| God's Work Done God's Way |
Pastor Steve Holt
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Mountain Springs Church
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| 06/03/07 |
God’s Work Done God’s Way
Nehemiah 7
Introduction:
Nehemiah 6:15-17
- The wall has been supernaturally built in just 52 days!
- It was done because God did it.
- God did it because it was God’s Work done God’s Way!
- Not just God’s work…but God’s work done God’s way.
- Is your work under God’s anointing? Is your work under God’s power? Nehemiah’s was.
- Nehemiah communed with God, sought God, and went after God in prayer and fasting.
- When God does a great work, even our enemies recognize the grace and power of God.
Psalm 127
Unless the LORD builds the house,
They labor in vain who build it;
Unless the LORD guards the city,
The watchman stays awake in vain.
2 It is vain for you to rise up early,
To sit up late,
To eat the bread of sorrows;
For so He gives His beloved sleep.
3 Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD,
The fruit of the womb is a reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
So are the children of one’s youth.
5 Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them;
They shall not be ashamed,
But shall speak with their enemies in the gate.
Vs. 1
- The Lord wants to build your family.
- The Lord wants to guard and protect our families.
- We must give God control over our homes. Jonathan Edwards wrote, “Every home is a little church.”
- God places watchmen over cities. I believe cities are guarded by two kinds of leaders:
- The Civil, Marketplace Leaders watch over the city: our mayor, police chief, fire chief, and other business leaders watch over our city.
- The Spiritual, pastors and prayer warriors, watch over the city.
- In our study this is Nehemiah and Ezra.
- I believe it is our great responsibility to watch over this city in prayer and build this city under the power of the Holy Spirit.
- God has spoken to me to Prayer Walk the entire city of Colorado Springs and the outlying areas near the city:
- Prayer Walk every square foot of the city and pray for our city.
- Pray for favor, blessing and repentance.
- Pray for renewal and revival in our churches.
- Pray that God would watch over the city.
Vs. 2
- It is vanity to work late and give your life to your job if the Lord is not watching over your family and your stuff.
- If you are working and living without God, it will crumble, because the foundation is faulty.
Vs. 3-5
- When God is building a home, a city, children are welcome!
- In other words, when God is building the house, when the Lord is guarding a city, children become a blessing, a heritage, and a reward.
- Happiness is seeing our sons and daughters being sent out like sharp arrows against the enemy.
Nehemiah 7:1-2
- Nehemiah is appointing leaders for the guarding of the city.
- He appoints gatekeepers, singers, and the Levites: the gatekeepers of our city are primarily the spiritual leaders.
- The pastors and believers are the gatekeepers over the welfare of the city.
- Note the kind of men that Nehemiah chooses in verse 2:
- Faithful men
- Feared God more than many
- This is the criteria for Nehemiah! Men who are faithful and fear God more than others.
Vs. 3
- In the ancient Near East it was customary to open the gates at sunrise and close them at sunset.
- But because of the enemies surrounding him, Nehemiah does not want to give any opportunity to the enemy for an early morning attack.
- Rather, he wants them to wait until mid-morning so that everyone is awake and active.
- Nehemiah posts guards over their own homes and over watch stations.
- When we care about our city, we care about our family because the city is what brings us all together.
- Our sports leagues
- Our taxes
- Our streets and lights
- Our businesses…all effect our lives
- When we guard our cities, we are guarding our families.
Vs. 4-6
- “God put it into my heart.”
- See Nehemiah 2:8, 18 and 6:16.
- Nehemiah is anointed and blessed by God because he can hear from God.
- Have you learned to listen to God? Have you learned how to hear God’s voice?
- We need God’s leading in our lives!
Galatians 5:16-18
…Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
- We must learn how to walk in the Spirit, and then, we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh!
- There is a violent war going on in our members!
- The only way to victory is to have a present tense interaction and experience with the Spirit of God.
- Many of us are in Spiritual ICU and on life support because we don’t know how to hear from and feed on God.
- We are spiritually malnourished and unable to fight the fight.
- We must feed on God with God’s spiritual food: God’s Word.
Matthew 4:4
“…‘man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”
- Our spirit lives because we live on the Word that comes from God.
- God’s heart? The Bible is the manuscripts of God’s heart, the transcripts of God’s heart.
- I want to live. How about you?
- So many believers are in the Spiritual ICU with no appetite for the Word of God.
- We need a present tense encounter with the Spirit of God, daily feeding on His Word and hearing from Him.
- “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God”
- You must feed on the spiritual food of God’s Word daily: like manna, it doesn’t last more than about 24 hours.
- Nehemiah is feeding on God’s Word; we will see that in the next chapter.
- Nehemiah is getting revelation! We need a present tense revelation from God by encountering His Spirit.
John 1:4-5
In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
- If you feed on the light, the darkness will flee.
- Ex. A person is in a dark room and he tries to pour the dark out with a bucket. But another guy just turns on the light. It is far more important to work on turning on the light than trying to get the darkness out. The light will get the darkness out.
- We are not to live in a quenched spirit. If we do, we are ignoring His leadership and starving our spirit.
From verses 7-69 we are given the register of all the people who had come from Babylon with Zerubbabel.
Vs. 70-73
- The people are giving generously to the work of God.
- Whenever God shows up and takes over our lives, we become generous with our stuff.
- Look at the 1st century church! Wow, everyone was giving.
Acts 4:32-35
Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. 33 And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. 34 Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, 35 and laid them at the apostles' feet; and they distributed to each as anyone had need.
- As we enter our new building, let me remind you of our new financial needs.
- If you have pledged to the building, we need you to stick to that pledge, big time.
- Special gifts: We do not have the finances to do the bookstore and café, and if you would like to give toward that, just let us know. Join us in praying that someday we can finish out the lobby.
Vs. 73
- When administrators administrate; when teachers teach; when pastors pastor, when leaders lead, when mothers mother and fathers father, we can dwell in safety and peace.
- When the Lord builds the house…there is joy in our cities!!
Psalm 133
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brethren to dwell together in unity!
2 It is like the precious oil upon the head,
Running down on the beard,
The beard of Aaron,
Running down on the edge of his garments.
3 It is like the dew of Hermon,
Descending upon the mountains of Zion;
For there the LORD commanded the blessing--
Life forevermore.
This sermon was produced at Mountain Springs Church in Colorado Springs, with Senior Pastor Steve Holt. www.mountainsprings.org
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