Planning for Success

I'm here to tell you there is hope for a broken down life, a broken down family, a broken down church, and even a broken down community. Dr. Tony Evans explains how restoration begins with people who are willing to be used by God.

No matter what's falling apart in your life, God can rebuild it if He can find a good person with a good plan. This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans. Following a plan can be the key to turning an impossible task into an undeniable success. Today Dr. Evans reveals how when God empowers someone with a solid plan, He can bring lasting transformation to areas of life that otherwise seem beyond repair.

Let's join him as he presents this biblical hope to overcome our toughest challenges. The beauty of Nehemiah is that he takes a big problem and cuts it down the sides. We found out last time that he spent three days devising this plan. Chapter 3, then, is a detailed account of how he pulled this off, of how a man took a 150-year-old problem and fixed it in 52 days. Now what's my principle?

My principle is simply this. When God can get hold of a good man who will develop a good plan, He can cut down on the time. No matter what's falling apart in your life, God can rebuild it in less time it took you to mess it up if He can find a good person with a good plan.

And I'm here to tell you there is hope for a broken-down life, a broken-down family, a broken-down church, and even a broken-down community when God gets a good person with a good plan going about in His agenda. I want to talk about three things. I want to talk about three principles that derive from this passage. The power of cooperation, the progress of coordination, and the privilege of commendation. The first thing he did was note the power of cooperation.

And let me tell you something. All these people in chapter 3 were living in Jerusalem all the time. These aren't new imports into Jerusalem. They were there all the time. The only problem is they never hooked up. The solution was already there. Nehemiah tapped into a power source. He discovered that he didn't have to find a solution. He had to organize the existing solution. He had to take people who were doing their own independent agendas, bring them into a common purpose, unify them around that purpose, and get a job done.

And so he takes raw material that hadn't hooked up, links it up, and accomplishes a miraculous task. The power of unity. When there is unity, there is power.

And you cut time. 52 days, he solves a 150-year-old problem, because he was able to get people in a common vision. And the great challenge of our day, whether it's family, church, or community, is giving people a common agenda. Suppose all the Christians decided that they were going to create their own bank. All Christians said, all Christians, we're going to create our own bank. You would outdo nations, because guess where everybody banks? At some bank. And guess where those people who bank at some bank come from?

Out of some church. Can you imagine what churches could do if churches pulled together and created their own economic base? It would be a different ballgame.

Can you imagine what this church could do if we just created a credit union to decide that we would fund our own small businesses of people who are committed to Christ and their expertise. Nations would come to us to find out how they could work with us, because they wouldn't want to compete with this larger group. But if you never get together, you never have to worry about that. Because once you don't connect, you don't have power, you're on your own individual agenda. And you don't link up to an authoritative agenda. He understood that he could change a city, Nehemiah did, if he could only get people to what?

Hook up. Now, there are a variety of people involved in chapter 3. Now I want to look at that for a moment, because everyone is participating, but everyone is not doing the same thing. Isn't that a biblical principle about the body of Christ? That we're all members, but we all don't do the same thing? Yet one is not more important or lower in importance than another, that everyone, if they pitch in what God has given them, and this applies to us today because Peter says that we are a what? Spiritual house. That we are the family of God and the same thing that Nehemiah does in the family of Israel, the church is called to do in the family of God, erect a spiritual house. Now let's note 1st chapter 3 verse 1. The first thing we note is that the high priest was there. In fact, when you look carefully, you find the high priest all over the place. You find the high priest in verse 1. You find the high priest in verse 17.

They're called the Levite. You find the high priest in verse 22. After him, the priest. You find the high priest in verse 28.

Above the horse gate, the priest carried out repairs. The priests are there. In fact, the preacher's priests are there first, because they're the first ones on the list. Now why are the preachers leading the way in the rebuilding of this community?

I'll tell you why. Look at verse 1 of chapter 3. It says that the priests were building the sheep gate.

Now let me just pause right there. The priests were building what? The sheep gate. What came through the sheep gate? What came through the sheep gate?

That's not hard, is it? Well, the reason why the priests were at the sheep gate is because what? The sheep came, the sheep were for sacrifice, so the priests were at the sheep gate. The priests were at the sheep gate, but notice what they're doing while they're building. It says they consecrated it.

They consecrated the wall to the tower of the hundred, the tower of Haniel. Now, they are there consecrating. Why are they consecrating?

Listen to me. To keep the work having a divine perspective. They never wanted the work to degenerate into pure construction. They never wanted the work to degenerate into pure economics, politics, sociology, or education.

The work has to always be from a divine frame of reference. The priests were there to make sure people never lost sight of God, no matter what they were doing on the wall. You see, it was possible they could have been working on the wall, and that just became a construction job.

They were working on the wall, and it just became mundane work. But the priests were there to remind them, you're building the walls of God. You're fixing the gate of God. The priests were there to give them what?

A divine perspective. Whenever you're going to rebuild a community, the most important institution in that community is the church. The most important institution is not the bank. The most important institution is not the social orders or the social organizations, don't get me wrong. They're very important. In fact, they're critical, but they're not the most important institution. The most important institution is the church. Listen, we have banks galore, we have social organizations galore, yet we find ourselves still dissipating.

Why? Because the moral choices, the values that must be operating in a community, in order for it to survive, in order for businesses to stay there, in order for banks to do business there, has to be set forth by a moral agency. And what better agency is there to take care of the character of the people who live in the community than the church? There are five reasons why the church is the most strategic entity in community development and in the lives of the people who live in the community. One, it is the only social institution located in every community.

No other institution is located everywhere. Some communities don't have banks, they're so poor. Some communities don't have social organizations, but every community you can find has a church. Secondly, those people who are part of that institution gather together every week. There's no group that has a group that meets.

52 weeks out of the year, no vacations. The church is the most consistent entity in a local community. Thirdly, the church whose people meet every week has skills, gifts, and abilities that if they ever learn to use them for God, could make a difference in the community if they saw beyond their own educational purposes, their own financial desires, and looked at a common way of making a difference for God. Fourthly, those churches already have buildings. Many of the things that you need to do to turn a community around can be done out of the facilities that already exist if those facilities were used more than on Sunday and Wednesdays, but became a week fair for development, impact, for education, for actualization, for information, so that you could let the community know what God's viewpoint and standards are. The character is everything.

We need a standard, and that standard must be a measuring rod. And what the church does for a community, it doesn't try to replace a bank or replace a social entity, but what it does is it infiltrates and influences them so that they begin to make their decisions based on a proper moral code. And so the job of God's people, the church in particular, in a community is to let it be known that there are standards, there are absolutes, there are rights, there are wrongs, there is truth, there is error, to let it be known that everything is not nebulous enough for grabs.

In a world that blurs the lines, God calls His people to stand for what's right. Dr. Evans will return in just a moment to show how Nehemiah rallied others to join him in that stand, starting with some unlikely allies. It's all part of Tony's powerful teaching series, Walking Us Through the Book of Nehemiah, a rich 15-lesson study on how God brings restoration and renewal through faithful leadership and spiritual courage. We'd like to offer you all the full-length messages in this two-volume audio collection, along with our thanks when you make a generous contribution to help us keep Tony's teaching on this station. In addition to the complete Nehemiah audio series, we're excited to include an added bonus, Dr. Evans' compelling book, One Nation Under God. It's a timely, practical resource that shows how we as believers can influence our culture for good, not through politics, but through a kingdom-first approach that starts with each of us. To take advantage of this special limited-time offer, visit us today at TonyEvans.org or call us at 1-800-800-3222. That's online at TonyEvans.org or by phone at 1-800-800-3222.

Right now, let's get back to Dr. Evans with more of today's message. Nehemiah begins to pull people together. He has the priest.

Look who else he has. In verse 2, it says, And next to him were the men of Jericho. Now, I know what you're saying. So what?

Well, guess what? Jericho is located a good ways away from Jerusalem. These are the commuters.

These are people who didn't live in the neighborhood. They didn't live in Jerusalem because these were the men of Jericho. They commuted to Jerusalem to do their business and to have their circumstances.

But yet, when it came to erecting the wall and building up the citadel of God's presence, the men from Jericho showed up. What am I saying? I'm saying that there's a place in building God's status and standard not only for the people who live in the direct proximity, but for the people who commute long distance. For those people who come from the other side of town, there's a place on the wall for you.

There's a place to use your skill and your contribution. You see, the great problem we have is that people often move away from where the need is greatest. Well, that's okay as long as you're going to drive back in and let your presence be felt.

That's okay as long as you're going to come back and let the strengths that God has given you be felt where the need is greatest, where the walls are torn down and the gates are burned with fire. So we see that the men of Jericho commuted to make their presence felt. Not only that, in verse 9, officials were there. It says in the middle of the verse, the official of half the district. And if you read through here, verse 12, the official of half the district. You keep seeing in verse 14, the official of the district.

In other words, the officers were there. You see temple servants and city guards, there's room for everyone on the wall, but the idea is there must be unity to establish his mechanism of ministry to people and of impact into community. That is what God is after, but you've got to be hooked up to do it. Next, we want to look at the progress of coordination. We have the principle of cooperation, but let's look at the progress when you coordinate that.

I'm talking about organization now. Let me quote a verse to you. First Corinthians 14, 30 says, all things must be done decently and in order. Everything you do must have a plan to it if you want God to bless it. A lot of people say, well, I'm praying about it. Well, what's your plan? Show me your business plan.

I don't have one. I'm trusting the Lord. God does not bless nothingness.

God blesses something. In fact, even the death of Christ was planned because the Bible says, in the fullness of time, Jesus was born of a woman under the law. It was all planned.

When they tried to get Jesus to show his deity too early, Jesus said, my time has not yet come. It's not yet part of the plan. Now, here's the key to any plan. You make a plan like you eat an elephant in manageable sections.

Okay? If somebody said, I want you to eat this elephant, that's too big. For some of us. It's too big. It's too much elephant. So you got to get it one piece at a time. What Nehemiah does is he breaks the wall into manageable sections.

You know what they've been doing for 150 years? Saying, it's too big. The walls, all the walls are down. It's too big. Isn't that what some of us do? Our marriage is too bad. Our kids are too bad. My life is too bad. This church is too bad.

This community is too bad. Absolutely. If you're looking at the whole elephant. But if all you're dealing with is the toenail.

Now we can talk. Because you can manage a toenail. You can manage maybe a foot. You can't handle the elephant. This world is a mess. And if you look at the world, you'll say, it's too big. Now if you check out your block. If you look at the piece that you can handle.

The genius of Nehemiah is that he put a big problem in bite-sized chunks. That's all you got to do. When a couple comes to me for counseling and says, listen, we have been miserable for five years. For five years we've hardly talked to one another, barely touched one another.

For five years we have just been totally ruined and it cannot work. What they're telling me is the elephant's big. I've got to move the discussion away from how big the elephant is to how we can carve him up. How we can take the list of ten problems, work on one at a time in such a way that we can address it. Because when you do, you can take 150 years and turn it into 52 days. Because that's how long it took him to build the wall.

You can resolve problems quickly when you do them properly. So Nehemiah, Nehemiah also has a hierarchy. He has leaders of groups.

He has a number of different groups here. I need to say something to the men. Men? Men? Okay, okay.

All these lists have men's names in them. These guys were there all the time. Yeah, man, we got to do something about these walls. Walls was like that when my daddy was alive. I don't want to leave these walls like this for my kids.

These walls are down. Hey, listen to me. If you're going to rebuild a community, you've got to have some men. You've got to have some men. You've got to have, and ladies, don't get me wrong. You're still strategic.

I'm not in any way downplaying you. But I am saying that you never were supposed to do it alone. You must have some men who are going to take their place. So if you're going to rebuild families and rebuild communities, you're going to have to have men. You're going to have to have men to be surrogate fathers for fatherless males. You're going to have to have men to take their rightful place of responsibility using the gifts that God has given them.

You're going to have to have men to stop giving excuses and letting everything come first. There's a place for sports. There's a place for entertainment.

There's a place for all of that. But all of that is secondary to your manhood. Manhood is the ability to take responsibility for the challenges that you face. That's manhood.

Manhood is the guts to be responsible. And so Nehemiah got the men. The implication is the women were ready to go.

Where were the men? So he sets in progress. Nehemiah comes up with an amazing plan. Now, another thing Nehemiah did was he lined people up according to natural connectors.

For example, I mentioned this already. Verse 1 of chapter 3, we're lined up by the sheep gate because that's where they did their business, taking in the sacrifices. Well, not only that, but please notice something very, very interesting. Verse 10, we find that Jedediah made repairs opposite where? His house. You find in verse 23 that Benjamin, the two young men here, made repairs in front of their house. Verse 24, that there is repairs at the house. Verse 28, the priest carried out repairs each in front of his house.

I'm saying that that's not just dropped in there because Nehemiah didn't have anything to say. He connected them either with their profession, their skill, their interest, or their location. He gave them a reason to want to work. Now, why would you set a man near his house for three reasons?

Number one, time. He doesn't have far to go to work. So that means he can give more time to getting the job done.

And the more time he gets to get the job done, the quicker the job will get done. If a man is fixing a wall outside of his house, that's going to be a well-fixed wall. See, if he's fixing a wall that's going to protect his house, then he's going to fix that wall the best he can possibly fix it because that's his house on the line. If you're fixing a wall in front of somebody else's house, you may say, well, I hope you make out. But if it's in front of your house, if it's for your protection, if it's in front of your house, the whole family can get involved.

It can be a family enterprise. It can include everyone because it's accessible to everyone. And guess what? Around your table, that'll be a family discussion.

Dad, how's the wall going? Why? Because you keep running into it. You position people's ability in proximity to their interests. You give them something that benefits what's important to them. Or in business, they call it it's got to be a win-win deal.

You give them an investment in it. Nehemiah is a master craftsman here. You notice he keeps saying almost in every verse, verse 2, and next to him, verse 4, and next to them, verse 5, and next to him, verse 7, next to them, verse 9, next to them, verse 10, next to them, verse 12, and next to him. All through this, what is he doing? He's closing up all gaps.

Wherever somebody stopped, somebody else started. In other words, he's covering all the bases. He's making sure he's got enough help to make sure nothing is missed. As a church, we've got to do that.

We've got to look after the flock that God has given us and cover all of our bases. Sometimes you may miss a gap, but as soon as you see it, you've got to plug it in with somebody else who can come alongside. I like the word next to. Next to means come alongside. Come alongside, and that's what Christians are supposed to do.

Come alongside one another. Dr. Tony Evans, reminding us that the church is strongest when we stand beside one another and fill the gaps together. Now, don't forget, today's lesson is part of Tony's captivating series on the book of Nehemiah. And as I mentioned earlier, you can get the full-length version of all 15 messages in this two-volume audio collection when you make a donation to support our mission of spreading biblical wisdom and renewal.

Plus, as a special bonus, you'll receive Dr. Evans' insightful and practical book, One Nation Under God. Call us today to make the arrangements at 1-800-800-3222. Our resource center is open 24-7, so you can reach out any time of the day or night. Again, that's 1-800-800-3222. Or visit us online at tonyevans.org.

You'll find all the details right on the home page. Again, that's tonyevans.org. There are times when you try to fix what's broken. Only to hear people say it can't be done. But tomorrow, Dr. Evans will show how faith can be the key to success when you're up against worldly resistance and criticism. Be sure to join us for that.