Text: Nehemiah 13:31 Remember me, O my God, for good.
Introduction: The bible says, “God remembered Noah,” because of God can’t forget obedience. (Genesis 8:1) “God remembered the covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” (Exodus 2:24) The Lord cannot forget people who believe His words and those He makes covenant with. “The Lord remembered Hannah,” because of her humble prayer to be given a son that she would give back to Him. (1 Samuel 1:19) Finally, Nehemiah called upon the Lord to remember him five different times. Why would he ask for God’s remembrance? What blessing did he see in it? For there is only one thing better than our sins never being remembered again and that is to be forever remembered in the heart and mind of our Lord and Savior. It is what the thief on the cross asked for in his final breath.
NEHEMIAH WAS REMEMBERED...HE WAS A ZEALOUS MAN.
NEHEMIAH WAS ZEALOUS ABOUT BEING PASSIONATE.
His mind was focused.
He wasn’t a man who let things drift.
He knew what his goals were and would not be stopped.
He knew where he was going and took the steps to take others with him.
He reminds us of Jesus when He “set His face like a flint.”
Recently I found a book by Bishop J.C. Ryle, the first bishop of Liverpool, England on the subject of zeal, he wrote: Zeal is a burning desire to please God, to do His will, and to advance His glory in the world in every possible way. A zealous man is preeminently a man of one thing. He is more than earnest, hearty, uncompromising, wholehearted, and fervent in spirit. He sees only one thing, cares about one thing, lives for one thing, swallowed up in one thing, and that one thing is to please God. Whether he lives or dies, has health or has sickness, whether he is rich or poor, pleases people or give offense, whether he is thought wise or foolish, gets the blame or the praise, whether he receives honor or is given shame, He burns for one thing, and that one thing is to please God. Such a one will always find a sphere for his zeal. If he cannot preach, he will work and give money, he will cry and sigh and pray. If he cannot fight in the valley with Joshua, he will hold up the hands of Moses until the battle is won.
NEHEMIAH WAS ZEALOUS ABOUT PRAYER.
In the first chapter of Nehemiah the walls were down, morale was at rock bottom, God was not being honored in the city that bore His Name.
Nehemiah was nothing more than a high class slave (cupbearer)
Nehemiah prayed for and received favor and mercy with the king
In 52 days he rebuilt the city wall to about 10 feet high and thick with a total length of about 1.75 miles.
Nehemiah wrote that his success was, “with the help of our God.” (6:16)
The wall was not the end. He reinstituted the reading of God’s Word.
Nehemiah then declared his faith in words we all know so well; “the joy of the Lord is your strength” (8:9-12)
Soulshaping by Douglas Rumford is another great book on the spiritual life. Rumford writes about the signs of a healthy soul. He says zeal should not be confused with emotionalism, extroversion, or even with frenetic activity. It is better described as an unwavering confidence that results in a steady application of the truth of God in a person’s life.
When he found out about the plot of his enemies he tells us, “We prayed to our God.” (4:8-9)
When his enemies tried to frighten the people, he prayed (6:9)
Nehemiah was not self-reliant, but God reliant. He rejoiced in the faithfulness of God. He trusted, prayed and believed.
3. NEHEMIAH WAS ZEALOUS ABOUT HIS PURPOSE.
He was prepared to do anything within reason to get temple worship in order.
Pioneer missionary to China, India and Africa, C. T. Studd once said, “If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, no sacrifice is too great for me to make for Him.” C.T. Studd used the word sacrifice. It is a word not commonly used today. Yet it is the word that describes how life should be lived according to the kingdom pattern. This means that experiences of rejection even to death (or what feels like death) constantly precede experiences of resurrection in which we are made victorious again. But the resurrection doesn’t come until after death. It is this circle that the Lord leads His most zealous. As Paul wrote in Romans 12; I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Nehemiah’s zeal for his purpose can be seen in his last chapter…listen to his own words from The Message about an Ammonite living in the temple.
I was angry, really angry, and threw everything in the room out into the street, all of Tobiah's stuff. Then I ordered that they ceremonially cleanse the room. Only then did I put back the worship vessels of The Temple of God, along with the Grain-Offerings and the incense.
Concerning the Levites…
And then I learned that the Levites hadn't been given their regular food allotments. So the Levites and singers who led the services of worship had all left and gone back to their farms. I called the officials on the carpet, "Why has The Temple of God been abandoned?" I got everyone back again and put them back on their jobs so that all Judah was again bringing in the tithe of grain, wine, and oil to the storerooms.
Concerning the Sabbath…
So I spoke up and warned them about selling food on that day. As the gates of Jerusalem were darkened by the shadows of the approaching Sabbath, I ordered the doors shut and not to be opened until the Sabbath was over. I placed some of my servants at the gates to make sure that nothing to be sold would get in on the Sabbath day.
Concerning conducting business on the Sabbath…
Traders and dealers in various goods camped outside the gates once or twice. But I took them to task. I said, "You have no business camping out here by the wall. If I find you here again, I'll use force to drive you off." And that did it; they didn't come back on the Sabbath.
Concerning intermarriage with unbelievers
Also in those days I saw Jews who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. Half the children couldn't even speak the language of Judah; all they knew was the language of Ashdod or some other tongue. So I took those men to task, gave them a piece of my mind, even slapped some of them and jerked them by the hair. One of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was a son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite; I drove him out of my presence.
Concerning the order of worship…
All in all I cleansed them from everything foreign. I organized the orders of service for the priests and Levites so that each man knew his job. I arranged for a regular supply of altar wood at the appointed times and for the firstfruits.
Nehemiah reminds us that we must keep these priorities in place… passion… prayer… purpose. We must trust the Holy Spirit to ensure our energy in pursuing them. This is important because we all have suffered disappointments from time to time (such as finding we wasted our time or labor, or been deceived, denied justice, or been disabled or penalized in some way. Some of us have lost someone or something we valued enormously, or had our hopes dashed in some other way). Nehemiah felt all of these things but never saw his situation as beyond hope and with great zeal he set out to do the will of God at whatever cost.
Conclusion: God Remembers People Who are Passsionate, Zealous About Prayer and Consumed with Their Purpose
God give us all zeal. God, prompt us to take Nehemiah, Jesus and Paul as role models.
God help us to follow Romans 12:11 and, “Never be lacking in zeal.”
God help us to be zealous about our Lord and Savior…about the gift of eternal life… about the fullness of the Holy Spirit…about God’s powerful and eternal Word…
God help us to be zealous about our Pastors…
about new ideas and opportunities…
about new directions and about the new people the Lord will add.
God help us to be zealous about our church…about our ministries and missionaries.
God help us to be zealous about what lies ahead of us and who lives within us.
And as Nehemiah prayed… Remember me, O my God, for good.
