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TO THE GLORY OF GOD
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Study No 7
FUNCTIONING IN LEADERSHIP
"If the foundations be destroyed what can the righteous do?"
(Psalm 11:3, NASB).
"I beseech you, be ye followers of me" (1 Cor. 4:16, KJB).
Nehemiah: A Leader In Action
The book of Nehemiah, is called the book of the "Reconstruction of
the House" and the "Re-instruction of the People". The book of Esther,
similarly, is called the book of Restoration. Both of these books are
prophetic of the day of restoration in which we are living in which
God is restoring, rebuilding and re-instructing His people. Let us now
note in the book of Nehemiah some of the spiritual principles
associated with the building of the house of the Lord.
1. First, ministry must have a burden to build up the broken
walls of the Church. In Nehemiah 1:3-4 we see a specific order in
which Nehemiah (who represents the ministry) responded to the
broken walls and burned gates of the city because of the burden he
had to reconstruct them. First, Nehemiah 'sat down' (v.4).
Sitting down can represent a good reaction of ministry when they
see problems in the Church. Whenever a leader becomes aware of a
problem in his local church, he should not panic or necessarily
start a new church programme. He should stop running around in a
buzz of activity and sit down to pray, think and study God's Word.
He should seek the Lord through the Word for answers to the
problem.
Next, Nehemiah wept over the problem (v.4). The poor condition
of Jerusalem and God's people so moved this man inwardly that he
expressed his concern outwardly. Leaders need not be unfeeling
about the needs of the Body of Christ. They must, moreover, pour
out their souls before the Lord in an emotional and heart-felt
way. Heart-felt prayers are the only kind that God hears.
David was "a man after God's own heart" because he took his
relationship with his heavenly Father as a serious covenant that
involved his emotions. David cried, "The zeal of thine house hath
eaten me up...I wept and chastened my soul..." (Psalm 69:9,10).
Sometimes it takes God allowing us to enter into captivity or a
bondage of some sort before we cry out to Him in tears and
supplications.
Following his weeping, Nehemiah mourned (v.4). The word used
for 'mourn' here means to bewail, to cut, or to beat. It also
means the beating of the breast or the head in mourning and sorrow
for the death of a loved one. Nehemiah's mourning can speak of
the need of every leader having a deep and repentant attitude over
the House of God. Leaders should mourn and bewail over the weak
condition of God's people today. This should be the extent of
their life-involvement with the people and as one of them.
Scriptually speaking, there is "a time to mourn" (Eccl.3:4), and
that season is when the Church needs help. The following
scriptures illustrate to us the importance of mourning before the
Lord.
1. "Give ear to my prayer...I mourn in my complaint and make a
noise" (Psalm 55:1,2).
2. "The priests, the Lord's ministers, do mourn" [because of
the poor condition of God's temple](Joel 1:9).
3. "Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted"
(Matthew 5:4).
4. "Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep, let your laughter be
turned to mourning and your joy to heaviness..." (James
4:9).
Every leader should be so able to identify with the people of
God, that he mourns over their sins and spiritual poverty.
Next, Nehemiah fasted (v.4). He denied himself food to humble
himself so that he might seek the Lord. In the same way, a
minister must also fast and seek God. The following scriptures
will show that fasting is a Bible principle to be obeyed.
1. David fasted and wept...(2 Sam. 12:16-17)
2. "Is this the fast that I have chosen: to loose...to
undo...to let go...to break every yoke?" (Is. 58:3-6)
3. "Sanctify ye as a fast, call a solemn assembly" (Joel
1:14).
4. Jesus fasted 40 days...(Matthew 4:2).
5. "Moreover when ye fast, be not as the hypocrites..."
(Matthew 6:16-18).
6. The apostles fasted and prayed (Acts 13:2,3).
After Nehemiah fasted, and even during his fast, this leader
prayed. A time of trouble in the local church is always a time to
seek the Lord. During difficulties, leaders should not quickly
blame themselves or others, but they should quickly pray. When
walls are broken down or gates burned, it is time not to seek
guidance from ourselves or even others. It is time to seek
guidance from the Lord.
2. Second, ministry must identify with the problem at hand . In
Nehemiah 1:6-11 Nehemiah admits, "...we have sinned against thee,
both I and my father's house have sinned". Nehemiah identified
himself with the problem to the extent that he confessed his sin
along with the people's. He did not say, "You people must repent
for you have sinned". Leaders must not blame the people for all
of the problems in the church. They, too, must take a bulk of the
responsibilities and admit their sins and mistakes.
"The trouble with most people is they won't admit their
faults. I'd admit mine if I had any".
3. Third, ministry must take the initiative to seek out and face
any problem. Nehemiah 2:11-16.
a. Investigation v.12-16
b. Co-operation v.17-18
c. Determination v.19-20
Here Nehemiah took the initiative to face the problems in
Jerusalem. Many leaders are too afraid to observe and face the
problems in their own congregations. But Nehemiah sets a good
example for all to follow.
Nehemiah did not tell all of the nation what he was going to do
a Jerusalem. Similarly, neither should the shepherd tell the
entire congregation all of his plans or all of the problems in the
church. Instead, he should first take any plans and problems to
the Lord, the elders and the deacons.
Every leader should try to spot problems in their beginning
stages so as not to let them grow or fester. Moreover, one of the
main responsibilities of a shepherd is to watch over the sheep and
to search out continually areas which need help and healing.
4. Fourth, every leader must use a scriptual order to restore the
house properly . In Nehemiah 3, we have an illustration of the
order of spiritual truths in the city of God through the order of
the restoration of the gates of Jerusalem. Let us see how this
order can apply to the Church.
The Sheep Gate (v.1)
The first gate to be rebuilt in the time of Nehemiah was the
sheep gate. The sheep gate speaks to us of the necessity in the
Church of first ministering to the needs of God's people, who are
referred to as His sheep (Psalm 100:3). The sheep need feeding
not evangelizing. Merely preaching repentance, faith, salvation,
and deliverance to the sheep is not feeding them. A shepherd,
bishop and pastor must be a feeder of the sheep. If a leader
cannot feed the sheep, then he is missing one of the most
important requirements of the ministry.
Another important requirement is compassion, which Jesus had for
the people in His day who were like "sheep without a shepherd"
(Matthew 9:36-38). Jesus felt pity for the needy people, and so
must every leader.
Sheep feed the best when they feel that their shepherd is near
to feed them. This gives them a feeling of security (John 10:2-
3), without which they will not be able to lie down. The word
ruling actually means feeding. As someone has said, "Ruling is
compassionate leadership first by example and then be careful
instruction in the Scriptures". The New Testament exhorts every
leader to feed the flock of God (1 Timothy 5:17; 1 Peter 5:2; Acts
20:28).
The Fish Gate (v.3)
The next gate to be restored was the fish gate. This gate was
built after the sheep gate was constructed. The spiritual
principle here is that it is only after the people of God are
strong and mature that souls can be properly brought into the
kingdom. Jesus told the disciples that they were going to be
"fishers of men" (Matthew 4:19). To use the previous analogy of
the sheep gate, we can see that it is only as God's sheep are
cared for and made healthy, that they will be able to bear healthy
lambs. Sheep bear lambs. The shepherd does not, he only tends
and guides the lambs that the sheep naturally bear! Healthy sheep
will always produce healthy lambs just like a healthy family is
able to have many healthy children.
One of the five-fold ministries in Ephesians 4:11-12 is the
evangelist. In verse 12 it says that all of the five-fold
ministries are for the "equipping of the saints for the work of
their ministries". The evangelist's ministry is not just to go
out and attempt to win the world for Christ on his own. The
evangelist's ministry must include the function of training and
equipping the saints so that they can go out and win the lost for
Christ! The sheep gate must be restored before the fish gate.
God's sheep must first become healthy before they can reproduce
healthy lambs.
The Old Gate (v.6)
The next gate to be restored was the old gate. The old gate
speaks to us of the foundational principles of the Church found in
Hebrews 6:1-3 and Acts 2:41-42. These foundational principles are
the (old) truths (as it were) deposited by Jesus Christ and the
Apostles in the early Church that never change from generation to
generation. The principles of repentance, faith, baptism, the
Apostles' doctrine, fellowship and prayer never change. After
souls (the fish gate) are brought into the kingdom they must be
established on a Christian foundation (the old gate). Proverbs
22:28 states, "Remove not the ancient landmark which thy fathers
have set" (cf. Proverbs 23:10). Similarly, the Church is not to
remove the ancient truths that the fathers or foundries of the
Church have established.
New truths will never directly contradict these old truths. As a
matter of fact, for the Church to be rightly balanced, she must be
able to hold the former truths which receiving new truths (not
'new' to the Bible, but 'new' to her experience and
understanding). As Matthew 13:52 symbolically states, "Therefore
every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is
like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out
of his treasure things new and old". A scribe of the kingdom
teaches both new and old truths from the Scriptures.
The Valley Gate
The next gate to be restored was the valley gate. The valley
gate can speak to us of the experience of meeting one another's
needs. The meaning of the name of Hanun, one of the men who
helped to rebuild this gate, very significantly illustrates this.
Hanun means, "to bend or stoop in kindness to another". It takes
a ministry of kindness and compassion to build the valley gate.
After people are established firmly in the first principles of the
Christian life (the old gate), they should begin to reach out to
others in need. Galatians 6:1 says, "When a brother is taken in a
fault, you who are spiritual restore such a one in the spirit of
meekness".
Restoring a fallen brother or ministering to a spiritual need
must be done by someone who has experienced the grace of God in
that area. Just like a baby cannot help an older man to walk,
neither can an immature Christian help another child of God in an
area in which he has not grown up himself.
The Dung Gate (v.14)
The next gate to be restored was the dung gate. The purpose of
the dung gate was to provide the inhabitants of the city a means
through which they could dispose of all of their waste and
garbage.
This gate can speak to us of the purging and refining ministry
of the Holy Spirit (that is also presently happening in the Church
today). The Holy Spirit is cleansing the Church today of sin and
corruption. Consequently, the church must rebuild this gate and
allow all of the cleansing ministries of the Holy Spirit (eg. the
preaching of the Word and the counseling ministry) to take full
sway in her midst.
The Fountain Gate (v.15)
The next gate that was restored was the fountain gate. The
fountain gate can speak to us of the ministry of the Holy Spirit
to our lives in spiritual refreshing and restoration. After
people come through the dung gate and throw out all of the garbage
from their lives, they must come through the fountain gate where
the Word and Spirit can change them. More specifically, when a
person puts off one bad habit, he must put a new and good,
spiritual habit into his life to take its place. Gal. 5:16; Col.
3:8-10.
The following is a list of scriptures which illustrate that God
is interested in a flowing of His Spirit in the life of every
believer:
1. "Out of your belly shall flow rivers of living water. This
spoke He concerning the Spirit..." (John 7:37-39).
2. "...when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence
of the Lord..." (Acts 3:19-21).
3. "And he showed me a pure river of the water of life, clear as
crystal proceeding out of the throne of God..." (Rev.
22:1,2).
4. "And ye shall ask for rain in the time of the latter rain"
(Zechariah 10:1).
5. "And He will come unto us like the rain" (Hosea 6:3)
Since now is the time of part of the latter rain, the Church
should be asking for that rain and looking for the complete
restoration of the fountain gate.
To obtain such a rain and restoration, however, it is not
necessary to use human methods. It is only necessary to follow
divine principles and let the rain come down. To illustrate this
point see Deuteronomy 11:10-12.
The Water Gate (v. 26)
The next gate that was restored was the water gate. This gate
can speak to us of the restoration of the ministry of the water of
the Word. Ephesians 5:26 states that the Lord will cleanse the
Church through "the washing of water by the Word". Just as
Numbers 8:7 refers to the "water of purifying" for the cleansing
of the Old Testament Levitical priesthood, so Ephesians 5:26 can
be applied to the cleansing of the New Testament priesthood. As
water cleanses in the natural realm, so God's Word cleanses in the
spiritual realm.
After people come through the fountain gate of God's Spirit,
they must experience the water gate of God's Word. The Word gives
direction and parameters to the moving of the Spirit. The Word
and the Spirit must always go together (cf. water out of the rock
Numbers 31:23; 33:9; Deuteronomy 8:15; 1 Corinthians 10:4).
The Horse Gate (v. 28)
The next gate to be restored was the horse gate. The horse gate
can speak to us of two main truths. First, is the truth of the
restoration of burden bearers to the House of the Lord. Horses
bear heavy burdens too heavy for men to carry. In the same way,
God is rebuilding ministries of those who can listen, empathize,
and counsel those who have weighty problems and needs in their
lives.
Second, the horse gate can speak to us of the restoration of
holiness and death to the self-life that the Spirit is doing
today. In Scripture, the horse was many times a representation of
the carnal life and strength of man (Exodus 15:1,21; Psalm 147:10;
Jeremiah 51:21). As the Church walks through the horse gate, she
must be willing to lay aside all of her self-life and be conformed
to the image of Jesus. She must put off her own human strength
and take up God's spiritual strength.
The East Gate (v.29)
The next gate to be considered here is the east gate. The east
gate can speak to us of the final restoration of the Church and
the return of Jesus Christ to the earth for His perfected bride.
Just as the three wise men came from the east to worship the baby
Jesus (Matthew 2:1-29), so shall The Wise Man, Jesus, come from
the east. As Matthew 24:27 states, "For as he lightning cometh
out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall the
coming of the Son of man be" (cf. Revelation 7:2; 16:12).
As the Church allows God to rebuild all of these gates, in their
spiritual sense, to the Church, she can be assured that Jesus
Christ will come back for a "glorious Church without spot or
wrinkle" (Ephesians 5:27).
5. Fifth, the ministry must teach the people about their personal
responsibilities in the Church. Just as Moses gave some of the
mantle of his responsibility to those under him, so must every
leader learn how to distribute responsibility to different church
members. Nehemiah chapter 4 gives us three things with which
every leader must equip his people. They are: a tool, a weapon,
and an ear.
a. The leader must see to it that each of his members is
equipped with a tool with which he can work. Nehemiah 4:17
states, "They which built on the wall, and they that bare
burdens, with those that loaded, every one with one of his
hands wrought in the work..." Every one who built the wall
or bore a burden had a certain tool with which he worked on
the wall. Each had a different type of tool so that together
they could accomplish their task.
b. Next, every leader must see to it that each of his members is
equipped with spiritual weapons. Nehemiah 4:16-18.
These are the weapons that a Christian must learn how to use
to fight the enemy: truth, righteousness, the gospel, faith,
salvation, the Word, and prayer
Another weapon that a Christian must learn how to use is
praise. Isaiah 40:13 says, "But they that wait upon the Lord
shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as
eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall
walk, and not faint". The Lord promises Christians in this
verse that if they will wait (ie. "give service" in the
Hebrew) on Him, that He would renew their strength.
c. Finally, every leader must equip every member of his
congregation with a spiritual ear to hear the voice of God's
Spirit. Nehemiah spoke to his people in the words, "In what
place therefore ye hear the sound of the trumpet, resort ye
thither unto us: our God shall fight for us" (Nehemiah 4:20).
Likewise, all Christians need to learn how to have ears to
hear what the Holy Spirit says to the Church. Christians can
become so involved in defending the city that they lose their
ability to hear the voice of God. The voice of God to
natural Israel had been sounded through the sound of
different trumpets for many years (Numbers 10:1-10; Proverbs
20:12; 25:12; Psalm 40:6; Leviticus 25:9). Each trumpet
sound meant something different to God's people.
END of STUDY SEVEN
