The Wall Was Completed!

Nehemiah 6.1 and 6.15.

In between these verses (1 and 15) we learn that Nehemiah’s enemies had one last determined effort to upset Nehemiah. Their strategy was to get him away from Jerusalem to some place out in the open (the plain of Ono). But Nehemiah thought O NO! He realised that this was an attempt to get him isolated from his people. They said they wanted to have a discussion with him.

Nehemiah’s reply was: Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you? Notice this attack. Because you will also have such desperate attempts to stop you in pursuing your Christian calling vigorously. Family, employers, friends, business and legal matters will press in on your life to get you to engage with them and get bogged down in their business. You will be tempted to turn away from a whole-hearted focus on Christ’s business. You will need to be firm like Nehemiah.

And then, Nehemiah was tempted by religious persons. They claimed to have a message from God – a prophesy – that he was in danger and should rush to the Temple building and lock himself in. Nehemiah knew this was wrong on two counts:

1. All of the people were in danger from their enemies and he must give a strong example of faith in God.
2. Taking over the Temple as a fort, would have sent the message that God’s work was on the defensive. That they were battening down the hatches to try and protect a little space for themselves.

This contradicts what Jesus said: I will build my Church and the gates of hell will not be able to withstand it.

God’s work is an offensive work (not designed to offend! But designed to demolish the lies that hold people captive to unbelief).

So Nehemiah stood firm and the walls were completed.

You must stand firm too.

Others are looking to you.

We all need each other in this mission to build the Church.

Here is encouragement:

6.15 So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days. 16 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.

Nehemiah invites us. Jesus Christ calls us. To build up our lives together. To build the church through thick and thin. This is how we lift high the name and worth of Jesus Christ. This is how we bring our family and friends (and enemies) into God’s Kingdom so that they can live forever. There is much at stake. It cost Christ suffering, shame and death. Hebrews 12.2

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

With Jesus in charge we cannot (and dare not) fail in our life's mission.

Giving God a Bad Reputation

Nehemiah 5 & 6

The key verse here is verse 9 where Nehemiah said: The thing that you are doing is not good. Ought you not to walk in the fear of our God to prevent the taunts of the nations our enemies? He challenged them about a community sin that they were putting up with. He asks them whether it seems right that God should be dishonoured by their wrong-doing, because their behaviour gave unbelievers ammunition to mock and disregard God?

This teaches us in two ways:

1. It forewarns us that as we get serious about getting our personal lives in sync with the Spirit of God and as we stand together to build up the church, that our wrong ideas and behaviour will be brought out into the open. This is a good thing that will cause us to grow stronger and be much more fruitful in God.
2. It suggests to us that we should consider what qualities of Christ-like living that we as a church family might be neglecting or plain wrong about.

The problem that came to light in the Jerusalem community was to do with money and status in the community. Greed was causing some to rip off others and the people with money were looking down on the people with none.

The economy in those times was in ruins. Food was expensive and hard to get. Many people in the community had to sell their property or at least mortgage it so they had money enough to buy food for their families. Some had to lease out their own children as slaves to the wealthy, in order to get an income to buy food and pay the taxes to the Persian king. A great divide was opening up between the rich and the poor. The four complaints were:

1. People with no land couldn’t grow food and had to buy it from others – but they didn’t have the money to do so.
2. People with land were having to mortgage or sell their land in order to support their families.
3. Because money was short, those who lent it did so at astronomical rates and everyone had to have money to pay the king’s taxes.
4. Some had nothing more to trade with except their own children – who they were selling into slavery.
5. The rich got richer and the poor got poorer.

Nehemiah called a meeting of the community to get this unequal treatment sorted out. Remember that this was not just a social problem in the world at large. This was a problem occurring among God’s people. Of course we should help those outside the church as God gives us resources and opportunity to do so. That’s why there was a garage sale yesterday. But inside the church family, there must never be people using people.

Nehemiah pointed out that he and some others had paid to free Jews who had been enslaved to outsiders - but people in the community were selling on their employees to outsiders who were then being purchased back into the Jewish community and set free by Nehemiah and his supporters. This could not go on and so Nehemiah confronted the community about it. He went right to the core of the issue and identified it as a God-dishonouring practice. The thing you are doing is not good. Ought you not to walk in the fear of our God to prevent the taunts of the nations our enemies? (v9).

The community accepted Nehemiah’s challenge. They restored people’s land and children to them and began working together to make sure that no one went without. Nehemiah shook out the folds of the clothes he was wearing and called on God to shake out any person and his family like crumbs, if they would not keep this promise. The people responded with ‘Amen’ – so be it – and they praised the Lord.

I don’t think that there is anyone oppressing others within our church family. However, what goes on behind the closed doors of our houses may not be known to others but might as well be done in a shop window as far as God is concerned. So before moving past this point, each of us should check that we are not the oppressor of anyone. This dishonours God’s good name, contradicts everything Christ said and did and offends the Holy Spirit. I will leave that matter hanging for each of us to answer before God.

What is important for us to notice together as members of this church family is that when we get serious about developing and building ourselves up spiritually, the Spirit of God brings Jesus Christ and his will more sharply into focus. Things become less vague and general. We begin to hear and understand more precisely what he wants our lives to become. As he comes closer to do his work in a fuller and more dramatic way, he also exposes those things that are hindering his work. And that his the point of this teaching: If we expect to be a lively, growing, effective church, then we must expect that the Holy Spirit will shed his light on the ideas and behaviours that lead outsiders to taunt and mock Christians and their God.

If you were the owner of a hairdressing salon and one of your employees constantly arrived at work with ‘bed-hair’ and dandruff on her shoulders, you would be offended. Because the very person who is supposed to be promoting healthy attractive hair in your salon, is turning people off your business. A zillion times greater on the scale of importance, God is offended when those who claim to be his representatives in the world have lives that give godly living a bad name.

Issues!

Nehemiah 5/6

In Nehemiah we are learning how to work together to build the church. We are learning that our personal Christian growth and our work together must go hand in hand. We are learning that just as Nehemiah and the people had to build up walls that would make a clear distinction between those inside and those outside God’s family, we must build up each others understanding of the Word of God so we have lives that are clear evidence of God’s character and will. We are learning that just as Nehemiah and the people had to rebuild the gates to the city, we must make sure that we are clear what the gospel is, so that those who are born again came be brought right into the safety of God’s family.

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As the Jewish community began to work together, rather than each family simply occupying themselves with their private interests, issues came to light that needed to be addressed. Matters that had previously been ignored or not clearly understood came out into the open. Although this was painful, it was necessary. It was God at work truly reforming their lives, not merely as individuals but as a community.

Willingly Joining In

Nehemiah 3 shows that each person found their place to work, mostly right where they lived in their own neighbourhood. You have a place assigned for your life’s work to be carried out. It is right here and now where you live. In the future, it might be elsewhere, but today and this year it is here that God is calling you to account for your work. This is not work to be done in the future in other places. See verse 10 where Jedaiah repaired the wall opposite his house. It may be that there is a family or a person right opposite your house who God will make receptive to the gospel if you will just strike up a conversation about serious matters instead of only talking about the price of petrol.

These people in Nehemiah 3 are us. They speak to us and show how we can get involved in rebuilding the Church in our time. In their day, God’s purpose was centred on the physical city of Jerusalem and the worship at the Temple, so the context of their work was different to ours. But the same principles apply and we can learn from them as we build up the City of God. We do that by building up the Body of Christ, the Church.

First, notice that Eliashib the high priest (3.1) got his brothers cracking to rebuild the Sheep Gate. (That gate was the one that the sheep were brought through for the Temple sacrifices, so it was their area of responsibility). Eliaship speaks to those of us with Christian experience; those of us who have been in the faith for some time and to whom others look to for Christian leadership and advice. It is a shocking thing when those who have a name for being Christian leaders shrink back and fail to take up their responsibilities. Eliashib was not such a person. He was first to put up his hand and gather his family around to repair the gates. He led by example.

Eliashib repaired the Sheep Gate by faith, believing that before long, there would once again be the need for flocks of sheep to be brought into Jerusalem to meet the needs of all the worshipping believers who would be crowding back into the city. One of the biggest temptations for experienced Christians is for them to lose hope and to give in to the idea that nothing will change. There are many disheartened and depressed Christians who have all the head knowledge of the Bible, but whose faith and expectancy and perseverance have all drained away. Eliashib teaches us never to despise the day of small beginnings, but to keep our confidence in Jesus who will draw flocks of people to himself if we lift him up. Experienced Christian, take care that your doubt does not infect the very people you are supposed to lead. Remember Eliashib! Gather your brothers and start preparing for the crowds coming to Christ.

And while Eliashib was building the Sheep Gate, other friends strengthened the wall that held up the back of his house (v21). Some Christians have to put a lot of work into a specific task and have no time left to see to some of their own needs. In a proper functioning Church, other Christians will notice this and help that person with their work.

There is a sad note in Nehemiah’s journal (v5) that although the people of Tekoa got heavily involved in the work, their nobles thought it was below them to get their hands dirty and would not help. Building the church is not beneath anyone. Verse 27 records that these men took on another section, as if to make up for the work that their leaders were not prepared to do. There are two lessons here: Let’s make sure that we don’t see any sort of Christian work below us, or expect that others should serve us. And let’s work doubly hard when others are slack, so we do not let their failure cause us to slacken off.

If your family has a poor name for consistency and involvement in God’s work, then double your efforts to make up for their lack. Get your family’s name attached to Christ’s glorious one.

And when the men won’t or can’t do the work – women should be like the daughters of Shallum (V12) who were not ashamed to get their hands dirty and build!

People came from the towns of Judah, such as Jericho and Tekoa, to join the work. They heard what Nehemiah was doing and came to build. If we get stuck into building up our church fellowship others will come to join us. There are other Christians out there who long to be involved in seeing Christ lifted high and revealed in the lives of his people. If you engage with faith and joy and serious commitment to building the church, God will lead them to us. If we build hopefully and confidently, other keen builders will come.

Work Record

Nehemiah 3

Nehemiah recorded in his journal all the individuals and families involved in rebuilding the walls and he notes the sections that they worked on. I am sure that he not only wanted a record of their names for posterity, but this was a living list of the people Nehemiah prayed for. A critical part of our work together for this church must include knowing each other, understanding the work we each do and supporting each other through prayer, Bible sharing, fellowship and advice.

It is not just a boring list of people we have here in Nehemiah chapter 3. This list confirms to us that God doesn’t forget his people. The fact that all these names from more than 2,300 years ago are recorded in the Bible and we are reading them out – ordinary names of ordinary people like us –confirms God’s deep interest in and love for those who work with him.

What will your name stand for in God’s kingdom? What you are doing with your life at the moment is writing the story of who you are. Will God remember with pride that you loved 50Cent, that you supported the Warriors, that you never missed an episode of Shortland St or Coronation St, or that your favourite car was a Nissan Skyline? That your house was the tidiest in the street? That you grew the best roses? That your Pad Thai was the tastiest?

If God was recording the names of people doing his work in this city, Auckland, right now, would your name appear? Could he write even a short sentence about the part you are playing in doing his work?

In the books where God is recording your life’s work, which columns of your life book are getting filled up:

- Prayer and the fights you put in for yourself and others as you plead at the throne of grace?

- Bible study, as you read, meditate, discuss, listen, take in by faith and apply with the Spirit’s help?

- Connecting up with other Christians in fellowship?

- Engagement with the world as you live as a light in a dark place and as a sweet aroma in the presence of death?

- Leading those who look up to you – acting as an excellent mentor, role-model and Christian example?

- Serving those who need a hand up or some material help?

- Celebrating God through joyful worship and offering him praise and thanksgiving?

Is there anything recorded under these columns in your life book? If not, get your heart centred in Christ and get working.

Actual Work! (4)

Nehemiah 3

But we must also together examine the condition of the church, so that we can close in the gaps in the walls that make up the distinction between living like the world and living like God’s children. We must build a safe place in which we can dwell and a safe place into which we can bring others. That safe place is the household or family of God – the Church. It is a double-headed task that we have in front of us: To attend to our personal spiritual condition and to build up a credible, Christ-glorifying, gospel-enhancing witness through our lives together as the family of God, the church.

Nehemiah put the situation before the people: “You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let’s rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that we may no longer suffer derision (shame).” And they said: “Let’s rise up and build!” Under God, I am repeating Nehemiah’s words to you: Come on, lets rebuild this church so that we do not shame Christ’s name. Will your answer be: Let’s rise up and build?

The moment they rolled up their sleeves and committed to this good work, the critics and cynics began their work, too. 2.19: “They jeered at us and despised us and said, ‘What is this thing you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?’” Nehemiah replied: “The God of heaven will make us prosper, and we his servants will arise and build, but you have no portion or right or claim in Jerusalem.” That was the point: A new thing was happening in Jerusalem. There would be a clearly defined inside and outside marked out by the walls.

There must be a clear demarcation between the kingdom of Christ and the values of this world. That delineation must show up in our personal lives, and our lives together must present Christ with clarity and beauty, like a city on hill that can’t be concealed. The church is made up of walls and gates; walls that demarcate the difference between the church and the world. But it also has gates; gospel gates through which people properly come to participate in the life of God in his church. And suitable gates through which God’s people can go out to engage with and bless a suffering world.

Actual Work! (3)

Nehemiah 3
Start with your faith. What condition is your faith in? Faith is the means by which you receive everything you need from God. If your faith is defective, your relationship with God is defective. The Bible says: Without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would come close to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. Hebrews 11.6. If you are not living by faith each day, you are displeasing God. Instead of him looking with favour on you hour by hour, he is frowning on you and wisely withholding blessing from you in case you foolishly assume that he overlooks your faithless, self-centred activity. If you are to come close to God, your faith in him must be alive, active and all-pervading through every single circumstance of your daily living. You must live with the settled conviction that God is. Believe that he exists and is the all-knowing, all-powerful, always-present Creator and Owner of everything, including you! It will cause you to tremble in case you offend him or ignore him. Once your faith is anchored in what Christ can do to make you the son or daughter God can love, you will always be certain that God is for you. God is very pleased when you are looking toward him for everything and living as one of his dependents and he will bless you as a loved child. And when trouble comes, as it certainly will, your faith will give you eyes to recognise that your Father is still working out everything for your good.

You must take the Bible and pray in the Holy Spirit so you can examine the condition of other vital aspects of your life, too. Check on your love. Examine the condition of your joy. How strong is your peace? Is self-control holding up and defending you from temptations? Rebuilding the personal walls of your spiritual life is having more of Christ’s life in yours. This is your daily work. You must become whole and strong. You must build every day.

Abraham did this heartfelt self-evaluation when he was called to God’s work. That work was to raise and teach a son. It says in Romans 4.19 that he ‘faced the fact that he was as good as dead’ when it came to producing a son. But he believed that God could do what HE had promised and in this way overcame both his doubt and his personal inability.

You and I need to face the fact that we are as good as dead when it comes to building up a proper, powerful and pure life, but that we can be rebuilt in Christ. This is exactly the point at which the Evil One, Satan, comes in; he pours cold water on your faith. At the very least he wants crippled Christians. He wants you to give in to defeat in as many areas of your life that he can ruin. He wants you to sit amongst your broken down walls, and pick through the rubble of your best efforts for a few miserable scraps of comfort. He does not want you to be a building, growing, confident and joyful Christian worker.

Each person needs to do what Paul recommends in Romans 12.3:
For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. Discover your areas of weakness and get building with Christ!
Nehemiah checked the walls to see where there was something worth building on and where there was only rubble to be removed. He was prepared to face the real situation. You must do the same for the state of your personal spiritual condition.

Actual Work! (2)

Nehemiah 3

If you are going to participate in God’s magnificent purpose for the world and for an individual like you, then it must start with you facing up to the true condition of your personal spiritual condition.

First, you have to see whether you are a follower of Christ at all. “Christian” is not some category or label that is personally defined. God and you must decide whether you are on his side and committed to his Son. You might find that the evidence that satisfies you or well-meaning people around the church is not satisfactory with God. He examines much more closely. He probes and sifts the heart and examines the motives. He knows very well whether your spirit is alive or dead. He is not fooled by outward talk - he knows whether he lives in your spirit or not! If you are at all uncertain whether God has your heart, then take David’s words in Psalm 139 to God:

Search me, O God, and know my heart! Test me and know my thoughts! See if there is any grievous (that is, offensive) way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!

Stop trying to prove your status as a Christian by stirring your efforts to attend meetings or to give up drinking, or to switch off pornography, again and again without success. Take your heart to God – your heart which he sees and knows intimately. Ask for his deep, deep searching, probing and convincing of your heart so that you will know why you must have Christ in you or be irretrievably and miserable lost.

And if you are a Christian, each of us needs to take a quiet, personal trip around the walls of our lives to see where the enemy is coming in; to see where we have neglected to build; to see where our previous faithless efforts at improvement have caved in. The way to do this it to take a torch with you. That torch is the Word of God. Start exposing some of these key areas of your life to the light of the Bible and let the Holy Spirit show you where you need to urgently rebuild what is broken down.

Actual Work!

NEHEMIAH 3
Nehemiah was sent by God back from the big worldly city where he lived out of touch with God’s people and God’s work. His life was being used up by the King of Persia. God sent him back to Jerusalem to lead the defeated people there to rebuilt it, starting with the walls. The first thing he did on his return was to examine the state of the walls to see how serious the need was. He faced the truth about the size of the task at hand. Too big for him – too big for the people – but not too big for God! You are also called to do some rebuilding. Remember there are two parts to your building work: 1. The building up of your personal life in Christ. 2. Building up the Church.

Short Prayers

Nehemiah 2
In the split second before he responds to the king, Nehemiah prays. This sharply defines for us the meaning of prayer. Prayer is not ‘prayers’, as in phrases read or recited in the hope that God will bless us for our efforts. Prayer is connection. It is asking. Nehemiah simply cried out to God silently from his heart. “Lord, this is it! Help!”

Christians inject these silent prayers into their conversation and circumstances all day long. Certainly there are times when we pray at length, explaining some need to God, recalling his promises and expressing our thanks and worship to him. But these injected prayers are more like breathing to us.

Paul spoke about praying without stopping (“pray without ceasing”) meaning that his thoughts and wishes were constantly open to God all day long. It is as if we deliberately channel our thoughts through Jesus Christ for him to check them for wisdom and to add his providences and miraculous touches to make his thoughts our thoughts and his ways our ways. Nehemiah ‘prayed to the God of heaven’ then answered. He went to a higher authority than the King of Persia and submitted his ideas at that throne so that he might speak within the frame of that will.

We must always do this: look above and behind even the scariest person who believes he or she holds our wellbeing or future in his or her hands. Recognise that your God has their will and capacity in the palm of his hand. They can move not one millimetre without his permission. This is the secret of living confidently and victoriously: to seek and to see God first and above every person or circumstance you face. Commit your concerns to the God of heaven because from there he determines the times, places and capacity of each person. This is why we pray. This is how we overcome the fear of man. He has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?” Heb 13.5,6

Grasping Opportunities

Nehemiah 2

Nehemiah carried this unresolved sorrow with him daily. He was constantly thinking about the situation in Jerusalem and calling on God, “How long, Lord? How long must this situation continue and your glory be hidden under this rubble?” Have you noticed how easily distracted from serious prayer about serious issues we are - so long as we are comfortable? We pray when we are personally stressed or discomforted, but keep our mouths shut when the living is easy.

The king noticed Nehemiah’s sadness. This was the opening that Nehemiah needed in order to bring up the matter of his mission to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls.

The king’s response to Nehemiah’s sadness was astonishing. He was king of the world power of that time and the situation in Israel was part of his kingdom policy, that is, to break the influence of conquered nations by stripping their resources and putting governors over groups of these smaller defeated nations. Israel was just one of broken nations in the basket of angry, disenfranchised peoples in the region.

But now the king asks Nehemiah: “What are you requesting?” God was prising open an unexpected door of opportunity and Nehemiah realised that he must not shrink back from it, even though he knew that what he wanted to do was against the current policy of the Persian kingdom.

As God creates opportunities for you to increase your part in his work, notice them and don’t shrink back. Opportunities to be involved in repairing the church right here and now could easily slide past you. The very things designed to give your life its joy, meaning and purpose might be missed. Act like Nehemiah – grasp them.

Admitting the Problem

NEHEMIAH 1

Nehemiah’s response was repentance. He freely owned up to the failure of himself, his family and his people to remain true to God and admitted that their surrender to worldliness had brought this punishment upon them. After all, why should God hitch his reputation to the outrageous and ungodly behaviour of Israel as it prostituted itself to the nations? He recalled the word given through Moses before the people came into the Promised Land that God would scatter them among the nations if they were faithless and disobedient. He also recalled that through Moses God had promised that if Israel returned to God and kept his teaching by actually doing it, that he would regather them out of the nations and establish them as his people in Jerusalem once more. Nehemiah appealed to this very promise in his prayer. He asked for personal success in stepping towards that promise by faith.

Being able to recognise there is a problem with the church in our time is not enough. We need to admit our part in it. Nehemiah’s repentance is a perfect model for ours. Get God to search your heart until he exposes your part in the compromise that makes the church weak. Get yourself on God’s side in this argument – argue on his side against yourself! Confess your compromise. And if you find it hard to feel bad about it, recall the passages in the Bible that announce his judgement on you who treat his concerns lightly. Find the promises he makes to regather, rebuild and reform you and his church. Turn them into your prayers for yourself, your family and the church – this church. Until we take our place as squatters among the ruins of the church and admit that we have contributed to its weakness, we cannot expect to be part of the solution. It is really easy to point out the faults of others, but Nehemiah-type repentance means that we are ready to turn back to God ourselves.

Waking up to the Crisis

NEHEMIAH 1

God woke Nehemiah up to the shameful condition of Israel. News brought to him by his brother, Hanani, distressed him (3,4). He learned that there was absolutely no sign of Jerusalem being rehabilitated - and in fact the remnant of Jews living in the ruins of Israel were being oppressed by their unbelieving neighbours and totally defeated. What should have been their territory was being used and abused by others with no concern for God’s name or his glory. The people of God were scattered. They could not meet together to learn, worship or serve God positively. The scattering of God’s people is Satan’s strategy and it is a crisis.

The degree to which the sad condition of the church does not affect us, is the degree to which we have lost our sense of God’s calling. Other things have captured our attention. The first step to reforming the church is to understand the state from which it has decayed. If we have no information about what the church should be - we have nothing to compare its current state with. We might easily assume that what we experience IS what the church is like. Worse still, we might then reject it - turn aside from the church as a waste of time because we have judged it based on what we have experienced, rather than what Christ intends it to be.

Start asking God some questions. Start reading the book of Acts. Read about reformations and revivals that have occurred all over the world. Ask God to open your eyes to what the church ought to be and ask him to affect your heart concerning its current situation. Like Nehemiah’s Jerusalem, the remnant of the church in New Zealand is in great trouble and shame. The walls have been broken down and its gates destroyed by fire.

It is not stretching the comparison too far to say that as the walls set the boundary for what was and wasn’t “Jerusalem”, so too there are broken down walls for the church. Those walls are the teachings of the Bible that define what it means to be one of the people of God – an inhabitant of the City of God. You either live inside or outside the walls. If there are no walls and anyone can come in and out, it is impossible to tell who is your brother and who is your enemy. The gates of Jerusalem allowed the people to admit or refuse admission to who they trusted.

The broken walls and burned out gates of Jerusalem illustrate the situation when the church no longer pays attention to the Bible and each person has his or her own idea of what it means to be ‘Christian’. Nehemiah was devastated to think that Jerusalem, the city of God, was being used and plundered by anyone who cared to break in and camp there. The church needs to be defined by Bible teaching. The vague, imprecise understanding that people have of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ and a member of his church is evidence of the damage that must be repaired.

A Movement is Like a Tide

NEHEMIAH 1

Nehemiah, an exiled Israelite, became a trusted official in the Persian Kingdom, eventually serving in the king’s palace in Susa the capital city of Persia. A close advisor to the king, he was in charge of food supply and security. This involved making sure that food served to the king was sufficient, not contaminated or even poisoned by enemies. Nehemiah had regular close contact with King Artaxerxes.

The world had crushed Israel (the church) as a movement, and people like Nehemiah were living (just hanging on) by their personal faith in God. This is the problem that the church in New Zealand faces. The church has taken on board so much world culture, that it has lost its distinctiveness. God has progressively withdrawn his blessing so as not to have his name associated with such compromise.

What is left is a remnant of believers. Genuine Christians tend to live as individuals following their personal faith in God, rather than as part of a movement which advances against the strongholds that hold people captive to sin and death. As we look into Nehemiah’s response to his situation, we must examine our situation and look for the parallels. Look and learn how God stirred Nehemiah into a movement and pray that God will do a similar thing with us.

A movement is not just an organisation. A movement is like a tide. People who share an idea or belief begin to shift in a new direction. A current is created and more and more people are drawn to accept the core idea. Communism is an example of a movement which in the early 20th century tapped into the frustration of ordinary people who felt oppressed by the rich. Then when it failed, capitalism and democracy moved the people to revolt against communism.

The church is the movement above all movements because it is GOD’s movement - the ideas at its centre are the Word of God and the energy that drives it is the Spirit of God.

The church embodies God’s movement in the world. His purpose is to reveal to all who love him the full extent of his glory. He teaches humankind about his grace and rescues people in rebellion against him, so they can experience his grace and experience his glory forever.

It is not enough to be a lone Christian with beliefs. Christ works through his Church, the ultimate movement. We must learn how to be carried forward together by him and work with him to gather more and more people into the current of his will. To be outside his movement is to be in the downward drifting current that carries people over a cataract of judgement.

Therefore, the first lesson from Nehemiah’s experience: Don’t accept the church the way it is.

Get involved in a Spirit-directed movement. See a bigger thing than your own personal journey. Find out about Christ’s strategy for the church and how it moves and gathers men and woman in each generation and in each place.