Sermon Tone Analysis

Welcome

Good Morning!

I’m Pastor Wayne and I’d like to welcome you all to the gathering of Ephesus Baptist Church.

As we gather this morning, it is imperative that we understand why we gather.

We gather to worship and exalt the name of the one who has become our salvation.

The right hand of the Father, our Lord Jesus Christ!

If you are visiting with us this morning, we want you to who we are...

We are all one family of faith: “giving our all to love God, love people, proclaim Jesus, and make disciples in our generation.”

That is our mission, our purpose, why we exist as a church.

We have a connect card in the pew in front of you.

I invite you to take one and fill it out!

If you have prayer needs, you can let us know about those as well.

I promise, our prayer team will lift you up soon.

You can place those cards in the offering plate when it comes around.

Who’s Your One?

Scripture Memory

Opening Scripture Reading

Opening Prayer

Introduction

Today we are going to talk about “Serving the God of the Impossible!”

Join me in Nehemiah, Chapter 6! Please stand in honor of the reading of God’s word!

Do you know why I ask you to stand?

The reason we stand is because the Word of God deserves our respect.

It is our authority as the people of God.

It is the foundation on which we stand.

It is what God reveals to us.

It is right and good and true.

We need to hear from the Word of the Lord today!

Prayer for Illumination

In the beginning, the rebuilding of the wall must have seemed to be an impossible task to the Jewish people, especially in the face of intense opposition.

But nothing is impossible for God.

And nothing is impossible for God’s people if we will give God the credit and the glory as we are obedient to the commands of Christ.

Jesus said,

Nehemiah’s Wall Restoration project is a good example of the power of God working through His servants to make the impossible possible.

Throughout all the opposition and persecution Nehemiah endured from his enemies, he never sought his own revenge.

He handed his enemies over to the Lord, in prayer, to deal with according to His divine justice.

And God honored Nehemiah’s faithfulness.

In the closing verses of Nehemiah 6, we see the outcome of the wall restoration project Nehemiah has led in obedience to God: Nehemiah and the people of Judah, working in obedience to God’s plan, completed this impossible project in just fifty-two days.

What was true in Nehemiah’s day is still true today.

We serve the same God Nehemiah served.

We face mounting challenges and stiffening opposition, just as Nehemiah did.

If we stand firm in our faith.

If we stand firm in God’s promises, we too, will see God make the impossible possible as He changes hearts and transforms lives.

In our passage, Nehemiah provides us with four Biblical truths that will help us to stand firm and serve the God of the Impossible in obedient faith!

There is a lot to discuss here, so today we will look at the first two truths and continue the sermon next week with the final two truths.

1. Celebrate all the work that God accomplishes through His people.

(6:15-19)

a.

The Wall is Finished!

Let the triumph of verse 15 sink in!

They started the work in August, and they finished it in October.

Fifty-two days have passed, and in that time they have rebuilt the wall.

We are finally at the moment that Nehemiah and all the laborers had waited for.

After significant opposition, internal conflict, and countless hours of labor, the last stone has been laid, the final gate has been hinged, the wall is finally complete.

Surely there was an atmosphere of celebration here even though Nehemiah doesn’t mention it.

What they once thought was impossible, God has made possible before their very eyes?

Christian, never underestimate what God can accomplish through you when you are obedient to service he has called you to!

Church when you see what God does through you celebrate it while realizing that the world around you will see God’s hand in your work, even if they do not admit it right away.

We want to be people who do things that can only be done because God is helping us.

We don’t want to be people who do things that can be explained away by ordinary human effort.

We don’t want the world to look at what we have done and say, “Anybody with financial means, market savvy, and cultural sensitivity could pull that off.”

We don’t want that.

We want to be people like Nehemiah whom God

was able to work a miracle through.

Consider all the opposition they faced and the wall was finished in record time.

Guess what the nations recognized it as God’s miraculous hand!

b.

The nations perceived God’s helping hand.

Check out verse 16!

I love this!

Opposition will come, but God is able to strengthen us to overcome whatever we face to accomplish His purposes.

Again, Nehemiah refers to those he would call, “our enemies.”

Enemies represent all who are opposed to the Lord God and His work.

He calls them the nations, some translations may say “the heathen, the pagans, or the gentiles.”

These nations had a hatred for the Jewish God and His people.

Remember Sanballat and the three stooges had already been aligning the surrounding nations against Nehemiah and Jerusalem.

They hated God and His people.

You have to admit that there is a great hatred for the work of King Jesus in our society.

What we have to wrestle with is the fact that the people who hate us do not have a problem with religion or even religious people, but they hate those who are committed to serving the Lord Jesus Christ.

Sadly, we don’t have to leave our own communities to find them.

We are surrounded by enemies of the cross who’s opposition is rooted in unbelief.

Look no further than the events that unfolded on the United Methodist campus of Duke University this past week when the Student Body Government was allowed by the administration to remove the charter of a Christian Club called “Young Life,” simply because they have taken a stand to say that sexually immoral people can not hold a volunteer position of leadership within their “Christian” club!

What do we do when people hate us?

We look to the example of godly men like Nehemiah, the apostles, and even our Lord Jesus himself!

We stay on course.

We keep our focus.

We continue our mission of proclaiming the excellencies of Jesus Christ.

We want people looking at our church, and saying, “Only God could bring those people together.

I knew some of those people before they got converted; only God could make them as loving as they are now.”

We want people looking at us and being amazed that so many people from different backgrounds love one another the way we do.

Only God can do this.

Only God can produce true faith conversion.

Only God can convince people that the Bible is true in the face of the many lies and myths of our culture.

Only God can make sinners love one another.

Do you think that can bring God glory?

Remember that the more nations Sanballat managed to draw against Jerusalem (see on 4:7) in the end actually brought more recognition of God’s power.

This was Paul’s view of the fruits of his persecution!

What we need to realize here is that opposition comes from a place of unbelief that brings about fear and a lack of pride in the individuals themselves.

It is very hard to live a self-centered, prideful life when God’s people, who are genuinely striving to bring God glory rather than themselves, are living out a faithful holy humility right in front of you!

The nations saw the wall completed and marveled at the fact that the very God they hated had a hand in the completion of this great work.

c.