Nehemiah Sent to Jerusalem Nehemiah was a cupbearer for Artaxerxes the king of Persia  Nehemiah received word that the walls of Jerusalem were still in ruins, the gates of the city burned, and the people were being oppressed  Nehemiah responded Prayed Petitioned the king Received permission to return and rebuild Jerusalem Returned to Jerusalem Began the work to repair the walls and gates

The People Had A Mind To Work The people went to work with enthusiasm But enthusiasm was not enough God’s people had enemies  Tobiah and Sanballat  Arabians  Ammonites  Ashdodites

The Enemies At Work The Jews were ridiculed They were threatened with attack Nehemiah was encouraged to compromise Nehemiah and the people were threatened with slander The Jews faced other challenges from within  Entanglements with the people around them  Mistreatment at the hands of their brethren

Parallels We are builders in the Kingdom  The Church is part of God’s eternal purpose – Eph. 3:10-11  Jesus is the foundation – Matt. 16:18-19; 1 Cor. 3:11  We build upon that foundation – 1 Cor. 3:10-15  Christians are the stones that make God’s spiritual house – 1 Peter 1:5  We are called to be Christians by the Gospel – 2 Thess. 2:14  Our part as builders in the Kingdom is to teach the Gospel to the world – Rom. 10:13-17; 1 Cor.1:21; Acts 8:1-4

Parallels We need a sense of urgency  Nehemiah wept at the thought of the work that needed to be done  Jesus sought to impress a sense of urgency upon his disciples – Matt. 9:36-38; John 4:34-38 We need to be willing to work – Acts 8:1-4 We face many of the same challenges that the people did in Nehemiah’s day

Ridicule Sanballat and Tobiah mocked the efforts of the Jews – Neh. 4:1-4  We will endure mockery today  Peter was mocked on the day of Pentecost – Acts 2:13  Paul was mocked by Festus – Acts 26:24  Jesus was mocked during his ministry, during his trial, and while he was on the cross  Remember that you are not alone. You have brothers and sisters in Christ  Follow Nehemiah’s example. Turn to God in prayer and apply yourself to God’s work

Attacks From The Adversary Nehemiah and the people were under threat of attack from their adversaries – Neh. 4:7-23  The people armed themselves  They took turns working and watching  Nehemiah encouraged the people to trust in God  One stood ready to sound the trumpet

Attacks From The Adversary We are under threat of attack today from our adversary – 1 Peter 5:8  We are fighting a spiritual war – 2 Cor. 10:4; 1 Tim. 1:18; 2 Tim. 2:1-4  We need to be properly armed – Eph. 6:13-17; Rom. 13:12; 2 Cor. 6:7  We need to watch and be ready – Eph. 6:18  Exhort/encourage – Heb. 10:24  Bear one another’s burdens – Gal. 6:2  Admonish – Rom. 15:14; 2 Thess. 3:15; Titus 2:4; Col. 3:16  Reprove, rebuke, restore – Gal. 6:1; James 5:19-20  Teach – Col. 3:16  Put our trust in God – 1 Cor. 10:13

The Temptation To Compromise Nehemiah was invited to meet with Sanballat  Nehemiah recognized the invitation as a trap and a distraction  So I sent messengers to them, saying, "I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?" (Nehemiah 6:3)

The Temptation To Compromise The temptation to compromise comes in many forms today, but they are all snares of the Devil – 1 Tim. 3:7, 6:9  The work of the Church  The worship of the Church  Teaching the Word  In our personal lives We need to follow Nehemiah’s example and stay focused on our service to God – Acts 4:18-20, 5:29

Slander Sanballat sent an open letter to Nehemiah accusing him of insurrection  Nehemiah denied the charge  Nehemiah’s main defense would be his reputation and his conduct, both of which were above reproach  He then prayed for strength

Slander Gods people throughout the ages have been slandered as individuals and as a group  Jesus  Paul  First Century Christians Our best defense is our manner of life – 1 Tim. 3:7; 1 Tim. 5:14; 1 Pet. 2:15

Entanglements With The World Associations with the people of the land resulted in divided loyalty  Primarily through marriage including the children of Tobiah and Sanballat – Neh. 6:17-19, 13:23-28  The nobles of Judah had sworn allegiance to Tobiah  The nobles went so far as to spy for Tobiah  Our friends and associates have a strong influence on us – 1 Cor. 15:33; 2 Cor. 6:14  God will not tolerate divided loyalty – Matt. 6:24

Entanglements With The World The people were profaning the Sabbath by conducting business on the Sabbath day – Neh.13:15-22  Do we let worldly pursuits intrude on our service to God? – Heb. 10:25  Has worldly gain become our goal and divided our loyalty? – 1 Tim. 6:6-10; Matt. 6:19-34

Brethren Mistreating Each Other Some of the people were forced to mortgage their land and sell themselves into bondage – Neh. 5:1-13 Nehemiah rebuked the people, and they promised to restore the land and forget the debts of their brethren.

Brethren Mistreating Each Other Caused by a carnal spirit – James 4:1-4; 1 Cor. 3:3 What do we do when we are mistreated?  Make sure that we are not part of the problem – Rom. 12:18  Don’t retaliate – 1 Cor. 6:1-8; Rom. 12:17; 1 Pet. 3:9; 1 Thess. 5:15  Try to the best of your ability to work things out – Matt. 18:15-17

The Power of Prayer From beginning to end the story of Nehemiah is the story of a man who believed in the power of prayer pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17)