Working Together To Get The Job Done

INTRODUCTION: WE CAN ACCOMPLISH MORE BY WORKING TOGETHER THAN WE CAN BY WORKING ALONE. IF WE ARE GOING TO EFFECTIVELY MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THIS WORLD, IT’S GOING TO TAKE A UNIFIED EFFORT FROM ALL OF US. GENERAL MOTORS, HOBART, AND OTHER CORPORATIONS HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFUL THROUGH THE YEARS BECAUSE THEY FUNCTION AS A TEAM. MICHEAL JORDAN, AS GREAT AS HE WAS DID NOT ACHIEVE HIS FAME ALL BY HIMSELF. AND SO IT IS IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD. TOGETHER WE STAND AND DIVIDED WE FALL. SO MY BROTHERS AND MY SISTERS, IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT WE STRIVE IN A HARMONIOUS ATMOSPHERE, WORKING TOGETHER TO GET THE JOB DONE.

I. TEXT

NEHEMIAH GETS WORD THAT THINGS ARE BAD IN JERUSALEM. UPON HEARING OF THE CONDITIONS OF HIS NATIVE LAND, HIS HEART BECOMES HEAVY, HIS SPIRIT BECOMES UNEASY, AND HIS COUNTENACE LOSES ITS GLOW. NEMIAH PRAYS TO GOD FOR STRENGTH AND DIRECTION. MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS, WHEN OUR HEARTS ARE BURDENED, WE MUST TURN TO GOD.

NEHEMIAH HAD AN INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE KING. NEHEMIAH WAS HELD IN HIGH ESTEEM BY THE KING, SO MUCH SO, THAT HE FOUND FAVOR WITH THE KING. NEHEMIAH HELD THE OFFICE OF CUPBEARER, WHICH WAS A POSITION OF GREAT RESPONSIBILTY. THE CUPBEARER WAS THE OFFICIAL TASTER FOR THE KING. THE LIFE OF THE KING WAS IN THE HANDS OF NEHEMIAH. NEHEMIAH WAS A MAN OF ABILITY, ACTION, AND COURAGE.

UPON HEARING THE REQUEST OF NEHEMIAH, THE KING GRANTS HIM THE DESIRES OF HIS HEART. WHAT WAS HIS DESIRE? TO GO HOME AND REBUILD THE WALL. MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS, GOD WHO IS UNSEEN, WAS WORKING BEHIND THE SCENE, TO ACCOMPLISH WHAT WILL BE SEEN.

II. OPPOSITION

THE WORK WAS MET WITH GREAT OPPOSITION FROM SANBALLET, WHO WAS AN INFLUENTIAL SAMARITAN, TOBIAH, A HALFBREED JEW, AND GESHEM, AND ARABIAN. KINGDOM BUILDING WILL ALWAYS MEET WITH OPPOSITION BECAUSE THERE ARE THOSE WHO DO NOT WANT TO SEE A GOOD WORK DONE. THERE ARE THOSE WHO ARE STUMBLING BLOCKS. THERE ARE THOSE WANT TO HALT, HURT, AND HINDER THE PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH. OPPOSITION COMES FROM EXTERNAL FORCES, AND AT THE SAME TIME OPPOSITION COMES FROM INTERNAL FORCES. IN OTHER WORDS, THERE ARE THOSE WITH THEIR FOOT ON THE BRAKES. (ILLUSTRATION-SEVERAL YEARS AGO, I WAS DRIVING AND THE PERSON IN FRONT OF ME KEPT HITTING THEIR BRAKES; WHICH CAUSED ME TO HIT MY BRAKES, DISTURBING THE FLOW OF TRAFFIC. i STATED TO MYSELF, "STOP HITTING THE BRAKES." SOME PEOPLE IN THE CHURCH HAVE THEIR FOOT ON THE BRAKES).

NEHEMIAH AND THE PEOPLE WERE COMMITTED TO THE WORK. IF KINGDOM BUSINESS IS TO TAKE PLACE, PEOPLE MUST BE COMMITTED. PROVERBS 16:3 TEACHES, “COMMITT THY WORKS UNTO THE LORD AND THY THOUGHTS SHALL BE ESTABLISHED.” NEHEMIAH’S COMMITMENT IS AMPLIFIED IN CH. 6:3, WHEN SANBALLET TRIED TO GET HIM TO COME DOWN FROM THE WALL, NEHEMIAH STATES, “ I AM DOING A GREAT WORK, SO THAT I CANNOT COME DOWN: WHY SHOULD THE WORK CEASE, WHILST I LEAVE IT AND COME DOWN TO YOU?”

III. THREE POINTS

IF WE ARE GOING TO WORK TOGETHER TO GET THE JOB DONE, WE MUST FIRST HAVE A MIND TO WORK. WE CANNOT BE SLOTHFUL. A SLOTHFUL PERSON IS BOTH UNDEPENDABLE AND LAZY. HE DOES NOT WANT TO DO THE WORK, BUT HE ALWAYS WANTS TO TAKE CREDIT FOR THE WORK. PROVERBS 19:24 TEACHES, “A SLOTHFUL MAN HIDETH HIS HAND IN HIS BOSOM, AND WILL NOT SO MUCH AS BRING IT TO HIS MOUTH AGAIN.” PROVERBS 21:25 TEACHES, “THE DESIRE OF THE SLOTHFUL KILLETH HIM: FOR HIS HANDS REFUSE TO LABOR.”

NOT ONLY MUST WE HAVE THE MIND TO WORK, BUT WE MUST ALSO BE ON ONE ACCORD WITH EACH OTHER AND WITH GOD. PHILIPPIANS 2:2 TEACHES, “FULFILL YE MY JOY, THAT YE BE LIKEMINDED, HAVING THE SAME LOVE, BEING OF ONE ACCORD, OF ONE MIND.” WE CANNOT SOW SEEDS OF DISCORD. (ILLUSTRATION OF THE VISION-IN ACTS WHEN PAUL SAW THE VISION, IT WAS SEEN BY PAUL AND FOLLOWED BY ALL. IT WAS NOT SEEN BY ALL AND FOLLOWED BY PAUL).

NOT ONLY MUST WE HAVE THE MIND TO WORK, AND NOT ONLY MUST WE BE ON ONE ACCORD, BUT WE MUST BE GUIDED BY FAITH. FAITH SEES BEYOND THE BOUNDARIES OF PHYSICAL SIGHT. THE HUMAN EYE IS A MULTIFACET ORGAN, COMPOSED OF SCLERA, IRIS, CILIARY BODY, RETINA, OPTIC NERVES, AND OTHER THINGS, ALONG WITH SIX MUSCLES, WHICH PERMIT THE EYES TO MOVE IN VARIOUS DIRECTIONS. HOWEVER, FAITH PERMITS GOD TO BE OUR EYES.

CONCLUSION

NEHEMIAH, DESPITE OPPOSITION, COMPELTED THE WALL IN FIFTY-TWO DAYS. SO MY BROTHERS AND MY SISTERS, AS I OBSERVE THE CHAOTIC CONDITIONS OF OUR WORLD, I AM CONVICTED AND CONVINCED THAT THERE ARE WALLS OF LOVE THAT NEED TO BE REBUILT. WALLS OF TRUST THAT NEED TO BE REBUILT. WALLS OF HOPE THAT NEED TO BE REBUILT. WALLS OF FAITH THAT NEED TO BE REBUILT. WALLS OF TRUTH THAT NEED TO BE REBUILT. WALLS OF LOYALTY THAT NEED TO BE REBUILT. WE MUST WORK TOGETHER AND GET THE JOB DONE. WE MUST WORK TOGETHER TO BRING WAYWARD CHILDREN BACK HOME. WE MUST WORK TOGETHER TO GET THE BACKSLIDDER TO WALK RIGHT. WE MUST WORK TOGETHER TO GET SINNERS TO CONFESS CHRIST AS THEIR LORD AND THEIR SAVIOR. WE MUST WORK TOGETHER TO TELL THE WORLD ABOUT JESUS.