Joining Nehemiah in Jerusalem

‘DOING A GREAT WORK’

BEGINNING& SHARING

INTHE WORK

BEGINNING THE WORKTHE REALITY CHECK

PAUL’S EXPERIENCE (1 Cor 16.9)‘For a great door and effectual is opened up to me,

AND THERE ARE MANY ADVERSARIES’

Sanballat, governor ofSamaria Tobiah, governor ofAmmonGeshem, an Arab chiefused ridicule & scornto oppose the work

before it began

BEGINNING THE WORK

THE RESPONSE

Put theenemies in

their place &give GOD His place.

‘Ye haveno portion (past),

nor right (present), nor

memorial (future) in Jerusalem.’

‘The God of

heaven, he will prosper

us.’

THE BALANCE OF POWER HAD SHIFTED IN THE CITY. HAS IT SHIFTED WHERE WE ARE?

MEET THE WORKERS (Chapter 3)

it’s notjust a listof boring

names – norare we!

Godkeeps

records - itdoes matterwhat we do

here!

heavenis interestedin what each

person isbuilding

‘For we are labourerstogether with God…

every man’s work shallbe manifest: for the day

shall declare it’,1 Cor 3.

WHAT WAS THE SECRET OF THISSUCCESSFUL WORKFORCE?

You might readChap 3 & say,

‘TEAMWORK &HARMONY’

‘next unto him…next unto them…after him…after

them’BUT TEAMWORK

doesn’t just happen,because someone

says it will. It stems from:

CLARITYSTANDARDSREWARDS

CLARITY THREE KEY QUESTIONS1.Do the leaders know where they are going?2.Do the workers know where the leaders are going & whether they are included in the plans?3.Are the workers aware of their part in the plan?

There was CLARITY ABOUT

THE VISIONfor Jerusalem

‘Come and let usbuild up the wall of

Jerusalem that we beno more a reproach’

There wasCLARITY AS TOWHO COULD BE

INVOLVED

• all had responsibility – ‘we’, ‘us’• but the reality was it was only those who ‘had a mind (heart) to work’,4.6, who were committed.

Are you one of these?seemingly

‘unsuitable’ & unlikely peoplewere involved

• the high priest v.1 • priests/Levites v.1• goldsmiths v.8,31• women v.12• merchants v.31• rulers vv.12,14

don’t make excuses!

‘outsiders’were involved

• from 8 outlying areas e.g. Jericho v.2; Tekoa v.5; Gibeon v.7.• some people may not have been happy about this

we can allowprejudices to

exclude others

a restoredbackslider

was involvedMalchijah, v.11

13 years before hehad been guilty oftaking a ‘strangewife’ (Ez 10.31 –

probably the sameman)

we often find ithard to forgive

There wasCLARITY

ABOUT EACHPERSON’S

PART IN THEPLAN

• they knew precisely what they had to do when they turned up for work• do we ‘turn up’ & do we know what to do ?• do we ‘turn up to work’ or ‘to sit around and…’?• there was great harmony, but they were not all doing the same thing, e.g. some built and some repaired

TEAMWORK &HARMONY ON THEWALLS STEMMED

FROM CLARITY!

STANDARDS TWO KEY QUESTIONS1.Are the workers expected to give of their best?2. Is mediocrity tolerated here?

REMEMBER at the JudgmentSeat, Christ will want to know:

• how much we have gained• of what sort (how excellent) our work has been• He will want quantity of the right quality

STANDARDS – How did Nehemiah get thebest out of the workers?

He set some to work on sections of the wall thatwere in close proximity to their own houses

3.10,23,28-30 – an incentive to give their best!

‘That is where every realwork for God must begin – at

home…a church is no strongerthan its homes, for a church is

made up of families’. A.Redpath

Each local assembly must ‘build’ in its local area‘In gospel work, the many are not called to ‘climb the

steeps and cross the waves’, their duty lies insimply climbing the steps across the street’. S.Carson

He set others to work in areas that were ofparticular interest and relevance to them.

Eliashib, thehigh priest & thepriests workedon the Sheep

Gate – animalsfor sacrifice

came throughhere.

the Nethenims(temple servants)

worked neartheir dwellingsthat stood on

the threshold ofthe temple

mount

Later on theenemies around‘perceived thatthis work waswrought of our

God’, 4.6 – therewas a quality

about it!What does the neighbourhood see from us – the

best or mediocrity?‘And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not

unto men; knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the rewardof the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ’, Col 3.23,24.

REWARDS TWO KEY QUESTIONS1.Does anyone notice what the workers are doing?2.Does anyone care?

THE LORD KNOWS, CARES &REWARDS HIS WORKERS

‘we shall all stand before the judgmentseat of Christ…So then every one of usshall give an account of himself to God

…every man shall receive his ownreward according to his own labour’,

Rom 14.10,12, 1 Cor 3.8,13,14.We are all known in heaven!

REWARDS – Nehemiah’s judgmentseat for the workers in Jerusalem

He recorded& remembered

their names• identified those with

the same names by theirfamily backgrounds, e.g. v.16• knew where they lived, even

Meshullam who lived in aone-room apartment, v.30

He noticedtheir work

• individual praise- not general – it is

motivational

• noticed those whogave extra – another piece• noticed a lone-worker –Malchiah – working on the

Dung Gate – not glamorous, but vital, v.14• noticed those who did acomplete job – fitted thelocks & bars, e.g. v.14

• noticed the exceptionalworker – Baruch – ‘earnestly

repaired’ – there will bepositions in Christ’s

kingdom, v.20

REWARDS – those who ‘lost out’‘And next unto them the Tekoites repaired, buttheir nobles put not their necks to the work of

their Lord’, v.5.They ‘suffered loss’ for not sharing in the work.

It is possible to suffer loss at the Judgment Seat of Christ – a serious matter!

The Tekoites lived 11 miles from Jerusalem, butthey did not use poor leadership as an excuse to

lower their own standards.

Clarity of vision, high standards & those who feltvalued & rewarded turned a disparate band of workers

into a potent team for the furtherance of the Lord’s work.IT CAN BE ACHIEVED TODAY - USE YOUR GIFT(S)!