Nehemiah's Unselfish Leadership

I'll take your Bible and turn with me to Nehemiah chapter 5. I'm sure you Already have that place marked in your Bible because of our scripture reading, but Nehemiah chapter 5 Now we were in our scripture reading starting in verse 14. We went on down to verse 15 But we will go all the way through to the end of the chapter, which is verse 19 tonight in tonight's message the Nehemiah chapter 5 starting in verse 14 now last week we started Nehemiah chapter 5 and when we transitioned into the new chapter we transitioned into a new problem a New problem in the life of God's people now pause here for a minute And I want to remind you that these are God's people these are God's chosen people the Jews He has called them out of captivity called them back to the nation to be the people of God that he wanted them to be But they have a new problem that is in their midst.

They began to experience great internal difficulties That me at Nehemiah started dealing with at the beginning of the chapter It seems that they went from one problem to another overnight I don't know the exact time frame, but it really seems like they went from one problem to the next Very very quickly. They've been struggling with the external opposition all along and that now they have found themselves struggling with internal difficulties Among the family of God I use that language family last week in the title because these were brothers and sisters If we could use New Testament language, they were brothers and sisters in Christ So this was a family problem or family problems But God is good God has provided a man to lead the people and that is the man Nehemiah Now I want to pause here and I want to make a statement of application for you You need to see that when God wants to work in his people He always provides the right men of God to lead God always provides the right men of God to lead when you go back and you study church history You need to become a student of church history I heard it said like this one time church history is a barometer We look back at what God has done in the past and in great times of a great movement of God It was always led by men of God and that's what we have here in Nehemiah There's internal difficulties, but praise the Lord for a man of God to lead his people through Now last week we looked at what I called abuse within the spiritual family verses 1 through 13 We learned that they were four major problems within the family of God God's people There was a social problem was an economic problem and there was a family problem and ultimately it was a spiritual problem The wealthy were taking advantage of the poor and the vulnerable.

There's your social problem The poor were becoming slaves Because of their unnecessary debts there there is your economic problem The brothers and sisters in the Lord were sinning against the family of God There's your family problem and ultimately the whole thing was a spiritual matter That was the root of the whole situation This was a sin that had manifest itself among God's people now remember If we're not careful, we can be an error We can think that the work of God of rebuilding the walls is what caused the problem.

I do not think that was the case It was the work of God that revealed what was in the hearts and lives of the people This sin was there this sin was already in their lives Maybe they brought it with him when they came out of captivity But it was the work of God that brought this to the forefront But again praise God there was a man of God to lead the people of God and there was Repentance now I want to pause here again with a little more application When God begins to move in the life of the church this happens Sin that is in the lives of the people will be exposed This always happens when God moves when God begins to work when the church grows There will be sin in the lives of individual people and it will be made manifest It was already there This even goes on in the life of God's men the ministers of the gospel as the church grows and the bands of the ministry grow There will be sins in our lives that will come to the forefront and we'll have to deal with them So just like it happened then it happens now but the main thing is is that we'll we'll listen to the voice of God and the Leadership of the Spirit through the Word of God and we'll be a repentant people like they were now Within these passages we saw that Nehemiah was a great example in every way He was not sinning against the people as the leading men of God were they were guilty But yet they were repented he was putting right many many wrongs and then we see that a lot of good things came out of this because there was Repentance now I want you to see that this action of Nehemiah is what I call a thumbnail sketch a thumbnail sketch of the true character of Nehemiah now a question.

What is the thumbnail sketch a thumbnail sketch is a brief description or a small picture in our verses this Evening that we're going to look at we're going to see a more detailed description of Nehemiah's character In other words, we're going to flesh out that thumbnail sketch a little more because we only have what the scripture Gives us we're going to get a fuller picture of Nehemiah's character of Nehemiah's Leadership now the title of the message tonight is Nehemiah's unselfish leadership Nehemiah's unselfish Leadership you see how we're going to divide these verses for main truths Our last one is going to be very very short We're going to look at Nehemiah refused his allotment Nehemiah applied himself to the work Nehemiah met great physical needs and Nehemiah prayed for blessing Let's read the passages together starting in verse 14 Moreover from that day there's a natural transition from those previous verses But more moreover from the day that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah from the 20th year To the 32nd year of King Arteserxes for 12 years Neither I nor my kinsmen.

That's my men have eaten the governor's food allowance But the former governors who were before me lay burdens on the people and took from them bread and wine besides 40 shekels of silver Even their servants domineered the people But I'm not but I did not do so because of the fear of God and I also applied myself to the work on this wall And we did not buy any land and all of my servants were gathered there for the work Moreover there were at my table 150 Jews and officials besides those who came to us from the nations that were around us Now that which was prepared for each day was one ox in six choice sheep Also birds were prepared for me and once in ten days all sorts of wine were furnished in Abundance yet for all of this I did not demand the governor's food allowance Because the servitude was heavy on this people and then verse 19 We see Nehemiah is very short prayer Remember me.

Oh my god for good according to all that I have done for this people Now you see how we're gonna divide these verses So let's jump right into the first main truth. I want us to see and that is number one Nehemiah refused his allotment Nehemiah refused his allotment now here in verse 14 We see that Nehemiah seems to have moved up. It's almost like he's moved up to a different position Whereas before he was simply the leader of what I call the wall builders ministry now He's the governor in that what he did when he first came from Sousa Serving the king there as a cupbearer.

He came as the president of the wall builders ministry Which was a part of God's work, but now he's a governor we see in these verses Not only that but we see that he's been in the field for 12 years That might surprise some of you that it has been this long now in looking back in his original call in chapter 2 It does not seem that he was appointed governor Nor does it seem to indicate there in chapter 2 that he was going to stay in Jerusalem that long Now question did he go back to Sousa or was he appointed governor while he was on the field?

Now we really do not know That but this does show us that the king of Persia saw that he was a great leader and he was ultimately appointed governor Now obviously we know that this was part of God's sovereign plan the king of Persia did this because this was part The sovereign work in the sovereign plan of God, but that is not what I want to focus on here I want us to see that Nehemiah does not receive certain allotments which were part of him being the governor These would not have been privileges He would have been entitled to such allotments if I can use our language the word Compensation that is very very accurate now there are two portions of his compensation There are two portions of his pay package if I can use that language that are mentioned or referenced here First in first 14 notice he refused a food allowance go back to the text Neither I nor my kinsmen.

That's my men have eaten the governor's food allowance The modern translations use food allowance the King James says I and my brethren have not eaten the bread of the governor Now this would have been part of his pay package part of his compensation as the governor But Nehemiah refused his food allowance Second I want you to see that Nehemiah refused a tax allowance if you look at verse 15 He says but the former governors who were before me lay burdens on the people and they took from them bread and wines Besides 40 shekels of silver This 40 shekels of silver mentioned here is referring to tax revenue that would have been taken from the people for the governor Now these allowances this compensation would have been perfectly legal and perfectly logical Jerusalem was still under Persian rule and Persian policy said that the governor had a right to receive taxes and allowances to support his household To support all of his servants, and this would have been for legitimate government expenses Again, this was legal.

This was logical. This was ethical and this was very very needed He was a very important official with a lot of people under him with lots of government expenses But notice we have a contrast here in verse 15 We see there is a contrast between the former governor's actions and Nehemiah's actions What does he say but the former governor's he already said at the end of verse 14 that he did not take the food allowance But the former governor's who were before me laid burdens on the people and they took from them bread and wine Besides the tax of the silver even their servants Dominied the people So notice what Nehemiah says these former governors did when they were in office It's just a simple list here.

We've read it. It's obvious. They took a food allowance food that it was allowed They placed heavy burdens on the people their servants that can be translated their men Dominated the people verse 15 says and they seem to take advantage of the people by buying land When they were vulnerable now we learned last week that many of the people were vulnerable financially They were mortgaging their properties to be able to feed themselves So these men took advantage of the people during their time of need So what do we see here?

We see that Nehemiah did not I repeat that he did not take what was doing him This was legitimate and legal and needed in contrast to the former governor's It is obvious that they took advantage of the people and the circumstances It is obvious that Nehemiah is entirely different than the ones who were before him He was entirely different not just in what he did not do But also in what he did do and we will see more of what he did do in the message as we continue But here we see that he did not he did not take this allotment this Compensation this part of his pay package So that's truth number one Nehemiah refused this food Allotment let's move on let's notice truth number two Nehemiah applied himself to the work Nehemiah applied himself to the work we see that in verse 16 and then over in The second portion of verse 18, but what do we see?

Nehemiah has never ever through this whole ordeal stopped applying himself to the work Since the beginning he has been busy occupying occupying himself with the work of rebuilding the walls He showed his diligence by continuing in the work and leading others in the work Even when faced with the possibility of violent opposition Remember that opposition grew and grew and finally it was violent threats They risked their lives in the work But what about now?

Nehemiah again he seems to have moved up in his position He is not only president of the wall builders ministry I'm using that language But he is the governor a position of prominence And this leads us to a much needed question Should the governor be working like Nehemiah has been working? Should he? Now we're going to continue and we will see how Nehemiah does approach the work Two observations here First I want you to see that Nehemiah was committed to the work Look back at verse 16 And I also applied myself to the work on this wall We did not buy any land in all of my servants In other words all of my men all of those who worked for me Were gathered there for the work with me Now the English standard it reads I also persevered in the work on this wall This work can be translated hell fast This is simple It simply means that Nehemiah was totally occupied with the work on the wall Even though he's moved up to governor He is still a servant and he is a servant to the work And he is also leading his men his servants to serve in the work Because they're right there with him Second I want you to notice that Nehemiah was serving alongside the people Now let's skip on over to verse 18 And notice what we see Yet for all of this I did not demand the governor's food allowance That's a repeat Because the servitude was heavy on the people The people were serving and they were working And they were working in very difficult circumstances We learned last week that they had they had the burden of taxation They had the burden of unjust loans They had interest on these loans Some had even lost their lands and their properties And in all of this socioeconomic difficulty The people were still working hard on the wall If we go back to Nehemiah chapter 3 There's this long description of who worked where So they are still busy And Nehemiah is serving right alongside those people Who were under such a heavy burden So here's a picture of a leader Here's a picture of a leader both spiritually and politically Serving alongside the people It is safe to say that he was totally occupied With overseeing the restoration and the repair of the wall But notice again there's a contrast Go back to verse 16 And I also applied myself to the work on this wall We did not buy any land And all my servants were gathered there for the work Previously we saw that the former governors, their servants, had done what?

Had taken advantage of those times and those circumstances to buy land So in verse 16 we see there is a contrast Between the former administration's practices And Nehemiah and his administration's practices It seems that the former governor and his servants Were busy buying land and properties at the expense of the people They were in office for what appears to be personal gain This would have been land which would have been very available After the people were unable to pay their taxes and their debts So they were taking advantage of the circumstances But yet Nehemiah did not So what do we see here?

Here we see what Nehemiah did do We've seen what he didn't do and now we're seeing what he did do He dedicated himself and all of his people, all of his administration to the work And they refused to engage in a common practice of the day And that was using their position and their power for personal gain So what do we see?

We see that Nehemiah refused that allotment Now we see that Nehemiah applied himself to the work Let's continue, truth number three I want us to see that Nehemiah met great physical needs Great physical needs We see this in verse 17 through 18 Verses 17 through 18 Nehemiah met great physical needs Again we need to remember that Nehemiah held two positions He is the president of the wall builders ministry And he is the governor He holds two respected positions And one that would logically and practically demand a great deal of support from the people Again as a governor he had many people under him and lots of administrative expenses If I can use this language He had every right to be served And I say every right because of the office But we will see just how different Nehemiah was Two observations I want to make here First of all we see that Nehemiah supported various Jews Various Jews Look at verse 17 Moreover there were at my table 150 Jews and officials Besides those who came to us from the nations that were around us So in reading verse 17 We will notice that there are two different groups of Jews that Nehemiah supported Let's examine those Notice first we see Jews and officials This would have been government officials and employees And it's not a stretch to use this language employees These would have been people from his administration He was responsible for paying these people their salaries Who worked for him and they worked in his office And then second we see Jews who came from the nations Go back to the verse Moreover there were at my table 150 Jews and officials Besides those who came to us from the nations who were around us These were Jews who immigrated to the land They were coming back home As the governor he would have been responsible to care for the needs Until they could be assimilated into Jewish society He would have been responsible for a form of social security So Nehemiah supported various Jews Then second I want you to see that Nehemiah sacrificed a great deal Look at verse 18 "Now that which was prepared for each day was one ox Six choy sheep also birds were prepared for me And once in ten days all sorts of wine were furnished in abundance" Verse 18 tells us how much it cost Nehemiah to feed this army And I use that language because it was an army of officials and immigrants Using the figures here and multiplying them using the 12 year time period Nehemiah used up 4,380 oxen and 26,280 sheep Besides the livestock there were birds and wine in abundance Nehemiah was feeding a lot of people A lot of food over a long period of time And notice at the end of verse 18 "Yet for all of this I did not demand the governor's food allowance" This is the second time the text says that Nehemiah refused the governor's food allotment Or payment or compensation So what do we see here?

Nehemiah does the complete opposite as the former governors who had lorded over the people He used his position and personal possessions to provide for the people Rather than increase his possessions at the expense of the people Most Bible commentators believe that Nehemiah had accumulated such wealth While he served as the cupbearer to the king of Persia Remember that he would have been very very close to the king He lived in these verses what James in the New Testament says James chapter 2 verse 15 through 16 reads "If a brother or a sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food" Verse 16 "And one of you says to them, 'Go in peace, be warm and filled Without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?'" So Nehemiah used all that he had to meet the needs of the people Nehemiah proved his deep faith in God by serving his family And these were brothers and sisters His fellow Jews who were in a great time of need And this was a great time of service And then the fourth main truth I want us to examine Notice that Nehemiah prayed for blessing Verse 19 "Remember me, O God, for good According to all that I have done for this people" Here we see that Nehemiah, a man who obviously knew how to do great things in kingdom work as well as serve the people of God In this prayer he displayed a great dependence on God Notice what he is saying "Remember me, O my God" God had obviously remembered him and blessed him monetarily He had incurred great wealth and he would not have been able to meet such great needs among the people had he not had such great wealth Again, most Bibles, commentators and scholars believe that he brought this wealth with him when he left Persia If that was the case, God was making provision for his work and his people through Nehemiah And he is simply asking God for continued favor so as to continue in this service Now as I move away from the verses and how we've divided them As I move away from the text of the message, I want to show you that in chapter 5 we really see the spiritual character of Nehemiah Isn't this beautiful?

The spiritual character of Nehemiah A few comments here True character comes out in action which produces reputation Some of you need to hear that, I'll repeat it True spiritual character comes out in action which produces reputation See, reputation is what others say about you but character is who you truly are and character determines what you really do So again, true character comes out in action which produces reputation With that said, look at Nehemiah's action so far in the book I'm talking from chapter 1 all the way to chapter 5 He is shined above and beyond as a great leader in many difficult circumstances Just an overview real quickly I want you to see that he's shined in 5 or 4 different areas In the adventurous work which took great faith, he shined How in the world was a layman, unschooled and untrained going to lead God's people back to rebuild the walls He did it by faith, he did it because God called him This was a great work of faith, a great adventurous work and he shined in the work Also, in the ongoing increasing opposition which was a very real threat He shined, he didn't lose faith, he didn't turn his tail and run He led the people and the work prospered through the opposition He really shined Third, in the intimate internal difficulties which came to the surface What did he do?

He shined He knew exactly how to handle the family matters with the people of God and he led them to full repentance and then in the sacrifices that were needed to propagate God's work and prop up God's people What did he do? He shined That is true, godly character Now remember, circumstances revealed what character is there and that character is acted out and that produces reputation Now, I want to show you what motivated Nehemiah and all of this work and all that is going on here, I want you to see what motivated Nehemiah and I really want you to write these three things down and I'll share with you why after I share them with you First of all, his first motivation was he loved God What do we see at the end of verse 15?

But I did not do so because of the fear of God What does that verse tell us? Nehemiah says I did not do as the other governors had done because I feared God I did not take advantage of the people because I feared God I did not require what was due to me because I feared God That needs to be repeated It needs to be driven down deep into the very fabric of our being Nehemiah was motivated first and foremost out of the deep love for God Second, he was motivated out of the deep love for the people of God Do we not see that in his actions?

I mean, when these internal difficulties came about he didn't throw his hands up in the air and say I had it better Like in Sousa, serving the king No, he rolled up his sleeves and he led the people of God It's one thing to deal with external difficulties but internal against the family of God? And what did he do? He demonstrated a great love for the people of God by sacrificing and sacrificing and sacrificing and giving and giving and giving He loved these people And then third, he loved the work As a governor, in many eyes he would have had the right to step back in luxury and point his finger But Nehemiah didn't do that He was a governor in a royal position but he was a workman getting dirty among the people He loved this work He came back home first as a wall builder, not as a governor And his main heartbeat was to see the work of God complete So notice what motivated him He loved God and he loved God's people and he loved God's work And the reason I want you to write these three things down is I want you to pray that for your leaders Pray that those are the three things that dominate our lives Whoever God would bring here as elders and pastors and ministers of the gospel that would lead this work Pray that those three motivations dominate their life If they do not dominate their life, let me tell you they will become like the former governors Every time As I move away from what we looked at with Nehemiah I want to show you that this is the kind of man that we desire to be This is the kind of man that I seek to lead Brother Keith to be I'm responsible in leading Brother Keith as much as I'm responsible in leading you I desire to be this kind of man And I pray today that God would bring leaders in the future that will be this kind of man Now notice, this is the benchmark This should be the standard Everything else is substandard Everything else should be rejected As an elder, as a minister of the gospel This is what we should expect You know the heartbreaking thing in my life is watching friends of mine serve in churches where they have pastors and ministers who are like the other governors They're there at the expense of the people They're there to profit themselves They're there for their own whims and fancies And I'll tell you when I hear those stories it breaks my heart and it stirs up in me a righteous indignation because I see them as the other governors They're not like Nehemiah from time to time I talk to different people in different churches and they tell me about their stories and what's going on and it all comes back to leadership Where are the Nehemiah men of God today?

And I beg you to pray that Brother Keith and I and whatever men God would appoint as elders in the future would be this kind of man Now as I move a little further to the conclusion I want to share something with you that I'm hesitant to share I don't want it to come across the wrong way I don't want it to come across in arrogance in any way I want to show you how this directly affects you more than you know When I first came to Nola Baptist Church Nola Baptist Church could not afford to pay attention to a minister of the Gospel And as the Lord Jesus is my witness I never ask for one nickel The people that were there during those days are here right now And it was the work of God in me It wasn't me And I knew to ask for one thing would hinder the work of God And I'll show you the passage that God used It's a lengthy passage Pardon me but I do want to read it, I think you need to hear it It's in 1 Corinthians 9 You don't have to turn there, you can if you'd like We see in 1 Corinthians Paul is defending himself to the Corinthian church Why he had to defend himself to them I do not know other than the fact that they were very carnal and very worldly Verse 1 he says, "Am I not free?

Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord?" See he was the one that evangelized them and he was the one that was responsible for bringing them to faith in Christ and starting that church So he says, "Are you not my work in the Lord? If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you. For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord." In other words, you are proof that I am who I say I am And he goes on to say, verse 4 Do we not have a right to eat and drink? Do we not have a right to take along a believing wife as the rest of the apostles and brothers of the Lord and Cephas?

Or do only Barnabas and I have the right to refrain from the working? Who at any time serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit? Or who tends a flock and does not use the milk of the flock? I am not speaking these things according to human judgment, am I? What is he saying? He's saying I have a right to be compensated by you. Or does not the law also say these things? And here he's quoting, "For the law of Moses says, 'You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing.' God is not concerned about the ox, is he?" No, that is meant to talk about the people, the men of God.

Or is he speaking altogether for your sake? Yes, for our sake it was written, "Because the plowman ought to plow in hope, and the thresher to thresh in hope of sharing the crops. If we," talking about Paul and Barnabas, "sewed spiritual things in you, is it too much if we should reap material things from you?" In other words, should we not be taken care of? If others share the right over you, do we not more? Nevertheless, nevertheless, we did not use this right. But we endure all things that we may cause no hindrance to the gospel of Christ. Do you hear what Paul's saying?

I didn't ask for what I could have asked for because it would have hindered the gospel. In the very minute that God led me to take Nola Baptist Church, I knew that to ask for one thing would hinder the gospel of Christ. Now, I'm not bragging on me. I'm bragging on what God did in me. And I want you to see what true servanthood will do. You are here because of that. And this is the foundation that we build on. And as we progress in this church, as we grow in this church, listen, you are going to have to serve. You are going to have to give.

You are going to have to give and give and serve and love and do it and keep on doing it and keep on doing it, even when your flesh says, "Give me, give me, give me." You see, Nehemiah. Unselfish leadership. That is my desire. That's brother Keith's desire. And it is our desire for you. And in that, listen, the gospel will not be hindered. Let's pray.