Well, please take again your copy of God's Word and turn with me back to the book of Nehemiah and to chapter 3. The book of Nehemiah and chapter 3. before we hear God's word read, let us ask Him to help us as we listen to it read and preached. Lord our God, you are a God who loves your children. And so you speak to us, you instruct us, you tell us the way we should go. and you provide all that we need that we may serve you in joy and in truth. And we pray that as we come to your word, as we hear it read, as we hear it preached, that you might enable us to receive it as it is the word of God, and that it might be preached with truth and power. And we ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Nehemiah chapter 3 and beginning in the first verse. For those of you who have not been with us the last few weeks, we're going through this book that is about the rebuilding of the walls in Jerusalem. And we come to this section that is a list of all those who were a part of that project. Then Elisha. The high priest rose up with his brethren, the priests, and built the Sheep Gate. They consecrated it and hung its doors. They built as far as the Tower of the Hundred and consecrated it, then as far as the Tower of Hananah. Next to Eliashib, the men of Jericho built, and next to them, Zechariah, the son of Imri built. Also the sons of Hassanah built the fish gate. They laid its beams and hung its doors with its bolts and bars. And next to them, Meromoth, the son of Erijah, the son of Koz, made repairs. Next to them, Meshulam, the son of Barakiah, the son of Meshezabel, made repairs. Next to them, Zadok, the son of Ba'anah made repairs. Next to them, the Tekoites made repairs, but their nobles did not put their shoulders to the work of their lord. Moreover, Jehoiada, the son of Pahsa, and Meshulam, the son of Basodah, repaired the old gate. They laid its beams and hung its doors with its bolts and bars. And next to them, Melatiah, the Gibeonite, Jadon, the Merianite, the men of Gibeon and Mizpah repaired the residence of the governor of the region beyond the river. Next to him, Uziel, the son of Harahalia, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs. Also next to him, Hananiah, one of the purefumers, made repairs, and they fortified Jerusalem as far as the broad wall. And next to them, Raphaia, the son of Hurr, the leader of half the district of Jerusalem, made repairs. Next to them, Jehdiah, the son of Harumath, made repairs in front of his house. And next to him, Hatish, the son of Hashabnia, made repairs. Malkijah, the son of Harim and Hashub, the son of Pahath Moab, made repairs, another section, as well as the tower of the ovens. And next to him was Shalim, the son of Haloash, the leader of half the district of Jerusalem. He and his daughters made repairs. Hanun, the inhabitants of Zanoah, repaired the valley gate. They built it, hung its doors with its bolts and bars, and repaired a thousand cubits of the wall as far as the refuse gate. Malkijah, the son of Rechab, the leader of the district of Beth-hak-rem, repaired the refuse gate. He built it and hung its doors with its bolts and bars. Shalom, the son of Kalhaza, the leader of the district of Mizpah, repaired the fountain gate. He built it, covered it, hung its doors with its bolts and bars, and repaired the wall of the pool of Shelah by the king's garden, as far as the stairs that go down from the city of David. After him, Nehemiah, the son of Asbuk, the leader of half the district of Bethzer, made repairs, as far as the place in front of the tombs of David, to the man-made pool, and as far as the house of the mighty. After him, the Levites under Rehum, the son of Bani, made repairs. Next to him, Hashabiah, the leader of half the district of Kelilah, made repairs for his district. After him, their brethren under Bavai, the son of Hanadad, the leader of the other of the house district of Ka'aiah, made repairs. And next to him, Ezer, the son of Jeshua, the leader of Mizpah, repaired another section in front of the ascent to the armory at the buttress. After him, Barik, the son of Zabai, carefully repaired the other section from the buttress to the door of the house of Eliashib, the high priest. After him, Merimoth, the son of Uriah, the son of Koz, repaired another section from the door of the house of Eliashib to the end of the house of Eliashib. After him, the priests, the men of the plain, made repairs. After him, Benjamin and Hashib made repairs opposite their house. After them, Azariah, the son of Maasaiah, the son of Ananiah, made repairs by his house. After him, Benuai, the son of Hanadad, repaired another section from the house of Azariah to the buttress, even as far as the corner. Palal, the son of Uzai, made repairs opposite the Bostris, and on the tower which projects from the king's umber house that was by the court of the prison. After him, Padaiah, the son of Parosh, made repairs. Moreover, the Nephenim, who dwelt in Ophal, made repairs as far as the place in front of the water gate towards the east, and on the projecting tower. After them, the Techoites repaired another section, next to the great projecting tower, and as far as the wall of Ophel. Beyond the horse gate, the priests made repairs, each in front of his own house. After them, Zadok, the son of Emer, made repairs in front of his own house. After him, Shemaiah, the son of Shechaniah, the keeper of the east gate, made repairs. After him, Hananiah, the son of Shel Lamaya and Hanun, the six of Zaloph, repaired another section. After him, Meshulam, the son of Barakaya, made repairs in the front of his dwelling. After him, Malkijah, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs as far as the house of Nethanim and of the merchants in front of the Mithkad gate, as far as the upper room at the corner. And between the upper room at the corner, as far as the Sheep Gate, the goldsmiths and the merchants made repairs. And thus far, the reading of God's holy word. Brothers and sisters, friends, as we read a passage like that full of names of those who seem a world away from us, and indeed are in many ways, We can wonder, what in the world does that have to do with us? But I can assure you that there is much in this chapter that is there to strengthen and challenge and build us up. And that's not just my idea. It's what we're told in Scripture, that all of God's Word is useful. for doctrine and for reproof and for training in righteousness. But there are also particular ways which it is useful to us as a congregation and to any who would know something about the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. We've just had a conference on the Holy Trinity, which we were building up to with great expectation, and it has come and gone. Our opening services are now past, and the long wait for a building has come to fruition. And although I am new to this congregation as a minister, I feel like I can enter into that in some extent because of having been here before. But brothers and sisters, friends, we are not reaching the end of this All Saints Project, but rather we are just at the beginning. And that's not only true in the sense that behind you is scaffolding and there are things to do around the building. Perhaps God has made it that way that we would move in at a time like that to remind us that moving in is just the beginning rather than the end. But there is a much more spiritual and a deeper way in which that is true. In that moving here, is moving here that the gospel might be proclaimed abroad in this city and that all these pews around us that we see might be filled with men, women, and children glorifying the name of our great God. And so coming here and celebrating the fruition of all these things is, as I say, just the beginning. Jesus Christ, the Lord of heaven and earth, has uprooted us from Lobley Hill and planted us right here in the center of Newcastle to build His church, to build up the walls of Jerusalem. We read in this passage of An ancient wall being built thousands of miles away from us. But today we are engaged in the building project of which that wall was simply a shadow. And all of us who are part of the church of Jesus Christ have a part to play in that glorious work. And anyone who would come and be a part of the glorious church of the Lord Jesus Christ has a part to play in that great work. We have seen so far in this book of Nehemiah, a book about the restoration of Jerusalem, that we do this work confessing our sins and placing our hope in God's faithful covenant mercy. We've seen that God can and will provide for His work. And we've seen that Jesus Christ calls us to action, just as Nehemiah called the people of his day to action. But tonight, the particular stress of our passage is the fact that this project, this building up of the walls of Jerusalem was a community project. And the same is true of the church today. You might have noticed as we read the passage that there were lots of different kinds of people who were represented in this list. There were priests, there were tradespeople, there were nobles, there were men and women. And they were all engaged on their particular portion of the one unifying project. And the point is, that with a few exceptions, the whole community threw themselves into this work. Every section wasn't the same. There was this section, and that section, and the other section over there, and they were different, and they had different parts to play. But they all did their bit. and worked for the good of God's people and the glory of His name. And in addition, we still have their names today. And in fact, their names have been read out and spoken about every time this passage has been read or preached on for thousands of years. Theirs was not a community folly, but it was a community project with a lasting legacy. And this, again, is but a shadow of the everlasting legacy which we are laying up for ourselves in the building of the Church of Jesus Christ. So this passage teaches us that as we build the Church, it is a community project. that entails a lasting legacy. And so my title tonight is a community project with a lasting legacy, a community project with a lasting legacy. And my points are, the project, the project involves everyone, and the project entails a lasting legacy. The project, the project involves everyone, and the project entails a lasting legacy. This project, it was the building up of a physical wall, a wall around Jerusalem. But here we are in 21st century Newcastle in the year 2019, and we're not building a physical wall. So what does this project look like? What does it look like in particular here in Newcastle today? Well, we need to begin by being reminded of the connection between the wall of Jerusalem and the church. Jerusalem was the city of God's dwelling. It was the capital of God's kingdom and the place where he dwelt with his people. And the walls represented the city in a similar way, in a sense, to which the Time Bridge might represent the city of Newcastle. And you see a picture of it, and that evokes in your mind the fact that this is Newcastle. But it was much more than that. It marked out the limits of the city, and it protected the city. So the rebuilding of the walls weren't just periphery. This was right at the core of rebuilding God's dwelling, God's kingdom, and the place where God would dwell with His people. And today, the church is the fruition of all these things. More than that, the walls were symbols of the holiness of God's people. They marked out the difference between where Jerusalem was and that outside. They marked God's people out as distinct, as a people for Himself. And the same is true of the church. The church is the people of God, those whom He is drawing to Himself for His glory. But we have that even more so because He has given us His Spirit in great measure. to remake us and make us new. In addition to that, there were promises that had been given to those who were rebuilding by the prophets. But there are promises that maybe in a way were starting to be fulfilled there in Jerusalem, but there was so much more in them, so much more to be fulfilled. We read in places like Jeremiah 33 of God bringing health and healing, of causing His people to return, of cleansing their iniquity, of Jerusalem being a joy and a gladness where God dwells with His people and He dwells with them in safety under His King. But though there they had come back and they were rebuilding these walls, so much was left to go. They didn't have a king. What they were building was in many ways pitiful. There was still frustrations and all sorts of sin all around them. And we know that these things were just the beginning. They were pointing us forward to the time when Jesus Christ would come to be the King, the Son of David, the one who would cleanse his people from their sins and the one who is coming again to this world to restore all things and to cleanse away from this world all that causes that which is misery. and all that comes from hatred and sin and wrong. And so, here in the rebuilding of Jerusalem was simply a token that more was to come, that Christ was coming, that the church would be built, and that one day all things would be restored. The walls were not a petty nationalistic thing, but they were pointing to the most great and glorious project in all of the universe. The project that you and I, if we know the Lord Jesus Christ and are a part of His church, have the privilege of being a part. But then, if all of this is true, what does that look like practically in our lives? Well, first of all, Building up the church, building as it were the walls of Jerusalem, involves prayer. And I say that because there are various things that I'm about to speak about that some of us can do and some of us can't because of our situations or that sort of thing. But pretty much all of us can pray, whether we're housebound and whether we're able to get up and do various things. But we can pray that God would send forth His Spirit, that God would convert men, women, and children, that He would provide all that is needed for the building up of His church. But then there's also holiness. The church is a set-apart people, set-apart in our minds, the way we think, our hearts, what we love. We're those who are more and more like Christ by the work of the Holy Spirit to the glory of God our Father. And we read earlier in Ephesians 4 that the purpose of growth is to grow up into Christ. seeking to know Him more, seeking to love our God with a zeal and a truth, and respond to Him in unhypocritical obedience, and to interact with each other with joy and love and service, so that the Church of God would be built up as a beautiful people, as a people where the world sees a reflection of the God whom we serve. And that's what happens when the church is built up in holiness, is those whom God is drawing to himself, they look at the church and they don't just see another group of people like everyone else, they see a people that is beautiful because they reflect the glory of God. and they are drawn in to be with that people. So even holiness is part of how we build up the church. There's discipleship following the great commission which Christ has given us to go and to preach the gospel and to disciple the nations. We read in places like Colossians 3 that we are to let the word of Christ dwell ritually in us, teaching and admonishing one another. We're to be those who are developing spiritual friendships so that we're teaching each other the truth of God. We're exhorting each other as appropriate in terms of our situations. and to live more wholeheartedly for God. We're warning one another when we see each other go astray. We're encouraging and building up one another as we see each other downcast and downtrodden and discouraged. And all of this then is building up the church. But of course, you've probably been waiting the whole time for me to talk about evangelism. As we go out and we speak to our friends and our neighbors about this God whom we love, As we've been growing in holiness and love for Him and desire and zeal to know Him more, we're more and more full of who He is and we want to go out and speak to our neighbors and our friends and our family of this God. And so, in God's grace, He brings some of those whom we speak to, to be amongst us and to be a part of His people and the church of Christ is built up. But then, of course, as well, there is also service. You know, in order for us to be here tonight or this morning or any time, there's things that have to happen, right? There's a duty deacon that has to come and open up and, well, right now, turn on the heat and do all sorts of things. There's greeters who have to be there to welcome people as they come up the steps. And there's those after the service in the morning who have to make the coffee and serve it to people. And there's all sorts of other things that go on during the week as people are here working on the building and various ways that practically things must be done that the work of the church would go on. And so, although in some ways that's not the primary thing of building up the church, as Bill mentioned last week, all these practical things make it so that the gospel can go forward in the church. can be built up. So today, building the wall of Jerusalem, today building up the church of Jesus Christ is devoting ourselves to prayer, to devotion to God, to growing in holiness, to discipling one another as we are put amongst each other by God and by speaking to those all around of Christ and of serving one another in the church. But as I move to our second point, this project involves everyone. And in many ways, this is right at the heart of what this passage is all about. Again, you'll notice that all kinds of people are involved in this. Priests, tradespeople, nobles, men and women. And this is not an exhaustive list. There were others as well who worked, and we know that because there are places in here where it says that certain people did a second portion, but they're not mentioned as doing the first portion. They were ordinary people. These were people who had put on hold their ordinary lives. They'd left their farms in the countryside, and they had prioritized the work of God. Nehemiah didn't come with a whole company of professional wall builders and said, oh, you know, never mind, you know, you can stay on your farms and whatever. I've got it here with my professionals. That's not what happened. And each had their own section, as I mentioned before. They were different, but they worked alongside each other on this unifying project for the glory of God. And the same is true of us today. And we see this then going into the New Testament. We read in places like Corinthians of how the church is a body. And it doesn't just need the head, but it needs the hands, and the eyes, and the ears, and the feet, and all of these bits of the body to work together. We read in places like 1 Peter, as each one has received a gift, minister it to another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. And of course, we read in Ephesians chapter 4, like we did earlier, of how ministers are given to the body, not so that they can do everything, but actually so that they can train you to serve one another, to do the work of the church. That's Bill and I's job. We are to minister the Word of God to you so you can be built up, not just to receive, but to minister to one another, and to do the work of the church. But of course, there are ways that ourselves get in the way of doing this very thing. Our pride. There's mention in here, people who did two portions of the wall, the men of Tekoa, but their nobles They thought, well, that's a little bit too much for me. I'm not going to get my hands dirty in that lowly work of wall building. And we can have the same pride in ourselves. It's hard to die to self. And that is exactly what is required if we are to work for the building up of the church. and the busyness of life and our own sense of self-importance as subtly as that works its way into our lives and our focus sometimes on our pet peeves can get in the way of our building up the church. And then There's what is so common in our day, and that is some form of consumerism. So many people come to church and they just want to receive. And that's wonderful. We want you to receive, particularly when you're hearing the Word of God preached like right now. But they come not to be a part of a family where people receive and then also serve, but they come just simply wanting to get their church fix and go out and do whatever else they're doing. But that's not the way the church is built up. And then there's professionalism. The staff will do that. That's what they're paid for. But actually, we're a body. We're a family. Or the deacons. They're there, yes, to do practical things, but not only to do practical things, but actually to organize all of you to work on the practical things of the church. And then there's false humility. Well, I'm not qualified to serve the church in that way. I'm not a good enough Christian to serve the church. But really it's just another form of our pride in our flesh getting in the way. And opposed to all of these things, we have the clear example of Nehemiah 3 and of the New Testament principles and commands to encourage us to lay aside our pride, to come not as only as consumers, but as those who would give back, to come as those who would serve and to put away our false humility. This passage challenges us to action and perhaps challenges our view of the church. But not only does it challenge us, it also encourages us. Because my third point is that the project entails a lasting legacy. As I mentioned before, these were real people. And yet we know next to nothing about them. In fact, many people of their day and age have completely been lost to history, and yet we know the names of these people that have a legacy that has lasted for thousands of years. How would you like to have that sort of legacy, to have your name being read out again and again and again, thousands of years later? How would you like to have an everlasting legacy? When God calls us to build up his church, we are literally building the future. Because one day Christ will come, one day he will return, and he will completely take over this world. And this will be the dwelling place of God with his people. And when we work for the future, God tells us that he will not forget that. Hebrews 6 says, God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love, which you have shown towards his name and that you ministered to the saints and do minister. Your prayer, your service, your evangelism, your discipleship might be forgotten by the world. It may never have been known by other people. You may have been praying in your closet day after day, and others may not have known it, but it will not be forgotten by your God. And of course, in all of this, the foundation is always Christ, and it is Christ by His Spirit who gives us the gifts to serve in this way. And whatever we do out of what he has given us for the building up of the church will last. It will not be building with wood and hay and stubble, but with gold and silver and precious metals. My friend, Murdo Alec McCritchie, entered into the presence of Christ on Thursday. And he served Christ and his people in many ways like almost no one else I have known. It was not in obvious ways, but through his undeniable holiness, his humble and quiet service, his steady love for Christ amidst incredible pain and hardship. And of him, it can truly be said. Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, right, blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the spirit that they may rest from their labors and their works follow them. We don't even know fully his legacy, but we can be quite clear that it will last into eternity. And that is exactly the same sort of legacy that is on offer to you and I through Christ by His Spirit. But if you're like me, you look at yourself sometimes and you think, what could I do that would reach up to anything that was worth anything? What could my friend really do that would in himself be of any value? Well, the answer is nothing. By nature, we are rebels against God. And even as Christians, we will never do anything in this life that is completely free from sin and is acceptable to God in and of ourselves, much less praiseworthy. But if you have recognized your helplessness and trusted yourself wholly under Christ for your acceptance with God through his perfect righteousness given to you, then not only does He accept you, but He also pours out on you all the gifts you need for the building up of His church. And He accepts your service unto Him graciously through Christ and rewards it extraordinarily. Because of Christ's perfect human life and your connection to Him, your works in building up the church of God are accepted by Him. What a legacy! And what a motivation and a comfort when our work seems fruitless, when no one seems to be watching, when it doesn't seem to be worth it. Ours, brothers and sisters, is an everlasting legacy from and through Christ. The church is the future of this world. because it is where God is displaying his glory. So I ask you, if you are here tonight and you do not know Christ, you are not a part of his people, don't ignore him. Listen to the word and the spirit that convicts you of resisting him and standing apart from his church. and submit to him and turn back to him and become a part of this community project with an everlasting legacy for the glory of God. Perhaps you're here and these things convict you. Find those ways that you can be involved. And if you don't know, ask. There'll be people who will be glad to give you ways that you can serve. But if you're here and you've been serving, guard against pride. Guard against the subtle temptation to rest on your works. But also be encouraged by the everlasting legacy that graciously the Lord is enabling you to store up for yourself. And be encouraging others also to serve. Brothers and sisters, we have a great privilege to together as the body and church of Christ to build for everlasting days. May the Lord enable us by his spirit to do so for the glory of his name. Let us pray. Lord our God, we come before you and we ask your forgiveness for ways in which we have not served as we ought. We thank you for the grace that you have given us to serve. We pray for those who are discouraged in service, that you would encourage them and build them up with this gracious legacy that you enable us to build. And we pray that here in Newcastle in 2019, that you would build up for yourself a glorious people here in our church and in other churches around this city, that your name might be glorified and the walls of Jerusalem might be built again. We pray through Christ, Amen.