Building a Firm Foundation  Part 2 By Trevor Leggott

You know what? It does my heart to it to hear that unmistakable voice of Nan Pita's singing,
I surrender all. The Lord's still got you here for a reason, sister, you know.
Well, we're looking again in that, must have been a little fella, hey Steve, knee-high mire.
Knee-high mire, chapter 3 and 4.
Chapter 3 is about the actual process of building the wall and those that build it,
and we'll be looking briefly at that as I go through, but I'd like to read chapter 4
because we'll be looking at that as well. But knee-high mire, chapter 4, and I encourage you to
really read through the whole book.
It's just a wonderful story of the Lord's dealing with his people.
In chapter 4 we come to what was to become some opposition, or supposed opposition to the
rebuilding. When Sanbalat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was
greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews, and in the presence of his associates and the army of
Samaria, he said, what are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their will? Will they
offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from
those heaps of rubble, burned as they are? Tobiah the Ammonite, who was at his side, said,
what they are building, if even a fox climbed up on it, he would break down their walls of stone.
Hear us, O our God, for we are despised. Turn their insults back on their own heads. Give them over
as plunder in the land of captivity. Do not cover up their guilt or blot out their sins from your
sight, for they have thrown insults in the face of the builders. So we rebuild the wall till
all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart.
But when Sanbalat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the men of Ashdod heard
that the repairs to Jerusalem's walls had gone ahead, and that the gaps were being closed,
they were very angry. They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up
trouble against him. But we prayed to our God and posted a card day and night to meet this threat.
Meanwhile, the people in Judah said, the strength of the laborers is giving out,
and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall. Also, our enemy said, before they know
it or see us, we will be right there among them and we'll kill them and put an end to the work.
When the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times over, wherever you turn they will
attack us. Therefore I stationed some of the people behind the lowest points of the wall
at those places, hosting them by families with their swords, spears and bows. After I looked
things over, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people,
don't be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your
brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes. When our enemies heard that we were
aware of their plot and that God had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall, each to his own work.
From that day on, half of my men did the work, while the other half were equipped with spears,
shields, bows and armour. The officers posted themselves behind all the people of Judah,
who were building the wall. Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held
a weapon in the other, and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked, but the
men who sounded the trumpet stayed with me. Then I said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of
the people, the work is extensive and spread out, and we are widely separated from each other along
the wall. Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, join us there. Our God will fight for us.
So we continued the work, with half the men holding spears, from the first night of dawn till
the stars came out. At that time I also said to the people, have every man and his helpers stay
inside Jerusalem at night so they can serve us as guards by night and workmen by day.
Neither I nor my brothers, nor my men, nor my guards with me took off our clothes. Each had his weapon
and even went for water. Amen. My God. This is word to us as we continue to look at it this afternoon.
I said this morning if we were focusing on taking care how we build, being careful how we build,
we needed to commence with a good foundation, to recognize that we needed a purpose to build,
that we needed to follow the rules of the designer or the architect as we looked to build the Church
of God, that we needed to use the right materials that God provided for us, that we needed to be
prepared for those who would ridicule the work, but we need to make a start. And that's where we
left it this morning, making a start. And as we look at chapters three and four,
we can see from this example that in being careful how we build,
it involved coordination and teamwork. Are we up there? Yes, well done.
Coordination and teamwork. The Lord needs people prepared
to extend themselves, to step out of their comfort zone, to get their hands dirty.
It's interesting when we read through those opening verses
of chapter three, just have a look with me. Verse one,
Elias shipped the high priest and his fellow priests, went to work and rebuilt the sheep gate.
They dedicated it and sent its doors in place, building as far
as the tower of the hundred, which they dedicated as far as the tower of Hananel.
Now these were priests. Priests wouldn't normally have got their hands dirty doing building work,
but they recognized the need. They took the job on. They were prepared to get down
with everybody else and do the part that had been assigned to them.
Same thing down in verse eight, we're told this. Israel, son of Hariah, one of the goldsmith,
prepared the next section. And Hananiah, one of the perfume makers, made repairs next to that.
Now you wouldn't normally expect goldsmiths and perfume makers to be putting one stone
upon another and building ore, would you? You don't tend to see perfume makers working alongside
bricklayers. Well I don't. I don't know how long they last working alongside the bricklayers that
I know. Mind you, some bricklayers are perfume makers, but not at the right time.
But you see the point here, people were moving out of doing the things they were skilled in,
doing the things that they were comfortable with, but for the common good they're prepared to get
down and get the job done. And there was coordination and teamwork. And brothers and
sisters, if we're on about building the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, we need to be prepared
to step out of our comfort zone and do the things that the Spirit of God is telling us we need to do.
It means we might have to take on tasks that we're not used to doing, but it's there for us.
In verse 12,
little more of the same thing. It says, Shalom son of Halahesh, ruler of a half district of Jerusalem,
repaired the next section. He was one of the local governors, the local mayor I guess. He was looking
after a whole section of the community. He got involved in the work. But look what it says,
he repaired the next section with the help of his daughters. Man, they had girls on the job.
Hear, hear, someone said. Church building isn't men's work only.
Here were men and women and here it is in the scriptures. The girls, without helping the
fellows, doing the job, completed the section with the help of his daughters. Now that's not what we
would imagine, it's a common picture. But here going out, gathering up the stones that have been
spread about in the destruction of the temple walls, in the city walls, bringing them back
together, sticking stone upon stone and rebuilding the wall. We've got perfume makers, goldsmiths,
priests, local authorities and the girls and boys all together doing it. And the picture is
of community helping to achieve the goal that's set before them. People prepared to set aside
some of their privileges for the common good to get the job done.
And how often are we prepared to do that for the Lord in his church?
Can I say that again? People prepared to set aside some of their privileges
for the common good to get the job done.
Well it shouldn't surprise us either when we read in verse five,
it's the positive side I suppose, in verse five are you still with us there Steve?
Interesting verse five says the next section was prepared by the men of Tekoa
but their nobles, this is the NIV says this, but their nobles would not put their shoulders
to the work under their supervisors. There were some who were slackers,
some who really weren't prepared because maybe they thought it was a bit belated.
Their nobles would not put their shoulders to the work under their supervisors.
Well I guess we're not surprised to hear that and we shouldn't be surprised that there will
be those like that amongst the people of God. People who really are quite comfortable doing
what they're doing and not really wanting to be moved out of their comfort zone to do what
God would have them do. You see that it's interesting that the scriptures don't hold back
on the positives or the negatives and it's all laid out there for us.
The necessity for coordination and teamwork in accomplishing God's purposes.
Recognizing the frailties of some who may not be able to step up to the mark as it were in terms
of service and I guess we can say that the church of the Lord Jesus Christ has all kinds of people
in it all the time one way or another and we recognize the people of their limitation but
that shouldn't discourage us from getting on with what we know the Lord would have us do.
So careful building involves coordination and teamwork.
And over in chapter four then, that's a fairly brief walk we're looking at this afternoon.
Careful building deals with problems as they arise.
We said earlier this morning that there would be mockers
and to be prepared for the mockers and troublemakers.
In verse one of chapter four, Sanballat comes onto the scene again and he said when Sanballat
heard that we were rebuilding the wall he became angry and was greatly incensed.
Here were the mockers who said they couldn't do it and how ridiculous a thing to attempt.
Suddenly they're angry when things start to appear on the ground.
They're not happy. They ridicule the Jews and in the presence of his associates and the army of
Samaria said what are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer
sacrifice? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from these heaps
of rubble, burned as they are? Actually we're not told that all the stone was burnt. It would be
very hard to reuse burnt stone but the gates were burnt, the rest of the walls were just popped out.
But here is a man ridiculing and seeking to pull down the good things that were taking place.
And in verse eight they're told they plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem
and stir up trouble against it. Here's their real motive. They don't want to see this happen. They
don't want to see the Israelites return to their city. They want to come and attack and destroy it
and they're making plans to set about doing this. No doubt fearful that if they should build those
walls then they would be secure and we don't want that. So they make their plans to come
and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble. But we pray to our God and post it to God day and
night to meet this threat. Interesting little statements aren't they in the scriptures?
They saw the attack and they sought to meet that attack by using an appropriate means.
Now I just want to share with you what God has provided for us to meet the attack
and you probably know it well enough or you should. It's there for us in Ephesians 6.
Ephesians 6 verse 10. Finally be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.
And we need to consider when we're at work in building God's church we might have hostility
from the world. They might see us as doing stupid things. They might see us as being
ridiculous kind of people because of the way we live and the testimony that we have.
But as Paul says to the church in Ephesus we need to remember that our struggle isn't just
with flesh and blood. Our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers,
against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world
and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Some of you are aware of things that have been going on up in the northwest here. It seems to be
a new bad spirit about the place. Things are happening. Things are getting burnt down.
People's properties getting damaged. I don't know what it is or why it is but it seems to be
a bad spirit just now. And those kind of things need the Lord's people to take a stand.
And it's a spiritual dimension that we're talking about here. Spiritual warfare. The devil doesn't
want to see good things happening. The Lord has been blessing his people. People have been growing
in the Lord and the devil doesn't want to see that happen. And we're challenged to beware
as those people who were seeking to build those walls were aware of the attack that was coming,
of the threats that were being made and they made provision to stand against it. And God gives us
the tools to stand against the evil one. Therefore put on the full armour of God so that when the
evil day comes you may be able to stand your ground and after you have done everything to
stand. Isn't that great? To stand. Stand as God's people in the presence of God and against the
evil one knowing that Jesus has the victory over sin and death and he's a defeated foe.
And he gives us the tools. Stand firm then with the belt of truth buckled around your waist
with the breastplate of righteousness in place with your feet fitted with the readiness that
comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this take up the shield of faith which
you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the
sword of the spirit which is the word of God and pray in the spirit on all occasions with
all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind be alert and always keep on praying for all
the saints. He told it like it is. Wonderful isn't it? The tools are there to fight against the evil
one's schemes. I was a pastor in Armidale for a number of years and I can remember a dear brother
who I think was misguided but he said we need to pray the devil out of this town before the
Lord can come in. And we used to have a prayer meeting up at the top of the town and I said
brother you're talking about Christ who has the victory over sin and death. Christ is the eternal
King and Lord of his church and he has the victory over the evil one and if we just use
the tools that the Lord has given us we can be sure of that same victory. The question is are
we putting on what God's given us to use? How often are we in his word? Just for example how
often do we talk with him? The challenge is there for us
to be prepared to face the problems as they arise and use the tools that God has given us to fight
with. Well careful building deals with problems as they arise and presses on to completion
regardless. Careful building presses on to completion. In verse 4
we hear this Nehemiah and his friends. Hear us O our God for we are despised. Turn their
insults back on their own heads. Give them over to plunder in the land of captivity. Do not cover up
their guilt or blot out their sins from your sight for they have thrown insults in the face
of the builders. So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height for the people
worked with all their heart. Weren't they using those things that the Lord said to use even as
we read it in Ephesians? They appealed to God through prayer. They put it into practice
and got on with the job.
Just skimming through this in verse 16. We see some of the things that they did to
respond to the apparent attack. It says from that day on half of my men did the work
while the other half were equipped with spears, shields, bows and armor. The officers posted
themselves behind all the people of Judah who were building the wall. Those who
those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other.
Work and watch. Press on with prayerful determination. Work but be watchful.
The sword and the trowel. I think it's a magazine of the reformed churches isn't it? Sword and trowel.
The two things come together. One to be on building and one to be on guard.
And here was the answer provided for these who were rebuilding the wall.
There was an attack that was imminent. People were looking to overrun them so that they would
be still weak and feeble. Everyone was vulnerable to attack and they took precautions to protect
themselves. But their main focus wasn't the enemy. We need to be aware of that too. Their main focus
wasn't the enemy but in getting the job done. They made provision to protect themselves against
the attack but their focus was on getting the wall built. Finishing the building would be the victory.
Once they did that they would have the security. The attack of the enemy would come to nothing.
And how did they do that? Verse 20 we're told.
Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet here they were
like moving forces as they were building to protect each other.
Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet join us there.
It doesn't say and we'll all fight together and have the victory.
No. Take practical common sense approach. Come and join us so we can withstand the foe.
But what is it? Our God will fight for us.
Our God will fight for us. And that's the end result of putting on the armour
that God has provided, isn't it? As we do what God tells us to do we can be sure that God will do
what he said he'll do. God will fight for us.
Confident trust in the Lord combined with the practical application of what you know is right
and honouring to him. There's a fellow named Ian Thomas who made what I think is a very
good comment in relation to this when we're faced with trouble and strife.
Having confident trust in the Lord he says this, it is a love for God leading to dependence upon God
resulting in obedience to God that lets God be God in a man. Is that too deep?
It is a love for God leading to dependence upon God resulting in obedience to God
that lets God be God in a man.
You see those two things about God's sovereignty and our responsibility coming together
in our relationship with our God in achieving the task that God has given us to do.
Confident trust in the Lord. Cromwell fighting the Irish, he was a man under God
and he said to his people put your trust in God but mind to keep your powder dry.
You know the gunpowder that they use for the weapons. Yes we don't just blindly go on saying
God's on our side we will have the victory when he's given you the tools to help you win the
victory. Put your trust in God but keep your powder dry.
Verse 14.
After I looked things over I stood up and said to the nobles the officials and the rest of the
people don't be afraid of them. Remember the Lord who is great and awesome and fight for your
brothers your sons and your daughters your wives and your homes. Don't be afraid remember the Lord
as as you're engaging in the battle as you're engaging doing the work that God's called you
to being aware of the attack of the enemy remember the Lord and the Lord will have the victory.
And we see that that was the case.
Verse 15.
When our when our enemies heard that we were aware of their plot and that God had frustrated it
we all returned to the wall each to his own work. Isn't that lovely?
A combination again. Here the enemy became aware of their plot that God had frustrated
through them taking action to make way and make safe their own people and make provision
that they keep on working. God was with them, God blessed them. The enemy became aware of it
that God had frustrated the enemy's plan we all went back to work and got on with things.
It's a very lovely story. God frustrated the enemy's plan and the work continued.
Well it's a very brief overview of the opening chapters of Nehemiah. I just want to share one
thing one further thing in chapter six in verse 15 and 16. Remember these people made plans they
got on with the building they did an incredible amount of work in a short space of time.
They had these foundations put in place to be careful builders looking to the Lord and trusting
in him and then putting into practice the things that they knew were right and honouring to him.
Lord blessed them and we have that in verse 15 of chapter 6. So the wall was completed
on the 25th of Elul in 52 days. When all our enemies heard about this all the surrounding
nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence because they realized that this work had been done
with the help of our God. Here endeth the lesson. Simple story.
This work had been done with the help of our God. Would we see the building of the church amongst
the aboriginal folk of this nation? That's my passion that's why I've been engaged in this
work for so long and I'm sure it's the same with many of you that we would see the Lord
build his church. We need to go back to those foundations look at the methods we're using
is these things honouring to God in what we're doing being aware of the attacks knowing who has
the victory and if it should please God we would see his church being built and blessed under him
to the glory and praise of our Saviour Jesus. Well I trust those few thoughts are helpful to you
as we look at being careful how we do.
Over here brother.
Thanks
thanks brother
while building a people of power
you like this
for I'm building a people of power
and I'm making a people of praise
that will move through this land by my Spirit
and will glorify my precious name
build your church, Lord, make us strong, Lord
through your heart, Lord, through your Son
make us one, Lord, in your body
in the kingdom of your Son
for I'm building a people of power
and I'm making a people of praise
that will move through this land by my Spirit
and will glorify my precious name
build your church, Lord, make us strong, Lord
through your heart, Lord, through your Son
make us one, Lord, in your body
in the kingdom of your Son

Heavenly Father, we do thank you and praise you, Lord, for your wonderful love, mercy and grace.
We thank you, Lord, that you are, Father, all powerful and almighty
and that you, Lord, through you, Lord
that you, only you, Lord, can build your church
Lord, help us, Lord, to allow you, Father, to
to work in our hearts, Lord
to join us together, Father, as one, to build your church
help us, Father, to put on the whole arm of God, that we may stand
against the wails of the enemy, Lord, and all
to stand, Father, that we stand, Lord, in your name
that you and I will be glorified and uplifted, Father
and that, Lord, that we, Lord, may stand
in the victory that you've given us through your Son
who has sacrificed himself for us
for our sins and given us the victory
over it, Lord. So we ask, Lord, as we
continue, Lord, through the afternoon, Lord, as we go out to
Valour, Lord, to Uncle Ralph's, Lord
to join out there, Father, Lord, that you'll give us traveling mercies out there
Lord, and that you'll bless another time
Father, that we come together, Lord, to give you
honor and glory, Father. Help us now, Lord, to focus
in and to see where you are working in each one's
lives, Lord, in each one's
lives, Lord, and as you work in us
Lord, as we allow you, Lord, that we may, Lord, become
a team, Father, and stand
together, Lord, in your name. So we just
commit everything unto you now, Lord, and just ask, Lord, that you'll bless
Lord, our fellowship, as we continue, Lord, throughout
this afternoon and tomorrow, it's your will
in Jesus' name. Amen.