Nehemiah Chapter 11 is where I'd like you to turn in your Bible,
and we're going to have a look at Nehemiah Chapter 11 and
chapter 12 this evening. Title of tonight's message
placed for his purpose. What we're going to see through
our text is that God sets people apart.
He takes them out and He brings them and He rebuilds their
lives, and He'll often have us placed for His purposes to
accomplish what He wills because He is an amazing God who just
desires to use the foolish things of this world to confound
the wise. That's just the method that He
has chosen. But it's in serving Him that
we're filled with the wonder and the joy of the Lord, and it's
all for His glory and for our good.
And what a blessing that is where we left off last time at
the end of Nehemiah chapter 10. There's this tension that's been
simmering under as we've seen revival starting to take place
in chapter 8, Chapter 9, and in chapter 10.
The wall again has finished 52 days.
Nehemiah had put hands together in the the group there in
Jerusalem and and they've been building and labouring and
they've renewed this covenant. We looked at that last week.
They made certain promises under God.
Reform is beginning. But there was this problem that
was introduced to us in Nehemiah Chapter 7 all the way back there
in verse 4. And it says this, we've been
told it and this is what Nehemiah deals with now in
Nehemiah 11 and 12. And in Nehemiah 7, it says it's
the city was wide and large, but the people within it were few.
So there's no point having these grand walls and these gates
erected if there's no people dwelling in the city.
Jerusalem that we'll discover in Nehemiah Chapter 11 is called
the Holy city of God. It's kind of like those times
whenever maybe you've travelled overseas and, and you've visited
these, these beautiful architectural cathedrals that at
one point in time we're buzzing and filled with people, but now
are more like museums that are just empty and bereft of people.
And, and it's purely just this sort of dusty smell of, of
emptiness. And people will look at the
stained glass windows and, and be amazed perhaps by some of the
artistry that's gone on there. But it was built and designed
for people to gather and to congregate and to worship God
ultimately. And so for a little over 140
years, Jerusalem had been broken.
And then Nehemiah arrives on the scene.
And now it's structurally restored.
Physically, there's some some things happening, but
spiritually and socially, it must be reinhabited.
And that's what we see. The walls rebuilt.
The temple standing there, that was built by a fellow called
Zerubbabel. That's a pretty cool name.
I just like how that rolls off the tongue.
Zerubbabel. Imagine down at the park and you
hear someone calling their dog. Zerubbabel come here.
That's maybe a disservice to Zerubbabel because he's such a
wonderful character in the Bible.
But then suddenly, like I said, in Nehemiah 11, we see this this
term that's used of what this forsaken place once was and it's
now called holy city, holy city in Nehemiah 11, verse one and
holy. We use it all of the time and
it's part of our our Christian vocabulary and vernacular.
But sometimes we don't know the the fullness of the meaning holy
means to be set apart. It speaks of otherness and of
this sanctification and a specific purpose.
And there's to be a distinction and a difference.
And so to reference Jerusalem as the holy city, something needs
to take place and something needs to happen.
What? What makes the difference for it
to be called a holy city? It's more than bricks and
mortar. It's more than walls.
It's more than gates being put in place.
It is God's people, it's the dwelling place of God as he
inhabits the praises of his people.
And we see all of that in this this chapter or these chapters
11 and 12, who who show up, who serve God and who celebrate God
and God does a work in their hearts and lives.
I don't know if you recall seeing on the news or times when
various cities will bid for the Olympics.
I remember way back in 2000 how they were bidding for the Sydney
Olympics, while 2000 was when it was on and in the 90s was when
they were bidding and they labelled it as the green
Olympics when my wife's from LA are hosting the Olympics next.
And and all of these bidding cities will highlight the
differences that make that city unique.
One of the things that Los Angeles laid claim to is the
fact that in and out the burger chain was there and that's
nowhere, nowhere else in the world.
It's like, OK, they might tout stadiums, infrastructure, the
capacity to stand out, to be separate, to be different from
all others. And that's part of the selling
of, you know, here's why we should host the Olympics.
But in Nehemiah's story, as we get to it in a moment,
Jerusalem's holiness, it's set apartness, it's otherness, it's
distinction comes from something far deeper than burger chains,
far deeper than a green Olympics.
It's the faithful commitment of ordinary folks that we're going
to see to live and to work and to worship where God called
them. As we dive into Nehemiah 11 and
12, we're going to see a long list of names.
Again, been seeing it all through Nehemiah.
It's been like the Hebrew phone book, but priests and Levites
and gatekeepers and families. And then there's joyous
dedication ceremony that happens at the end.
It's not just sort of bureaucratic details that are in
the Bible for us to record history, but it's more of a
testament to God at work through his people as they step into the
roles that God has assigned to them for the purposes that God
has declared and revealed. And so today, you and I, we're
not called to necessarily pack up and, and move to a bustling
metropolis, though, you know, cities are pretty pivotal in the
way that God works and his plans and just that density and
diversity of population. But there's a bigger call that I
want us to see out of this passage upon our lives and that
is this. That wherever God has planted
you, wherever God has placed you, whether it's inner city
Jerusalem, where it's suburban Perth, suburb of Secret Harbour
or rural town is what we'll see out of this.
Commit to that place as the place where God has planted you
to serve him in, to serve him there, to rejoice in him there.
Because holiness set apart that otherness, that distinction
comes from committed presence and faithful service and joyful
worship of God wherever He chooses to place His people.
So we're going to see three things.
Again, if you're the note taking type, this will be up on the
screen for US. Number one, settle where God
stations you #2 serve where God assigns you.
And thirdly and lastly for us tonight, sing in worship because
God sustains you. The first point comes out of all
of Nehemiah 11. Now we're not going to read all
of these verses, but let's have a look at verse one and two as
as Nehemiah 11 begins with this logistical but very deep
theological decision that's going on now.
The leaders, verse one of the people dwelt at Jerusalem and
the rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of 10 to dwell
in Jerusalem. The holy city and 9/10 were to
dwell in other cities and the people verse 2 blessed all the
men who willingly offered themselves to dwell at
Jerusalem. Again, I want to draw your
attention to that phrase that's used of Jerusalem, the city.
It's called the holy city, the holy city.
The walls again didn't make it holy.
The fact that the gates were on even the building known as the
temple did not make Jerusalem holy.
It was holy because it was the place that God chose to dwell.
It was holy because this is where now he had chose to
indwell his covenant people as we've been looking at.
And yet there weren't many people there.
And so they cast lots. And in the Old Testament we see
that utilised as as a means to decipher God's will on a matter
and a subject. And so they organised lots to be
cast. And it seems like from verse 2
that some even volunteered. Or the idea might even be that
even though that the lots were cast, that they willingly said,
yes, we'll go and move into Jerusalem, the city.
And many celebrate that and applaud and cheer and say, yes,
thank you, well done. But consider the cost for these
people. Jerusalem at this time, if you
were to think of a place to move to, it certainly wasn't
Jerusalem in the Persian Empire. The city was vulnerable,
frequently under attack, economically unstable.
There'd been famine throughout the Persian Empire, and
particularly in that region at this time.
So moving into Jerusalem meant sacrifice.
It meant giving up certain things, maybe certain comforts.
Unlike those living in the countryside that had land that
had stability and agricultural security, none of that was
afforded by moving into Jerusalem and it certainly would
not have been the easier option for them.
There might have been a few awkward, difficult discussions
at home when news of the lot fell of a dad, I was supposed to
do this and where am I going to go and do that?
And all of those sorts of things that you could imagine might
have been part of the table conversation.
And yet some chosen by lot, some volunteered.
Maybe verse 2, the people blessed all the men who
willingly offered themselves because I want us to see however
it was that they got to Jerusalem.
Understand this, they were in the will of God.
That's an amazing thing to live life in the will of God.
And that meant that their life in Jerusalem, the holy city now
had purpose and now had significance and now had meaning
for the reasons that God would reveal ultimately to them
individually and and corporately to the body gathered in
Jerusalem of what life would be like living for him and loving
him and serving him. And so then there's this list of
names again in the flow of verses from verse 3 through on
to to 36 even. And what we've discovered all
through Nehemiah is that names are important.
And we might, you know, devotionally read scripture and
we'll go, oh, a bunch of names. I'll flick over that and get to
the chapter where stuff happens. But but names matter to God.
Why? Because people matter to God,
and God here records ordinary faithfulness.
Now my name's been called up, the lot has been cast, or in
fact, no, I'm going to volunteer and my family is coming along.
We're moving to Jerusalem, and God notes it.
So this wasn't just about leadership relocating certain
people out of the cities. It was a communal obedience unto
God that we're seeing happening in their hearts and lives as
God's changing them. I think this decision and this
action that we read in Nehemiah 11 challenges us in many ways.
It certainly challenged me because as I reflected over my
life and in our day and age, we live in an age of restlessness,
of discontent, of dissatisfaction.
And you know, the, the commercialised existence that we
have of advertising constantly telling us that we need the new
and, and the best and the greatest.
And all of that I think creeps in into our Christianity and
understanding of God in many ways.
We've got career mobility, we can chop and change jobs as we
please and, and the power is, is very much in the hands of the
employee to dictate terms of employment and so on.
And there's geographic mobility. You can travel parts of the
globe and, and set up no worries in this global village that is
now the world. In this day and age with
technology, we have relational instability and we have church
hopping as a thing that people do.
But you know, covenant faithfulness requires something
called rootedness. There's in the Bible the
theology of being planted, and maybe you're familiar with
passages that I'll bring to your attention.
Now, Psalm One, blessed is the man, and it uses this imagery of
being planted by a stream of water as the life that is
connected in relationship with God.
At Jeremiah 29, Jeremiah is speaking to people who will be
taken out of This is prior to our time in Nehemiah, but taken
out of Judea and on into Babylon.
And in Jeremiah 29, they're commanded and told to stabilise
themselves and to live in the land and build houses and and
commit to being a blessing in where they find themselves.
Remember when we studied through our first Corinthians in one
Corinthians 7, Paul commands to remain in the condition in which
you were called in reference there speaking to those that had
been saved and then were, you know, coming to a faith in the
Lord, but their spouse wasn't the big idea and all of that.
And here in Nehemiah 11 is this, and I want you to see this, is
that God is sovereign over placement.
God's hand is upon you where you are.
You are not randomly located, your street, your workplace,
your school, your extended family, your involvement here in
this church. They're not accidents, they are
assignments. You might have been drafted.
I just came here because my husband got a job.
Otherwise I'd be living somewhere else.
You might have volunteered. Oh, I'd love nowhere else than
to live here in the world where we are.
But are you rejoicing in the planting of God for your life?
Perhaps you need to hear this tonight.
I know that there were periods in my life where I felt
unsettled. Should I move here?
And you know, April and I, especially before our children
came along, Should we, you know her from having originated from
California? Should we move to America and,
and often that was a discussion and, and something that we'd sit
and I would wrestle with. And should I be doing this
instead? Or have I missed the boat on
where God has called me and called us to and, and all of
those sorts of dialogues that run through our minds.
And I think many of us also know of this propensity that we have
in our day and age to resist our, our, our rootedness, you
know, to see that the grass is greener somewhere else.
The fear of missing out maybe comes in discontentment
comparison with others lives as we look at their social media
feeds and see all of the happenings and wow that that
place looks beautiful and wow look what they did and all of
those sorts of things. And we start to romanticise
somewhere else other than where we're living another way.
God has us planted. And you know what happens
attitudinally as we become bitter to the blessing and to
the call that God has placed for us and over us?
People talk about something called the divine discontent.
I don't know if you've heard that terminology, but also,
discontentment can be spiritual ingratitude.
Here's a truth that I've come to know through experience and in
studying God's Word. God often does his deepest work
not through dramatic relocation, but through durable presence of
faithfulness to being settled where God has planted you and I
referenced it last week. It's a passage that Jesus out of
Matthew chapter 6 in the Sermon on the Mount talks of Matthew 6
verse 33 was a real galvanising scripture for me on this.
Seek you first, the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and
all these things will be added to you.
And in the context of that is is the things that we worry about.
And so for me, it was a matter of you know what, here is where
God has chosen to plant me, us right now.
And if I'm seeking first God and his Kingdom right here, right
now, how can I not be in his will?
How can then not his purposes and the blessing that comes out
of serving Him and loving Him and living for Him where He has
chosen to plant me, us. You then not change my attitude
and my heart and mind to where it is that God has called me
physically to be present in. So practically, what does
settling where God stations you look like?
Are you open to being used by God where He has placed you to
commit to your local church long term, to invest relationally in
your neighbours? I won't worry about getting to
know them because you know, we're going to be moving in a
few months anyway to pray consistently for your suburb.
You know, as you drive around Secret Harbour or wherever it is
that you live and you see things, does that just spark off
prayer in your mind and your life under God as you you see
and witness certain things? Do you see your workplace as a
mission field or boy, man, I cannot wait till I put in my
resignation and I'm out of there.
And if God does move you because that does happen, go then as one
cent, not as one drifting with purpose with gospel mission and
focus. Those one out of 10 that had the
the lots cast or that volunteered to move into
Jerusalem. They I think arrived and the
celebration of verse 2 tells us that with great fanfare and
determination to go yes, this is what God has called us to do.
We are going to live here for the glory of God and trust in
Him for the results. Yes, I'm worried about how the
bills will be paid. Yes, I'm worried about how the
city's going to be transformed and what it will look like.
But let's, let's trust God in where he has planted and and
placed us because the goal is not merely to live somewhere,
but to honour God there. So Nehemiah 11 deals with all of
those people in the listing of names.
And we move ahead to chapter 12 now.
And you can move in your Bibles there.
And as you do, here's what I want you to do.
I want you to move into the New Testament and park a finger in
Ephesians chapter 4 for me because I'm going to turn there
and read some verses later on out of Ephesians chapter 4.
So I want you to be ready for that.
So Nehemiah chapter 12 now and in verses 1 to 26, the chapter
again opens with more names. The priests, the Levites are
mentioned. There's gatekeepers who are
doing a service and there's this generation of servants listed
harking all the way back to that fellows rubber bell that I
mentioned. And there's this genealogy of
names of people who served God and and the question is why
these names and why those names from way back then as well
listed at this point in time in Nehemiah?
And that is because there's a continuity in God's restoration
of Jerusalem, the holy city that's happening here.
And that is that these people in Nehemiah are building on those
that have gone before, those that had served God and had
loved him and honoured him. And now they're able to continue
and build upon that foundation laid by the generations prior.
And you know, for, for us, we in 2026 are building on some 2000
years of Christians who have gone before us who have
faithfully served God and loved him.
And that's why I commend to you any study of church history and,
and looking into, we call them Saints of old who have lived for
God and loved him as examples of what to do and of what not to
do. There's many mistakes as well to
learn from and to have that be a foundation and to recognise that
we're not the first generation to arrive on the scene and serve
God. I think that's kind of
chronological snobbery if we think that.
But we arrive on the scene and we build on that which Jesus
Christ himself established in the founding of the church, and
we are the Church of today. And there's this continuity that
is evident in this listing of names that in the past and in
the present and in the future, there will always be servants of
God Almighty. And I love this here about this
because there are some alive at the time of Nehemiah that could
trace back their heritage to go, yes, that was my great
grandfather. And there are some of you who
can trace back into your generations 3-4 on and go.
My great, great grandfather. He was a pastor and he was a
minister and he's he served God or you know, my great, great
auntie, she was a missionary in this country and so on.
And you're connecting with that heritage of believers that have
gone before you. And for some of you, you're
first generation believers. And guess what?
You get to start that legacy for should God carry those
generations to come after you of being faithful servants of God?
God's work is multi generational.
Now notice the diversity of roles.
Nehemiah 12 verse one through to 8 here.
Now these are the priests and the Levites who came up with
Zerubbabel, the son of Shiltil and Jeshua, Soraya, Jeremiah,
Ezra, and there's a a a number of names mentioned through to
verse 7. Verse 7 then says these were the
heads of the priests and their brethren in the days of Jeshua.
Moreover, verse 8, the Levites were Jeshua, Binyu, Cadmium,
Shirabaya, Judah and Metaniah who led the Thanksgiving Psalms,
he and his brethren. And then move ahead to verse 24
and 25 and the heads of the Levites were Hashabaya,
Sharabaya, and Jeshua, the son of Cadmil with their brothers
across from them to praise and give thanks.
So there's like this. Remember in the old days when
we, and I'm talking about when I was young, a young kid in
churches, we used to sing in rounds and you have like one
part of the congregation. We'd sing the first part of the
song and then they move on to the next part.
And then this group would sing and join on.
And what that's almost what's taking place here is one group
of singing and another responding in song like a the
original battle of the bands going on here and with their
brothers across from them to praise and give thanks.
Group alternating with group according to the command of
David, the man of God, Matanaya, Bakbakaya, Obadiah, Meshalam,
Telmon and Aqab were gatekeepers keeping the watch the storerooms
of the gates stopping there. Verse 25 and you'll see in this
chapter 12 priests offering sacrifices, Levites leading
worship, gatekeepers guarding entrances, temple servants
handling logistics, some roles very visible and present, others
hidden behind the scenes, but all necessary.
Paul echoed this when we studied through First Corinthians
chapter 12 that we're one body, many members, and to not
begrudge or be jealous of another or to hope that we'd all
be an eye or that we'd all be a finger.
How distorted a body would be if we were all the one member.
But understanding that we need all parts of the body to
function. Very practical is the Bible in
that. And that some are visible and
that others are hidden and it's often the hidden ones that are
the most important. And when think of the anatomy of
the body. But here's what I want you to
know, because there are some who I know who are sitting here
tonight who go, what has God got for me?
And I don't feel like I can do anything.
I don't know how I can help or how I can serve God.
I want to, but know that the moment that you trust Christ,
you're in the ministry. We've been baptised into his
body. It tells US1 Corinthians 12/13.
And the purpose of that is that we've been gifted to build up
that body to benefit the body. And that's not just pastors,
that's not just leaders, that's all believers.
And so service in the church, just a service back then in
Nehemiah 12, is not just about filling rosters.
It's about protecting the community.
It's about facilitating worship. It's about extending impact and
influence. You see, the city of Jerusalem
back then, as we've been reading, understand, could not
function without structured service, and neither can the
church. And service unto God isn't just
for professionals. Nehemiah's people didn't just
show up and expect Nehemiah to do everything.
They contributed and they helped out.
Some had prominent roles like Nehemiah that's mentioned, but
others are a little more obscure.
I wonder what in verse 13 this fellow called Amariah did.
Don't know, doesn't mention what he did, but his name's there and
God noticed. Because every role matters.
Every person serving the Lord matters, whether that be in your
secular job or in church ministry.
And in a city like Jerusalem, where we'll see later that the
farmers from the outside would provide food and on the help and
the insiders would have defended it and so on in the worship,
every person mattered. Now, modern Christianity will
often drift on into consumption. What do I get out of being here?
What's this church got for me? And what are these people?
You know, nobody did this for me and nobody helped me with that.
And does this meet my needs? And do I like this style and all
of those sorts of things? But there's something that's
different about a covenant community that we've been
reading of in Nehemiah and and is to be a part of any any
gathering of believers of the Church of Jesus Christ.
And that is this Christ, our example did not consume others.
He didn't use them for his purposes.
Christ instead came and gave himself.
Mark chapter 10 verse 45 is a wonderful verse that says that
He came to serve, not to be served.
And so service then is not beneath us, it is rather Christ
like and it begs the question, are you serving where God has
planted you? Seems to be a message that the
Holy Spirit is teaching us in 2026 about pressing in, in our
recognition that God has placed me here for a purpose and to
serve and to honour him in that. So now turn ahead to Ephesian,
Ephesians 4 verse 11 to 16, because practically tonight you
can make concrete steps in that direction of going, OK, I'm a
Christian, I'm baptised into the ministry of building up the body
of believers. What what might that look like?
Ephesians 411 to 16 says, and we read again New King James
Version self Speaking of Jesus, gave some to be apostles, some
prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers for the
equipping of the Saints, for the work of ministry, for the
edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of
the faith. Verse 13 Of the knowledge of the
Son of God to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of
the fullness of Christ, that we should no longer be children
tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of
doctrine, See the purpose of it by the trigger of men in the
cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but.
Verse 15 speaking. The truth in love may grow up in
all things into him growing up maturing.
Who is the head Christ, from whom?
Verse 16. The whole body joined and knit
together by what every joint supplies.
Every joint, according to the effective working by which every
part does its share, causes growth of the body for the
edifying of itself in love. Where has God gifted you?
Tonight. Is it teaching?
Is it administration? Is it mercy?
Is it encouragement? Is it evangelism?
Is it hospitality? Serve in structured Church
ministry, in informal discipleship, in community
engagement, in vocational integrity.
Contribute humbly where God places you.
If you're new here, maybe. You've taken a few months to
just look and watch and observe and see and assess.
And now you're going, OK, this is this is where I'm going to
call our church home. Shift from evaluating to
engaging. Join a serving team, pray behind
the scenes for leaders for the ministries going on.
Give generously, even even if it stretches you at sometimes.
But I am so grateful and thankful for this that is in our
church that I think's unique when you know, I I converse and
discuss with other people about what's going on in their
churches and that is this. There are many faithful church
members in our midst, serving here in so many visible and
invisible ways that God knows that God's written the name
down, that He's recorded. And it's not for fame, but for
this, that every act builds God's Kingdom.
Every act God is. Able to use because this is how
God works. God's not about serving
programmes, He's about redeeming people through people.
So I serve today. Sign up for that ministry.
Get involved. Your contribution, like back in
Jerusalem, sets this place apart as holy, set apart for the
service of God. You are placed where you are.
To function there as salt and light.
And your assignment is not accidental.
You know what? Happens when you commit.
To that and go, OK, God has me here for some reason, I'm going
to serve him in that. The Third Point, what we see in
the people is that God is doing a work in their hearts.
And you can jump ahead to verse 43 of chapter 12 as this worship
just bursts forth out of them as they start to become blessed in
their service of God. There's this wonderful
celebration that takes a hold of them and they they commit to
dedicating the walls and celebrating all that God is
doing in their midst and the great work that He is been
facilitating in and through them.
In verse 27, now at the dedication of the wall of
Jerusalem, they sought out the Levites in all their places to
bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with
gladness, both with thanksgivings and singing with
cymbals and stringed instruments and harps.
And the sons of the singers gathered verse 28 together from
the countryside around Jerusalem, from the villages of
the Natathites, and on through verse 29 from the House of
Gilgal and from the fields of Gieba and Azimothfeth.
For look at this, the singers have built themselves villages
all around Jerusalem, even back in Old Testament days.
There's something about musos just wanting to hang out
together. It was like the early Nashville
or the early Fremantle of WA. Have you ever gone into Frio and
seen all the hipsters sipping their coffee and with musical
instruments around? No, just me.
All right then, verse 40. Three.
Also that day they offered great sacrifices, you know what
sacrifices? An act of worship and rejoiced,
for God had made them rejoice with great joy the women.
And the children. Also rejoiced.
And look at this, the neighbours heard, so that the joy of
Jerusalem was heard afar off. This is worship in action.
The verses that we've just read and you can read through other
parts as I'm continuing now of chapter 12 to see that after
hard work, the opposition, the toil that they'd experienced.
They paused now to dedicate everything unto God, and they
just cannot help but but spring forth in praise unto Him, and
it's and it's God birthed in them, and the.
Singers. They they just.
Want to be there? They congregate together and
build villages around Jerusalem, integrating.
And the idea of that is, is that everyday life is now integrated
with praise. And so if you're the.
Kind of person that at home vacuums with your headphones on
with worship music. That's that's these guys.
We're we're wired to worship God, aren't we?
That's why we're created. It's why what, why we derive
great pleasure from doing it. And it blesses God.
In fact, we're all worshippers. It's a question of whether
you're worshipping God or something or someone else.
And here there's this. Dedication and to dedicate meant
to set apart, to acknowledge to God.
It's kind of like, you know, when you read dedications.
Yeah, if you open. Up a.
Book and you'll see dedicated to so and so and and it's an
acknowledgement from the author to the the sacrifice of the
commitment that others have made.
We have baby dedications here at church meaning to set aside
that. Child unto.
The Lord. And so here the wall isn't just
merely infrastructure, it's understand consecrated space,
that God is permeating every aspect of their lives and they
see it now as worship unto God. Sometimes we can
compartmentalise life and worship is what we do on Sunday.
And then we go into our job and man, I've got to be a cutthroat
kind of business guy and I've got to make some difficult
decisions and we'll act like every ordinary Joe Blow out
there. But in other words, what we
should be seeing is that all of our life 24/7 is sacred space
that God has to be worshipped and honoured in.
That's what's happening here. They sing loudly, they worship,
the amps are dialled up to 11. There's people complaining about
the noise. Can you turn it down?
There's probably some in the back saying this isn't how
you're supposed to worship God. Where's the old hymns?
And I don't like that song and all of that.
You know, it's generations old, thousands of years, it goes on.
But here it was loud. It was unto God and they were
dedicated and they were praising and they were worshipping.
And there's this wonderful thing, verse 43, Guess what?
God made them do it. God made them rejoice.
Because joy is not manufactured. Hype it.
Was the overflow of. Divine faithfulness at work in
them. So the joy matters here.
It authenticates what's going on, the restoration that's
taking place. And think of it, the city of
Jerusalem was no longer defined by exile and ruins and decay,
but now defined by this is a place where we live for God and
we serve him, and we're going to praise him with all that's
within us. And man, let's let the
neighbours here. So Nehemiah.
Is in fact going all the way back some of the structures that
are in place to Israel's golden ear of what David instituted in
their worship. That's part of the the the cycle
of that moving of different worship and singing parties and
so on. Now I.
Want I want us to. See a connection to our day and
age and sometimes I think the Australian culture and our
capacity to downplay and to minimise things get gets the
better of us in our worship of God.
We're often productive. But joyless, you know we build
walls. God does a work in and through
us, but we forget to sing and praise Him about it.
Busyness can often crowd. Out gratitude in our lives, yet
we've seen Nehemiah 8 verse 10 that the joy of the Lord is to
be our strength. So Christian joy is not naivety.
You know, sometimes people will even go, you know, they're a
happy, clappy Christian. You ever heard that used as a
derogatory term about some people?
But it's about resurrection, confidence in our lives.
The joy of the Lord is my strength, and how can I help but
praise Him? And you know, a rejoicing.
Christian is actually countercultural, so celebrate
wherever God has planted you. Pause to acknowledge God's
blessings in your life, the salvations that he has brought,
the community that he has brought alongside of you,
restoration in your life, transformation in your life.
Give all the glory to God. Let.
Let his. Joy overflow into daily life
because in this joyless world, you're rejoicing testifies to
God's goodness. Have you ever worked with?
People who have said, why aren't you miserable like the rest of
us about this? I had one person asked me.
That, you know, about something that had come up in work and you
know, said Israel, why aren't you worried?
Or why aren't you bitter like the rest of us about this?
Well, because I trust God, you know, I've got a faith and I can
choose to be bitter or angry or upset about it, or I can choose
to trust him and, and honour him and work for him and, and
worship him in that part of that.
Now move ahead. We'll finish with this.
To Revelation chapter 2021, because Nehemiah 11 and 12
doesn't end the story, of course.
It actually anticipates something far greater.
And if your heart's been stirred in any way with what you've been
seeing and reading of what God is doing in the hearts and lives
of the people, then boy, look out for what's ahead in
Revelation 21. In Revelation 21.
Hopefully you're there by now. And man, I think with what we're
seeing in the news and so on, this can't be much longer around
the corner. Lord Jesus, come quickly now.
Revelation 21 I saw a new heaven verse one and a new earth for
the 1st heaven and the first earth had passed away also.
There was no more sea. And then I.
John saw the. Holy City.
New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as
a bride adorned for her husband, I.
Heard a loud voice. From heaven, saying, Behold the
Tabernacle, that means the dwelling place of God is with
men. He will dwell with them, and
they shall be His people. God himself will be with them
and be their God. Look at this.
First of all, God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying.
There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed
away. Move ahead.
To verse 22, Speaking of the New Jerusalem.
Still I saw no temple in it. Why for?
The Lord God Almighty. And the Lamb are its temple, the
city. Had no need of.
The sun or of the moon to shine in it for the glory of God
illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.
Verse 24 And the nations of those who are saved shall walk
in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and
honour into it. It's gates shall not be shut at
all by day. There shall be no night there.
And they shall bring the glory and the honour of the nations
into it there and then no temple is needed.
God dwells fully with His people.
Holiness saturates everything, and at the centre, Jesus.
Because Jesus embodies. All that we focused on and
looked at tonight. As we read.
In the Gospels, incidentally, after Nehemiah, we're going to
get into a study of the Gospel of Matthew on Sunday nights.
But as we read in the Gospels, it tells us that Jesus settled
among us. The Word became flesh and dwelt
among us. It tells us that he served among
us. He washed feet.
He bore sin. He gave His life.
It tells us that He was dedicated as an act of worship
unto God, to the cross, and so much so that that dedication,
that act of worship, it says in Hebrews 12 verse 2 that He
endured the cross. It was a joy for the joy that
was set before Him. We've.
Spoken tonight of being. Settled of, of serving and of
singing and of and of worship and the power of that and the
impact of that. So again tonight, what makes a
place holy? It's not prestige, it's not
architecture, it's not walls, it's not influence, it's not
gates, but it's people settled under God's sovereignty.
It's people. Serving.
Under God's authority, it's people.
Singing in worship. Under God's grace.
So commit tonight. Settle intentionally.
Thank God for where He has placed you.
Serve actively. Identify a concrete way that you
can contribute and be a blessing this month of March.
Sing in worship and praise visibly.
Express joy in God's. Faithfulness this week.
Let's pray, Lord God. We thank you for this chapter
tonight. I thank you for each person here
tonight that has heard your word, and I pray that you would
help us. Help us to be faithful where it
is that you have stationed us. We might not think of it.
As a rebuilding of Jerusalem. But we can certainly be your
sanctifying presence wherever we find ourselves in our in our
street, in our workplace, in our community groups, in our sport
clubs, amongst our families. We can honour you, we can
worship you and God. You can strengthen this your
Church here through the faithful service of the Saints gathered
here and. When the final city, the.
New Jerusalem descends. We will never regret having
served you and been planted for your purposes and praise here on
earth for all that you have in store for us, your people.
As John ended the book. Of Revelation, We end our time
tonight with this Maranatha. Even so, Lord Jesus, come
quickly. This we pray in Jesus.
Mighty name. Amen.