Rise Up To Work

 

Nehemiah 2:18

 

Nehemiah 2:18  And I told them of the hand of my God which had been good upon me, and also of the king's words that he had spoken to me. So they said, "Let us rise up and build." Then they set their hands to this good work.

Nehemiah was in a tough spot!  He was tasked with encouraging the people of God to rebuild the walls in spite of the dangers.  We too must rebuild the walls of our life.  For the past three decades popular psychology has insisted that we tear down the walls, but it would appear that the scripture indicates a need to build them up.   We must build up strong walls that strengthen our family life, our community life, and of course the life of our church.  We must regain that sense of security and protection that comes from being behind a strong fortification.

 

The walls of course are symbolic, as God is our protector.  We learn through scriptures that God is faithful to protect his people, and he always keeps his promises

 

 

I.                    Rise Up!

 

If we are going to do God’s work we must take an action.  We must RISE UP!  Get up and get at it.  When I was a child my dad would get up early in the morning and wake the whole house up saying “Up and at ‘em”  I didn’t particularly want to get up with Adam but had to anyway.  We won’t accomplish a thing if we don’t make an effort to get about it.

 

b.      We must rise up feelings of love around us.  Our call is to love one another, indeed the scripture tells us that they will know we are Christians by our love.  We must rise above the nastiness of our world, the petty infighting of our society and show our love to this dying world. 

c.       We must strengthen one another, encourage each other, care about each other.  We are all pulling together, not as individuals, but as a mighty army, the army of God.  When one gets discouraged we are obligated to light a new fire under that brother.  Together we shall be a formidable presence in this world, apart we are vulnerable.

d.      Rise up in wisdom!  We must listen to the wisdom of the Lord, and obey his teachings.  Through wise use of our resources and our time we shall be successful.  Ecclesiastes 10:10  If the ax is dull, And one does not sharpen the edge, Then he must use more strength; But wisdom brings success

e.       We must rise up in belief!  It takes a great faith to believe in the things we do, and we should not be cowed by the prospect of sharing that belief.  We must rise up and stand tall, knowing beyond a doubt that God’s word is true.  Acts 3:6  Then Peter said, "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk."   What if the lame had failed to rise up?  He would never have experienced the glorious grace of God that healed him.

 

 

2. We must build up that which is torn down.

 

1. The walls of the church are pockmarked today.  Pockmarked from the ravages of a war against the evils of the world.  Day after day, time after time, the church is assaulted from those without and from within.  We don’t need a new church, we need to rebuild the one we have.  Not the physical structure, but the body of our Lord.

 

The Jews were not told to go and build something new, but rather to build up something that was already present.  That, church, is our call today.  We must build upon what God has already provided us.

 

While men seek better methods, God seeks better men. Men are so prone to trust methods or organizations to accomplish certain goals, but God wants better men, who are surrendered completely to Him, through whom He can accomplish His goals. (AutoIllustrator)

 

What can you use to build up the church?  What tools, or talents could you give to change our course?

 

We must:

• Build up evangelism
• Build up our community service
• Build up our friends
• Build up our worship.
• Build up our faith!

 

We must do these things by tearing down the old, and replacing it with new.  The damaged, the broken, the ruins of our past must be swept away so that we might build again.  We must shine a light for this community that the world can see.

 

Isaiah 62:10  Go through, Go through the gates! Prepare the way for the people; Build up, Build up the highway! Take out the stones, Lift up a banner for the peoples!

 

 

Go!  Go!  Go!  Go!  Go through the gates!  Prepare the way.  God is giving us a command today, what will be our response?

 

We must rise up, then build up!

 

3. There is work to be done!

 

In biblical times working hard was considered to be something you would strive for.  We must work, and work hard.  There is work to be done, beyond the walls of this church, and that work is not being taken care of. 

 

Nehemiah told the people to do something, and they set their hands to the task.  We must use our hands wisely.  We must obey God in our actions as well as our talk.

 

2 Corinthians 9:8  And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.

Duty makes us do things well; but love makes us do them beautifully.   -- Phillips Brooks

 

Don’t do these things because it’s expected, do it because you love the Lord.  We don’t work to attain our salvation, we work because it has been given to us.

 

We must work together, hand in hand, arm in arm.  Together we are strong.  If we, each one of us, will do what we can and do our best we shall be successful.

 

Are you doing what you can?  Are you pulling your share of the load?  I’m telling you this morning to RISE UP!  Stand tall and be counted.  I believe today that we have a wall to rebuild!  We have a job to do, work to accomplish.  Will you do it? 

 

The walls are crumbling, we have a mandate.  What is our answer?

 

Nehemiah 2:20  So I answered them, and said to them, "The God of heaven Himself will prosper us; therefore we His servants will arise and build …”