Building for God

Please note: This transcript is provided as close to verbatim record of the sermon.

Building for God

Text: Nehemiah 2:1–4

I want first just to thank those who encourage me by saying they are looking forward to the message or the ministry of God’s Word from me. I am thankful to the Lord for the many supporters who continue to pray for those who minister the Word on our Lord’s Day morning. Thank you, Wesley.

Today, as our announcer Felix has said, the theme is “Building for God.” So let me turn with you to Nehemiah chapter 2, verses 1 to 4:

“Then in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought to me, I took the wine and gave it to the king. Previously I had not been depressed in the king’s presence. So the king said to me, ‘Why do you appear to be depressed when you are not sick? What can this be other than sadness of heart?’ This made me very fearful. I replied to the king, ‘O king, live forever. Why would I not appear dejected when the city with the graves of my ancestors lies desolate and its gates destroyed by fire?’ The king responded, ‘What is it you are seeking?’ Then I quickly prayed to the God of heaven.”

Let us pray.

Heavenly Father, our gracious God, we thank You that we can turn, like Nehemiah, to pray to the God of heaven, to the greater King Himself, our God who resides and is enthroned in heaven above. As we have remembered the throne this morning, we are indeed thankful for the Word that You have preserved for us. Even this morning we desire to consider this question that was given to Nehemiah. Certainly, O Father, we seek Your understanding to be impressed upon our hearts, so that there will arise a burden for building for God in this assembly. Touch our hearts, O Father, that You may make it more meaningful in our journey on this earth till the Lord Jesus comes. We ask these things in the Lord Jesus’ precious name. Amen.

Allow me also to continue to read a couple more passages. Actually, one or two verses from Nehemiah chapter 2—rather, for the sake of time, from verse 18 onwards:

“I told them how the hand of my God had been favorable to me and also about the king’s words which had been spoken to me. Then they said, ‘Let us arise and build.’ So they put their hands to the good work.”

And one last verse in chapter 3, verse 1:

“Then Eliashib the high priest and his priestly colleagues arose and built the Sheep Gate…”

Then follows the Fish Gate, and so on, and the Old Gate. Of course there are ten gates, but I will stop at the third gate because we do not have time to continue until 11:00. Talking about time, because I was given five minutes late, bear with me—maybe 10:35, I hope to finish, in the will of the Lord.

Introduction: A Burden as We Close the Year

Brethren, the Lord has laid on my heart this topic of building for God as we come to the close of the year on the theme of exaltation.

May I ask every one of us: throughout the whole year we have had the series on worship, the ministry, and the CEP. Has our worship been more meaningful? Were the brothers who exercise the priesthood of believers finding it more meaningful? And were the brothers who restrained themselves so that they could give other brothers the opportunity to rise up and exercise the priesthood—would that also be more meaningful?

Would then also the studies on Ecclesiastes have given us more wisdom, or more folly, that was done in the CP? And then we also had a series on discipleship. Has it made any impact on our lifestyle?

And finally, but not least, the most recent study in the CP as well as in the morning ministry, the study of the book of Acts—has it made any difference in how we ought to be building for God?

Now that we are all saved, can I also ask that, since we are all saved, what are we doing? Are we building ourselves up? Are we moving on? Are we one step further from where we were last year with the Lord Jesus Christ? Where are we?

Where we are as an assembly is effectively determined by where we are in our own hearts. Have the walls of protection and security been broken down? Walls that protect us from the enemies that are outside and keep us safe and secure when we are on the inside.

I had not seen it from this angle. After studying the book of Nehemiah, I realized that this was a shout-out. It was a standing-up to me that every one of us is building for God, and we are to be accountable for building for God.

The book of Nehemiah contains many principles for building for God. They are not principles of a secular building project. There are some people who are in the construction industry here. There is no mention of planning and project management. There is no manpower and resource deployment. Far from all this, building for God by Nehemiah actually begins uniquely with a burden for God.

So can I ask all of us here today: Do we have a burden for the house of God here? And this will be my theme throughout the whole message: Do I have a burden for God?

This is the main idea.

Turn with me also to Nehemiah chapter 1, verses 3 to 4:

“They said to me, ‘The remnant there in the province who survived the captivity are in great distress and reproach, and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are burned with fire.’ When I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.”

Can you sense how this knowledge and understanding of how these remnant Jews were so afflicted and so reproached affected Nehemiah? And can you sense the condition—the walls of Jerusalem broken, and the gates burned with fire? These were the heavy burdens expressed in Nehemiah’s heart, so much so that he sat down because he could not stand taking this in. He sat down, and he wept, and he mourned, and he fasted, and he prayed.

Do I play a part to build this assembly for God, or am I here waiting for those who are called of God to build me up? How have I been building for God?

With this understanding, God does not just refer to the building of this property here, this premises here, but also to the body of believers. 1 Corinthians 3:9 tells us that we are God’s fellow workers, builders, working together to build one another up: “You are God’s field, God’s building.” We are the living stones that are putting up this building for God.

In the time remaining, I want to share three points with you:

1. Who are the builders building for God?
2. What are the burdens in building for God?
3. Where is the blueprint in building for God?

1. Who Are the Builders Building for God?

On first reading from Nehemiah, we should certainly say that it was Nehemiah, correct? I am sure you think about that. Or you could venture a little bit further—it could have been the remnant Jews, right? Nehemiah could not have done it all by himself. So it was also those whom he motivated, the remnant Jews, who were helping him to build the wall.

Or maybe some of you could say, well, there is one more person—and that person is King Artaxerxes. Without his support and without his authorization, Nehemiah could not have done it.

Well, I hope that this is not the only answer in all of our minds. I am sure all of us will say the builder is none other than God. Certainly not Nehemiah, not the remnant Jews alone, not even King Artaxerxes who supported him.

In our human minds we keep thinking that it is always somebody who has granted us success, or some group of people—like in many churches, the founding elders, the founding pastor, so and so. In our new website to be launched soon, historically we simply say that a few brothers, without even wanting to mention a name, had a simple desire to gather together to remember the Lord. Out of this small step of obedience to meet faithfully in remembrance of the Lord, there were breakthroughs years later when Bethesda Gospel Hall at Braddell Pastor Road started.

Since then, the increase and the growth were evidenced by the faithful preaching of the gospel and the faithful remembrance of the Lord, resulting in the building up of an assembly of saints gathered together unto the Lord Jesus. Even to this day at BMK here, certainly we can say, as one brother always says, we owe it to the Lord. To God be the glory for His steadfast testimony.

And indeed, if I may just borrow the words of the apostle John at the Sea of Galilee, when people ask us, “Who is it that is responsible for the building of this assembly?”—borrowing John’s words, “It is the Lord” in John 21:7.

You can recall how the psalmist himself also wrote, “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it.” Undoubtedly it was God who was responsible for building.

Even as we go back to Nehemiah, we see that in chapter 2 verse 8 and chapter 2 verse 18, it was said that “the good hand of my God was on me.” He attributed it to God who built it. And also in chapter 6, later on, you can see upon completion of the wall in fifty-two days, the enemies—not just Nehemiah and the Jews—recognized that this work had been accomplished with the help of God.

So I hope it is clear by now that we all know it is not any full-time worker. It is not the elders. It is not the deacons, the ministry leaders, who are responsible for the work here or can claim credit for the work that is done here. God Himself is responsible for the work here. God Himself has built this work in Bethesda, since the days of Vancouver Street. God Himself has built it in His ways, by His means, and He can do whatever way He wants, even if it is in the most impossible way.

God Builds by Calling His Servants

How did God do it? God does it by choosing and calling His servants who have this burden for the building of God. Look at Noah. Look at Abraham. Look at Joseph, Samuel, and David, and many more. These were just some of those who were chosen and called by God to do the work.

And whom has God called to do the work here at Ang Mo Kio? Only those who are His.

It is not the elders, not the deacons, not the ministry leaders alone. Every brother and sister who is His, everyone who is saved, everyone who is in this assembly fellowship—God has chosen and called. Every one of us is responsible for the building for God in this assembly.

There should be a burden in each and every one of us. There should be an interest in God. There should be concern for the welfare of the believers in this assembly. Each one of us, in our own sphere, should be concerned in building for God—whether as a Sunday school teacher, or as a youth leader, youth worker, or, for that matter, if you are not yet called into those roles, as a young believer or a middle-aged believer or a fellow believer in the assembly. Every heart should be burning for building for God.

And this should be a reality in every one of us here this morning.

God Does Not Need Us, Yet He Chooses Us

Another point about builders building for God is to perish this thought that God needs you and me to help Him build. He does not, brothers and sisters. Good news for you, right? He does not need you to help Him build this testimony for Him. He is the great and awesome God.

Nehemiah says in chapter 1 verse 5 that He is the Creator of all the ends of the earth. Our brother John Noble said from Isaiah 40, He is the God of all impossibility.

Nehemiah could ask from the king Artaxerxes what he wanted. “What do you seek?” the king asked. He could have asked that king, “Can you permit the Persian army to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem?” But that was not in the mind of God.

Just as He chose Nehemiah, God chose you and me to be partners in this building for God. The Lord has chosen us for the roles we are doing in this assembly as part of building for God. It has always begun with a burden for building for God.

Then the call comes. Brothers and sisters, do I have a burden for building for God?

No Excuse for Any Believer

Be encouraged. No young believer can say, “I am too young. I need many more years of experience before I can be part of building for God, to be chosen and called by God.” King David was just a boy when he was called.

Or you may think that you are too old and the days of service are over. “Brother, I am a retiree.” No—perish this thought. Do not believe the devil’s ploy.

Or do you think that you are too busy and God would not choose you because you cannot afford the time? Biblically, God has always been choosing busy people to do His bidding in His grand plan of building for God. You read the Scriptures: God did not choose lazy people to fulfill His purpose.

Certainly Nehemiah was very busy being the king’s cupbearer. Every time the king took a sip, Nehemiah had to work. He was always there, very busy. He was so dedicated as a servant of the king. But at the same time, with this heavy burden in his heart, he was as dedicated a servant of the Lord. How do I know that? Because Nehemiah had this heavy burden in his occupation while remaining sensitive to his role as cupbearer.

Any time he showed any sign of deep depression or distress, it could have meant the loss of his life because the king would not be able to trust him. Suspicion would arise. But yet he did not fail to be sensitive at the same time to the Lord’s call, to be obedient to the task prepared for him, though he was busy about himself—how? In prayer.

He was no builder. He was no architect. Not even the town planner of the kingdom, though he served in the royal courts. So humbly he wrote, “I was the cupbearer.” You could say humility qualified him to build for God.

If I may stretch this further, he could not build it alone, could he? Certainly not. The record shows that the remnant Jews helped him. And may I ask also: who were these remnant Jews? Were they seasoned construction workers who had done so many projects in Singapore—underground work, building work, and so on? No.

If you know the history of the Babylonian captivity, when Babylon took over Jerusalem—Judah, Israel—they took the best and kept them in exile in Babylonia. And what happened to the rest? The rest were the disunited people, the uninitiated people, the poor people, the helpless people, the unskilled people, with no money, no resources, barely able to survive, barely able to feed their families.

But read chapter 3. Just now we read chapter 3 verse 1. The men arose to build. They were just ordinary people, but people with a burden, with a heart to do God’s work, knowing that it was God’s hand in this rebuilding of the work.

So it was Nehemiah and the remnant—but above all, it was God.

2. What Are the Burdens in Building for God?

Now we come to the second point: What are the burdens in building for God? Do I have a burden for building for God?

The book of Nehemiah is a great illustration of how prayer and hard work—both heavy burdens of any worker—can accomplish seemingly impossible things for the Lord. When a person determines to trust and obey as a leader, Nehemiah was such a man, with that responsibility, and who through prayer was able to triumph over opposition with proper motivation.

We already mentioned his initial burden: how, after hearing the state of the Jews and the condition in Jerusalem, it prompted him into action. His heart sank. It was not just another sad story that he heard from the homeland. It was something that weighed heavily upon his heart, a burden that caused him deep sorrow.

You will agree that two things were laid very personally on him. The people were his people, and the city Jerusalem with the broken-down wall was the place God chose to put His name there. To hear of their great affliction and the sorry state of the city—it broke him down. If you and I were in Nehemiah’s place and there was no effect on us, we would only have a heart of stone.

A Parallel in the Assembly

But let me bring you to a parallel example to what we have in our assembly. I know some of you know the physical state of our members in this assembly—people who are suffering, people who are weak, brothers and sisters who are afflicted, in depression, suffering breakdowns, in all kinds of conditions, even in relationships.

Husband and wife living in the same house but separated. Father and children, mother and children do not talk to each other. These are the physical sufferings of people. It is very true. Somebody said, “You look at the pews around us—in every pew there is a broken heart.”

What about the spiritual state of these? Is it broken down or burned or charred? What would my response be? What would my response be?

Are the walls of this assembly broken down?

The symbolic picture of the walls of Jerusalem is symbolic of the spiritual state of the assembly. If the walls of protection and security are broken down in the church, it is only a sign that those walls of protection and security spiritually are broken down in our hearts.

Long ago we all knew that the walls of protection are built up in our hearts to protect us; that it is our souls that need to be guarded; that our souls need to cultivate this wall. We need to build it up so that we can be safe within. Without this wall, there is a ramification effect to the church of Jesus Christ. If we are not looking after our hearts—in fact, if we are not looking after our hearts—we are not looking after the church of God.

Look at Proverbs 25:28. Solomon said, “He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.”

How is your spirit, brothers and sisters? How are the walls of protection in your heart?

The Burden of Prayer

For a practical analogy, quite often this is not only the burden of one or two elders in our assembly, but of many elders in other assemblies as well: the prayer meeting of our assembly.

What about the prayer meeting of our assembly? Would you liken it to broken-down walls? Very few come together to this throne of grace, and even fewer arise to intercede, or plead, or cry before the Lord. Our defenses are down, and our prayer warriors are few.

We nod our heads agreeably that we are all in a spiritual warfare. It is dead serious. But certainly it should not be dead silence when it comes to fighting the cause in building for God. Do you share this burden?

In all fairness to every member in the fellowship here, it is God who will convict each and every one of us, including the elders. Where are the elders at the prayer meeting? Where are the deacons at the prayer meeting? Where are the ministry leaders at the prayer meeting? God will convict us. We know what to do. And when we do not do it, God be merciful to us.

Clearly in the book of Acts—we have studied Acts recently—prayer has been emphasized to be so important. Why do we take it so lightly? We are encouraged by the many faithful warriors who come every Tuesday, including the younger ones. They too need our support, to stand side by side with them, to guard against the enemies and to build with them all these walls at BMK.

Brothers and sisters, do you have a burden for building for God?

The Burden of Evangelism

Part of the building for God also involves reaching out to the lost, winning souls for the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you think we have an excellent support and interest in our gospel outreaches? This is represented by the burned gate, symbolic here.

Not everyone is going out to the pre-believers. Not everyone is calling them to come in. And even if they do, would they want to go through a burned gate, where they literally see only a handful in this huge hall? They only see some smoking embers. They see no spark. They see no flame. They see no fire.

How are we to warm the hearts of pre-believers to the love of our Lord Jesus Christ?

The Lord rewards those who faithfully knock on the doors of many of our HDB blocks here every month with gospel tracts and invitations. Even little children are doing this. Where are we, brothers and sisters?

The Lord rewards those lone warriors who pray and make efforts and sacrifices to bring their friends down to our gospel meetings. The Lord rewards those very few faithful who meet regularly, monthly, to encourage the missionaries in the field. How many are these groups of people? You can count them on your two hands.

We are excited when there is an assembly-wide gospel rally for evangelism. Today we announce for workers to come forth, to take part, to be partners in the gospel. And what is the response? We have to beg. We have to beg. We have to beg.

No doubt, no discredit—in fact, admiration—for those same few who always stand up to support this outreach. But what happened to the rest of us? Were we not equally burdened? Were we not equally burdened to share this burden for the lost?

When the Lord said, “Do not say that there are four months left for the harvest… behold, the fields are ready for harvest.”

The Burden for the Lord’s Honor

I strongly believe that, other than the burden that Nehemiah had for the people and the city, he also had this other burden. He had this strong burden regarding the reproach that was placed upon the Lord.

This is the reproach Tobiah expressed in chapter 4 verse 3. Tobiah, one of the enemies, despicably said to Nehemiah, “If even a fox were to climb up onto what they are building, he would break down their stone wall.”

Was this acceptable to Nehemiah? His burden was to restore the glory of God.

You recall how Moses himself pleaded with the Lord after Israel’s sin with the golden calf in Exodus 32. For the honor and for the name of the Lord, Moses pleaded: “Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, ‘With evil intent He brought them out to kill them in the mountains’?” Moses intervened because of that.

And certainly, brothers and sisters, in our assembly, do we say we have a sense of belonging? Is this my assembly? Is this God’s building? When things go well, we rejoice. When things do not go well, we are nowhere to be found.

Listen to Ruth’s reply to Naomi: “Where you go, I will go. Where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried.”

Do you have a burden for building for God? And certainly each and every one of us wants to ask ourselves: Am I prepared even to die and be buried here, serving the Lord in building up this assembly?

3. Where Is the Blueprint in Building for God?

Now we come to the last point, and I beg your forgiveness as I take us to it. We have talked about the builders. We have talked about the burdens. Now we come to the blueprint.

To build a building physically, a blueprint is needed. Right? I think Felix can attest to that. You need a blueprint. And what is a blueprint? A blueprint is a document. Other than being blue in color, it is also a two-dimensional drawing that provides a detailed representation of what the architect wants the building to look like.

Certainly, no prize is given when we say the blueprint for building for God is the Bible—the Word of God.

Throughout the pages of Scripture, God has a plan for good and not for evil, to give us a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11. With this blueprint, we can give ourselves to the Lord, do His Word daily, and pray with Scripture without giving up.

Why did I mention giving up? Because most of us here have given up. Is it true? Are we likely to give up? I pray to God that this is not happening here. But we give up easily. We draw back from reading the Word of God. We quit studying. We quit depending on the Word. We quit living by the Word. We lose patience. It takes so long, whatever the Word says.

We need to go back to the basics, to the blueprint, to start all over again. That is the only standard God builds by. That is the only document God gave us for building.

The Blueprint Must Be Near Us

Now, to answer it, it is not only what the blueprint is, but where the blueprint is. In the building industry, the blueprint is always nearby in the site office where the workers can always refer to it when they are in doubt.

Nehemiah’s principle was in the Word and in the Word of the Lord, so much so that the Word was near him, so much so that the Word was with him, and so much so that the Word was in him and in his life. His life was soaked in the Word of God.

Just one person can make the difference in this world if that person knows God and trusts in Him. Quoting Martin Luther: “Faith is living, daring confidence in God’s grace.” It is so sure and certain that a man could stake his life upon it a thousand times.

Nehemiah knew the Word of God by heart and lived it out, confessing not only the sins of Israel but also his own, desiring God to return this people who had now returned to God. We see the good hand of God in Nehemiah after four months of praying, that granted him favor and support.

What is this support that he got? It is support for the safe journey and even some material. Following the blueprint of God demands faith. Up to now we are aware that Nehemiah had a tremendous task to do, but it did not deter him from trusting God to arise and build.

The support he received is another principle for building. The blueprint for building for God is according to God’s Word, according to God’s way. God is the only supplier. Nehemiah made it clear that he did not depend on any other people. So much so that he could say to Sanballat and his company, “You have no portion, no right, and no memorial in Jerusalem.” Rebuilding the wall is God’s work. The Jews were God’s servants. Outsiders had no part in it.

And we are very clear of that also in 2 Corinthians 6:14. We do not depend on outsiders to build for God. Who then does God depend on? You and me, the insiders here, who need to build for God.

And we thank God that through the sacrificial giving of the Lord’s people all these years we have been able to move from Braddell Pastor Road to Ang Mo Kio through the first lease, and now into the second lease, and even to have an additional supplement with Depot Walk. This is all God’s work and the giving of the Lord’s people.

The Pattern of the Gates

One interesting explanation, and I will close with this, concerns the emphasis that we must trust God’s provision as God’s pattern for building for God.

If you look at chapter 3, how the Lord arranged the building of the wall, it began with the Sheep Gate and then went in the anticlockwise direction through the ten gates. I will borrow just the first three gates to explain the emphasis that it is depending on the Lord’s people, the Lord’s way, to build for God.

1. The Sheep Gate

It began with the Sheep Gate. Why the Sheep Gate? Nehemiah called the people to build, and Eliashib and the first group started building on the north side of the city of Jerusalem at the Sheep Gate. This is, again as we all know, where the sheep destined for slaughter for the sacrifice had to go through.

In other words, brothers and sisters, the building for God—the pattern—has to start with believers. Believers who know that the Lord Jesus Christ bled and died for us. We have first to be at Calvary, cleansed by the precious blood of the Lord. Then we can be building for the Lord.

Are we believers here? Prayerfully, hopefully, one hundred percent we are. Let us pray that we rebuild this gate, reinforce this understanding, that the gospel is preached to us and that we have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ who is our Saviour.

1. The Fish Gate

Then comes the next gate that was built, and that gate was the Fish Gate. Remember the Fish Gate? It is near the fish market actually in Jerusalem. But why the Fish Gate?

Remember the Lord Jesus Christ said, “I will make you fishers of men.” In all the four Gospels, early in those Gospels, the Lord says, “I will make you fishers of men.” How are we going on with the Lord? Are we fishing for men? Are we building for God by being fishers of men?

“Oh, that is not my gift. It belongs to the evangelist. It belongs to the full-time worker. It belongs to the leadership. I have no part in fishing for men.”

Brothers and sisters, news for you: you have a part in fishing for men because you are part of this city gate. You have gone through the Sheep Gate. You have gone through the Fish Gate. Do not fool ourselves. We have covered this ground of evangelism. Believers must learn and train to be fishers of men.

The Sheep Gate was the starting point. The Fish Gate was the continuation point.

1. The Old Gate

Now we come to the Old Gate, the last gate before I close. The Old Gate is the gate that reinforces the teaching that we have this blueprint from the Lord, and there is no blueprint revision one, revision two, revision three, and so on. This blueprint is the original and standard one. It is the Scriptures, the very Word of God, the doctrine of the apostles.

There in the Scripture we have what we call the old gate, the old ways. In Jeremiah 6:16, “Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.” But they said, “We will not walk therein.”

The old path simply is a metaphor for the old truth of the Word of God, and they have been handed down through the centuries in the apostles’ doctrine, the Bible.

We are under tremendous pressure to reject the old truth of God’s Word today. Generations past have seen fit to accept and love the good of it. Today many come in human wisdom saying there are better ideas of how to do God’s work—better, more efficient, more productive, more sustainable, and so on. They may be right with the “more.” After all, the whole world is looking for new things.

We need to ask ourselves, as an assembly as well as individually: is the reason for the present state of our indifference, our lack of participation, our lack of desire for evangelism in our day, because the old gate has been broken down and we are rejecting the old truth of God’s Word, bringing new paths into the assembly?

We observe that happening in many other assemblies and in the world. We are forever looking for something new. One thing is common about the world and about worldly, counterfeit Christianity, and that is this: they hunger after the world’s methods in rejection of God’s basic truth—the truth which really works. And when they realize that what they have done is not correct, they refuse to go back to the old path. In fact, those that do realize it find it very difficult to go back to the old path. Once you cross the line, it is impossible to come back.

And brothers and sisters, I am not talking about traditions, as some people claim. I am talking about God’s Word. The breaking of bread is becoming less and less practiced in many assemblies. Even for those who faithfully take part or faithfully come for the weekly service, how has that fragrance filled the house of God?

The same goes for the teaching of the headship of Christ and the practice of head covering, both clearly put together in one single chapter of 1 Corinthians. Those who are keeping to this blueprint of the divine Word of God, the old path through the Old Gate, when repaired, will not be disappointed when the Lord comes.

Charles Spurgeon said this:

“I believe that one reason why the church of God at this present moment has so little influence over the world is because the world has so much influence over the church.”

Final Appeal

Do we have builders here in BAMK? What is our registered number? Six hundred plus. What are the numbers here today? Less than four hundred. If we can count, where are the builders?

Believers who are outside the church on Sunday morning do not know what they are doing. Not in church. I am sure some of them I know. Do we have a burden for building?

So that is about the builders. Do we have a burden for building? Are you moved to pray for the spiritual and physical state of the assembly? When were we at the last prayer meeting? When did we last pray for the assembly—not just for ourselves?

How burdened are we to support this evening gospel service? Do I have a burden to give God the glory every Lord’s Day, even while I am on holiday?

Where is the blueprint of God? Is it in our hearts, or is it in our heads, in our hands, or maybe somewhere else? There is no other standard for building for God other than the pattern set out in the Book, in the old way.

I want to be a builder like Nehemiah—to build my family, to build, God willing, my assembly here together, to be strong and dependent on the Lord. In the shortest possible time, fifty-two days, it took for Nehemiah and his builders to finish the four-kilometre wall.

Brothers and sisters, to build this assembly for the past one hundred and sixty years, the Lord has entrusted to us the next fifty-two years to continue to do the work of building here. You and I have this burden whether we like it or not. But how good, how well aligned it would be if we had that same burden willingly, and to fulfil His blueprint.

In closing, in 1 Corinthians, the word edify appears more than thirty times. It means to build up. Believers in Christ, we are building up one another. We are building up the church of God collectively, and through soul-winning, through encouraging and enthusing each believer in Christ, seeing them mature into the full man, the perfect man in Christ.

Each of us within ourselves has the answer to those questions—whether we are, or we are not. May we be accountable before our Lord, so as not to bring Him reproach or dishonor, but glory and honor to Him forever and ever.

Let us pray.

Heavenly Father, our loving God, we thank You for Your Word. We thank You for the hardness of Your Word, reminding us of where we are and how we are to be accountable before You. Help us, our Father, to examine clearly before You, so that we may know what we ought to do. We thank You even for this evening gospel service, and we remember Nigel and Lucas as partners together in preaching the good news of our Lord Jesus Christ to the pre-believers. We give Thee thanks for the time now, in the Lord Jesus’ most worthy and precious name. Amen.