Sermon Tone Analysis

…by recognizing the situation of others (14)

neither I nor my brothers ate the governor’s provisions.

Notice the significance of this statement:

In the previous chapter we learned that Nehemiah was pushing out that which was unfair and unethical.

Since he was a government official, he was entitled to the governor’s provisions-which were better than what the people had!

There may be times when we are entitled to something, but don’t need to take it.

It may be defined through the means of money, or materials, or even as simple as food.

You may have a note in your Bible referencing

Paul reminds his readers that he has the right as someone who proclaims the Gospel to receive gain from his hearers.

And not from himself, but from the Lord!

Friends, you may be in a situation where you could ask of others-or even expect them to care for you in a number of ways, but the Bible reminds us in Nehemiah that we are to recognize the situation of others as we lead by example.

…by choosing to NOT exercise his rights (15)

But the former governors who were before me laid burdens on the people, and took from them bread and wine, besides forty shekels of silver.

Yes, even their servants bore rule over the people, but I did not do so, because of the fear of God.

He’s reminding them what they already know.

As governor, Nehemiah had a right to take his salary from them.

In this case it was his daily food (bread and wine) and forty shekels of silver -which was a nice salary!

He also reminded them in verse 16 that he didn’t speculate on land.

As an official, he was in a unique situation and had an advantage over the people; therefore he would have had opportunities to buy land that they didn’t.

He chose not to do this.

Again, Nehemiah was completely within his rights to receive from the people and did not.

We need to remember that Jesus did the same for us.

Remember that Jesus is equal to the Father.

And even though He is God, He willingly laid down His life for His sheep.

Friends, our rights are not more important than our neighbor.

The Lord boiled all the commandments down into two:

Loving your neighbor sometimes means putting them above ourselves.

In order to provide for his people (17-18)

And finally Nehemiah lived by example to provide for his people.

Notice verse 18.

Yet in spite of this I did not demand the governor’s provisions, because the bondage was heavy on this people.

Nehemiah had a right to ask this of the people.

He had authority over the people.

He was the king’s representative.

Through all of this, his focus was placed on the fact their “bondage was heavy.”

Think about this today:

Do we place a burden on those who need to come to Christ that shouldn’t be there?

We say: “They need to be in church!”

The Bible says that the church is the people of God in Christ.

Many who stay home aren’t born again, and therefore aren’t God’s children.

Instead of “they need to be in church,” let’s share the Good News with them and allow that to change their lives instead of our condemning words.

We say: “They need to be leading and helping!”

The Bible says the reason those in church aren’t leading and helping is that they haven’t been discipled properly.

Before we complain about the current or next generation not leading, ask yourself “am I a 2:2:2 Christian?”

Listen to these strong words from Jesus to those who have this attitude:

Christian, are you living by example?

If say “people need to be saved,” are you sharing your faith?

Non-Christian friend:

Have you repented and put your faith and trust in Christ?

Being a Christian is more than showing up at church once a week.

It is repenting of your sin, and placing your faith and trust in the savior to forgive you and help you walk as a disciple of His.