"But Now, Strengthen My Hands"
The Work of Revitalization • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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The Work Of Revitalization
The Work Of Revitalization
Good morning everyone and welcome to Burr Oak. For those who maybe visiting or viewing this online for the first time, I am Pastor Ben and it is my humble joy to be able to bring you God’s word again today. If this is your first time with us, we would ask if you would take a minute and fill out one of our connect cards so that we maybe able to keep in touch with you. Best place to find this is on our website, burroak.org.
Ryan brought us the message last week from Nehemiah chapter 5. He started out with a question for each of us to ponder. He asked what walls have we built up inside of our hearts? We may not have set out to intentionally construct these walls. But for whatever reason after some time of reflection, we see that they are there. They have become our safety barrier. The thing that keeps us from getting hurt. And we might ask ourselves is this not a good thing? Are we not talking about building a wall? Do we not see that the wall was intended for protection? Now, we are talking about building a wall, but we have to be careful what type of wall we are building. We have to be careful what is being kept in and what is being kept out.
We discussed a few weeks ago that this wall that we are building is a wall that brings believers together to show how great our God is. But I want you to notice that not everything kept inside the wall is automatically deemed to be good and beneficial. As we have been working through Nehemiah we need to see that sinful activity that can weaken the construction of the wall does not come only from the outside attacks.
Last week through chapter 5 we saw how this sinful behavior also comes from within. There is attacks from both the outside and from the inside. Not only does Nehemiah and the Jews have to be concerned about Sanballat and Tobiah, but they also have to be concerned over the complacency to sin within themselves. Connecting this to us, not only do we have to be concerned about external temptations, but we need to be more concerned about internal desires that are sinful. We need to become concerned about what is going on within our own hearts.
After all, that is the primary focus of revitalization, the transformation of the human heart. Our hearts are the command centers for our lives. Everything we do flows from the desires and motives that lay deep within our heart. So deep that often times we have no idea that they are at work. God’s word tells us that our hearts are so desperately wicked that the only one who truly knows them is God alone. If Yahweh has given you a glimpse of the wickedness that dwells in your heart consider it a grace, but also realize it is probably only the very tip of the iceberg of wickedness that is called your heart.
If in assessing yourself you believe yourself to be a good person you are blinded by your own pride. Jesus was clear that there is no one good but God. The Bible tells us that no one is righteous, no not one. Even the apostle Paul proclaimed that he was the chief of all sinners. When we believe that we are good, that means we believe in self justification. In others words we believe our own merit is what justifies us. When we live like this, functionally we are stating that we have no need for Jesus. Now we would probably never state that. We know in theory that we need Jesus, the Bible tells us so. But functionally, or rather how we live our every day life in front of other people, we show that we justify ourselves.
And once you are at the point of self-justification you are one little step away from being your own god. You are the final determiner of what is best and good for you. You are justified in whatever you do as long as the outcome of your actions produces the results that benefit you. And when we have elevated ourselves to this point, we are no longer concerned with the greatest command and are now unable to keep the second command.
This is why it is vitally important for us to constantly becoming before Yahweh, and asking him to reveal to us the desires of our hearts and to renew them so that we may glorify him with how we live.
With that let us turn to our focus verse for this series.
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.
Please pray with me.
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
The title of our message today is “But Now, Strengthen My Hands” Instruction of a Discouraged Heart. and we will be look to the sixth chapter of Nehemiah. If you are following along in your own bible or on your device please turn their now. If you are using the blue pew Bible it is on page 442. Or you may follow along on the screen.
Let us hear the word of the Lord.
1 Now when Sanballat and Tobiah and Geshem the Arab and the rest of our enemies heard that I had built the wall and that there was no breach left in it (although up to that time I had not set up the doors in the gates),
2 Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, “Come and let us meet together at Hakkephirim in the plain of Ono.” But they intended to do me harm.
3 And I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?”
4 And they sent to me four times in this way, and I answered them in the same manner.
5 In the same way Sanballat for the fifth time sent his servant to me with an open letter in his hand.
6 In it was written, “It is reported among the nations, and Geshem also says it, that you and the Jews intend to rebel; that is why you are building the wall. And according to these reports you wish to become their king.
7 And you have also set up prophets to proclaim concerning you in Jerusalem, ‘There is a king in Judah.’ And now the king will hear of these reports. So now come and let us take counsel together.”
8 Then I sent to him, saying, “No such things as you say have been done, for you are inventing them out of your own mind.”
9 For they all wanted to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will drop from the work, and it will not be done.” But now, O God, strengthen my hands.
10 Now when I went into the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was confined to his home, he said, “Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple. Let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you. They are coming to kill you by night.”
11 But I said, “Should such a man as I run away? And what man such as I could go into the temple and live? I will not go in.”
12 And I understood and saw that God had not sent him, but he had pronounced the prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.
13 For this purpose he was hired, that I should be afraid and act in this way and sin, and so they could give me a bad name in order to taunt me.
14 Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, O my God, according to these things that they did, and also the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who wanted to make me afraid.
15 So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days.
16 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.
17 Moreover, in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah’s letters came to them.
18 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.
19 Also they spoke of his good deeds in my presence and reported my words to him. And Tobiah sent letters to make me afraid.
May the Lord bless the reading of his word.
This morning as we consider the instruction for a discouraged heart, there are three biblical truths that we are going to look at; not entertaining temptation, good advice vs. godly advice, and finally pressing on.
Do Not Entertain Temptation
Do Not Entertain Temptation
Discouragement. It is hard to get through this life without having experienced being discouraged. Discouragement can derail the best laid plans. Discouragement can stunt the growth of a person or organization. Discouragement if not careful can lead to hopelessness. Over the past couple weeks discouraged is a word I have heard several use here in our congregation, and I would be lying if I said that I myself haven’t used it. Our Salt & Light ministry had shown to be our most effective ministry over the last couple years, but this year, there is very little interest in it. Our youth group has been working to find its grove over the last few years but we were really excited about the program we put together this year and again there is no interest in it. And it is not just a lack of interest from community families, it is a lack of interest from those who have been an ongoing part of these ministries.
To say that I have not been discouraged by this would be an understatement. To say that I have not been fighting the temptation of giving up would be a lie. For four years now we have been praying about a church van. Last year we really saw the need we had for one. We took after praying about it and God provided one. And now the ministries that we intentionally purchased it for are struggling. For the past year as a church family there has been much spiritual growth and God has really shown himself to us. But now we are facing a trial. And to some it may seem like what is the big deal. To others, this is a big deal. Yet, God’s word has much to say to us when we face difficult circumstances.
Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.
Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.
We have discussed how increased attacks of the enemy are a marker of revitalization. In looking at discouragement C. S. Lewis stated,
If Satan’s arsenal of weapons were restricted to a single one, it would be discouragement.
C. S. Lewis
In his book Revival, Martyn Lloyd-Jones considers what happens in revival, he considers the nature of the miraculous power of God, he looks at what takes place in revival, and addresses the question of “Why does God do this?” Near the end of chapter 10 of his book he asks the question that he believes most Christians want to have answered and that is when, “When does God do this?” In answering that question he responds.
God always seems to do this after a period of great trial and great discouragement.
Revival, 128
David Martyn Lloyd-Jones
And while we have the promise of coming out of discouragement through faith in Yahweh, what do we do now? What do we do in the midst of discouragement? Looking to our passage for today, we could get the sense that Nehemiah might be beginning to feel some discouragement. He is again facing opposition to his work. Regardless of what the king has said. Regardless of the letters that show the proof, Nehemiah is again facing resistance. Let’s look to the beginning of our passage for today.
Now when Sanballat and Tobiah and Geshem the Arab and the rest of our enemies heard that I had built the wall and that there was no breach left in it (although up to that time I had not set up the doors in the gates), Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, “Come and let us meet together at Hakkephirim in the plain of Ono.” But they intended to do me harm.
Nehemiah, hard at work on what Yahweh has placed on his heart for him to do, receives an invite to meet with Sanballat and Tobiah. Now remember when we read these names we are suppose to understand them as representative of the enemies of the ways of Yahweh. Nehemiah in knowing this understand that their invite to him is solely to cause him harm.
When temptation comes to us it comes with the same desire. It comes seeking to cause us harm. Jesus clarified this principle in John 10:10.
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
James brings further clarification to the reader by explaining the process in which Satan uses to cause this to happen.
But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
I want you to place yourself in Nehemiah’s position for a minute. You are rebuilding this structure out of the shambles that it was left in. You are constantly being harassed. You are constantly facing opposition. You are being physically attacked. You have been going without sleep so you can keep guard over the others. You are constantly on watch without a break. Not only, are these things happening from the outside. But internally the people you are overseeing are a mess and you are constantly having to correct bad behavior from people who ought to know better. You are growing mentally, and physically exhausted.
Are you beginning to feel the weight yet? Are you sensing the pressure that Nehemiah might have been under? You have all this stress and you just need something to lighten up. You just want a break. Now you receive an invite to meet with those who have been pushing back against you so hard.
When the pressures of life build up, that is often when temptation comes knocking. That is when it comes inviting us to come out and meet with it. It is in that moment we face a decision. Do we embrace temptation, or do we embrace the Spirit? Nehemiah understood answering the invite would have brought him hard. James tells us that entertaining temptation leads to death. Nehemiah’s response shows us what our response should be.
And I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?”
I am doing a great work, why should it stop while I come down. This should be our response when the invitation from temptation comes. I am doing a great work, why should that stop.
You know when I read this response I am reminded of the example that is set before us. And not Nehemiah’s example, but the example Jesus set before us. Matt 27:39-40
Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!”
So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him.
He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ”
Jesus, already beaten bloody and hanging on the cross, was mocked and encouraged to come down from his great work. Nehemiah points to Jesus. See Nehemiah’s strength to continue on despite attacks on him and his character came from Yahweh, not his own ability. In the same way our ability to not entertain temptation’s invitation is not because of our strength but because of the strength of Jesus that now resides within each believer. The author of Hebrews tells us.
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Jesus faced the full weight of temptation without sinning. He knows the full weight it takes to get through the trial you are currently facing. He never stepped down from his great work. Despite the cost to himself he saw it all the way through. And now because of that in our time of need we can come before Yahweh to receive mercy and grace.
Are you tempted to use a harsh tone towards someone, belittle someone, gossip about someone, or speak ill about someone? Jesus is there for you. Are you tempted to lie, cheat, or steal? Jesus is there for you. Are you tempted to run to that vice to distract you from the pain you feel? Jesus is there for you. Are you tempted to look at pornography? Are you tempted to seek sexual gratification in an immoral way either on your own or through the means of someone else? Jesus is there for you. Is anger brooding in your life, creating hatred? Do your thoughts run to vengeance and murder? Jesus is there for you.
You do not need to entertain temptation, for Jesus is here for you.
Good Advice vs. Godly Advice
Good Advice vs. Godly Advice
In being able to grow in not entertaining temptation, we need to learn to discern between good advice and godly advice. In looking at this passage we see that Nehemiah is now facing attacks against his character. An open letter claiming that he plans to rebel against the king has been produced. Nehemiah wearing down, does what we have seen him do since we have been introduced to him. He leans into his intimacy with Yahweh, and sends another short but vital prayer.
For they all wanted to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will drop from the work, and it will not be done.” But now, O God, strengthen my hands.
Notice what takes place here. Where the enemy wanted to attack specifically, the Jews hands, Nehemiah prayed for strength.
Applying this to a more personal situation, we could be praying for our youth and children’s ministries to ward off Stan’s attack. The issue is I do not believe that is the primary attack. I believe the lack of children and youth interest in these types of ministries is the outcome of a larger attack. This attack is on the parents of these kids, who primarily make up the missing generation of the church. It is the group that claim to be Christians but have no interest for whatever reason for partaking in church and therefore do not make it a priority for their kids to take part. Chasing after children’s ministries may actually be causing us to be blind to the greater need of our area.
Are children’s ministries worthwhile, yes. But as I mentioned a few messages back, not every good thing is the thing we need to say yes to. Nehemiah demonstrates this in our passage for today.
Now when I went into the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was confined to his home, he said, “Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple. Let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you. They are coming to kill you by night.”
Threats are increasing against Nehemiah and the Jews. As we have been reading through Nehemiah we see him operating as the driving force of the people. It is his guidance and encouragement that keeps them working on. It is his own dedication to the project and his leadership ability that has set the tone for the others. Imagine for a moment what would happen if Nehemiah was taken out of the picture? It probably would be too impossible to see where the whole project would come to an end.
We see this phenomenon often in high school sports teams. The morale of the whole team rest on the shoulders of one or two key players and if something happens to them or they are having an off day, they whole team is off or falls apart. So if Nehemiah is killed that would be a major detriment to the project. So him staying alive you think would be a good idea. Yet how does Nehemiah respond?
But I said, “Should such a man as I run away? And what man such as I could go into the temple and live? I will not go in.” And I understood and saw that God had not sent him, but he had pronounced the prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.
For this purpose he was hired, that I should be afraid and act in this way and sin, and so they could give me a bad name in order to taunt me.
Nehemiah understood that what may have seemed like good advice was not godly advice. It was advice in fact that would have led him to sin and damaged his character. The Scriptures recognize this as the gift of discernment. The ability to be able to tell not just a lie from the truth, but a half-truth from the whole truth. Discernment is something that Christians are suppose to be striving for and growing in. The reason for this is so that we are not distracted by things that may seem good.
In continuing to look at what we are facing here at Burr Oak, there is something that we need to keep in mind. As we continue to assess how to minister to this missing generation, and seek to find how to bring families back to church, we need to keep in mind how we respond. As we look and see that this missing group is giving themselves over to work, over to kids travel sports, or even over to family time, how do we respond. Oswald Chambers and Corrie Ten Boom have nearly identical quotes on this. Chambers states,
God never gives us discernment in order that we may criticize, but that we may intercede.
Oswald Chambers
Discernment ought to lead us first to our knees. It ought to leads us to pray for those around us and as Nehemiah prayer. But now Lord, strengthen my hand.
Pressing On
Pressing On
Finally, in the moments that we are facing temptation, we need to keep pressing on. Sanballat and Tobiah wanted to intimidate Nehemiah. They wanted to make him afraid so that he would quit his project and go away into the night. But Nehemiah would not heed to their wishes. Rather he persevered in what Yahweh had called him to do.
So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days.
In 52 days, these feeble mostly non carpenter Jews rebuilt the walls around their city. They put their trust in Yahweh, they put systems in place to protect one another and to divide up the work in such a way that those on the outside looking in had no other option then to grow in fear because of the work of Yahweh!
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.
They did not sit idly by. They did not only petition God. They persevered in the work that Yahweh had called them to. Commenting on this section Daniel Akin wants to encourage his readers,
Exalting Jesus in Ezra-Nehemiah Perseverance through the Project with People (Nehemiah 6:15–19)
Can I encourage you not to underestimate what you can accomplish if God has called you, if you are serving Him, and if you persevere? Often things don’t happen simply because people don’t start doing them and don’t persevere in them.
It doesn’t take only starting, it takes persevering as well. Discouragement along with the temptation to quit because it is no longer easy has waylaid to many opportunities for ministry. Each time a church backs away from the Great Commission, even for a good program, there are those who do not hear the Gospel that so desperately need it.
But let me encourage you. God’s word shows us that when we face these things we are not the first. That many before have faced even more dire circumstances but faith in Jesus has always brought them through.
For example the apostle Paul. In Acts chapter 18 we read of Paul going to Corinth. He did as he always had and presented Jesus as the Messiah within the synagogues. Paul met harsh push back from the Jews in Corinth. While there Paul relays a vision he had of Jesus.
And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.”
There are many times that we grow discouraged because people are not responding to our message. They are not showing interests in our ministries. Yet, if we believe that Jesus is with us, we need to press on. We need to persevere.
Closing
Closing
In closing today, I want to share a little more of my testimony that led us back to church and was probably the moment that ministry really started for me. This December will mark 10 years that I was awarded my black belt in ITF Tae Kwon Do. The achievement of that goal was something I had been working on for nearly 10 years. The black belt test is unlike any other test leading up to it. It is a 3-4 hour test of the endurance of both your body and your mind. While all tests leading to that point are completed in the presence of club black belts, the black belt test consists of black belts from other styles and clubs. My testing board had nearly 20 men and women sitting on it. Combined total martial arts experience of my testing board was near 300 years.
After the physical part of my test was completed I then had to go through the oral part. As part of the oral presentation I had to explain what the 5 tenets of tae kwon do are. These are courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control, and indomitable spirit. Leading up to this test I began wrestling with whether a Christian should practice martial arts or not. There are many who use martial arts as sport or exercise, but there is a major spiritual component that often does not get talk about. The tenets tend to spell out this spirit.
As I stood there that morning presenting those tenets, I got to indomitable spirit and believe that I needed to share more then just what was in my manual that I need to memorize. Now some if they are not familiar with these tenets may question what is the difference between perseverance and indomitable spirit. Perseverance means to not give up. Indomitable spirit goes farther in that regardless of the odds you will not quit until there is no breath left in your lungs. As I recited these tenets that morning, I shared that when it comes to indomitable spirit there is only one who has ever truly demonstrate this character and that was Jesus the Christ, the one who death itself could not hold. And when you place your faith in him he gives that Spirit to you so that you now no longer live but it is him who lives in you.
As we continue to work down this path of revitalization it is this fact that we need to hold on to. The Spirit of the Living God lives within us. Our motivation to minister to those around us is not out of our own vain desires, but rather because we have tasted and seen that there is no better way. And with this in mind we will keep Paul’s word to Timothy ever present at the front of our minds.
For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.
END IN PRAYER