Text: Nehemiah 4:6

A. Poem "It Couldn't Be Done"

B. Historical Background

Transitional Statement: I want you to notice 5 ingredients necessary to build a work for God.

1. Vision/ Burden (1:4)
1. Godly Vision Has These Elements
1. Emotion
2. Action
3. Confession
4. Can Be Kindled By Circumstances:

Some are waiting for God to send a flashy message, when they just need to look around them. Jesus said Jn. 4 "Lift up your eyes...." - Don't wait for some miraculous revelations form God. Look around and fill a void.

2. See the opportunities: SS, AWANA, Jr. Church, etc.
2. Preparation
1. Heart: (1:6-7) prayed, fasted, confessed his sins. God doesn't use a dirty vessel
2. Details: Teachers' meeting, Workers' meeting

King's Heart is in the hand of the LORD, but Nehemiah still cared for the "Human" details.

3. Boy Scout Motto: "Be Prepared" "Dig The Well Before You Are Thirsty"
3. Perspiration (2:18, 4:6, ch. 7)
1. Initiative - Patch Song
2. Everyone Involved (ch. 7)

These people at the time had no idea their names were going to be preserved eternally God's Word! Your work is being recorded by God in an eternal record.

3. Illustration: Fellow Named Somebody Else
There's a clever young fellow named Somebody Else-
There's nothing this fellow can't do.
He's busy from morning 'til way late at night
Just substituting for you.
When asked to do this or asked to do that
So often you're set to reply: "Get Somebody Else, Dear
Pastor-
He'll do it much better than I."
There's so much to do in our city;
So much, and the workers are few.
And Somebody Else gets weary and worn
Just substituting for you.
So next time you're asked to do something worthwhile
Come up with this honest reply:
"If somebody Else can give time and support, It's
obviously true, so can I."

4. Opposition (ch. 4-6)
1. Thoughts on opposition
1. Bob Jones "The test of a man is what it takes to stop him"
2. "God Almighty hates a quitter."

Samuel Fessenden (1847-1908), U.S. lawyer, politician. Speech, June 1896, Republican National Convention, St. Louis, Mo.

3. "He that wrestles with us strengthens our nerves, and sharpens our skill. Our antagonist is our helper. This amicable conflict with difficulty helps us to an intimate acquaintance with our object, and compels us to consider it in all its relations. It will not suffer us to be superficial."

Edmund Burke (1729-97), Irish philosopher, statesman. Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790).

4. "Sure I am of this, that you have only to endure to conquer. You have only to persevere to save yourselves."

Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965), British statesman, writer. First wartime address, 4 Sept. 1914, Guildhall, London.

2. Nehemiah's Opposition
1. Ridicule (4:1-3)

"No God and no religion can survive ridicule. No political church, no nobility, no royalty or other fraud, can face ridicule in a fair field, and live."

Mark Twain (1835-1910), U.S. author. Mark Twain's Notebooks and Journals, vol. 3 (ed. by Frederick Anderson, 1979), Notebook 28 (July 1888-May 1889).

Explains why devil uses ridicule so much. It is a powerful tool to stop most religionists and the half-hearted

2. Persistent Pessimists (4:10-12)

"Pessimism . . . is, in brief, playing the sure game. You cannot lose at it; you may gain. It is the only view of life in which you can never be disappointed. Having reckoned what to do in the worst possible circumstances, when better arise, as they may, life becomes child's play."

Thomas Hardy (1840-1928), English novelist, poet. Note written 1 Jan. 1902 (published in Florence Emily Hardy, The Later Years of Thomas Hardy, ch. 7, 1930).

3. Lax leaders (5:6-7)
4. Dangerous Diversions (6:1-3)
5. Devious Deceptions (6:4-7)
6. Frivolous Fears (6:9)
1. Illus. Ron Hamilton, Bunny, and Bob-o
2. "Lo, I am with you always. . ."
3. "There is no terror in a bang, only in the anticipation of it."

Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980), Anglo-American filmmaker. Quoted in: Leslie Halliwell, Halliwell's Filmgoer's Companion (1984).

4. Most fears never come to pass but the anticipation of them debilitates us.
5. Completion (6:15-16)

Conclusion:

• Fred Somebody, Thomas Everybody, Pete Anybody, and Joe Nobody were neighbors, but they were not like you and me. They were odd people and most difficult to understand. The way they lived was a shame. All four belonged to the same church, but you couldn't have enjoyed worshipping with them. Everybody went fishing on Sunday or to visit relatives. Anybody wanted to worship but was afraid Somebody wouldn't speak to him so Nobody went to church. Really, Nobody was the only decent one of the four. Nobody did the visitation. Nobody worked on the building. Once they needed a SS teacher and Everybody thought Anybody would do it! and Somebody thought Everybody would teach. Guess who did it? Right- Nobody! It happened that a fifth neighbor (unsaved) came to live among them. Everybody thought that Somebody would try to win him. Anybody could have at least made the effort. Guess who finally won Him to Christ? . . . Nobody.
• Illus. My one and a half year old daghter has picked up a new phrase "I can't" which really means I won't. Often times in our lives we are called upon by the Lord to display a committment that dosn't say I can't but how can I? I read this story in our local newpaper a few years ago. In the seaside town of Provincetown, MA, on Cape Cod a man and his wife were sitting on their porch over looking the ocean when the man noticed a disturbence in the water just a few feet from their house. At first he assumed it was a school of blues that had traveled to close to shore and were in a feeding frenzy. But upon closer examination he noticed it was actually one large fish, a shark perhaps, since they are not uncommon in these waters. But as he stared he made out the distinct shape of a large Tuna with it's characteristic forked tail. Knowing that these fish weigh hundreds of pounds and can fetch thousands of dollars, he wondered how he might catch it. He returned to his porch and found an old rope from a lobster pot. He fashioned the rope into a lasso and set out for the water. On his second attempt he was able to throw the lasso around the forked tail of the Tuna and drag it into shore. A few phone calls later and the fish was off to market. How diligently we sieze the opportunities that God sends our way inlarge amount will determine what we accomplish while on this earth and what praise we will recieve from His lips in heaven.
• At the Olympics, glory doesn't only go to those who win. Dorando Pietri was in a state of collapse as he entered the stadium for the final yards of the 1908 marathon. The Italian fell five times before an official helped him across the finish line. Pietri was disqualified but his indomitable spirit made him an international celebrity.
• A similar display of courage enabled Derek Redmond of Great Britain to finish the 400 meters in '92. Hobbled by a torn hamstring near the half-way point, Redmond hopped the rest of the way with the help of his father, Jim, who rushed from the stands to aid his son.
• And who could forget the sight of Tanzania's John Stephen Akhwari, his right leg bloody and bandaged, staggering into the stadium more than a hour behind the winner of the '68 marathon? "My country did not send me to Mexico City to start the race," he said. "They sent me to finish the race."