Building God’s Kingdom Together

0:58Well, occasionally this went very well. And I do stress the word occasionally. But a lot of the time it was a total disaster. And you were just thinking, like, why would anyone sign up for this? Why would you destroy your friendship for this? So there's this whole list you can find on the internet of all the disasters, but probably the most famous disaster of all was called the fireplace episode. The homeowners, you can see the before. Picture here.

1:31They had these very specific requests, okay? And this was often what happened in trading spaces, and these things were almost always ignored. They said, just two things: we don't want you to touch the brick fireplace at all, and we don't want brown. Other than that, you can do anything you want. Let's take a look at the after picture. Let's see how we did. Don't touch the fireplace. Check. Not brown. Check. The lady went off camera and started crying into her microphone.

2:17She is now known as crying Pam. On this show, in this episode, and in many others, the producers built what they wanted instead of what the homeowners wanted. And here in Nehemiah, we are now getting into the section of the text where they actually begin rebuilding the wall. And what's critical here at this section is that the people obey God's commands and they build what God is commanding them to do. They do it in His way, with His methods, His people together. That's what they needed to do. And in the broader scheme, everyone who's a follower of Christ is called to build God's kingdom. The problem, of course, is that from birth, our hearts are bent to building our own kingdoms.

3:05We're bent towards doing what we want to do in our way for our fame and glory, not for the fame and glory of the Lord. And so we're going to focus today on what it looks like to build God's kingdom together. And what we're going to learn is that God's servants build his kingdom instead of their own kingdoms. And we're going to break that down into three different ways that God's servants do this. They do it by following godly leaders, by sharing a common vision, and by proportionately contributing to the work. So let's begin and look at this together. God's servants follow godly leaders. If you remember back to chapter 2, Nehemiah cast his vision about building the wall, and the people all responded and said, Let us rise up and build.

3:55And so you get here to chapter 3, verse 1, and you see that the very first person named who rose up to build is who? Eliashib, the high priest, along with his fellow priests. Now, the high priest was the most important, or at least the most influential, spiritual leader in Jewish life. So if he and his fellow priests don't get on board with Nehemiah's vision, if they don't agree to support it and to work around that vision, it's probably never going to get off the ground.

4:30But they do. They do get behind the vision. Nehemiah lists them first, and what do they do? They build the sheep gate. That's the gate on the north side of town where all of the sheep would be brought into the temple complex for the sacrifices. So they rebuild the sheep gate, they consecrate, they pray over and dedicate that part of the wall, and then they also repair another section of the wall that you can see in verse 21.

4:55Then in verse 28, in that last section that we read together a few minutes ago, you see all the priests are repairing sections of the wall across from their own homes. And so what you have here is these spiritual leaders rebuilding the gates and the section of the wall related to worship near the temple, rebuilding another section of the wall elsewhere in the city, and then rebuilding the wall across from their own homes. They are bought into this thing. They are leading by example.

5:27And they weren't the only ones working on the wall who were leaders. They may have been the most influential, but all through this text, in the section that we didn't read aloud, you have all of these other leaders. Look at verse 9. You have Raphiah, the ruler of half of Jerusalem. Verse 12, Shalom, the ruler of the other half of Jerusalem. Verse 14, Melchijah, ruler of Beth-Hakarem. Verse 15, another Shalom, ruler of Mizpah. Verse 16, another Nehemiah, ruler of... Half of Beth Zur. Verse 17, the Levites, along with Hashabiah, ruler of half of Keilah. And then verse 18, Bavai, ruler of the other half of Keilah.

6:14What I want you to see in this is that these leaders rose up to build alongside every common person in Jerusalem. They, along with all of those common citizens, moved materials, they cut and laid stone, they mixed and troweled mortar. They did the work of rebuilding the gates and the walls, sweating in the Middle Eastern sun, right alongside everyone else. They led by example. You see, friends, leaders are influential. And so lots of people want to be leaders. You've got people in your college organizations who want to be leaders. You've got people at work who want to be leaders. People in your neighborhood who want to be leaders. Lots of people want to be leaders because leaders are influential. But very few people want to be the kind of servant leaders that these men were and that Jesus says we must be. Look on the screen at Matthew chapter 20.

7:20But Jesus called them, that's his disciples, and said, You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority. Over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

7:51You see, the priests and the rulers that we read about here in Nehemiah chapter 3 were the kind of servant leaders that Jesus says that we must be. They set an example for those they led. They're the kind of leaders that God's servants can follow. Unfortunately, that couldn't be said of every leader in this passage, and you probably caught that. Look at verse 5 again. It says, And next to them, the Tacoites repaired, but their nobles would not stoop to serve their Lord.

8:29See, I'm sure the Tacoite nobles enjoyed the influence that they had as leaders. I'm sure they enjoyed the privileges, the things that were afforded them because they were in leadership positions, but they wouldn't stoop to serve either God or the people that they were leading. And this is not just a problem here in Nehemiah 3, this is a problem all throughout history. Jesus had to confront this problem again and again in his ministry. Look on the screen again at Matthew 23.

9:04The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do, for they preach, but do not practice. What was the problem? They were hypocrites. They said one thing and they did another. Their lives did not back up their words. Now, thankfully, the Tacoite people saw right through the hypocrisy of their nobles. They chose to follow the example of other godly leaders rather than their own ungodly leaders. Look at verse 27. This is remarkable.

9:44It says, After him, the Takoites repaired another section opposite the great projecting tower as far as the wall of Ophel. Another section. The nobles wouldn't lift a finger to serve the Lord or to serve the people, and yet the people they're supposed to be leading are going the extra mile. They've not only rebuilt one section, but they go and they repair another section besides that. And so I want to challenge those of us who are in leadership positions. Let us never become like these Takoite nobles, these hypocrites who see leadership as a means to personal gain.

10:30Rather than as an opportunity to serve the people of God. And if you're not in a position of leadership, let me encourage you to be like the Dacoite people who chose to follow godly leaders rather than ungodly leaders, leaders who would back up their talk with action and who would put their words into practice. They're serving God not just with their words, but with their lives. Because I think, especially for those of you who are young, it can be tempting to see people in the church who have great theology. They know all kinds of stuff. They can argue the minute points of Christian theology, but you don't see them serving and loving. You don't see them living out the theology that they supposedly believe. And so it's critical for all of us to follow those kinds of leaders, godly leaders whose words and lives correspond to one another.

11:31To build God's kingdom, God's servants must follow godly leaders. But God's servants need more than just godly leaders in order to build his kingdom. We also have to share a common vision. And you probably noticed, with the exception of these nobles that we were just talking about, it really seems like everyone is all in on Nehemiah's plan, doesn't it? You've got 40 unique individuals or groups who are members of the people. Mentioned by name. In 32 verses, we find the phrases next to him, or next to them, or after him, or after them, at least 30 times.

12:14So all of these people are working side by side to complete the wall. This is everyone. Look again at verse 12. It says, Next to him, Shalom, the son of Halohesh, ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, repaired, he and his daughters. We all had a good laugh at prayer meeting when Pastor Chris was the one that pointed this out. Pastor Chris has two wonderful daughters, and he noted that everyone is in on this work together. This man who's mentioned here probably didn't have any sons, but he didn't care, and neither did his daughters.

12:55That did not stop them from the work. It didn't discourage them. The rebuilding of the wall was a job for everybody. And so that meant that everybody was involved, whether you were directly involved in rebuilding the wall or you were helping the rebuilding of the wall in ways that were connected to it but not directly related to it. Everybody pitched in. Everybody shared a common vision. And sharing a common vision is absolutely critical in a construction project. See, in a construction project, you need two kinds of unity. First, you need unity around the vision.

13:31You have to agree on what it is that you're trying to build. What's the goal? If you don't have unity around the vision, then you're going to have people spending time and energy building things that don't fit into the ultimate vision. But you also have to have unity around the work. If we agree on the thing that we're trying to build, but only a very small percentage of people actually get involved in the work, then it's not going to get done. Or at least it's not going to get done anytime soon.

14:04And friends, those same principles are true for God's servants who are trying to build God's kingdom together. We have to unite around the vision, and we have to unite around the work that the vision requires. So, look on the screen at our mission here at New Life. We say that New Life exists to preserve and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to make mature disciples of all nations for the glory of God. That's why we exist. That's our mission. So, what do we need? We need unity around that mission, and we need unity around the work that the mission requires. So, for here, for us at New Life, step one is uniting around that mission.

14:50And so many churches miss the mark. They don't have a biblical vision. So many churches don't have that even from the very beginning. And so, what happens when a new church is started is that you've got this group of people who do have this biblical vision. They want to make mature disciples. They want to do that together. But other people have different visions. They want to start a social club. They want to start a service organization.

15:22They want to start something that is just the opposite of wherever they came from, whether that opposite thing is biblical or unbiblical. That's what they want. But, friends, a lack of unity around the vision leads to an ineffective ministry because there's no agree on what you're trying to build. There's confusion and frustration about what the priorities are for the church. So, from the very beginning here at New Life, we were clear about our vision. We exist to make mature disciples of all nations for the glory of God. That's what we're about. Plenty of people wanted us to be about something else, especially in the early days. But since we were united around that vision, we had the clarity and conviction to stick to it. And that meant that some people didn't stay with us. They had a different vision for what we were supposed to be building.

16:19So, some churches aren't unified from the beginning, but other churches, and this is the danger for us as we close in on our 10-year anniversary next month. Some churches, disunity comes later for them. It's not there at the outset, but it comes later after the church is more established and settled. So you might start a church with a great vision and great unity around that vision, but over time you can lose focus. And the way that a church loses focus on the vision over time is that the filter changes. The filter for making decisions changes. So your filter at the beginning might be: will this program, will this decision, will this expenditure of funds help us to make mature disciples of all nations?

17:13The filter can shift from that to, will this decision, will this expenditure fit my preferences? Will it make me feel more comfortable as a church member? Over time, the filter can change, and we lose focus on our vision. And once that happens, we're on the way to losing unity with one another. We're no longer united around that vision. So that's step one: a church has to be united around the vision. And here at New Life, that's making mature disciples of all nations for the glory of God.

17:48But step two is uniting around the work that the vision actually requires. So just like the people working on the wall, we have to work side by side to achieve this. Vision. So in the early days of New Life, this was simple because the formula was simple. Everybody could pitch in or the church would die. It was a very simple formula for success, right? And if you joined New Life between 2009 and 2012, you were automatically signed up to serve once per month in the preschool. You were automatically signed up once per month to help set up for our fellowship meal after the worship service, which we did every week. And you were automatically signed up to bring food to share every single week for the fellowship meal.

18:42So you talk to somebody from those early days, and it's like talking to a combat veteran, you know? It's like... Yeah, there were nights where I set up 300 chairs and I only ate seven potato chips. Every member was all in because that's how it had to be. If you weren't all in, it wasn't going to make it. But now, friends, 10 years in, things are very different. If you come to New Life today, and some of you are visiting for the first time today, welcome. If you come today, you see two beautiful facilities.

19:26You see a fairly large church with a lot of people. Programs, wonderful ministry team leaders, a full and growing staff. You see all of these things, and you can think, you know what? I can just show up and enjoy. And that's why we must continue to be united, not just around the vision, but around the work that the vision requires. It's not enough for us to say that we exist to make mature disciples of all nations for the glory of God. We have to be united around the work that requires. And the work that requires is every one of us being committed to evangelism. We are actively sharing our faith with our coworkers, with our neighbors, with our children. Every one of us has to be committed to disciple making, maybe through life group, maybe through one of our preschool or children's or youth ministries or some other ministry in the church, men's or women's. We're making disciples together. Every one of us is committed to sending to the nations. If you're not called to go, we're called to send together. We're all giving financially. We're all giving of our resources to fund the vision. See, the people of Jerusalem were united around the vision of building the wall, but it was so much more than that. They were united around the work. It wouldn't have happened if they all said, Nehemiah, that's a great vision. I hope that goes well for you. They all had to pitch in, they all had to do their part. So to build God's kingdom, God's servants have to share a common vision.

21:00And that leads us right into this final point, which is that God's servants have to contribute proportionally. We have to contribute proportionally. That's an important word, and you're going to see that in Scripture in just a minute. But before we get there, I just want to point out: you understand from Scripture and from life experience that every person is different. God has created all of us uniquely, and that's a wonderful thing. You see that illustrated here in Nehemiah 3. You see different skills. Some people rebuilt gates. That's a particular skill set. Others rebuilt the wall. Those are different skill sets that are required. You see different gifts here in Nehemiah 3. If you looked carefully, you notice that sometimes it says they rebuilt the wall. In other words, the whole thing was torn down. There was nothing left. You had to start from scratch and rebuild. But other people didn't rebuild. They repaired the wall. Well, building a piece of furniture from scratch and restoring an existing piece of furniture, that's two different things, isn't it? That's a different gift set. And that's what we see here in Nehemiah 3. You also see there's different energy levels and availability. Some people in this chapter, the only thing they do is they repair or rebuild the wall right across from their house.

22:25But then you've got other people. Look at verse 13. Hannon and his people repaired a thousand cubits of the wall. Friends, that's 500 yards. Him and his bros did five football fields of wall. That is incredible. So, in the same way, every member of the body of Christ, we have different skills, we have different gifts, we have different energy and availability. But every member of the body of Christ is called and equipped to build God's kingdom together.

23:05Look on the screen at Romans chapter 12. Paul says, 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. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same functions, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them, if prophecy, in proportion to our faith, if service, in our serving, the one who teaches in his teaching, the one who exhorts in his exhortation, the one who contributes in generosity, the one who leads with zeal, the one who does acts of mercy with cheerfulness. us.

24:02I want you to see two principles from this text in Romans chapter 12. The first is that we shouldn't think of ourselves too highly, but with sober judgment. See, I think the temptation is for us to think that our gifts or people that have similar gifts to us, we're the most important people in the body of Christ. But Paul directly tells us, don't think of yourselves too highly. Think of yourselves with sober judgment because we need every member of the body of Christ. We need each other, as he goes on to say, and as he says in 1 Corinthians chapter 12, just as the ear needs the eye, just as the hand needs the foot, every one of us is a member of the body of Christ, and so every one of us is important. Let's not become intoxicated with a sense of self-importance, but let's think of ourselves rather with sober judgment as we all contribute proportionally.

25:01The second principle from this text is that we should use our gifts, as Paul says, in proportion to our faith. You probably saw that in Romans 12. In proportion to our faith. And so what that means is that two people might have the same gift, but you might have different levels of faith to use that gift. Your faith may allow you to disciple one other Christian. That's great. Your faith may allow you to disciple 12 others or. 20 others or 100 others. Wonderful. The number is not important. What's important is that we're all using our gifts in proportion to our faith.

25:42You see, everybody working on the wall was different, they had different skills, different gifts, different energy levels, and availability. Some people repair one section, some people repair multiple sections, some people repair 500 yards. But the reality is that the wall would not get finished unless every member did his or her part. Everybody had to work together. Everybody was called to do something. And it has to be the same here at New Life. The body of Christ in this local church. We have to work together to build God's kingdom through our proportional contributions.

26:25And so I think sometimes in the body of Christ, you know, you can get discouraged because you see upfront leaders, people like me or people, others that are on the stage on Sunday morning or in other parts of the church body that are leading upfront. And you think, you know, what am I really doing? Am I really making a difference? Yes, you are. Those that serve in the preschool, you know, you might think, am I really making a difference? Yes, you are. And not just those of you who are actually teaching the kids the elementary truths of the faith, but Every one of you is making a difference because you're allowing this, in this room, this worship gathering, to be an environment where everyone can listen and learn and grow together in faith and in godliness.

27:12If you serve in the children's ministry or the youth ministry, you might think, you know, am I really making a difference? Am I really contributing? Yes, you are. Your teaching and your example is leading to young men and women making professions of faith in Christ. It's leading to them growing in the knowledge of what they've been taught and seen modeled at home. You are making a difference. You might think, you know, I can only give a few dollars a week. Will that even make a difference? Should I even put anything in the basket? Yes, you're making a difference. I say this all the time. If we have 300 college students on average here at New Life, and every student gives $2.50 a week, the cost of less than one cup of coffee, that's $10 per month per student, $3,000 per month for all of those students, $36,000 in a year. Imagine what we could do with $36,000 more dollars. You are making a difference.

28:15You say, you know, I can't come to some of the programs. I can't come to prayer meeting on Tuesday mornings, maybe, or something like that. Well, anytime you're praying for the ministry of the church, anytime you're praying for your brothers and sisters in Christ, you are contributing. And all you can do is contribute. Proportionally. And so, friends, I just want to encourage you this morning. Every one of us has different gifts. Every one of us has different skills, different energy levels, and availability. Every person here is important. You matter. Your service matters.

28:48To build God's kingdom, God's servants must contribute proportionally. And so we've seen today that we've been called to build God's kingdom together. The problem, of course, is that from birth, every one of us is bent on building his or her own kingdom, right? And that shouldn't surprise us because that's essentially what our very first parents did. Adam and Eve were living in God's perfect kingdom in the Garden of Eden. They had everything that they needed, had everything that they could have wanted, or so you would think.

29:29But when Satan came and tempted them to desire more, what he was tempting them to do essentially was to become king and queen of their own rival kingdom. That was what he was tempting them to do. Instead of being loyal and favored subjects in God's kingdom, they were tempted to desire to become the king and queen of a rival kingdom. And since their decision to rebel against God and to set up their own kingdom, every person Who is born is born with a heart that's bent on doing the same thing, setting up a rival kingdom to God's.

30:08And as you reflect on your own story, that might be your story even to this day. When you look at your life, you haven't been living to build God's kingdom. Instead, you've been working to build your own kingdom here on earth. But if that's you, the good news is the gospel. You see, Jesus was fully God and fully man, and he came to save us from our sin and its consequences by succeeding in the very places where you and I have failed.

30:43When he began his ministry, the Holy Spirit led him into the wilderness to be tempted. And Satan tried to tempt him in two different ways, and those both failed. And so he comes at him again with a third temptation. I want you to see this on the screen from Matthew 4. He records this, Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him what? All the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, All these I will give you if you will fall down and worship me.

31:19Then Jesus said to him, Be gone, Satan, for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve. You see, Jesus succeeded in the very place that Adam and Eve failed. He succeeded in the very place where all of us have failed. Instead of building his own kingdom, he chose to build his father's kingdom. He died for your sinful rebellion and for mine, and then he rose again on the third day, victorious over sin and death, and set us free to build God's kingdom instead of our own kingdoms. And so this morning, I want to ask you the question.

32:08I want you to evaluate this honestly and answer this. Am I living to build God's kingdom? Or am I living to build my own kingdom? By following godly leaders, sharing a common vision, and contributing proportionately, God's servants can work together to build God's kingdom instead of their own kingdoms. Let's pray. Father, you taught us through your Son Jesus to pray that yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Many of us know that you are the king and that this is your kingdom that we're supposed to be building.

32:59But we also recognize the kingdom of the world. Recognize that every one of us at different places in our life, different times in our life, maybe even still to this day, have been working on our own kingdoms. And so we come before you and we confess that as sin, God. We have prioritized the wrong things. We've been seeking our own fame and glory rather than yours. And so we pray this morning that through your word in Nehemiah 3, through our prayers, through the power of your Holy Spirit, that you would help us to turn away from building our own kingdoms and to devote ourselves fully and completely to building yours.

33:48We love you, God. You are worthy of all of our devotion. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. Thank you for listening to the sermon audio from New Life Baptist Church in College Station, Texas. For more information or to support our ministry, visit us online at newlifecs.net.