10/26/97…………To Build or not to Build?………Neh. 4

by Ronald E. George Jr.

Charge to the Church

Are we a People with a Mind to Work?

Growing up in a coal camp in Greenbrier I wondered through the woods looking for something to do. One of our favorites was take an axe and a saw and build cabins or clubhouses out of trees that we had cut done in the woods. There was no doubt about it we wanted to build and we did, although we never finished any of those cabins we continued to build those cabins. The question for us today is the building question. To Build or not to Build that is the question.

Scripture Text: Nehemiah 4:1-9 Neh 4:1 Now when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and greatly enraged, and he mocked the Jews. 2. He said in the presence of his associates and of the army of Samaria, "What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore things? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish it in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish--and burned ones at that?"3 Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, "That stone wall they are building--any fox going up on it would break it down!" 4 Hear, O our God, for we are despised; turn their taunt back on their own heads, and give them over as plunder in a land of captivity. 5 Do not cover their guilt, and do not let their sin be blotted out from your sight; for they have hurled insults in the face of the builders. 6 So we rebuilt the wall, and all the wall was joined together to half its height; for the people had a mind to work. 7 But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem was going forward and the gaps were beginning to be closed, they were very angry, 8 and all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it.9 So we prayed to our God, and set a guard as a protection against them day and night.

Key verse is V. 6 …the people had a mind to work.

I. Why we should not Build:

Nehe 4:1-3 Now when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and greatly enraged, and he mocked the Jews. 2. He said in the presence of his associates and of the army of Samaria, "What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore things? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish it in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish--and burned ones at that?"3 Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, "That stone wall they are building--any fox going up on it would break it down!"

We like things the way they are now. Why should we change? We don’t really need to change. We have all that we need now. We don’t have enough time or money to build again. What will everyone else say if we do? We have enough people now, so why should we try to get some more. Building is hard work and I don’t enough the strength left to build. I don’t believe that God wants us to build right now. The time isn’t right.

II. Why we should Build: See the Vision of God.

Nehe 2:17 (KJS) Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we [are] in, how Jerusalem [lieth] waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach. 18 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].

1. See the distress of the people of the world around us. Don’t close our eyes to the Wages of sin in the lives of those around us. Rom. 6:23

2. See God’s Vision for the Church to Advance the Kingdom of God.

3. See the Field of Dreams … Build it and they will come. Prov. 29:18

4. Building is our only choice… Build or Die. The choice is ours.

God’s Charge is to Begin to build…

III. Where Do We Begin to Build?

1. Pray… v. 4-5 for the church. For the Pastor. For each other. For the vision. Pray for a Plan. Lay hands on the pastor and pray for him today. A Visionless church is a dieing church. Are we going under?

Nehe 4:9 (KJS) Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them.

2.Build the Wall/ Church…V.6 One brick at a time, one person, and one family at a time. Only through sacrificial giving of our time, talent, and treasures can the work begin to grow into a wall. We are not afraid of change or growth. Build up each other. Build up the pastor and his family. He is not the enemy but the leader sent by God to the church with the vision. To build up the pastor is to build up the Lord. You can see how the church feels about the Lord when you see how they feel about the pastor and his family.

3. Join Together your separate parts of the Wall. V.6

We have all been given our part of the wall to build and now it is time to join together in the church family to build the church of the living God. Join together with your pastor not because you like but because you love the Lord and the Man that God has sent to lead you. Follow the leader that the Lord has given you to build up the people that the Lord calls the church.

4. Set a watch. Watchout for the devil who seek to destroy the work. Don’t let your guard down.

Don’t get to the point that you feel that we have finished our work. Don’t let the devil hinder you or your progress for the Lord’s work. Don’t let the devil hinder or destroy the life of your pastor. He is your responsibility. If he grows you will grow. If he dies then you as a church will die. Love him, honor him, and support him as you are doing it to the Lord.

5. Do you have a mind to work for the Lord with one another?

Are you ready to go to work with the Lord and with each other . Don’t let the Devil hinder your work for the Lord. Praise Him for each other and the church where you can work for Him. Build the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Will you build?