Date preached: 08/01/20 – Brisbane conference, 28/09/23 Selau Conference

Intro:
CS Lewis said “We don’t need to be told new ideas as much as we need to be reminded of old truths.
Today I’m not preaching something new, but an old truth.

Illustration:
In Japan, Theres an art called Kintsugi. “Join with gold”
What kintsugi, it’s a Japanese art of repairing broken objects, these broken ceramic pieces or broken glass.
This art does is it encourages people to fix rather than throw away.
Join these broken pieces with a gold lacquer.
So not only is it repaired, but it also now has a higher value than before.
It highlights its perfect imperfections.

IOT, we read about people who revived a city wall that had been broken.
OT Highlights that God can take what was broken and make it beautiful.
That every broken heart.
Every shattered dream.

Text: NEHEMIAH 2 NEW KING JAMES VERSION

V11-13
skip to V17 – 18

Watch this though Nehemiah 4:1-2

Whenever you start a process of rebuilding, the enemy notices.
New levels, new devils.

But it so happened, when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, that he was furious and indignant,
and mocked the Jews. And he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said “What are these
feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day?
Will they revive the stones from the heaps of rubbish, stones that are burned.

TITLE: REVIVAL FROM THE RUBBISH

POINT 1: RECOGNISING THE RUIN

IOT: V13 “Viewed the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down and its gates burned with fire.
1. Recognized how broken the walls were.
 a. Walls of Jerusalem represent the lives of many men and women. Broken & burned.

1. Broken marriages
2. Broken families
3. Broken hearts
4. Burned to the ground.
5. Burned to ashes.

There is no sense of Hope, there is no sense that anything good can come from this.

b. The story of the prodigal son come to mind: Whose life had been broken and burned. We know the
story, spent all his father inheritance on luxurious living, he finds himself eating with the pigs, “He came
to himself.”
IOW he recognized how broken and burned his life had become.
Broken financially, burned relationally.
There are men and women who fail to recognize the mess, and they accept it.

Prov 17:22 A broken spirit dries the bones…

2. Recognized the enemies’ strategies.

3. Recognized how much work needs to be done.

POINT 2: REBUILDING WITH RESOLVE

V17 IOT: Then I said to them, “You see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lies in waste and its gates are
burned with fire. COME and LET US BUILD the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer be a reproach.

a. The word resolve:

1. Means to decide firmly on a course of action,
2. Firm determination to do something.

b. Recognized how broken the city was,

V10 Recognized the work needed.
V11 Recognized the enemy wanted to come and kill them to cease the work.

Despite how much work is required on my behalf

Despite the enemies’ strategies

I’m choosing to rebuild with resolve!

2
 c. Every great and powerful move of God comes down to people willing to stop talking and start working.

The bible says in Eph 4:16 Reminding us.

The whole body, fitted and knitted together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body
for the building up of itself in love by the proper working of each individual part.

POINT 3: REVIVAL FROM THE RUBBISH

1. I want to tie all this together.

In Chapter 3: It lists the names of people who were apart of rebuilding the walls..
When you read The Old Testament, you will across many names, names that you can’t pronounce, name
after name after name and its very easy to just skip forward, fast forward to the next chapter.
This is the good part, don’t skim past this.

a. I want to tell you about a little secret about one of these builders.
Nehemiah 3:15 Shallun the son of Col-Hozeh, leader of the district of Mizpah, repaired the fountain
gate, he built it, covered it, hung its doors with bolts and bars, and repaired the Pool of Shelah by the
kings garden..

Repaired the pool of Shelah.. What’s the big deal?? Stay with me.

This is one man, offering up his time, his efforts, his own resources, to rebuild his own community.
But there’s more to this story.

b. “Story found in John 9 about a man who was born blind ” The disciples ask Jesus... Who sinned this
man or his parents that he was born blind? Jesus said “neither… But that the works of God should be
revealed in him” John 9:6 he spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and he anointed the
eyes of the blind man with the clay, V7 And He said to him, “Go wash in the pool of Siloam” So he
went washed and came back seeing.

Scholars and bible archeologists have confirmed. This is the exact same pool

This 1 man named Shallon who had been laboring, laying down stone after stone after stone.
Not knowing that hundreds of years later, Jesus, the messiah, Jesus King of kings and the lord of Lords.
Jesus the Alpha and Omega, Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.
Would heal a blind man send him to the same pool he had built!

“What you build today, becomes someone’s destiny tomorrow”

Gods not looking for a building He is looking for men and women willing to work.
Willing to labour.

3
 Jesus said.. Labourers are few!
He who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is not fit for the kingdom.

IOW don’t put your hands on it if your hearts not in it!

God isn’t after monument, he after movement.
When you labour, god gets involved.

Its often said, hard work outweighs talent

When you move God moves.
Jesus says, Well done good and faithful servant.

Could it be that section of the wall God has given you has an eternal impact on the work your doing?

But what if?

What if that simple Job God called you to do is the setting for the miraculous?
Jesus can bring Healing and restoration to a community, that is blind broken and burned.

It was at this spot Jesus chose to

NEH 4: 1- 2