Sermon Tone Analysis

!!! Arise And Build!

All Things Are Possible With God’s Help

!!!

All Things Are Possible With God’s Help!

Nehemiah 6:15-7:3

 

 

*The Supreme Motive*

 

       A little first-grader beamed with satisfaction about a spelling test on which his teacher had written a large “100--Good work!”

The boy said, “I showed this to my Dad and Mom, because I knew it would please them.”

Can’t you just see him riding home on the bus, hardly able to wait for the moment when his parents would express their excitement with how well he had done?

*/His desire to make Dad and Mom happy was obviously a very important motivating factor in his life./*

*/Well, what is the motivating factor in your life?/*  Paul summed up what should be the supreme motivation of a Christian’s life in

 

1 Corinthians 10:31 (NASB-U), “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

 

       Whatever we do, we should do it to and for the glory of God!  Tell somebody right now, “It’s not about me; it’s not about you; it’s about the Kingdom!”  It’s not about what you eat; it’s not about what you drink; it’s not about anything that you do; it’s all about the glory of God; it’s all about His Kingdom!  Thy Kingdom come and Thy will be done on earth, even as it is in heaven!!!

*/It is probably most difficult for us to remember this, when God has just blessed us./*

There is a real temptation to forget about God or take credit ourselves.

In my Christian life, I have tried to be very careful about that.

One of my life’s mottoes is, “To God be the glory great things He hath done!”  Why?

Besides, I realize that I cannot do one thing without ‘Him.’

Without Christ I could do nothing.

Without Christ I would fail.

Without Christ my life would be drifting

Like a ship without a sail.

I know that I must abide in Him.

For He said, “Without me you can do nothing!”

So I praise God for accolades, notoriety, and honor, but, “Hallelujah, salvation and glory and all honor and power belong unto the Lord our God.

For the Lord our God is mighty; for the Lord our God is omnipotent; for the Lord our God is wonderful!”

*/In the passage before us, Nehemiah has accomplished one of the greatest feats in Jewish history, but he gives the glory to God./*

 

\\ /(Notice with me please Nehemiah 6:15-7:3./

/In this verse we see:)/

 

I.

The Answer To Prayer (vs.

15).

*/The Wall is completed in 52 days.

What a miracle!/*

But, let’s go back to the beginning for a moment.

·        Nehemiah had prayed for this.

·        Nehemiah had given up his position as cupbearer to the king for this.

·        Nehemiah had physically worked for this.

·        Nehemiah had personally sacrificed for this.

·        Nehemiah had suffered for this.

*/The wall had been in ruins for over a hundred years, yet Nehemiah had accomplished in 52 days what people had said was impossible./*

This was *no* ordinary wall.

This wall symbolized peace and security to Jerusalem and the Jewish people.

God had seen fit to restore a measure of His blessings to His covenant people.

What a miracle!

       */Likewise, on a much smaller scale, what a miracle has occurred at The House of the Lord!/*

 

·        I have prayed for this.

·        I have given up secular employment for this.

·        I have worked hard, physically, for this.

·        I have personally sacrificed for this, in many ways.

·        I have suffered for this.

I have looked forward to the day when we could see the saving of souls be a top priority and build our own buildings, on our own land; and what a miracle!  */You sit in one of the New Season, New Apostolic Reformation churches of America where souls are being saved, people are being filled with the Spirit, new buildings are being built, with miracles, signs, and wonders.

What a miracle!/*

 

/(And what can we say to these things:)/

 

II.

To God Be The Glory (vs.

16).

*/The enemies of Nehemiah, no doubt, were gaining in confidence as they worked against him and the people who were working on the wall./*

Then, they heard that the wall was completed, and went to check it out for themselves.

When their enemies and the surrounding nations saw what had been accomplished, they lost their confidence.

Why?

Nehemiah says they recognized the work that had been accomplished had been accomplished with the help of God.  */Not only did Nehemiah give God the glory, but everyone who saw what had been accomplished gave God the glory./*

\\        According to my enemies and false brethren, we are a cult, or we are off the mark, or we are *not* quite right, etc.  But,

 

·        One thing that must be said, when you see the number of people who have been saved;

·        One thing that must be said, when you see the number of lives that have been changed;

·        One thing that must be said, when you see the movement of the Holy Spirit through miracles, signs, and wonders;

·        One thing that must be said, when you see the nationwide and even worldwide impact our ministry is having;

·        One thing that must be said, when you see the land that God has given to us;

·        One thing that must be said, when you see the buildings that God has given to us;

·        One thing that must be said, when you see the leaders that God has given to us:

 

“To God be the glory!”

But, there is another prayer that I often prayed in the beginning of this ministry.

It was the prayer that some of the OT.

prophets would pray, “Lord, let it be known that there is a God in Akron.

Let it be known that there is a man of God in Akron and that I have done all these things according to your will.”

Now those who pass through here, even our enemies, have had to say, “Certainly God has blessed you!”  */Do what God wants you to do and eventually even your enemies must acknowledge that God is working in your life./*

Nicodemus a potential enemy of Jesus, who *no* doubt became a follower of Jesus, the Christ, is quoted in

 

John 3:2 (NASB-U), “This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, ‘Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.’”

\\ Jesus Himself gave His works as the proof of His Messianic identity, when John the Baptizer questioned him.

The Bible reads in

 

Matthew 11:2-6 (NASB-U), “Now when John, while imprisoned, heard of the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples [3] and said to Him, ‘Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?’ [4] Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Go and report to John what you hear and see: [5] /the/ blind receive sight and /the/ lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and /the/ deaf hear, /the/ dead are raised up, and /the/ poor have the gospel preached to them.

[6] And blessed is he who does not take offense at Me.’”

 

David put it this way,

 

Psalm 23:5 (NASB-U),”You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows.”

*/Let the work speak for itself and give God the glory!/*

 

/(But don’t go to sleep!

Just because God has blessed you and you have accomplished a few of your goals, doesn’t mean that Satan has given up.

In the next few verse we see:)/

 

III.

The Continued Opposition (vv.

17-19).

/(The battle was won, but the war was *not* over!

The Christian life is a constant warfare, a campaign, *not* a single battle.

In the wilderness, there was wandering and resting, with brief periods of warfare.

But, in the Promised Land there was constant warfare with brief periods of rest!

Satan is still opposed to all that Nehemiah and the Jews are doing.

In these verse we see:)/

 

A.

External Opposition (vs.

17).

Tobiah still wasn’t finished.

Even though He did *not* live in Jerusalem, he found a way to keep up his opposition against Nehemiah.

Our enemies find a way to keep up opposition, even though they no longer go to this church!!!

 

\\ /(Not only was there external opposition, there was:)/

 

B.