Sunday Evening Worship Service
by Nathan Whitley
January 30, 2022 · First Apostolic Church of Knoxville (Knoxville, TN)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: Nehemiah 2:17-18

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/nathan-whitley--sunday-evening-worship-service-176
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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you can start making your way back to your seat as you do that just remain standing and get your bibles i'm going to go to the book of nehemiah [Music] as you're turning there i'm going to give honor to our pastor to our leadership what a great word we heard this morning from pastor mccool always hear such great preaching and teaching today was always always the same always great i'm thankful for our leaders who expound the word of god to us and i'm thankful for our leadership and give them honor tonight let's go to nehemiah chapter number two nehemiah chapter number two let me say this we are progressing always improving here at first apostolic church and this week they will begin to install our led screen that will retract up and down over our baptistry they will begin that work this week is anybody excited about that we're excited about that and so we need uh mighty men of muscles to help us tonight we need to clear off the platform tonight all the chairs come off and uh all of the instruments will be coming off tonight so if you have uh some energy here and just a little bit and some strength we need your help to clear this off so we can get ready for this week as they begin to install that this week we will have church here wednesday night we have a great time bishop always thrives under uh that type of uh type of scene where we have scaffolding up and things missing so you don't want to miss that wednesday night as well nehemiah chapter number two i'm going to read two verses and i'll try to be very brief tonight and be cognizant of your time nehemiah 2 chapter number 17 then said i unto them this is nehemiah speaking you see the distress that we are in how jerusalem lieth waste and the gates thereof are burned with fire come and let us build up the wall of jerusalem that we be no more a reproach 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 this let us rise up and build so they strengthened their hands for this good work tonight i want to preach to you just for a few moments rise up and build rise up and build won't you put your bibles down your devices down i want you to lift up your hands and let let's pray together lord we thank you for the great spirit that is in this room the spirit that we felt today and tonight the word we heard this morning but god i pray that you would inspire us from the word of god tonight lord touch my lips of clay and allow me to say the things that you'd have me to say and let the word of god be see that finds good ground upon the hearts and the soil of of your people tonight that it might bring forth the harvest of inspiration and encouragement and refreshing in jesus name we pray and everyone said amen won't you clap your hands real out again tonight come on clap your hands real loud somebody give him a praise you've yet to give him today come on somebody give him a praise you've yet to give him today come on somebody lift up the name of jesus hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah you could be seated in the name of the lord rise up and build the year was 4 45 bc the jews had already been in jerusalem for some 90 years a number had remained in babylon and persia one of the jews still living in persia was nehemiah noble man had been elevated to the position of cup bearer to king artaxerce's monarch over all of persia upon being saddened with the desperate situation surrounding jerusalem's wallace and defenseless city nehemiah desire to travel to jerusalem and rebuild the necessary walls king artaxerces had shown kindness to ezra an older contemporary of nehemiah some 10 years before and would honor nehemiah's request to return to jerusalem as well this king was the son of xerces and therefore the stepson of esther his stepmother no doubt had much influence upon his attitude towards ezra and nehemiah in order to understand the desperate situation of jerusalem we'd have to go back several hundred years zedekiah judah's last king was carried away into captivity by nebuchadnezzar in 597 bc the city of jerusalem had been destroyed and the temple burned in 586 bc the jews were transported to babylon and exiled from their homeland and this was due in part to israel and judah's continual backsliding and sin prophets had warned them to forsake their idol worship and to repent unfortunately they did not listen and experience god's judgment and they were exiled and excommunicated from the promised land zerubbabel and ezra rebuilt the altar in the temple nehemiah however rebuilt the walls of jerusalem and in turn rebuilt god's people from the time now listen to me from the time of jerusalem's destruction to the rebuilding of the city walls was somewhere between 140 to 150 years nehemiah rebuilt the city walls in 52 days you heard that correctly 150 years of destruction was rebuilt in less than two months time a lifetime a generation of destruction can be restored overnight are you hearing me overnight god can take that which is ruined and restore it nehemiah's leadership was one of the most astounding accounts in scripture and it's my intention tonight to inspire you to pursue god's purpose for your life i want to inspire you to do a work for the lord in 2022. is anybody want to do something for jesus here tonight does somebody want to make a difference in your family does somebody want to make a difference in your community does anybody want to make a difference in this world oh hallelujah we can make a difference but we have to learn some things from the life of nehemiah number one he was a man with a burden he's a man with a burden nehemiah was born in exile he had never been to jerusalem before he had never been to jerusalem all he had ever known was the pagan culture there within the ever-present babylonian and persian influence he developed a love for a city some 1500 miles away distance and lack of first-hand experience didn't keep the burden of god from reaching nehemiah's heart are you hearing me he didn't experience he had never been there he had never seen him but god touched him with purpose we must recognize please hear me this evening that babylonian and persian culture had no influence on nehemiah's family are you all awake tonight are y'all hearing me are you is this microphone on dear lord have mercy his family didn't allow the babylonian culture to influence them and they raised up a young man for a burden for a place he had never been before it doesn't matter where you are right now god can touch you with a burden god can touch you with a purpose god can touch you and inspire you to do something great but it starts in the home it starts with our families it begins with our parents if our children are going to ever do something for god it begins with us to teach them about the things of god they had raised their son to live in the world but not to be of the world and yet while he is successful in persian government and he's ruled even by a a pagan governor and pagan king he's still ruled by a higher authority he still sees something beyond his circumstance he's the cup bearer for artaxerxes he's the cup bearer as the cup bearer what he would have to do he would serve the he would serve the wine to the king but before the king would even sip from the cup it would be the cup bearer who would taste the wine before serving it in case somebody would attempt to assassinate the king that's what he has to do that's what he's willing to do brothers and sisters before you can find favor in this present world rise through the ranks of science academia politics and business you still have to have a god-given burden we need a burden from the lord we need a call from the lord and despite jerubal's and ezra's successful attempts to rebuild the temple jerusalem's walls were still in ruins and the people continued to fall into the sinful trapping of idol worship that doomed previous generations in nehemiah's eyes and in the eyes of the lord you can have the temple but without boundaries borders and separation the influence of the world would prove too much of a temptation it's not enough to have orthodoxy there must be orthopraxy in other words correct doctrine should lead to correct living we can have the temple we can have the worship we can have the spirit we could come in here and huck a book but let me tell you something if we don't have the right practice if we don't have the right behavior beyond sunday we're just nothing more than religious people going through our practices there has to be a change and i'm afraid some of us know how to be pentecostal on sunday and worldly on monday well you're all not going to help me preach tonight i see how it is okay you know we want to come in here and dance and cry and shout and have the goosebumps and when we get outside of these four walls we want to live like the rest of the world but nehemiah realize if god's people are going to survive if god's people is going to remain a remnant in this world they can have the temple but they need protection can i tell you that holiness is not isolation it's insulation there's things that we do and there's things that we don't do it's not to be rulers over you it's to keep you from the influence of the world it's to protect us so god can have i wish somebody was hearing me tonight you have to have separation there has to be walls word reached nehemiah of jerusalem and the people's plight and it broke his heart the king cups the king's cup bearer was a cro acquainted with grief the people were broken and nehemiah's heart was broken nehemiah would willingly take a sip from the king's cup now he was taking a sip of the king of king's cup it was the cup of calling and the cup of suffering it is the cup of purpose and the cup of trials can i tell you when you decide to pick up the mantle of god's burden and god's purpose for your life it's not always going to be sunshine in rainbows it's not going to be easy to pick up the burden of god's call but you will have to take the cup of purpose and sip from the cup of persecution any other man would have chosen to stay in the comfort of king of the king's courts why go back to a broken city with broken people when you could stay here in the comfort of the king's palace but not nehemiah got nehemiah why stoop to be a king's cupbearer when you can be a servant of god did you hear me why would you want to be the king's cup bearer when you could go and do a work for the lord can i tell you something this evening there's a difference between doing a job and a calling you can be in business but you aren't a businessman you're a servant of god you can be in politics but you aren't a politician you're a minister of god you can be in science but you aren't a scientist you're a handmaiden of the lord those are things that you do but those are not things that you are because your purpose and your burden and your calling trumps what you do yes you might be in business yes you might work a nine to five job but can i tell you there is a higher calling there is a higher purpose for your life beyond the nine to five and that's to be a minister of the gospel of jesus christ i look at our teachers here at acs those who have been here for three and four decades they're not millionaires here on this earth but they've got a crown in glory you know why it's not it's not a job to them it's a calling it's not about the paycheck it's not about the salary it's about doing a work for god and when you get that type of mindset it doesn't matter what you get paid it's when you show up and say lord i'm doing this as unto you and i wish somebody was hearing me right now that's a difference between a job and a calling and when you start treating ministry as a job it will become drudgery for you if you see getting here at 8 30 as a job it's no longer a ministry for you if you see being here at nine o'clock on sunday as a job it's no longer a ministry for you but you're here because you delight in the things of god and you realize i've got a work to do let us rise up let us rise up somebody say amen oh jesus help me right now to say the right thing in the right way i'm afraid too many of us have made church nothing more than a country club and it's easy for you to complain when you don't do anything it's easy to put on your critic's hat when you show up here at 10 15. oh you're not going to help me i see how it is yeah yeah yeah yeah but can i tell you being critical is not a fruit of the spirit and it's not a gift of the spirit y'all can be seated stop running please please chill out oh dear lord stop running stop rolling in the eyes i'm afraid of i'm afraid we've become so passive that we've now become consumers of church instead of ministers in the church i didn't shake my hand how about you stand in the door and shake somebody's hand they didn't sing my song how about you get here on time and you'll hear your song okay okay all right oh jesus help me right now oh i feel i feel brenda coming on right now and if you're going to be a person of god you're going to do something for god you're going to have to take off your criticism hat you're going to have to take off your complaining hat and say god give me a calling give me a burden to do something for you in this year i wish somebody would get stirred up to stop being so passive and just showing up well i'm here that's not enough do something be a part of the kingdom of god open the door sing in the choir serve on the ushering staff didn't i wish somebody was helping me right now i must be getting to where you're living because you're uncomfortable but you know what preaching is it's comforting the afflicted but you know what i'm here to do tonight i'm here to afflict the comfortable i'm afraid i'm afraid some of us are so comfortable just come in and be passive consumers of church oh you're not gonna help me that's all right i'll keep preaching but if you're gonna have if you're gonna be a person with a bird let me tell you what else you have to do you have to be a person of prayer nehemiah the book of nehemiah begins with and ends with a problem in prayer it's book ended with prayer it begins with a problem in prayer and it ends with a problem in prayer the book of nehemiah really is just a book about prayer 11 times you will read about nehemiah praying nehemiah had an instinct to prayer anytime there was an issue he prayed he didn't call the pastor to complain oh jesus help me right now anytime there was adversity he didn't text somebody and tweet about it he prayed anytime there was an issue he didn't go and pass passive aggressive nonsense on facebook he prayed jesus if you're going to do anything for god you're going to have to be a person of prayer if you're going to be much for god then you must be much with god we can plan and we can prepare but let us also pray we need to be people who spend time with god in prayer and i know the month of february is our time of prayer we focus and pray but let me tell you it shouldn't be the only time that you pray and the only time that you pray shouldn't just be on sundays it should be the rest of the week pray without ceasing paul said come on we need to touch god if we would touch god we'd stop complaining so much oh i feel the holy ghost helping me right now we need to be people of prayer we need to be people of prayer every time he prayed he opened up with adoration giving god things then he opened up with confession and then he would make his petition known unto god if we're going to do anything for god we've got to spend time with god we have to be a people of prayer a man or a woman of person of purpose is a woman or a man of prayer if you can't do anything you could pray if you can't do anything you can be a person of prayer but not only is he a man of purpose and a man of prayer he's also a people repairer nehemiah rebuilt the gates of the city with new lumber but he rebuilt the walls with restored block he took the broken and burned and reused them to rebuild the city the the debris of the past victories and losses were the pieces needed to resurrect a city can i tell you the process of rebuilding lives in churches isn't necessarily in the in in needing new things instead we must use the old things the church doesn't need a new message for the old message we'll do now we have new methods but we have the same message we do things differently we change with the times but we still preach the old message it's still the old paths that are good that we must walk therein men man needs a new heart and a renewed spirit but when god restores a life he doesn't give them another life he restores the life that is broken he gives them new life but he takes what is broken and restores it likewise christ came in the form of broken humanity he wasn't a new type of man he came in the original form but he came to do what we couldn't do for ourselves and that's what we must do as people of god we must rebuild people the first six chapters are primarily about nehemiah and the people's work on the walls the last half of the book is about the people and their spiritual condition so it's not enough just to rebuild the walls we must rebuild the people he rebuilt the walls in 52 days it's going to take a lifetime to rebuild people you are not going to rebuild people in a moment can they get the holy ghost in a moment yes can they get baptized in a moment yes but discipleship is life long can i tell you this as well it's easier to build buildings than it is to build people you didn't hear me i'll say it again it's easier to build buildings than it is to build people but don't let our but don't let our legacy be that we left buildings but didn't leave restored people i love this building i'm thankful for this building but this building is nothing without people this building is nothing without the people that fill it and work in it this building is not for us it's for them this building is not for us to be passive consumers this building is a place where we can come and touch god so then we can go and touch people with the message of the gospel the last half of the book of nehemiah is this constant struggle to rebuild the people the walls were the least of his problem he was the people that needed to be changed it takes a lifetime to invest in people that's why we don't like to do it we don't like to get dirty it's easy to get our hands dirty building things it's harder to get our hands dirty building people walls can be erected in a moment but it takes daily weekly monthly and yearly intentional effort to build and grow people that's not all he did he couldn't do it by himself if he's going to raise the morale of a broken people and begin to rebuild the broken city in their lives it's impossible to try to do it by yourself we cannot be individualistic in the church i'll say it again we cannot be individualistic in the church we are a community of people god didn't save one he saved many he didn't save you for you to only be saved he saved you so you can go save somebody else he didn't do this simply for you that's so americanized that's our americanized view of christianity it's just me he did this for me it's me it's me but what are you doing with what he has done for you you are to go and share it but i can't do this without you it's impossible to try to rebuild people by ourselves someone has said it takes a village to raise a child and it takes a church to rebuild a person this is what he says in verse 18 i told them of the hand of my god which was good upon me and also the king's words that he had spoken unto me and look what they said they said let us let us rise up and build he they didn't say hey go for it nehemiah i hope it works out good luck we've been trying to do that for years hasn't worked yet good luck we're okay we got the temple we don't need the walls good luck no he inspired people to rise up and build let us rise up and build it does not it's not enough for us to do it and be inspired individually we must learn how to influence others if you're going to build anything in your life you're going to need to invest in the people around you growth and progress takes a team your dream is only as good as your team and a dream is only a fantasy without a team leaders ministers have to be willing to invest and train people the difference between a mob and an army is organization do you hear me the difference between a mob and an army is organization leaders have to prepare and plan leaders need to anticipate problems and pitfalls but the best way to do that is to surround yourself with people who can help you carry the load i want to get to here where you're living just a little bit i know i've already made you uncomfortable made you mad tonight that's all right but it's not your ministry and it's not your position if you're not training somebody you're not helping anybody it's not your ministry it's not your position you need to be helping somebody listen to me all those who serve in the teams here at first apostolic church you need to be training somebody to help you take over you need to be teaching somebody how to do the sound we've got what we got going on right now upstairs in production we've got it going on right now we have it happening in our music team we have it happening in hospitality but can i tell you you need to find somebody to help you do the work of the lord show do you know how we're here right now we are here right now because we have been taught the word of god somebody gave it to us entrusted it to us and now we must give it to somebody else and if we don't it'll die it will die for the day i don't have a i don't have a i have a microphone i don't have a pull pin i don't have a platform you can make an influence by just simply being here oh jesus help me right now you can have influence by simply being here on time and being in the prayer room being up front during worship you can be an influence by simply opening the door for somebody greeting our guests going and shaking their hands welcoming them welcoming them here to the church of god can i tell you you can have influence by simply getting outside of your comfort zone it's not enough to restore people you have to help them find their purpose to do that you have to be able to help them find their purpose nehemiah had to struggle and to fight leaders will have to hemorrhage if they're going to motivate their followers to bleed nehemiah inspired the priests the princes and the people to build every time nearly 30 times it says next unto him next unto him next unto him next unto him next unto him we have to do this with each other if we're gonna go reach a hundred and eighty thousand people in knoxville we're gonna have to do it with each other we're gonna have to do it as a team we're gonna have to do it as a body we're gonna have to link up and say we can do it let us rise up next unto him next unto him you get a hundred thousand people in nail and stadium and every one of them as a spectator but you get somebody who's willing to get on the field and it can't be one person it's a team you get them lined up you get them organized and they be able to initiate the plan they're able to initiate all of the schemes because let me tell you something there's a hundred thousand people watching and all of them think they know how to do it why did they do that why didn't they do that they should have done this why didn't they play him why didn't they oh that's what we do right what in the world why would they do that you know why because you're not there you're not in the game and i'm afraid that's easy it's easy for us to become critics when we're not in the game it's easy for us to complain when we're not on the field it's easy for us to complain when we show up at 10 15. it's easy for us to complain we only show up once a week i can't hide behind this no more can i but if you're going to do something you're going to make a difference you can't be a spectator you're going to have to get on the field and get in the game you're going to have to have some skin in the game and you're going to have to bring somebody with you and say hey we can do this together but can i tell you if you're going to do something for god you're going to always have opposition you're always going to have opposition it's not going to be easy doing the things let me tell you it's getting darker and darker in this world and the church is becoming is becoming more and more hated you know what they're starting to call us extremists and radicalized those are the terms they're starting to throw out there about us it's we know we're gonna have to do we're gonna have to team up we're gonna have to be there for each other and realize if we're gonna accomplish anything we'll accomplish something through persecution the days of being comfortable being a comfortable christian those days are over it's going to be opposition nehemiah was ridiculed he was sand ballot tobiah and joshua they scoffed at every move nehemiah took but what did nehemiah do he prayed and he worked then there was discouragement even within jerusalem but it wasn't long before the people became weary of the work then there's fear how are we going to do this the builders became aware of the attack by adversaries and you know what nehemiah did he said take a sword in one hand and take a troll in the other get you a tool and get you a sword because the work can't stop and if the enemy comes we'll fight but if they're not coming we'll work and we're going to have to have a work and a fight mentality that listen if persecution comes if problems comes we'll fight but let me tell you we're going to keep on working we're going to keep on rebuilding we're going to keep on building people we're going to keep on investing we're going to keep on are you hearing me right now it's no time to stop it's time to take a sword in our hand and a tool in the other and do a work we're not going to come down we're doing a great great work stand with me this evening he stationed guards he inspired everyone he scheduled the work day and night he made sure that the poor were taken care of he made sure that the disadvantage were taken care of he made sure he called out those who wouldn't work and he shamed them and inspired the others work for god isn't without its troubles if you're going to do anything for god then prepare yourself for trouble one of the greatest lessons that was ever taught to me pastor john vasquez taught me this years ago when i lived in bethlehem he said ministry is married to frustration you're always going to be frustrated you're always going to want to do more you're always going to have to be pulling and motivating and inspiring people you're always going to have to be working and fighting and inspiring and worshiping and being celebrating the wins you're always going to have those two things together but it's a great work and i can't come down there are always going to be naysayers there are always those who want to quit and leave there will be disappointments but you must declare i cannot come down we're doing a great work this is the time brothers and sisters for us to rise up and build it's a time for us right now to have some resiliency in our spirit this is no time to put our feet up and to call in let me just let me say something real quick when we went to quarantine and shut down there are people who are like oh jesus is coming back it's over oh we're persecuted oh it's never been darker oh oh [Music] rightfully so we had some fear there are people online i remembered some of y'all online can't wait to get back can't wait to get back oh and i get back oh when we get back guess what we're back and some of those same people aren't here [Music] oh jesus y'all wishing pastor mccool is here right now don't you but i knew it would come i knew that spirit of apathy would come back because it's easy to get comfortable when there's no persecution but when we think there's a little bit of trouble whoa pray pray pray pray oh i need the church i need the church i need you we need each other until we're back we're like ah balls are playing boss has called me to work some overtime ah they won't miss me on wednesday night somebody else will do it call in it's all right quarantine no not quarantine i stay home three times a week anyway not quarantine [Music] can't wait to get back we're back i might be sick come sunday that's monday i'm telling y'all it's about to get worse you know what he's doing right now he's separating the chaff from the wheat that's what he's doing he's separating the authentic from the fake don't you think i'm trying to be mean i'm trying to be spiteful and i'm trying to i'm telling you the truth we need to be shaken again a little bit how quickly how quickly we can get right back in that mode of apathy get back in that motive ah somebody else will do that's all right i don't have to be there it's all right don't need me they won't they won't notice oh we notice we know this we notice we want you here we need you here we can't do it without you here but it's easy to do that when you're not involved it's easy to do that when you're not accountable to a team you're not accountable and responsible to do something and be a part of something but god shake us for our purpose shake us for our purpose let me tell you what happens here he rebuilt the walls in 52 days and here's what happens when he does that the reading of the word of god was restored the feast of tabernacles was restored prayer is restored the covenant is restored the city begins to be repopulated sins begin to be denounced sanbow is kicked out of the temple rejoicing is restored singing is restored the joy of the lord is what is heard from afar off all of this can i tell you the rewards far outweigh the worries [Music] you have to be willing to endure brothers and sisters let us rise up and pray let us rise up and build let us restore the broken let us restore that which has been destitute let us rise up and restore worship let us rise up and restore people because that's what we're called to do we're called to make a difference in our world we're called to do something we're called to make a difference won't you lift up your hands all over the sanctuary right now oh god stir us up stir us up stir us up stir us up oh god god awakened us out of our complacency and apathy come on what you pray right now there's somebody there's somebody right now you know you should be doing something for the lord you know there's something he's just he's bothering you and he's provoking you to do and he's trying to awaken you to get back to it we gotta find our burden we gotta find our purpose it's no time to be apathetic it's no time to be a complacent we must be about our father's business come on would you lift up your voice right now maybe there's somebody who would come out of their seat out of their pew right now come on i wonder if somebody would come to the altar right now and say lord i want i need the calling of god in my life i need purpose i need a burden lord restore back in me a fire of fervency to rebuild people to rebuild our city come on we gotta fill this place up with people come on we gotta we gotta reach this city with the gospel we got a work to do there's no time let's awaken ourselves [Applause] [Music] i will be what you [Music] yes [Music] is [Music] [Applause] somebody [Applause] [Applause] yes [Music] [Applause] yes [Applause] one more time lift up your hands right now father in the name of jesus god i pray that you would awaken us to the skills and the gifts and the callings of god that's lying dormant within us god i pray that you would awaken us with a burden god we might be some fifteen hundred miles away from our calling we might be some fifteen hundred miles away from our purpose but god i pray that you would touch us even right now to see give us a vision for what you want to do god give us a vision for our life give us a vision for the burden and the call of god that we might make a difference that we can restore that which is broken in jesus name if you believe that i want you to clap your hands unto the lord oh yes i want to rise up let's rise up does anybody want to rise up come on your family needs you to rise up come on knoxville needs us to rise up east of the street need just to rise up come on world need us to rise up go hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah [Music] i believe the lord's going to do something that he's awakened something out of us awaken the gifts that's been dormant within us to the callings of god so we can go and restore that which is broken don't forget wednesday night bible study i need mighty men of muscle here right now to come to platform help us get these chairs and instruments off and if we'll do that it'll be very quick we'll see you wednesday night for bible study and all of our interest groups we'll see you then have a blessed week in jesus name