Building a Firm Foundation  Part 1 By Trevor Leggott

Well, we're going to look at a pretty quick trip through Nehemiah through a couple of the opening chapters anyway, just in the time I've got with you today.
And I'd like to read to you the second chapter because with chapter one and chapter two is what we'll be looking at this morning.
Just a bit of an overview and seeing some principles that we can draw our trust.
So I'll read then Nehemiah chapter two and I'll be using the NIV actually,
but you may not be able to follow it too well but hopefully you'll see the sense of it.
Nehemiah chapter two, In the month of Nissen, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes,
when wine was brought for him,
I took the wine and gave it to the king.
I had not been sad in his presence before,
so the king asked me,
Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill?
This can be nothing but sadness of heart.
I was very much afraid, but I said to the king,
May the king live forever.
Why should my face not look sad
when the city where my fathers are buried lies in ruins
and its gates have been destroyed by fire?
The king said to me,
What is it you want?
Then I prayed to the God of heaven and I answered the king,
If it pleases the king
and if your servant has found favour in his sight,
let him send me to the city in Judah
where my fathers are buried so that I can rebuild it.
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 set a time.
I also said to him,
If it pleases the king,
may I have letters to the governors of Trans Euphrates
so that they will provide me safe conduct
until I arrive in Judah.
And may I have a letter to Asaph,
keeper of the king's forest,
so he will give me timber to make beans
for the gates of the citadel by the temple
and for the city wall and for the residence I will occupy.
And because the gracious hand of my God was upon me,
the king granted my request.
So I went to the governors of Trans Euphrates
and gave them the king's letter.
King had also sent army officers in cavalry with me.
When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite
official heard about this,
they were very much disturbed that someone had come
to promote the welfare of the Israelites.
I went to Jerusalem and after staying there three days
I set out during the night with a few men.
I had not told anyone what my God had put in my heart
to do for Jerusalem.
There were no mounts with me except the one I was riding on.
By night I went out through the valley gate
toward the Jaffa well and the dun gate,
examining the walls of Jerusalem,
which had been broken down and its gates
which had been destroyed by fire.
Then I moved on towards the fountain gate
and the king's hill,
but there was not enough room for my mount to get through,
so I went up the valley by night examining the wall.
Finally I turned back and re-entered through the valley gate.
The officials did not know where I had gone
or what I was doing,
because as yet I had said nothing to the Jews or the priests
or nobles or officials or any others who would be doing the work.
Then I said to them,
You see the trouble we are in?
Jerusalem lies in ruins
and its gates have been burned with fire.
Come, let us rebuild the walls of Jerusalem
and we will no longer be in disgrace.
I also told them about the gracious hand of my God upon me
and what the king had said to me.
They replied,
Let us start rebuilding.
So they began this good work.
But when Sandalat the Horonite,
Tobiah the Ammonite official and Gisham the Arab heard about it,
they mocked and ridiculed us.
What is this you are doing? they asked.
Are you rebelling against the king?
I answered them by saying,
The God of heaven will give us success.
We his servants will start rebuilding.
But as for you, you have no share in Jerusalem
or any claim or historic right to it.
Just leave it there.
May God bless this reading of his word to us
and grant us some of the understanding of it by his Spirit.
Well I understand that this is the kind of third convention
in a series if you like.
He tells me the first one was on unity in Christ
and then building together
and we are looking today and tomorrow
at what kind of building or how we build.
Be careful how you build.
That text is the theme for the weekend in 1 Corinthians 3.
I guess Neville will be looking more specifically at that tomorrow.
Be careful how you build.
It's interesting in Nehemiah we see the people of God
talking about the distress they are in
and they want to get on and do the right thing by God
and it's talking about rebuilding.
In this case rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.
And I think there are some good lessons we can learn
just by looking at their experience
and how the Lord worked in and through them in what they did.
Nehemiah wrote probably two and a half thousand years ago
and yet this word of God comes down to us today
just as fresh as the day it was penned and just as relevant.
With Ezra we have recorded for us
how God fulfilled his promise to his people
that they would return to the land of their own land
and their promised land after being exiled in Babylon
for over 70 years.
And after some of the exiles returned to Jerusalem
they start looking about and seeing the circumstance.
The city's been destroyed, its walls are all broken down
and there's no protection for them
from the enemies that are out and about.
And the opening chapters of Nehemiah record for us
they begin to rebuild the walls of the city.
And just by way of introduction
I want to use the example of building
and try and draw from it
how we build the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Not the building but the people.
Because there's some good illustrations
and some good comparisons here.
If we think about building, a physical building
there are some good parallels we can draw examples from that
about how we should be building
the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Lord himself uses those illustrations about buildings
building his people,
building the people being a temple and so on.
So it's good that we look at those examples
and draw what conclusions we can from it
about how we should be building the Church.
And he challenges us in that Corinthians reading
be careful how you build.
And by way of introduction
I'd like us to think about
what's the first thing we need to do
if we're going to put down a decent building?
Anybody want to care to...
Yes?
The foundation.
The foundation?
That's before we even see anything above the ground is it?
Get the foundations right.
And just read to you a short passage
from Matthew chapter 7.
Probably familiar to you.
Matthew 7 verse 24.
Jesus says,
everyone who hears these words of mine
and puts them into practice
is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
The rain came down, the streams rose
and the winds blew and begged against that house
yet it did not fall because its foundation
it had its foundation on the rock.
But everyone who hears these words of mine
and does not put them into practice
is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.
The rain came down, the streams rose
and the winds blew and begged against it
and that house and it fell with a great crash.
So foundations are important aren't they?
Getting the foundations right.
Again, just before we get to Nehemiah
again in Matthew later on in verse, in chapter 16
Jesus says this
chapter 16 verse 13
When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi
he asked his disciples
who do people say the Son of Man is?
They replied, some say John the Baptist
others say Elijah
and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.
But what about you, he asked
who do you say I am?
Simon Peter answered
you are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.
And Jesus replied
blessed are you Simon, Son of Jonah
for this was not revealed to you by man
but by Father in heaven.
And I tell you that you are Peter
and on this rock are you still my church
and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
When we think about the foundations
and we talk about building
we're not talking about building a club
like an RSL or a youth club or anything else
we're talking about the church of the Lord Jesus Christ
as we come together to consider his word
he says I will build my church
the focus is Christ
and the church is Christ isn't it?
It's not an AIM church
it's not Uncle Bill's church
it's not anybody's church
other than the Lord Jesus Christ
and if we lose that focus
we're in trouble
because we end up building temples
to someone other than the Lord Jesus Christ
I will build my church.
And let's look at the example of building
that Nehemiah gives us.
So firstly careful building needs a good foundation
and we know that rock upon which we stand
or we should know that rock upon which we stand
is Christ and Christ alone.
And Nehemiah
in these opening verses
we see some of those who returned
casting their eyes about where they had come to in Jerusalem
and it wasn't a happy scene
you see we're told in verse 2 and 3
Hannah and I, one of my brothers
came from Judah with some other men
and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant
that survived the exile and also about Jerusalem
they said to me
those who survived the exile are back in the province
they are in great trouble and disgrace
the wall of Jerusalem has broken down
and its gates have been burned with fire.
So I suppose if we're on about building
on the firm foundation
are we able to look about and see
that we are in trouble and disgrace
look about our communities and see the desperate nature
of the people that we would work with
that we would share the Gospel with
I know from my own perspective I travel all over this country
and my focus is ministry of the Gospel
to the indigenous people of Australia
and as I look about I weep
because things are bad, things are tough
people are in trouble and disgrace
and there is a desperate need for preaching and teaching
the word of God and building up the people
and building the church of Jesus Christ
so the first thing we have to do
as we look to build on that foundation
is recognise the need
and see that there is a work to be done
God has promised
didn't he promise that I will build my church
and the gates of hell will not prevail against him
well I know as I move about
and I see the things that happen on the field
even to our own property that's only part of it
but it's disgraceful
and it's a shame that the communities are the way they are
that the things of Christ are dishonoured in such a way
and yet God calls us to look at the situation
and recognise the need
and we have to ask ourselves
am I prepared to respond to what I see as a need
and how can I act and react
in a way which brings honour and glory to God
that's what these people did in their day
they looked about and they recognised the problem
people were in trouble and disgrace
walls of the city had been broken down and burned
I mean you and me we can walk around and see places
that are physically like that now broken down and burned
things that have been built to honour and glorify God
and we see much of distress amongst indigenous communities
right across this country
and whatever amount of money is poured into it
will all come to nothing because we know that ultimately
the thing that saves is the gospel of Jesus Christ
ministering by people who know and love him
and who can interact and relate with people in such a way
that makes that gospel warm and heartening to the hearers
that they might grow up into the things of Christ
that we might build on that foundation
recognising the need, the building for that purpose
and we see in Nehemiah's day
they looked around and they were very sad at what they saw
they wanted to do something about it
the walls of Jerusalem broken down
gates have been burned with fire
when I saw these things I sat down and wept
I wonder if that's what you do
when you cast your eyes about the circumstances
it's not a happy scene, a Christian scene in Australia generally is it?
it's a very low point in the proclamation and living of the gospel
in the West generally
and I guess in Australia everybody seems to do what he likes
and the things of God are ignored and ridiculed
and it's just as bad if not worse amongst our Aboriginal brothers and sisters throughout this nation
things are growing
many of you live with the circumstances of that
in your daily life and struggle with it
so there's a great need, the need to be recognising that
as we seek to build there's a great purpose in building
to save people from their sin
to glorify God through developing and building his church as he's pleased to bless us
well if we recognise the need
we recognise we need to build on the good foundation
then logic tells me it would be a good thing to talk to the designer
or talk to the architect of that building if we would understand how we might build rightly
let's go to the next one
follow the rules of the architect
now if we're going to sit down and build a building
we can have the concrete foundations poured and say that's fine
but if we haven't got a plan or a design to work to
what we build is going to be deformed and unreliable and unsafe
but if we follow the architect's design and the designer's plan
it's a good thing isn't it?
how do we work out if we want to be engaged in that building process
how do we work out what's right and appropriate?
talk to the designer, talk to the architect
and that's what we see happens in Nehemiah
and they look about, they see the problem
they weep because of what they see
the very next thing is
for some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the god of heaven
and then we have what he prayed
now if we would be on about building the church of Christ on a good foundation
prayer is foundational
I can remember doing a bit of a study on history of revivals in the church
and again and again and again and again
you see that the people of God were forced to their knees in prayer
before revival came
so it's a good starting point
to be before God in prayer
seeking his face and his will for the future
follow the designer's rules
and even in the prayer that Nehemiah offers here
we get some good guidelines
he says oh lord god of heaven
great and awesome god who keeps his covenant of love
with those who love him and obey his command
let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer
your servant is praying before you day and night
and for your servants the people Israel
a lot of you would know the lord's prayer
how father in heaven hallowed be your name
your kingdom come your will be done
what's that doing in the opening address of a prayer
it's acknowledging god for who he is
acknowledging god for his glory and majesty and worth
coming into the presence of god
acknowledging him for who he is
reverence and respect
and here Nehemiah just phase these things out as an introductory to his prayer
and our prayers should acknowledge god for who he is as well
I know in my own circumstance too often
when you go to god in prayer it's usually god help me
we rush up with our petitions because we know god hears and answers prayer
but if we would commune with the almighty
isn't it good that we acknowledge him for who he is and what he's done
as we come to him in prayer
it's really an indication of the relationship and the depth of relationship
that we understand something of who he is as he seeks to commune with us
good for us if we would seek to commune with him to acknowledge him for who he is and what he's done
a god of promise a god of his word a god of love
look at those words that come out there
great and awesome god
keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his command
he introduces these things before he asks that his prayer might be heard
he acknowledges god for who he is he knows his god for who he is
he is a god who's all powerful and able and able to do whatsoever he wishes
a god who is a god of promise a god who doesn't change his word
a god who is reliable
and he's then able to seek him out in prayer
he also acknowledges his failings and the failings of those he's praying on behalf of
isn't it interesting he says in verse 6 half way through there
as he asks the lord to be attentive to his prayer
he says i confess the sins we israelites
including myself and my father's health have committed against you
that's another part of that pattern of prayer that jesus gives us in the lord's prayer isn't it
forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us
he was acknowledging his unworthiness to be seeking god's face
but coming with the encouragement that god wants to hear us in prayer
and wants to know that we are sorry for the offence that we've caused to him as we seek him in prayer
and here not just praying for himself or for others but together
i confess the sins that we israelites you see how he identifies with the group
and that again is a part of an indication of the fellowship that they shared as the israelite people
the israelite people the people of god something good for us to take account of as we gather
and seek to build the church of the lord jesus
i confess the sins we israelites including myself and my father's house have committed against you
we have acted very wickedly towards you we have not obeyed the commandments decrees and laws
you gave your servant moses it's an acknowledgement of the sin of the nation
so we have reverence and repentance and then as if to remind god of his covenant
he in his prayer lays out god's history of dealing with his people
remember the instruction you gave your servant moses saying if you are unfaithful i will scatter your laminations
but if you return to me and obey my commands then even in your exile people are at the farthest arid
and i will gather them from there and bring them to the place i have chosen as a dwelling for my name
here is nehemiah reminding god yes we are going to be sinners and we are going to fall away
but you in your promise have promised that you will bring us back and he's reminding god of his promise
and that's not a bad thing for us to do either to lay our prayers out in such a way that we are as it were acknowledging what god has said he would do
reminding god of his promise that he gives us through his word
they are your servants and your people whom you redeem by your great strength and your mighty hands
isn't that lovely he was a man who had the confidence to remind god that what he was praying about was god's people
god i want you to do this because they are yours
your servants your people you redeem them your mighty hand at work
and then thirdly as we listen to the architect's plan if you like and seek conversation with him about what we might do
you see how he lays out the general if you like then he gets to the specific in verse 11
are our prayers always relevant or do we just trot out our theology and we say well i acknowledge all those things that i know of god and his way and his purpose
but prayer then gets specific it's relevant in verse 11
oh lord let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name
give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man
so the prayer was specific he and i had a task he was going to do and he's praying that the lord would grant him success in what he'd do
so following the rules of the architect then we see if we want to build carefully we need to use the right materials
recognizing that god provides for his work and in the first nine verses we see this interaction between arthaxerxes the king and nehemiah
and what a wonderful answer to nehemiah's prayer that was he was able to gather all the bits and pieces he needed
and the lord had worked in arthaxerxes heart to the extent that he allowed those things to take place that nehemiah would have had success in what he was doing and seeking to do
all the things that were necessary were going to be provided isn't that amazing
i often say it's a little truism but part of my role as the ceo of the mission we look around and we say we've got very little resources we need more people we need more money we need more property
but if we recognize that god if god is sovereign and he gives us a job to do he doesn't leave us lacking in the resources to do the job isn't that simple logic
if god is sovereign and he gives us a job he makes sure we've got the materials to do the job
the problem for us is are we looking in the right places that's the hard one but we need to hang on to the truth that if god gives us that work to do he doesn't leave us lacking in the resources to do the job
we need to be using the right materials
just let me look again in ophesians chapter 4 you probably know this fairly well
in ophesians chapter 4 it's talking about how god cares for his church in terms of the people he gives to him
verse 7 he says to each of us each one of us grace has been given as christ apportioned i think that's interesting that each one of us
this is some of us who missed out by the way it says to each one of us grace has been given as christ apportioned
if we go up to verse 11 it was he who gave some to be apostles some to be prophets some to be evangelists some to be pastors and teachers
to prepare god's people for works of service so that the body of christ may be built up until we all reach the unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the son of god and become mature attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of christ
it's saying that god gives us all we need to build his church god gives us all the materials we need to build his church god provides god provided for nehemiah and according to his grace and his will he provides for his church
god provides the life materials the question for us is are we looking to discover those that god has provided for us
so again as i look about our field of ministry within AIM i see many people who the lord trained and used going back 40, 50, 60 years
people who kept the church amongst aboriginal christians going for many many years but slowly the lord is taking those folk away
and we look about and see where do those generations of followers gone where are the young men who the lord has trained in leadership
it's great to have you with us sister and i'd love to meet old christians who have gone on in their walk with the lord but brothers and sisters there are generations gone missing we've been doing something wrong
and it seems to me as a as a mission that we've taught our people to be evangelists but not church builders and we need to pick up on these things and get the foundations right
and recognize that god has given us gifts amongst his people and we need to be seeking them out and nurturing them and growing them
i guess that's my passion for the moment in trying to develop a training regime for training young ones in the things of the lord that we would bring them on so that there is a future
because if the current generation of leadership wants to go on to the lord there's nothing left
we don't need to worry about rebuilding jerusalem as it were
the lord provides the things needful the question for us is are we taking steps to use and to nurture and to develop the things the lord has provided for us
well let's go on
it's another truism i suppose that as we seek to do things they're going to be those who laugh at us and say what are you wasting your time for
to be honest that was said to me when my denomination set me apart for this work 18 years ago
i can remember one he's a godly man he's still a dear brother and i'm actually thanking for what he said because he stood up in our church synod and said trevor i support you in what you're going to do
but it's a thankless task and you won't have any success but i'll pray for you because that was his experience of minister this was with folk in the mclay valley up in northern new south wiles a thankless task but i'll pray for you
we can rest assured there are many who would laugh at any attempts to minister the gospel amongst indigenous folk in this land but it's something the lord calls us to isn't it take the gospel build his church among every people nation tongue and tribe
and what touched my heart i remember i spoke at a conference in 2000 in tenor creek and there was about a thousand people there sitting out in the dark and i can remember the old leaders sat in a circle deciding where they're going to have the next conference
and those old men prayed that the lord would bless them that the aboriginal christians of this nation might be a beacon light to the rest of the nation
and we've seen revival take place up there amongst those communities that's wonderful to see but there will be mockers look at uh what's recorded for us here in uh nehemiah chapter two
verse ten
the ammonite official heard about this they were much disturbed that someone had come to promote the welfare of the israelites
and uh you know they they mock them in those next few verses they mock they mock the attempts
i'm reminded of a show i don't know if any of you ever see it the uh grand designs is it there's a fellow people building or rebuilding their houses and this guy who's who's the critic he goes around and he seems to pull everything down it very seems to be until the end then he gets very positive but all through the building process it's going to cost too much the design is not going to work there's always that kind of thing
that sort of critical spirit and that sort of spirit is out in the world too and even might i say from some churches and some christians they will look at others attempts at menus during the gospel and laugh at them
but if we know that we're building on the right foundations think go all you like laugh all you like
now if we have got the basics right we're building on the right foundations if we recognize that what we're doing has a purpose if we stick to the rules that the architect has set before us if we use the right materials to this guy then they can mock all they like
remember those who mocked Noah i wonder what they were feeling like as they were getting swallowed up by the waters and Noah sitting up there sat on his arm with his family you know you've got to let those things roll off our back
people want to give us a bad name for our attempts so we'd rather be faithful to our god and trust in him
just in closing then that last verse of chapter 2 i guess that's the bottom line as we go through those things careful building makes a start if we're going to build something we can't sit and just pray about it
we can't plan it we can't worry about the circumstances that might surround it we've got to make a start and we've got to make a start somewhere that's what they did
if you looked at that rubble the gates all burned down of that city and all the stonework spread all over the place what an impossible task why would you even bother to start
but when these fellas who were looking on criticized them these were like to reply let us start rebuilding so they began this good work
i answered them by saying the god of heaven will give us success we his servants will start rebuilding but as for you you have no share in Jerusalem or any claim or historic right to it we will start
well i pray that there's some thoughts for you to meditate on as we seek to be workers in building the church of the lord jesus christ and the challenge is for us to be careful how we build
i mean it's just your word of prayer
oh father god we again we acknowledge you for who you are awesome all powerful all able god all knowing
a god who's totally other separated from us and yet a god who has been pleased to show us himself through the revelations that you've given in history especially in how you show yourself to us through your word
and as you reveal yourself to us in your son our lord and savior jesus christ we praise you lord god for who you are for what you've done that you sustain this very creation by your determined will by the power of your word you sustain our life moment by moment
and we praise you that you are building your church and nothing nothing is going to prevent your will in accomplishing your purposes
and lord we thank you that you're at work in the lives of individuals regenerating work of the spirit as jesus was raised victorious from death victory over sin so according to your promise you sent forth your spirit to be ministering that good news of jesus through the word and in the lives and hearts of the people
and indeed the holy spirit comes and dwells within us the moment we believe lord remind us that you give us all things needful to do what you've called us to do it amazes us that you would use weak and broken vessels like we are to accomplish your purposes in this age in which we live
and yet it's sad the word tells us that so and our practical experience confirms it and lord we praise and thank you for who you are and for what you're doing in our individual lives especially as you build your church help us to build wisely in our own lives and as we come together as your church
that we might reflect on the means by which you've given us to to build you might be careful in abiding by the rules that you've given us that you might bless us that we might not take account of the scoffers and mockers who will be out there in the world
knowing that we serve a far higher and greater god and that you will accomplish your purposes to your praise and glory please continue with us for the rest of our weekend bless our time together and bless our fellowship we pray we give you thanks in jesus name amen
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