“The God Who Works Through Us”
(Nehemiah 3:1-32)
Series: REBUILD (Nehemiah)
Rev. Todd A. Linn, PhD
Henderson’s First Baptist Church, Henderson
- Let me invite you to join me in Nehemiah chapter 3.
While you’re finding that, I will be available to you after the worship service today in the Response Room. The Response Room is a place to come and find out about being saved, how to receive Jesus Christ as Savior. It’s also a place to register for baptism or register for the next new member class. Or to have your questions answered about salvation, baptism, or joining the church. Nehemiah chapter 3.
We’re preaching our way through the Book of Nehemiah, a book about rebuilding—rebuilding walls, rebuilding lives; rebuilding physical things, rebuilding spiritual things.
The year is 444 BC. That’s two and a half thousand years ago. Nehemiah has made his way to Jerusalem to lead one of the greatest rebuilding projects in the history of civil engineering.
Context:
Nehemiah 2:20, So I answered them, and said to them, “The God of heaven Himself will prosper us; therefore we His servants will arise and build, but you have no heritage or right or memorial in Jerusalem.”
He said that to his critics, Sanballat and Tobiah and another critic named Geshem. “You have no memorial in Jerusalem.” We don’t build memorials to critics, do we?! But the thrust of the text is this statement, “The God of heaven Himself will prosper us.” So we talked about the God who prospers us. Chapter 4, The God Who Fights for Us. See that in chapter 4, verse 20:
Nehemiah 4:20, “Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.”
And in-between is Chapter 3: “The God Who Works Through Us.”
Philippians 2:13, it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
Some may be tempted to skip over chapter 3…profitability of all Scripture…I encourage you to read the chapter in full later today.
Let me call attention to a few interesting things here. There are a number of names here. And there’s something of a pattern that emerges. We read of the primary leader, the team, what they were working on. Look at the first verse, verse 1:
“Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests and built the Sheep Gate; they consecrated it and hung its doors. They built as far as the Tower of the Hundred, and consecrated it, then as far as the Tower of Hananel.”
Then you read about nine gates around the city wall, these 9 gates are mentioned. See them there in your Bible (underlined in my Bible). Sheep gate is the first one there in verse 1, then you have old gate, valley gate, refuse gate, fountain gate, water gate (that’s where Richard Nixon was! Just kidding, different watergate), horse gate, Miphkad gate (inspection gate), then back to sheep gate. This is a circular pattern. Counter clockwise.
Take a look at couple maps here.
The City of Jerusalem mentioned 800 times in the Bible; never once in the Koran. The countries of the world are regarded east west north and south relative to the bullseye of the world, Jerusalem, God’s city, center of the universe.
One of the difficulties in determining the exact location of these gates is the fact that: Jerusalem has been “besieged, captured, or destroyed in whole or in part more than forty times.”—Archaeological Supplement, Thompson Chain-Reference Bible (p.1759).
Here’s the route Nehemiah took on his mule…
Told you about the Gihon Spring last time. Look at this. Before Nehemiah, Hezekiah’s tunnel in the 700s BC. Preparing for siege by the Assyrians, King Sennacherib. Surreptitiously re-routs the Gihon Spring, digging a channel underneath the eastern side of the city, flowing into the Pool of Siloam. The Pool of Siloam was rediscovered just 14 years ago. There’s an inscription on the wall that tells about the moment the workers met ax-to-ax, meeting in the middle. The original inscription is in a museum in Istanbul.
So these gates went in a counter clockwise direction from the Sheep Gate and all the way around again to the Sheep Gate again. Verse 1 and verse 32. You’ll see that.
There are two main themes that run throughout chapter 3. They are to the twin themes of unity and individuality.
Two Themes:
Unity—two are better than one; solidarity. See recurring phrases: “next to him” and “after him” and so on. Unity.
Individuality—names of individual persons with individual jobs to do.
I want to share from chapter 3 some principles that surface from our study. I’m calling them “Rebuild Principles.”
Each of these principles finds ultimate expression in the gospel. Each principle finds ultimate meaning in the One who comes to bring the greatest demonstration of unity among the individuality of those who trust in Him. Jesus Christ comes in humility and brings together a people of great individuality, the individual members of the church. So let’s remember that as we explore these three principles. First:
- Every One Has a Part
Every one has a part in the rebuilding of the wall. Every one. You know that God’s people can do more together than they can do alone, amen? So every one has a part.
Chapter 3 catalogues a number of individuals among the people of God used to do the work of rebuilding for God’s glory. This is teamwork!
I love one of these little “nuggets” here in chapter 3 is found in verse 12:
“And next to him was Shallum the son of Hallohesh, leader of half the district of Jerusalem (that’s a pretty big job!); he and his daughters made repairs.”
Shallum is like, “Okay, every one has a part! Come on ladies, you can help, too!” It was a family thing, everyone serving together. Our church’s vision is “developing generations of disciples who make disciples…” and we do that in part by “Strengthening the Family.”
One name after another after another. I laughed at verse 16:
“After him Nehemiah (wait, not THE Nehemiah) the son of Azbuk,” not Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. So this is a different Nehemiah. How’d you like to be this guy. Every time they called out “Nehemiah!” he’d turn around around and then be like, “Nope, the other Nehemiah!” But he worked too, he was faithful, not a prominent fella like THE Nehemiah, but faithful nonetheless.
They all had their assignments at various sections of the wall and various gates. You’ve got people working together, literally standing together, the upper class and lower class. You’ve got goldsmiths working alongside perfumers. Big burly people next to soft around the middle people. What is this a picture of? This is a picture of the church, isn’t it?
You look at 1 Corinthians 12 and you find the Apostle Paul describing a similar group of God’s people, a people of “diversities of gifts, but the same God working in and through them,” a people untied together in Christ as various members of one body, each having his or her part. And each “member,” each person has a part in the church. Working together in unity. United together as one and working together.
OS Hawkins reminds us of a classic episode from one of the pioneer sitcoms from decades past. Some of you will remember the old TV show The Honeymooners starring Jackie Gleason:
Gleason played the part of Ralph Kramden, an overweight bus driver who lived in an apartment with his wife, Alice. His friend and sidekick was his neighbor Ed Norton, who worked in the sewer department of the local municipality. …Ralph is trying to get a big piece of furniture through the apartment door. He is sweating profusely and unable to get the heavy object to move. Ed walks by, lunch box in hand, on his way home for work. He says, “Hey Ralph, can I give you a hand?” Ralph says, “Yes!” So Ed, clad in his trademark white T-Shirt, vest, and rumpled hat, takes hold of the piece of furniture outside the door while Ralph climbs into the apartment through the window and positions himself inside the door. They pull and push. But the furniture doesn’t budge an inch. It is still stuck in the middle of the doorway. This goes on for several minutes. Finally, Ralph stops, wipes his brow with his handkerchief and calls out to Ed through the window. He says, “I don’t think we are ever going to get this piece fo furniture into this apartment!” Norton replies, “Get it in the apartment? I thought we were trying to get it out of the apartment!”—The Nehemiah Code
Every one of us has a part and we must work together in unity for the glory of God. Every one has a part.
Are you doing your part serving and working in the church to build up, or to edify, others?
Are you using your gifts in the church? If not, did you know that you can volunteer today? Just go to our website and click on the menu. There’s a word under that menu called “volunteer.” There’s a short video clip highlighting volunteer opportunities, a volunteer application, and a link to a spiritual gift inventory if you’re wondering how you are uniquely designed by God to serve. It’s fun! Go to fbchenderson.org and click on the menu. Then click volunteer. Every one has a part and we must do our part together.
Sunday night at our members’ meeting I shared a little vision I believe God gave me through His providence. And I read from Acts 9 and verse 31, a verse that captures the essence of the early church as it was growing, Acts 9:31:
“Then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied.”
Those two words capture the work we are to be about. Edification and Multiplication. We are to edify, that means to “build up,” and multiply, that is the ultimate goal of building up, reaching out to others, sharing the gospel, bringing them into faith with Christ, and connection to the church. Edifying and multiplying.
I shared Sunday night that we do a pretty good job of edifying. There’s no church in Henderson I think that does a better job of edification, building up through sound biblical teaching from the kiddos through to senior adults. We have a high view of Scripture and we teach it to every person in the church. And we’re good at ministering to one another. But we’re not mean to just minister to one another. We’re not meant merely to enjoy preaching every week and Sunday school teaching and inward ministry. It’s important, but it’s not an end of itself. It must lead to multiplication.
So we’re not just coming and preaching or teaching or listening to sermons and lessons and having fellowships. That’s important, but it must lead to multiplication. Sharing the gospel with others. Bringing new folks into your Sunday school class. Equipping others in your class to teach in the future. To start another work of multiplication. Edifying and multiplying are what we’re to be about.
Brother Ken, our Minister of Education and Evangelism sent an email out to a number of our teachers. I was encouraged to read it. He shared about having the opportunity to share the gospel with a dozen different nurses while he was receiving treatment at Deaconess Midtown Hospital. He encouraged each teacher to click on one of the links to learn how best to talk to others about Jesus. It was so cool. That’s the work of both edifying and multiplying.
When was the last time you led someone to faith in Christ and into the baptismal waters and connection to the church?
- No One is Too Big for Any One Task
There’s one of these surprising statements in Chapter 3 from which this point derives. You’ve got all these great listings of people who are doing the work, and everyone has a part, and it seems everyone is doing his or her part and then this in verse 5, right after the workers of verse 4 Nehemiah says in verse 5, “Next to them the Tekoites made repairs; but their nobles did not put their shoulders to the work of their Lord.” And I read that the first time and I was like, “What?!” So I read it again and it said the same thing, “their nobles did not put their shoulders to the work of their Lord.”
The word “shoulders” there is literally, “necks” and the picture is a frequent one used in Old Testament Hebrew to indicate a proud people with outstretched necks, too high and mighty to do what others do, it was too beneath them. The ESV has a good translation here. It says, “their nobles would not stoop to serve their Lord.” They just refused to do the work. It was beneath them.
There will always be people who refused to “get on board” with the rest of the crew. There will always be folks like that. We said God’s will often includes opposition. Sanballat and Tobiah, remember them? But they were critics on the outside. These leaders mentioned in verse 5 are critics on the inside. That’s discouraging, isn’t it.
Don’t be one of these guys! They considered themselves too big for the job. Well, no one is too big for any one task. God works through humble people. He exalts the humble and humiliates the proud. So unless you want God to humiliate you, humble yourself as even our Lord Jesus humbled Himself and become obedient unto death, even death on the cross.
So many folks could be rightly proud of the work they did. Their names all listed here in Chapter 3. And it’s a testimony to the ineptitude of these nobles, whoever they were, that there is no specific name listed among them. And throughout history they forever are recalled as the ones who were too proud to stoop down and help.
It’s pretty cool that their refusal to work didn’t hamper the spirit of the Tekoites. They actually took on more work. They rebuilt two sections of the wall. You see that later in verse 27: “After them the Tekoites repaired another section, next to the great projecting tower, and as far as the wall of Ophel.” They’re like, “We’re not going to get bitter here. We’re just going to keep on serving the Lord, trusting God to do the work through us.”
Philippians 2:3-4, Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
Every one has a part. And no one is too big for any one task.
One of the more interesting facts I learned in my study this week was learning how much of the rubble from the past was used to rebuild the wall. There was an awful lot of broken down stones lying around. Much of this rubble from previous ages was incorporated into the rebuilt wall.
You’ll remember from last time when Nehemiah was doing his nighttime reconnoitering on his mule, checking everything out, there was the time he had to dismount his mule and walk by foot because of the rubble. So here’s the third rebuild principle as we trust God to work through us. Remember this:
- Yesterday’s “Rubble” Helps us Rebuild Today
Just as God worked through His people then so He works through His people now. Just as God used past “rubble” to rebuild the wall, so God uses rubble from our past to help us rebuild in the present.
Rubble is stuff that’s broken down in our lives. Brokenness from the past. Mistakes. Sins. Failures. Embarrassments. The death of a dream.
I don’t know what your “rubble” is. It may be a failed marriage, a wayward son or daughter, a job loss, a sickness, a bad experience, trials of affliction, suffering, or persecution.
Listen: God is working in your life. He is a sovereign good God. He takes the rubble of our past and uses it to rebuild our present.
We sang this chorus earlier:
I come broken to be mended
I come wounded to be healed
That’s exactly what God intends to do in your life: to mend you, to heal you, using the rubble of your past to rebuild your present.
James 1:2-3: My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance, or perseverance.
Romans 8:28-29, And we know that all things (all rubble!) work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son…”
God uses the rubble from your past experiences to help you rebuild in the present. No trial or affliction remains just laying around of no use. God intends to use it if you’ll but let Him. He intends to work in you by working through that past experience to shape you into who you are today and where you’re haded tomorrow. Yesterday’s rubble helps us rebuild today.
There’s an unusual evergreen tree called the lodgepole pine. It’s a tree that is seen throughout Yellowstone Park if you’ve ever been there. The pinecones of the lodgepole pine may hang on the tree for years and years, and even when they fall they don’t open. These cones will open only when they come in contact with intense heat. And God has a reason for planning them this way. When a forest fire rages throughout parks and forests all the trees are destroyed. The heat of the fire opens the cones of the lodgepole pine, and these pines are often the first tree to grow in an area that has been burned by fire.
Listen: Some of you have been through difficult days and challenging situations. Like Jerusalem under siege, the walls are broken down and the gates have been burned, and there’s rubble lying everywhere. But God desires to work through all of this. God delights in working through all the rubble and destruction of your life. And the heat from the fires of affliction in your life opens up in you a new opportunity to live. God uses the rubble from your past to rebuild your present. Trust Him. Allow Him to begin a new work in your life. It’s never too late for a new beginning.
- Let’s pray.
Heads bowed and eyes closed. All these wonderful principles—Everyone has a part, No one is too big for any one task, and Yesterday’s rubble helps us rebuild today—each principle finds its ultimate meaning and expression in the promised One who came from all of these workers building the wall in Nehemiah 3.
Each principle finds expression in the One who comes to bring a more lasting unity among His people—a people of every tongue, tribe, and nation, “an inheritance of nations.” The One who comes and humbles Himself as the Greatest Servant of all; our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the Chief Cornerstone in Whom the whole building of His people—the church—grows into a holy temple in the Lord (Ephesians 2:20-21).
So church, arise and put your armor on! Hear the call of Christ our captain. For now the weak can say that they are strong, in the strength that God has given.
“Lord, we confess that without You we are lost and undone, broken down rubble in need of restoration. We repent of our sin. We turn from our sin and turn to You. Jesus, thank You for living and dying for us on the cross. Thank You for resurrection life through the power of the gospel. Give us grace to live this week for Your glory doing our part, humbling ourselves for any task, trusting in Your sovereignty to shape us from past failures as You rebuild our lives through Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray, amen.”
RESPONSE: “O Church Arise”
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