Your Yes to God Could Change Someone's Life | Nehemiah 10-13 | Week 4

Your life has more influence than you realize.

As Nehemiah's story comes to a close, we discover that rebuilding the walls was never the ultimate goal. God was rebuilding His people. Nehemiah's willingness to say "yes" to God inspired an entire nation to renew their commitment to Him.

In this message, we'll explore how God uses surrendered lives, why biblical obedience is always a response to His love—not a way to earn it—and how your faithfulness today may shape someone else's eternity tomorrow.

No matter where you are in your walk with Christ, God can use your "yes" in ways you may never fully see.

In this message you'll discover:

Why your decisions affect more people than you realize
What biblical submission actually looks like
How obedience flows from God's love—not fear
Why joy and gratitude are powerful testimonies
How God uses ordinary people to make an eternal impact

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

We're in a sermon series today called Nehemiah, and we've been talking about leadership. And leadership in Nehemiah is influencing people to bring about God's intended plan. And every one of us has influence. Every one of us influences those around us in some way. And so for about the next 90 minutes, I'm going to talk about. Today we're looking at chapters 10 through 13. We're wrapping up this Nehemiah series. And one of the primary things that we're going to see from Nehemiah today is that your life has power to deeply influence those around you. In November, my wife and I vacationed to Peru for the very first time. We went to Machu Picchu and we were there for about four days. And there were a couple of things that I learned about Machu Picchu that I didn't realize until we went. And the first is that it is not easy to get to. It is not easy to get to. In fact, from our resort, we had to travel for about an hour in a cab drive. Then it took us to a train station that only goes to Machu Picchu. And so we got on a train and we went for another hour on the train to get to the base of the mountain at Machu Picchu. And then when we got off the train, we had to get on a bus that travels up the mountain around these hairpin curves that would be illegal in the United States, where you're a foot from the edge the entire time with no guardrail. And everybody on the bus is like, oh, ooh, ooh, you hear all these noises because everybody's scared as you go up the mountain. And then when you get off the bus, you're spit out into this town that you have to walk through to finally get to Machu Picchu. And so I had made a couple of decisions that I didn't realize how much they might influence my wife and I. Traveled to Machu Picchu, no cash, no international plan. We finally get up to the mo the park, and the second thing I learned about Machu Picchu that I didn't know before is that llamas run wild like squirrels or rabbits. Only they're not afraid of people because nobody hunts them. So they're they're walking around like cows or something. And so we're standing there getting this photo, and the tour guide's taken my photo with my wife, and we're standing there smiling for the photo, and everybody around the tour guide starts gasping at us. Like, oh. And I'm thinking, what is going on? And the the tour guide says, the best photo of the year. And I'm thinking, yeah, I mean, I know she looks good, but that's a little bit of I didn't know what was happening. So I'm just like smiling because I'm like, whatever's happening right now, I don't want to ruin it by like looking around me. So just take the photo so I can look. And what happened was a llama photo bombed us as if he was a part of the photograph. Do you guys want to see the picture? I promise you this is not AI. Promise you. Let's see it. There's the first one. Let's see the second one. Right there. Money shot. Best Machu Picchu photo of the year. So as we're as we're coming back home from Machu Picchu, it was late. The travel takes several hours. And so we get to the train station at the base of the mountain. And again, no international plan, no cash, no problem, right? Sitting at the train station, and they start announcing over the loudspeakers that a tree fell on the tracks, and our train is delayed several hours until they can clear the tree off the tracks. I'm like, all right. Not sure if this happens often at Machu Picchu, but we'll wait it out. And so finally, several hours go by. Now I'm sending these WhatsApp messages to the hotel because they're organizing our cab drive from the train station back to the hotel. And so I'm sending messages, but again, it's spotty, and they're not replying. I don't even know if they're getting my messages. And so finally I get a reply from them. I'm like, oh, oh good. We will have a ride home. But we don't know when this train's gonna leave. And so we finally, several hours go by, we get on the train, we make it back to the other train station. It's the middle of the night. We get off the train, we're outside, and everything's starting to close down. I cannot find our cab driver anywhere. We're an hour from the resort, some town I don't even know the name of in Peru, everybody else is starting to get in their vehicles and go home or back to their hotels. And we're stranded, alone, stuck, and very white. And we didn't, is that okay to say? I don't know if that's okay to say. But but we felt very out of place. And so I'm starting to panic. And I'm like chasing after people, like randos. I'm like, can you please take us back to our hotel? I'm trying to speak Spanish, you know, please take us back to our hotel. Please, I don't even have any money to offer these people. I'm sending messages to our hotel. I'm not getting any reply. And then finally, finally, after I thought I was gonna have to spend the night at some train station outside in some set South American country with my wife, this guy comes up with his hair like bedhead, and he's like, Michael Corson, and I'm like, yes, I'm like, yes, that's me, Michael Corson. And we get in the car and we made it back to the hotel in the middle of the night. See, my decisions not to get the international plan, my decision not to bring cash had a greater effect on us than I ever imagined that they would. And what we're gonna see from Nehemiah today is that Nehemiah's actions deeply affect other people. What we're gonna see from Nehemiah today is that our actions have a greater effect on other people than we realize. And God wants to use your life and use my life to influence those around us just like he used the life of Nehemiah. So for those who missed the series, or maybe you've never read the book of Nehemiah, because we have a lot of visitors here, and we're so glad that you're here. Nehemiah is set in 5th century BC. Now, Nehemiah was a Jewish cupbearer to King Artaxerxes, and he receives devastating news that the walls of Jerusalem are in ruins. In fact, most of the city's in ruins, including the walls, and his people, the returned Jewish exiles, are humiliated and vulnerable. And so Nehemiah is heartbroken, and he prays and he fasts and he takes a massive risk. He goes to the king and he asks for both permission and funding to go to Jerusalem and rebuild the city walls. And so, miraculously, the king agrees. And Nehemiah goes to Jerusalem and rallies the people of God to rebuild the wall. But the project faces fierce opposition from powerful people who use mockery and death threats and political sabotage to try to stop the work. And so Nehemiah tells the workers to hold a trowel in one hand and a sword in the other as they're working on the wall. And despite the constant threats, they finish this massive project in an astonishing 52 days. And so this morning we pick up the story in Nehemiah chapter 10, and the first thing that we're going to see is that God uses a surrendered life. Nehemiah had an extremely prestigious position. He was an elite royal official. He had status and honor. He had wealth. He had access, exceptional access to the king himself. He had deep trust and confidence from the king. He had financial comfort living in the palace. He held a role that many people would love to have, but he risked it all to say yes to God. Nehemiah was a man who submitted to God's leading. And so he left that position for 12 years with no guarantee that he would get it back. And after a massive construction project, after pushing through opposition, his submission to God, his yes to God, began to affect the hearts of the people of Israel. And so in chapter 10, after Ezra reads the scriptures out loud, the people of Israel begin to repent of their disobedience before the Lord. And in verse 28, it says, the rest of the people, priests, Levites, gatekeepers, musicians, temple servants, and all who separated themselves from the neighboring peoples for the sake of the law of God, together with their wives and all their sons and daughters who are able to understand. All these now join their fellow Israelites and nobles and bind themselves with a curse and an oath to follow the law of God given through Moses, the servant of God, and to obey carefully all the commands, regulations, and decrees of the Lord our God. People responded with a renewed commitment to follow God. They made a covenant to begin living lives of submission once again. They're saying, God, what you say will do. When you say go, we'll go. We will obey your commands. And this didn't happen on its own. It began with Nehemiah saying yes to God, that his actions had a greater effect on the people of God than ever he may have thought possible. Verse 29 says they made an oath to follow the law of God, to obey carefully all of his commandments, because God uses a surrendered life. He traded the palace for rubble, he traded security for danger, he traded prestige for opposition. And his yes resulted in a renewed heart of obedience for God's people. So when you and I, when we say yes to God, God uses our yes to influence other people. Now sometimes God calls us to do something big. Sometimes God calls us to do something that's more visible or more public. When the project of rebuilding Jerusalem's walls was complete and the city itself was still mostly in ruins, its houses not yet being rebuilt, the people of Israel, most of them preferred living in the farmlands and the villages around the city instead of living in the destroyed ruins inside. But in chapter 11, it says that many of them made the sacrifice to move into the walls. Nehemiah 11, 1 and 2, it says, Now the leaders of the people settled in Jerusalem. The rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of every ten of them to live in Jerusalem, the holy city, where the remaining nine were to stay in their towns. The people commended all who volunteered to live in Jerusalem. These people uprooted their lives to move into a ruined city. And some of them, some of them left family, left wealth, left lands to move into a city that had been destroyed, that needed to be rebuilt. Now, some of us have moved, we've moved across town, we've moved across the country even for a job to be close to family. We moved for various reasons. Mostly, usually there are reasons that benefit us. But these people left behind security and stability and community in order to say yes to God. This was another significant sacrifice in obedience to the Lord. Because sometimes submission to the Lord means taking a big step. Sometimes it's a visible step, not to impress people, but to make it clear to God that He has our heart. Some of you today are considering taking a significant step because you feel like God is prompting you to do so. And some of you have been putting it off, or you've been delaying it, or you're not sure if it's right. And if you do it, some people won't understand, and some might even be upset, but there is no safer place to be than in a place of submission and obedience to the Lord. Principle number two biblical submission is a response to God's love. Now, Pastor Dan mentioned this several weeks ago. That obedience in response to God's love is biblical obedience. Because the obedience of God's people that we see in chapters 10 and 11 is a response to God's goodness seen in chapter 9. A chapter ago, chapter 9, the people of God declared his past faithfulness in the lives of Abraham and Moses and Pharaoh and the Red Sea in the wilderness and in the promised land. And they declared in chapter 9 that despite the disobedience of the people of God, he remained faithful. And we see in verse 9 they declare, you have kept your promise. And verse 8, chapter 9, verse 8, you have kept your promise because you are righteous. In verse 17, you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Verse 31, you are a gracious and merciful God. And then they say in verse 38 of that chapter, in view of all this, we are making a binding agreement, putting it in writing, and our leaders, our Levites and our priests, are affixing it, are affixing their seals to it. Because it's in response to God's faithfulness that the people of God renew their commitment to him. Their yes is a response to his grace. Their yes is a response to his love. It's not out of a fear of displeasing him, it's not to earn God's favor or to avoid God's wrath. Because biblical submission is none of those things. Biblical submission to God is a response to his love. Because of Jesus, the Bible says that if you're a Christian, if you've put your faith in him, God is already pleased with you. If you've put your faith in Jesus, you already have God's favor. And no amount of righteous deeds or no amount of avoiding sin could make him love you more. His love for you is complete. Colossians chapter 1, 22, says this well. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. God looks at you and sees the perfection of Jesus. And he's already pleased with you because of Christ. Christians don't say yes to God to earn his favor. Christians don't say yes to God to avoid his wrath. Christians don't say yes to God to make him like them more. It's a response to his love. In 2 Corinthians chapter 5, Paul says, For Christ's love compels us. Because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for him who died for them and was raised again. Years ago, my wife and I lived in Hanover, Pennsylvania. And one day I was out mowing my grass and there was this little baby rabbit running around my yard. And it was very small. And it was kind of getting lost in the grass. And then it would run around the swing set or around the fence. And I noticed it, so I went and I told Diana, and I was like, hey, look at that little guy running around. And and and she says to me, I want it. I'm like, what do you mean? She says, I want you to get it for me. And I'm like, I'm mowing the grass. You know, like a man, I want to finish the job that I'm doing. She's like, I want it. I'm like, okay, I'll try. Like, it's not easy to catch a rabbit, even when they're small. So I grab a bucket and I'm chasing this thing around the yard. And it's small enough that I keep like getting really close. And I'm running around around the swing set, under the jungle gym that I had to kind of climb in, you know, around the fence. Finally, it goes under the car. And I got a broomstick and I'm like trying to get it. It's in the middle of the car. I'm trying to get it out. I got this bucket ready. 25 minutes I chased this rabbit. And finally, I got the bucket over the rabbit. And like a conquering hero, I bring this thing in my hands to her. I walk up and I'm presenting this rabbit to her that I have caught. And she says to me, I don't want it. I'm like, what do you mean you don't want it? What why? She says it's not cute. Why do you think I did all that? Was it to earn her favor? Was it to avoid her wrath? Maybe. What was it? Was it to make her like me more? No, it was none of those things. The reason I did it was because she's an excellent wife and she loves me and I love her, and I want to invest in the relationship. And that is what biblical obedience to God looks like. Many of us, we live in a state of mind where we view ourselves through the eyes of shame, and we see our obedience to God as an attempt to climb our way back into right standing with Him. But the truth of the matter is that you will never be more right with God than you are as soon as you put your faith in Jesus. And God loves you the way you are, and obedience to him is a response to that love. And yes, he wants to change you. Yes, he wants to make you more like Jesus. But that happens as we invest in the relationship with God, not as we out of fear try to avoid his wrath. Principle number three God uses joy and gratitude. In chapter 12, they dedicate the wall of Jerusalem and they hold the dedication ceremony. And in verse 27, it says, At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, the Levites were sought out from where they lived and were brought to Jerusalem to celebrate joyfully the dedication with songs of thanksgiving and with the music of cymbals, hearts, harps, and leers. And in verse 43, it says, On that day they offered great. Great sacrifices, rejoicing because God had given them great joy. The women and children also rejoiced, and the sound of rejoicing in Jerusalem could be heard far away. We have to remember here that most of the city is still in ruins. I mean, sure, the wall has been built, but there's still so much work to do. They've only been there for 52 days trying to rebuild a destroyed city. Many have left their farms and their communities behind. And there's still so much work to do, but their attitude is joy. Their perspective is gratitude. Despite significant sacrifices, they choose gratitude. This reminds me of Acts chapter 16. When Paul and Silas are arrested and they're severely beaten, and they're thrown in jail. Severely beaten, the scripture says. Remember, their leader, Jesus, had recently been murdered. And so the threat of violence for the Christian is very real in this moment. Paul and Silas rise above their circumstances. And they choose gratitude. And all at once the prison doors flew open and everyone's chains came. I know that it's complicated and it's difficult, and people do things that we don't like and that we don't understand, and we can't control other people's actions, but you can control your response. When God's people in Nehemiah sang and rejoiced, the sound of rejoicing in Jerusalem could be heard from far away. The sound of joy travels farther than you think. It travels farther than you think. And we can choose gratitude. It's a story of a person named Nehemiah who said yes to God. And more than building a wall, he rebuilt the people of God so that they were once again submitted to him. It's a story of influence. And God wants to use your yes just like he used Nehemiah's yes. Many years ago, my best friend and I, before I ever knew the gospel, we were living very destructive lives. And some of you know a few pieces of my story, and I'm not going to go into detail now. But we were both in and out of jail, and we were both breaking the law in so many ways, and my friend put his faith in Christ in jail. And then he came out, and his life began to radically change. He began saying yes to God. He started living a life that was submitted to the Lord. And the destructive living stopped, and the breaking the law stopped, and all the things he had been doing and we had been doing together stopped in his life, and I watched my good friend begin to say yes to Jesus. And on November 19th, 2000, I put my faith in Jesus. And my life began to radically mad. He's good. And my life began to radically change because my friend's yes influenced me in a way that's more than I ever imagined possible. God wants to use your yes to influence the life of someone else. Even today, it starts with saying yes to God. And so I want to ask you, in what area of your life is the Holy Spirit calling you to say yes? Only you know in what way is God beckoning you to say yes to Him? Maybe it's an area of your life that you've been struggling with for a very long time. Maybe it's something specific that God's bringing to your mind today for the very first time. Or maybe you're here today and you've never put your faith in Jesus like the 77 kids that we're celebrating from this week, or like I did 26 years ago. Maybe that's your yes today, is to say, God, I believe Jesus died for me and he paid the price for my sin, and no amount of good works can get me to God, but I put my faith in Jesus, and that will reconcile me back to him. Maybe that's your yes today. I'm gonna pray. And I want to ask you to pray with me. And I'm gonna I'm gonna ask you to repeat after me in the quietness of your own heart. Maybe it's something today that God is calling you to do as a Christian. And so what you want to say is, God, I I say yes to you today. Today I make a commitment to follow you like the people of God did 2,500 years ago back in Nehemiah. I say yes in this area of my life today. Maybe God's calling you to say yes to Jesus for the very first time. The gospel finally makes sense, and you want to put your faith in Jesus today. If that's you, say, God, I trust in Jesus. I put my faith in the death of Christ on the cross for my salvation today, and show me how to live my life for you. In Jesus' name. Amen. Now, church, if you said yes to God in some way, we would love to celebrate that with you. We would love to follow up with you, even privately. And so, if that's you today, if you've said yes in some way, I want to ask you as we wrap up the service, as we worship a little bit and then close out the service, I want to ask you to grab the next steps card from the seat back in front of you, or maybe it's behind you if you're in a front row, but grab the next steps card. Write your name on there, give us some way to contact you, and check the box that indicates how you said yes to God today. Or maybe you want to write us a little note. I want to ask you to grab that next steps card as we close the service. And in a few minutes, I'm gonna give you instructions on what to do with that. Let's continue worshiping together today.