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NEHEMIAH 2:17 + 3:1
Then I said to them, “You see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire. Come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer be a reproach.”
Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests and built the Sheep Gate; they consecrated it and hung its doors. They built as far as the Tower of the Hundred, and consecrated it, then as far as the Tower of Hananel
Rebuild. Let us build the wall of Jerusalem. We know that walls represent our salvation — we are ‘hedged about’, protected, covered and uplifted by our Lord, and Jerusalem, (‘teaching of peace’), shows us as being the city (the people, the church) of our God.
Our salvation is a gift from God. We cannot save ourselves. Only God can save, but once saved, we are to work out [our] own salvation with fear and trembling.
Our salvation is a gift from God. We cannot save ourselves. Only God can save, but once saved, we are to work out [our] own salvation with fear and trembling.
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;
for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
Do all things without complaining and disputing,
that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,
holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or laboured in vain.
PHILIPPIANS 2:12-16
This building is not a solitary pursuit. We do it — it is a corporate enterprise, for although we are all individuals, our Lord is building His kingdom with a many-membered family of believers. Just as in the natural world, there is not one who holds the answer to all things save but for Jesus Christ. Only He holds the keys to the Kingdom. And in Him, we also have access to that heavenly place.
Notice that Nehemiah follows his declaration with the statement that Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests and built the Sheep Gate. Eliashib’s name means ‘God restores’. God is in the business of building up, of restoring all things to Himself. Nothing in His plan will ever be lost, which is restoration indeed, no matter which way you look at it.
This working out of our salvation is not a calculated thing, it is our outworking, our finding within ourselves that which Christ has worked into us, the infilling of The Holy Spirit — recognising His Life within us, and keeping our inner hearing attuned to His Small Voice. Our salvation is a gift from God. Working out our own salvation is the life of faith in Him. The wall of Jerusalem is built and we go on to ascend Mount Zion, to the city of the Living God.
Notice that Nehemiah follows his declaration with the statement that Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests and built the Sheep Gate. Eliashib’s name means ‘God restores’. God is in the business of building up, of restoring all things to Himself. Nothing in His plan will ever be lost, which is restoration indeed, no matter which way you look at it.
This working out of our salvation is not a calculated thing, it is our outworking, our finding within ourselves that which Christ has worked into us, the infilling of The Holy Spirit — recognising His Life within us, and keeping our inner hearing attuned to His Small Voice. Our salvation is a gift from God. Working out our own salvation is the life of faith in Him. The wall of Jerusalem is built and we go on to ascend Mount Zion, to the city of the Living God.
HYMN: JERUSALEM THE GOLDEN (tune: Ewing) — Liverpool Cathedral
A CLOSING WORD from …ISAAC BASHEVIS SINGER
Life is God’s novel. Let Him write it.
LISTEN TO THIS MEDITATION HERE…
COMING NEXT… #548 ACTS 3: THE BEAUTIFUL GATE AND SOLOMON’S PORTICO
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