Nehemiah; Part 5 - Finish Well

Ephesians 6:13–18 (ESV)

13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,

Have you ever read the story of king Saul?

• King Saul started out as this really humble guy who was chosen by God to lead Israel after they demanded to have a king like everybody else.

• By the time we get to the end of his life, he is:

  • Bitter

  • Jealous

  • Hatred in his heart for David

  • Plagued by emotional and mental issues

  • Even though he had every opportunity to be a great king, he ends his life with very little legacy (Even killing himself in battle)

Compare that with someone like Peter:

• Peter was CONSTANTLY proving that his character wasn't as big as his mouth

• We have instances of Jesus rebuking Peter and his attitude

• In the heat of the moment, he denies Christ

• Even Paul mentions conflicts he had with Peter in Galatians 2:11

• But by the end of his life, He is the most prominent leader in Jerusalem in the early church

  • He heals the paralyzed and sick

  • Angels come get him out of prison

  • History tells of his heroics as a martyr for Christ!

BECAUSE HOW YOU FINISH IS SO MUCH MORE IMPORTANT THAN HOW YOU START!

Or Judas & Peter!

• They had the same beginning - but their endings are drastically different!!!!

• That is good news for us as disciples of Christ, because wherever we are at:

  TODAY, we have the opportunity to grow into our tomorrow!

Nehemiah 6:1–3 (ESV)

1 Now when Sanballat and Tobiah and Geshem the Arab and the rest of our enemies heard that I had built the wall and that there was no breach left in it (although up to that time I had not set up the doors in the gates), 2 Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, “Come and let us meet together at Hakkephirim in the plain of Ono.” But they intended to do me harm. 3 And I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?”

Then let's fast-forward to the end of chapter 6:

Nehemiah 6:15–16 (ESV)

15 So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. 16 And when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem, for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God.

It is God's will that you finish what you've started!

1 Corinthians 9:24–27 (NLT)

24 Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! 25 All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize.

Three questions concerning what it means to persevere in your life:

What kind of work are you doing?

Nehemiah 6:3 (ESV)

3 And I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?”

• Part of the difficulty here is being honest about how we spend our time!

  • REAL REFLECTION

    • Look at where you money goes

    • Look at how your screen time is spent

• Nehemiah had the ability to persevere because he knew that he was spending his time and effort in a way that made a difference.

"Are you doing things that matter?"

• Are you investing in people?

• Are you investing in the kingdom?

• Are you pursuing holiness?

• Are you investing in devotional time?

• Are you equipping yourself to be excellent in your calling?

What has your attention?

• One of the things that Nehemiah dealt with the most was distractions

  • Over and over the voice of the enemy was trying to get him to delay the work

  • Look at this constant interruption!

Nehemiah 6:4–5 (ESV)

4 And they sent to me four times in this way, and I answered them in the same manner. 5 In the same way Sanballat for the fifth time sent his servant to me with an open letter in his hand.

• I would dare say that most Christians are far more DISTRACTED than TEMPTED

• It's far easier for the enemy to distract disciples than to tempt them into a life of sin!

• You know what's worse? The distractions weren't even real!

• Nehemiah 6:8–9 (ESV) 8 Then I sent to him, saying, “No such things as you say have been done, for you are inventing them out of your own mind.” 9 For they all wanted to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will drop from the work, and it will not be done.” But now, O God, strengthen my hands.

Sometimes you just have to be bold and declare to the enemy the same thing that Nehemiah did!

"I'm doing a great work, and cannot come down!"

What are you seeing to completion?

• Sometimes we get things to the 95% mark and never finish the last 5%

  • Starting something is no problem!

  • You may have:

    • Started a prayer journal

    • Started a Bible reading plan

    • Started a ministry plan

    • Started serving

    • Started putting your callings and dreams into motion

  • BUT are you seeing it through?

As we look into this story, Nehemiah and his army construction crew finish this project in 52 days!

Everyone around knew it was God!

God gets glory when we allow Him to complete a good work through us!