Why is there a need to rebuild? There’s a need to rebuild because the thing we’re rebuilding is not in its perfect state. The speaker has good memories from his early days when the TK church was not rebuilt yet. He remembers the wall facing the front of the church in red brick colour. When you enter the church, you’ll see a brick wall. At that time, the church hall was not air-conditioned and there were only fans. On Saturday afternoons, every one would listen attentively; they were all nodding (😂).

Later on, the numbers increased and space was made for more people. This was in the 80s. When the theological seminar was held, spaces were built and classes were held there. The students had no fans and only the lecturer and interpreter had fans blowing at them. In the dormitories, they slept on planks with a thin layer of mattress on top. There was no air-conditioning as well.

During his first year, the senior students knew the places with fans and took those places. The speaker slept in another corner where there was no fan. In the night, there are also rodents running around. This is a beautiful memory of the speaker. Some of these memories came to him when the church was to be rebuilt in 1993, which is the current church building. In 1995, the church building was rededicated, and the brick wall was no longer in existence. In place is the current elevator. These are memories the speaker reminisces of. Rebuilding something is to bring it to a better state.

Have we thought further; what about our life of faith? In our life of faith, do we have many weaknesses with a need to rebuild these inadequacies? Are we able to see our faults and where we lack in our faith when we come before God? When we’re able to see these weaknesses, how are we to rebuild them? This afternoon we shall see someone who rebuilds; how he rebuilt the wall and how his companion rebuilt the faith of the people. We turn to Nehemiah 1:4-11;

4 ‘So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.
5 And I said: “I pray, Lord God of heaven, O great and awesome God, You who keep Your covenant and mercy with those who love You and observe Your commandments,
6 please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open, that You may hear the prayer of Your servant which I pray before You now, day and night, for the children of Israel Your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against You. Both my father’s house and I have sinned.
7 We have acted very corruptly against You, and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses.
8 Remember, I pray, the word that You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, ‘ If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations;
9 but if you return to Me, and keep My commandments and do them, though some of you were cast out to the farthest part of the heavens, yet I will gather them from there, and bring them to the place which I have chosen as a dwelling for My name.’
10 Now these are Your servants and Your people, whom You have redeemed by Your great power, and by Your strong hand.
11 O Lord, I pray, please let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants who desire to fear Your name; and let Your servant prosper this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” For I was the king’s cupbearer.’

This passage talks about Nehemiah; he was a rebuilder. In Nehemiah 1:1, Nehemiah was introduced as cupbearer to the king;

‘The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. It came to pass in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the citadel, ‘

V1-4 tells us he was a cupbearer;

1 ‘The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. It came to pass in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the citadel,
2 that Hanani one of my brethren came with men from Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped, who had survived the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.
3 And they said to me, “The survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.”
4 So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.’

Before Nehemiah we had a man, Ezra, and they were together at the same time. One went back to rebuild the wall, Nehemiah. Ezra returned to return the faith of the people. There were three times they returned. Why did this tragedy occur to them; why were they enslaved in Babylon? Because the people were against God and obey idols, not keep the Sabbath, and did many evil things. Israel was one country in the beginning, but when they transgressed against God and worshipped idols, their faith went further away.

In 587 B.C., the Southern kingdom was destroyed by the kingdom of Babylon. Many were enslaved there. Nehemiah and Ezra were the people in those times. According to the promise of God, after 70 years, they returned to rebuild. The first return was in Zerubabel. He took about 50 thousand people and went back.

The second return was under the time of Ezra, during 458 B.C.

The third return was during 445 B.C. in the time of Nehemiah, approximately 13 years after the return of Ezra. This is the historical background.

All in all, they returned with the intention to rebuild the nation. According to God’s promises and faithfulness, they were able to return to their nation and rebuild. If we read Nehemiah, it’s good to read Ezra together to have a complete background of the people at that time.

Nehemiah, when he heard the report of some of the brethren, sat down, wept and mourned for days. Nehemiah fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. Although he was in a foreign land, his heart was towards the nation he came from. He also held a high position, cupbearer to the king. But he didn’t forget his original nation. When he heard that the city walls were broken and the gates have been burnt, he grieved. What we’ve read earlier on records the prayers of Nehemiah. He was able to see the rebuilding.

Today, are we able to see the need to rebuild ourselves? When we rethink about our own faith and there’re areas we find are backsliding, do we think about how we can rebuild and move forward?

The church is not the physical building but every one of us; all of us coming together as one body. When one member falls, the church is affected. When members are weak, the body is affected. All of us need to strife and resolve to mature. If there’s any area of inadequacy we must be determined to change for we are one body. Every member plays an important role.

Let’s see how Nehemiah carried out the rebuilding process and through his examples we can also reflect on our lives and take this opportunity to receive the spiritual food during the upcoming spiritual meeting.

We read Nehemiah 1:4-5;

4 ‘So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.
5 And I said: “I pray, Lord God of heaven, O great and awesome God, You who keep Your covenant and mercy with those who love You and observe Your commandments, ‘

Nehemiah didn’t just sit down and weep. Through his grief, he went one step further and fasted and prayed. He began the process of rebuilding by praying. In every great work of God, the source traced back to is prayer. When Nehemiah heard about what happened to Jerusalem, he was grieved; he wept, fasted and prayed. He didn’t just stand still. On the contrary, he took the opportunity to look towards the God he believes in. In v5;

And I said: “I pray, Lord God of heaven, O great and awesome God, You who keep Your covenant and mercy with those who love You and observe Your commandments, ‘

He gave a detailed description of the nature of God. He used his prayer to praise God, acknowledged that men are weak but God is able. Men are helpless, weak and without strength but God is almighty and so he wants to praise God for His awesomeness. Through his prayers, he praised God, “My Jerusalem is in such dire state but I believe MY GOD will grant me the rebuild.”

This is the lesson we need to learn. In our life of faith, we may have committed many wrongs. In our lips, we offend people and transgress against God but to be weak is not something shameful. Weaknesses allow us to see what we lack and in our inadequacies we can ask God for help to make up our inadequacies.

When we see how weak and inadequate we are, we have to be diligent in asking God for help. As we see our weaknesses, we pray to God for strength to change. We shouldn’t compare our inadequacies with others. If we behave like this, we’ll never change and improve. Our prayers are personal where we come before God to see our weaknesses and His strength. While doing this, we believe that when our merciful and faith God sees our attitude He will help us. He will restore upon us strength to change, so that we can make our faith better.

Let’s continue to see how he helped in rebuilding. We read v6-11;

6 please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open, that You may hear the prayer of Your servant which I pray before You now, day and night, for the children of Israel Your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against You. Both my father’s house and I have sinned.
7 We have acted very corruptly against You, and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses.
8 Remember, I pray, the word that You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, ‘ If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations;
9 but if you return to Me, and keep My commandments and do them, though some of you were cast out to the farthest part of the heavens, yet I will gather them from there, and bring them to the place which I have chosen as a dwelling for My name.’
10 Now these are Your servants and Your people, whom You have redeemed by Your great power, and by Your strong hand.
11 O Lord, I pray, please let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants who desire to fear Your name; and let Your servant prosper this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” For I was the king’s cupbearer.’

This passage describes how Nehemiah confessed his sins to continue the process of rebuilding. In the second part of v6;

confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against You. Both my father’s house and I have sinned

Why is there a need to rebuild? This is because there’s something lacking and a need for change, there’s something to rebuild. Nehemiah, before God confessed his sins and the sins of his father’s house. Sin is like a barrier and is an obstacle between God and us. If there’s such an obstacle, it’s not possible for us to have a normal relationship with God. How then can our prayers reach out to God? We read Isaiah 59:1-2;

1 ‘Behold, the Lord ’s hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear.
2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.’

Why can’t our prayers come before God? There’s a barrier separating us from God. Here talks about a separation in v2 because of our iniquities between God and us. It’s our sins that our prayers can’t be heard by God. God is one who hates sins; He is righteous and hates sins. How can we normalise our relationship with God? We have to acknowledge our sins and repent. Here talks about turning away and returning. We turn to Nehemiah 1:9;

but if you return to Me, and keep My commandments and do them, though some of you were cast out to the farthest part of the heavens, yet I will gather them from there, and bring them to the place which I have chosen as a dwelling for My name.’

In the Old Testament we have this word “return”, similar to a word in the New Testament, “repent”. What does it mean to return and change? 悔改. 悔 means to express remorse; towards what you’ve sinned against God, you feel unbearable in your heart and causes remorse in your heart. You feel uncomfortable. With this remorse, you are resolved to change (改). To change is to no longer walk on the sinful path. Wanting to change is not just verbalising it, but is accompanied with actions. Repentance is something people can see and not just on the lips. You’ll be able to see the actions.

Since you’ve changed, you’ll no longer do the old things and you’ll bear fruits of repentance with a life led consistently with the truth. Then truly, you can come before God. While we change, we demolish this wall of sin. If you walk on this path of repentance, you’ll be able to return to God. In our faith, as we try to restore and make up for our inadequacies, we start by confessing our sins. We know we have many weaknesses and sins even after baptism. Even though after baptism God has washed away your sins, your daily activities continue to sin against Him. We have to confess our sins for no one is perfect. Before God, our debt is continually accumulated.

In Nehemiah’s prayers, there are prayers not just of his but also of the people. This is something we need to do today. When we confess our sins, our God is a God of love and will accept us back. But, are we sincere when we repent and not doing it just something to patronise Him?

For example, you repent today and continue to deceive others of money the next day. The next day, you argue with others and the day after you buy lottery tickets. On another day, you repent to God of your sins and the cycle repeats. Is this true repentance? You’re still walking on your own path. How can we say that we’ve changed our own ways? You’re building the wall of sin higher and higher. How can we normalise our relationship with God? From the prayer of Nehemiah, we have this reminder to think of this matter. If our repentance is truly sincere, we’ll try our best to change and we won’t walk the old paths again. We read Jeremiah 31:18-20;

18 ‘“I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself: ‘You have chastised me, and I was chastised, Like an untrained bull; Restore me, and I will return, For You are the Lord my God.
19 Surely, after my turning, I repented; And after I was instructed, I struck myself on the thigh; I was ashamed, yes, even humiliated, Because I bore the reproach of my youth.’
20 Is Ephraim My dear son? Is he a pleasant child? For though I spoke against him, I earnestly remember him still; Therefore My heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, says the Lord .’

This passage references to the remnants of Israel. Jeremiah says these remnants of people shall be saved by God. V18 says;

‘“I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself: ‘You have chastised me, and I was chastised, Like an untrained bull; Restore me, and I will return, For You are the Lord my God.

“Restore me, and I will return, For You are the Lord my God. ” each time we turn back, there’s a true remorse. In v20;

Is Ephraim My dear son? Is he a pleasant child? For though I spoke against him, I earnestly remember him still; Therefore My heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, says the Lord .’

Ephraim to the Israelites. When God is judging us, He has hopes and expectations for us to repent. His judgement is not for us to be separate and far away from Him. In His judgement is filled with hope and expectations. In His grace, He restores His mercy upon us. Each time God restores us is done in His love. In His judgement there’s great hope we’ll repent. When we’re repenting, our God has this hope that we’ll return to Him; why should we not confess our sins and wrongs before Him?

We read 1 John 1:8-9;

8 ‘He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
9 That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.’

If we say we have no sin, we are lying. It’s true that God uses His righteousness to judge us, but in His righteousness there’s hope for us to repent. When we return to Him, He’ll be able to forgive our sins. Through His precious blood, He cleanses us of our righteousness. After baptism, we continue to sin against God and we continue to transgress against God. But as long as we’re willing to return and confess our sins, His blood is still present in us to wash away our unrighteousness.

Today we have to rebuild what is lacking when we come before God to rebuild our faith. From what was spoken by Nehemiah, we confess our sins and repent. Our God is a God of mercy and is waiting for us. We should take the opportunity in our repentance to normalise our relationship with Him. Before God, we have our weaknesses and fell short of His grace. But let us not remain in the state of remorse but have a breakthrough to see our weaknesses and inadequacies.

Through the encouragement of Nehemiah, through prayers and repentance, we rebuild. If we do this, God would be pleased with our actions. Let us grow in our faith, receive the love of God and become better spiritually.

Are we willing to rebuild?