’t involve ourselves in the work because we’re busy doing other things.

[29:28] We’re busy building other kingdoms.

[29:33] It’s a question I have for you is. [29:36] And the life that you are building and the positions that you’re putting yourself in and the environments that you’re creating in your life.

[29:45] How. [29:47] Is the city that God calls us to build? [29:51] How is the kingdom that he’s advancing?

[29:55] How is it being built? [29:57] By your life.

[30:00] What environments are you entering? [30:03] To follow God with more. [30:07] What work is your life producing? [30:09] Because here’s the reality. [30:11] There’s not a person in here that doesn’t do a work.

[30:17] Each and every one of you are doing a work in your life.

[30:24] So the question isn’t, are you working? [30:26] My question is, and it’s just a question that I want you to go into the new year kind of wrestling with. [30:32] It’s a question that I want you to go into the new year looking at. [30:35] What is my life producing?

[30:41] That’s it. [30:43] No judgment. [30:45] No thought. [30:45] I don’t know where you are. [30:46] I don’t know what you’re doing in your life. [30:48] But I want you to just look and say, what is my life producing?

[30:56] Is it building what God wants to be built? [31:00] Or is the first question in my work, what do I want to be built?

[31:07] Thirdly, Nehemiah understood the value of building God’s city. [31:12] Look in verse 21.

[31:15] So we labored at the work. [31:18] And half of them held the spears from the break of dawn until the stars came out. [31:23] I also said to the people at that time, let every man and his servant pass the night within Jerusalem. [31:28] That they may be on guard for us by night and may labor by day. [31:32] So neither I nor my brothers nor my servants nor the men of the guard who followed me. [31:38] None of us took off our clothes.

[31:41] Each kept his weapon at his right hand. [31:45] That’s a strange text there. [31:48] Maybe you noticed it. [31:51] None of us took off our clothes.

[31:54] What?

[31:58] So I want you to understand. [31:59] When he writes that, in other words, it was the reality of we worked night and day. [32:05] And we didn’t even have time to change our clothes.

[32:09] He said we worked by day, we kept guard by night because people were coming in and that night they were going to try to tear down the wall again that we were building to build the city.

[32:19] I don’t know about you, but when I look at stuff like that, it makes me very uncomfortable. [32:24] Because if I had lived in Israel at that time, that kind of work would have cut into Steve time.

[32:32] Alright, I put in my two hours. [32:36] I got to go home. [32:37] There’s a recliner with my name on it here, Nehemiah. [32:41] LA Law is on tonight. [32:42] I have no idea where that reference came from.

[32:48] I think I went for Law and Order, and I got some show from the 80s that most of you have never seen in your life. [32:55] I promise I’m only 32 years old.

[33:00] I don’t even think I’ve seen that show.

[33:06] Wasn’t in there that way. [33:08] That’s why I got to keep looking down.

[33:13] They’re in a position.

[33:17] God wants to advance. [33:19] He wants to move. [33:20] He wants to go. [33:21] He wants it built. [33:22] He wants it done. [33:24] And if we have to die doing it, we will.

[33:28] Because we trust God more than we trust anything else in life. [33:33] And if I’m going to go out, it’s going to be with the will of God. [33:39] It’s going to be with the work of God. [33:41] And it’s going to be for what God would have us to do.

[33:48] The scripture records that they rebuilt the city. [33:51] They rebuilt the wall. [33:52] And in Nehemiah chapter 8, revival breaks out in Jerusalem. [33:55] And the entire nation gathers from all the corners of the world at that time. [34:00] And they all collectively repent of their sins with their faces in the dirt. [34:05] It says that Ezra gathered before them and he read the entire law.

[34:11] The first five books of the Old Testament. [34:13] That was their sermon for the day.

[34:17] And revival broke out. [34:20] Because they believed God. [34:21] They took Him at His word. [34:23] And they followed Him.

[34:28] The reality this morning that I want you to understand in our lives, [34:31] because we’re not rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, [34:33] don’t worry, I’m not going to call us to build concrete walls around the building. [34:38] The reality is that Israel was God’s chosen people to produce His Son, Jesus Christ.

[34:50] Through the nation of Israel came the Son of God. [34:53] We celebrated His birth last week.

[34:57] And in the first couple of books of the New Testament, [35:00] we see the birth of Jesus Christ, the life of Jesus Christ. [35:02] And then ultimately we see the death of Jesus Christ for the sins of humanity. [35:06] What God was doing in Israel was more than they ever could have imagined. [35:11] More than they ever could have thought. [35:13] These insignificant people in this insignificant country were used by God to redeem the entire world.

[35:21] Because God was not satisfied with just that country. [35:26] He wanted all countries. [35:27] He wanted all people. [35:29] He wanted all nations. [35:30] And through Israel, He came into the scene and He did what Israel could not. [35:36] He redeemed humanity from their sins on His own through His own power.

[35:45] And through that work, I want you to understand that He redeems all sinners everywhere. [35:50] Anyone that will trust in Him. [35:52] And then He calls you into the mission of advancing His gospel to build His city. [35:59] See, God calls His people to build His city by advancing His gospel.

[36:04] He doesn’t just call you into a life of leisure. [36:10] He doesn’t just call you into a life of doing whatever it is that you want. [36:13] The grace of God takes you where you are, but it changes you forever.

[36:20] And it takes you into a life where you advance His gospel for His kingdom.

[36:27] In Ephesians chapter 2, He gives us a vision. [36:32] A lot like the vision that He gives to Nehemiah. [36:35] For through Him, Jesus, we both have access in one spirit to the Father. [36:40] So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and the members of the household of God. [36:46] Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. [36:49] Nehemiah being one of those prophets.

[36:51] Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone. [36:54] In whom the whole structure being joined together grows into a holy structure. [36:59] Being joined together grows into a holy temple in the Lord. [37:02] In Him, you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

[37:09] We are called to be people if we trust that He’s redeemed us through Jesus. [37:15] That everything that He was doing in the Old Testament, that everything He’s been doing for history. [37:18] Was leading up to a point where He Himself would come onto the scene. [37:23] And He Himself would die for the sins of the world. [37:26] And He Himself would make us His people by being our God. [37:32] Then He has called us to build His people the church.

[37:38] It’s what He calls us. [37:41] We are members of one household.

[37:45] If we trust Him. [37:47] We are built on the foundation of everything that He’s ever said. [37:52] Everything that He’s ever written. [37:54] Everything that He’s ever revealed about Himself in Scripture. [37:57] That’s what we live on and that’s what we live for. [38:01] If we trust Him.

[38:07] You will choose in your life.

[38:13] Whether to build a life on God’s vision and mission. [38:16] That He has made clear through Jesus. [38:19] Or you can build your vision of your life.

[38:28] It’s a very sobering reality for me.

[38:33] That God gives me the responsibility of making choices every single day. [38:39] That either advance His kingdom or advance my kingdom. [38:43] And some of you are lying to yourselves. [38:49] Because you believe you can do both.

[38:55] You cannot do both.

[39:02] You say, that sounds radical.

[39:05] Friends, that sounds biblical.

[39:10] It’s as hard for me to believe as it is for you to believe.

[39:15] That God would have us to trust His wisdom more than we trust our own.

[39:22] Because some of us think we’re going to outsmart God because we know better than Him.

[39:28] It’s fairly hard to do. [39:30] Being that He’s God. [39:32] He may have an advantage.

[39:38] Counterfeit faith or fake faith. [39:42] Is one that is consumed by God working within your framework. [39:48] Towards what you want.

[39:51] Real faith is consumed by desiring God to work through you in His framework. [39:59] For what He wants. [40:02] See the difference there.

[40:05] One believes that God is a cosmic genie that does my bidding.

[40:12] One believes that I’m a creation that exists for what He wants.

[40:21] You must choose whether or not you will have a life of faith. [40:27] Or whether or not you will have a life of you.

[40:34] The reality is that you do this morning have the ability to choose one or the other.

[40:41] When times got tough building that wall. [40:45] But there came some moments for those Israelites where they said, is it worth it? [40:52] Can I tell you that often times in my life I ask myself the same question.

[40:58] But often times I mean like five minutes ago. [41:02] You’re like you were up there five minutes ago. I know. [41:06] It was the look you were giving me.

[41:12] Sometimes you want to pack it up and you just want to go do something else.

[41:18] You don’t want the responsibility.

[41:22] You don’t want to have to make the tough choices. [41:25] You don’t want to have to stick out in a culture that says live this way. [41:30] Have this many kids. Make this much money. Do this much. Do that much. [41:35] So you’ve got to work like 80, 90 hours a week just to keep up.

[41:43] So you’re forsaking everything. You’re forsaking your kids. You’re forsaking your faith. [41:47] But then at the end of the day you’re like, but I do have faith. I do believe. [41:50] I mean I read my Bible. I pray. I go to church.

[41:55] What’s interesting is that what Nehemiah considered worship and what I consider worship are often two different things. [42:03] And I’ll end with this.

[42:07] Often times my definition of worship is a little bit of music. [42:11] Set a nice mood. Play some background music. I get alone with God.

[42:17] Sometimes I have to light a candle or something. [42:20] It’s like everything has got to be perfect. You’ve got to be all alone. [42:22] And you’re like, okay, God speak.

[42:25] Don’t act like you haven’t done that. [42:29] It’s not that there’s anything wrong with that.

[42:34] But some of the greatest worship you’ll ever see in scripture took place with some people with some mortar in their left hand. [42:41] And a sword in their right hand. [42:44] So we’ve got to build God’s city.

[42:48] Friends, in 2013 we have a choice as a church.

[42:52] We have a real choice.

[42:57] We can build our city or we can build God’s.

[43:01] We can advance the gospel, which is the good news of Jesus Christ. [43:07] We can give it our all. We can believe. [43:11] If I’m going to make a sacrifice, it’s going to be a sacrifice for the God of the universe who called me into a relationship with himself. [43:20] God knows my name and that’s changed me forever.

[43:25] God knows your name. [43:26] And if you trust it, the sacrifices that you will make in your life will be for that. [43:33] The position that you are in will be used as a catalyst to further his gospel. [43:38] And you say, how are we going to do that? [43:40] Well, we’re going to use strategy just like Nehemiah used strategy. [43:43] We’re going to realize that it is God’s work to be done, but he wants to use our hands to do it.

[43:47] When Nehemiah understood that the attackers were coming, he didn’t just say, well, if it’s God’s will, an arrow is going to hit you in the back and you’re all going to die. [43:54] No, he said, we better get some swords.

[44:03] We need to follow God. [44:06] No matter what the cost. [44:08] We need to start making harder choices. [44:11] We need to start having more faith. [44:14] Because he’s redeemed us. [44:15] And he’s saying, build my city through the good news of Jesus Christ, because I’ve redeemed you.

[44:23] Let’s pray.

[44:30] Father, you’ve called us into a work.

[44:34] You’ve called us into a life that requires real trust.

[44:41] Lord, may we not even for a moment be a people who believe you in word, but not indeed.

[44:55] Lord, may we be a people who worship you through the sweat of our brow and the joy in our hearts.

[45:05] Give us faith.

[45:07] Give us hope.

[45:10] This morning, I don’t want to step away from this stage without giving you an opportunity that if you’re not a follower of Jesus Christ, if this has kind of piqued your interest, or if maybe if what I’ve said about faith and following and sacrificing, like it doesn’t make any sense. [45:27] I don’t know really what you’re talking about. [45:29] Well, if that’s you this morning, I want to give you an opportunity to step right over there, step to the back, to talk to someone about what it is to follow Jesus Christ, what it is to know Him, what it is to trust Him. [45:45] You can know the God of the universe today. [45:49] You can have a real relationship with God. [45:52] And He will change your life forever for His glory.

[45:57] And if you’re in here this morning and you say, I’m a follower of Jesus Christ, but I need to make some real choices to follow Him in my life.

[46:07] First John 1, 9 says that if we confess our sins, He’s faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

[46:16] You can do that this morning.

[46:21] But the next step is the life that you live when you walk out these doors. [46:24] Some of you have some easy choices to make to follow Jesus more closely.

[46:33] I’ll be frank, some of you have some hard choices to make. [46:37] Some of you have some tough changes that you need to make where it really is going to change everything.

[46:44] I want you to understand that you can do it through the power of God in your life. [46:49] Number two, you’ll never regret it. [46:53] You’ll never regret it. [46:55] Because building His kingdom is the greatest privilege that this life will ever hold. [47:03] And you can start it today.