In the sermon 'Come and Let Us Build,' Jason Dohm discusses Nehemiah 2:11-20, where Nehemiah arrives in Jerusalem to rebuild its walls. Nehemiah, a careful and competent leader, first conducts a secret night assessment of the city's damaged state. His detailed planning and reliance on God's guidance are emphasized. Nehemiah motivates the people to rebuild by sharing God's favor and the king's support, urging them to rise and build. Despite opposition from Sanballat, Tobiah, and Gesham, who mock and accuse them of rebellion, Nehemiah remains steadfast, trusting in God's prosperity. The sermon highlights the importance of combining prayer, faith, and careful planning in kingdom work, encouraging believers to aim carefully and address long-standing issues. It also reflects on the significance of having a claim in the spiritual Jerusalem, emphasizing the need for a true relationship with Christ.

Our sermon text for this week is Nehemiah chapter 2 verses 11 through 20 and For those visiting I'm going to just give you a little context before we read this in chapter 2 The situation is Nehemiah is before the king with a sad countenance the king Recognizing this asked Nehemiah give me a report. What's going on Nehemiah? This is nothing but sadness of heart. So Nehemiah pours out his request ordained by God. God moves on the heart of the king to give him letters to go from where he's at all the way to he was in Shushan all the way to Jerusalem.

So now we're picking up at verse 11, so you have a little context. Nehemiah arrives, so let's pick up our story here before Jason comes and preaches this text. We'll pick up in verse 11. So I came to Jerusalem and was there three days. Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me.

I told no one what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem, Nor was there any animal with me except the one which I rode. And I went out by night through the valley gate to the serpent wall and refuse gate and viewed the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down and its gates which were burned with fire. And I went on to the fountain gate to the king's pool, but there was no room for the animal under me to pass. So I went up into the night by the valley and viewed the wall, and then I turned back and entered by the valley gate and so returned. And the officials did not know where I had gone or what I had done.

I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, or the others who did the work. Then I said to them, You see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste and its gates are burned with fire. Come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem that we may no longer be a reproach. And I told them of the hand of my God which had been good upon me and also of the king's words that he had spoken to me. So they said, let us rise up and build.

Then they set their hands to do this good work. But when San-Balath-Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Gesham the Arab heard of it, they laughed at us and despised us and said, what is this thing that you're doing? Will you rebel against the king? So I answered them and said to them, the God of heaven himself will prosper us. Therefore, we, his servants, will arise and build.

But you have no heritage or right or memorial in Jerusalem." The title of the sermon this morning is come and let us build. It's right out of the text, and it comes from Nehemiah exhorting the people to arise and build. In last week's text, it had been Four months since Nehemiah received a report, one of his brothers Hanani and some other men of Judah had come to Shushan where the king was, the Persian king, Artaxerxes, and they had delivered a report that the people were in great distress and reproach that the walls were broken down and the gates were burned and this just causes Nehemiah this news about the hard conditions of the Lord's people causes him to mourn and to pray. And four months go by and then the king notices his sad countenance and we saw last week how ready Nehemiah was for his moment. There are certain moments in life that are the critical moments.

Nehemiah was ready for his and you can tell that he was ready for his because his requests of the king when the king asks him what do you want me to do for you, His requests are detailed, they're specific, they're well thought out. He can give the king the duration of his time in Jerusalem and when he'll return. And he asks for letters for very specific things, for safe passage to Jerusalem and for timber to rebuild in the wall. So this is not off the cuff for Nehemiah. This is very well thought out.

In last week's text, we were also introduced to Sanballat and Tobiah, who are the enemies of the Jews. And really they're the enemies of God. The enemies of God's people are the enemies of God. And though they're enemies, they both have very close connections to Jerusalem. Sanballat has two sons that have Jewish names.

Sanballat is the governor of Samaria, or at least we know historically that he was at a later time, whether he's the governor now, he may or may not be, but it's sort of beside the point. He has that kind of influence and in the future at least he will be the governor of Samaria, which of course is the territory just north of Jerusalem. And so he's got these sons that have Jewish names. He's all mixed up with the Jewish people, even though he's not a servant of the living God. And then we have Tobiah, who we'll find out as the book of Nehemiah proceeds, has a wife who is a Jew, and he has a son who has a wife that is a Jew.

So there is all this intermingling. And last week's text said that these two men, Sanballat and Tobiah, were deeply disturbed that a man had come to seek the well-being of the children of Israel. Imagine that. Of all the things in this life for this world to be disturbed about, to be disturbed that somebody came to seek the welfare of the Lord's people, but they're very disturbed by this. So as we go to the text, let's go to the text in prayer.

God, I thank you for the examples of godly men and godly women in Scripture, these ones who have loved you in their lifetime and have served you and have learned through time to be faithful to you and to serve you well and to be a blessing to your people. So this is my prayer, God, that you would use this book of Nehemiah and our study of it, especially this text, to cause us to be a blessing and a help to your people as Nehemiah was. To love you is to love your people and I pray that you would give us such a heart for your people and such a burning desire in our hearts to bless them, to be a help to them. Pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

So I'd like to break today's text into three sections beginning with verses 11 through 16. So Let's read that again. I'll read and follow along. Nehemiah chapter 2 verses 11 through 16. So I, Nehemiah, came to Jerusalem and was there three days.

Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me. I told no one what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem, nor was there any animal with me except the one on which I rode. And I went out by night through the valley gate to the serpent well and the refuse gate, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down and its gates which were burned with fire. Then I went on to the fountain gate and to the king's pool, but there was no room for the animal under me to pass. So I went up in the night by the valley and viewed the wall.

Then I turned back and entered by the valley gate and so returned. The officials did not know where I had gone or what I had done. I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials or the others who did the work." In this section, Nehemiah makes his own assessment. So if you're a note taker and you've got the outline in front of you, it's own assessment or the blanks if you're filling in blanks. Nehemiah makes his own assessment.

In verse 11 it says that Nehemiah arrived, he's traveled from Shushan to Jerusalem, and he's there for three days. This is just like the second wave that came back. In our study of Ezra and Nehemiah, there are two waves of captives that come back in the book of Ezra, and then this third wave of captives returning from Babylon to Jerusalem here in Nehemiah. These are very long journeys. The two waves returning in the book of Ezra, the journey was from Babylon to Jerusalem, which is a 900 mile journey.

Here with the third wave returning in the book of Nehemiah, it's actually longer. They're returning from Shushan, which is further away. It's about a 1, 200 mile journey. So you can imagine after that kind of journey, it's a four or five month journey. You'd want a few days to catch your breath.

And so I think that's what's happening in both cases. But obviously Nehemiah is doing more than just catching his breath. He's making ready for this night excursion to assess the walls. That's really, of all the action in the text this week, this is the key action, this night excursion where Nehemiah goes out with just a few men, a very few men under cover of darkness to see the walls and the gates. So it's done at night under the cover of darkness and there's only a few men.

The text doesn't say this, but You have to imagine that it's men who can help you navigate Jerusalem in the dark. So, at best by moonlight, probably by moonlight, they have some way to see. So, he takes a few men with him who can help him navigate Jerusalem at night. The text says that he hasn't told anyone and then if we fast forward to verse 16 you get the list of all the people he hasn't told and it's a comprehensive list. Who is it?

The Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, and the others. That pretty much sums it up. He really hasn't told anyone of his plans. So he's come from the king and he's delivered the letters that he's gotten to the governors in the region beyond the river. But he hasn't really told anyone in Jerusalem what he's up to.

And he makes this night excursion without anyone knowing where he's going or what he's done. The text says that there's only one animal on the night excursion, so not a lot of ruckus of animals. Only one animal, it's the one he's riding. And the text says that He's viewing the walls and the gates and their condition from the outside of Jerusalem. Did you get that?

He goes out from the valley gate and then it says where he goes to view the walls and the gates and then it says that he re-enters by the valley gate. All of the viewing, all of the assessment is done from outside Jerusalem where it can be done in secrecy. So he keeps this secret for the moment. It's never his intent to keep it secret indefinitely, but for now he wants this under wraps. He wants to make his own assessment in privacy.

The commentators generally agree that the places described, the serpent well and the valley gate and the king's pool, these places that are mentioned in the text, are in the south of Jerusalem and the east of Jerusalem. So maybe he entered the city from the north and he's already seen that, but the things that are mentioned are the south and the east of the city. And we're actually going to see these places mentioned in chapter 3 as the people begin to restore the walls and hang new gates to provide security for Jerusalem that's been lacking. So the people are there in reproach. We see from his assessment that the report that he got in chapter 1 verse 3 has been just thoroughly confirmed in all three respects.

So When he got the report at the very beginning of the book of Nehemiah, chapter 1 verse 3, the report consisted of three elements. Number one, the people are in great distress and reproach. That is confirmed with his assessment. Number two, the wall is broken down. That is confirmed with his assessment.

Number three, that the gates are burned with fire. That is confirmed with his nighttime secret assessment. Now, why the delay? Why the secrecy? Why is he going out under cover of darkness?

Well, the best answer is probably my normal answer, which is the text doesn't say. The text doesn't give us insight to why that is. But, Nehemiah has been presented to us as a careful, thoughtful, competent man. That's what we know about Nehemiah so far in the book of Nehemiah. He's a careful man, he's a thoughtful man, he's a competent man.

We know that because he wouldn't be the cup bearer. Cup bearer is not kitchen help. The cup bearer is one of the most valuable trusted servants to the king of this empire. So we know that he's a careful, thoughtful, competent man. Nehemiah doesn't shoot from the hip.

Do you understand that expression? Do you recognize that? It's a cowboy term. Shooting from the hip is shooting in a general direction. If you want to hit the bull's eye, you don't shoot from the hip.

That's just to pull the gun and shoot fast and in a general direction. It's the opposite of taking careful aim. So which is Nehemiah? Is Nehemiah a shoot from the hip man or is he a take careful aim man? Without question, He is a man who takes careful aim at a very, very precise target.

Now listen to Luke chapter 14 verses 28 through 30. This is Luke chapter 14, 28 through 30, and it's Jesus. Jesus teaches this, For which of you intending to build a tower does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it. Lest, after he has laid the foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build and was not able to finish." I believe that's what's going on in Nehemiah. Of course when Jesus is teaching, he's not teaching about the building of a literal tower.

He's saying, count the cost if you intend to follow me. It's wonderful to follow Jesus, but it's not low cost to follow Jesus and you should count the cost. Otherwise, you get halfway there, you bail out and people mock you because you didn't have enough to finish. So count the cost. That's what Jesus is teaching.

There's a literal application in the book of Nehemiah where he's going out and he's making his own assessment with his own two eyes to see the magnitude of the task and to count the cost to see whether there is enough to do what he's hoping to do in Jerusalem. Brothers and sisters, I want to submit to you that this is how we should go about Kingdom work. The way Nehemiah goes about Kingdom work. Nehemiah is very physical. You're talking about physical walls, physical building, but the application for us is obvious.

We have kingdom work that's a lot less physical, a lot less manual, and at the end of the day you don't have a physical wall, you have something else. Yet, we should undertake it in a way that takes careful aim at the work, that is not shooting from the hip. We should undertake our kingdom work like Nehemiah undertakes his kingdom work. Just because God is in something doesn't mean we can be sloppy. You might think, well, God's in it.

If God's in it, we have all the help and the power that we'll need to complete the work. We can just go about our work willy-nilly because God is in it and He'll make up for our lack and our shortfall. No, if God is in it, how much more should we be careful? How much more careful aim should we take? How much less should we shoot from the hip?

With Nehemiah you see this intersection of prayer. Remember Nehemiah's the whole We're only in chapter 2. Nehemiah has been praying continually. We had a long prayer from Nehemiah where we got the contents of it and then when the king asks him what's your request, before he breathes a word of that request, he breathes a prayer to God right on the spot, undoubtedly silently, and one that took two seconds probably before he began his request. Nehemiah is a praying man, but He's also a man who does his homework.

This is it. This is nighttime homework, in the dark homework, assessing the condition of the walls and the gates. And he's thinking, and he's planning, And these things are not the enemy of faith. Are you with me? Researching, doing your homework, and thinking, and planning isn't the enemy of faith.

It's not a demonstration of a lack of faith. It actually should go hand in hand with our prayers and with our faith. It should be an intersection of these things. So if you're thinking, well, it betrays that I'm not believing in God if I'm praying and thinking and planning, that's a completely unbiblical thought. The godly in the Bible don't demonstrate or exhibit that at all.

They're praying and they're believing and they're thinking and they're planning all together. They don't see those things as enemies. They see them as friends that ought to be joined together. So what might that look like for a little church in a little town? Well, I know of a little church in a medium-sized town in Florida, Mount Zion, Jeff Pollard and that crew.

And I'll never forget visiting there three years ago. They have a ministry, a printing ministry, called Chapel Library. Now here's what you have to understand about Mount Zion. For the three decades that this church has existed, two and a half of those decades plus have been 50 people or less in the church. Little church, way smaller than us.

For almost all of the existence of that church, they've been half our size or less. But they knew what they thought God wanted them to do. They knew what God wanted them to do. And they just kept working at it, little by little. And they were praying and believing and thinking and planning and doing their homework, all of these things working together, week after week, month after month, year after year, decade after decade, and now they're this little powerhouse.

Chapel Library sends wonderful Christian literature all around the world. I don't know how many countries now, but every continent of the world gets wonderful Christian literature from Chapel Library. And now they have as many people in their churches as we have. They're little, but they're disproportionately fruitful because you have this intersection of prayer and faith and homework and planning and thought over a long period of time. And so I have been praying and I continue to pray that God would do something like that here.

Give us such clarity about what we're supposed to be doing, even though we're a little church. Okay, this is probably as mega church as this church is going to be. You're probably looking at it. Okay, we don't care. Do we care?

Whoever God brings us is whoever God brings us. We just need to be faithful in the middle of that and plug away at the things that God gives us to do prayerfully, faithfully, with thought, with planning, and just keep doing it over time. Now let's look at the second portion of the text, Verses 17 and 18. Nehemiah chapter 2, 17 and 18. Then I said to them, You see the distress we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste and its gates are burned with fire.

Come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer be a reproach. And I told them of the hand of my God which had been good upon me, and also of the king's words that he had spoken to me." So he's been keeping it a secret, but now he stops keeping it a secret, and he speaks to all the people that he hasn't divulged what God has put on his heart to do in Jerusalem. Now he does divulge that. So this section, Nehemiah exhorts the Lord's people to build. If you're filling in blanks, it's Lord's people build.

Nehemiah exhorts the Lord's people to build. He says, Come and let us build. He begins by telling the people what they already know and what he now knows first hand because he's seen it with his two eyes. They are in great distress and reproach. The walls are broken down.

The gates are burned with fire. Let me remind you of something I've been saying from the early texts in Nehemiah, which is pointing at Nehemiah 5 verse 14. Listen to this. This is Nehemiah 5 verse 14. Nehemiah says, From the time that I was appointed to be their governor in Judah, from the twentieth year until the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes.

What do we get from that? Well, it is the 20th year now, which means that Nehemiah had been appointed governor from the very start of this endeavor. Nehemiah is the governor right now and he's been appointed by the king of the empire. There's something like 127 provinces in this empire. So he is a king of kings And he's appointed Nehemiah to be governor of one of these provinces.

And so Nehemiah has real authority. He can say, build the wall. You must build the wall. But he doesn't want the people to join in the work by compulsion. Do you see what's happening here?

There's no compulsion. He's saying he's laying out the distress, telling them what they know, but highlighting it, driving it home, and saying, Come, let us build together. Let us build together, not you go build the wall. I'm the governor, you go build the wall. Come, let us build together.

He has real authority, but he has no interest in a people joining into the work by compulsion. He wants them to see the value of what God is doing and to join in because they see it. They see the blessing of God on it. The best leaders rarely have to command. They have authority to command.

Sometimes when push comes to shove they command, but the best leaders rarely have to command. Now it would be tempting to come to the book of Nehemiah and make this into the leadership secrets of Nehemiah. Make it into a leadership training course. Nehemiah is really about God's faithfulness to His people. And God, as part of his faithfulness to his people, happens to raise up a man who's a great leader.

He's a great leader because God's raised him up to be a great leader, to bless his people, to help his people. But that said, there are things that we can point to in the book of Nehemiah that is exemplary leadership. And this is one of them. Nehemiah has the authority to command, but he's not commanding in this text. He's exhorting the people to willingly, joyfully join in the work.

The best leaders have authority, but they use it very judiciously. Fathers and mothers, we are leading homes. Fathers, you're the head of a home. And the mothers are the helpers. They're helping in leading this home.

And we must rally the troops around a compelling vision. That's our job before God, is to rally the troops around a compelling vision so we find ourselves more and more not having to command, but the troops see the vision. The troops have learned to love the vision and they just need to be told come let's build together it's our vision it's not my vision that I'm imposing on you but you've painted the picture of the beauty of serving God together and you flesh that out for the domes It means this we serve God Rebuilding this part of the wall. This is our part. This is our spot and We love the Lord.

We're going to do it faithfully and it's my job and Janet's job to rally our children around a compelling vision that makes them want to say, yes, yes, they don't have to be commanded. If the troops are restless, this can help you troubleshoot. Your vision might not be compelling to the troops. I'm not saying don't command them then. You may very well need to command them then.

But you've got to go back to painting the picture for the troops so that they get it, so that they see the beauty of the picture and where you're going. If you're not taking them somewhere compelling, rallying the troops becomes almost impossible. But if you're taking them somewhere compelling, and it's not just a picture in your mind, but it's a picture that you painted for the whole family, and they know the Templetons are going here, and it's a beautiful picture of serving the Lord together and advancing the kingdom of Jesus Christ together, then rallying the troops gets a whole lot simpler. This is what Nehemiah is doing in our text. He says, come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem that we may no longer be a reproach.

Then immediately after saying, come let's build together, let's not be a reproach anymore, immediately after that he tells them of the hand of his God upon him and he said, the hand of God has been good upon me. Now this is very important. Nehemiah says the hand of God has been on me and the hand of God has been good upon me. Why do I think it's so important? Because the people of God in Jerusalem at this time have been very familiar with the hand of God upon them.

And it's been a hand of discipline. And with some blessing, this is the third wave coming back from captivity. So they've seen a lot of blessing too, but they're still living in the shadow of a century of discipline for the sins of the people. The sins against God by Israel were many and monstrous sins against God. As a result of that, they've lived in a century of discipline.

God is rolling back that discipline and showing favor little by little, but Nehemiah is saying it's a time for favor now. Now, the people are living in reproach. And the people know why they're living in reproach. Why do I say that? Because God through the prophets, through his prophets has said why they're in reproach.

Listen to this, Jeremiah 24 verse 9, Jeremiah 24, 9, I will deliver them to trouble into all the kingdoms of the earth for their harm to be a reproach and a byword, a taunt and a curse in all places where I shall drive them." That was about a hundred years earlier. Jeremiah uttered those words. I'm going to make you a reproach for your sins. And now they're living in reproach and they can look and say, we know why we're living in reproach. Or listen to Ezekiel chapter 5.

This also was about a little less than a hundred years earlier. Ezekiel chapter 5 verses 13 through 15, thus shall my anger be spent and I will cause my fury to rest upon them, and I will be avenged. And they shall know that I the Lord have spoken it in my zeal, when I have spent my fury upon them. Moreover, I will make you a waste and a reproach among the nations that are all around you, in the sight of all who pass by. So it shall be a reproach, a taunt, a lesson, and an astonishment to the nations that are all around you when I execute judgments among you in anger and in fury and in furious rebukes.

I the Lord have spoken." So if they know anything of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, they know we're living in reproach. God said because of our sins, He's going to bring us into reproach. This is why we're living in great distress and reproach. Nehemiah is assuring the people that they are leaving a period of discipline and coming into a season of favor. That God is taking them out of a period of discipline and bringing them into a season of favor.

And Nehemiah brings a witness to prove that they're coming into a season of favor. And what's his witness? The words of the king saying, God has bent the heart of this king to favor us so that we can no longer be in reproach. The people respond, let us rise up and build. He's painted the beautiful vision of exiting the time of discipline and being brought into a time of the Lord's favor and they are ready for that.

Let us Arise and build. And they acknowledge it as a good work. The text actually says that. We work hard when we're sure that we're working on a good work, right? The motivation is built in.

You see it as good. You know it as good. It's worthy of your labors. You're happy to work on it. This is what's happening in the text.

They're ready to work hard because they know it's a good work. It's a work of God. God is doing this. The new King James says they set their hands to the work. This is verse 18.

They set their hands to the work. The King James and the ESV renders it so they strengthen their hands for this good work. They strengthen their hands, ready to engage in the work. The sense of it is that they're fully committed to the work, and they've made themselves ready to work wholeheartedly. And it's a good thing because they're about to encounter stiff opposition, persecution, because of engaging in the work.

The kind of persecution and opposition that would make you quit if you hadn't strengthened your hands for the work, if you hadn't fully committed, if you weren't ready, if you hadn't prepared yourself to work wholeheartedly at it. So there's no waffling now. This is a good work. This is of God. Our hands are strong for the work.

And they can't be put off by persecution. Which brings us to verses 19 and 20. Nehemiah chapter 2, the last two verses we're covering today. Starting at verse 19, but when Sanballat, the Horonite, Tobiah, the Ammonite official, and Gesham, the Arab heard of it, they laughed at us and despised us and said, what is this thing that you are doing? Will you rebel against the king?' So I answered them and said to them, The God of heaven himself will prosper us.

Therefore we his servants will arise and build, But you have no heritage or right or memorial in Jerusalem." In this section, Nehemiah responds to the Lord's enemies. If you're filling in the blanks, it's Lord's enemies. Nehemiah responds to the Lord's enemies. Here we have three enemies of the Lord's people, so they're enemies of the Lord. Sanballat, the Horonite, he's in Samaria, so he's north, an enemy north.

He might be the governor of Samaria at this time, or he will be in the future. We have Tobiah the Ammonite. Ammon was east of Judah across the Jordan River. It's the Transjordan, across Jordan territory. So you have an enemy east, Sanballat north.

Oh, I have to reverse it, don't I? Sanballat north, Tobiah East on the other side of the Jordan, the Ammonite. Some commentators say that Tobiah is a servant of Sanballat. I don't think that's right. I think they're actually governors of different territories, surrounding territories.

And Then you have Gesham the Arab. Arabia is modern day Saudi Arabia. It's south of Judah. You have an enemy south. There's historical evidence that Gesham the Arab is actually called the King of Keder.

Keder is one of the Arabian tribes. So he would be governing south. So an enemy north in Samaria, an enemy east in Ammon, an enemy south in Arabia. The Arabians are frequently mentioned in Second Chronicles, usually fighting alongside the Philistines against the Lord's people. So these are historic enemies of the Lord's people.

North, east, east, and south. So here's the picture. They're surrounded by their enemies. They're surrounded by the Lord's enemies. And last week I talked about this on two planes.

The first plane being the human plane, meaning there are human relationships, there are human motivations, there are human actions that are in play, absolutely legitimate, of course those things are going on, but there's another plane, there's a spiritual plane. There are things happening spiritually that's driving the things happening on the human plane. On the spiritual plane, it's the work of the devil to oppose the work of God in the world. Whenever the people of God are opposed, yes, there are things happening on the human plane. There are real relationships in play.

Things happening in real relationships between real people, real actions, real offenses, but you have to know that behind that there's things happening in the spiritual plane where the enemy of Jesus Christ, the devil, is doing spiritual things to bring about opposition to the Lord's people. We saw that in Ephesians chapter 6. We war not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers, against spiritual powers of darkness. The Bible affirms that really from beginning to end. So don't lose sight when there are things happening on the human plane that what's really driving that isn't the things on the human plane.

It's spiritual things that are driving the opposition. The response of these enemies of the Lord's people is twofold. One, they laugh at and they despise the Lord's people. So the reason the people are in great distress and reproach is that Jerusalem is totally exposed. The walls are broken down, the gates are burned.

So they are totally exposed to their enemies. These are the enemies who have enjoyed having Jerusalem under their thumb, easily intimidated. Now a man shows up who says, enough of that, we are rebuilding these walls, we are resetting these gates and they don't like it. And they laugh at and despise the Lord's people because they're so used to having the people of Jerusalem under their thumb that they can't imagine that it could be any different than that. So the first response is to laugh at and despise the Lord's people.

The second is to make a historic accusation. Why do I say historic accusation? Because it's been done before. This is the twentieth year of Artaxerxes reign. In Ezra chapter 4, when we studied that, it was earlier in Artaxerxes reign and people from this region, the opponents of the Lord's people from this region, the predecessors of Sanballat and Tobiah and Gashem had written a note to our exerxes to say this is a rebellious and evil city, speaking of Jerusalem, and encouraging the king to go search the records, you'll find out that they're rebels and if you let them rebuild the walls, that'll be the end of taxation on these people and they'll be an open rebellion to you.

And at the time it was believed by our exerxes, but since then the Lord has turned His heart to favor the Lord's people. So they're making a historic accusation that has been believed by our exerxes in time past. Now is this an honest accusation? What I mean by an honest accusation is one that they actually believe. No, it's not.

It's a dishonest accusation. They're doing it to manipulate and intimidate. How do we know that? Because if we look at verse 10, chapter 2 verse 10, it's quite clear that Sambalat and Tobiah know of the king's letters. It says it explicitly in verse 10.

So they know that King Artaxerxes has authorized what Nehemiah is rallying the troops to do. So it's not an honest accusation where they really believe it. They know it's not true. It's designed for manipulation and intimidation. It's classic textbook passive aggressive intimidation, meaning Trying to get them to buckle under just with your words.

Look at Nehemiah's response. Can you imagine a more manly response than this one? Verse 20. So I answered them and said to them, the God of heaven himself will prosper us. Therefore we his servants will arise and build, but you have no heritage or right or memorial in Jerusalem." Translation, take a hike.

Take a hike. Who asked you? We know what we're supposed to be doing? You'll find us doing it. No, you can't help.

Notice, he doesn't even respond to the charge. He doesn't say, no, no, no, we're not rebelling against the king. He knows it's not an honest accusation. He doesn't even dignify it with a response. He just says, mind your own business.

That's my translation. Mind your own business. He recognizes the accusation for what it is, manipulation and intimidation, and Nehemiah is not having any of it. He's standing against these men like a granite wall or a quartz wall. Timothy tells me quartz is a lot harder than granite.

He's the expert. Turn back to Ezra chapter 4. Ezra chapter 4, just flip back a few pages to Ezra chapter 4. In Ezra chapter 4 verses 1 through 5, this is the first wave of captives that returned from Babylon to Jerusalem. They immediately encounter opposition as well and we get that interaction.

I just want you to notice how similar it is now that the third wave has come back. All the same dynamics in play. Ezra chapter 4 I'll read 1 through 5. Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the descendants of the captivity were building the temple of the Lord of Israel, they came to Zerubbabel and the heads of the fathers houses and said to them, Let us build with you, For we seek your God as you do, and we have sacrificed to him since the days of the Saradon king of Assyria who brought us here. But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of the fathers' houses of Israel said to them, You may do nothing with us to build a house for our God, but we alone will build to the Lord God of Israel as King Cyrus the King of Persia has commanded us.

Then the people of the land tried to discourage the people of Judah. They troubled them in building and hired counselors against them to frustrate their purpose all the days of King Cyrus, Cyrus King of Persia, even until the reign of Darius King of Persia. Almost exactly the same thing happening. In fact, there are going to be counselors hired against them in Nehemiah just like was said in Ezra chapter 4. The enemies of God are always working from the same playbook.

This is the time for us to study the playbook of the enemies of God and get used to the fact that there's going to be passive aggressive manipulation and intimidation against any place where we're trying to push forward the kingdom of God and take enemy territory. You can expect it. The playbook stays the same. The centuries roll on, but the tactics are always the same. It's because the same one is always behind the tactics.

And they work a lot. That's the other reason. Applications. I have three. There are probably many more, but I have three.

Number one, take careful aim at your kingdom work. That's what Nehemiah is doing. Not shooting from the hip. Careful aim. Take careful aim at your kingdom work.

Here's an example for me. Two years ago the domes were in the Read the Bible in a Year Plan. It made us very disciplined. We knew what we were about. We knew what we had to get done every day.

We were very disciplined about it and we finished on the 31st of December right on schedule. A little ebb and flow in the schedule in the middle of the year but we finished on time. Coming out of that this past year, this year we're ending now, has been very willy-nilly. It's been shooting from the hip. It's been a dad who hasn't given it enough thought in planning, let alone prayer and faith.

So, it's time to stop shooting from the hip at the dome house and to pray more, to believe more, to plan more, to think more, to have the intersection of all these things and the kingdom work that's supposed to be happening under our roof. There's a lot of other categories that it's true as well. But there's an example where shooting from the hip is not worthy of the Lord. Are you with me? The Lord is worthy of more than us shooting from the hip.

We should take careful aim at our kingdom work. There couldn't be a better time to come across this text and see a man being careful than the week coming into New Year. A lot of plans get made all over the world coming into New Year's, very few of them get fulfilled. As the saying goes, when all is said and done, much more is said than is done. So it's a good time to plan and to take careful aim.

Really aim at the things we plan to do and then do them. Number two, identify broken things that have become acceptable. Identify broken things that have become acceptable. That's what you have here. You have how many thousands of people living in Jerusalem.

So a hundred years earlier, the first wave comes back with, I think it was 56, 000 people, 70, 000 people, anyway, a big number. And they've been here living and growing, I'm guessing they're having families. Then the second wave comes back there's something like six or seven thousand People come back in the seven. There are a lot of people here. The walls are still broken down.

The gates are still burned with fire. They've become used to broken things. And they've just learned to work around it. Does that sound familiar? Does that sound like anything in your life?

It's just, it's been broken for so long, you just step around it. You know, you just, you've learned to work around it. And then somebody shows up like me and Maya to say, how can you live like this? Stop the madness. Like, These walls have to come up.

We can't just step around these walls forever and live in reproach. We've got to hang the gates again. Here's what Matthew Henry says, those that would build up the church's walls must first take notice of the ruins of those walls. Those that would know how to amend must inquire what is amiss, what needs reformation, and what may serve as it is. I think God has brought us here as a way to get us to just take a fresh look at life, to wonder what broken things have we just learned to step around because they've been broken for so long we don't hardly notice it anymore.

This would be a good time to identify those and then to wage war against them, to strengthen your hands for the work. No waffling like these people because you know the minute you try to fix something that's been broken for a long time, what's going to happen? Opposition, of course. That's the way it works. So identify broken things that have become acceptable and then strengthen your hands for the work.

Finally, the third application comes in the form of a question. Do you have an inheritance, a right, a share, a claim in Jerusalem? Do you? Not physical, dot on the map Jerusalem, the real Jerusalem. The dot on the map Jerusalem that you can go walk around on earth is just a picture.

It was intended to show people that God has a people and to be a representative, a picture, a shadow of that people. Do you have an inheritance among the people of God? A right among the people of God? A share? A claim?

These are bold words. A right to the people. You think nobody has a right to the people of God? Yes they do. Those who are in Christ have a right among the people of God.

They have a claim there, they have a share there, not because they are anything but because Christ is something and Christ has put his hand upon them to save them and to cleanse them from their sins. If you are in Christ you have a right among the people of God and a share and a claim, not because of you but because of Jesus. Turn in your Bibles to Matthew 22. Thank you for this, Megan. This is Megan's close to the sermon.

She gave it to me last night. And it was a lot better than what I was thinking. I was happy to have it. Matthew chapter 22, verses 1 through 14. And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said, The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding and they were not willing to come.

Again he sent out other servants saying, tell those who are invited, see I've prepared my dinner. My oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding." They made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them. But when the king heard about it, he was furious, and he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.

Then he said to his servants, The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Therefore go into the highways and as many as you find invite to the wedding." So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found both bad and good and the wedding hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to see the guests he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. So he said to him, friend how did you come in here without a wedding garment? And he was speechless.

Then the king said to the servants, bind him hand and foot, take him away and cast him into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, for many are called, but few are chosen. There are many who it's obvious they don't have a claim to Jerusalem. They have no share in Jerusalem. They wage a war.

They kill the servants of the Lord and God will deal with them harshly. But there's a whole other group. There's a whole other group. There's an apathetic group that can't be bothered. That just ignore the invitations.

And they go on their way. They look respectable enough. They hold jobs. They're good neighbors. But they have no share, no claim in Jerusalem.

They've not accepted the invitation to the wedding. There are some that appear to. They've come and they look like Christians to their neighbors and they know the right words to say, but they don't have on a wedding garment and it will end for them like they were, like for those who waged an active war. It's the same. It's the same.

They have no claim, no heritage, no memorial in Jerusalem. Consider that question. It's the most important question in life. Do you have a claim, a share through Christ? If you're in Christ, you have a claim on Jerusalem.

If you're not, the Bible says so clearly what your end will be. God, I thank you for this text and that you've brought us here. I pray that we would acquire a heart of wisdom. You would help us to learn these truths well and to apply them. Oh God, may we be a people who aren't just hearers of the Word, but we're doers.

We come away changed and our lives are different because we have encountered what you said in your word. Thank you