“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

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

Nehemiah

Need wall rebuilt / gates restored

Leadership of Nehemiah

52 days they accomplished task

Lessons that apply to us in theWork of the church

I. We need Members who Pray

Nehemiah 1- 6Nehemiah 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,”

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.

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

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

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

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 !

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

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

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.”

Sermon by Arthur Pigman

Evans Church of Christ

515 Gibbs Road

Evans, Ga. 30809

706-855-1249

evanscoc@bellsouth.netevanscoc@bellsouth.net

www.evansgachurchofchrist.orgwww.evansgachurchofchrist.org

Sunday Evening Oct. 21, 2007