Restoration - Reviving Burned Stones
Nehemiah 4:1-6
Many have been bruised and hurt.
Spirits and Relationships have been Broken!
Restoration Can Happen!
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1. Reasons To Revive Burned Stones
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A. They are still useable.
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B. They are easily accessible
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C. They are Restorable
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2. Who Are The Burned?
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A. Those who have been crushed, bruised, and burned
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B. The usefulness of the burned stones was questioned.
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C. There are "Burned Stones" that need to be revived, recovered, and
restored today!
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3. Who Is To Revive The Burned Stones?
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A. It was the duty of Christ (Luke 4: 18)
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B. It is our duty - the church's duty - as well. (Galatians 6:1; Nehemiah 4:6)
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The church MUST initiate RESTORATION!
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RESTORATOION is the starting place for REVIVAL and RENEWAL!
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RESTORATION includes RENEWAL of SPIRIT and RELATIONSHIPS!
Psalm 51:10 - 12
Restoration
"Renewal of Spirit and Relationships"
Nehemiah 4:1-6
1 But it so happened, when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, that he was furious and very indignant, and mocked the Jews. [Sanballat; the god sin has given life; was a Samaritan leader who tried to destroy Nehemiah]
2 And he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, "What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day? Will they revive the stones from the heaps of rubbish; stones that are burned?"
3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, "Whatever they build, if even a fox goes up on it, he will break down their stone wall."
4 Hear, O our God, for we are despised; turn their reproach on their own heads, and give them as plunder to a land of captivity!
5 Do not cover their iniquity, and do not let their sin be blotted out from before You; for they have provoked You to anger before the builders.
6 So we built the wall, and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.
Introduction:
· Many have been bruised and hurt.
· Spirits and Relationships have been Broken!
· Restoration Can Happen!
Nehemiah is a powerful book filled with prayer and REVIVAL
Chapters 8, 9, & 10 speak of REVIVAL
Chapter 8:13 – 18 tells of the Feast of Tabernacles being restored
Chapter 9:1-3 tells of the order of REVIVAL: Fasting, Reading
God’s Word, Confession, Worship
RESTORATION one of the vital parts of REVIVAL and RENEWAL
Restoration - Page 2
1. Jerusalem is in distress! They had been overrun by Babylonian onslaught. Their temple had been burned and their houses ravaged and the wall that circled the city had been burned and broken and was to the ground.
2. The people of Jerusalem under the leadership of Ezra had begun the process of restoring the city. They had rebuilt the temple and many of the houses but they did not rebuild the walls.
3. While Nehemiah was at Shushan his brother, Hanani, approached him about the walls that had been burned to the ground and told that the city had not been brought back under protection by the rebuilding of the wall.
4. Nehemiah sought God and God told him to leave Shushan where he served as the cupbearer, a trusted position, of king Artaxerxes,
5. Nehemiah with God’s direction received permission from the king and returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls.
6. God Gave Nehemiah a vision to rebuild the walls
Nehemiah 2:17 & 18 Then I said to them, “You see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire. Come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer be a reproach.” 18And I told them of the hand of my God which had been good upon me, and also of the king’s words that he had spoken to me.
7. Nehemiah was a man of courage, ability, and action. He used
available materials along with "burned stones" to rebuild the wall
in 52 days!
8. God instructed Nehemiah that there were some good stones that
have been burned, trampled down, pushed aside, and covered up
that could be used!
9. Sanballat ant Tobiah laughed and made fun……
Restoration - Page 3
The same is true in the church today. There are those who have been burned, trampled down, pushed aside, and covered up with the cares of this world!
They need to be Restored! -
Put back into the wall – Body of Christ!
1. Reasons To Revive Burned Stones
A. They were/are still useable.
B. They were/are easily accessible
C. They were/are Restorable
2. Who Are The Burned?
A. Those who have been crushed, bruised, and burned
1) By the foolishness of sin
2) By circumstances of life
3) By exploitation of others
B. The usefulness of the burned stones was questioned:
1) Sanballat questioned, "Who are these feeble Jews?"
2) "They are working themselves to death - are they trying to
get done in a day?"
3) "Will they use those burned stones out of the rubbish?"
4) Tobiah, the Ammonite declared that even a fox would tear
it down.
C. There are some "Burned Stones" that need to be revived,
recovered, and restored today!
Restoration - Page 4
3. Who Is To Revive The Burned Stones?
A. It was the duty of Christ
Luke 4: 18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
B. It is our duty - the church's duty - as well.
Galatians 6:1 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
C. In the text, Nehemiah 4:6, "...the people had a mind to work."
1) They dug up the "Burned Stones" to put in the wall
2) Big ones, little ones, old ones, colored ones, all shapes…
The church MUST initiate RESTORATION!
· The Jews worked together to rebuild the wall - Chapter 3
· The Body of Christ must work together to build the Kingdom
RESTORATOION is the starting place for REVIVAL and RENEWAL!
RESTORATION includes RENEWAL of SPIRIT and RELATIONSHIPS!
Psalm 51:10 - 12
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.