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The Nehemiah Principle November 27, 2010
Recognizing your own broken
walls
By
Barrington H. Brennen, Pastor
If you have
any questions or comments, kindly send them to
nehemiah@livingfaithbahamas.org
Sermon Key Points:
[ Slide Show
]
BRIEF INTRO:
When looking at the name Nehemiah and how we pronounce it in English you would
think the Nehemiah was the shortest man in the Bible -- "knee-high-miah."
Praise God he was not "short" but tall in his character and zeal for God.
Nehemiah is one of the great characters of the Old Testament, but perhaps not as
well known as some others.
Nehemiah means
AYahweh
has comforted.@
Ezra and Nehemiah are one book in
the Hebrew Bible, for they are part of the same story. When the ancient book,
the Septuagint came along this one book was divided in two: 2 and 3 Esdras.
You find this phenomenon also with Samuel, Kings and Chronicles. These book
were one until about AD 1448. The
books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther all come out of the same general period of
Israel's history. They appear in our Bible in reverse order of the chronological
order in which they took place. In other words, Esther actually happened when
God first began to move in the midst of Israel's captivity to return this nation
to the land. God has reversed this order in scripture. Instead of Esther,
Nehemiah, and Ezra, these books are turned around and we have Ezra, Nehemiah,
and Esther. Scripture is never concerned simply with chronology. It is concerned
with the teaching of each book. The book of Ezra begins with the building
of the temple. The restoration of the house of God is always the first thing in
the way back to God. Then comes the building of the walls, as we will see in the
book of Nehemiah. filling the need for security and strength. Finally, the book
of Esther comes as the revelation of the purpose of all this in the life of any
individual.
THE BOOK
The book of Nehemiah falls
into two divisions. The first six chapters cover the reconstruction of the wall,
while chapters 7 through 13 deal with the reinstruction of the people. With
those two you have the whole book.
Ezra and Nehemiah are historical source books which record the outworking of the
divine plan in the restoration of the Jews, whereby they were afforded another
opportunity to cooperate with the eternal purpose and prove their right to exist
as a nation. Believe it or not these books are a fulfillment of Isaiah and
Jeremiah. Ezra and Nehemiah illustrate how a few people can do great things
for God when led by God-fearing, sincere, unselfish, but fearless and determined
leaders.
What are these books about?
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The book of
Esther: Freeing the people from captivity
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The book of
Ezra: Building of the Temple
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The book of
Nehemiah: Building the walls
What are
literal walls for?
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Security
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Safety
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Boundaries
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Limitations
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Structure
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Strength
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Power
What are
"Walls" In our country (visible or invisible)
What are
walls in your life? What do walls symbolize?
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Spiritual standards
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Moral
standards: boundaries, limitations
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Emotional safety
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Order
in your life: wise management of time, talents, body and treasurer
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Strength
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Power
What are
the ruined walls in your life?
The first
steps to rebuilding the ruined walls in your life?
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Recognize that your walls are ruined. If
you do not know the ruined walls in your life you cannot rebuild them.
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Be concerned about the ruined walls.
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Plan to do something about them.
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Start praying to God for wisdom and strength
The
second steps to rebuilding the ruined walls in your life?
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Get
to work:
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Cease wrong behavior: 1 Corinthians 6:9-10
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Develop new behavior: 1 Corinthians 6:11
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Repair wounded relationships
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End clandestine relationships
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Depend on the power of the Holy Spirit:
Philippians 4:13
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Pray without ceasing: 1 Thessalonians 5:17
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