Rebuilding with Purpose

Let us pray. Do you have any Father, thank you

for the opportunity my classmates have today to share what

they've learned in the book of Namayah. I asked that

you give them confidence and help them find the words

they need as they speak today. And I pray that

their words are found both meaningful and encouraging for all

of you. And we pray in your name. Amen. Our

first speaker will be Daniel. Goodluck.

I'm going to need it.

All right.

Well, today we're looking at Niamayah, which you might not

think is the best book of the Bible to look

at on Easter weekend, but I'm here to tell you

that it's actually a really good book. And we can

focus on Jesus through this book. And I don't have

much time, so let's get right to it. Nehemiah is

a book about building and rebuilding, and every building, if

it's going to last, it needs a foundation.

For us.

That foundation should be Jesus. Jesus is the ultimate foundation.

But before Jesus even came onto the scene, we needed Nehemiah.

He needed to rebuild. I know this because Daniel nine,

verse twenty five, it says, no one understand this from

the time, the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem.

Until the anointed one, the ruler, comes, there will be

seven sevens and sixty two sevens. It will be rebuilt

with streets and a trench. But in times of trouble

this prophecy needed to be fulfilled before Jesus could come

onto the scene. Neemiah one the words of Nehemiah, the

son of Hakalaiah. It came to pass in the month

of kiss Lev in the twentieth year, as I was

in Shushan, the citadel that Hanna and I one of

my brethren, came with men from Judah, and I asked

them concerning the Jews who had escaped, who had survived

the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said to me,

the survivors who are left from the captivity in the

province are in great distress and reproach. The wall of

Jerusalem is also broken down and its gates are burned

with fire. So Neamiyah is presented with a problem. That

problem is Jerusalem is a mess, the people living there

are in distress, and basically the whole thing is an embarrassment.

Niamiah found out about this in the month of Kisslev

that would be in our calendar November or December. Nimaiyah

Io we read, and it came to pass in the

month of Nissan, that would be March or April. So

between Yamiah one and two there are four months that

have passed. What happened during those four months we read

on in Niaemiah too, in the twentieth year of King Artixerxes,

when wine was before him, that I took the wine

and gave it to the king. Now, I had never

been sad in his presence before. Therefore the king said

to me, why is your face sad? Since you are

not sick. This is nothing but sorrow of heart. So

I became dreadfully afraid. It's okay to be afraid, but

have faith. The king was a powerful and busy man,

but Niemiah acted with courage and resolve for the sake

of God's people and his city. Niemiah was a praying man.

He knew he needed God's help if he was going

to be able to do anything, and now four months

after his prayer, an opportunity was for him. Sometimes God's

answers to our prayers take time, but when the answer comes,

be ready Namah's in front of the king, and the

king asks why is he sad? Verse three? But I

said to the king, may the king live forever. Why

should my face not look sad? When the city where

my ancestors are buried lies in ruins and its gates

have been destroyed by fire. The King said to me,

what is it you want? Not only is Niemiah speaking

to the king, the most powerful man in the world,

but the king is now allowing N'emiah to petition him.

What an opportunity? How does Namiah respond? He prays also

in verse four, then I pray to the God of heaven.

Niemiah understands that he needs God's help in order to

get this done. It will not be possible without God.

Verse five. And I answered the king, if it pleases

the King, and if your servant has found favor in

his sight, let him send me to the city in

Judah where my ancestors are buried, so that I can

rebuild it. Nhemiah presses forward, laying it all out on

the table. He wants to rebuild an entire city. Verse six.

Then the King, with the queen sitting beside him, asked me,

how long will your journey take and when will you

get back? It pleased the king to send me, so

I said a time. Here we see what Naemiah has

been up to during these last four months. Here's what

he says verse seven. Furthermore, I said to the King,

if it pleases the King, let letters be given to

me for the governors of the region beyond the river,

that they must permit me to pass through till I

come to Judah, and let a letter to Asaph, the

keeper of the King's forest, that he must give me

timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel

which pertains to the temple, for the city wall, and

for the house that I will occupy. And the King

granted them to me according to the good hand of

my God upon me. It was only possible through God.

Reading these verses makes it very clear Niemiyah did his

homework right. The challenge was great, the chances of success minimal.

By his power alone, this would be impossible. But I

can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me. With

Philippians four, verse thirteen, Niemiyah was strengthened by God. He prayed,

planned and succeeded. His work was just beginning for Israel,

God's comfort was coming. Oh I forgot that, so Niemiah,

it means God comforts good name, right, Okay, for Israel,

God's comfort was coming. This weekend as we reflect on

Jesus's life, death and resurrection, remember this, Jesus died for you,

and he made the Holy Spirit sent from Heaven available

to all who would receive him. The Holy Spirit is

the ultimate comfort of God. Praise be to God. Our

next speaker is Samuel.

Good morning, judge, Happy to be given this opportunity again

to be able to bring this to you the message

of today. So, as we already know, Nehemiah has asked

the kings if he can go back to Jerusalem and

rebuild the temple. And so we'll pick up from verse nine.

We'll pick up from verse nine of chapter two of

Nehemiah says, then I went to the governors in the

region beyond the river and gave them the king's letters.

The king had sent the captains of the army and

horsemen with me. And now verse ten says when Sambala

the Horrnite and Tobya, the Ammonite official, heard of it,

they were deeply disturbed that a man had come to

seek the well being of the children of Israel. So

I want to go ahead and point out here that

the story of near Amyah is rebuilding Jerusalem's walls, actually

mirrors Jesus's mission to restore humanity through the Cross and resurrection.

Both of these stories shows.

That the opposition does not but that facing opposition does

not mean we're off course. It actually often means that

we are right where God wants us. And in this case,

Neamiyah is right where God wants him. Mea Mayah was

set to rebuild, but opposition came immediately. The enemy did

not wait to all. Likewise, Jesus was said to be

rebuild what sin had destroyed, and from the very start

the enemy tried to stop him. We know that from

him being tempted into the wilderness for forty days. And

the main point I want to take from here is

that following God's will does not exempt us from resistance.

It often invites it. So no matter what we do,

there is always going to be someone or a group

of people the devil is always working against us to

try and stop us from doing what God wants us

to do. And now I want us to focus our

attention to me Amaya Chapter four, which where the.

Opposition continues to grow verse one.

But so it happened when Sambala heard that we were

rebuilding the wall, that he was furious and very indignant

and mocked the Jews. So now we have gone from

blatant opposition, from seeing this and being disturbed, to now

openly mocking him out and continuing. And he spoke before

his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, what

are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves, will

they offer sacrifices?

Will they complete it in a day?

Will they revive the stones from the heaps of rubbish

stones that are burned? Now, Tobia the Ammonite was beside him,

and he said, whatever they build, even if a fox

goes up on it, he will be he will break down.

Their stone wall.

So now they're trying to demoralize Jeremiah and his group

for trying to build this wall, rebuild this wall. Verse

ten and eleven says that Judah said the strength of

the labor is is failing. There is much rubbists that

we are not able to build the wall. And our

adversary said, they will neither know nor see anything till

we come into their midst and kill them and cause

the word to cease. Thirteen to fifteen says, therefore I

position men behind the lower parts of the wall at

the openings, and I set the people according to their families,

with their swords, with their spears, and with their bows,

and arose to this and said to the nobles, to

the leaders, and to the rest of the people.

Do not be afraid of them.

Remember the Lord great and awesome, and fight for your brethren,

your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.

So Niemiah is trying.

To motivate these people despite all the mockery and demoralizing

that they're facing, to keep building this wall. So here

I want to say that Neamiyah faced ridicule, fear, and threats,

but so did Jesus. He was mocked, betrayed, and later crucified,

but both of them stood firm. And so the point

I want to bring here is the enemy uses fear

and discouragement to halt God's work, but God will always

give us the strength to keep going.

Amen. Now, for Nehemiah.

Chapter six, I want to focus our attention to verse

ten to fifteen. Afterward, I came to the house of Shemaiah,

the son of Delilah, the son of Mehetabel, was a

secret informer. And he said, let us meet together in

the house of God within the temple, and let us

us close the doors of the temple, for they are

coming to kill you. Indeed, at night they will come

to kill you. And I said, should such a man

as I flee, and who is there such as I.

Who would go in to the temple to save his life?

I will not go in.

And I perceived that God had not sent him at all,

because he pronounced this prophecy against me, because Tobia and

Sambalat had hired him for this reason. He was hired

that I should be afraid and act that way and sin,

so that they might have cause for an evil report,

that they might reproach me.

So now they have.

Gone from demoralizing and open mockery to try to tempt

Neamiah into doing something he knows he's not supposed to do.

Continuing on from verse fourteen, My God, remember Tobia and

Sambalad according to these and their works. To these their works,

and the prophetest Naadiah and the rest of the prophets

who would have made me afraid and verse fifteen. So

the wall was finished on the twenty fifth day of

Elu in fifty two days. So despite all of that,

the mockery, the demoralization, the temptations, Namiyah trusted God and

with God's help he finishes the wall. Neamiyah was tempted

to hide and stop, but he discerned the trap and

kept building. Jesus too faced temptation to avoid the cross,

but he chose obedience.

And so the point I want to.

Take from here is the enemy may try to distract, deceive,

or delay us, but God gives us the power to

finish the work.

Amen. So my conclusion here, what I want to say,

what I.

Want you to leave with, is that Neamiah rebuilt the walls,

but Jesus rebuilt our lives.

The devil tried to stop them both but failed.

The resurrection is proof that even when the enemy tries

to throw anything at us, everything, even God's plan, cannot

be stopped and will not be stopped. So when you

face resistance while doing God's will, remember this, you are

not failing. You are not in the wrong here, You're

right where God wants you. You're right in the very

place where His power shows up the strongest, and before

you know it, it is finished and God is once

again victorious. Amen, God bless you. I'd like to invite

Evelyn now to come up.

Good afternoon, now is okay? So, as we've said, we've

been going through the Book of Nehemiah, and throughout the

book there's three main sources of earthly power that Niamayah

had to deal with. The first, yeah, the first would

be King Artisserxes himself, as Daniel read for us. He

had to go to the king and ask for safe

conduct and also for the building materials he would need. Second,

Niamaiah had to face the gentile opposition for example Indian four.

But it so happened when Sonvelett heard that we were

rebuilding the wall, that he was furious and very indignant

and mocked the Jews. And he spoke before his brethren

and the army of Samaria and said, what are these

feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves, will they offer sacrifices?

Will they complete it in a day? Will they revive

the stones from the heaps of rubbish stones that are burned?

And then later in the chapter and I Nehemiah looked

and rose and said to the nobles, to the leaders,

and to the rest of the people, do not be

afraid of them. Remember the Lord great and awesome, and

fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives,

and your houses. Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet,

rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.

Now he had those letters from the king saying that

he had authority here, but he didn't appeal to those letters.

When he was facing Sonbala, Tobiah and the rest of

them said, our God will fight for us. Third Niami

I had to deal with nobles of his own people,

the Jews. For example, in Niemiah thirteen, it says, in

those days, I saw people in Judah treading wine presses

on the Sabbath and bringing in sheaves and loading donkeys

with wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of burdens, which

they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And I

warned them about the day on which they were selling provisions.

Men of tire dwelt there also, who brought in fish

and all kinds of goods and sold them on the

Sabbath to the children of Judah. And in Jerusalem. Then

I contended with the nobles of Judah and said to them,

what evil thing is this that you do? By which

you profane the Sabbath day? Did not your fathers do thus?

And did not our God bring all this disaster on

us and on the city. Yet you bring added wrath

on Israel by profaning the Sabbath. And at this point

Niamia is not even governor anymore, because he was governor

for twelve years, and he went back to Persia and

then came and then was on a visit to Jerusalem.

And he's still telling these nobles, you are breaking God's law?

What are you doing? So how could he do that

standing up to the nobles of his own people, to

the gentiles. And he wasn't even appealing to any authority

he might have had from the king, because Niamiyah knew

slide please, because Niamiyah knew that his authority didn't come

from the Jewish nobles or the Gentile governors, or even

from King artie Xerxes himself. God had sent him on

this mission, So Niamyah's authority came from him. This theme

of God's children answering to him above all authorities can

be found throughout the Bible. For example, in First Corinthians

slide Please. In First Corinthians six, it says, or do

you not know that your body is a temple the

Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God.

And you are not your own, for you were bought

at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body and

in your spirit, which are God's. The idea that we

belong to God because we believe in Jesus is echoed

in Galatians two twenty, where Paul says, I have been

crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live,

but Christ lives in me and the life which I

now live in the flesh. I live by faith in

the son of God, who loved me and gave himself

for me. That's what we're celebrating this weekend. So when

I believe in Jesus, not only does he save me,

but I make him the ruler, the lord of my life.

And Missus White in Christ's object Lessons takes it a

step further. As the will of man cooperates with the

will of God, it becomes omnipotent. Whatever is to be

done at his command may be accomplished in his strength.

All his biddings are enablings. So it's not even that

God is just gonna say, here's my commands, do them

and then leave us flailing. He's going to be with

us and give us a strength to do it. He's

proved this throughout the Bible. Sigh, please, He's proved this

throughout the Bible, including with Moses, which in Exodus four.

Then Moses said to the Lord, Oh, my Lord, I

am not eloquent, neither before nor since you have spoken

to your servant. But I am slow of speech and

slow of tongue. So the Lord said to him, who

has made man's mouth, or who makes the mute, the death,

the seeing, or the blind, have not I the Lord.

Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth

and teach you what you shall say. God wanted Moses

to go and leave the children of Israel out of Egypt,

and whatever skills Moses may or may not have had,

that wasn't the point. The point is God gave him

a job to do, and God was going with him

the next time. The next person we don't talk about much,

but Namon's wife's maid in Second King's five and the young,

and the Syrians had gone out on raids and had

brought back captive a young girl from the land of Israel.

She waited on Namon's wife, and she said to her mistress,

if only my master were with the prophet who is

in Samaria, for he would heal him of his leprosy.

So this girl is in the house of the commander

of Syria's army. She is first of all an Israelite captive.

She is a servant. She is a girl, not even

a woman, a girl. She has all these things going

working against her. But she sees someone who needs healing,

and she knows that, and she knows that she is

an Israelite. She knows the God who heals. So she

has a duty from God to witness to him whoever

she has to talk to, even if it's the wife

of serious army commander. And next Peter and the Apostles

in Acts five. And when they had brought them, they

set them before the council, and the high priests asked them, saying,

did we not strictly command you not to teach in

this name? And look, you will filled Jerusalem with your

doctrine and intend to bring this man's blood on us.

But Peter and the other apostles answered and said, we

ought to obey God rather than men. They were in

front of the leaders, the religious leaders of their own people.

But even then they knew God himself. Jesus himself had

told them to spread the gospel to Jerusalem, to Samaria,

and to the ends of the earth. So they had

a job to do, and God had given them the

authority to do it. It's like what Jesus said in

John fifteen. Abide in me and I in you. As

the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides

in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.

I am the vine.

You are the branches. He who abides in me and

I in him bears much fruit. For without me you

can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me,

he is cast out as a branch and is withered.

And they gather them and throw them into the fire,

and they are burned. If you abide in me and

my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire,

and it shall be done for you. By this, My

Father is glorified that you bear much fruit, so you

will be my disciples. Nehemiah knew that he was sent

by God, so he trusted that God would give him

the ability to help rebuild Jerusalem. And because he knew

God was with him, he was able to be bold

and courageous with the Jewish nobles, with the gentile opposition,

and with King art Exerxes himself. When I belong to God,

when I believe that Jesus died and rose again to

forgive my sin, I belong to him, and he becomes

the lord of my life. But he's not going to

just give me his laws and give me his commands

and then hang me out to dry. He is going

to be right there with me every step of the way,

giving me the strength and the will to do what

he commands. And now we will hear from Miss Nikita lighting.

Good afternoon church. Also, so as we celebrate the joy

of Easter, we remember the resurrection of Jesus Christ, how

he rose and victory over sin, death and injustice. The

resurrection wasn't just a moment of glory, was revolution of restoration.

In Nihamayah five we see a reflection of that same power,

not in a tomb, but a city under construction, where

injustice among God's people threatens to tear everything apart. I'm

going to read the Hamaiah chapter five, verse six, and seven.

And I became very angry when I heard their outcry

and these words. After Syah's thought, I rebuked the nobles

and rulers and said to them, each of you exacting

usury from his brother.

So what happened?

The people cried in pain. They're starving, Their children are

being sold. The wealthy are charging interests against their own brothers.

Injustice wasn't coming from the enemies. It was coming from within.

And isn't that the world. Jesus entered a world full

of greed, broken systems, and forgotten people. But in Eastern

we celebrate the truth. Jesus hears the cry of the

hurting and he answers with compassion and power. Nehimiah says,

I was very angry, but I took counsel with myself.

He didn't lash out, He reflected and then took action.

That's leadership shaped by God. Likewise, Jesus got angry too.

He flipped tables in the temple, not outrage, but of

righteous indignation and injustice. The resurrection is God's answer to

the world's brokenness. Jesus didn't ignore his sin. He confronted

it and overcame it. We can do that the same

two Church rich I resurrection power calls us to action,

to speak truth, to live justly, to act in love.

Neehimiah calls for repentance and restoration returned to them this

very day, their fields, their vineyards, their children. And that

is resurrection language. Give back what was stolen, restore what

was broken, release what was bond. And isn't that exactly

what Jesus did through the cross and resurrection. He restore

hope to the hopeless, life to the dead, freedom to

the captive. He came to set us free, so we

can set others free too. Nehimiah shakes out his robe

and declares, so may God shake out every man who

does not keep his promise. The people respond, Amen, it's

more than an agreement. It's surrender, its commitment. It's worship.

This Eastern let our amen echo theirs, because the price

is paid, the tomb is empty, and the risen savior

calls us to live like people who have been made new.

So what can we take from Nehemiah Chapter five and

the resurrection of Christ? When you hear the crime, the hurting,

respond with passion. When you see injustice, act and righteousness.

When you've caused harm, repent and restore. And when you

remember the empty tomb, live like you've been raised because

Jesus didn't rise just to make us better. He rose

to make us new. And when we walk in justice, mercy,

and humility, we proclaim to the world he has risen. Indeed, Amen,

our next person, our next speaker will be Esther. She's

gonna share her thoughts with.

Us, happiesabout church. I heard that you're not supposed to

say you're nervous. I won't say that I'm nervous. I'm

very humbled and blessed and grateful to be here to

be able to share the Word with you today. I

would like to focus on my and what we can

learn from the.

People of Jerusalem. As we've heard through the sharing so far,

we can see that Nahmaiah was someone who overcame all

kinds of oppositions, attacks and resistance, not by his own strength,

but through faith and prayer and the help of the Spirit.

Just like all my friends had dissected for us. Nahimaiah

held a high position under the king. Artis er six

of Praysia. He was trusted as the king couper, someone

who can give the king advice directly, and he has

a great influence of power. Yet despite living in a

pagan kingdom surrounded by idolatry and unbelievers, he never lost

his side of faith. When he heard from his brother

Haney in chapter one that the Jerusalem's wall was broken

and gets burnt, his first response was not to rush

into action, but to pray, to seek God, and he

fasts before anything. Spiritually, Himaiah shows us that faithfulness is

not where you are, but who you belonged to, and

he belonged to God. Throughout the story, Himayah faced constant

attack from the enemies like Sanvala, Tobaia, and Gesham, but

his response was always the same. He always prayed first

and acted with courage and wisdom from God. Because of

his faithfulness and with the help of the other people,

the leaders, price Levites and the common people, the wall

was built within fifty two days. But the story didn't

end there. Himayah noticed that the city was still empty

and it was underpopulated, and the war was strong. The

walls were strong, but the heart of the people still

needed restoring, and the people that were in exile from

centuries ago had returned to Jerusalem after the walls were built,

and now they gathered together to hear Ezra read the

Book of Law, the Law Moses to them. As they listened,

the herd were touched and they begin to whip when

Nehemiah and the leaders couraged them not to sorrow, for

the joy of the Lord is your strength and Hamiah

eight ten. So naturally the people repented deeply. They confess

their own sins and their ancestors, and they remember that

God's faithfulness. They remember God's faithfulness throughout their life and

made a new covenant to live according to his will,

to keep the Sabbath, too honored, to support the temple,

and to live as God's chosen people once again. Now,

Nehemiah organized the repopulation of Jerusalem by casting lots. It's

kind of like he picked out ten of every family

or person from outside of the town to move into Jerusalem,

and people that were living outside they kind of preferred

because they like farming. And there are also people who

volunteer to relocate to Jerusalem, and they honored the volunteers

who moved into the city to restore its life and purpose.

After all that, they held a great celebration by doing

two choirs marched on top of the wall, singing praise

and rejoicing, so loud that they could be heard from

other cities around. Because when God restores, he restores with joys.

But Nehimaiah's work wasn't done here. After returning to Persia

for a while, he had to return because the king

gave him a time off from his work. In chapter two,

Nehimaiah found that during his absence, people once again fell

into sin, neglecting their offering, breaking and dishonor the Sabbath,

and even litting their enemies like Tobia into the temple. Now,

Nahimaiah immediately took bold action by cleaning the temple, restoring

the offering, and also calling back people to obedience. He

ended his story not by praising himself, but with a

simple humble prayer, Remember me, Oh my God, for good

in Himaiah thirteen fourteen. Today, as we negavigate through life,

we will face all kinds of discouragement and temptation, both

from external influence and within ourselves. There will be times

when we backslide when we're rebuilding our life for God

and restoring our identity in Him hearing, healing our broken hearts.

We will encounter position oppositions, just like Himayah did, but

like Nehemiah, we must also seek God first. In Matthew

chapter six, verse thirty three, Jesus tells us to seek

God first, the kingdom of God first, and his righteousness,

and all these things shall be added unto you. When

we put God's kingdom first, everything else will fall into

place according to his will. This is exactly what Himaya did,

seeking God through prayer, fasting and faith before every decisions,

every battles and victory. And in our lives today we

must also remember the covenant we have with the Lord

to live for him, to trust him, to honor Him

with everything we are. And today this is what we

can learn. Faithfulness matters more than perfection. Prayer must always

come first always, and God's restorations start not just on

the outside, but in our heart. And when God restore,

he will restore us completely with strength, and He will

cover us like he got us. Thank you so much,