Comfort in the Chaos

Benjamin Sexton

The Work of Revitalization • Sermon • Submitted 9 months ago • Presented 9 months ago

Nehemiah 4:1–23

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The Work Of Revitalization

Well good morning everyone and welcome to Burr Oak. If you are visiting today I am Pastor Ben and it is my humbled joy to be able to bring you God’s word again today. If this is your first time with us, would you please fill out one of our connect cards, either on the back of the pew in front of you, or online at burroak.org.

Today we are going to be looking at Nehemiah chapter four. To this point in Nehemiah we have discovered a few things. With the character Nehemiah, we are learning about Yahweh as our comfort. To this point we have discovered three aspects of Yahweh’s comfort.

1. We recognize Yahweh as our comfort through growing in intimacy with him through study of his word and prayer.

2. We experience Yahweh’s comfort when we live in obedience to what he has called us to do.

3. We express Yahweh’s comfort by living in community with each other.

As we are connecting this to the topic of revitalization, we are learning how living in this fashion, calls us up out of our apathy and to live boldly for Christ. We closed last week in looking at a quote from Daniel Akin which showed us that for a church to be revitalized, it will be because its’ members will have seen, experienced, and lived for the truth, goodness, and beauty of God on display in the gospel and advanced in the church. This beauty that is on display and advanced by the church is none other then Jesus Christ himself. Without him we have no hope.

When we study our word, it is Jesus that we are seeking to come to know, from cover to cover. We call him Lord for he is the one we are to be obedient to. And he is our comfort, for he is the one who has over come the world. And whether it is for the individual, or for the collective church, for change to happen, for revitalization to happen, we need to see Jesus as more glorious than anything else. We need to see him as the treasure that we seek. We need to regard him as our first love.

For this to happen our hearts need constant renewing. So let’s work on our heart renewal by turning to our focus verse. Please say this with me.

Psalm 51:10–12 NKJV

Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.

PRAYER

Father you have again allowed us to come together today. Lord as we prepare to receive your word open our hearts and minds to understand it. Father may you present yourself to us today. For those that are sorrowful bring them comfort. For those that are fearful bring the courage. For those that harboring sin, bring them conviction that they might be able to walk in the freedom of the light of Christ. Father we ask your blessing on our message for today. In Christ’s name we pray, amen.

PASSAGE

Well the title of our passage today is Comfort in the Chaos: Facing Opposition Together and again we are looking to the fourth chapter of Nehemiah. If you are using your personal Bible or your device please turn there now. If you are using the blue pew Bible it is on page 440. Or you can follow along on the screen.

Let us hear the word of the Lord.

Nehemiah 4:1–23 ESV

1 Now when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and greatly enraged, and he jeered at the Jews. 2 And he said in the presence of his brothers and of the army of Samaria, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore it for themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish up in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, and burned ones at that?” 3 Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, “Yes, what they are building—if a fox goes up on it he will break down their stone wall!” 4 Hear, O our God, for we are despised. Turn back their taunt on their own heads and give them up to be plundered in a land where they are captives. 5 Do not cover their guilt, and let not their sin be blotted out from your sight, for they have provoked you to anger in the presence of the builders. 6 So we built the wall. And all the wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work. 7 But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem was going forward and that the breaches were beginning to be closed, they were very angry. 8 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. 10 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.” 11 And our enemies said, “They will not know or see till we come among them and kill them and stop the work.” 12 At that time the Jews who lived near them came from all directions and said to us ten times, “You must return to us.” 13 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.” 15 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. 16 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, 17 who were building on the wall. 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. 18 And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built. The man who sounded the trumpet was beside me. 19 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.” 21 So we labored at the work, and half of them held the spears from the break of dawn until the stars came out. 22 I also said to the people at that time, “Let every man and his servant pass the night within Jerusalem, that they may be a guard for us by night and may labor by day.” 23 So 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.

May the Lord bless the reading of his word.

As we consider facing opposition together today we are going to look at three biblical truths. Faith Amidst Attacks, Battling for the Brethren, and Bearing One Another’s Burdens.

Faith Amidst Attacks

As we start this chapter we are again faced with the fact that there is those who make it their job to work in opposition to the ways of Yahweh. To try and bring ruin to his plan. We have discussed how this is a marker for revitalization, increased attacks of the enemy. But what in fact do I mean by this? What do I mean by increased attacks by the enemy? What I don’t mean is that there is a demon behind every bush or rock that we need to be on the lookout for. What I mean is anything or anyone that tries to detract us from the purposes of the church. Which what are they? Exalt God, edify the saints, and evangelize the lost.

When it comes to our enemy, it is good for us to keep in mind what Oswald Chambers said.

3163 It is never wise to underestimate an enemy. We look upon the enemy of our souls as a conquered foe, so he is, but only to God, not to us.

Oswald Chambers

What we then need to beware of is how our enemy presents himself to us. In the aspect of church revitalization our enemy can present himself in a physical format through individuals who are opposed to the work of revitalization. And he can present himself in an invisible format through the emotions of discouragement, depression, or despair.

Within our text today we see both of these formats. The first three verses show us the attack in the the physical format.

Nehemiah 4:1–3 ESV

Now when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and greatly enraged, and he jeered at the Jews. And he said in the presence of his brothers and of the army of Samaria, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore it for themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish up in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, and burned ones at that?” Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, “Yes, what they are building—if a fox goes up on it he will break down their stone wall!”

Commenting on this Derek Kidner states,

Ezra and Nehemiah: An Introduction and Commentary A Thrust at Morale (4:1–6)

To open the attack with a barrage of words was worth trying. It is the enemy’s oldest weapon, and in the form of ridicule it needs no factual ammunition; not even argument.

The enemy’s first attack is ridicule to attempt to make us question that which Yahweh has called us to do. The enemy will press us saying things like, “Why are you doing that? You are not equipped for that. You are not trained to do that. That is pointless, you will never succeed.” And if we are not mindful these attacks can lead to the invisible format of attacks, which come after our morale.

We see this displayed in verse 10-12

Nehemiah 4:10–12 ESV

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.”

The ridicule has now turned to threats of physical violence and we see a diminishing of the morale of Nehemiah and his men. They are beginning to believe the work is too much for them to accomplish, and some are even wanting to give up and return to their own homes. Despair is starting to set in. Yet, in the midst of these types of attacks what are we to do? How are we to respond when our enemy comes knocking?

In looking to Nehemiah, we see his response to these attacks.

Nehemiah 4:4–5 ESV

Hear, O our God, for we are despised. Turn back their taunt on their own heads and give them up to be plundered in a land where they are captives. Do not cover their guilt, and let not their sin be blotted out from your sight, for they have provoked you to anger in the presence of the builders.

Nehemiah turns to prayer. He turns his thoughts and attention towards Yahweh to deal again with the situation that he is finding himself in. Now when we read this prayer we may think that it is harsh some of the requests that Nehemiah has for Yahweh. Commenting on this Robert Jamieson states,

A Commentary, Critical, Experimental, and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments, Vol. II: Joshua–Esther Chapter 4

The imprecations invoked here may seem harsh, cruel, and vindictive. But it must be remembered that Nehemiah and his friends regarded those Samaritan leaders as enemies to the cause of God and His people, and therefore as deserving to be visited with heavy judgments. The prayer, therefore, is to be considered as emanating from hearts in which neither hatred, revenge, nor any inferior passion, but a pious and patriotic zeal for the glory of God and the success of His cause, held the ascendant sway.

Nehemiah’s prayer, is not a hate filled prayer desiring revenge, but rather a prayer desiring that nothing stops the plan and will of Yahweh. That for those who want to challenge what Yahweh is doing that they may have their actions turned back on them.

Andy Davis in his book Revitalize looks to Paul’s instruction to Timothy for how to deal with enemies. He looks towards 2 Tim 2:22-26.

2 Timothy 2:22–23 ESV

So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels.

2 Timothy 2:24–26 ESV

And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.

The point that Davis makes from this section is that in the face of opposition to what Yahweh wants to do, there is a character that we need to carry about us. We are not to be quarrelsome, we are not to engage with ignorant controversies, which includes gossiping. Rather we are to engage those that are against us in a humble manner. We are to be kind to everyone, we are to patiently endure evil. We are to operate with gentleness. The reason for this is so that through our character we represent Christ to them and Yahweh would bring them to their senses. Leading them to repentance.

In the midst of opposition it takes great faith to not respond out of our flesh, but to humble ourselves and pray, “Father your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” We then need to have faith that Yahweh will see his work through. As we have seen in Nehemiah so far, prayer is vitally important to Nehemiah, yet his prayers lead to action.

Battling for the Brethren

As we have been working through Nehemiah, we have come to see that part of what Nehemiah desire for rebuilding the wall is to demonstrate the greatness of Yahweh. The other aspect that we need to see is that Nehemiah demonstrates Yahweh’s heart for his people in caring about real needs that they have, namely the welfare and protection of the city.

Nehemiah 2:10 ESV

But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant heard this, it displeased them greatly that someone had come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel.

Nehemiah 2:17 ESV

Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer suffer derision.”

As we see these attacks come against them, Nehemiah prays, assess their situation and puts a plan into place for the welfare of the people.

Nehemiah 4:13–14 ESV

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.”

At the points in the wall that they were most vulnerable Nehemiah position people armed and prepared to fight. Yet, noticed how he positioned them. This was not at random. He placed them together by close relationship. They were not fighting just for other countrymen. They were fighting for brothers, sons, daughters, wives. They were fighting for those closes to them. Kidner states on this,

Ezra and Nehemiah: An Introduction and Commentary Resort to Arms (4:7–14)

Nehemiah’s appeal shows a fine recognition of the vertical and the horizontal planes of life: the Lord, as ever, is the first reality for him (see on verse 9), but he is well aware that earthly ties and simple loyalties are also integral to human life and character. There is less danger of excess and distortion in the call to fight for your brethren, … your wives and your homes, than in some higher-sounding, ideological battle-cry.

So what does this look like for us? What does this recognition of the horizontal planes of like look like in our time? How do we battle against the enemy for the protection of our loved ones? What we need to remember is that all of scripture is used for training us in righteousness. That means there are principles in every aspect of the Bible teaching us how to live to bring honor and glory to God. The thing we need to remember about righteousness is it is not simply an internal element of the Christian.

Christians, those who now hold that they no longer live but it is Jesus who lives in them, we are to be righteousness on display. That is what it means to be Christ’s image bears, we are righteousness on display. That means the battle that we wage every single day is the sin dwelling in our own body.

We fight against the sin that dwells in us for our brothers, our sons, our daughters, our wives. We fight to live righteous lives so that we do not cause someone else to fall. Connecting this to church revitalization this is again where we plan for the future. We fight for our church to be righteousness on display for those who have yet to come to know Jesus a their Lord and Savior. Many of us are ready to battle against a physical enemy, but when it comes to fighting the enemy of sin that is in our own beings, we hesitate, we excuse it away, we show how prideful we really are.

Paul tell’s us, Eph 6:10

Ephesians 6:12 ESV

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Our battle is very much for holiness and righteousness. Our battle has to be against the powers of darkness and evil that dwell within us. We set an example to those around us. We train our children int he way that they will go. If we see character issues with in our children that we do not like we need to start looking at the example that we have set for them.

Daniel Akin in his commentary gives us this exhortation,

Exalting Jesus in Ezra-Nehemiah The Peoples Plot in Vain (Nehemiah 4:6–14)

Let me be specific: meditate on the way that God is more powerful than your sinful urges and more powerful than your wicked opponents. As you think on that, take action against the enemies of the gospel by calling on God to do justice against them. As you fill your mind with God’s greatness and fill your mouth with prayer, recognize how the sin that tempts you would crush those you love in its iron jaws, grinding them in its merciless evil. Flee temptation. Fight the good fight. Set your mind on Christ. Be valiant.

If in taking a deep, and long reflective look at yourself, your are seeing no hope in overcoming or being victorious in this battle, let me encourage you. You are not fighting alone. Paul wrestling with this very issue in his letter to the Romans makes this proclamation.

Romans 7:24–25 (ESV)

Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Along with this Christ has given us another aid, each other. We have been given the brethren to help us along.

Bearing One Another’s Burdens

Looking back to Nehemiah, we see that in order to accomplish the will of Yahweh, the Jews need each other. They all need to pitch in together both building and protecting. We ought to see how this corresponds to the second purpose of the church, to edify the saints. Or rather to encourage and equip one another in our walks with each other. By doing this we help to build and protect one another spiritually. Within the last part of Nehemiah 4 we see a few things we need to notice.

Nehemiah 4:16–17 ESV

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, who were building on the wall. 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.

As they are working through this project they are corporately bearing the weight of it. While some work other stand guard. Those who have to fetch material do it in such a way that they are readily available to defend one another.

Nehemiah 4:18–19 ESV

And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built. The man who sounded the trumpet was beside me. 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.

As we continue looking at this section we see that it is not just the commoners that are doing the work. Nehemiah, the officials, and the rulers all alike were taking part int he rebuilding. Here we see Nehemiah as a foreshadow of the coming Messiah. Nehemiah did not simply sit in the peace and security of the Persian palace. No, he left the comfort of he lived in and entered into the lives of the people he cared about. He came and wrestled with the struggle alongside them. He shared in their burden so to one day provide a better life.

This is what Jesus did for us. He left the peace and comfort of heaven, to come and enter into our lives. He wrestled with sin right alongside us. But he went further than Nehemiah was able to do. Christ took the full weight of our burden of sin so that we have the hope of a new life in him. In doing this Jesus has called us to live in such a way with one another to demonstrate this great love that he has for us.

Just as Nehemiah and the Jews shared the burden to rebuild the wall, and Jesus came and took our burden, we to are called to share each others’ burdens. Paul instructs us in his letter to the Galatian church,

Galatians 6:1–2 ESV

Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Paul’s instruction here for us is to bear with those who have sinned. That we are to build them up in gentleness, keeping guard of ourselves so we do not sin. That means we need to watch how we respond to the sin of others. And not just in word, but in our private thoughts as well. And this is not easy, I am just as guilty of doing this as anyone. There was a situation here in our area recently that when I found out about it it broke my heart. And my response to it in both my thoughts and words were not honoring to God.

How we handle the sins of others is vitally important. There should be no back biting, no gossip, no slander. We should refrain from harsh words, from belittling, from name calling. These should not be the ways of the Christian. None of us are righteous, all of us are equally in need of Christ. Paul goes on to tell us that in handling each other’s sins with humility and gentleness we fulfill the law of Christ.

John 13:34–35 ESV

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

As we battle alongside one another, as we fight for each other, helping all to grow in Christ, bearing one another’s burdens, we can rest in Nehemiah’s proclamation,

Nehemiah 4:20 (ESV)

Our God will fight for us.

As we close this section out we see that Nehemiah and his men served a purpose beyond themselves. They tirelessly worked, put off rest and sleep, in order to stand guard and protect each other. This is how we are to live in regards to the gospel. Daniel Akin concludes his comments on this section stating,

Exalting Jesus in Ezra-Nehemiah Conclusion

Do you live for a cause greater than yourself? Do you lay your life down for those you love? Do you fix your mind on Christ, the perfect man? Do you lead by example?

What enables people to do this, of course, is the experience of God’s truth, goodness, and beauty, supremely displayed in the gospel. If we know God as He is, we will be enraptured by Him and ready to do whatever He says. Not only that, we will do whatever we must to be in fellowship with God, to be in His presence, to see the Lord Christ face to face.

Closing

The life of the Christian was never promised to be easy. We are not promised that once we come to know Christ that our days will be filled with ecstatic happiness. Rather we are told that all things will be worked for our good, transforming us into the image of Christ. The reality is there are things we go through in this life that as John Bunyan described in Pilgram’s Progress as “slough of despond.” Many of the giants of the faith in our time experienced such times. One whose story i would like to briefly share with you, Adoniram Judson.

Adoniram was the son of a preacher in the late 1700’s in Massachusetts. A smart boy, Adoniram started at Brown University at age 16. While there he became friends with Jacob Eames who was a proclaimed atheist. By the end of their college careers, Eames had convinced Judson their was no God and Judson determined to embrace atheism and go and live his best life taking part in all the pleasures of the world.

Well one thing lead to the next and Adoniram came back to the Christian faith and ended up becoming a missionary to Burma. In his time there he experienced the death of a daughter, the death of his first wife, imprisonment, and recieved report of the death of his father. He saw very little conversion and experienced persecution. He feel into such despair, that he gave away everything he owned. Returned the honorary doctorate that Brown University awarded him. Withdrew to the edge of the jungle in Burma, and dug his own grave spending hours on end staring into it and contemplating his own death. He recorded that “God is to me the Great Unknown. I believe in him, but I find him not.”

To believe that once we accept Jesus nothing bad will ever again happen to us, is to have a misguided view on the doctrines of man and of sin. To believe that Christians should not and cannot deal with what we would call mental health issues is denying what both Scripture and experience across history shows. In these situations the call to the church is to be the church. To bear one another’s burdens. To lift each other in prayer. To walk along side each other. To in gentleness continue to build one another up.

As far as Dr. Adoniram Judson,

At the time of Dr. Adoniram Judson death, there were 7,000 Burmese Christians, 63 churches, 123 missionaries. Throughout the world, there are 2,700 missionaries serving through the missionary societies that Dr. Judson helped establish. The Judson Memorial Church in New York City is named for him.

Adoniram Judson

The battles we current face, we do not know yet, how God will used them. But we can hold to his promise than they will be for our good. May we continue to encourage one another on.

END IN PRAYER