1. “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.” Nehemiah 2:18

2. Nehemiah  Chronologically last book of OT  70 years of captivity is over  Ezra returned and rebuilt temple  15 years later Nehemiah returns to help them rebuild the walls

3. Nehemiah  Need wall rebuilt / gates restored  Leadership of Nehemiah  52 days they accomplished task Lessons that apply to us in the Work of the church

4. I. We need Members who Pray Nehemiah 1- 6 1:4 “and fasted and prayed” 2:4 “I prayed to the God of heaven” 4:4 “Hear, O our God:” 6:9 “Now therefore, O God,”

5. I. We need Members who Pray “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” James 1:5 We need to pray as though everything depends on God and work as though everything depends on us.

6. II. Don’t Compromise Neh. 6:1-4 Enemies wanted Nehemiah to stop his work and come down and talk. "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?“ v. 3

7. II. Don’t Compromise We must continue to build We have a great work to do We cannot compromise with the enemy False teachers are everywhere Devil wants to sidetrack us God will not accept a compromise

8. III. We must be Persistent “So neither I, my brethren, my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me took off our clothes, except that everyone took them off for washing.” Neh. 4:23 Stayed close to their work day & night. Always ready for action

9. III. We must be Persistent John 9:4 “I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.” Some are on spiritual vacation We must go forward !

10.  Israel had been back for 100 years  They decided to rise up and build  Took 52 days to rebuild the walls  Steps to inhabit the city  Ezra read the law  Confessed / worship

11.  We need to do this with the church  Visit  Teach  Friendly  Benevolence  Examples “If God be for us, who can be against us” Rom. 8:31

12.  Will you do your Part ?  Nehemiah 4:6 “So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work.”

13. Sermon by Arthur Pigman Evans Church of Christ 515 Gibbs Road Evans, Ga. 30809 706-855-1249evanscoc@bellsouth.netwww.evansgachurchofchrist.org Sunday Evening Oct. 21, 2007