NEHEMIAH’S VISION
Nehemiah 2:11-20, "So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days. And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem: neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon. And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, even before the dragon well, and to the dung port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire. Then I went on to the gate of the fountain, and to the king’s pool: but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass. Then went I up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall, and turned back, and entered by the gate of the valley, and so returned. And the rulers knew not whither I went, or what I did; neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work. Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach. Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king’s words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work. But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king? Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem."
Do you have a vision, or a calling upon your life to accomplish anything for God? We must realize that anything that God gives us a vision to do will be a thing greater than we think that we can do when we begin.
God is a big God and he only has big plans but He uses small people with no plans to accomplish his work. It’s only after we begin the work by faith that the real plan and vision begins to unfold before us. When God calls us to work for him, he will equip us to do the work that he has called us to do.
Every big dream, every vision starts small and continues to grow as long as we don’t give up on it and walk away. It’s never in God’s will for his plan for our life to fail. It’s never in God’s will for the vision that he has given to us to fail to come to pass. Too many people walk away when the going gets tough and the obstacles loom larger and larger in their path.
Illustration:
Bette Nesmith had a good secretarial job in a Dallas bank when she ran across a problem that interested her. Wasn’t there a better way to correct the errors she made on her electric typewriter? Bette had some art experience and she knew that artists who worked in oils just painted over their errors. Maybe that would work for her too. So she concocted a fluid to paint over her typing errors.
Before long, all the secretaries in her building were using what she then called "MistakeOut". She attempted to sell the product idea to marketing agencies and various companies (including IBM), but they turned her down. However, secretaries continued to like her product, so Bette Nesmith’s kitchen became her first manufacturing facility and she started selling it on her own.
When Bette Nesmith sold the enterprise, the tiny white bottles were earning $3.5 million annually on sales of $38 million. The buyer was Gillette Company and the sale price was $47.5 million.
No matter whether the call of God takes you and no matter what you must do to fulfill that call upon your life, God will give you the grace to make it through and overcome. In the end, you will not be among those people that President Teddy Roosevelt called, “timid souls who know neither the thrill of victory nor the agony of defeat.”
It’s not just the unsung heroes of humanity like Bette Nesmith who face obstacles that must be overcome to achieve their dreams and fulfill the calling in their lives. Every successful person who becomes what God intends for them to be, both in the earthly manner and in spiritual matters, will face great obstacles that must be overcome.
Illustration:
At the age of seven, he had to go to work to help support his family. At nine, his mother died. At twenty-two, he lost his job as a store clerk. At twenty-three, he went into debt and became a partner in a small store. At twenty-six, his partner died leaving him a huge debt. By the age of thirty-five, he had been defeated twice when running for a seat in Congress. At the age of thirty-seven, he won the election. At thirty-nine, he lost his reelection bid. At forty- one, his four-year-old son died. At forty-two, he was rejected for a land officer role. At forty-five, he ran for the Senate and lost. At forty-seven, he was defeated for the nomination for Vice President. At forty-nine, he ran for Senate again and lost again. At the age of fifty-one, he was elected President of the United States. During his second term of office, he was assassinated. But his name lives on among the greats in U.S. history--Abraham Lincoln. Heaven Bound Living,
Illustration:
A missionary in Africa was once asked if he really liked what he was doing. His response was shocking. "Do I like this work?" he said. "No. My wife and I do not like dirt. We have reasonably refined sensibilities. We do not like crawling into vile huts through goat refuse...But is a man to do nothing for Christ he does not like? God pity him, if not. Liking or disliking has nothing to do with it. We have orders to ’Go," and we go. Love constrains us."
Nehemiah was a man with a big dream. God had given him the vision and called him to do the impossible. Somehow, though, Nehemiah had faith that God was the God of impossibilities and he began to take steps toward fulfilling the call of God to go to work.
Israel had been conquered and the Jews were an enslaved people. Nehemiah was one of the fortunate Jews who had been blessed by God and brought to the King’s palace to be a cupbearer for the King. That may not sound like much of a job for you and I, to be the one tastes the king’s drink to be sure that it isn’t poisoned and then to give the rest to the king and just stand by waiting for more. It may not have been the best job in the kingdom but at least it wasn’t in the brick pits or slave labor camps.
God had groomed Nehemiah to be ready for the dream when it came. All of Nehemiah’s life had been ordered by the Lord to bring him to this time, this place and for this very special purpose.
Nehemiah’s vision was to return to the city of Jerusalem and rebuild the city, the temple and the walls of the city. Just how much this vision was from God is shown in how easy it was for him to obtain the king’s permission and all of the materials and help he needed to take with him to get the job done. That was no small feat for Nehemiah when you stop to think that Israel was the enemy of the king and there was no reason for the king to allow his enemy to build fortified walls that he had already had to bring down once with great cost of life.
Of course you are never going to be able to accomplish the work that the Lord has set before you without facing opposition. Satan hates it when God’s people are successful in their calling. Every time a Christian wins a spiritual battle, or remains faithful to see a work done, it gives the devil a black eye and he hates looking through the swollen eye lids.
Nehemiah faced opposition as well. It wasn’t long until he met two men by the name of Sanballat (bramble-bush; enemy in secret) and Tobiah (the Lord is good). These two men were to be the main tools of the devil in attempting to stop the work of building the wall.
It’s no coincidence that these men had the names that we read. I have never undertaken a single work, in the world, or in the church, that I didn’t have to put up with a few “Sanballats”. These folks are always negative, always finding fault with everything, always taking jabs at whatever I attempt to do with little sayings like; “That won’t work, I tried it already”; “what makes you think that you can do that”; or “get your head out of the clouds and be realistic”. These folks won’t come right out and tell you that they hope you fail. They act like friends but they are “bramble bushes” and “secret enemies” that just tend to wear you down.
I’ve also faced a whole lot of “Tobiah” folks in working for the Lord. These are the poor, misguided, not-so-well-meaning Christians who think that they are God’s gift to your problem. No matter what you do they have done better, or worse, whichever makes them bigger than you. No matter what you believe is true, they always know more than you do and they don’t mind telling you. I love “Tobiah” folks because they keep me on my toes, so to speak. They make me focus so that fewer mistakes are made because I don’t want to hear them say, “I told you so”. Outwardly they seem like a very strong, spiritually minded Christian but inwardly, they are little more than what Jesus called the Pharisees when he called them “whited sepulchers” in Matthew 23:27.
Yes Nehemiah had his obstacles to overcome. He knew that he could not reveal his dream and vision to many of those who followed him because they weren’t there to support him, only to make sure that he didn’t go too far in rebuilding the city of their enemy.
You had best be careful of the company you keep, even in the church. I don’t know if anyone in this church would ever fall into the category of a “Sanballat” or a “Tobiah” but I know of too many people who have lost faith and walked away from the work of the Lord because of people just like that. They listened to the wrong people, believed the wrong things, and became shipwrecked spiritual derelicts on the shores of Christianity.
Nehemiah knew that he had to survey and plan his work without the knowledge of those who would attempt to stop him so he did it all in the darkness of night with only a very few trusted friends who shared his vision.
I believe that God had already revealed the truth of Matthew 7:6 to Nehemiah, "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you."
Please remember that it is not always the best policy to be completely transparent and open with everyone about the vision that you have for the Lord. You can’t just go around telling everyone what you are going to do. Too many people don’t understand you vision. Without even knowing it, many of those same people will become your “Sanballat” and “Tobiah”. They won’t understand you. They won’t see what you see. They haven’t heard the voice of the Lord speak the vision into their hearts and they haven’t felt the unction of the Holy Spirit to move out. All they know is that you are acting rashly and overstepping your limitations.
Nehemiah had to overcome many obstacle in building the wall and the city but the reward was worth it to him. He was tired of seeing the few Jews that remained in Israel being constantly robbed and made fun of. He was tired of his people being the brunt of every joke and the target of every malicious act of their enemies. It was time to build a wall for their protection and to give them strength. It was a worthy cause and a cause worth dying for, fighting for and working for.
Because of his faithfulness to the call of God and his tenacity against all odds, God blessed his work and the entire wall of the city of Jerusalem was rebuilt in 52 days. He had people who had the same vision, had a mind to work, and had a love for Israel and for God. What a combination that is!
That’s the same attitudes that I see at our church. If we can only continue to work against all odds, I believe that God will bless our work and this ministry will be built for the glory of God, and I don’t believe that it’s going to take a long time to do it. God’s timetable is not our timetable but I believe that his dream and vision for our church is even greater than ours and his timetable is shorter than we can dream right now.
Just look at the obstacles that Nehemiah had to face to finish the work; it’s a staggering list.
He had to face the mockery of the crowds in chapter 2, verse 19. He had to face them again in the 4th chapter, verses 1 – 3.
He had to overcome armed raiders in chapter 4, verses 7 – 12.
He had to overcome a trick that was played on him to lure him outside the city in an effort to murder him in chapter 6, verses 1 – 4.
He had to face down a blackmail threat in chapter 6, verses 5 – 9.
And finally he had to have enough faith to withstand a vicious attack of the devil that came from the most unexpected source of all, a false prophet who attempted to discourage him by foretelling his death.
Through it all Nehemiah remained faithful. Through it all he just kept on working. In the end he won, overcame and he built the walls and Israel was on its way to being the nation that God had called it to be.
Because of the faith and perseverance of one man Israel came out of captivity and returned home once again.
That’s a lesson for you and I too.
Sure your family’s wall are torn down. Maybe your children are slaves in sin. Maybe it all seems so hopeless. But hold on, keep working, keep praying, don’t give up. Rebuild the wall. Keep the faith. Hold on to the vision. Keep answering the call of God and watch God’s faithfulness to bring them home again.
In the work that God has called you to do the same is true. Never give up, never quit, just keep working. God will bring you out victorious also.
God has not changed. The same God that delivered Israel and helped Nehemiah rebuild the wall is the same God who promises to bring you through victorious also and he has never failed to bring his dreams and plans to pass.
Disclaimer:
Due to the large amount of sermons and topics that appear on this site I feel it is necessary to post this disclaimer on all sermons posted. These sermons are original to the author and the leading of the Holy Spirit. While ideas and illustrations are often gleaned from many sources including those at Sermoncentral.com, any similarities and wording, including sermon titles, that may appear to be the same as any other sermon are purely coincidental. In instances where other minister’s wording is used, due recognition will be given. These sermons are not copyrighted and may be used or preached freely. May God richly bless you as you read these sermons. It is my sincere desire that all who read them may be enriched. All scriptures quoted in these sermons are copied and/or quoted from the Authorized King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Pastor James May
