“FROM BUILDING WALLS TO BUILDING LEADERS”
Nehemiah 7
I. INTRODUCTION:
A. Orphaned chapters in the narrative:
1. The tendency:
2. The fork in the road:
3. The length of the chapter:
B. Transitioning from “lifeless” stones to “living” stones:
1. Lifeless stones:
2. Living stones:
C. Diligence in consolidating and conserving the gains:
(See II Jn. 8)
1. Insights into a lengthy register of names:
2. Getting a city ready for a Divine encounter:
II. PROTECTING THE WORK BY BUILDING PEOPLE:
A. Enlisting leaders of hope: v. 1-3 (See back)
C.S. Lewis the renowned Biblical philosopher wrote these words about the
motivation factor of hope. He said, "Hope means a continual looking forward to
the eternal world. It does not mean that we are to leave the present world as it is.
If you read history, you will find that the Christians that did most for the present
world were those who thought most of the next one. It is these Christians who
have largely ceased to think of the other world who are so ineffective in this one.
Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at this earth and you will get
neither. With our lives so welded to this world, we must ask ourselves, what
must God do to get us to release our earthly focus for the sake of a heavenly
one?"
Hope – (elpis) – “confident expectation of completeness” conveying the idea of a
present appropriation of a future joyous certainty based upon the fixation on the
object of trust. It means to be affected joyfully today by a certainty that will take
place in the future. The way hope is used in the Bible is very different from how it
is used in every day conversation. We say, “my lawn is dying - I hope it rains
today”, or “I hope to pass the exam”. Those are wishes that may or may not
come to pass. Scriptural hope is a future certainty based upon the
trustworthiness of Christ. (Tit. 1:2; 2:13; Rom. 15:13; Heb. 6:19)
- Assistants: v. 2
- Gatekeepers: vv. 1, 3
- Guards: v. 3
B. Establishing citizenship: vv. 4-69
1. Living links:
2. Proving your roots:
a. Leaders who returned with Zerubbabel: v. 7
b. Clans: vv. 8-25
c. According to villages: vv. 27-38
d. Temple personnel: vv. 39-60
e. Those who couldn’t prove their ancestry:
vv. 61-65
f. Animals: vv. 68-69
C. Encouraging worship: vv. 70-73 (See back)
1. What it takes to make a state:
2. What it takes to make a state, godly
3. What the feast of trumpets was all about:
III. PRINCIPLES TO PERSONALLY APPLY:
(Together becoming “people of the Word” in principle AND in practice)
A. As a “rank and file” member, my greatest ability is
dependability.
B. As a “rank and file” member, accountability is a
necessity If the people and the work are to be
protected. “Helping someone keep his/her commitment to
God”
C. As a “rank and file” member, a genuine spiritual birth
certificate must be an absolute certainty. (Jn. 3:3; 5:24;
II Cor. 5:17; Eph. 2:5, 8-9; II Tim. 1:12; I Jn. 5:13)
(name, date, and who you were born to – I Cor. 6:19-20;
Rev. 21:17)
Sinners Prayer
Dear Heavenly Father, I was made by you and I was made for you, but
I have been living for myself. I am sorry for that self-rule you call sin.
I believe that Jesus Christ being my creator God, died, was buried,
and rose again to pay the insurmountable debt that my sin has
created since birth. So right now, I am turning from a life of going my
own way, to by faith, place my trust in Jesus Christ, to pay the debt of
all my sin, and to get me to heaven, when I breath my last breath.
Lord Jesus, from today on, I am yours. Thanks for saving me, this
very moment, in Jesus name, amen.
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