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What’s Your Defense Strategy? (Nehemiah 6:1-14)

[audioplayer file=”http://thegatheringcommunity.in/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/our-defense.mp3″]

If you were asked this question “How complete is your defence against those who would side-track you?” what would your honest answer be? One thing we tend to forget as Christians is that we’re constantly in wartime. There is a battle going on! Scripture is very clear about the battle:

11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. (Ephesians 6:11-13)

[bctt tweet=”What’s Your Defense Strategy? (Nehemiah 6:1-14)” username=”gatheringmumbai”]

And this attack can come in two forms:

  1. From within (Indwelling sin)
  2. From outside (other people who distract us from doing what God calls us to do)

Therefore, it becomes very critical for us to know what our weak spots are and to also have a defense strategy in place to tackle that. And this passage from Nehemiah provides us with a good defense strategy.

1. Dedicated focus on the things of God

When word came to Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab and the rest of our enemies that I had rebuilt the wall and not a gap was left in it—though up to that time I had not set the doors in the gates— 2 Sanballat and Geshem sent me this message: “Come, let us meet together in one of the villages[a] on the plain of Ono.” But they were scheming to harm me; 3 so I sent messengers to them with this reply: “I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you?” 4 Four times they sent me the same message, and each time I gave them the same answer. (Nehemiah 6:1-4)

As the rebuilding project is almost over we see how Sanballat, Tobiah and their cohorts deceptively try to pull Nehemiah aside with the intention of harming him. They knew that if the leader of Judah was attacked, it would immediately stop the rebuilding work. So they ask Nehemiah to meet them on the plain of Ono and made it seem like it was a well-intentioned discussion among the leaders of different nations. Nehemiah suspected otherwise because these were the people who fiercely opposed him and the work in Jerusalem from the start. They consistently discouraged, despised and deceived them from continuing the work. He knew that they were pulling their last straw to get him and his people to stop the work. What is fascinating is the response Nehemiah gives to his enemies. Even if the proposed meeting was sincere and well intentioned, Nehemiah doesn’t allow the good to get in the way of the better. He says in v3: I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you.

He understood the seriousness of the task at hand and was determined to finish what God called him to do! We see a man with a single minded focus! He couldn’t afford any lapses because he knew that it would cause the entire work to stop.

What would it mean for us to have that kind of dedicated focus on the things of God? In fact we see a great deal of focus when people work out in the gym, play games or when we try to meet the deadline or sales targets but the sad truth is that we don’t show that kind of focus when it comes to God. That’s why many young people show a great deal of enthusiasm and focus to serve God until they get married. After that serving the Lord finds no place in their lives. Another thing we see is how young Christians claim to have such a burden to reach out to the lost in their city but the moment an attractive oversees job offer comes their way, they’ll abandon that calling to follow their desires. Why is it that we don’t have a dedicated focus? It’s because we lack a passion for the glory of God. There are competing desires and passions in our heart. A passion for the glory of God will drive us to have a dedicated focus on the things of God.

2. Dependence on the promises of God

Then, the fifth time, Sanballat sent his aide to me with the same message, and in his hand was an unsealed letter 6 in which was written: “It is reported among the nations—and Geshem[b] says it is true—that you and the Jews are plotting to revolt, and therefore you are building the wall. Moreover, according to these reports you are about to become their king 7 and have even appointed prophets to make this proclamation about you in Jerusalem: ‘There is a king in Judah!’ Now this report will get back to the king; so come, let us meet together.”8 I sent him this reply: “Nothing like what you are saying is happening; you are just making it up out of your head.” 9 They were all trying to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will get too weak for the work, and it will not be completed.” But I prayed, “Now strengthen my hands.” (v5-9)

Sanballat and the other enemies were trying to instil fear in the hearts of the people with this unsealed letter. Obviously nobody wants to be perceived as opposing the King. By frightening the public, they were hoping to make them stop working on the walls. In spite of these threats, Nehemiah didn’t jitter. We know that because in these verses he doesn’t react by either trying to talk to the King and sort things out or meet with Sanballat to discuss further steps. Rather he responds by rubbishing their allegations. Secondly, you see him firmly trusting in God’s plan of rebuilding the walls. (v9) This has been a consistent pattern of his life. (Neh 2:8,12,18,20; 4:20)

At all times, either good or bad, before beginning his mission or during the mission, he always turns to God for help and trusts in His providence. What would it look like for us to exemplify that kind of prayer life and trust on God’s promises? Sometimes we may think that Nehemiah was a superstar of the faith and he was able to that. The truth is we all have access to the same God. So what if we had a prayer life and a trust like his? Would that completely turn our lives around?

3. Discernment through the Word of God

One day I went to the house of Shemaiah son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetabel, who was shut in at his home. He said, “Let us meet in the house of God, inside the temple, and let us close the temple doors, because men are coming to kill you—by night they are coming to kill you.”

11 But I said, “Should a man like me run away? Or should someone like me go into the temple to save his life? I will not go!” 12 I realized that God had not sent him, but that he had prophesied against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. 13 He had been hired to intimidate me so that I would commit a sin by doing this, and then they would give me a bad name to discredit me. (v10-13)

The prophecy of Shemaiah was intended to put fear in his heart and cause him to sin because the OT law forbade people other than priests from entering the sanctuary of God (Num 18:7). If Nehemiah gave into fear, he would’ve broken the law, disobeyed God, received the taunts of the enemy and then be discredited as a godly leader of the people. And that could put all of the work to halt. Instead you see Nehemiah recognizing that Shemaiah was a false prophet because he knew what the Word said and a true prophet would not contradict God’s law and make him sin. What can we learn from this? How can we distinguish between what’s really God’s will for us and the words of a false prophet or a misguided person?

We can do that by asking two questions:

  • Does it contradict God’s Word? Scripture is the final, decisive authority to know what the will of God is. We know that from different Scriptures (Prov 30:5, 6; 2 Tim 3:16) Anybody who contradicts or rejects the teaching of Scripture cannot be considered a true prophet/reliable witness of God.
  • Does the counsel/advice lead me to love, trust and obey God? We know from John 14:15 that God is interested in the obedience of His people. A person’s love for God is characterized by his obedience. If the counsel isn’t leading us to love, trust and obey God then it’s clearly not in line with what God wants in our lives.

Therefore, it makes it ever so important to know what Scripture says in order to know the will of God.

What are the weak spots in the walls of your heart that need shoring up? It needs to be identified and then defended by dedicated focus on the things of God, dependence on the promises of God and discernment through the Word of God.

What's yourDefense Strategy- (2)

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Here’s what we do in our Gospel community meetings

At ‘The Gathering‘ we understand the importance of relationships and therefore community outside church plays a very important role in everything we do.

[bctt tweet=”Here’s what we do at our Gospel Community meetings every week.” username=”gatheringmumbai”]

As often as possible we meet with one another by hanging out in coffee shops, at ladies meet, men’s meet, lunch after church, our weekly Gospel community groups and so on. It helps us build strong bonds by speaking words of encouragement, praying, reminding one another of Gods word and sharing our joys and struggles.

I can’t tell you what a blessing it has been to me personally. I’ve grown in my faith and in my desire to seek God above everything else.

Our Gospel Community is one key connect that happens once a week. We meet at 2 different locations, in Powai, Andheri and Orlem, Malad.

We come together to worship God, study his Word, build friendships and impact the lives of others by sharing the love of Jesus.

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Sermon

Laying down our rights for the sake of the Kingdom. (Nehemiah 5:14-19)

[audioplayer file=”http://thegatheringcommunity.in/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Nehemiah-5-Generosity.mp3″]

Our text for today is Nehemiah 5:14-19.

Last week we looked at Nehemiah 5:1-13 and saw a beautiful picture of the gospel and what it expects from us. Nehemiah urges the people to forgive each other’s debts so they can all buy grains and keep their families alive so that the kingdom work can continue.

We learned that even we should be in a position to forgive those who hurt or frustrate us in words or deeds. And the reason we do that is because God forgives us of our sins and shows love in that manner. Our offense to God is not a small thing but still he chooses to forgive. We looked at three ways of how to do that –

  1. Hold back our anger
  2. Forget the hurt and show love
  3. Stop talking about them

This week we will look at how Nehemiah sets an example to the people for the extension of God’s Kingdom and also conveys a key Kingdom principle that every Christian should follow.

[bctt tweet=”Laying down our rights for the sake of the Kingdom” username=”gatheringmumbai”]

While reading this passage, I realised that it is Nehemiah who is writing these things as a personal note maybe in his personal dairy about the events that are happening during the time the wall is being built, and the whole conversation seems to be addressed towards God and not to any man because he ends the passage by saying “Remember me favourably, my God, for all that I have done for this people”.

That shows me that he is not writing these accounts to prove anything to any man, I don’t even think that Nehemiah intended that his personal notes should be displayed publicly when he was writing them down.I God in his sovereignty planned that these notes should be added to the scriptures because Nehemiah was under the influence of the Spirit of God while he wrote them.

The reason I pointed it out to you is so that we understand that these are not boastful words of Nehemiah where he is trying to show off his achievements. But they are a humble declaration to God with an expectation of a reward from God alone.

He starts by saying in v14

Moreover, from the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, until his thirty-second year—twelve years—neither I nor my brothers ate the food allotted to the governor.

One key lesson Nehemiah is teaching us is that leaders must be above reproach, proving to be examples to the flock as written in 1 Pet 5:1-4.

To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed: Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.

By all means Nehemiah had all the rights to enjoy what was offered to the Governor for his service towards the people. He rightly could have demanded a food allowance as his predecessors had done by taxing the people and then sending  servants out to collect the tax with force. The governor had a right to such an allowance, and Nehemiah could have imposed it upon the people.

But Nehemiah set aside his right to the governor’s food allowance and apparently bore these costs out of his own pocket. 

Many Christian leaders fall into the trap of thinking that their position gives them certain rights and power over the people. But when we look at Jesus as our example, we see that he laid aside all His rights, took a form of a servant and was obedient even to death on the cross.

Nehemiah gives two reasons why he started that trend for his people by laying aside his rights. First, He feared God (5:15b), and he was concerned “because the burden was heavy on this people” (5:18b). Every person who is leading and discipling another person must constantly remember that he is only a servant under God, and that he must answer to God someday. This is not “our” church; it is Christ’s church and we are just His under-shepherd. Fearing God means that we should not do things as others. We must fear God first and foremost.and, we must care about hurting people. To add to the burden of those who are already burdened would be insensitive and unloving.

Second; in doing so Nehemiah was setting an example of putting the work of God ahead of his own personal interest.

Another similar example in the bible is Paul, a man I personally admire the most and desire to follow in his footsteps. In 1 Cor 9:1-15 he writes

Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?Are you not the result of my work in the Lord?

Even though I may not be an apostle to others, surely I am to you! For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

This is my defense to those who sit in judgment on me. Don’t we have the right to food and drink? Don’t we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas? Or is it only I and Barnabas who lack the right to not work for a living?

Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyardand does not eat its grapes? Who tends a flock and does not drink the milk? Do I say this merely on human authority? Doesn’t the Law say the same thing? For it is written in the Law of Moses: “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.”  Is it about oxen that God is concerned? Surely he says this for us, doesn’t he? Yes, this was written for us, because whoever plows and threshes should be able to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest. If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? If others have this right of support from you, shouldn’t we have it all the more?

But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ.

Don’t you know that those who serve in the temple get their food from the temple, and that those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar? In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.

But I have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing this in the hope that you will do such things for me, for I would rather die than allow anyone to deprive me of this boast.

I am not trying to argue whether ministers should be supported financially or not. (I want you to hear what I say and not what I don’t say) It is all a question of what is better for the cause of the gospel and the extension of His kingdom.

If it is better for a minister to be able to devote himself full time to the care and teaching of God’s people, he should be supported. And there is nothing wrong about it.

But if it is better for him not to be supported that way, he shouldn’t.

There is something wrong with a minister who will only minister to God’s people if the money is right.

Nehemiah decided to lay down his rights for food allowance and other benefits because that was a better option to consider since the bondage was heavy on the people.

[bctt tweet=”This passage conveys a Kingdom principle that is applicable to every Christian.” username=”gatheringmumbai”]

I believe that Nehemiah & Paul is not just setting an example as a leader to other leaders but they are also conveying a Kingdom principle that is applicable to every Christian.

We read that in Phil 2

Read Phil 2:1-4

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit,if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

The principle is “Let each of you look not only to his own interest, but also to the interests of others

And it points back to the gospel again in the following verses.

We see this principle in action in the book of Acts 2:44-45 ….. people were concerned about each other’s needs instead of holding back their money and possession and looking at their own interest. The result was v46-47 A growing church.

In the light of what we heard today lets search our hearts. What is that growing concern about the Kingdom of God that bothers you time and again? Like for example – It could be a concern for the lost and unsaved people of the world, it could be a concern for the state of the churches around us, it could be a concern for the orphans and the under privileged children in our city, it could be a concern for the widows and the aged people who are left on their own without any love and care, it could be a concern for the sick people who have lost hope. And what is it that God is asking you in particular to lay down and make a difference.

Nehemiah didn’t just lay down his rights but he gave out of his own pocket. And he did not give only his money and food but also gave himself for the service of the people.     

What is it that God is asking you to do? And to what extent are you willing to go to fulfill that call?

The Story of Eric Liddell is a beautiful example of a man who sacrificed and gave away his rights for the sake of the Kingdom.

One interesting thing I want to point out at the end of the passage is that Nehemiah was not working for man’s applause, but for God’s “well done.”

V19 – Remember me favorably, my God, for all that I have done for this people.

Matthew Henry (Matthew Henry’s Commentary [Scripture Truth Book Company], 2:1085) writes, “He mentions it to God in prayer not as if he thought he had hereby merited any favor from God, as a debt, but to show that he looked not for any recompense of his generosity from men, but depended upon God only to make up to him what he had lost and laid out for his honor; and he reckoned the favor of God enough.” We all should labor for God’s approval and reckon it enough, even if people do not say ’thanks’.

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If God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (Nehemiah 5:1-13)

[audioplayer file=”http://thegatheringcommunity.in/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/forgive-one-another.mp3″]

Out text for this Sunday is from the book of Nehemiah 5:1-13.

We are looking at the story of Nehemiah who when he hears the sad condition of his people leaves the King’s palace where he was working as a cup bearer to help his people build the broken wall so they can live with freedom and security.

In the last few weeks we saw how Nehemiah and the people of Israel regardless of the opposition and threat from the enemy continue to remain faithful to Gods calling. Last Sunday we learnt that to remain faithful to the Kingdom we have to trust in God’s sovereignty, continue to remain together in community and guard our hearts against the evil schemes of the enemy that distract us from serving Him faithfully.

In Nehemiah chapter 5 we see a change in the plot. After wrestling with opposition from their enemies outside and inside who were against them building the wall, now the focus shifts to a more serious issue. The issue now is that the people are not able to get enough grain to feed their families and keep them alive.

It is not because there was no food supply in the city but because they did not have enough money to buy them from the vendors.

To give you a background, in those days the people had to pay high taxes to the King.

Ezra 4:20And mighty kings had been over Jerusalem, who ruled over the whole province Beyond the River, to whom tribute, custom, and toll were paid.

One of the reason the kings were against the building of the walls were because they feared the people wouldn’t pay the taxes if the city walls are built.

Ezra 4:13Now be it known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and the walls finished, they will not pay tribute, custom, or toll, and the royal revenue will be impaired.

Documents from Babylonia show that many had to mortgage their fields and orchards to get silver for the payment of taxes to the king. In many cases they were unable to redeem their property, and became landless hired laborers; sometimes they were compelled to give away their children into slavery. According to some Egyptian data, the taxation was so heavy that the peasants fled to the surrounding cities, but were arrested by the nomarchs and brought back by force.

Nehemiah 5:2-5 is describing the same situation for us.

For there were those who said, “With our sons and our daughters, we are many. So let us get grain that we may eat and keep alive.” There were also those who said, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards, and our houses to get grain because of the famine.” And there were those who said, “We have borrowed money for the king’s tax on our fields and our vineyards. Now our flesh is as the flesh of our brothers, our children are as their children. Yet we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves and some of our daughters have already been enslaved, but it is not in our power to help it, for other men have our fields and our vineyards.”

On the heels of unity as described in chapter 4, because of oppression from outside and inside, poverty was rampant now in the land. Nehemiah was calling on the officials to stop the unlawful practice of exacting interest and return the fields, their vineyards, their olive orchards, and their houses, and the percentage of money, grain, wine, and oil that they’ve have been exacting from them.

This act was creating anger within him v.6 and he had to check his spirit.

Here’s a people of God who came out of slavery & exile, united back because of Nehemiah to build the walls, working together for one purpose but yet we now see those who still seek their own welfare in a clear case of exploitation.

What do we learn from this passage?

Of course the easy application is that we shouldn’t charge crippling interest to the people of God or any people for that matter, (In what regards?) but I want us to look at this passage from a slightly different view.

Here’s the picture I want to paint for you – The people legally had an obligation to pay back their debt to the King by whatever means, but a godly man called Nehemiah, sacrifices his own comfort, his own pleasures, invests his own money and resources to come and fight for these people so they can have secured and a bright future. And in return Nehemiah is now pleading with the people to do the same with each other to forgive debts, stop taking interest, return the fields, the vineyards, money etc.

[bctt tweet=”Nehemiah 5:1-13 paints a beautiful picture of what the gospel does & what it expects.” username=”gatheringmumbai”]

I think it’s a beautiful picture of the gospel – what it does to us & what it expects from us.

Think about it – We legally owe a debt to God because of our sin, but He sent His own son Jesus to pay our debt and to restore our relation back to God and one another. And now he expects us to do the same with others so that the work of the Kingdom can continue.

Now, let’s turn to Matthew 18:21-35 where Jesus shares a similar story and is talking about the same application I just shared with you.

In the light of these 2 stories first and foremost I want to spend some time talking about what it means to be indebted to God so we can have an overall perspective of what it means to forgive others.

We’re not talking about some man who gave us few lakhs of rupees so we can make a fortune out of it and give it back to him. We’re talking about God, the maker of the universe. They say that the visible universe contains 10,000 billion galaxies, each one of these galaxies contains about 100 billion stars.

Our sun is one of the stars from one of those galaxies. The very closest star to our solar system, Alpha Centauri, would take 4.3 years to travel to at the speed of light. Our earth is a tiny little planet that revolves around this sun and we are literally like bacteria living on this planet.

Here’s why I wanted to give this picture, I want you to know that we are talking about someone to whom we owe everything, our mere existence is a mercy of God. No matter what we do we can never ever pay Him back anything.
A God who was there from eternity one day decided to create the world and us. And why did he create the world and us?

I love the way Timothy Keller answers this question in his book Center church.

He says “The answer is what makes the Christian understanding of God profound and unique. While there is only one God, within God’s being there are three persons – Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit – who are equally God and who have loved, adored, served, and enjoyed one another from all eternity. If God were uni-personal, then he would have not known love until he created other beings. In that case, love and community would not have been essential to his character; it would have emerged later. But God is triune, and therefore love, friendship, and community are intrinsic to him and at the heart of all reality. So a triune God created us (John 1:1-4), but he would not have created us to get the joy of mutual love and service, because he already had that. Rather, he created us to share in his love and service and to live in the same way with one another.”

[bctt tweet=”God created us to share in his love and service and to live in the same way with one another.” username=”gatheringmumbai”]

God created us to adore and serve him and to love others. By living this way, we would have been completely happy and enjoyed a perfect world. But instead, the whole human race turned away from God, rebelling against his authority. Instead of living for God and our neighbors, we live lives of self-centeredness. Because our relationship with God has broken, all other relationships – with other human beings, with our very selves, and with the created world – are also ruptured.

We owe God a lot that we can never repay him back.

God has all the reason to wipe us out and he can do it in an instance. All he has to do is change the settings of this universe to maybe .000000000000001%. We will be gone at the wink of an eye. No time to even feel bad or cry for each other.

But here’s the beautiful thing. God didn’t just create us for his pleasure but the Bible says he loves us, he made us in His own image. Because Love is His character he couldn’t see us in our sinfulness.

Ephesians 2:4-5But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved.

1 John 4:9-11In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

That’s the point I want to drive you to this morning. “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”

How can we not forgive one another when we ourselves have been forgiven of our own sins?

I don’t want to know how badly somebody hurt you because one thing is for sure that it can’t be more worse than our offence towards God. We have terribly hurt God with our self-centeredness, rebellion and unholy ways, and we continue to do them every single day.

Yet he says “If you confess your sins, I am faithful and just and will forgive your sins and purify you from all righteousness” – 1 John 1:9 “Repent, then, and turn to me, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from me” – Acts 3:19

So, let’s learn to forgive others just as God has forgiven us.

When Nehemiah said to the people in verse 9 onwards

“The thing that you are doing is not good. Ought you not to walk in the fear of our God to prevent the taunts of the nations our enemies? 10 Moreover, I and my brothers and my servants are lending them money and grain. Let us abandon this exacting of interest. 11 Return to them this very day their fields, their vineyards, their olive orchards, and their houses, and the percentage of money, grain, wine, and oil that you have been exacting from them.” 12 Then they said, “We will restore these and require nothing from them. We will do as you say.” And I called the priests and made them swear to do as they had promised. 13 I also shook out the fold of my garment and said, “So may God shake out every man from his house and from his labor who does not keep this promise. So may he be shaken out and emptied.” And all the assembly said “Amen” and praised the Lord. And the people did as they had promised.

I believe God is calling us to do some serious thinking here and to take some drastic steps. And as we step out in obedience and forgive one another, love one another and live in peace for the sake of Gods kingdom – Can we respond to our offenders as God responded to us.

1. Can we hold back anger and respond in Love?

V6 – Nehemiah took counsel with himself = Literally translated, “He dominated his feelings” == He was angry, but he didn’t respond out of his anger.

God did not respond to our sins in anger. David beautifully says in Psalms 103:10 “He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.”

Can we also hold back our anger and respond in love towards one another as God responds to us?

2. Can we forget the feelings of hurt and respond in Love?

In Psalms 103:11-12 David says “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.”

Here’s an interesting thing about that verse –

If you drive to south to the South Pole, then begin driving north till you reached the North Pole, you can travel south again to your starting point. However, you could travel around the world millions of time going east, reaching your starting point over and over without ever driving in any direction but east. You will realize that though there is a South Pole and a North Pole, there is no East Pole and no West Pole. There is no place at which east meets west.

And that’s how far God has removed our transgressions.

Though it is difficult to completely forget what others have done to us, it is definitely possible to forget the feeling and embrace with love.

3. Now that we’ve learnt about forgetting the feeling of hurt can we also stop talking about it anymore and speak positive words?

After all that we have done against God, He still chooses to speak words of encouragement and promises a great future. Isn’t it? And shouldn’t we do the same?

Remember, our words play a very important role. They can be used to show love and affection and also to destroy a person to the core.

Gossip is one of the most harmful sins that we Christians have been neglecting and we have to stop it so that God can heal our wounds and use us for His glory.

There is no point in talking about what happened in the past because what is ahead of us is more glorious and beautiful. So let’s concentrate our energies toward the future.

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How do we remain faithful to the Kingdom work in the face of opposition? (Nehemiah 4:15-23)

[audioplayer file=”http://thegatheringcommunity.in/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/remianing-faithful-final.mp3″]

In the last few sermons on the book of Nehemiah, we talked about the theology of opposition. We learned that when we step out in Obedience to Gods calling and purposes we will face opposition and persecution.

Jesus said if they persecuted me they will persecute you but he also said “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Last Sunday, Jinson shared on the priority of prayer and what it means to be in a promise filled partnership with God. He spoke on the enormity of the problem Nehemiah and the people of Israel had to face, the nerve-racking threat from the enemy and the discouragement that came especially from their own people.

This Sunday we’re going to talk about the practicality of how we live in the light of the things we learnt so far. The question we will answer today is “How do we remain faithful to the Kingdom work even in the face of opposition?

The battle is real, the opposition is tough, the persecution is evident.

For some of you, the battle is against your own flesh. Though you want to live a righteous and an obedient life as per the scriptures, you often end up giving in to your flesh and the worldly cravings that suck the life out of you and leave you with guilt and condemnation. You disqualify yourself from Gods calling and never reach your full potential in life.

For some the battle is against your own people who fail to understand Gods calling upon your life and often stand as a hindrance in your way. They call you names, they discourage you, they mock at you and instead of living a victorious life you give in to those discouragements and stop pursing what God wants from you.

For some of you the battle is against sickness or financial crisis that make you feel disabled and worthless for the Kingdom work.

And here’s this question in front of us today even as we go through these real struggles in life. “How do we remain faithful to the kingdom work in the face of opposition, discouragement, lack, poverty, sinful cravings, hindrances from our own people, sickness etc?”

The people of Israel in the story of Nehemiah are facing a real battle just like all of us. They are surrounded by not one but many enemies who want them dead and don’t want to see them build the wall or want them to prosper. The lives of their women and children are in danger. They’re facing constant discouragements, mocking and insults thrown at them.

But against all odds, discouragements and threat they still manage to faithfully work for the Kingdom of God.

I believe the text for today from Nehemiah 4:15-23 has some key lessons that we can learn from and apply in our lives as we face opposition and yet want to continue working for the Kingdom.

The very first thing that pops out of those verses is that the people return to work with the knowledge of who God is and a confidence (faith) in Him.

v15 – When our enemies heard that it was known to us and that God had frustrated their plan, we all returned to the wall, each to his work.

Their trust in God’s sovereignty and power motivated them to get back to work with full assurance in their heart that God will give them success.

When we remember who the Lord is and begin to see Him correctly, that shapes everything. Our perspective changes, our response changes.

The Lord is the one who frustrated the enemy’s plans and that changed everything from the people’s perspective to their response, to the way they lived.

In the face of opposition and discouragements, we must always remind ourselves that God is fighting our battles, therefore we have to live and depend on His sovereignty and not on our abilities.

No matter how pitiful or harsh your situation is God still loves you because you are His child. Remember when we were yet sinners God loved us not because we were perfect and obedient. More than 2000 years back God sent his son Jesus to die on behalf of our sins, past, present & future. The day we believed and put our trust in what Jesus accomplished for us on the cross we were adopted into Gods family just the way he found us.

Just recently we had witnessed an American family from Missouri adopt a child from an orphanage in Pune. They already have 2 children of their own but still chose to adopt this beautiful boy. I just can’t explain the joy I felt to see the whole process; it reminded me of God adopting us into his great big family.

In Psalms 40:2 King David writes “He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along.”

In times of despair we have to remind ourselves of who God is, what he has done for us, who he has made us to be.

Jer 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare[a] and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” That’s who our God is.

Remember God is in complete control of our lives and he is working out something beautiful in all of us even through times of failure, discouragements, opposition and calamity.

The people of God trusted in his sovereignty and His ability to give success and got back to work with full assurance in their heart that God will give them success.

Are we willing to trust in God’s sovereignty?

Hudson Taylor, a missionary from China in the year 1832 was one day in a sailboat and the captain of the boat came to him. They were just off the coast of Sumatra and there was no wind, and the boat was drifting towards an island. And the captain came and knocked on the door of Hudson Taylor and said to him the boat was drifting, there was no wind, and this island was thought to be inhabited by cannibals. And Hudson Taylor said to him, “What do you want me to do?” And the captain said, “ I hear you’re a man of God, and I want you to pray, and pray for wind.” And Hudson Taylor says, “Well, all right. But I want you to put the sails up.” And the captain said, “Well, my sailors will think I’m crazy, because there’s absolutely no wind at all!” But Hudson Taylor insisted that he put the sails up. Thirty minutes later there was a knock on the door, and the captain was saying, “You can stop praying now, because we’ve got more wind than we know what to do with!”

It’s a beautiful story of a man who knew who his God was; he knew that God will answer his prayers.

Do we know our God?

In times of difficulty are we willing to put our trust in the God who never sleeps, never slumbers? In The God who promised ‘I will never leave you never forsake you’? Do you believe that he is working on you just like the goldsmith works on the ore till he gets to see his own reflection and brings out pure gold.

The second thing we see in the text is that the people stayed together & worked together in community.

v16 – From that day on, half of my servants worked on construction, and half held the spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail. And the leaders stood behind the whole house of Judah

v19 – And I said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “The work is great and widely spread, and we are separated on the wall, far from one another. 20 In the place where you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.”

They stayed together, they built together, they fought together.

I don’t think I need to emphasize too much on this point because one of the things I really cherish and appreciate about ‘The Gathering Community Church’ is our sense of community, the way we love and care for one another, our openness to share our struggles with one another and pray with one another.

I love my meetings with Jinson and Aslem every Thursday. I am so blessed to have brothers with whom I can share my life and find encouragement from each other.

It is encouraging to see the girls connect every Wednesdays where they have grown into friendship and show genuine love and care for each other.

It is beautiful to be a part a community that loves and cares for each other and the benefits are fulfilling.

1. Community challenges us to be more like Jesus
2. Community meets practical needs
3. Community carries us emotionally
4. Community reveals our gifts and talents
5. Community opens our eyes to the needs of others
6. Community empowers our relationship with God
7. Community meets our need for love
8. Community offers opportunities for confession which leads to healing
9. Community teaches us to work through conflicts
10. Community gives us the chance to forgive

Let’s continue to intentionally stay together and build each other even when we grow in numbers.

The third and the final thing that we see in those verses is that they fought and was on guard against the plots of the enemy.

V17 – Those who carried burdens were loaded in such a way that each labored on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other.


v18 – And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built.

Along with trusting in God’s sovereignty and being in a community, it is also important to remember that we need to constantly guard our hearts if we want to continue working for the Kingdom.

Luke 6:45

The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

Colossians 3:5

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

When we think about the work that needs to be accomplished we must get rid of the myth of neutrality — — we must remember that there’s no standing still. We’re either gaining ground or we’re losing ground. There is no neutral.

Nehemiah’s skill was to plan for realistic events, the possibility of certain things that were about to happen…the lookouts that he had, the way he prepared the people for battle. In verse 23, right at the end:

“Neither I nor my brothers nor my servants nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us took off our clothes; each kept his weapon at his right hand.”

Even at night they were prepared. They were prepared by day; they were prepared by night. He had a trumpeter who stayed by Nehemiah’s side the whole time so that wherever there might be a threat of an incursion into the city the trumpeter would blast his trumpet, and they would come running to the sound of that trumpet. Wherever they would hear that sound, they were to run there in order to defend that part of the city. It’s not just organization, its preparation.

The question I want us to answer today is “What are some of the practical things we’re doing to guard ourselves against to keep us from deviating from the task at hand?”

Since we’re talking about guarding our heart I want to take some time out and talk a bit about Spiritual disciplines.

I believe one of the ways we can guard our hearts is by cultivating spiritual disciplines.

Let me define what Spiritual disciple is.

Discipline in general is defined as “training expected to produce a specific character or pattern of behavior.” It is a natural component of the Christian life. In fact, almost nothing of any significance in our lives is ever accomplished without it. Spiritual disciplines can be described as those behaviors that augment our spiritual growth and enable us to grow to spiritual maturity. This process of spiritual growth and development begins to take place the moment a person encounters the risen Christ and comes to Him for salvation.

The purpose of spiritual discipline is to develop our inner being, that which has been transformed by Christ at salvation.

“A Spiritual Discipline is an intentionally directed action which places us in a position to receive from God the power to do what we cannot accomplish on our own…. The deep waters of God’s life are already flowing. We simply learn the strokes that will enable us more and more to be at home in them…. The human body is our power-pack of mind-body-spirit — we discipline it in order to practice cooperation with God. (Life with God, p. 135-137)”
― Richard Foster, a Christian theologian.

Remember our Lord Jesus when he was on the earth practiced and taught spiritual disciplines. He fasted for 40 days and 40 nights before stepping into ministry, he would often go away into solitude to talk to God, he regularly prayed, he memorized scriptures and often quoted from the old testament to prove his point.

Daniel in the Old testament prayed for 3 times in a day and was willing to die in the Lion’s den when the King and the officials passed an order to stop praying to any other God except to the idol of Nebucanezzar.

Paul often instructed the people of God to follow Spiritual disciplines.

1 Tim 4:7 – Train yourself in Godliness
Phil 2:12 – Work out your salvation with fear and trembling
Rom 15:30 – Strive together with me in prayer
1 Pet 2:11 – Abstain from sinful desires which war against your soul.

As parents one of the things we want to cultivate in our children is to have spiritual discipline in their lives and therefore we have incorporated prayer, bible reading & waiting on the Lord as part of their daily schedule.

So as I close in, let me list down some of the Spiritual disciplines that you may want to incorporate in your daily schedule as we have talked about guarding our hearts against the plots of enemy and moving forward in working for the kingdom with zeal and passion.

Solitude, Fasting, Worship, Prayer, Fellowship, Confession, Journalizing, Sacrificial living etc.

Categories
Sermon

A promise filled partnership with God. (Nehemiah 4:9-14)

Nehemiah 4:9-14

And we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night. In Judah it was said, “The strength of those who bear the burdens is failing. There is too much rubble. By ourselves we will not be able to rebuild the wall.” And our enemies said, “They will not know or see till we come among them and kill them and stop the work.” At that time the Jews who lived near them came from all directions and said to us ten times, “You must return to us.” So in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in open places, I stationed the people by their clans, with their swords, their spears, and their bows. And I looked and arose and said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.”

Background to the text: The story of Nehemiah starts out by mentioning the great trouble and shame that came upon the Israelites because the city walls were broken and the gates were destroyed by fire. On hearing this news, Nehemiah fasts and weeps for many days confessing his sins and the sins of the people. He knew that the reason why they were in trouble was because of the sins of the people. The walls were a mirror image of the condition of their hearts. The hearts of the people were far away from God.

In the midst of that God calls Nehemiah out of his life of comfort to lead the people back to God. God provides favor in the eyes of the King, he approves of the rebuilding plan and the Jews finally after 150 years start rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. You can imagine how big a deal it was for them! Two weeks back we looked at the first eight verses of Chapter 4 where we find a lot of opposition to the rebuilding work.

The enemy cities around Jerusalem taunted them and plotted ways to hinder the work. We learnt that there’s always a cost when it comes to obeying God’s Word. There is opposition from within – your own flesh and there’s opposition on the outside – when you’re persecuted and insulted. We need to be a community of Jesus followers willing to pay the cost for being obedient to God.

Today we’ll be looking through verses 9-14 of Chapter 4. I believe the text teaches us two things:

1. The priority of prayer
2. What it means to be in a Promise filled Partnership with God

The Priority of Prayer

V8 And they all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it. 9 And we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night.

In verses 8, we see how the enemy nations get together and plot against the Jews to distract them from rebuilding the walls. They were furious when they came to know that the walls were being rebuilt. They concluded that the elevation of Jerusalem meant the depression of their state and an insult to their national dignity. They couldn’t allow that to happen so they began to plot and scheme.

V9 says that in response to that Jerusalem prayed to God!

In the previous chapters, we’ve already seen how Nehemiah turned to God in prayer at every point. Now it’s beginning to rub off on the Israelites as well.

Genuine faith is always contagious!

Why did they have to pray in the first place? Didn’t God already know that they were facing severe opposition? Doesn’t Jesus say that “Your Father knows what you need before you ask him”? (Matt 6:8) What happens when we pray? I think it’s a good time to remind ourselves about the doctrine of prayer.

The truth is that God doesn’t want us to pray so that he can find out what we need. He already knows. He wants us to pray so that our dependence on Him can increase. When we approach God in prayer, we express a trust in Him, that God hears and answers our prayers. That’s why Jesus compares our prayers to a child asking his father for a fish or an egg (Lk 11:9-11). A child expects and trusts his father to provide for his needs. Similarly we ought to expect, in faith that God will provide for us. Our dependency on God increases through prayer.

Secondly, God does not only desire that our trust in Him grows through prayer, but He also wants our love and our relationship with Him to deepen. What happens when we truly pray is that the wholeness of our character relates to the wholeness of God’s character. What I mean by that is that everything we think and feel about God also gets communicated while praying to God. This in turn will deepen our love and understanding of God, and therefore deepens our relationship with Him. God absolutely delights in that! And God loves that! He delights that you make much of Him as you pray!

Lastly, what happens when we pray is that it allows us to be participants of a story that is bigger than our own. Through prayer, we are aligned to God’s kingdom purposes that have eternal significance. Isn’t that what Jesus referred to when he prayed the Lord’s prayer: “Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. It’s not without reason that great revivals broke out of an intense time of prayer.

Prayer is THE thing for a believer in Christ. Your dependence of God increases, your love and relationship with Him grows and it realigns you to God’s will and gives you a burden for eternal purposes. I like one definition that I heard about prayer: Prayer is a very important vehicle through which God accomplishes His purposes through our lives!

How often have we viewed “prayer” as something so vital and indispensable to the Christian walk? Why do you go to God in prayer? Do you seek to depend more on God, trust Him more fully, deepen your love relationship with Him and align your life to God’s will through prayer?

And I think the phrase “we prayed to our God” should push us to also focus on corporate prayer. When a brother or a sister in the Lord shares a struggle, when we think about the lost in the city, when we think about growing in our love for Christ, does it move us to pray as a church?

Prayer must be a priority for a Christian both personally and corporately!

What it means to be in a Promise filled Partnership with God

Now we’ll come across three different types of challenges that we face while trying to do what God has asked us to do. I’ll list down the three challenges and then we’ll look at the faithful response to those challenges:

1) The enormity of the problem

In Judah it was said, “The strength of those who bear the burdens is failing. There is too much rubble. By ourselves we will not be able to rebuild the wall.” (v10)

They suddenly realized that the vigor and strength of the porters who carried the load were wavering. They were becoming weaker. They saw the debris on the ground and they were like “we can’t do this! It’s impossible.”

Have we been in a similar place before? You’re looking at the circumstance around you and you feel defeated. The problem is too huge to be fixed. Maybe it’s a struggle with sin, you’ve tried different ways of removing and controlling it, but you’re left helpless and defeated. You respond by “I can’t do this. It’s impossible”. Maybe you’re crushed by the weight of the task to reach the lost. You look around you at 23 million people and it leaves you feeling perplexed and discouraged. Maybe it’s a broken relationship with a family member or a friend, you don’t think there’s a possibility of seeing that relationship restored and so you’ve given up. The problem is enormous!

2) The threat of the enemy

11 And our enemies said, “They will not know or see till we come among them and kill them and stop the work.”

The enemy’s plan was to secretly surprise and invade the Israelites as they were building the walls. By killing the Jews, the work would inevitably stop. That was their aim. Just think about the Israelites, what were they risking in the rebuilding process? Their own lives!What would happen if someone threatened you because of your faith? You’re living out your faith radically but that doesn’t settle too well with some people. Have you considered that cost of following Jesus? Maybe it’s not physical persecution in your case but what about social and psychological persecution. What would happen if you were threatened to be removed from your circle of friends because of your love for Jesus? Or being mocked and insulted for being a Jesus follower?

What would happen if someone threatened you because of your faith? You’re living out your faith radically but that doesn’t settle too well with some people. Have you considered that cost of following Jesus? Maybe it’s not physical persecution in your case but what about social and psychological persecution. What would happen if you were threatened to be removed from your circle of friends because of your love for Jesus? Or being mocked and insulted for being a Jesus follower?What about persecution in your college or workplace? What if obedience to Christ cost you your job or your studies? You were trying to share your faith but it didn’t go down well with the management. These threats hit us at the core of our faith because of the cost involved.

What about persecution in your college or workplace? What if obedience to Christ cost you your job or your studies? You were trying to share your faith but it didn’t go down well with the management. These threats hit us at the core of our faith because of the cost involved.

3) The discouragement from family and friends

At that time the Jews who lived near them came from all directions and said to us ten times, “You must return to us.”(v12)

Ten times! Ten times family members and friends of the Jews who heard these enemy threats came and tried to persuade the Israelites to quit and return back from to safety.

I think one of the hardest things to deal with is the discouragement we receive from family and our close friends. You’re trying to live out your faith in obedience and the people who have a lot of influence over you are trying to pull you away. The pressure is immense because they’re the ones who’ve poured into you, invested in your life and supported you. Sometimes it’s out of a genuine concern but in reality it is a discouragement from being obedient to God. Just imagine being put in a position where you’re confronted by your family & your only response is that you need to be obedient to God. In other words you’re put in a spot where there’s no other explanation or reason to their questions except that you want to be obedient to God. How hard is that? I know of many cases where family was their breaking point in obedience to God.

And this is how they responded to the enormity of the problem, the threat of the enemy and the discouragement from family and friends:So in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in open places, I stationed the people by their clans, with their swords, their spears, and their bows. 14 And I looked and arose and said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.”

So in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in open places, I stationed the people by their clans, with their swords, their spears, and their bows. 14 And I looked and arose and said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.

Nehemiah reminds them of who God is! He tells them to recall and bring to mind who God is and what He has done for them. We end up having a skewed understanding about the character of God due to our sin. That was the impact of the fall when Adam and Eve sinned. They questioned and doubted the goodness of God and thought he was withholding something good from them by telling them not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Similarly, all of our unbelief stems from a wrong understanding of God. So what can change that? God’s character and promises! We need to be frequently reminded because we’re professional forgetters.

You may think you can’t have victory over your sin, you probably feel weighed down by the enormous task of the mission, or the helplessness with respect to seeing that broken relationship restored…God is great and awesome! He’s bigger than your situation. “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?” (Jer 32:27)You might be facing severe threats from enemies who don’t want you to be obeying God. The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. (Ps 18:2)

And the same goes with the discouragement that comes from family. When the people closest to us seem distant, the reminder is that “Our God will never leave us, nor forsake us”.

Lastly, I find it interesting that Nehemiah said “and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes”. There was prayer, there was a reminder of God’s character and promises but let’s not forget that there was also a fight! Active involvement of the Israelites was required.And that’s one of the key things about the Christian life. It is a partnership with God. More specifically, it is a responsive partnership! There is a responsibility on our part but it is always responsive! That’s how God designed it to be. For eg: God commands us to do something and as responsive partners we obey. In fact it was this partnership that was majorly affected in the Fall. Man no longer wanted to be in a partnership with God. He wanted to be independent of God thus bringing the wrath of God upon himself. But God is so loving that He sent His one and only Son to die in our place to satisfy the wrath of God. God saves us by sending Jesus to die on the cross and in response we put our trust in Jesus. God reveals His glory and in response we worship! Even in the challenges that were mentioned today: struggle with sin, broken relationships, weight of the mission, tough circumstances that you’re facing, threats of the enemy and the

And that’s one of the key things about the Christian life. It is a partnership with God. More specifically, it is a responsive partnership! There is a responsibility on our part but it is always responsive! That’s how God designed it to be. For eg: God commands us to do something and as responsive partners we obey. In fact it was this partnership that was majorly affected in the Fall. Man no longer wanted to be in a partnership with God. He wanted to be independent of God thus bringing the wrath of God upon himself. But God is so loving that He sent His one and only Son to die in our place to satisfy the wrath of God. God saves us by sending Jesus to die on the cross and in response we put our trust in Jesus. God reveals His glory and in response we worship! Even in the challenges that were mentioned today: struggle with sin, broken relationships, weight of the mission, tough circumstances that you’re facing, threats of the enemy and the discouragement from family and friends…know that even at this point God wants you to be actively involved. You are still a responsive partner. There is a fight!

You’ll need to fight for your faith. Fight for your purity. Fight to seek restoration in relationships. Fight to continue being missional. Fight to not quit while facing threats. Fight to honor God even when your family pressurizes you.

I’m not advocating a self-effort Christianity but also neither do I want to swing to the other extreme and use the grace and power of God as an excuse to exempt us from actively “working out our salvation”. God empowers us to obedience, a process in which we’re actively involved as responsive partners.Where specifically in your life is God asking you to be a responsive partner today? What do you need to fight for today?

Where specifically in your life is God asking you to be a responsive partner today? What do you need to fight for today?Let our study on the priority of prayer and the meaning of being in a Promise filled Responsive partnership with God change the way we respond to God this week.

Let our study on the priority of prayer and the meaning of being in a Promise filled Responsive partnership with God change the way we respond to God this week.