Sharon Reformed Presbyterian Church · Sermon study sheet

Building the Wall - Nehemiah 3:1-32

Bryan Schneider · September 21, 2019

Nehemiah 3

sharonrpc.org/sermons/building-the-wall

Summary

God answers Nehemiah's prayer through ordinary people who trust his promise and put their shoulders to the work of rebuilding Jerusalem.
Priests, district leaders, artisans, merchants, women, and residents from surrounding towns each repair assigned portions of the wall.
The Tekoite nobles refuse the work, but the Tekoite people complete more than one section, showing that status does not determine faithfulness.
The congregation's own history illustrates generations who prayed, worshiped, gave, built, and sustained gospel ministry through costly work.
The rebuilt walls become an extended application to relationships, thought life, prayer, speech, integrity, and other areas that require watchful sanctification.
Christian labor is strenuous but never self-originating: Christ is the cornerstone, and the God who begins the work supplies strength and carries it to completion.

What specific section of God's work has been placed near me rather than someone else?
Am I refusing to put my shoulder to ordinary service because of status, comfort, or the task's lack of visibility?
How can my trade, resources, household, or relationships contribute to building up the church?
Where is a breach developing in relationships, thought life, prayer, speech, or integrity?
What refuse must be removed rather than tolerated within my character?
Am I building future generations through Scripture, prayer, example, and encouragement?
Do I strain in reliance on Christ, or imagine that sanctification can happen through either passivity or self-powered effort?

Consecration: Setting a person, place, or work apart as holy for God's purpose, as the priests do with the Sheep Gate.
Shared labor: The coordinated service of diverse people who each accept a particular responsibility within God's common work.
Sanctification: God's continuing work by which believers, actively striving in his strength, are made more holy in the whole life.
Mortification: Spirit-enabled warfare against remaining sin, pictured in the sermon as removing refuse and repairing vulnerable breaches.
Cornerstone: Jesus Christ as the essential foundation and governing alignment of the church and the believer's growth.