Author: Saju Joseph

This sermon is part of the Expository Preaching Collective on the Book of Nehemiah. Follow the link below to know more about What Expository preaching is and Why is it important to us. (Click here)[/otw_shortcode_info_box]

Our text for today is from Nehemiah 8:1-8.

Let me give you a brief background of the story before jumping into the text.

God’s people lived in disobedience to His Laws and rebels against Him. Instead of worshiping the one true God they started worshiping man-made gods; and God gave them away into the hands of their enemy.

In the year 586 BC Jerusalem was destroyed and the temple of God was burned down by the enemy nation. Men, women and children were taken captives and given to slavery. They were taken away from their land and the walls that protected them were broken down.

But then 70 years later God brings them back to Jerusalem.

Last Sunday we looked at why God gathers His people. He brings them back to re-establish His worship because He zealously desires His worship above everything else and He pursues us lovingly.

He calls a man called Nehemiah and assigns him the task of re-building the walls of Jerusalem so that the people are protected and secure.

Against all the opposition and trouble Nehemiah with God’s help completes the re-building of the wall in 52 days. It couldn’t have been accomplished without the help of God.

We also learnt how the story of Nehemiah is a reflection of God’s redemptive work through His son Jesus Christ.

When God created the first man and women they sinned against Him and rebelled against His authority. In return God gave them away to Sin. And therefore every human being born in this world is born sinful, without a relationship with God who is our heavenly Father.

Because of Sin we deserved death – Romans 6:23

We became salves to Sin – John 8:34

God was unable to relate with us because of our fallen state.

But the good news is that God still loved us and to mend this broken relationship He sent His only begotten son Jesus Christ to died in our place for our Sin.

Romans 5:8 says “God demonstrates His own love for us in this; while we were still sinners Christ died for us”

John 3:16 says “For God so loved the world He gave His only son Jesus, to die in our place for our sinfulness”

Whoever believes in Jesus will not perish but have eternal life is what God promises.

Yes, Jesus died in our place. But on the third day he rose again defeating death and is now seated on the right hand of the Father interceding for us.

Jesus is the better Nehemiah who came to re-establish our broken relationship with God for ever.

Nehemiah chapter 8:1-8 gives us another interesting picture on what Jesus accomplished for us.

Verse 1 says “And all the people gathered as one man into the square before the water gate”

What I found interesting is the word “one man”

In Ephesians 2:14-16, 22 we see this word mentioned again by Paul.

“For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and mightreconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility….. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”

There are two things we learn from the above passage.

1. United in Christ

That Jesus didn’t just save us from sin, slavery and death as individuals but He also unites us together to one another and presents us before the Father as one man, one unit.

He has broken down all the walls that separated us from one another. The walls of religion, caste, language, color etc.

The day we believed in the good news of the Kingdom and surrendered our lives to the one true living God, he broke every diving walls of hostility.

It implies that as a child of God I no longer have to live in isolation. We now have brothers and sisters in the Lord to stand with us through every circumstance in life.

And that is why we are called –

• To love one another – John 13:34-35
• To admonish one another
• To encourage one another
• To help one another
• To be patient with one another
  – Thessalonians 5:14

2. Built together as God’s dwelling place

Ephesians 2:15 – We are built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. God dwells in the unity of His people.

Nehemiah 8:1 says the people came together as one man.

They came together and read out the Law of Moses that the Lord had given. They basically read out from the book of Leviticus where God instructs His people how to worship Him and obey Him.

What is clean & unclean in his sight, what sacrifices were acceptable to Him and which ones were unacceptable, guidelines on following the Sabbath etc.

Last to last Sunday we spoke about the Old testament Law and how it has been fulfilled in Christ and that we are no more are bound to that Law and its practices anymore. The Law is still important as it now points us to Christ and the Gospel.

What we learn from the act of the these people in Nehemiah is

1. They set their hearts on seeking God’s word as a community
2. They gave God’s word the highest prominence in their lives
3. They put effort in understanding God’s heart and his purposes for them

The first things that stands out as an application for us is to set our hearts on Gods words as a community, giving his word the highest prominence ever and to put effort in knowing Him and knowing His purposes for our lives.

Let’s ask ourselves how are doing this aspect, are we committed to the Lord and His word more than anything in this world.

When we come together to see and savour His word He dwells among us and commands His blessings over us. He unites our hearts even more bringing uniformity in our thoughts and actions.

Our seeing and savouring of God’s word then transcends into service. Service to God and service to one another where Love is prevalent, Joy is the norm and Peace is the outcome.

God is doing a beautiful thing among us, lets engage with one heart and one soul bringing Glory to His name.

AMEN!

[audioplayer file=”http://thegatheringcommunity.in/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/are-we-still-bound-to-law.mp3″]

Our text for today is from Nehemiah 6:15 – 7:4, but before getting there I want to share something important that will help us process what’s been preached from this book.

Even though the book of Nehemiah is actually the story of Nehemiah and the rebuilding of the wall, you must have noticed that we often link it to Jesus & the Gospel. One might argue why is that so? Can’t we just talk about Nehemiah, his courage, his leadership ability, his perseverance etc?

[bctt tweet=”Are we still bound to the Law and its practices? #law #nehemiah ” username=”gatheringmumbai”]

The reason we do not look at the OT passages in its literal sense is because the bible tells us that everything in the Old Testament passages are a mere shadow of the new covenant in Christ which means all the stories – whether Creation, Exodus, the Great Flood, Job, Esther, Nehemiah – all the people Adam, Eve, Moses, Abraham, David, Samuel etc – all the OT ordinances  Passover, Tabernacle, 10 commandments etc — they all point to the fulfillment of Gods promises in Jesus.

In Colossians 2:16-17 Paul while addressing to the church with regards to complaints from some believers on following the old testament commands about food, drink, Sabbath etc says these words

Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.

Christ is the fulfillment & completion of God’s redemptive work for every human being and therefore when we read and study any passage from the OT we have to see it in the light of the Gospel, the finished work of God or else we will make an error and pick up ideas & thoughts that are not really relevant or applicable to us.

In John 5:46 Jesus himself says these words ^“For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me.”

The truth is without Christ and his finished work on the cross there is no other way humanity can find fulfillment in Life.

In the same way the story of Nehemiah is a reflection of Jesus. Jesus, as the better Nehemiah also bore the burden of temptation on behalf of the people (Nehemiah for the Jews & Christ, fully & completely for us).

Nehemiah goes and prepares a place for the exiles to return home to Jerusalem. Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us. Just as the Jews were living as exiles in a place that was not their home, so are we living as sojourners / exiles in this place. Can you see the connection?

With that thought in mind now let’s read our passage. Nehemiah 6:15 – 7:4

We will divide the passage in 3 parts

Part 1 (v15-16) – Completion of the wall

So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days.  And when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem, for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God.

Part 2 (v17-19) – The nobles bounded to Tobiah by an oath

Moreover, in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah’s letters came to them. For many in Judah were bound by oath to him, because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah the son of Arah: and his son Jehohanan had taken the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah as his wife.  Also they spoke of his good deeds in my presence and reported my words to him. And Tobiah sent letters to make me afraid.

Part 3 (7v1 – 4) – Nehemiah guarding what God accomplished

Now when the wall had been built and I had set up the doors, and the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites had been appointed, I gave my brother Hanani and Hananiah the governor of the castle charge over Jerusalem, for he was a more faithful and God-fearing man than many. And I said to them, “Let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot. And while they are still standing guard, let them shut and bar the doors. Appoint guards from among the inhabitants of Jerusalem, some at their guard posts and some in front of their own homes.” The city was wide and large, but the people within it were few, and no houses had been rebuilt.

Part 1: Completion of the wall

Now, finally we read that the wall is complete. The task for which Nehemiah was sent is done. And the most amazing thing is that it was completed in 52 days. This wall is said to have been 4.5 miles long, 24 ft at the base and just over 26 ft. tall. It was made using hands. No power tools. No machinery.

It was a humongous and an impossible task. The verses say when the enemies heard the news about the walls been completed, they were filled with fear.

Why would they be filled with fear? Because they perceived that the work had been accomplished with the help of God.

Part 2: The nobles bounded to Tobiah by an oath

The second part of the story tells us that even after the walls were completed with the help of God, the nobles in Judah were bound by an oath to Tobiah, an Ammonite. He was the one who conspired against Nehemiah and wanted to stop the re-building of the wall, which we read in the previous chapters.

How were the nobles bounded to Tobiah?

You see, Tobiah married a daughter of Shecaniah, a Judahite leader, and had given his son, Jehohanan, in marriage to the daughter of Meshullam, another Judahite leader which appears to be done for political reasons, which is why the nobles found themselves bound by some oath.

Tobiah because of his association with the nobles must have promised these Judahites that he will deliver them and give them a good future under his leadership. Maybe that was the reason why the nobles regularly sent letters to Tobiah to keep him updated with the work that was happening and vice versa, they would also speak praises of Tobiah in the presence of Nehemiah.

After receiving news from the nobles, Tobiah in return would send threatening letters to Nehemiah.

The truth which the nobles failed to understand was that Tobiah was not God’s plan for the redemption of His people. It was Nehemiah.

Part 3: Nehemiah guards what God accomplished

In verses 7:1-4, regardless of what was happening with the nobles, Nehemiah guards what God accomplished for them. He appoints gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites.

He appoints his brother Hanani the governor of the castle, a faithful and God-fearing person. Nehemiah even gives instructions on how the gates should be guarded.

Application

How does this passage point us to Christ and give us a picture of the Gospel?

Completion of the walls (Application)

The completion of the wall is what God accomplished for us through Salvation by sending His only son to die for us. The words of Jesus on the cross “It is finished” speaks of the finished work of God in us. Salvation through Christ is the completion of the redemptive work of God in all our lives.

Was it a humongous and an impossible task? Yes it was.

Could it be accomplished by human efforts? No, it couldn’t.

Jesus accomplished it in 3 days (through His death, burial & resurrection) just as he promised to build the temple in 3 days which was a confusing statement for the people then but we know that he was referencing his body.

The work that God did in our lives is often shocking and cause of concern to our unbelieving family members, relatives & friends. They will even fail to believe that a man/women like us can change to this extent.

They have to admit that it is only God who can do this amazing work.

The nobles bounded to Tobiah under an oath (Application)

After reading about the nobles being bound to Tobiah, I was drawn to the passage in Romans 7:1-6, in which Paul is writing to the church in Rome.

Or do you not know, brothers —for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress.

Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.

Even after what God accomplished for us through Christ by GRACE we can still be bound to the Law and its practices (just like the women bound to her dead husband or like the nobles bound to Tobiah)  in a way that we feel obligated to do things and say things that are unpleasant to God.

Romans 7:4 says “we have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God.”

In Jesus the law has been fulfilled and we are released from it, having died to that which held us captive.

Matthew 5:17-18: Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.

The law was kept perfectly by Christ. And all its penalties against God’s sinful people were poured out on Christ. Therefore, the law is now manifestly not the path to righteousness, Christ is. The ultimate goal of the law is that we would look to Christ, not law-keeping, for our righteousness.

Romans 10:4 – For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

And therefore we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.

Galatians 3:24 – So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.

Just like how Tobiah was not Gods plan for the redemption of his people, it was Nehemiah. In the same way the Law was never Gods plan of redemption, it was Jesus.

The Law produces Religion & God hates religion.

Timothy Keller in his book “Center Church” says there are in fact 2 ways to reject God.

“You can reject God by rejecting his law and living any way you see fit. And you can also reject God by embracing and obeying God’s law so as to earn your salvation. The problem is that people in the last group – who reject the gospel in favour of moralism – look as if they are trying to do God’s will.”

If you’ve seen our FB page last week you will see 9 posts on Religion vs Gospel which I picked up from Timothy Keller’s book. You will see how the Gospel is so different from Religion and the kind of response it expects from us. I would encourage you to read it as often as possible.

One of my favorite is the first one which is Religion says “I obey, therefore I’m accepted” but Gospel says “I’m accepted, therefore I obey”

Nehemiah appoints Guards (Application)

In the light of what has been shared so far what do we do?

1. Guard what God has accomplished

Galatians 1:6-9

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you,let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.

Just like Nehemiah we have to guard what God has accomplished for us. Not to let false teachings and doctrines turn our hearts from the truth.

2. Cherish the truth of the Gospel

Galatians 2:15-16

We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners;  yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

We should remind ourselves of who we are in Christ. Because Christ redeemed us from sin, we are no longer slaves to sin (2 Corinthians 5:17). We are adopted sons and daughters of the Most High (Romans 8:15). God loves us like he loves his Son (John 17:23). God looks at us and sees the righteousness of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21). In Christ, we are now the heirs of his Kingdom (1 Peter 1:4).

3. Apply & Preach the Gospel to your everyday life

Paul Tripp quote:

Preaching the gospel to ourselves is a spiritual discipline that is both proactive and reactive. It’s reactive as we encounter temptation and frustration and seek to restock in the moment, or as we reflect back on our sin and circumstances and try to evaluate them with a gospel lens.

But it’s also proactive — it goes on the offensive — when we feed our souls in some regular rhythm before the events and tasks and disappointments of daily life begin streaming our way. Make it a daily practice to 1) gaze on the beauty of Christ, 2) remember who we are as a child of God, 3)rest in his power and provision, and then 4) act in reliance upon him.

[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 4:20 – And 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 4:13 – Now 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 2:4-5 – But 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 4:9-11 – In 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.

[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.