Nehemiah 2.20 Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us, therefore we his servants will arise and build. You will know that we chose as a model text for the year the words of 1 Chronicles 22.16, words that David spoke to his son Solomon concerning the building of the temple in Jerusalem, and we took as our text the words, Arise and be doing. The Lord directed my attention this week to another verse of scripture that had Well, a similar theme and certainly a similar word, the word arise, arise and build. The God of heaven, he will prosper us, therefore we his servants will arise and build. I don't know whether next week we'll have another verse with arise in it to see how the Lord might lead, but certainly for today, this is our text. Now we're familiar with the story. Nehemiah has arrived in the city of Jerusalem and what he sees is a situation that's far from encouraging. The city lies in ruins. Now we know that sometime previous to Nehemiah's return that a remnant of people had come back to Jerusalem after 70 years of captivity in Babylon and they rebuilt the temple. But the city of Jerusalem remains in ruins. There are broken walls everywhere. There are gates that have been burned down. There are heaps of rubbish and rubble. And they all serve as a constant reminder of their past failures and of their present challenges. And Nehemiah, when he hears about the disarray that Jerusalem finds itself in, He is given permission by the King of Persia to return to the city and to lead a rebuilding project. And when he gets there, it's much worse than he could ever have imagined. It's a daunting task, both in terms of the work that needs to be done, the opposition that will need to be countered, and the labourers that seem to be so few in number. But there's a little phrase that occurs twice in this chapter that reveals to us just exactly how they're going to accomplish this great task. If you look back at verse eight. a letter unto Asaph, the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertain to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me according to the good hand of my God upon me. When Nehemiah made requests for provisions and tools and equipment and timber and all the things necessary, the king granted him his request and Nehemiah puts it down to the fact that the good hand of God was upon him. In other words, he was in God's favor. Looked on it again in verse 18, when he brings his report to the people of Jerusalem, then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me. So Nehemiah could see that even in the granting of King Artaxerxes permission for him to return to Jerusalem and the provisions of notes that would grant him favour with the governors and the provisions that he needed for the rebuilding project He sees that beyond the goodwill of King Artaxerxes, the hand of God at work. And we should be reminded, this isn't my theme this morning, but we should be reminded that when we view the actions of earthly rulers, that we keep in mind the broader setting of our Saviour's rule in this world. politicians and governments do not ultimately rule. God rules. Christ is upon the throne. Nehemiah could see the hand of God at work even in the outworking of the plans of King Artaxerxes. So, keep that in mind as we make our way through this story. Now, what I do want to draw your attention to this morning is this. When we read this historical account of the rebuilding of the walls of a ruined city, you and I need to be reminded that we are operating in a spiritual realm, but we are still engaged in a building project. The Lord Jesus told his disciples there in Matthew chapter 16, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. We looked at that last week. We considered that the savior is responsible for the building of his church. We're like subcontractors. We're working for him. Here's what the Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 3 in verse 10. According to the grace of God, which is given unto me as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation and another buildeth thereon. The Lord is building his church, but he builds it through you and I. taking the message of the gospel, sharing it with others, bringing the good news of Jesus Christ unto the uttermost ends of the earth. And you and I as believers Paul tells us in Ephesians 2 in verse 21, we are being built together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. We are God's house. We are the temple of God. Individually, God's Spirit dwells within us, but even collectively, when we come together with one another for fellowship and for worship, we meet together as part of the house of God. And we are all involved in the spiritual building project. And the book of Nehemiah conveys to us certain spiritual lessons that if we're willing to learn them and apply them in the spiritual sense to our building project for God, that we too might see the good hand of our God resting upon us. So let's have a look at our text this morning. Verse 18. Then I told them of the hand of my God, which was good upon me, as also the King's words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work. The God of heaven will prosper us, Nehemiah said. Therefore, we his servants will arise and build. Jerusalem as a city holds a very special place throughout the Old Testament. Not only was it the capital city of the Jewish people, but it was central to their worship. You remember last week when we considered David giving instructions to his son Solomon about the building of a temple, a permanent structure for the Ark of the Covenant to rest in, for the presence of God to abide in. God's house was built in the city of Jerusalem, a magnificent temple built by Solomon for the worship of God. And at the consecration of that temple, we're told of how the very presence of God entered into it. The Shekinah glory of God, the great heavenly cloud descended upon it. And the Lord, in a physical sense, took up residence within that temple. They brought their sacrifices there. Their altar was there, their worship was there. It was to the Jerusalem that the children of Israel were summoned time and again throughout the calendar year to come to the various feasts that would be held in that great city. It was central to everything that they were as a people. Their capital city, yes, and the place where their king dwelt, yes, but it was the place where God dwelt amongst his people. where the worship of God was manifest and seen. But now the city lies in ruins. It's almost as if the very religion itself had been destroyed. And to rebuild Jerusalem means rebuilding their relationship with the Lord. Now, today, through our Saviour's own words, we know that the literal physical city of Jerusalem is not the focal point of our religion. We're not like Daniel of old who, when he began to pray, opened his windows and faced off towards Jerusalem. We're not talking about a physical city. God is a spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. But there is a sense in which the Church of Christ is likened to the New Jerusalem. You read in the book of Revelation, John saw the New Jerusalem, a holy city coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. He's speaking about the church. We are building a New Jerusalem today, not a physical city, but a spiritual one. We're not building an unearthly city, but an unearthly nation, but we're seeking to build the Church of Jesus Christ, the Bride of Christ, the New Jerusalem. That's the very definition of our building project. That's what we're engaged in. That's why the Saviour sent his disciples to go into all the world and preach the Gospel. because there were to be those who were gathered out of every nation and kindred and people and tongue that would be lively stones knit together into this heavenly framework of a new city, a new dwelling place for the presence of the Lord in the midst of his people. Now, as they undertake this building project, they faced a major problem, a major problem. Turn over a page to chapter four, if you will, Even the enemies of God recognized what the problem was. Sam Ballat and Tobiah, those who would stand in opposition to Nehemiah and his work. Nehemiah chapter four, verse two, and he spake, Sam Ballat, the opposer, he spake before his brethren and the army of Samaritans said, what do these feeble Jews, what do they think they're doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they make an end of the day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned? There is the problem. Now Nehemiah had already identified the problem back in verse 10 of chapter 2. He had only spoke about Judah and said, the strength of the burdens is decayed and there is much rubbish that we are not able to build a wall. There's much rubbish and rubble lying about the city. It's lying in ruins. The people have a mind to work, but there's rubbish in the way. And before they can ever start their building project, they've got the great task of removing all of the rubble and rubbish that was so immense that was hindering the project. And so the first task that the people faced was to remove the rubbish. Same for you and I, really. If we were to be built up in the things of God, If we are to have a part in the spiritual building project of the Church of Jesus Christ, then we have to strip the rubbish out of the way. There's maybe things that need to be removed in order for the building plan to go ahead. Those of you that are gardeners will know all too well that you need to dig up the soil, break up the fallow ground, the prophet says. There needs to be a digging out, maybe removing of the weeds, digging up of the roots, taking away of the stones. There was a lot of rubbish and rubble that was before them, and before they could ever start building a wall, they had to clear the ground. There's a lot of rubbish today. We could talk about the rubbish of false doctrine that's preached in so many places. The rubble of easy-believism. The man-centered gospel that leaves Christ out of the equation. There are a lot of things that we can do without and remove out of the way. There are churches in the land today that you'd be hard-pressed to differentiate between them and a nightclub. clothes that they wear, music that they listen to, flashing lights, stage presence. There's so many things that are done supposedly in the name of Christ that are not of Christ, but of the world. Has there ever been a time when the church has been so worldly? They're almost unrecognizable from the world. It was Horatius Bonner, an old Presbyterian minister from Scotland who once said, he said, I looked for the church and I found it in the world. And I looked for the world and I found it in the church. But let's not point the finger over this way. Let's look at ourselves. at the rubbish and the rubble that we accumulate in our lives that hinders the building up of our spiritual selves and the things of God. That rubbish heap of our own worldliness and our own sinfulness, we have to look at ourselves. No point looking at the rubbish in your neighbor's garden, what about the rubble in our own? This is a message for you and I this morning. What can we learn? Can we pray as David prayed in Psalm 139? Search me, O God, and know my heart. You know, we're told actually a little bit later in the Old Testament, one of the minor prophets, that one of the issues that was happening at this time while there'd been a remnant that had returned to Jerusalem that had rebuilt the temple under the watch of Ezra, But then something happened. Haggai tells us about it. Haggai 1 verse 9. The Lord is speaking to his people. He looked for much, and lo, it came to little. Why, saith the Lord of hosts? Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house. What had happened? They'd returned to Jerusalem, but their priority had been to build their own house, and they neglected the house of God. they had misplaced priorities. They had worked hard for themselves and for their families, but the work of God had taken a second place in their lives. And the first part of rising up to build for God is to remove the rubbish heaps from our lives, the sins that doth so easily beset us that the Apostle Paul reminds us of, And we look at ourselves and we see the things that hinder our walk with God, those things that stop us from having a closer walk with the Lord. You search your life. Ask God to shine his searchlight in and expose to you those things and look into your own lives. And I look into my own life and I tell you something, we won't have to look very far. We don't have to search for days in order to find the things that hinder. or the rubble that stops us from building. I don't have to look very far into my own heart to find the things that hinder, things that stop the progress from building successfully for the Lord. And I suspect you won't have to look far either. But if there's going to be a building work, there needs to be, first of all, a removal crew going in to clear up the rubbish, to move away those piles of rubble and things that hinder. But that's only the first step. Not only must the rubbish be removed, but then the means of grace must be utilised to build ourselves up. Yes, it's good to pull out the weeds, but it's also good to fertilise the soil. So we must not only remove the sins that are easily beset us, but we must also seek then to build ourselves up in the things of God. How do we do that? will be sometimes referred to the means of grace. What do we mean by that? Well, let me give you an example of that from the Acts of the Apostles. It's chapter 20 and verse 32. For those of you that want to turn to it, Paul is speaking to the elders of the church at Ephesus. And this will be the last time that he speaks to them before he continues on his missionary journeys. And this is what he says. Acts 20 verse 32. And now brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of his grace. Now listen, the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. What is it that builds us up? The word of his grace. What am I suggesting here? We need to spend time in God's word. reading it, studying it, learning it, reviewing it, meditating upon it, coming back to it again and again. We need to have God's word. We need to be devoted to God's word, to the reading of it. Now, typically at the start of a new year, I suspect there are many resolutions made by many Christians that this will be the year You know what I'm going to say, this will be the year that I read through the Bible in its entirety. How far behind are you already? I know it's easy to fall behind and then you get so far behind you feel that I can never catch up and therefore well I'll start next year. We do have some calendars at the back of the church, reading calendars that help with the discipline of coming to God's word every day to help you to read. We encourage that. Even if you have simply one where you can tick off the chapters that you've read in order that you might maintain a progress. There are many plans available. I suggest that you find one that works for you and stick to it. But here's something that might help. How about we devote less time to social media, the endless scroll, the endless videos streaming after another, one after another, the endless television programs that don't build us up at all, but really tear us down and desensitize us to sin. How about making a resolution before the Lord that we will devote more time this year to the things that will strengthen us, the word of his grace, the things that will build us up in our faith, the things that will draw us closer to the Lord, that we'll come before him in his word and we'll pray unto him and we'll seek his word and we'll seek his will. We sang from Psalm 1 this morning of the blessed man whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night. You want this to be a blessed year, 2026? Then you need to be in God's word. You need to be reading it and studying it, and then you need to be putting it into practice, not being hearers of the word only, but doers of it. Here's the real challenge. If we look back to the beginning of 2025, can we say that we've progressed over the last 12 months? Have we moved forward? Are we closer to the Lord today than what we were this time last year? Am I walking closer to the Lord now? Do I know his word better now than I did this time 12 months ago? Has my prayer life increased? Has my witnessing to others increased? Or have I gone backwards? I once heard a definition of backsliding that terrified me. Because I could see it. What is a backslider? It's someone who's further away from God today than what they were yesterday or previously. There's no standing still. We're either progressing towards God or we're sliding back from him. My desire for this congregation is that we might make use of the means of grace, the word of grace that's able to build you up and to see each and every one of us grow in the things of the Lord and to make God and his word a priority in our lives throughout this year. And let me add to that then, If it's the word of God's grace that builds us up, we should be reading it for ourselves. Yes, absolutely. But I also suggest that you attend to the preaching of God's word. We sometimes refer to the preaching of God's word as a means of grace. Now, there's nothing special about the preaching. You've been here long enough to hear me preach. There's nothing special about the preaching, nothing special about the preacher. But the preaching of God's word is still the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believe it. And through the preaching of God's word, though the world looks upon it as foolishness, the power of God is manifest. And we should look upon the preaching of God's word as not something nice that we get to when we can, but as an essential part of our growing in grace. Paul, writing to the church at Rome, said in Romans 15 in verse 20, yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man's foundation. Paul saw the preaching of God's word as part of the building process. He identified himself as a wise master builder. As he preached God's word, people were built up in the things of God. They were edified. We sometimes talk about a building being an edifice to be built up. We are to be edified by God's word. Attending to the preaching of Christ is an essential tool in the building of ourselves up as part of a holy temple unto the Lord. Do we have that desire to be fed, to be strengthened, to be encouraged, to be challenged, to be convicted under the preaching of God's word? Let me add another Christian fellowship. Ephesians 4 verse 16. Again, the Apostle Paul writing, he speaks of the whole body, fitly joined together, that maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love." We come together as God's people. The illustration that the scripture uses that we are living stones that are being knit together. I'm not one that you'd call upon to build a wall, I can assure you, but I know that when builders build a wall, they knit the stones together. They overlap with one another because then their strength is not in an individual brick, but in the tying of them together. We strengthen one another. We encourage one another. We challenge one another. We show our love for one another. We pray for one another. His servants will arise and build. You notice that's what our text says. While there's much that we can do on an individual level, there is more that we can accomplish together. The question is, will we arise and build? Now, you've seen what needs to be done. Taking away of the rubbish, a heart to be given then to the work and to the building progress. But you notice the words of the text once again. We will arise. and build. And the implication of the word arise here is that the building progress hasn't been taking place. The project hasn't started yet. The fact that they're being called upon to arise and build suggests a season of inactivity. Maybe the desire to build has been there but that there's been no action yet. Maybe the reason is they've been discouraged for so long and the task seems so great and the enemy seen so many. But Nehemiah's heart was broken over the state of the city of Jerusalem as he heard about it, first of all, and as he saw it for himself. Tell me this morning, is your heart grieved over the brokenness and the spiritual condition of the land around us? Does it not motivate us to rise up and build and to seek to do something for the glory of God? Those that had returned to Jerusalem, do you know how they're referred to? As a remnant. A remnant. You know what that means? It means the vast majority of their people remained in Babylon. They were too comfortable in Babylon. Those that returned for the building project were few in number. Sometimes feels that way, doesn't it? Who are we? We're so few in number. But you know, our strength is not found in our abilities and our gifts, it's found in the Lord in whom we serve. And while, yes, we may be a small number in comparison to the vast multitudes around us, we want to be a faithful remnant. We want to be a remnant that are at work for the Lord We don't want to be asleep when there's work to be doing. We need to awaken and be ready ourselves for the work of the kingdom of God. And yes, I know it's easy to get discouraged. I know it's easy to get discouraged. You don't have to be a pastor for very long to know about discouragement. And I know there's much rubbish that needs to be removed out of the way. And I know there's opposition without and within, and there's very little sign of progress over many, many years. And there seems to be so few, just a remnant that show an interest in the things of the Lord. And even amongst those that do show an interest, how few there are that pick up the tools and get to work. that are there for the advancement of the kingdom of Christ, how few there are when it comes to the times and place of prayer, how few there are of those that will go out and endeavour to spread the gospel of Christ to their friends and neighbours. It's easy to get discouraged. When you have to look at the barrenness of the spiritual landscape around us and think to yourself, there's so much to be done, where would we even start? How little progress we've seen over these years, how little advancement in holiness, how few there are that take up the burden of the work and the advancement of the kingdom of Christ. The task seems beyond us. And if you really want to be encouraged, well, by all accounts, we're living in the last days. That's what they tell me. We're in the last times. And in the last times, we're to expect a falling away. In other words, it's bad and it's only going to get worse. So what are we to do as Christians? Are we simply to give up? Do we just hunker down in our shelters? Do we batten down the hatches? Do we simply try to insulate ourselves and survive until Christ returns? No! We are to survive, we are to rise and we are to build. We're not to forget who actually rules this world and it's not any political leader or king upon the throne, it's the Lord Jesus Christ. And we're encouraged to lift up our eyes and to behold our king. He reigns supreme. He will never be defeated. And we are to look to him and we're to get this building project going. What is it that ultimately made the difference with the children of Israel? What is it that lifted them out of their despair and strengthened their hands for the work and their resolve for the building programme? What was it that moved them to attempt this great work for God? The answer is found in one word that Nehemiah conveyed to his enemies. Then said I unto them, the God of heaven, he will prosper us. Therefore, we his servants will arise and build. Here's the dividing line between discouragement that leads to inactivity and encouragement that leads to rising up and doing something for the Lord, the God of heaven. He will prosper us. Why? Now, think about it for a moment. Why would they even say that? Why would they even believe for a single moment that the God of heaven would prosper them after all that they'd done? Was it not their sins and their rebellion and their abandonment of the God of heaven that led them into captivity in the first place? Was it not their rejection of the Lord and his word and his ways that resulted in Jerusalem falling into such disarray to begin with? Why would they believe now that the God of heaven will prosper them when it was their sins that led to the destruction of Jerusalem. When you realise that God has as much at stake as what they do, what do I mean by that? There was a time back in the days of Moses when he was leading the children of Israel through the wilderness to the promised land. And what did they do? They murmured and murmured and complained time and time and time again. They tempted, they tested the Lord on every occasion. And after their sin, the Lord turned to Moses and he said, look, Moses, go and take the children of Israel to the land. I'll send an angel with you, but I'm not going with you. Go, but I'll not be with you. Moses spoke with the Lord and he says, Lord, what will the nations think? what reproach there will be upon your name. What will the Egyptians say about you as our God? That he could deliver them out of Egypt, but he couldn't actually manage to bring them to the land that he'd promised. He could only take them so far, but he wasn't able to do the rest. Now, of course, the Lord was always going to bring them into the land of promise, but he wanted the heart of the people with him. That plea prevailed with God. So what does it take for us to boldly assert that God will prosper us? What does it take for us to get to the point that we find ourselves willing to arise and build for the Lord when we ourselves know that we are unworthy? We have no worth. We can't really expect the Lord to move in power because of who we are because we're so unfaithful, so indifferent, and so up and down in our faith. We're not deserving of his mercy or his blessing. No, but our saviour is. Our saviour is. The thing that should stir our hearts this morning is this. The Lord Jesus said, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. The good hand of God is upon our king. And while we lay no claim to worthiness in ourselves, no reason for the Lord to bless us, we lay a strong claim on the worthiness of Christ. And we rest assured that God will prosper the work because he has promised to prosper his son. And so we make the plea that the psalmist makes in Psalm 80 in verse 17. Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand. upon the son of man whom thou made a strong for thyself. We're thinking of Christ our the man of God's right hand, the man of His choosing, the one whom He has sent to be the deliverer of His people, the one who would die on behalf of sinners. Did He go to the cross in vain? He did not. He came to seek and to save that which was lost and He accomplished the very thing that He set out to do. This is our assurance of victory. Christ's obedience, our Saviour's faithfulness, the very fact that he sits now at the Father's right hand assures us the God of heaven will prosper us, not for our sake, but for Christ's sake. The God of heaven, he will prosper us and we his servants will arise and build. Let me finish with a quotation from George Mueller He was known for his great service and his faithfulness to the Lord. This was his advice. Walk through every open door. Be ready in season and out of season, as if everything depended upon your labour. This is one of the greatest secrets in connection with the successful service of the Lord. Work as if everything depended upon your diligence. and then trust and pray for the blessing of the Lord to bring success. What was he saying? Work as if everything depended upon you, then pray knowing that everything depends upon him. May the Lord be pleased to use us in these days ahead. Will there be difficult days ahead? Undoubtedly. I have no doubt that this year will bring many challenges to this congregation and to us individually, but the God of heaven, he will prosper us. Therefore, we his servants will arise and build. The question I have in closing is this, will you rise with us? Will you build with us? Will you help? Will you put your hand to the plough? Will you put your shoulder into the work? Will you be there when we need you? To help in the building of the church of Jesus Christ. There's work to be done. Savior spoke of harvest fields that were white and ready and laborers that were few. May the Lord bless his word to our hearts this morning. And may we indeed know the good hand of our God upon us. and may the God of heaven prosper us, and may we, his people, arise and build to the glory of his great name. Amen. We're turning to the hymn 512. In closing, 512. Give me the faith which can remove, and sink the mountain to a plain. Give me the childlike praying love which longs to build my church again. I stand to sing, please, the hymn 512. And we'll sing verses one, three, four, and five. One, three, four, and five. We'll omit verse two this morning. Now stand again. Give me the faith which can remove and sink the haunted to a plane. Give me the which longs to build thy house again. Thy love, let it my heart o'erpower, and all my earth the precious time redeemed and longer live for this alone to spend and to be spent for them who have not yet Fully of these my nation prove, And only breathe to breathe thy love. and let me live to preach thy word, and let me in publishing the sinner's breath. In Lords inflame and fill my heart with bondless charity divine. Shall I hold thy scrimpings, sir, And love them with a zeal like thine, And lead them to thy open side? Let's pray. Father, we thank Thee again for the opportunity to be able to come together with one another to meet in this fashion to worship the Lord of glory. We thank Thee for this one day that's set aside in seven for the worship of our God. Help us to sanctify and hallow this day and in it and through it to worship Thee, our God. Bless thy word to our hearts this morning as we've read it and we've meditated upon it. Speak to us through thy precious truth. And may we indeed know the good hand of our God upon us. And may we know what it is to prosper in the things of our God. We ask not for prosperity in the earthly sense, but in the spiritual, where we are blessed with every spiritual blessing through our savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And may we indeed arise up and build May we not be found wanting in this day of service. May we not be idled when there is work to be done, but may we give ourselves to the work of God, to the building up of the church of Jesus Christ. May we clear away the rubble in our own lives to begin with, and may the building work begin in our own hearts. And may there be that extension work that carries on even into the lives of those around us. Have mercy upon us, we pray, as we commit ourselves unto thee now, our great and only God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. Praise Him, all creatures here below. Praise Him, Abba, ye heavenly host. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.