Sermons

Good morning, Trinity Church family. It is so good to be with you all. I invite you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Nehemiah, Nehemiah chapter 12 this morning. It's been such a joy to be with you so far this month or so. My family has enjoyed Dallas so much, but we've enjoyed being with you as a church family, and that's been just incredible. You guys have been so kind, and we are so thankful to God for you all.

This morning, our text is Nehemiah chapter 12, beginning in verse 27, all the way to chapter 13, verse 3. But to begin, we will read Nehemiah 12:27 to verse 47, the end of the, not the end of the chapter, excuse me, till verse 43. Would you stand for the reading of God's word as we read Nehemiah 12:27 to verse 43?

(Scripture reading) "And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites in all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with gladness, with thanksgivings and with singing, with cymbals, harps, and lyres. And the sons of the singers gathered together from the district surrounding Jerusalem and from the villages of the Netophathites; also from Beth-gilgal and from the region of Geba and Azmaveth, for the singers had built for themselves villages around Jerusalem. And the priests and the Levites purified themselves, and they purified the people and the gates and the wall.

Then I brought the leaders of Judah up onto the wall and appointed two great choirs that gave thanks. One went to the south on the wall to the Dung Gate. And after them went Hoshaiah and half of the leaders of Judah, and Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam, Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, and Jeremiah, and certain of the priests’ sons with trumpets: Zechariah the son of Jonathan, son of Shemaiah, son of Mattaniah, son of Micaiah, son of Zaccur, son of Asaph; and his relatives, Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani, with the musical instruments of David the man of God. And Ezra the scribe went before them. At the Fountain Gate they went up straight before them by the stairs of the city of David, at the ascent of the wall, above the house of David, to the Water Gate on the east.

The other choir of those who gave thanks went to the north, and I followed them with half of the people, on the wall, above the Tower of the Ovens, to the Broad Wall, and above the Gate of Ephraim, and by the Gate of Yeshanah, and by the Fish Gate and the Tower of Hananel and the Tower of the Hundred, to the Sheep Gate; and they came to a halt at the Gate of the Guard. So both choirs of those who gave thanks stood in the house of God, and I and half of the officials with me; and the priests Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah, with trumpets; and Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer. And the singers sang with Jezrahiah as their leader. And they offered great sacrifices that day and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and children also rejoiced. And the joy of Jerusalem was heard far away." (End)

(Prayer) Let's pray. Father, thank You for Your word. It is instructive for us this morning as we look at Your great work and how it is that You work in Your people. And so, this morning as Your people, as we hear Your word, would You allow us by Your Spirit's work to be formed more into the image of Your Son by this great passage as we pray in Jesus' name, amen. (End)

You may be seated.

And as you are seated, I wanna begin this morning in a rather odd way because I wanna hand you a pair of scissors. Not any kind of pair of scissors, but a really big pair of scissors. You are cutting the ribbon for the brand new; you choose barbecue spot. Chicken place, I'm not gonna say the name out loud, on a Sunday morning when it's closed. A brand-new restaurant maybe, or store, or ballpark. you get to cut the ribbon.

And if you're smart, like any VIP who gets to use the oversized scissors, or any famous athlete receiving an award, you'll also acknowledge all of the lovely people in your life who helped make this happen. Men, for free, this is where you would mention your wife, in theory. In these ribbon-cutting, Hall of Fame-inducting kind of moments, it's good and right to give credit where credit is due. You've got to play back how the win happened. And this morning, it's a win for God's people because we've come to the point in Nehemiah where the wall is complete and it's time now to dedicate the wall for use.

And how Israel does this is, as we see in the text, a triumphal procession around the walls of Jerusalem. But this parade doesn't commemorate human achievement. No, this is God's people acknowledging what God has done. God's kindness and His power and His providence in helping them complete the wall and even that in the face of enemies. Here we get in this text, the worshipful response of God's people to what God has done. And in it, I see a focus on the means by which God has worked in His people.

Means that are still now the very means by which He works in His people today. We see three different means by which God works in His people in this text, and we need to see these things because so many times, you and I, we doubt that God is even working. You and I live our lives and question whether God is doing what He said He will do. You and I forget to talk to the one who has created us and saved us and is still working, and yet we wonder what's happening in our lives. This text points us back to see the means by which God has worked and continues to work even today. Other times we know God is working, but we very loosely assume He's working in some kind of generally providential way.

We don't exactly know how He is working, and so a loose understanding of how God is working leads to a loose sense of faith. This general assumption that things will go well if I behave myself, but we need to do a little more than that, because the more you and I are aware that God is working in our hearts and in our minds, the more you and I will be able to be encouraged in trials. The more you and I are aware of how God is working and that God is working, the more we'll be able to find joy in ministry, the more we'll be able to recognize God's work in other people around us, despite our differences with others. The more aware that we are that God is indeed working and how He is working, the more we'll be able to worship Him and trust Him no matter the situation.

Three Means by Which God Works in His People

So let's look this morning at the dedication of the wall, this momentous occasion for God's people, and see in it three means by which God works in His people. Three means by which God works in His people. The first is in this section that we've read, and it's this. God works in His people through worship. God works in His people through worship. That we see in especially these first four verses, but what spills out into the entire passage this morning, this truth that God works in His people through what He has ordained in worship.

God's people, in this dedication of the wall, respond to who He is and all that He has done, especially as they've built the wall. And we, this morning, Trinity, and every Sunday, week in and week out, respond to who He is and what He's done as we worship. And we see here that worship, as God's people gather especially, is an incredible means by which God works even more, even further in His people. You see, worshiping God is to acknowledge Him and see all that He's done and all that He is. And it's to magnify, to bring to real size all that He is and all that He's done. But as we worship, we are further formed into worshipers. We better and better understand as we gather who we are in relation to a holy God, and so when we worship, God is at work in His people, further forming us into worshipers of Him.

We see first in this text the preparation and the lead up to the great dedication of the wall. Verses we might skip over in a devotional reading. Verses 27 to 30 show us that the Levites and priests and singers come together at Jerusalem from villages that they had established within a few mile radius around the city, and they prepare. And they gather, and we might skip over these, but there's the all-important purpose for their gathering in verse 27.

Look there. To celebrate the dedication with gladness, with thanksgivings, and with singing. With cymbals, harps, and lyres. There could be grounds for different kinds of instruments and different kinds of singing in this. We won't go there this morning, but as God's people come to dedicate the wall, the important thing to see is that it's a celebration of what God has done. It's gladness of heart for what God has done. It's joy in Him for who He is and all that He's done. It's thanksgiving. It's worship.

And how we get there is that in verse 30, the priests and the Levites prepare for this dedication of the wall by purifying themselves. They know that they worship a holy God, and they know to prepare to worship this holy God, they must purify themselves, and then they purify the people. And then they also dedicate the gates and the wall as they approach this holy God to worship Him and even just give thanks to Him for this wall, they know they need to purify themselves. And so, there's washings and offerings probably here and sprinkling of clean water. And also, not just on themselves, but on the whole gathering and on the gates and the walls even. There is ceremonial dedication as holy to the Lord, dedicated for His use. And so even in this preparation for the dedication, we see worship.

Worship that God is using in His people to teach them and remind them about who He is and what He requires as a holy God. Friends, every act of worship is a rehearsal and a reminder to you of who God is and what He requires. As you approach Him, I hope you don't come on a Sunday morning and approach flippantly. Realize who you come to worship.

This procession begins, presumably, at the west side of the wall, at the valley gate. And there's two groups that we see. One moves south, counterclockwise, and is led by Ezra. The other group moves north and is led by the choir. And Nehemiah, in first-person style here, is in the middle of the pack. I want you to notice something, though, of these descriptions. It's a phrase in verse 31, again in verse 38, and then again in verse 40.

It's that phrase, the choirs that gave thanks. The choir that gave thanks. The choirs that gave thanks. These are thanksgiving choirs. These are choirs you'd put together for a special occasion. These are choirs you'd put together to do what choirs do, to sing, and to sing with gladness and with gratitude, something we've already had the joy of doing this morning. But think about how special that is to gather every Sunday morning as a thanksgiving choir and to raise our voices with gladness and gratitude to God for who He is and what He's done. That's what these choirs do as they march north and south. In their destination in verse 40, look there. So, both of these choirs that gave thanks stood in the house of God.

It's not just about the wall. This is about the gathering of God's people, yes, to celebrate a wall, but even more to gather in the house of God. You see, this is about God and His presence and worship. And God is using this momentous occasion to teach His people about Himself. As these choirs go, they perhaps are singing a psalm, maybe one like Psalm 48, turn to Psalm 48. They're singing and singing about God's faithfulness. And maybe they're singing a Psalm like this.

"Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God. His holy mountain, beautiful in elevation, is the joy of all the earth. Mount Zion in the far north, the city of the great king. Within her citadels God has made Himself known as a fortress. For behold, the kings assembled. They came on together. As soon as they saw it, they were astounded. They were in panic. They took to flight. Trembling took hold of them there, anguish as of a woman in labor. By the east wind, you shattered the ships of Tarshish.

As we have heard, so we have seen, in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God, which God will establish forever. (Verse nine,) we have thought on Your steadfast love, O God, in the midst of Your temple. As Your name, O God, so Your praise reaches to the ends of the earth. Your right hand is filled with the righteousness. Let Mount Zion be glad. Let the daughters of Judah rejoice because of Your judgments. Walk about Zion, go around her, number her towers, consider well her ramparts, go through her citadels, that you may tell the next generation that this is God, our God forever and ever. He will guide us forever."

You see, Nehemiah 12 isn't just a victory lap. This isn't just admiring the work of their own hands, showing the wall to their families on the things that they've worked on. No, what God's people are doing is counting every brick because every brick is a blessing. They are praising God for what He's done, exalting in Yahweh for His providence and His protection and His power in reestablishing the walls around the holy city. Like Psalm 48 says, every tower is a timely reminder of God's kind providence in answering Nehemiah's prayers and moving the heart of King Artaxerxes. Every rampart is a remembrance of how God is defending His people against enemy's attacks. Every citadel is a sign of God's sustaining grace and strength through sleepless nights and sweat-drenched days for God's people.

Every step along the wall, both to the north and to the south, is a chance to tell the next generation, this is God. This is our God forever and ever. He will guide us forever. Turn back to Nehemiah 12. I want you to notice perhaps the most important detail about this whole thing. And this is a phrase that flips our modern concept of worship on its head. It's verse 43. And they offered great sacrifices that day and rejoiced. For God had made them rejoice with great joy. You see, the people worship and they sing and they rejoice. And God ordained it. God built the wall.  God is protecting His people. God has worked. And yet even now, as God's people gather to worship Him for it all, it is God who made them rejoice with great joy.

Notice also, this is a whole family affair. The women and the children also rejoiced in verse 43. that Trinity as we gather to worship God each Sunday and as we worship and fellowship through men's fellowship and women's fellowship and as we pray together as God's people and sing together as God's people, it is by God's design that we worship because that is how He further works in us and trains us and tunes our hearts to His will. He makes us rejoice in Him with great joy. And that worship is how He graciously continues to work in His people, week in and week out.

And one more detail in verse 43, I want you to notice. there at the end of the verse, and the joy of Jerusalem was heard far away. This is joy at Jerusalem, resounding praise. This is not that our singing should be loud, it should be, right Tristan? Our worship should be, though, obvious, the object of our worship, clear. The main objective of our worship, clear to magnify God, not make much of ourselves in it, and it's more than just our singing.

This phrase reminds me of 1 Thessalonians 1:8. Paul says this, for not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere so that we need not say anything.

You see, worship is this incredible channel through which flows the gracious work of God and His people. And so, when God's people gather and respond with joy and thanksgiving, it flows from a faith that is heard near and far, not just on Sunday, but every day. And so, God works in His people through worship.

God Works in His People through People.

Secondly, we need to see a truth in these same verses that God works in His people through people.

God works through redemptive history through people. I don't mean to belabor the point after a passage like last weeks. My condolences to Stephen. But it's a truth, to be honest, we've seen throughout all this whole series in Nehemiah. Look at all the people that God uses to do His work amongst His people. In a little exercise this morning, I want you to actually flip and see the names again. Go back to chapter three. Don't worry, we won't read them all. But look at chapter three. There's a list of builders in chapter three. Flip over to chapter 7. There is a list of exiles who returned. A couple chapters later, look at chapter 10.

It's the signers of the covenant, the people who sealed the covenant with God. And then chapter 11, as we looked at last week, the residents of Jerusalem and leaders now in Jerusalem. And then chapter 12, the priests and the Levites leading up to our passage this morning. And here in the latter half of chapter 12, we see mornings, choirs, Levites, leaders, and sons. And this morning, I assure you, as we have probably every time, we've looked at a list of names, there's no hidden meanings here, no hugely profound insights. But what you need to see here is profound because they're names, real people.

All throughout, it was through people. that God rebuilt the walls. It was through people that God restored focus on His law. It was through people that God repopulated the holy city. It was through people that God reinvigorated worship in His people. And even now, today, it is through people that God works in and among His people. And it is an incredible grace that God would work through people.

It's what Paul echoes in 2 Corinthians chapter four, but we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed, perplexed, but not driven to despair, persecuted, but not forsaken, struck down, but not destroyed, always carrying in the body the death of Jesus. So that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our bodies. Yes, Paul there is defending his own apostleship, but he is doing so by pointing to the grace of God in using people like him. And here in Nehemiah 12, it's the same.

We see sons, legacies, generations of people. And there is something special about how God uses families to build up His family. In fact, I would have you know, God worked through His own Son. Just a couple hundred years later, after this passage, God sent His own Son, fully God, yet sent to become a man. and lived a perfect and sinless life, yet died a sinner's death, and He paid the penalty for your sins and for mine. God used His own Son, worked through His own Son, to achieve the very pinnacle of His work.

And so, this morning, if you don't know Christ, but you've come to gather with God's people, maybe invited by a friend, all you need to know is this good news that you can receive by faith. Nothing of what you do, simply believe and turn and live for Him.

Isn't it neat when God works in the lives of His people? Through people when they don't seem to have any relation to you. It's seemingly random when you bump into somebody and have a providential conversation on a Sunday morning, or when you sit next to someone at a fellowship, maybe like yesterday, and you begin to talk, and it's seemingly random, and you notice God's work, and you're encouraged, and God begins to work in your heart. Isn't that neat? Isn't it also neat when God works in the lives of people that we know and love most dearly?

Sons and daughters. Well, here in this text, in this list of names, we see God is working through sons, but also through singers, and choirs, and trumpeters. And here in this church, God is working through singers, and choirs, and yes, elders, and pastors, but also greeters, and nursery workers, and discipleship partners, and moms, and dads, and sons, and daughters. God is working in this people, and it is through you and I and everybody else that He is doing His work in each other's lives. And so, I wanna ask you this morning, it's the truth that God is working in your life through others and that God is working in others' lives through you.

But do you recognize God's work in others? Are you willing to look at somebody else and see the amazing thing that God is doing? Or do you only think about yourself and what God is doing in Your life to make it a little bit easier every day? Are you, in the work of God and others, a help or a hindrance? Are you, as you look at God's work in others, a constant critic of what's happening or a cheerleader for what God is doing and how He's growing others around you? How about the person across the aisle, so to speak? How do you see God's work in their life?

Be an instrument of God's work in somebody else's life. That maybe this morning there's someone who is an instrument of God's work in your life and you're taking them for granted. You don't think of them or pray for them or thank them nearly enough. And so, my encouragement this morning is be an instrument of God's work in their life by expressing your gratitude because God is working in His people through people.

God Works in His People Through Obedience

Finally, we need to see a truth in the next few verses in chapter 12, verse 44 on to chapter 13, verse three. And it's this truth; God works in His people through obedience. God works in His people through obedience. Let me read chapter 12, verse 44 on.

It says there, "on that day, men were appointed over the storerooms, the contributions, the first fruits, and the tithes, to gather into them the portions required by the law for the priests and for the Levites according to the fields of the towns. For Judah rejoiced over the priests and the Levites who ministered. And they performed the service of their God and the service of purification as did the singers and the gatekeepers according to the command of David and his son Solomon. For long ago in the days of David and Asaph, there were directors of the singers, and there were songs of praises and thanksgivings to God. And all Israel in the days of Zerubbabel and in the days of Nehemiah gave the daily portions for the singers and the gatekeepers.

And they set apart that which was for the Levites. And the Levites set apart that which was for the sons of Aaron. (Chapter 13, verse one,) on that day they read from the book of Moses in the hearing of the people. And in it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God, for they did not meet the people of Israel with bread and water but hired Balaam against them to curse them.

Yet our God turned the curse into a blessing. As soon as the people heard the law, they separated from Israel all those of foreign descent."

As they have before in this book, God's people turned their attention and their worship toward the law of God. And because of how God had used Ezra in the past, in this generation, God's people now have this instinct that God's law is to inform and to instruct them in their lives.

And being with this dear church has shown me that you all have the same instinct, the same godly instinct, that God's word informs and instructs your way of living. It's sweet. And so, to encourage you this morning and to affirm you, but to challenge you, this is what we must do. We must look to God's word to instruct us and to inform us in the way that we live loving God's word as you do.

Here in this text, we see two primary ways that God's people turn their obedience and it's two ways that God is working in His people here in Nehemiah. In chapter 12, verses 44 to 47, we see one way is that the people begin to gather and collect and distribute the tithes that were supposed to be given to the Levites as their inheritance. It's what was established in Numbers 18. It's their inheritance and it's their payment. It's their livelihood. That's the first way that God's people begin to turn their hearts to obey Him again.

In chapter 13, verses one to three, we see God's people begin to obey Him again by separating themselves from the Ammonites and the Moabites, a sort of religious separation. Now, we've talked about this before in previous weeks, but this is not some sort of proto racism. This is not ethnic discrimination at the core. This is religious separation. And here we're given actually a clearer picture of how and why that is.

Nehemiah puts in here a little bit of historical context in the end of verse 1 and in verse 2. It's the story of Numbers 22 to 24 where the king of Moab hires Balaam the prophet to curse Israel and three times God turns those curses instead into blessings. And so, after Numbers comes Deuteronomy and Deuteronomy 23, the Ammonites and the Moabites are excluded from the assembly of God's people on that basis because instead of, as we see in Nehemiah 13 also, this phrase, instead of welcoming them with bread and water, the Ammonites and the Moabites opposed God and His people. And so, God excludes the Ammonites and the Moabites from the assembly of Israel. And here in Nehemiah 13, it's the same.

That lifetime ban is upheld. And here God's people obey Him and exclude the Ammonites and the Moabites from the assembly. God's people in two different ways in the end of chapter 12 and the beginning of chapter 13, look at His word, gain clarity on what it has to say, and they simply obey. They obey. They obey God, they take Him at His word.

As we've been settling into this area, we've looked for a few immediate things. For me, it's coffee shops. For my wife, it's grocery stores. For the kids, it's baseball fields and libraries. Yeah, we're raising little nerds. We go to the library. And when we go to the library, I... take a seat and wait.

My wife helps the kids with the books, and she looks for recipe books. Recipe books that I benefit from. And as she finds a few recipes that we begin to stick with over the months, she will begin to copy those recipes and put them in a little Google document. And then as she continues with those recipes, she will not have to look at that Google document. She'll begin to make the recipe by heart. And pretty soon, that library book and that Google document are both distant past history.

I wonder if you think about God's word and His clear instruction to you like a long distant history that as a Christian for a long time you don't need quite anymore that part of your Bible. I wonder if you come to the clearest instructions in your devotional reading and you breeze through it like a list of names. I wonder if you think you don't need it anymore.

So often we overcomplicate though God's design for the life of His people. It's to read His word to gain clarity in it and to simply obey. And so Trinity, this morning as you look at God's word every day, read it and see His instruction for you and simply obey. Gain clarity and live life the way that God has designed for you. I wonder if you overcomplicate in a different way.

I wonder if in your brain you pit grace against obedience as if they're not both incredible gifts that work synergistically from God as gifts and for the good of His people. We need His word because we need His wisdom so graciously granted that we need His instruction because it helps us to simply obey. Church family, embrace obedience because the same responsiveness, the same aliveness of faith that is in your heart, that responds to what God is doing with thanksgiving and joy and gladness and with songs on a Sunday morning is the same responsiveness and aliveness of faith that loves to respond to what God has said with true and simple obedience. Responsiveness to God and His word for all that He has said is good for our lives.

Now for God's people in Nehemiah, they are celebrating a wall. But they are celebrating a wall because it is protection for them physically and tangibly. And I'm from a different place than you, but we have something in common. We both pray for other people, a hedge of protection, right? It's a common thing that believers do. We pray a hedge of protection over people.

For God's people here, they have a literal wall of protection. But that meant more than just God finishing a building project. It was God's presence and His protection and what that meant in relation to His presence and protection was that their response was repentance and obedience. A sign of blessing this wall was a sign of God's presence and it meant for God's people to respond simply to obey Him. Thousand years before this, God gave His law, and we see this protection with repentance and obedience right from the beginning of God's law.

Here's Exodus 19, verse four. God says, you yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to Myself. And here's God saying, now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you shall be My treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is Mine, and ye shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

Here, now in Nehemiah, in view of the completion of the wall of the holy city, God's presence and protection is clearly and tangibly realized yet again. God had delivered them from the Egyptians in Exodus, and He has now delivered them and put up a wall for them. And God is here still working in His people through their obedience, here in the end of chapter 12 and the beginning of chapter 13.

If you are a follower of Jesus, God has also delivered you from the domain of darkness and transferred you to the kingdom of light. And so now your obedience shows that you are truly His. And as you joyfully obey, your faith sounds for far and wide. There's joy at Jerusalem in this passage, but this morning there is joy in our hearts as we gather to worship our God.

And in a few moments here, we have the joy of witnessing baptisms of a few of our church family, and we are so grateful because baptisms are a clear picture of what God has done. and what God is continuing to do in His people. In fact, baptisms capture all three of the elements that we've looked at this morning. Baptisms show obedience to Christ for what He's commanded. Baptisms show that clearly God is working in His people and it's through people.

Our friends will testify of that, how God has used others in their lives. And baptisms show indeed that we worship a holy God, a living God who sent His Son, and He has worked in the lives of these friends that will testify in just a few minutes of His grace. And so, let's pray as we conclude this part of the service, but transfer over and see the amazing work of God's grace in the lives of these friends.

Let's pray.

(Prayer) Father, thank You for Your grace. Thank You for Your kindness to us in Christ Jesus. Every time we gather, it is a remembrance of who You are and what You've done. So, Father, form us further every week into worshipers who acknowledge You as the high and holy God. And Father, as we recognize Your work through people and through our obedience, would You further form us into the image of Your Son? Now, as we respond in song, it's a grace that You receive our praise, and as we witness baptisms, be with us, we ask. It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen. (End)

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