THE KING JAMES BIBLE PRACTICAL SERMON SERIES
NEHEMIAH: Essentials for Effective Christian Service
by Pastor Doug Sehorne
2510 Downey Drive Lancaster, SC 29720 Phone: 803-287-5310 pastorsehorne@comporium.net
The King James Bible Practical Sermon Series Nehemiah: Essentials of Effective Christian Service Author: Doug Sehorne
ŠCopyright April 1996, July 2011. Published by Victory Baptist Press http://www.victorybaptistpress.com
DEDICATION This book is affectionately dedicated to my dear wife, Vickie, whom I married on June 3, 1972. She has been a wonderful helpmeet and a role model for our ladies in all areas including submission, modesty, music, and teaching. No pastor will have an effective ministry without a supportive wife. I sincerely thank the Lord for bringing us together within His perfect will. April, 1996
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Introduction to the King James Bible Practical Sermon Series For some time the Lord has burdened my heart to write some books dealing with present day issues. I believe that the two greatest needs in America today are the starting of new churches and the printing of biblically sound literature based on the text of the King James Bible. Almost everything you find on the bookshelves of Christian bookstores is based on perverted translations and comes from either a psychological or charismatic point of view. Thus, the Lord has burdened my heart to begin this King James Bible Commentary Series. We request your prayers and support in this monumental project. We have chosen to first print messages on certain books of the Bible on which little fundamental literature has been previously written. We trust these studies will be a great blessing to many pastors and teachers around the world. May God grant His blessing to this series. To Him alone be the glory!
A Word of Appreciation I want to also state how much I appreciate the members of the Victory Baptist Church who have been so kind, understanding, and gracious to their pastor. I have pastored them for sixteen years, and it is because of their graciousness and prayers that I have been able to devote so much time to just studying, preaching, and writing. May the Lord abundantly bless this wonderful church.
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OUR THEME FOR NEHEMIAH These messages were preached to the congregation of the VICTORY BAPTIST CHURCH of Oakland, Maryland, where I was privileged to pastor for sixteen years. As I was studying for this series of messages, I discovered that most commentaries on Nehemiah deal with the characteristics of successful leadership. Truly, Nehemiah was a great leader. However, it was not his human ability that brought about his successful venture, but rather his knowledge of how to work for God, get GOD’S blessing on his ministry, and his dependence upon God in all matters. Consider Hebrews 12:28b, “...let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:” and 2 Timothy 2:5, “And if a man also strive for masteries, yet he is not crowned, except he strive lawfully.” There is acceptable service and then there is unacceptable service. There is much being done today in the name of Christ that is not in agreement with Bible principles of acceptable service. When God called Moses to build the tabernacle, He also gave him “the pattern in the mount.” Moses was not left to his own will or wisdom as to how to accomplish the work of God. God not only called him, but instructed him in the how-to of His Work. We are “laborers together with God,” not just for God. These messages were not written, but rather transcribed from cassette recordings. We trust that as you read these messages, you will also be able to hear them as they were delivered in the fire of old fashioned Bible preaching. I trust this book will help you learn the essentials for effective Christian service.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. The Necessity of a Burden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 2. The Necessity of Assurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 3. The Necessity of Knowledge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 4. The Necessity of Unity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 5. The Necessity of Balance (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 6. The Necessity of Balance (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 7. The Necessity of Balance (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 8. The Necessity of Balance (4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 9. The Necessity of a Christian Home . . . . . . . . . . . 94 10. The Necessity of Armor and Courage. . . . . . . . . . . 106 11. The Necessity of Prayer and Faith . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 12. The Necessity of Wisdom and Love . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 13. The Necessity of Taking a Stand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 14. The Necessity of Authority and Leadership . . . . . . . . 168 15. The Necessity of Joy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186 16. The Necessity of Worship and Revival . . . . . . . . . . . 202 17. The Necessity of Vision, Virtue, and Vigilance . . . . . . 218
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Expository Outline # 1 The Necessity of a Burden (Nehemiah 1:1-2:4) Introduction A. The past history of Israel B. The point of Nehemiah C. The position of Nehemiah I. THE REPORT OF HANANI II. THE RESPONSE OF NEHEMIAH A. He saw the DESIGN of God for Israel. B. He saw the DESTRUCTION of the wall. C. He experienced DESPAIR in his soul. D. He DETERMINED to do something. III. THE ROAD TO A BURDENED HEART A. You must realize the IMPORTANCE of the walls. 1. Salvation 2. Service 3. Separation B. You must realize the INSIGHT of the Lord. 1. Repentance a. Love for God b. Prayer c. Bible reading d. Witnessing e. Faithfulness 2. Remembrance of God’s past blessings 1
3. Recognition of his position 4. Reclamation of God’s promise 5. Rededication of himself IV. THE RESULTS OF A BURDENED HEART A. It will make you sympathetic. B. It will make you steadfast. C. It will make you successful. D. It will stimulate prayerfulness. Chapter One THE NECESSITY OF A BURDEN (Nehemiah 1:1-2:4) Introduction 1. The past history of Israel From the prophecies of Daniel, we learn that after the Babylonian empire, its successors were to be the Persian, Grecian, and Roman kingdoms. As we come to the book of Nehemiah, Persia is now in power, and Nehemiah is a slave (cupbearer to the king) in Shushan, the capital city. Seemingly, God had given Artaxerxes, king of Persia, a sympathetic heart toward the Jews. About 50,000 Jews had already been allowed to return and had begun rebuilding the temple under Zerubbabel. After many discouraging events, the temple construction had ceased with the foundation. God then raised up two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, to motivate the people to continue building. Ezra returned with another remnant and helped with this great task. Now that the temple is rebuilt, Nehemiah is burdened of God to rebuild the wall around the city of Jerusalem which, of course, would include the temple. 2
Nehemiah: Essentials of Effective Christian Service
2. The point of Nehemiah As mentioned earlier, the theme of Nehemiah is how to serve God “acceptably,” or pleasingly. What does God require of His servants? What kind of service will receive God’s blessing here and eternal reward and recognition in Heaven? This is the theme of this series from Nehemiah. 3. The position of Nehemiah To understand the significance of Nehemiah’s actions, we must consider the position that he held in the heart and administration of Artaxerxes. Though he was a slave, he was the cupbearer, the personal confidante and friend of the king. Because the Jewish nation had been completely conquered and there was no army to be feared, the Persians had loosened their grip on the Jews and many were free to come and go with little restraint. I. THE REPORT OF HANANI In verses 1 and 2, we find that Nehemiah’s blood brother, Hanani, whom he had not seen for sometime, made a visit back to the capital city of Shushan. Nehemiah asked how things were back home in Jerusalem, and the sad reply given by Hanani is found in verse 3. Nehemiah must have assumed that since 50,000 Jews had returned, the temple would be finished, as well as the wall, and everything would be fine in Jerusalem. But now he learns that there is a sad state of affairs back home. We have the same, sad state of affairs here in our land. Everybody assumes that someone else will get the job done, but the job never seems to get done. No one else will get a burden unless you do. No one else is going to serve God, win souls, give to missions, or teach a class unless you do. Everybody needs to get burdened about the work of God. Nehemiah is about to become God’s man for the hour. His life’s calling is about to be laid out before him. He is about to learn that there is nothing accomplished without action, no winning without warfare, no victory without vigilance, no opportunity without opposition, no success without sac3
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rifice, and no blessing without a burden. We find that Nehemiah does indeed get a burden, is mightily used of God, leaves his position in the kingdom, and rebuilds the wall in just fiftytwo days. What is the key to his success? Why was he so used and blessed of God? What did Nehemiah have that we don’t have? Let’s examine the Scriptures and find the first key to the blessings of God upon Nehemiah’s service! II. THE RESPONSE OF NEHEMIAH A. He saw the DESIGN of God for Israel (Nehemiah 1:9). Nehemiah realized that the Jews were God’s chosen people and Jerusalem was that sacred place where God had chosen to place His name. He realized afresh the high and holy calling of his people, and the place that Jerusalem held in the heart of God. The purpose of God had been thwarted because of the sinful idolatry of the nation. Israel was to be a “light to lighten the Gentiles”(Luke 2:32). They had miserably failed to fulfill God’s plan. This is applicable to our situation in the Church today. It is our high and holy calling to take the Gospel to the world. We must get a burden once again for the souls of men. B. He saw the DESTRUCTION of the wall. Nehemiah saw the fall of the wall as a sign of inward failure. This outward physical situation was a symbol of the inward spiritual condition of the people. The walls of old-fashioned preaching, praying, and morality are broken down in our once, great nation. It all began with carelessness, which led to lukewarmness, which led to powerlessness. This is the sad state of most preachers and churches today! Oh, how we need to be anointed with “fresh oil.” C. He experienced DESPAIR in his soul. He began to weep, pray, and fast over what he heard and envisioned 4
Nehemiah: Essentials of Effective Christian Service
as the condition of the beloved city. God was preparing Nehemiah for a great work, and the first thing he did was give Nehemiah a real, heartbreaking burden for the work set before him. You will never lighten the load until you feel the weight of it in your own soul. You will never get the burden for the work of God, nor get involved in the work, nor feel a part of the work, until you feel the weight of it in your own heart and soul. Illustration: A construction worker was down in a deep ditch which suddenly collapsed. Fellow workers began frantically trying to uncover him. A crowd began to gather. One bystander approached and asked what was taking place. A worker responded, “Someone has been covered up in the ditch!” “Too bad.” replied the bystander, who then asked, “Do you know his name?” Someone shouted the man’s name who had been covered. “Oh my,” responded the bystander, “that’s my brother!” He then jumped into the ditch and began frantically trying to uncover his own brother. You see, he was not too concerned until the weight of it hit his own soul. We have loved ones who are dying and going to Hell. Surely, we can get a burden for someone else who is on their way to a Christ-less Hell. You must cultivate a burden for your church, your Sunday school class, your missionaries, your young people, and your family and friends! D. He DETERMINED to do something! In chapter 1, verse 11, Nehemiah asked God to prosper him; that is, to give him an opportunity to do something about the terrible situation in Jerusalem. He became determined, by God’s grace to get involved. For four months he prayed and fasted for God’s leadership in this matter. He knew it would take a miracle for him to be allowed to return to Judah.
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The Necessity of a Burden
III. THE ROAD TO A BURDENED HEART A. You must realize the importance of the walls. Nehemiah understood the importance of that wall. He knew that the temple was exposed to the world, the Canaanites, and was therefore vulnerable to its enemies. Though Nehemiah was safe in Shushan the palace, he got burdened for the welfare of others. We need to erect the walls of: 1. Salvation We need to believe once again that people without Christ go to an eternal Hell. Without the wall of salvation, they are vulnerable to Satan and will spend eternity in the flames of Hell unless they are born again by the grace of God. This wall is necessary to escape the judgment of God. We must not water down the message just to get empty professions of faith but preach the whole counsel of God which is “...repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21). These truths alone, accompanied by Holy Ghost conviction, will produce genuine life-changing conversions! 2. Service What are you really doing to serve the Lord? Most Christians who come to church faithfully and tithe, consider that their Christian service. But that is not you serving God; it is God serving and blessing you. What are you doing for HIM? 3. Separation That wall did, indeed, separate them from the world. Preachers once again need to erect a wall of separation around their church. We need some old-fashioned standards in the lives of our people once again. If we as shepherds of God’s flock fail to erect some safeguards around our people, we are hirelings and not faithful shepherds. We who understand what sin can do to an individual, need to preach hard on sin and warn our people about making “...provision for the flesh,” (Romans 13:14). Stan6
Nehemiah: Essentials of Effective Christian Service
dards of education, music, dating, personal relationships, and worldly amusements once again need to be set before our members. May God grant preachers the grace and guts to preach the whole counsel of God. B. You must realize the insight of the Lord. We have to get honest with God and be willing to see things as they really are in His sight. We would rather not face up to our lack of compassion, lack of spirituality, lack of power, and our lack of involvement. But if you are going to get a burden, you must get honest about your own condition, as well as the condition of the wall. Nehemiah faced the reality of his own failure as revealed in his prayer in chapter one. We see his: 1. Repentance Notice verse 6, “...I and my father’s house have sinned.” Nehemiah first faced and wept over the ruins of his own soul. The wall of Jerusalem spoke to him of his own failures before God. We must get the inside right if we are to be used outwardly. The walls were broken down not because of the greatness of Babylon, but because of the sinful idolatry of the nation. Let’s stop blaming others for our condition and get right with God. There are some walls that need to be erected in our own souls: a. Love for God b. Prayer c. Bible reading d. Witnessing e. Faithfulness What does God see lying in ruins in your soul? You will never have a real burden until you are “...building up yourselves on your most holy faith” (Jude 20). 2. Remembrance of God’s past blessings 7
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Notice in verse 10, “...redeemed by thy great power.” Whenever you hear a Jew talk about being redeemed, he is speaking nationally of God redeeming the nation from Egyptian bondage and bringing them through the Red Sea. Nehemiah based his prayer on what God had done for them at salvation. Our prayers, too, are based upon the blood of Christ, through which we have access to the Father (Heb. 10:19). 3. Recognition of his position Notice verse 10, “Now these are thy servants...” I am a servant of God and so are you. If you are truly serving Him, you can believingly look to Him for help and blessing. 4. Reclamation of God’s promise Notice verse 8, “Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst...” Read 2 Chronicles 7:14 concerning God’s promise of forgiveness, along with Leviticus 26:8,9. Nehemiah had been reading his Bible. He therefore claimed God’s promise as we can in 1 John 1:9. Nehemiah never worked until he wept. He never toiled until there were tears. He was never determined until he despaired. The report he received from Hanani changed his life forever. No longer could he remain unchanged, unchallenged, or unconcerned. There will be no fervency nor faithfulness without a burden! 5. Rededication of himself He could not quit or live with himself once this burden came upon him. The vision of the city in ruins never left his mind. He could not eat nor sleep. He prayed and fasted until God opened the door of service. Nehemiah died to self. That was the day he really began to live. There is no fruitfulness without a burden! IV. THE RESULTS OF A BURDENED HEART A. It will make you sympathetic. 8
Nehemiah: Essentials of Effective Christian Service
It will fuel your tears. No more cold, lifeless formalism for Nehemiah. No more going through the motions in monotonous drudgery. Now, he sees the great purpose of God for His people. Jesus was “moved with compassion” (Matthew 9:36). B. It will make you steadfast. Burdened servants cannot be discouraged, distracted, or detoured. A burdened servant has a dream, a goal, a priority that eats at him and drives him on in his service for God. Nehemiah had much opposition and many obstacles to overcome. There were enemies without and dissension from within, but he is steadfastly on course through it all. C. It will make you successful. Burdened people always bear fruit (Psalm 126:5,6). They always accomplish the will of God. Nothing can stop them. They will accomplish God’s will and that is Biblical success. One man with a burden is worth ten without it. God is not looking for a man with personality, talent, education, or intellect. He is looking for a man in whom He can place His burden for His work. D. It will stimulate prayerfulness. Furthermore, real, true praying is the result of a burdened heart. You will find Nehemiah continually praying throughout the book. If you want God to hear your prayers, pray with a burdened, broken heart concerning His work. God is looking for some Nehemiahs (Ezekiel 22:30). Will He find one in you? No one can effectively serve God without a burden. Why not fall on your knees now, confess your cold, lukewarm condition, and ask God to give you His burden for His work? Amen!
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Expository Outline # 2 The Necessity of Assurance Nehemiah 2:1-8 Introduction I. THE BURDEN HE CARRIED (2:1-4) A. No real worship (1:11) 1. Devotion (1:5) 2. Desire to serve B. No real work (1:5) II. THE BLESSING HE COVETED (2:5) Introduction A. Nehemiah sensed his need. B. Faith and foolishness 1. Salvation (2:3) 2. Sent by the king (2:5) 3. Safety on the journey (2:7-9) 4. Supply for the work (2:8) III. THE BOLDNESS HE CONVEYED A. Faith. 1. He had faith in the promise of the king. 2. He had faith in the promiser. a. A sovereign king b. A strong king c. A sufficient king B. Fellowship. C. Friendship.
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Chapter Two THE NECESSITY OF ASSURANCE (Nehemiah 2:1-8) Introduction Men must know they are called of God; they must know God has given them a spiritual gift, whatever that gift might be. Everyone must feel that they have a ministry. Nehemiah wanted to know some things, so he went to Jerusalem and surveyed the situation to find out just how bad things were. He had already made up his mind that he was going to do something about the situation, but he wanted to know exactly what the situation involved. He was not taking the survey to find out whether or not he could do the job. He was taking the survey to find out what he needed to get the job done. There was no question in his mind that he was going to do the job. He had already accepted that by faith. I. THE BURDEN HE CARRIED (2:1-4) Nehemiah’s burden was the thing that opened up the door of opportunity. Nehemiah had been fasting, praying, and weeping for four months. That is not to say that he had fasted for the total of that time, but he fasted at times with praying and weeping. Then he would eat again and strengthen his body. After that he would go back to fasting, praying, and mourning until finally his burden became so great that he could no longer hide even 12
Nehemiah: Essentials of Effective Christian Service
the physical effect that it was having on his body. He was weak and faint, and his countenance did not look right. Night after night he meditated and thought about the wall in Jerusalem laying in ruins, with all the rubble, stone, and charred beams. What a reproach. Something must be done! A. No real worship (1:11) There is no real worship without a burden. In chapter one, verse eleven, Nehemiah is worshipping the Lord in prayer. All effective work and worship is the result of a burden. 1. Devotion (1:5) There must be a fear of God. There must be a reverential awe of God, including worship and praise. Worship is more than just words. It is the result of a burdened heart. 2. Desire to serve The devotion that Nehemiah had resulted in a desire to serve God. He called himself a servant, and asked the Lord for the desire of his heart, which was to be a servant. In his worship there was praise, but there was also a desire to serve God. The reason there is no worship, fasting, or praying in our lives is because there is no burden. Every effect must have a cause, and worship is the effect that is caused by a burden. The reason we do not fast and mourn and pray is that we don’t have the burden Nehemiah had. This is also the reason why there are no tears or compassion. What can you do about it? You just have to face the reality of your own situation. Nehemiah had to face himself and his own condition. We like to blame the world or others, but it is our problem. Nehemiah had to face the situation himself. He heard the report. When he heard the report, the thing that bothered him was that Jerusalem was the place where God had chosen to place His name. He said the city was in reproach, that is, it was bringing reproach upon the name of God. The Canaanites over in the land of Israel were standing around saying, “Look what happened to the 13
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Jews. They talked about Him being their God, and they told about Him dividing the Red Sea, and causing the sun to stand still for Joshua. Well, where is that God today? Look at the city in ruins. That’s supposed to be the place where Jehovah lives, and look at the walls.” They were bringing reproach upon the name of God, and that was why Nehemiah’s heart was broken. So, he faced the report, then he repented, and then, because of his repentance, he experienced revival in his own heart. If it is found nowhere else in the book, here there is a revival, and it is in Nehemiah’s heart. He began as a cold, callused, self-satisfied, self-contented slave in a foreign land, thinking himself somewhat privileged to have the job of the cupbearer of the king. When he heard about the wall, he got heart-broken. He was not satisfied anymore. He didn’t sleep or eat. He was too burdened. This burden that we are talking about comes from the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. It is not something we can conjure up, or manufacture in the flesh. Our hearts are too wicked and too cold to manufacture up real godly compassion, tears, and burdens. God must give us the burden. Let me repeat, there is no real worship without a burden. B. No real work (1:5) Nehemiah worshipped, fasted, prayed, mourned, praised God, and confessed his sin. He always worshipped before he worked. A lot of churches have a lot of programs. They can make a lot of noise, and some even have big names, but what they are forgetting is that there is no real work until there is worship. When Jesus called the disciples in Matthew 10, it says that He called them “unto him” (Matthew 10:1), and then He sent them two by two. He did not call them to preach. He called them to Himself, and then He sent them to preach the Word of God. There will not be any sending until there has been a calling. There will not be a going forth until there has been a coming to the Lord Jesus Christ in prayer or in a burden. The Lord said to the Ephesus church in Revelation, “I know thy works, 14
Nehemiah: Essentials of Effective Christian Service
and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil...Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.” (Revelation 2:2,4). There is no labor until there is love. There is no duty until there is devotion. There is no direction until there is the desire to serve God. It is only a man with a crushing burden that God can trust with His work! Ask yourself the question, “Do you have the burden that Nehemiah had?” II. THE BLESSING HE COVETED (2:5-8) Introduction A. Sensing His Need. Notice three things in these verses. In verse 5, Nehemiah said “send me,” in verse 7 he said, “convey me,” and in verse 8 he said, “give me.” These were the blessings that he coveted for himself. Nehemiah knew that he was insufficient in himself. He knew that he needed the king’s help. We, too, need to sense our inadequacies and desire the King’s help. Nehemiah therefore desired to see some indication of the hand of God upon him. He said in verse 8, “...And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.” The blessing that he coveted the most was the assurance that this burden was of God. This was not just an emotional response to a sad situation, but this was the Holy Spirit working in his heart. He desired the assurance that God was on the scene moving, working, and blessing on his behalf. Nehemiah dared not go out and attempt the impossible without the God of the impossible being with him. B. Satisfying His Faith There is a fine line between faith and foolishness. It would have been foolishness to attempt such a thing without knowing that this burden was of God. 15
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So many Christian servants have become discouraged and quit because they got ahead of God. They presumed upon the grace of God, and they assumed God was going to bless without getting some assurance of it beforehand. There are four things of which Nehemiah wanted to be assured: 1. Saved (2:3) Nehemiah said, “Let the king live forever.” What did he mean by that? That seemed to be a normal greeting, as with Daniel in the lion’s den (Daniel 6:21). But there was a deeper reason here for Nehemiah’s statement. It was a serious thing to offend the king. To come unto the king unannounced, as with Queen Esther (Esther 5:1,2), or to displease the king and stir his wrath could result in death. Therefore, Nehemiah was asking forgiveness for upsetting the king by his sad countenance. Men today have offended a holy God and they need to seek His forgiveness. No one will ever accomplish anything for God who has not settled the matter of their eternal salvation. I just talked with a man whose parents attend a church that does not teach the eternal security of the believer. They attended that church for seven years, and during that seven year period they did nothing for the cause of Christ because they were so distracted about the matter of whether they were saved or not. Saved today, but what about tomorrow! Thank God that you can know that you have eternal life. Read it again in 1 John 5:13! “These things have I written uno you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” If one has repented of his sin and trusted in the blood of Jesus for salvation, and has become a new creature, he is eternally saved. Hallelujah! I have experienced what the Bible said I would experience, and therefore I know that I have been saved. 2. Sent (2:5) 16
Nehemiah: Essentials of Effective Christian Service
Nehemiah desired to know that he had been sent by the king. There was a great need, but the need did not constitute the call. Just because there is a need does not mean that God has called you to that place or ministry. There are needs all over the world, but which need has God called you to fill? It is not a need, but a call that is necessary. The burden does not come just because of a report, but because you feel the Holy Ghost moving your heart in that direction and you see some indication of the “good hand of God” upon you for this task. That is the only thing that will keep you in the place of service when the going gets tough. That is the reason so many quit, because they lack the assurance that they have been sent by the King and are on a divinely-directed mission for God Himself! There was a famous Shakespearean actor who had an apprentice, who for eighteen years stood in the shadows awaiting the day that he could step in and do the acting himself. This particular theatrical group was financed in a great part by the King of England. One cold, rainy night with few people in attendance, the apprentice asked if just this once he might be allowed to do the acting. The great actor refused his request and when asked why, he said, “Because I do not perform for the people, I perform for the King.” The next day, the actor got a notice from the King requesting him for dinner. That night, when he went to the palace, the King said to him, “I enjoyed your performance last night.” Listen, O servant of God! There may not be many in attendance, but the King is always there, and He is the one we are to serve! There are many in the ministry tonight for pride and show business. But you do not need the grace of God to serve for pride, pay, or popularity! To labor unknown and unrewarded, in the face of opposition, demands an assur17
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ance in your soul that you are there by Divine Command! When persecution came, all the disciples “forsook him and fled” (Matthew 26:56). But Jesus gathered them and breathed on them, and they received the Holy Ghost (John. 20:22). They came to realize that they needed some supernatural power and grace to keep them faithful in hard times (Acts 4:29-31). 3. Safe (2:7-9) In verse 7, Nehemiah’s request was “convey me.” He was saying that he desired to know that he was going to have a safe and successful journey. Nehemiah was not saying that he wanted safety from his problems, but safety in his problems. He wanted the assurance that the king would be with him through this journey. Nehemiah was given a military escort. Again, I emphasize that he knew there would be dangers involved and so was not asking to be delivered from all dangers, but that grace and power would be granted to handle all the dangers on the journey. Every child of God faces the possibility of discouragement, disappointment, desertion by friends, opposition, homesickness, persecution, false accusations, ridicule, and even martyrdom for the cause of Christ. We are not to ask to be delivered from experiencing these things but that we might be assured of power to have victory over them as God allows them to come our way. Thank God, His grace is sufficient. When Moses was commanded by God to take the Israelites into Canaan, he said he would not go unless the presence of God went with him (Exodus 33:15). Let us ask God for grace in our problems, not always deliverance from them. 4. Supplied (2:8, “give me”) The last thing that Nehemiah wanted was the assurance that all his needs would be supplied. There is no use in going to build a wall unless you have the material to do it with. Matthew 10:9 and 10 says, “But all this was done, that the scrip18
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tures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled.” Now, compare Luke 22:35, “And he said unto them, When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any thing? And they said, Nothing.” In this instance, He told them to go without visible means of support, but they had His promise! When American soldiers were transported to Saudi Arabia, they were not concerned about whether or not they were going to eat. They knew that Uncle Sam would take care of them. They did not worry about provisions and supplies for they had the United States government behind them. How much less should we worry knowing that we have the God of Heaven behind and even before us! III. THE BOLDNESS HE CONVEYED A. Faith. 1. He had faith in the promise of the king. Let’s compare Romans 4:20,21. “He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform,” and Hebrews 11:11, “Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.” As a man, I may make a promise that I cannot keep, but not so with God, for “with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). 2. He had faith in the promiser! Nehemiah, like Abraham and Sarah, had more than faith in a promise. They had faith in the promiser. I have the promises, not of a heathen king, but of the King of Heaven! The question is, “Who made the promise?” a. A sovereign king This was Artaxerxes, the king of the then known world. The 19
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law of the Medes and Persians was unchangeable under all circumstances. We have the promise of the Almighty God of the universe. Should that not encourage our faith? b. A strong king He had a great army to enforce his laws and to overcome all opposition. No one could stand in his way! So, too, in a much greater way is our God! c. A sufficient king This king had the power, influence, and ability to enable Nehemiah to get the job accomplished. So, Nehemiah just took the king at his word. B. Fellowship. Let’s face it, we do not trust total strangers. But this king was not unknown to Nehemiah. Nehemiah was his servant, his cupbearer! He trusted him, because he knew him! You are not going to trust God until you get to know Him intimately. C. Friendship. Just a few years earlier, this king had allowed 50,000 Jews to return and rebuild their temple in Palestine. He had proven himself to be a friend and to be faithful to his word. How much more has our God proven to us that He is a friend and He is faithful? If Nehemiah can trust a heathen king, can we not trust a holy God? Also, we must consider that the king trusted Nehemiah. The king asked two questions: (1) What do you need? and (2) When will you return? He trusted Nehemiah to keep his word. So, we must face the question, can God trust me? Can God trust you? Will you keep His Word and fulfill your responsibility to Him? Can God trust YOU? Amen! 20
Expository Outline # 3 The Necessity of Knowledge (Nehemiah 2:9-20) Introduction I. THE REALITY OF THE SITUATION (2:12-17) II. THE RESOURCES AVAILABLE A. Preaching The Gospel B. Powerful Conviction C. Personal Testimony (2:18) D. Prayerful Burden III. THE RESPONSE OF THE PEOPLE (2:18) IV. THE REBELS WE MUST FACE (2:10,19)
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Chapter Three THE NECESSITY OF KNOWLEDGE (Nehemiah 2:9-20) Introduction 1. Be sure to review the previous message! 2. Nehemiah wanted to know some things. Nehemiah went out and surveyed the city to find out exactly what the situation was so that he could help. As I mentioned before, Nehemiah was not surveying the city because of a lack of faith. He went to find out if the situation was as bad as he had heard and to see what his resources were. After surveying the situation, he gathered the people together and told them that God had sent him to rebuild the wall. 3. Zeal without knowledge The Bible gives us a lot of Scripture concerning knowledge. Knowledge is a very important thing, and if one does not have a certain knowledge, he could be destroyed, spiritually speaking (Hosea 4:6), and his life would be a shipwreck as far as accomplishing anything to the glory of God (Romans 10:2). There can be “zeal...not according to knowledge� (Romans 10:2). Many churches have all kinds of ministries, but they have no knowledge concerning the workings of the Spirit of God or the Gospel of Christ. They are working, but they are not working in the knowledge of the Word of God. This is why you should never dive into anything without knowing exactly what you are getting into. 22
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4. The importance of the Gospel Just as Nehemiah’s work was building walls, God’s work is building lives. This work begins with winning souls to Christ and teaching them all things whatsoever He commands. The most serious business in all the world is preaching the Word of God, and witnessing of the grace of God. Nothing is more important than a person coming to know the truth, because it is only the truth that will set him free. It is only the truth that will bring a man to the saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Everyone should be interested in the winning of souls to the extent that he finds out how to explain to someone how to be saved and how to testify of the grace of God. Many people have been led astray by well-meaning, but ignorant people, because they did not know how to tell others how to be saved. I. THE REALITY OF THE SITUATION (2:12-17) Nehemiah had only heard about it, and he wanted to know how bad the wall was damaged, how bad the gates were burned, and how much rubble needed to be removed. He wanted to know the true reality of the situation. When you are thinking about winning people to Christ, serving God, and getting involved in the work of God, you need to know the reality of the situation. Usually the situation is even worse than you think it is! For instance, just how bad was the soul damaged in the fall? How bad is man? He is worse than we think he is (Romans 3:10)! By man’s standards there are some good men in the world, but by God’s standards there are none. A man left to himself will not seek God; his heart is at enmity against God. Man is totally depraved. When you go out to do the work of God, you must face the reality of just how bad off man really is. The hopelessness and the helplessness of the task before us should drive us to our knees in prayer, just as it did Nehemiah. The only way anyone can ever be a witness, is if the 23
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Holy Ghost accompanies them in their witness and does something in that person’s heart. Soul-winning is impossible apart from the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. II. THE RESOURCES AVAILABLE Nehemiah wanted to know what his resources were. He needed to know about the stone, the brick, the mortar, how much he needed, how high the walls were, and how many gates there were. We also need to know our resources. The Lord has given us certain weapons and tools to get the job done, and we need to know what they are and how to use them. A. Preaching The Gospel The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation. It is the Word of God accompanied by power that can bring a person to salvation (1 Thessalonians 1:5). This is an area in which churches and Bible colleges have failed. There are preacher boys by the dozens coming out of Baptist colleges today who do not really understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The problem is that the emphasis has been upon the methods rather than the message of evangelism. Many have all the methods, but they are ignorant of the message. Jude said that we should “contend for the faith” (Jude 1:3). The message includes repentance, and the problem is, “How do we apply the message effectively?” Repentance is confession of sin, sorrow for sin, and turning from sin. Anything less than that will not lead a person to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. There is also faith. Faith is more than just praying a prayer and believing in your head that Jesus died, was buried, and rose again. Faith is a heart belief; it is the trusting and the committing of one’s self to Christ. Next, is the lordship of Jesus Christ. Lordship is to be in submission to Christ. Repentance is turning from something, and lordship is turning to something. If I turn from sin and self, then to whom am I turning? I am 24
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turning to the Lord. Saul said, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” (Acts 9:6). This is an evidence of submission to the Lord Jesus Christ. I am not saying a sinner must understand all of the Bible terminology. When I got saved, I did not know the lingo, but I knew that if I did get saved, I would be expected to live for God. Salvation is a matter of a heart attitude, not words and motions. “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness...” (Romans 10:10). The easy-believism crowd does not understand this. Their message is “just believe this little statement about Jesus and you will be saved,” But that is not the gospel message (Luke 13:3,5; Acts 17:30). It is the application of the message with which they have a problem. Now, they may have large churches. But these churches are filled with people who are ignorant of the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. B. Powerful Conviction The second weapon of our warfare is the conviction of the Holy Ghost (John 16:8). When conviction comes, the sinner becomes uncomfortable in his sin. There is no pleasure in sin anymore. Even as a sinner under conviction, I became so aware of the judgment of God, I could no longer enjoy my sin. There is no neutral ground. When a man comes under conviction, he will either submit to it and be saved or will harden his heart and be lost forever. No one has ever been saved apart from the conviction of the Holy Ghost. Preaching that does not bring conviction to sinners is vain preaching. Oh, that God would fill us with His Spirit so that we might preach and witness with power. C. Personal Testimony (2:18) Nehemiah had his own testimony! He was telling them of the “hand of my God which was good upon me; and also the king’s words...” Nehemiah knew what God had done for him, and he had been with the king. Nehemiah had a letter from the king. He was not preaching his own 25
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message nor coming in his own authority. In the book of Acts, Luke recorded Paul’s testimony three different times. It was after Paul had given his testimony to King Agrippa that the king said, “...Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.” We are commanded to be witnesses. A witness is one who simply testifies what he has seen and heard and experienced. I am concerned about folks who don’t have a testimony and who cannot tell you how or when they got saved. I am concerned about preachers who do not know or preach about repentance, for it may be that they thermselves have never experienced it. Whatever you have experienced, you can tell. Have you been born again? Have you repented of your sins? Have you been converted and experienced the transforming power of the Gospel? Then tell it! D. Prayerful Burden All through this book, Nehemiah is continually praying. He is accomplishing the work of God through the power of prayer. No one will be eternally effective in the service of God until they learn the power of prevailing prayer. Someone wrote, “There is too much working before men, and not enough waiting before God.” James says, “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16). You may get discouraged, but pray on. You may not see God working, but pray on. It may seem as though you are praying in vain, but pray on! I prayed for my father for twenty years before he was saved. Just pray on! When you least expect it, God will awaken the soul of that lost loved one and save him for His own glory. III. THE RESPONSE OF THE PEOPLE (2:18) Nehemiah wanted to know if the people would work and if they would 26
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work together! As I preach these messages, our armed forces are working hand in hand with other nations to stop Saddam Hussein. They must work together to accomplish this goal. Look at ahead at chapter 3 and notice this phrase repeated throughout, “and next unto him.” Remember, Jesus sent the disciples out two by two which demanded unity. What a blessing for missionaries and evangelists to know that someone is praying for them, laboring fervently in intercessory prayer on their behalf. We are to labor together so that God might be glorified. IV. THE REBELS HE MUST FACE (2:10,19) There was one last thing Nehemiah needed to know to be effective in this work. He needed to know his enemies. There are three men mentioned here, and we too have three enemies: the world, the flesh, and the devil. We have spoken of the flesh, but there is also the world that is constantly tugging at men’s hearts. The world and the devil are not only my enemy, but they are also my greatest hindrance in winning others to Christ. I am on the losing side of this thing if God is not with me, supernaturally moving on a man’s heart as I witness to him. These overwhelming obstacles should drive us to our knees as we face the impossible task of winning people to Christ and building New Testament churches. May it have the same effect upon us as it did Nehemiah when he said, “...So I prayed to the God of Heaven.” Amen!
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Expository Outline # 4 The Necessity of Unity (Nehemiah 3) Introduction In this message we will look at some things that bring unity to the local church endeavoring to serve God. I. A COMMON DELIVERANCE (1:10) A. Redeemed by power B. Redeemed by blood C. Reconciled by blood II. A COMMON DEATH (2:2) III. A COMMON DESIRE A. To Exalt God B. To Erect a Haven IV. A COMMON DESTINY A. The Seat of Judgment B. Our Sanctified Home V. A COMMON DOCTRINE A. Scriptural content B. Strict convictions C. Single consistency
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Chapter Four THE NECESSITY OF UNITY (Nehemiah 3) Introduction Unity is the second most important aspect of Christian service and of local church work. The first and most important aspect is prayer. Prayer was the secret of Nehemiah’s success. Preachers need to spend less time reading books, and more time praying. This is not a business work; it is a spiritual work, and in spiritual work sometimes what you need to do doesn’t make sense. Prayer resulted in the unified group that Nehemiah led. First, you must pray; then there is that one accord; and then there is being filled with the Holy Spirit. It always works in that order. The wall around Jerusalem was approximately two miles around, and it was well sectioned off. Each family was given a section of wall and a gate, and it was their responsibility to do their job and not worry about what someone else was doing. When every family had done their own job, the entire wall was complete, and it took only fifty-two days. Many different occupations are mentioned. Even the women got in on the work of God and so helped one another. As they were building the wall around Jerusalem, they were also building their homes. When you build spiritual walls, you are actually helping yourself. When you build a spiritual wall of the church, you are building something that will be a great help to your home and your children. You see, we are in this thing together. 30
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Don’t try to sink my boat, because if I sink, then so do you! We are in the same boat and in the same army. So, why was there such unity and cooperation, and why was the work so successful? How was it accomplished in fifty-two days? The answer is: Because of unity and because of five common experiences these people had. I. A COMMON DELIVERANCE A. Redesed by power Back in Nehemiah 1:10, Nehemiah prayed and said, “Thou hast redeemed us by thy great power...”! Whenever a Jew talked about being redeemed, he always pointed back to the time when Moses and the Israelites crossed the Red Sea and were redeemed by the power of God. B. Redeemed by blood They were not only redeemed by the power of God, but also by the blood of the Passover lamb. It was when the blood was shed and applied to the doorpost, that the power of Pharaoh was broken. The Israelites were freed by the power of the blood. So, they were redeemed as a people, a thousand years before, when Moses and the Israelites crossed the Red Sea; that was Israel’s salvation: the common deliverance. These Jews had also personally experienced redemption. Just a few years earlier, they were personally in bondage themselves in Babylon, and fifty thousand of them had been allowed to return. The blood was not only applied to the doorpost, but also to the heart of each and every person. You and I were redeemed two thousand years ago, when the blood of THE Lamb of God was shed, and so we too have been united by the blood. The whole world is positionally redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, but the blood must be applied personally. C. Reconciled by blood 31
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These people were united by the blood, and all who are Christians are united by the blood. There will never be unity between sheep and goats. All of these people were Jews, and they had the same God. They were unified because of their salvation. The people who they had trouble with were the goats: Sanballat, the Horonite; Tobiah, the Ammonite; and Geshem, the Arabian. Those men were not a part of the family of God, nor had they been redeemed, and so they had no right or memorial to be with God’s people. II. A COMMON DEATH In chapter two, we find that Nehemiah died spiritually. He came before the king burdened and broken. That was the day Nehemiah forgot himself, the king, and even his own safety. He was obsessed with one desire, and that was to build the wall around Jerusalem. He had been praying, fasting, and weeping for four months, and he had now completely died to self. Only one thing mattered then, and that was the wall. There is proof of this in chapter three. There are many names and families mentioned in that chapter, but Nehemiah is not mentioned. He didn’t want any glory, even though he probably did more work than anyone else. Even though the others did nothing for God until Nehemiah came along, he gave them all the credit for the work that had been done. This experience of dying to self is one that you and I need to have as Christians. Paul said, “I am crucified with Christ”(Galatians 2:20), and “I die daily” (1 Corinthians 15:31). Jesus said, “...take up the cross, and follow me” (Mark 10:21). The cross is not a place of suffering; it is a place of death. It is spiritual death when a person says, “It is not I who matters. I’m not here to do my own thing, to get my own way, or to live my own life.” We must all die to our own selves and our own wills. We must humble ourselves and submit ourselves to serving others, and if we all do so there will be unity in the house of 32
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God. This is one of the main reasons that churches have problems. Everyone wants their own way, and they have not died to self. III. A COMMON DESIRE A. To Exalt God Nehemiah and the people had a desire to remove the reproach that was upon the name of God. All the nations of the earth knew of their God, and now they had brought reproach upon His name. Colossians 1:18 says, “...that in all things he might have the preeminence.” The people wanted to acknowledge Jehovah as Lord over His people so they might have a testimony and so they might once again glorify the name of God. The purest motive a person can have in life is to glorify God. B. To Erect a Haven Nehemiah wanted to build a wall around the temple to protect the temple and the people, so that they would have a holy, healthy place in which to worship God. They wanted to provide safeguards to protect the church. They wanted to build the wall to keep the heathen out and God’s people safe and spiritual because of their worship of Jehovah. That is the reason a church should have standards and convictions. Only those who are true Christians will be interested in joining the fellowship of such a church. The problem is, many churches have let down their standards. They are not building the wall; they are tearing it down. They are saying that anyone is welcome, no matter what their beliefs, because they just want to have the biggest church in town. The reason we need to teach the whole council of God is to keep the church holy and healthy so that only those who love God will be interested in staying in the church. In a sense, there are some folks that you shouldn’t want to join. Not that you don’t want them to come; they need to come, and they need to hear the Word of God. But they do not necessarily need to become a part of the Lord’s church. 33
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The Israelites wanted to provide a spiritual environment in which they could train their children to worship and serve the Lord; where they could deliver them from the idol worship that was outside the walls, and teach them the true worship of Jehovah. That is why the men of Jericho were willing to get on a donkey and ride for fifteen miles to Jerusalem and work; because that is where the temple was. A church that is worth coming to is a church that’s worth tithing to and protecting. These people were united around the importance of the temple. We ought to be united around the importance of the church. The church is worth fighting for; it is worth building a wall around; it is worth offending others over; it is worth tithing to, and so we ought to thank God for our church! IV. A COMMON DESTINY A. The Seat of Judgment The first place we are going to meet at is the Judgment Seat. That ought to behoove us to love each other! That should be a source of motivation to us so we will be right with God and each other. B. Our Sanctified Home We will live together in Heaven, and so surely we should live together here in peace and harmony. All wrongs will be made right. There will be a lot of apologies at the Judgment Seat. May God help us to live in peace with one another. V. A COMMON DOCTRINE A. Scriptural content These Jews had a doctrine that no one else had. Doctrine must always have scriptural content. The Jews agreed on their doctrine, and we must also agree on the Gospel of Christ. The Gospel was Paul’s priority. He said if you don’t believe the Gospel, or if you are removed from the Gospel or 34
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have another Gospel, let you be cursed. It is a serious business when men mess with the Gospel. This is the reason why we are constantly reasserting our belief in repentance and Lordship, and in works and fruit that follow faith. B. Strict convictions These Jews were a saved people and a scriptural people, but they were also a separated people. They were a separated, peculiar, calledout people. The Lord gave them many rules and commandments in the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy, and some of them even sound pretty odd. For instance, one was, “Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together” (Deuteronomy 22:10). In other words, we are not to be unequally yoked together. It didn’t make too much sense as a physical thing, but it had a spiritual significance to it. So, we find that every commandment was given to make them a different people; to make them a peculiar people. They were to be identified with a Holy God. They were to be God’s holy, separated people and were to be a testimony of the righteousness of God. C. Single consistency If you want to have a common doctrine, and especially if you want to teach it to your children and have them continue in the faith, you must have this single consistency. There must be a consistent presentation of the truth of God to our children. The reason our children are so spiritually torn is because of the inconsistent presentation of the truth and the environment in which we put them. There are four great influences on our children’s lives: the home, their friends, the school, and the church. These all have great influences on our children. As far as time, the church is the last on the list because they are only in church for about four hours a week, whereas they are at school about six hours a day. They are with friends for probably two or three hours a day during the evening; plus, they may 35
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also be with them at school. They are at home the rest of the time. So, home is the first influence and friends are the second. School, which includes the teacher and what is taught, is third, and the church is fourth. The secret to all of this is consistency. Children should be able to go home and hear the Word of God and see it lived and should be able to go to a good school and hear it and see it lived. They should hear it and see it at church, and then they need friends who also hear and heed the Word of God. If you can provide all of that, your children will be saved, and they will learn to serve God. That is what it means when it says to “Train up a child in the way he should go...” (Proverbs 22:6). If you take one of these away, your children will fall. For instance, if you have a four-legged chair, and you take one of the legs off, the chair will fall. What happens is, children go home and their parents live about half-way for God. Then they go to school and hear nothing about God. When they’re with their friends they hear nothing about God. So, the only place where they hear about God is at church, and this way they have more against them than they have for them. That is the reason I home school my kids, so that they hear the same thing at home that they hear at church, and the same thing at school that they hear at home and at church. This way everything agrees, and they are presented only one truth and one set of values. Did you ever notice how difficult it is to teach your children right and how easily they pick up on wrong? Children have their own faults, but they will also pick up every fault that you have, and every fault that they are ever exposed to. It is because “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked:” (Jeremiah 17:9), and that heart is drawn to that which is wicked. Children can pick up every bad attitude that you have, and any that other people have. What I’m saying is, you’d better be careful about how you live in front of your kids, because they’ll pick up everything bad, 36
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but they won’t pick up what you try to teach them unless you not only teach it, but also live it. It is an ideal situation, when your kids can hear the truth and see it lived wherever they are, whether at church, home, or school. It is important that they see it in everyone around them, and that is why every person is an important part of the church. Why was the wall built in fifty-two days by forty-nine thousand people? They had a common deliverance, a common death, a common desire, a common destiny, and they were united by a common doctrine. The degree to which there is agreement and experience in these areas will be the same degree of unity in a church! The more the people of a church agree, the more harmony and unity there will be, and in the areas where there are differences, there will be problems. The key to Nehemiah’s success was not his natural ability to lead, but it was prayer and the unity of the people. Amen!
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Expository Outline # 5 The Necessity of Balance (Part 1) (Nehemiah 3) Introduction In this message we are going to study the gates of the city and use them as an example of how we are to balance our Christian lives. To be effective in our service, we must continually strive for a balance in our lives and ministries. I. THE EXHORTATIONS A. Comparisons B. Completion II. THE EXACT AREAS ADDRESSED A. Sheep Gate 1. Priority of the Gospel 2. Praise and worship 3. Prayer B. Fish Gate 1. Proper message 2. Preached message C. Old Gate 1. Message 2. Methods 3. Morals Summary and Conclusion
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Chapter Five THE NECESSITY OF BALANCE (Part 1) (Nehemiah 3) Introduction The gates represent different aspects of the Christian life, and we need to heed all of these areas in order to be a well-balanced Christian. Notice in Nehemiah 3:1, the Sheep Gate; in 3:3, the Fish Gate; in 3:6, the Old Gate; in 3:13, the Valley Gate and the Dung Gate; in 3:15, the Gate of the Fountain; in 3:26, the Water Gate; in 3:28, the Horse Gate; in 3:29, the east gate; and in 3:31, the Miphkad Gate. You notice it says “over against the gate Miphkad, and to the going up of the corner.” In verse 32, is the Sheep Gate again and you have made an entire circle around the city. The Sheep Gate is on the northeastern corner, and the other gates follow going in a counter-clockwise direction. The problem is, and the temptation is, to major on one of the gates and let the others go to ill-repair. We’re talking about a well-balanced Christian life, and all of these things are somewhat equally important in the Christian life; areas that constantly need attention. A couple of weeks ago, right before we had some snow, I had some new tires put on my car. Since snow on the driveway at the parsonage gets a little deep, I had to get a running start with the car to get in. I had been in and out of there a couple of times, and since the snow came up over the hood, I had just sort of pushed and plowed through. Driving down the road after that, I noticed there was a little shaking in the car. I thought, 40
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“Something is out of balance from my new tires,” so I took the car back to the shop and said, “The car is not balanced, and I want you to balance it again.” So, the technician took off the tires and hubcaps, and all of the hubcaps were filled with snow. He took a wheel off, and it was all packed with snow and ice. He said, “I think I found your problem. The tires are probably in balance, but the snow is causing them to be out of balance.” So he cleaned them all off, put them back on, and the car drove smoothly again. That’s the problem in the Christian life when there is something out of balance. The wheel will roll, but it will not roll as comfortably if you do not get all of the things working and operating in your Christian life. So there is the necessity of balance or completeness. I. THE EXHORTATIONS A. Comparisons Look at Colossians 2, and notice a few things about balance. Notice first of all, an exhortation to be balanced and to be complete as far as the Word of God is concerned. There are a lot of Christians who are out of balance. They have strong areas, and they have weak areas. They need to strengthen the weak areas and give attention to all the areas in an equal way. Colossians 2:6 says, “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:” Now, first of all, Paul says, “As ye have...received Christ Jesus the Lord...” How did you receive the Lord? You received Him by faith. Next, he says, “As ye have...received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him.” First, you received Him by faith; next you balance out your Christian life by living by faith. There are some Christians who are saved by faith but are endeavoring to live by sight, and that puts things out of balance. 41
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Notice in verse 7, Paul says, “Rooted and built up in him...” Now, when something is rooted, it grows down. He says, be rooted and grow down, and then become balanced by growing up and being built up in Christ. And so you have equal strength. There are some trees that are easily blown over because they have very few roots and so are off-balance. Notice in verse 10, “And ye are complete in him...” You are balanced in Him, and you are perfect in Him. And so we find there are some comparisons; some things that need to be balanced. B. Completion Did you know that salvation is a completing thing? I am complete in Christ. Before I was saved, I was not complete. That means I was out of balance! Everything was on the side of sin, and I was leaning toward sin, leaning toward the devil, and leaning toward Hell. But when I got saved, the Lord balanced me. He made me complete. For example, the Bible says we are cleansed from sin. But not only am I cleansed from sin, but I have imputed to me the righteousness of Christ. God did not leave a void in my life. He filled that void with the righteousness of Christ. Not only have I been forgiven, but I have been reconciled to God. Have you ever had someone you offended, and you went to them and said, “I apologize and I’m sorry I offended you?” They may have said, “You’re forgiven,” but you also got the idea that they were not going to have anything else to do with you. It was like, “I forgive you this time, but this is it. You will never be my friend again.” Well, that’s really not true forgiveness. But you see, not only did God forgive me; He reconciled me to Himself. He didn’t just say, “You’re forgiven,” and then go on His way. No! He reconciled me as the father did the prodigal. He welcomed me and restored my relationship to Himself. The Bible says that before I was saved I was dead in sin, but God gave me life, and He gave me His Spirit. The Bible says I had an old nature that 42
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drew me away toward sin, but now that I am saved, I have a divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). So salvation equalized the situation. Salvation made me complete in the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at Colossians 1:9-10: “For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing...” Notice verse 9. Paul prays that they might have “knowledge.” In verse 10, he prays that they might “walk worthy.” So our knowledge is to help our walk. Have you ever met someone who was just proud about how much they knew, but they didn’t walk worthy of the Lord? And then there are others who are struggling, trying to live for God, and they have zeal without knowledge. There is a balance we should be trying to attain in the Christian life. Look in verse 11 where Paul says we are to be strong. He prays for strength, but also for patience. Did you know that a lot of strong people are often impatient? They have the strength; they have ability, and then do what they want to do. You may want to get ahead of God and rush through something and take care of it yourself, but Paul says, “Be strong, but be patient.” He prays for strength, but he also says “unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness.” Then notice verse 28. “Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:” We could say “balanced in Christ Jesus.” If every Christian is balanced, then you have a balanced church. The reason the church is out of balance is because the individual members are out of balance. II. THE EXACT AREAS ADDRESSED There is always temptation to rebuild the wall differently than it was originally. When modern day Christians begin rebuilding the walls, they 43
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are tempted to say, “Well, this gate isn’t as important. Let’s not rebuild this one;” or “Let’s rebuild this one a little different. Let’s modernize the wall.” Nehemiah’s desire was that the wall be rebuilt exactly as it was before. He was commanded to restore it to its original condition. The walls of Jerusalem were built by David the king, and you and I don’t have any right to rebuild the walls the way we want them to be rebuilt. This is God’s Word, it’s His city, and His gates, and His walls, and we have to build them exactly like the Word of God says to build them. That is what is wrong with Christianity today. It has rebuilt the walls according to its own fashions and fads and desires, and to fit its own lifestyle. God says that these things are needed in our lives, and we have no right to emphasize one over the other, or to neglect any of them. They are all important in the Christian life. A. Sheep Gate The people were now rebuilding the gates around the city, or perhaps just getting them ready, and the first one mentioned is the Sheep Gate (Nehemiah 3:1). The Sheep Gate speaks of three different things: 1. Priority of the Gospel The sheep were used in the sacrifice of the temple. This was the gate through which the sheep came. They were kept in a pasture just outside the city. This gate was probably nearest to the temple. This was the first gate and was really the most important gate. If you do not enter this gate, and do not build this gate in a person’s life, then all the other gates will not make sense. They won’t be able to help a person get close to God. The sheep spoke of the blood, and so Nehemiah was saying that none could enter the city except through the blood. Nobody will ever enter the New Jerusalem except through the blood of the Lamb of God. So, here he is talking about the blood and the importance of the Gospel and the priority of preaching the Word of God. Men must be born again by trusting 44
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in the blood of Christ. Unlike the other gates, there were no bars or locks on the Sheep Gate. What this means is that salvation is always open to every person. This gate was never shut; it was always available. It is not just an elect few who can be saved, but anyone who is willing. The blood is able to wash away all of our sins and can cleanse the sins of any person. God is able to save to the uttermost all those who come to Him by faith. 2. Praise and worship The Sheep Gate also represents praise and worship; that was the purpose of the temple. If there is ever an area of our lives and our churches that needs repair, it is the area of praise and worship. The Jews were worshipping on the basis of the blood, and because they had been brought into a right relationship through the Lamb of God and the shedding of the blood. This worship was an act of sacrifice; that was why they called them sacrifices. A man had to go to his flock and pick out the very best, the healthiest sheep that he had, and bring it through the Sheep Gate and give it to the priest so it might be offered on the behalf of his sins. He could not go into his flock and find some little sick, weak, bruised lamb that was going to die anyway. He had to offer the best that he had. You remember when David sinned against God, and Araunah offered to provide everything needed for a sacrifice. But David said, “...neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing.” (2 Samuel 24:24). Real worship is a sacrifice. It ought to cost you something to serve God, and if it doesn’t cost you anything, then it is not real worship. Not only that, but they also had daily sacrifices every morning and every evening. When we pray, it should be more than just prayer. It should be worship and praise; adoration and thanksgiving. This gate surely does need to be rebuilt in our lives. 45
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3. Prayer Prayer is access by the blood, and intercession on the behalf of others. How many folks need to be prayed for? We Christians need prayer; missionaries need prayer; our country needs prayer; and unsaved people need prayer. When Paul mentions the Christian’s armor, he ends by saying “Praying always with all prayer and supplication...” (Ephesians 6:18). Prayer is a very important part of our lives. Without it we would be lost! B. Fish Gate The disciples of our Lord were fisherman, and there were many fisherman in the land of Israel. It was a major occupation. The Fish Gate was set up so those who sold fish could bring them through this gate. Around the inside of the city wall was a market place, and they would set up their tables and lay out their fish, and people would come by and examine and purchase the fish. Now, this gate speaks of examining yourself and of bringing yourself into a right relationship with God. To balance this situation out, once you have brought yourself into a right relationship with God, then you need to seek to bring others into a right relationship with God. This gate is the gate of witnessing, of the Gospel, of missions. This is the gate of the Great Commission, of going unto all the world and preaching the Gospel to every creature. 1. Proper message Again, you must have a balanced message. Men have so emphasized faith and believing that they have forgotten about repentance and submission to Christ. Their message is unbalanced; they are only preaching half of the Gospel. They are preaching the remedy, without preaching the problem. If we want to build a gate where men can enter and be saved, then we must have the proper message, which is a balanced message that equally emphasizes repentance and faith. Paul said, “...repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21). If you preach 46
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repentance only, that is just part of the remedy; but it is not salvation in itself. A man can have a worldly repentance and sorrow, or a man can have a Godly repentance. You need to be careful what kind of bait you use to lure sinners. Years ago, Bob Harrington’s bait was, “It’s fun being saved.” There was nothing about sin, repentance, or faith. The charismatic’s bait is, “You get saved, and you’ll be healed, and you’ll be rich, and you’ll have no problems, and you’ll be happier than you’ve ever been in your life. That is not the Gospel; that is not the bait. The bait is, “You’re a sinner, and you’re on your way to Hell, and when you get sick of your sin, God will save you and forgive you, and change your life.” That is the Gospel that needs to be preached; that is the bait that needs to be thrown out. How many people came to the altar because they had problems, and they just wanted to get out of their problems? They just prayed to get out of trouble; not to be saved from their sin; not because they were sick of the way they’d been living, but just to temporarily be delivered from the consequences of their sin and not from the sin itself. When people walk down the aisle and you deal with them about their soul, you need to get to the root of the problem, and ask them, “Why have you come? What do you want God to do for you?” Find out why they’ve come, and what they want from God. So you see, you’ve got to have the right bait. 2. Preached message The message is no good to others unless it is preached to them. The fish won’t feed or satisfy anyone until they are laid out on the tables and made available to everybody. A fisherman can catch fish, put them in his tackle box, and go home with them, and he hasn’t helped anybody but himself. It is a selfish way to live, and so we who have been saved by grace have been commanded not only to believe ourselves, but to encourage others to be saved. The balanced Christian is one who has not only believed the 47
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Gospel, but who is now preaching the message to others; constantly praying, inviting, and witnessing about the grace of God. You are not a balanced Christian unless you’re building the fish gate and inviting others. When a church or a Christian ceases to have a burden for souls and a desire to see people saved, they become very self-centered and they’ll die and dry up in their faith. They will lose all of their burden and their vision for souls. There should always be that intense burden for souls, but not to the extent that we would compromise our methods and our message. There should always be that burden, that going, that pleading, that inviting, and the sharing of one’s testimony to keep the balance in our Christian lives. So not only are we to examine ourselves and our relationship to God, but we are to encourage others to come to God. C. Old Gate The only thing I could find out about this gate is that it might have been the oldest gate in the oldest part of the city of Jerusalem. I’ve been to towns preaching revivals, and the preacher would say, “Now this is the old part of town.” I would notice that all of the houses were old, colonial style houses, maybe built back in the 1700’s or1800’s. Remember, David built this city, so this would have been the oldest part. Jeremiah 6, verses 16 and 17 say, “Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein. Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken.” We find that Jeremiah was preaching to a people who were not walking in the old ways. They had again created a new religion. It was a religion of idolatry; a religion of comfort. It didn’t cost them anything to serve God. There were no sacrifices to make. They just went up to an idol, bowed down and worshipped that idol, and it didn’t cost them anything to serve that kind of 48
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god. So, they had created a new-fangled, new-fashioned kind of god. God, speaking through Jeremiah, said “You need to ask Me for the old paths.” We need to come back to God and say, “Lord, help us go back to the old ways. Help us go back to the old-fashioned Gospel and the old-fashioned prayer meeting and the old-fashioned kind of Christian living.” There are three different areas that we could apply this to: 1. Message First, there is the need to go back to the old-fashioned message; the old-fashioned message of salvation by repentance and faith. But there are two other things about the old gate. 2. Methods We need to ask God for the old-fashioned methods. We have newfangled methods of church building and soul-winning today. Churches have gone to Hollywood entertainment. I got an ad in the mail today advertising a religious meeting. So and so will be bringing the entertainment; so and so will be singing; somebody else will be doing this and that. They have turned our churches into circuses. They have compromised the message by compromising the methods. You cannot compromise method without also compromising the message that you preach. I have heard many of them try to justify themselves by saying, “Oh, when we get this crowd here, we still preach the Gospel.” No! They do not preach the Gospel! They don’t want to offend that crowd because they want them to come back next month. Then at the end of the year they’ll still have the same crowd, and they’ll still have big numbers, and they’ll still be looked upon with favor by the brethren. And they always, always compromise the message of God by their methods. You can get a crowd that wants to be entertained, but you have to keep on entertaining them to keep them. We have compromised in this area of our methods. 49
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We have also compromised in the area of finances. The churches have quit preaching about tithing. They’ve gone to the world’s fundraising schemes. They have their candy sales and their yard sales. The church is not a business. It is not to be supported by sales. The Bible says it is to be supported by the tithes and offerings of God’s people. I’ll tell you why the government has begun to tax the churches. It is because churches have gone into business, and they have the right to tax us if we go into business. We need to return to the old-fashioned paths of preaching, praying, singing, worshipping, tithing, and sacrificing. That is God’s way of building His church. If it cannot be built that way, then it will not be His church. God help us to restore the old-fashioned gate of methods in God’s work. 3. Morals We also need to restore the old-fashioned gate of our morals. It is the desire of the flesh to want to be like the world. But the Bible still says to keep ourselves “...unspotted from the world” (James 1:27). The Bible still says, “...be not conformed to this world” (Romans 12:2). And James chapter 4 says that “...whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (James 4:4). There are some areas of our morality in which we need to go back to the old standards and the old paths. And we need to ask God to help this church and every church to hold up the standard of morality. For if we compromise that standard, we have nothing to compare the sinner to, and he will never come under conviction, and he will never come to the place of repentance; for there will not be anything in his life that he sees that he needs to repent of. That is what the world’s situation is now. You can preach about repentance all you want to, and the sinner says, “Well, I live as holy as God’s people do.” Many times he’s right; he lives just as good and just as moral as the saved people do; at least those that profess to be saved. 50
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Therefore, you cannot bring him under conviction; you cannot preach repentance to him. He does not know what you are talking about because he has nothing with which to compare himself. First, we need to return to the old-fashioned practice of abstaining from the appearance of evil. There was a time when people shunned sin. They hated sin. They avoided places of sin. They didn’t want to have anything to do with sin. They didn’t want to ruin their testimony. They didn’t want to risk bringing reproach on the name of Christ. They practiced separation from even the appearance of sin. I’m talking about the movie houses, the dance halls, and the pool halls. We need to update this and talk about the video stores. You say you’re against the video stores. Listen, you can’t walk into a video store unless it’s plastered with pornography. It is a place of wickedness, and 99% of the things they sell in there are x-rated. They know what the world wants. They’ll put a Mickey Mouse cartoon in there every now and then, but most of the movies have ungodly, wicked, adulterous violence that is not fit for a child of God. We ought to restore the practice of abstaining from even the appearance of evil. Secondly, we ought to restore the practice of modest and feminine women. I’m talking about dress-wearing women. Amen? I know what everybody says, “I just feel more comfortable in my slacks.” The question is this, “Do you want to be comfortable, or do you want to be right with God?” Do you want to be comfortable, or do you want to be scriptural? I never saw my great-grandma with a pair of pants on. I never saw my grandmother with a pair of pants on. You say, “Are we supposed to be old-fashioned?” Yes, that’s what the Bible is saying! Amen? The Bible says that ladies are not to wear that which pertaineth to a man (Deuteronomy 22:5). You say, “I can be more modest in pants.” Listen! You can go down to the Amish farms and see those Amish ladies. They milk cows; they hoe in the field; they do everything with about a calf length skirt on, and they are modest all the 51
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time. You never have a wicked thought about them. If you can’t do it in a dress; don’t do it! It’s a man’s job. If you can’t do it with a skirt or dress on; then don’t do it! It’s a man’s job. There is to be a difference. There are things for men and things for women. So, there is this thing of modesty. The two things that address the ladies’ apparel in the Word of God is that they be modest (that means they keep themselves covered) and that they be feminine (they are not to be masculine). You can talk about your short skirts, halter tops, and all the rest of it. The book of Proverbs says that the women are not to dress in the “attire of a harlot” (Proverbs 7:10). There is an attire of the harlot. Isaiah 47 is talking about Babylon, the mother of harlots. It says that when she exposed her thigh she was naked. God’s definition of nakedness is not what we think nakedness is. God says you when expose your thigh in public, you’re naked as far as He is concerned. And you’re part of Babylon, which is the mother of harlots. We ought to teach our little girls to dress modestly and to dress femininely. When you compromise, it just gets worse. The first thing you do is just wear them at home; then you wear them in public; then you wear them to church. And it just goes from bad to worse. There is no place to draw the line except, just be feminine and be modest. Thirdly, we need to restore the practice of masculine men. Look at 1 Corinthians 6:9 and 10. “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate...” (The word “effeminate means sissified men.) “...nor abusers of themselves with mankind.” (That’s homosexuals.) “...Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.” Everywhere you go, everywhere you look, you see these guys with their shirts hanging open and their little gold necklaces on and their gold 52
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earrings and their long hair. And all of it is effeminate. God says those that are effeminate are not saved and will not inherit the Kingdom of God. The Bible says it is a shame for a man to have long hair. Men ought to look like men. That’s part of being masculine. It’s part of being a man. We need to return to the old-fashioned practice of clean living. In 1 Corinthians 6:9 it says fornication is unrighteous; adultery is still unrighteous; homosexuality is unrighteous; drunkenness is unrighteous; thieving and coveting is still unrighteous. I’m talking about clean living. I’m saying fornication is still fornication. Premarital sex is still wicked in the sight of God. And adultery is still wicked in the sight of God. It’s still wrong! We ought to preach against it and teach our young people that adultery is still wicked. It’s still sin. First Corinthians 7:1 says, “Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman.” Is holding hands touching? That’s where it all starts. I’m talking about keeping yourself clean and keeping yourself pure and keeping yourself decent for that one person God has picked out for you; that one person who is God’s will for you to marry and live with and give yourself to in every sense of the word. Lady, keep yourself pure, and keep yourself holy so that when you stand at a marriage altar and say, “I do,” you’re clean and holy and pure. Then you will be able to give yourself in decency and honor to your husband, the one that God chose for you. Some girls are like a salt block; every old cow in the pasture has come over and licked on them. But you ought to keep yourself pure. I’m talking about purity and decency and clean living. First Corinthians 6:19 and 20 says, “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” We need to return to the practice of keeping the temple of God pure. Your body is 53
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the temple of the Holy Ghost. That means your eyes belong to God. That means you don’t have the right to watch what you want to watch on the television. That means you don’t have the right to read any magazine you want to read because your eyes are the eyes of the Holy Ghost. He is holy and His heart is grieved and quenched when we allow our bodies to be exposed to that which is sinful and wicked in the sight of God. Our ears are the ears of the Holy Ghost. I don’t have a right to listen to what I want to listen to. I don’t have a right to dress the way I want to dress. This body belongs to Him, and this is His Book, and He will tell me what to watch, what to listen to, how to dress, and how to take care of my body. My body is His body and He indwells me. Nothing unclean was to enter into the temple. That would do away with the tobacco, whether it’s dipping or chewing. Amen? We should do away with all of the things that are harmful to our bodies, and we should increase the life of our bodies and thus our service to God. I’m talking about being conscious of God’s presence and the fact that this body is His temple, and I’m to keep it pure and clean for Him. Here are three things about the temple: 1. It was to be consecrated to God. Our temple is to be consecrated to God. 2. It was to be clean. Nothing unclean was to enter the temple of God. 3. It was to be covered. They had all the veils and coverings of the tabernacle: the goatskins, the badger skins, sheep skins, and all the coverings. So, it was God’s personal, holy dwelling place. I’m to keep my body covered. As a man, I’m to keep my body covered. I don’t believe in men running around exposing their bodies, either. We’re to keep our bodies covered; we’re to keep them clean and keep them consecrated because they are now His bodies that He purchased with His own blood. I am not my own. I have been bought with a price. 54
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Summary and Conclusion Now we’re building some gates. We started with the sheep gate, and we want to build and come into a right relationship with God through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Once we are saved, then we ought to build the fish gate for, not only are we saved, but we should desire that others be saved, too. And then we’re to build the old gate and remind ourselves that we’re not to change with the whims and fashions and fads of the world; that we’re to remain true to the Lord Jesus Christ and true to the Word of God. It is our standard and we’re not to change from generation to generation, but stand on the standards and convictions of the Word of God. What has happened in recent years? Let’s suppose this is where the world was thirty years ago. Men looked like men and they dressed like men. You would never find a man with a necklace on. You’d never find a man with an earring on. You’d find men who didn’t dip snuff; they chewed tobacco. And here was where the church was. Here was where the church women were. They didn’t wear pants; they stayed at home. They worked at home. They raised their children. They weren’t out in the workplace. They were home working. Here’s what’s happened - Thirty years have passed, and we are now where the world was thirty years ago, and maybe worse. It probably happened like this; we are almost where the world is already. We should not move. Let the world go on in its rebellion against God, but let us not waver from the old paths. If we remain unchanged in our convictions, the world can look at us and see how far they are from God. But we are so much like them, they can see no difference. They will not come under conviction and will see no need to repent. God help us to rebuild the old gate! Amen!
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Expository Outline #6 The Necessity of Balance (Part 2) (Nehemiah 3) I. THE VALLEY GATE A. The presence of humility B. The absence of pride II. THE DUNG GATE A. Examination B. Confession C. Renunciation D. Occupation III. THE GATE OF THE FOUNTAIN A. Filled with the Spirit B. Led by the Spirit C. Taught by the Spirit D. Fruit of the Spirit E. Praying in the Spirit
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Chapter 6 THE NECESSITY OF BALANCE (Part 2) (Nehemiah 3) I. THE VALLEY GATE A. The presence of humility Notice in Nehemiah 3:13, we find another gate called the Valley Gate. The valley speaks of a low place. The Scriptures say of our Lord Jesus—He was meek and lowly in spirit. The valley speaks of the presence of humility. In order to be humble, you first need to recognize the wickedness of your heart. The Bible says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). Our hearts are so wicked and wayward, even we ourselves do not know the depths of their wickedness. You would not believe what your heart would lead you to do if you gave in completely to it. Isaiah, when he saw the Lord said, “...Woe is me! for I...am a man of unclean lips” (Isaiah 6:5), and Peter when he saw the Lord said, “Depart from me; for I am a sinful man” (Luke 5:8). We are saved by grace, but our old wicked flesh is still with us and shall be until we see the Lord. Paul claimed to be the chiefest of sinners, even while he was a moral, upright, religious, zealous Jew. Secondly, we need to recognize our weaknesses. There have been times, to my shame, that I have failed because of pride. But those failures have allowed me to see how weak I really am without the Lord. That which is of 58
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the flesh is flesh, and the flesh is always weak, worldly, and wayward. We are drawn away of our own lusts! Indeed, we are nothing without Him and can do nothing without Him. B. The absence of pride Let’s look at some Scriptures that deal with this thing called pride. Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” Pride always precedes destruction. Satan is the prime biblical example of pride related to us in Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28. Proverbs 11:2 says, “When pride cometh, then cometh shame...” So, pride also precedes shame. It was pride that led David to stay home while the army of Israel went to battle. He was proud of his accomplishments and his great victories. He assumed upon the grace of God, and it led him to spiritual destruction and shame. Proverbs 13:10, “Only by pride cometh contention, but with the well advised is wisdom.” Pride goeth before contention. Do you know why wives argue with their husbands? Do you know why young people argue with their parents? It is pride. The source of every argument is pride. Pride leads to harsh words; to the attitude that one is always right and must always have the last word. It is the thing that brings about divorces and church splits; wicked, hellish, devilish pride. Obadiah 1:3 says, “The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee...” Pride goeth before deception. Pride blinded Samson and brought him to destruction and shame. He thought he was indispensable and indestructible. Pride was his downfall. Pride blinded him to his own weakness, goodness, and worthiness. Oh, the horribleness of pride. It fosters rebellion and divorce. It says to you, “You do not have to apologize!” It will put your marriage on the rocks. It will cause you to quit praying. It will lead you to lay your Bible down. It is the essence of the flesh and the downfall of angels and men. It will keep you out of church. It will silence your witness. It will put 59
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the fear of man in your heart. Oh, how we need to rebuild the Valley Gate in our lives to keep a check on this thing called pride. II. THE DUNG GATE Our second gate in this study is the Dung Gate. Dung is manure. With all of the sheep brought to the temple and all the horses, donkeys, and goats that were in the streets and market places, you can imagine the need for a Dung Gate. When all the streets were cleaned, all of the dung and trash was dumped outside of this gate. This gate reminds us of the things that are waste in our lives; the things that are useless. This is a gate that opens up and says, “You ought to ‘lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us’!” (Hebrews 12:1). Can you imagine the stink outside of this gate? These things are a stench in the nostrils of God. How we need to sweep clean the streets of our hearts and keep them pure and holy before God. There are four things that are necessary to rebuild this gate. A. Examination We need to examine ourselves as David did in Psalm 139:23, 24 where he said, “Search me, O God, and know my heart...and see if there be any wicked way in me.” Every well-balanced Christian must have a time of honest, heart-searching repentance before God. We must cultivate the attitude of honesty. We must come clean with God. We can hide nothing from Him. David invited the Lord to come and examine his heart. Would you dare do such a thing? We must be willing to allow God to rebuke sin in our lives! B. Confession When I come to know sin in my life, I must be willing to confess that sin to God and ask Him to deliver me from its power. Confession is putting into words what I know is wrong in my mind. It involves praying and honesty 60
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with God and self. It is naming the sin. Do you know how most Christians confess sin? They say “Lord, forgive me of all the sins I’ve committed today.” That is not what it means to confess your sin. Confess means to name the sin. You have to come to know that what you’re doing is wrong. If you ask God to reveal your sin, He will. The question is once He shows you, what will you do about it? Are you going to try to justify it and say, “It’s not that bad,” or are you going to confess it and ask the Lord to forgive you? C. Renunciation After confessing the sin, we then have to forsake the sin. We then lay aside the weight that so easily beset us (Hebrews 12:1). Paul gives us the illustration of a man who is going to run a race. He can run the race any way he wants to. He can run it with a big coat and army boots on and his pockets all full of heavy stuff. But I guarantee that he’ll not win the race that way. There may not be anything in the rules about dressing that way, but if a fellow is serious about winning a race, he is going to lay aside all the weights that he possibly can. He is going to wear the lightest clothing and shoes that he can find because he wants to win the race. There are some things in our lives that are not against the rules; some things that in themselves are not wrong, but they become weights because they hold us back from winning the race. So, we must sweep things out of the gate and lay aside things that are holding us back. Whatever keeps you from winning the race is wrong. Whatever keeps you from reading your Bible, praying, going on visitation, witnessing, tithing, giving, or sacrificing is wrong because it has become a weight. Whatever keeps you away from the house of God or from being faithful in your service to the Lord is wrong because it has become a weight. Whatever it is: hunting, fishing, reading, sewing, shopping, magazines, or work, although it may not be wrong in itself, if it keeps you from serving God and growing spiritually, it needs to be laid aside. This gate that we call the Dung Gate is a place where we can 61
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take everything that does not promote our spiritual warfare, or that does not glorify God, and cast it out of our lives. We need to give ourselves completely to the cause of Christ. D. Occupation The Bible says, “Redeeming the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:16), and Jesus said “...Occupy till I come” (Luke 19:13). Paul said that we should be “...always abounding in the work of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58). So, when we come to know what is wrong, we verbalize it and tell God that it is wrong. Then we renounce it and get it out of our lives and replace it with something that is good and glorifying to God. It is a matter of rearranging our priorities. The flesh does not like change, especially when it’s in control. AMEN? When the flesh has gotten into your life, and it has gotten you to the place where you are ineffective for the cause of Christ, then it does not like you stepping in and saying, “Hey, things are wrong, and we’re going to rearrange our schedule, and get some things out that are hindering our service to God.” The flesh rebels to change, but there are changes that need to be made. Occupation is replacing wasteful things with good things and proper things and spiritual things. We could use that time that we used to spend, maybe watching television, to have a time of prayer, worship and Bible reading, or visitation. We replace the Dung Gate, that gate of waste, with a time of examination, confession, and renunciation, and then we occupy ourselves with the person of Christ and the work of God. III. THE GATE OF THE FOUNTAIN In the book of John, we find what the fountain represents. The Bible talks about the fountain of salvation, and it very well could include that, but I believe that here it is talking about the ministry of the Holy Spirit (John 4:10,13-14 and John 7:37). 62
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A. Filled with the Spirit The Bible says that we are to be filled with the Spirit in order to be a well-balanced Christian (Ephesians 5:18-21). We have already talked about the wickedness of the flesh, and the only way to balance out the flesh is by being filled with the Holy Spirit. Notice the results of being filled with the Spirit. First, the Bible says a man filled with the Spirit will sing to himself. If you are truly saved, you will have a singing spirit, a sweet spirit, a thankful spirit, and a submissive spirit. These are all results of being filled with the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 6 talks about the husband, the wife, children, employers, and employees. Now, here Paul is getting down to some very practical things in our lives. He says that if we are filled with the Spirit, we will be happy, joyful, and submissive one to another. He says that if a man is filled with the Spirit, he will love his wife, and the only way a man can love his wife like he ought to is if he is filled with the Spirit. Secondly, it says a woman that is filled with the Spirit will be submissive to her husband, and the only way a woman can overcome her rebellious flesh is to be filled with the Spirit. Thirdly, it says that if a child is filled with the Spirit, he will obey his parents, and the only way for them to do that is by being filled with the Spirit. God says that His will for children is to obey their parents as long as they live at home. Notice two more things. The word “filled� reminds us of a river being filled to overflowing, and that would be called a flood. We would say the river is out of control. However, the opposite is true; the river is in control, and we are out of control. That is exactly what God wants. He wants to fill us to overflowing with His Spirit so that we are not of control, and He is in control. He fills us, and He floods us and takes out everything in His path. When the river overflows it does the same thing; it washes away houses, trailers, cars, and whatever is in its 63
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path. It removes those things. It is a very powerful force, a moving and flowing force. God says that if we ask, He will fill us to overflowing so He is in control, and He is the mighty force controlling us. So, being filled with the Holy Spirit means to be controlled and colored by the Spirit of God. When I was a kid, you could buy these little tablets called “fizzies.” They looked like Alka Seltzers, except they were Kool-aid flavored and colored. When you dropped them in a glass of clear water, they would fizz until they were dissolved, and then the water would look and taste like Kool-aid. It is the same way with the Holy Spirit. We should allow Him to control us until our lives are colored and flavored to His liking so that when people look at us, they don’t see just a clear glass of water. They see something that has been affected by the Spirit of God; something that has been colored and changed by the presence of the Spirit. So, we are to be transformed by the Spirit, and then we will be absolutely submissive, loving, and kind in our attitude toward other people. B. Led by the Spirit Romans 8:14 says, “For as many as are led of the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” If you are filled with the Spirit, then you will be led by the Spirit. What does it mean to lead? Well, you can lead a cow or a horse. You can take your child by the hand and lead him, and that is what it is talking about. The Holy Spirit takes us by the hand and leads us through life. Remember the saying, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink?” The horse can still have a rebellious spirit if he doesn’t want to do a certain thing, and you may not be able to make him. Again, we see submissiveness as being led by the Spirit, moved by the Spirit, and spoken to by the Spirit. Sometimes the Spirit may lead you to witness to somebody, and you need to be sensitive to that. Sometimes He may lead you to pray for someone, or to give something. He will definitely lead you to holiness, to prayer, and 64
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to Bible reading. He will lead you to peace, and if you do not have peace then you are not being led by the Spirit. The Bible also says in Psalms 23:3, He will lead you “in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.” So, the Holy Spirit does lead His people. In John 10:3, the Lord says that He leadeth them into the pastures, and He leadeth them out again. He leads His people. Have you ever been led or prompted by the Spirit to do something? You know, most folks are fearful of what God might lead them to do! They don’t even like to think about it and so they quench and grieve the Holy Spirit any time they feel any kind of inclination to do something. The Spirit wants to lead you, and He will lead you to serve God. C. Taught by the Spirit The Holy Spirit will teach us truth, and He will guide us into all truth (John 14:26; 16:13). We need to be filled with the Spirit so that we might understand the Word of God. The Word of God is a supernatural book, and the supernatural light of the Holy Spirit must shine on this Book so we can understand it. If you quench and grieve the Holy Spirit, you will not be able to understand the Bible like you should (1 Corinthians 2:9-10). Here Paul is saying that God’s mind and imagination is beyond the comprehension of man. We are not even be able to imagine what God has done for us, but we can know some things that the world can never know. I’ve known a lot of people to quote verse 9, but not verse10. They talk about all these things we don’t know about, but verse 10 says “...God hath revealed them unto us...” and “...the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.” He is not talking about being smart. He is talking about the supernatural ministry of the Holy Spirit whereby He teaches you the deep things of God. Notice verse 11 where it says no man can know these things, but by the Spirit. Then, it says we have received that Spirit so we can know these things. 65
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There are some things you cannot know naturally, but God will reveal them by His Spirit. Since we have received His Spirit, we can know these things. I can only preach what the Spirit of God gives me; anything other than that is flesh (1 Corinthians 2:14). The natural man cannot understand these things, but a spiritual man will. Yet, the world will not understand the spiritual man. No one can read God’s mind, but we have the mind of Christ. We have the mind of Christ in two ways. First of all, we have it in the person of the Holy Spirit. Paul said, “Let this mind be in you, which is also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5). Secondly, the Bible is also the mind of God. God has spoken His mind. He has put His mind on paper and it’s in black and white; yet the unsaved man cannot read the mind of God. But we can because we have the Spirit of God. D. Fruit of the Spirit Basically, the fruit of the Spirit is the personality of the Spirit and Christ. The only thing that hinders God’s personality and the Spirit of God from shining through you is the flesh and your own personality. One of the pet excuses that we have is this, “Well, she’s just moody.” You know what moody is? It is a nice word for fleshly! The fruit of the Spirit is not just for when you’re feeling good; it’s also for when you’re feeling bad. It’s not just “moody.” It’s our lack of consistency and desire. When we feel bad we need to ask the Lord to tame and conquer our flesh. Many times it is our moods that cause our children to lose respect for us. They don’t look at it as moods. They look at it as if we just don’t love God. They look at it as unkindness. They look at it like God looks at it! E. Praying in the Spirit (Rom. 8:26; Jude 9) Let me mention two things about this. First, God does impress upon us to pray. The Spirit of God will impress upon your heart to pray. Secondly, He’ll lead you to pray for certain people. God may even wake you up in the middle of the night to have you pray for someone. You need to be sensitive 66
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to the Holy Spirit (Romans 8). When we do not know how to put our prayers into words, He will help us. The best praying you’ve ever done was when you couldn’t say a word. That is when the Spirit of God takes over; when you are so broken that you can’t say anything, only weep! The fountain gate is one that we need to visit often, to ask the Lord to fill us with the Spirit. For if we are not filled with the Spirit, we will not be led by the Spirit; we will not be taught by the Spirit; we will not bear the fruit of the Spirit; and we won’t be able to pray in the Spirit. How much depends upon our relationship with the Holy Spirit in this dispensation! Jesus is not here in the flesh, but He said that He would send us the Holy Ghost to teach us all things.We need, as Christians, to erect this gate and visit it often and to say, “Lord, fill me with the Spirit.” There are only two controlling factors in our lives: the flesh and the Spirit. Are you controlled by the flesh or by the Spirit? Are you filled with the Holy Spirit? Is your fountain gate lying in ruins? Amen!
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Expository Outline #7 The Necessity of Balance (Part 3) (Nehemiah 3) Introduction Two reasons for the gates A. To repel the enemy B. To remind of God’s priorities I. THE WATER GATE A. Importance of the Word 1. Saved 2. Sanctified 3. Successful B. Influence of the Word 1. Convict 2. Cleanse 3. Conform 4. Comfort II. HORSE GATE A. Reminds us of our enemies B. Rebukes us for our slothfulness
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Chapter Seven THE NECESSITY OF BALANCE (Part 3) (Nehemiah 3) Introduction—Two reasons for the gates The twelve gates were different entrances where people went in and out for various reasons and were located on different sides or walls of the wall around Jerusalem. There were two reasons for these gates. A. To repel the enemy The inhabitants of Jerusalem were always in the midst of the Caananites and the Philistines and never really rid themselves completely of all of their enemies. These walls were built because of the presence of these enemies. This was the place where the King lived—the palace and the temple. So, the wall was built as protection by which they repelled the enemy. These same things are true in your life. If you fail to build just one of these gates, then Satan will find a foothold in your life. Every one of these gates is necessary. There are some that may be more important than others, depending on your spiritual condition, but they are all needed. You can give a lot of attention to one side of the wall, and if you’re not careful the devil will come in behind you. If you are only concerned with certain gates, the devil will tear the others down when you’re not looking. Do you remember how the Bible talks about Job having a hedge around him? This is the same principle. There is a hedge about us, but there is also some responsibility on our part in order to maintain the hedge. There are certain 70
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things that are our responsibility in order to keep our hearts right with God. B. To remind of God’s priorities It may help you to go around and look at these gates to find out how your time is to be spent while you sojourn on this earth. It is to be spent sometimes at the sheep gate in worship and praise and prayer. Sometimes you might go to the fish gate and remind yourself that there are those who are lost and need our witness. Then, there is the old gate where we remind ourselves that we’re not to be moved in our doctrine. We are to stick to the old-fashioned standards and convictions of the Word of God. Next, there is the valley gate where we humble ourselves before God. Then we have the dung gate where we need to daily cleanse ourselves and confess the sin in our lives. The fountain gate is where we remind ourselves that we do need the help of the Holy Spirit of God. We need the fruit of the Spirit. We need to be led by the Spirit, and we are to pray in the Spirit. Everything depends upon our relationship to the Holy Spirit. The Bible says that we are not to grieve or quench the Holy Spirit of God. I. THE WATER GATE (Ephesians 5:25-27) In Ephesians 5:26, Paul talks about the “washing of water by the word.” We talked about the Gate of the Fountain and how it represents the flowing of the Holy Spirit in our lives. But the water in Ephesians 5 is not the Holy Spirit but the Word of God. It is very hard to really separate the Spirit from the Word. Many times the results of being filled with the Spirit are the same results as being filled with the Word of God or meditating on the Word of God. A. Importance of the Word 1. Saved The Word is important because by it men are saved. Whether you realize it or not, you were saved by the Word of God “which liveth and 71
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abideth for ever” (1 Peter1:23). We were brought into the family of God by the convicting power, the converting power, and the transforming power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. You would not be on your way to Heaven right now if you had not heard the Word of God. That ought to make it precious in your heart. 2. Sanctified Sanctification is simply God working on us. We are permanently saved, but we are always in the process of being sanctified or being made holy. It is by the ministry of the Word that we grow in grace (2 Peter 1:2; 3:18). 3. Successful In Joshua 1 and in Psalm 1, the Bible tells us that we can become successful by living in obedience to the Word of God. God said to Joshua, “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night...that thou mayest prosper...”(Joshua 1:8,7). He goes on to say in Psalm 1:1, “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the council of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.” He is talking about avoiding the worldly wisdom and philosophy of this day. God will give success to those who will meditate day and night in the Word of God. If you want to be a successful Christian, you’ll have to spend some time in the Word of God. If you want to be a successful wife and mother, you’ll have to spend some time in the Word of God. If you want to be a successful husband and father, you’ll have to spend some time in the Word of God. It is the same with the business man or anyone else who wants to be successful in life. If you want your family to be blessed of the Lord, you’ll have to live in obedience to the Word of God. B. Influence of the Word The Bible is the living Word of God. Let me give you four things that the Word of God will do for you on a daily basis. 72
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1. Convict Do you remember in Acts 7 when Stephen was preaching? He preached a sermon that covered all the way through the Old Testament and brought the Jews all the way up to the New Testament. He told the Pharisees and Jews to whom he was preaching that they were just like their fathers in the Old Testament. They killed every prophet, and they rejected the Word of God. The Bible says that “when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth” (Acts 7:54). Now, I’ve had folks get mad at me, but not that mad! They were cut to the heart because the Word of God convicted them of their sins. Many times when Jesus finished preaching there was conviction of the Holy Spirit of God. First, the Word of God can reveal our sin to us, and we need to see ourselves as we really are. It happens to sinners and saints alike. The sinner is convicted of his sin and sinfulness before God. But you and I also, as saints, need to be convicted of our sins. We need the Word of God because the Holy Spirit uses the Word of God to point out sin in our lives. We need God; His strength; His wisdom; His fellowship; and His blessing in our lives. But we cannot have these things unless we are in fellowship with Him. When we read His Word, He will convict us so that we can confess and repent of that sin. That way we can stay in fellowship with Him, and our prayers will continue to be answered. So, by the conviction of the Holy Spirit, and the Word of God, we are kept right with God. Sometimes we are not what we think we are. Sometimes we get all puffed up with pride, but then we read in the Word of God how men suffered and sacrificed and gave themselves; how they loved God and gave up everything and followed the Lord. When we read that, we should realize we are not at all what we should or could be. We are not really willing to sacrifice everything like these men were. 73
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Next, the Word will reveal to us the standard of God’s holiness and righteousness. This is His Word, and in His Word He reveals to us His standard of holiness. It is easy to become like the world! It is easy to live in this world until your eyesight gets so accustomed to the world’s darkness that you begin thinking things that are sin are all right. Then, someone comes along and preaches against them, and you say, “Well, I never really saw it that way before. I never really looked at it that way.” Or sometimes you might just be reading your Bible, and God will speak to your heart about something, and you’ll say the same thing. We need the Word of God to convict us of our sins so we can stay right with God and measure up to His standard of righteousness and holiness. 2. Cleanse In John 13:5-17, we have the illustration of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet. Jesus told Peter that if He didn’t wash Peter’s feet, Peter would have no “part” with Him. That word “part” meant partnership or fellowship. Jesus said, “He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all.” The feet stand for the part of you that is constantly in contact with the world. My soul is saved; I have committed that to Him, and I have been cleansed and forgiven. But there is still a part of this flesh that maintains contact with the world. And as I walk through the world, I become dusty and begin to pick up the things of the world, even if involuntarily. There are things in the world that we see and hear that demand we get alone with God and say, “Cleanse me from these things” (Ephesians 5:26; John 15:3). In the newly translated Bibles, the word “purging” has been changed to “pruning,” but this is not right. Purging means to be cleansed through the Word. God purges and cleanses us through the Word. Why? So we might bear more fruit. The cleaner something is, the less infection and germs it has. In your garden you may spray something to keep bugs away 74
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and to protect against disease, and in doing this you are cleansing it. The cleaner it is, the less bugs and disease you have, and the more fruit your garden will produce. It is the same with our lives. We are branches connected to the Lord Jesus, and without Him we can do nothing. The cleaner we are, the more fruit we will produce for His glory. In John 8:30-31, it seems that the Lord had some doubt about the salvation of the believing Jews. They had believed and made a profession, but here He said, “If you continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed.” The word “indeed” means truly and genuinely. So, the Lord was saying that a man who is truly saved will continue in the Word of God. God will implant in a saved person’s heart a hunger for the Word of God. Folks come in all the time, make professions of faith, and some even get baptized. But they do not continue in the Word of God. They do not have a hunger because they have not been saved by grace through faith. When you are truly saved and born again, you’ll be hungry for the Word of God. I have questions about folks who have no hunger for the Word; no place for church in their lives; who don’t bring a Bible to the house of God; who do not want to find out what God has to say. By continuing in the Word, we are showing forth the fruit of our redemption. How does a young man or a young woman keep themselves holy and clean in this unclean world? By living and reading and obeying the Word of God (Psalm 119:9,11). So the Word of God cleanses us when we sin; and if we read it and obey it, then it will keep us from sin. 3. Conform The Word conforms me to the Lord Jesus Christ; it makes me more like Him. We are not to be conformed to the world, but we are to be transformed to Christ by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2). We have the Word of God, and we as Christians have the mind of Christ; the more we read the Bible the more like Him we will become. 75
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Being sanctified is the process whereby the Spirit of God uses the Word of God to make us more like Him (John 17:17,19). The Spirit of God is dependent on the Word of God. Jesus said, “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13). If we will read the Word, He will speak to us, sanctify us, and cleanse us. He will make us more like Jesus through the ministry of the Word of God. In Romans 8:29-30, we find that first He foreknew us, then He predestinated us to be more like His Son, and thirdly, He called us. When we responded to that, He justified us, and then He glorified us. When God made man, He created him in the image of God, and when man sinned, the image of God was marred in man. Men today do not show forth the glory nor the image of God. Salvation is the process whereby the image of God is constantly and continuously being restored in a person’s heart and life. So, when we got saved, God began the process of sanctification; the process of making us more like Jesus Christ. In James 1:22 and 25, James compares the Word of God to a “glass” or mirror. A mirror reflects what we really are. When we awake in the morning and look in the mirror, most of us spend too much time making the physical man look better. But what we need to do in our Christian life is to stay in front of the mirror of God’s Word until we have everything right. When we do that, God will bless us in our “work.” James says when you come to the mirror and see yourself, you need to get yourself straightened up. But in 2 Corinthians 3:18, Paul says when you come to the mirror, not only do you see yourself, but you also see Jesus in the Word of God, and as you look at Jesus, and love Him, and want to be like Him, the Spirit of God will change you from image to image and “glory to glory.” He will make you more like the Lord Jesus Christ by the Word. There is nothing that is any more important than the Word; reading and meditating on the Word of God. We get so busy we don’t have time to read our Bibles. Did it ever dawn on you why it is so hard to read the Bible? 76
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It is because the flesh does not want to see itself, and the flesh does not like to be exposed for what it is. We often neglect the Word of God because of our dirty, rotten flesh that wants to leave our Bible sitting on the bookshelf or on the coffee table. It is the flesh that hates the Word of God. If you’re ever going to be the kind of Christian that you should be, you’ll have to deny and overcome the flesh. You will have to realize how much you need the Book as a mirror; how much you need to see Jesus and be like Him. You’ll have to remind yourself and discipline yourself to do it. 4. Comfort The Word of God will also comfort and strengthen you (Colossians 3:16). In Psalm 119:7, David is talking about comfort and joy and praise and peace. Do you know what will cause you to praise God? The Word of God! When you find out you are forgiven and are now a child of God and an heir of God, and you can pray and know that God loves you, then you will praise the Lord. You’ll become a praising Christian. David rejoiced in the Word of God like the world rejoices over money (Psalm 119:14). People of the world rejoice in their riches and money, but we should rejoice more in the Word of God than in our money and wealth. David was the king, and he had wealth—gold and silver and riches. Yet while other kings sat around and gloried in their riches and wealth and honor, he rejoiced in the Word of God. We need some Christians today who will rejoice more in the Word of God than in their money, their paycheck, or in the things of the world. Job said, “I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food” (Job 23:12). In Psalm 119:11, David praised God because of the influence of the Word of God in his life. If you want to be a rejoicing Christian, then read the Word of God. It will give you something to rejoice about. David had many problems. He was hated by King Saul; hated by his own son Absalom who tried to kill him and become king; hated by the 77
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Philistines; and he was constantly persecuted and tormented. So, like anyone else, David had a lot of problems and troubles and trials, and he could have perished, gone under, or given up. But he found delight and comfort in the Word of God. When you have troubles and trials, you had better flee to the refuge of the Word of God (Psalm 119:76,92). You should find the Rock of your Salvation in the Bible your joy and delight. There is a hope, a comfort, and a hiding place in the Word of God (Psalm 119:143,165). When you are concerned or worried about something, the only thing you can do is read the Bible and pray. When you are fearful of something in the world or in your life, He will strengthen you and comfort you, and you’ll be able to find a hiding place and rejoicing and delight in the Word of God. You should never let anything keep you from reading the Word of God. Every time you get a chance you should read, and you can always find time, if it is important enough to you; even if it means getting up earlier or staying up later. It is sin not to read the Word of God. If you don’t read the Word of God, you’ll walk in darkness; and if you read it, it will give you wisdom. The Word of God will also make you sensitive to the Holy Spirit. He wants you to be sensitive to Him, and you can do that through the Word of God. Well, we’ve talked about the Water Gate, and do you know what water does? It quenches your thirst. I haven’t found anything in this world that satisfies me more than God and His Word. The more you walk through this world, the more dust you stir up and the drier you become. The Word of God will quench your thirst and give you life. When you feel dead and weary and tired, it will give you strength and energy. Everything you need is found in the Bible. It is the answer to every problem that you will ever have. God preserved it for us, and we have access to it. We have a well that 78
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will never run dry. Read the Word of God; it’s all you need. II. THE HORSE GATE The Horse Gate was the place where the horses were kept and the stables were located for the horses of the city. Usually, in those days, only the kings and the soldiers had horses. Horses were used almost always for warfare, while oxen and donkeys were used for farming. Turn to Deuteronomy 20:1 and then to 17:16. The king was not to go to Egypt, and he was not to get horses. The reason was (as is stated in Psalms) that the people of Israel, when they did this, put their trust in the number of horses they had rather than in the power of God to deliver them. We make a serious mistake when we place our faith in our military power and not in the power of God. This Horse Gate represents to us this thing of spiritual warfare. This gate served two purposes as far as the Jews were concerned. A. Reminds us of our enemies This gate reminded the Jews that they had some enemies, and we to need to be reminded that we have enemies. The children of Israel always had enemies. The Egyptians and the Philistines were their enemies, and that is why they had to build the wall around Jerusalem. There were always enemies there to persecute the people of God. In every generation, this Jewish nation had its enemies, and its enemies are still alive today. So, this gate reminded them of the spiritual warfare in which they were engaged; and it reminded them of their former bondage to Egypt. So, this gate reminds us that we do have some enemies. We have the flesh, the world, and the devil. Someone has said, “The flesh is our internal foe, the world is our external foe, and the devil is our infernal foe.� The flesh is indeed real. It is proud and persistent; it is depraved and deceptive and deadly. Most folks want to blame the devil for everything, 79
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but most of us have never been personally tempted or attacked by the devil. Most of it is just this old, wicked flesh. It is a constant battle. When you get out of bed in the morning, you’d better put that gate right in front of you; that horse gate that says you have an internal enemy—the flesh. The flesh is at enmity with God. As humbling as the thought may be, we still have this flesh; it is still alive, and it is powerful. So, we must always be on the defensive and always be aware; always making sure those gates are closed lest the enemies of our souls come in and do great damage. We also need to be aware of the world. The world attacks our values. The world’s system has a different set of priorities. It will give you a false purpose in life, and it will cause you to waste your time. That is how the world attacks you. The flesh attacks your emotions, and the world attacks your priorities and your purpose in life. Then there is, of course, the devil. He is active and aggressive, and he likes people to be addicted to themselves and to the world. His purpose is to control people. This horse gate was put up to remind us that we have some enemies. We all have the same enemies, and we are in this battle together. B. Rebukes us for our slothfulness This gate was there to remind the Jews they had enemies; but it was also there to remind them they were to be fervent; and they must be on guard; and they must watch and pray. With such enemies constantly badgering us, how can we fail to read the Bible; and to build the walls; and to build the gates; and to pray; and to avoid the appearance of sin? We need to be on guard and to watch and pray. We need to strengthen ourselves; we need to avoid every pitfall and every trap. We need to shelter our children from these same enemies. We need to confess every sin. We need to walk in the light. We need to make sure that our hearts are right with God because we have these enemies. It is so important that we erect this horse gate to 80
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remind us that we do have some enemies and to rebuke us not to be slothful, not to let our guard down, and not to be lazy and sorry; but to be strong and abounding in the work of God. We do have an enemy, and we need to give ourselves to the Lord Jesus Christ so that we might be victorious. We are in a warfare and Paul said, “...war a good warfare;” (1 Timothy 1:18). He said to “fight the good fight of faith,” (1 Timothy 6:12). So, we need to pray and put on the whole armor of God. We need to be prepared to serve God, and to fight the enemy. Amen!
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Expository Outline #8 The Necessity of Balance (Part 4) (Nehemiah 3) I. THE EAST GATE A. Look with priority B. Labor with zeal C. Live in purity II. THE GATE MIPHKAD A. The chastening rod B. The coming Judgment Seat
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Chapter Eight THE NECESSITY OF BALANCE (Part 4) (Nehemiah 3) I. THE EAST GATE Turn with me please to Matthew 24:27. This Scripture tells us that the Son of Man is going to come from the east. You’ll also remember that the three wise men saw His star in the east. So, the east always spoke of the coming of Christ. His first coming was signified by a star from the east, and Jesus said that when the Son of Man comes the second time, He’ll be coming from the same direction. This East Gate definitely speaks to us of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. This gate was there to remind the Jews that their Messiah was going to come and redeem them from all of their enemies, and the Jews today are still looking for their Messiah. They have not recognized Jesus Christ as the Son of God and that He is the Messiah, and He is the one who is coming back. But the Bible says that one day “...every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced Him: and all...shall wail because of him” (Revelation 1:7). One day the Jews will realize that Jesus Christ is the true Messiah who was promised to come. As we look at the East Gate, we are reminded of our responsibilities as we anticipate the second coming of Christ. 84
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A. Look with priority Look, please, at Titus 2:11. Our first responsibility is to look for Him. When the Bible talks about looking, it is talking about our priorities. What are you looking at? What is your attention given to? Where are your priorities? This word “look” is not just a physical thing. We are to have everything set in order when the Son of Man comes (Matthew 24:42). We are to look unto Jesus. If we are really looking to Jesus and for Jesus, then we will have a different set of priorities than the world. The world’s biggest priority is to get all of the pleasure out of life that is possible, but we will not have those kind of priorities if we believe Jesus is coming today, or tomorrow, or tonight. He is saying you’ll put first things first; you’ll set your house in order. Look at Matthew 6:33. The world is seeking these things to be added unto them, but we should be seeking first the kingdom of God; then God said He would add these things unto us Himself. We should give ourselves to prayer and to the Word of God. We should always be faithful in our church attendance and in our giving. The more earthly possessions we have, the more our hearts are drawn to them, but the more we lay up in Heaven, the more we give, serve, and look to Him. That’s where our hearts will be. So, we are to look with priority. We are to give our attention to Him—to His Word and to His work; to His will and to His worship. These are the things that we are to be involved in. B. Labor with zeal We are not only to look for Him, but we are to also labor for Him. We are to be “...zealous of good works” (Titus 2:14). We are to be working hard at good works. We are to be giving ourselves zealously. Zealous is a word rarely found in the world today. The world says, “Do as little as you can to get by.” This has even come over into our Christian lives. Christians do just enough (they think) to keep God off their backs and to keep the 85
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preacher from bothering them. This is a lazy, sorry generation that wants to do only enough to get by. We as Christians are to be zealous, and we are to be seeking opportunities to serve God. We should be hoping to find something to do for someone, for the preacher, or for God. Jesus said, “Occupy till I come” (Luke 19:13). If there is one reason why our Lord has not come back yet, it is so souls might be saved, and we should surely be out trying to win those souls which He is waiting to save. We should be giving out tracts, witnessing of the grace of God, being faithful, and looking for opportunities to tell people about the grace of God. James says that fervent prayer availeth much. Don’t you think we’d pray more fervently and zealously if we really believed the Lord would come back right now and our lost loved ones would be left behind? If we were totally convinced our Lord was coming soon, we would be praying and serving more fervently. It is when we get in the state of urgency that God really begins to work. When we are desperate for Him, that is when He really begins to work. We need to have this fervency and urgency in our Bible reading, our prayer, our witnessing, and in everything we do. C. Live in purity Look at Titus 2:11-14. “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” The grace of God does not teach us that once we are saved we can go out and live like the devil. It teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live soberly and righteously. It teaches us to live a pure life. Grace is not a license to sin. The Bible says in the book of Jude that in the 86
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last days these men will come, “...turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness...” (Jude 1:4). God teaches us to live above sin by His grace. Grace is the liberty to live for Him. It is the power to serve God (1 John 3:3). Again, He says that those who will look at the East Gate will be encouraged to look, to labor, and to live for Him. Notice in Titus 2:11,12, the three words that Paul uses here. First, we are to live “soberly.” That is an inward look. It has to do with self. Next, we are to live “righteously.” That is an outward look. It has to do with our testimony to others. Thirdly, we are to live “godly,” and that is an upward look. That is how we are to appear before God. So, we are to live soberly or seriously; and we are to live a righteous, separated life, guarding our testimony to others; and then we are to live in godliness, in reverence, in worship and praise, and in obedience to the Word of God. Do you know what the opposite of serious is? If you are not soberly or seriously serving God, then your are just “playing church.” You need to check self. Then, we need to check our testimony to others, and finally, we need to test our relationship to God. The easy-believism crowd says that God only promises to save you from the world hereafter. But the Bible says that Jesus died and gave Himself for our sins, “that he might deliver us from this present evil world,” (Galatians 1:4). I rejoice that Jesus saved me from hell, but I’m also glad He saved me from my sins in this present world. I’m glad I’m not in bondage to those things I used to be in bondage to. I was in bondage to friends and to certain habits, but He set me free! He has delivered us from this present evil world. So, the East Gate tells us that we are to look for Him and to Him; and we are to give our attention to Him, to His Word, to His work, and to His will. We are to labor for Him with zeal and with fervency. We need to come to the place where we are completely God-conscious. So conscious of Him, that we forget about pleasing people. We need to be 87
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looking at Him and seeing only Him. He is our judge, and He will reward us for our faithfulness. II. THE GATE MIPHKAD The Hebrew word “miphkad” means appointment or judgment. So, the Gate Miphkad, which is not mentioned in any other place in the Bible, is the gate of judgment. It is to remind the Jews of the judgment of God. God used the Philistines to judge the nation of Israel during the days of the judges. The Assyrians came in 722 BC and destroyed the land of Israel and took away captives. In 586 BC, the Babylonians came and destroyed Judah. These Jews knew that God would judge His people. They were convinced of that, and they erected this gate as a reminder. There are two judgments that you and I must face, even as Christians. A. The chastening rod Look, please, at Hebrews 12:5-10. When a Jew looked at this gate he received a message. This message, written invisible over this gate, said, “God is your judge.” There are three things in Hebrews twelve Paul says we are not to do. First of all, we are not to forget the exhortation. He is saying that we are not to forget that God does chasten His children. If you forget, He will be sure to remind you of it. AMEN! Number two, we are not to despise the chastening of the Lord. That is, when God chastens you, don’t become bitter or rebellious toward God. A lot of people have made the mistake of taking God on and the mistake of becoming bitter. It is not a pleasant thing to be chastened or disciplined, but we are not to despise it. Have you ever spanked your child, and they started getting bitter and a little rebellious? You have to spank them until you break them. If you spank them just enough to make them mad, then you quit too soon! You must break their rebellious will. It is the same way with us as Christians. God does the same thing when we become bitter or rebellious toward Him. 88
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Thirdly, we are told not to faint or despair. We are not to get discouraged. Sometimes chastening may seem like a long time, but it is not forever. It will end sooner or later. Then, Paul tells us to remember some things. First, he tells us to remember that God loves us. God does not discipline in anger but in love. He does not discipline us because we have embarrassed Him. In verse ten, he is talking about earthly parents, and he mentions the fact that sometimes we discipline our children for our own profit. God always disciplines us for our profit, not for His own. Secondly, we are told to remember that God only chastens His own children. Thirdly, we are to remember that we are to be in subjection. We discipline our children when they begin to get rebellious. And when our flesh begins to get the best of us, and we begin to have an arrogant disobedient attitude, God will discipline us. So, we’d better bring ourselves into the subjection of the Father. We need to be reverent and respectful, and in subjection to not only our earthly father, but also to our spiritual Father. Fourthly, Paul tells us not to forget that holiness is the purpose of His chastening. He chastens us so that we might be partakers of His holiness and so we might yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness. God will chasten you until you bring yourself into subjection and until He begins to see holiness in you. We need to realize that all of the trouble is not worth it; not even worth the pleasure we get out of it. When God sees this subjection and holiness, then the chastening will stop. B. The coming Judgment Seat Look at 2 Corinthians 5:10. Notice, Paul says “we.” When he says “we,” he is talking about Christians. This is the Judgment Seat of Christ, not the Great White Throne Judgment before which only the unsaved will stand. This is a judgment just for Christians, and everyone will receive some89
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thing. Look at Revelations 2:10; 2:28; and 3:5. God says He will give something to those who are faithful (who serve Him), and to those who overcome. Not only is this judgment just for Christians, and not only will everyone receive something, but we will also receive “...according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10). We will receive for the good we’ve done (Revelation 3:11), and we will lose for the bad we’ve done. Our works as Christians will be weighed, and if we have good works, we will have crowns; if we do not, then we will lose the opportunity to earn those crowns. Now, let’s review the gates. First of all, we erect the Sheep Gate. When we come to this gate we are reminded of the sheep whose blood was shed, and it is a gate of sacrifice, praise, and worship. Then, we have the Fish Gate, and this gate says “...Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19). Thirdly, we have the Old Gate, and it says, “Don’t become a modern Christian.” It tells us to keep the old methods and the old standards and the old morals and not to change with the world. Next, there is the Valley Gate, and it tells us not to forget where we came from, to humble ourselves; it is a gate of humility and overcoming pride. The fifth gate is the Dung Gate, and over the Dung Gate is a verse written which says, “If we confess our sins...” (1 John 1:9). Here we ask the Lord to cleanse our hearts and reveal our sins to us. After the Dung Gate, we come to the Fountain Gate, and here we sense the need to be filled with the Holy Spirit of God. The seventh gate is the Water Gate, and here we realize we need the Word of God to cleanse, comfort, and conform us. Next, we have the Horse Gate, and we are reminded of our enemies: the flesh, the world, and the devil. Now, we have the East Gate, which reminds us the Lord could come at anytime, even today, and we must look, labor, and live for Him. Lastly, we have the Gate of Miphkad, and it tells us not to forget the chastening and 90
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the judgment of God. Notice in Nehemiah that after they came to this last gate, they started over again at the Sheep Gate worshipping and praising God. They asked God to give them a burden, to help them stand by the old standards, to help them humble themselves, to help them confess their sins, to help them be filled with the Spirit, to help them be filled with the Word of God, to help them be ready for warfare, to realize Jesus was coming, and to realize they would be chastened and judged by God. If you take all ten gates, they will cover every aspect of your Christian life. The people in that city saw those gates every day, and they reminded them of their responsibility to God, their relationship to God, and the privilege of being inside the city. I’m glad I’m inside the city and inside Christ. The city is there for our protection and our blessing, but we have responsibility. Every gate has a message and a command. If you just go to one gate all the time, look at all the things you’re going to miss. Some churches emphasize the Fish Gate, and they never humble themselves, or worship and praise, or confess their sins. They never ask to be filled with the Spirit, and they neglect the Word of God, all because they are too busy fishing. If you emphasize just one of the gates and neglect the rest, then you will be out of balance. So, there is a necessity for a balance. Every gate is important, and you should visit them often, and let them remind you of what you are supposed to do and be in the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen!
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Expository Outline #9 The Necessity of a Christian Home (Nehemiah 3:10,23,28,29,30) Review Introduction I. JEDAIAH (“one who prays”) A. The protection prayer affords B. The power prayer provides II. BENJAMIN (“son of my right hand”) A. Responsibility B. Restrictions III. HASHUB (“partnership”) A. In surviving this world B. In steering our children C. In serving our God IV. ZADOK (“justice, righteousness”) A. Purity B. Personal integrity V. IMMER (“talkative”) A. Proper communication B. Praise C. Preaching VI. MESHALLUM (“devoted one”) A. Our chamber B. Our consecration C. Our children 93
Chapter Nine THE NECESSITY OF A CHRISTIAN HOME (Nehemiah 3:10,23,28 29,30) Review The book of Nehemiah centers around the rebuilding of the wall around Jerusalem. Remember, also, the book of Ezra deals with the rebuilding of the temple. The Jews have been in captivity for seventy years, and they are now being allowed to return to their homeland as was prophesied in the Scriptures. We find the people have a mind to work, and they have zealously attacked their task under the direction of Nehemiah. The temple has been rebuilt, and now the wall of the city is going up. Can you not hear the goodhearted buzz of friendly conversation between the workers amid the sound of saws, axes, and hammers? As we conclude chapter 3, the gates have been rebuilt, and now they will begin reconstruction of the wall, so the gates can then be hung in their respective places. Introduction There is a particular group I want us to center our attention on in chapter 3. Look with me, please, at verse 10. Let’s also read verses 23, 28, 29, and 30. Now, take note of this phrase, “over against his house.” You will remember that houses made up part of the city wall, as was the case of Rahab in the 94
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book of Joshua. That is the case with the men mentioned in the verses we just read. They built their houses into the wall, so, as they were building the wall, they were also building their houses! May I say, as we build the work of God, we had better not neglect our homes, our wives, and our children! How many preachers, especially, have disqualified themselves from the ministry because of neglecting their homes! O preacher, build your home as you build the church! We are talking about “Essentials for Effective Christian Service,� and one of the essentials is a truly Christian home in every sense of the word. This is not an option; it is a necessity. It is at home that every work of God begins. When Jesus gave the Great Commission, He told the disciples to go to Jerusalem first. That was home! When the demoniac of Gadara wanted to follow Jesus, the Lord told him to go home and tell what great things had happened to him. Your witness is no more effective in public than it is in the privacy of your home. The church is no stronger than the home. The nation is no stronger than the home.The home is the basic fiber of all society, whether in the church or the nation. Nation after nation has fallen because they allowed their homes to be destroyed. You would think the intelligent men who run our nation would see this danger, but instead they provide free government daycare so mothers can go out and work and thus split up the homes and divide mothers and their children. The easy divorce situation has added to the destruction of the American home. The welfare system encourages sin and adultery, for if a man is married and struggling to provide for his family, he cannot get help. But let a man and woman shack up together, and she can go down to the welfare office and get food stamps, welfare, medical care, energy assistance, and a free apartment; enough to support her family and her adulterous relationship! May God help us! Home ought to be the sweetest, most precious place on earth. It ought to be sacred, intimate, holy, and happy! A place where joy is expressed, 95
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sorrows are endured, God’s faithfulness proved, and His blessings experienced! I want to look at these men who built their homes into the walls. These men wanted to live near the gates, near the city, near the temple, and thus wanted to be close to God. I want to look at their names, for in the Old Testament names carried a great significance. Names were sometimes assigned by God and spoke of the character of the one so named. Let’s look now at these men and draw some spiritual lessons from their names concerning our homes and families. I. JEDAIAH (“one who prays”) Look again at verse 10 and find the name “Jedaiah.” This names means “one who invokes God,” or we would say “one who prays;” a prayer-warrior! Here is a great lesson we all need to heed! Only those who pray are going to build a truly Christian home! A. The protection prayer affords There is nothing more important than prayer in respect to building and protecting our homes. Protection was the very reason they were building this wall! Your family ought to be the first on your prayer list. We need to not only pray for our families but with our families. It has been our custom since God gave us children to gather each night for a time of prayer! We need to remember there is a devil who is constantly trying to destroy our homes and turn our children against the things of God. We surely need to “Watch and pray...” (Matthew 26:41). We must keep a watchful eye on bad attitudes and worldly fads that bombard our homes and our children. I have learned that the first thing I need to do as a husband and protector of my home is to pray and find God’s mind on the problem. When I was younger, I would just grab a big stick and wade into the problem half-cocked. But that is not always the answer to life’s problems. We need God’s wisdom. 96
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B. The power prayer provides There is power in prayer! We need to pray for victory, strength, patience, wisdom, and love. Husbands need to pray for love, wisdom, and leadership. Each wife needs to pray for a submissive spirit and that her children will learn submission to authority from her as she submits herself to her husband. Mothers also need to pray for wisdom in dealing with their children while the husband is at work and for courage to discipline and use the rod when necessary. Don’t let the enemy tear down the wall of prayer in your home. Don’t get so occupied with providing for the physical needs of your family that you neglect their spiritual needs. II. BENJAMIN (“son of my right hand”) Now, look at verse 23 and find two names, “Benjamin” and “Hashub.” Benjamin means “son of my right hand” or “son of my strength.” It has reference to that son as being the strong one who will protect the family. A. Responsibility Ephesians 5 relates that the husband is the “saviour of the body.” “Saviour” means redeemer and deliverer! I have the responsibility to protect my family in every way! Look at Proverbs 22:6 and the phrase, “Train up a child.” This is a picture word in the Hebrew language. The picture behind this phrase is of a Jewish mother training her child to eat solid food. They did not have baby food so the mother would chew a piece of meat until it was soft. She would then place it on the end of her finger and stick it into the baby’s mouth until she touched the palate or the back of the throat which would automatically force the child to swallow. The baby then was trained to eat and swallow when he saw meat or solid food. Now, the principle comes into focus that we are to “Train up a child in the way he 97
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should go.” That is, never put anything on your finger or expose your child to anything that would not be healthy for him. If your child sees something on your finger, he is going to think it is all right to eat. Whatever your child sees you do or hears you say, he is going to believe it is right. B. Restrictions If you were feeding your baby in this way and an older sister came and wanted to feed the baby, the first thing you would do would be to look at her hands to see if they were clean. If she had been out making mud pies, you would demand that she wash her hands. We need to be just as particular, and more so, concerning what we allow our children to be exposed to spiritually, socially, educationally, and in the area of entertainment! We need to restrict what we allow our children to be exposed to! Yes, we need to shelter (spiritually quarantine) our children. It is a biblical principle! We need to set up some standards and convictions by which we live and by which we demand our children to live. Then, we must pray that one day they will personalize these convictions so they become their own! May God grant it to be so! III. HASHUB (“partnership”) Look again at Nehemiah 3:23, and notice that Benjamin was the son of “Hashub.” This word means “partner,” “associate,” or “friend.” May God help us to realize husbands and wives are partners and not opponents. A. In surviving this world Life can be rough, but God has devised this thing of marriage to be a partnership so men and women who work together can survive the difficult times. While the husband is the bread winner, the wife is to be a keeper at home. While the husband goes out to face the world each day, the wife is to keep a clean and happy home to which he can come back to every evening! 98
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God help us to realize we are in the same ship, and we sink or swim together! We are not to be in competition but rather in cooperation. B. In steering our children I have heard working mothers try to explain all they can provide for their children. Yes, they provide daycare, baby-sitters, bag lunches, TV dinners, dirty houses, and an old, worn-out, grouchy mother at the end of the day. How can a mother train her children for the Lord by spending nine hours a day away from them? Impossible! Never meant to be! Unscriptural and unwise! There must also be some partnership in the discipline and standards set for the children. I have mothers say to their husbands, “Please, don’t spank them this time.” That disharmony will do terrible things in the mind of your children. It will make Dad look like the bad guy, and Mom look like the good guy. It will turn your children against your husband. There must be a united effort in the training of children. C. In serving our God You ought to serve God as a family. Take up some family projects. Take your children to visit someone. They will never learn how to serve God unless you teach them. It is not just the pastor’s responsibility, nor the Bible college’s. It is the responsibility of parents to train their children to serve God! IV. ZADOK (“justice, righteousness”) Look at verse 29 and notice the name “Zadok.” This name carries the meaning of “justice and righteousness.” I will use the words purity and personal integrity. A. Purity God help us to keep ourselves pure; our bodies pure; our minds pure; our hearts pure! Purity will lead to sweetness! O the blessedness of a pure conscience before God! O how terrible is a guilty, defiled, condemning 99
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conscience! Purity produces confidence and courage and sweetness and innocence in our homes! B. Personal integrity Your children need to see your purity, your righteousness, your love for God, and your obedience to Him. They need to hear you pray and to see you read your Bible. They need to hear you witness and see you take a stand for God! They need to see your honesty and your compassion. Remember, we teach by example and by character! V. IMMER (“talkative”) Notice that Zadok is the son of “Immer.” This name carries the meaning of “he hath said” or “talkative.” Usually, this has an evil connotation. But there is nothing wrong with talking, if we are talking to the right person, saying the right thing, with the right attitude. A. Proper communication There needs to be the right kind of speech and language in our homes. We need to talk about the right things; not talk about other members or about the preacher. We need to cut out the gossip and start talking about the Gospel. Remember, your children are listening to your speech, and you will give account of every idle word. Husbands and wives need to communicate. The lack of communication is the number 1 cause of divorce. There are three things which kill communication in the home: tears, silence (the cold shoulder), and temper (yelling at one another)! May the Lord help us in this area and help us to remember that “A soft answer turneth away wrath...” (Proverbs 15:1). Women are verbal, while men are physical. When two men want to settle an argument, they throw up their fists and fight. When women disagree, they usually just argue with words. What verbalizing is to a woman, physical contact is to a man. When a woman verbally attacks a man, it is the same 100
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challenge to him as if she had smacked him in the face. Verbal, smartmouthed women need to understand the emotional make-up of a man. A husband feels, when he is verbally challenged, the same way a wife would feel if her husband forcefully slapped her. We need to learn to communicate. Learn to be criticized without retaliating. Learn to take instruction, correction, and rebuke. Pride is the basis of our retaliatory actions and words. “Lord, help us to humble ourselves!” B. Praise Not only should we work on communication with one another, but we should give attention to our communication to God. We have spoken already of the need to pray, but we also need to be involved in praise and worship! Read Psalm 150! Our children need to hear us praise the Lord and hear words of thankfulness from our lips. C. Preaching Immer may have been guilty of not only talking to God, but about God. May God help us to be talkative about the Saviour! AMEN! VI. MESHALLUM (“devoted one”) We’ve learned we need to build our homes with prayer, protection, purity, proper communication, praise, and preaching, and now we find there is also passionate devotion. In verse 30, we find this name “Meshallum,” which means “passionately devoted one.” A. Our chamber Notice it says of this man—he didn’t have a house, but just a chamber (a little apartment). He didn’t have much of this world, but he was devoted to God. He didn’t worship his home or his furniture; and he didn’t want the best house in town. He was content, and he passionately loved God, even though all he had was a little apartment. 101
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B. Our consecration The Psalmist said, “Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it...” (Psalm 127:1). Here is a man who built the wall with passionate devotion. He was completely devoted to God. If you have this devotion right, and you are devoted to God, it will affect some things. First of all, this devotion will affect your priorities. The Lord’s work, the Lord’s message, and the Lord’s will and His ways will always be first with you. Second of all, it will affect your prayer life. Enoch walked with God, and was not, for God took him. He was walking with God, and it affected his prayer life. Thirdly, it will affect your purpose in life. Your purpose will be to glorify Him. If you are passionately devoted to something, then your purpose will be to do your very best at that particular thing. If you are devoted to God, you will do your very best to glorify Him. Paul said in Acts, chapter twenty, “But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself.” Paul was devoted to accomplishing the will of God in his life. In Revelation 12, we read about spiritual warfare, and it says that “...they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.” They were devoted to God, and they overcame the devil by dying for Christ; giving their lives for Him. In Acts 5:40 and 41, the disciples had just been beaten and turned loose, and it says they went away rejoicing, counting themselves worthy to suffer shame for His name. That is devotion! C. Our children Our children, more than anyone else, see our devotion. They see the level of our devotion. They see the little things that sometimes keep us out of church. They see how much we love God and how much we read the Bible. They know if we pray or if we don’t pray. So, it’s your personal, real, genuine walk with God (not just a surface, put-on thing, but an everyday thing) your children need to see. 102
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It’s like when Joseph was in Egypt. His mom and dad weren’t around; his preacher wasn’t around; no one who knew him was around, but when Potiphar’s wife came after him, he asked, “How can I do this wickedness and sin against God?” He had a personal walk with God. He wasn’t thinking about what other people thought; he was concerned about what God would think. He was God-conscious. He was personally and completely devoted to God and because of that, he was kept from sin. All of these are things needed to build a strong Christian home. We need to pray with our family and for our family, and we need to build some protection around our family and children. We need to keep ourselves pure and our relationships pure; keeping our home righteous and pure and holy. We need to have proper communication and praise and preaching, and then have this personal, passionate devotion. You need to ask yourself, “Have I built these things in my home?” “Do I have a portion of the wall around my home that says, “Pray?!” Do I have a portion of the wall that speaks to my heart and says, “You’d better protect your wife and children?” Do I have a part of the wall that says, “You need to keep yourself and your home pure and clean and holy?” Is there a part of that wall in your home you look at every day which says, “Keep up that proper communication, and that praise and prayer and preaching, and finally, that personal devotion?” Are you and I so devoted, that nothing can move us and discourage us? We should have the desire to finish our course, being passionately devoted to the will of God. Amen!
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Expository Outline #10 The Necessity of Armor and Courage (Nehemiah 4) Introduction So far things have gone somewhat smoothly with few hindrances and little opposition! But now the war is on! I. THE WRATH OF THE ENEMY A. Confrontation B. Application II. THE RELENTLESSNESS OF THE ENEMY III. THE REASONS FOR THE OPPOSITION A. Discredit the work B. Discourage the workers IV. THE RESPONSE OF NEHEMIAH A. Supplication B. Dedication C. Preparation D. Cooperation V. THE RALLY PLACE A. Fervent preaching B. Firm encouragement C. Friendly testimonies
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Chapter Ten THE NECESSITY OF ARMOR AND COURAGE (Nehemiah 4) Introduction You must have both courage and armor! You may have all the courage in the world, but if you don’t have any weapons, there isn’t much you can do. You may have all the armor in the world, but if you don’t have courage to go out and use the armor to fight for the Lord, then you will still be defeated in your Christian life. So, there is the need to have a right and proper attitude. When I played football in high school, I noticed you could put a guy in the very best football equipment and send him out well-protected, but if he was a little cowardly, he would dodge the opposition and not do his job properly. He would sidestep, and the guy behind him would get tackled. But then you could take another guy who didn’t care if he had any pads on or not. He would just put his head down and knock everyone out of the way because he had courage. It is the same in different areas of our lives. There is always the necessity of having courage and putting on the whole armor of God in this Christian warfare. Everything has gone smoothly so far for Nehemiah. The king has given him everything he needs; the people have cooperated with him; there is unity and harmony. Half of the wall has already been built, and now, all of a sudden, trouble shows up. Trouble always comes when you least expect it! 106
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The devil always knows when you are least expecting trouble. Think of Samson! He was on his way down to Timnath to see a woman, and when he had his mind on this woman, a lion roared out against him. It came when he had his mind on other things and was not expecting it. Back in Nehemiah 2, verse 10, the Bible tells us Sanballat showed up, and he was somewhat disturbed and grieved because someone had come to seek the welfare of the children of Israel. In verse 19, Sanballat, Geshem, and Tobiah are mentioned again. They just made a few little idle threats which were of little concern. Now, in chapter 4, all of this takes on a real serious confrontation. Not only do Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem show up, but also the army of Samaria; and in verse 7, it talks about the Arabians, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites. All of a sudden, here they are! If you look on a map sometime, you will find that all of these different groups and tribes of people absolutely surrounded the city of Jerusalem. So, Tobiah, Sanballat, and Geshem got together and decided to form a little army and surround Jerusalem. Now, things are really serious for Nehemiah. He knows he is surrounded; he is cut off; he is outnumbered. He knows the enemy has more weapons and horses, yet he is not discouraged but rather begins to pray and claim the victory from the Lord. I. THE WRATH OF THE ENEMY The Bible says back in chapter 2 and verse 10, Sanballat was “grieved” and upset that someone had come to seek the welfare of the children of Israel. In chapter 4 and verse 1, it says he was “wroth.” In verse 7, it says they were “very wroth.” So, we see, these men became angry and upset that Nehemiah was succeeding in his work. A. Confrontation They had probably thought nothing would come of it, thinking of all of the vagabond Jews left there from the captivity. They thought the people 107
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would just give up after a few days; but they didn’t give up! If you set your mind to do something, and if you don’t give up, it will upset the devil. We see that Sanballat had called all of his friends and had surrounded the city. It tells us in verse 11, they did, indeed, intend to slay them causing the work to cease. B. Application The application is that we, too, have an enemy. The Bible says we are to be sober and vigilant because our adversary, the devil, walketh about seeking whom he may devour. The devil is after us all of the time, twenty-four hours a day, and he is not a spirit or a force. He is a person; a fallen angel called the devil, and he shows no mercy. He bears not one ounce of mercy, love, or compassion in his heart. It says in Revelation 12:12, the devil comes with great fury, for he knoweth he hath but a short time. The Bible also says the last days shall be as the days of Noah, and in Noah’s days there was increased demonic activity. You don’t have to look very far today before you see strange things going on; weird music; things that glorify sex and wickedness; the occult and witchcraft and devil worship. If you have kids who listen to rock music, you’d be surprised at what those words say. These rock music groups just keep getting filthier and more vile, and they don’t even try to hide what they are. They are proud of their sin, and yet we sit back and say, “Oh, it’s just a fad that will pass away.” No, it is a thing that brainwashes our children! The number one cause of teenage deaths is suicide! When I was a young teenager being raised in Kentucky, killing myself never once crossed my mind. But, I’d never listened to rock music. Rock music teaches that the devil reigns in hell and that if a teenager dies who works with the devil, he’ll reign in hell, too. But he won’t reign in hell! He will burn in hell! The devil is always on the move. Think of what he did to Job! He killed his family, killed his kids, and took away every possession he had. He took away his health, until finally Job 108
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cursed the day he was born. We’ve all been sick, but never have I been so sick that I cursed the day I was born! The devil has no mercy or pity. He won’t just kick you a little bit and then let you get up. He’ll kick you and defeat you and destroy you until there is no ounce of love or life left in you. You had better beware of the devil and his wrath. II. THE RELENTLESSNESS OF THE ENEMY Notice in verse 12, Nehemiah says the Jews who dwelt in the outskirts of Judea, lived next to Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem, and they got word of what was going on. It says, “...they said unto us ten times...” Ten times Sanballat threatened them, and ten times those Jews came and warned them of trouble. All of this discouraging news kept coming in because the enemy was relentless. The devil is also relentless. He knows he only has a short time, and he is going to give it all he’s got in the last days. I believe the Lord’s coming is near, and if that is true, then the devil is coming with great wrath and great fury. That is why you need courage and the whole armor of God, because you have a relentless enemy. Look in verse 13, and notice it says Nehemiah had them carry their swords, their spears, and their bows. In chapter 4, it mentions setting up men at night and how they never took their clothes off except to wash and get clean. It is saying you’d better put on the whole armor of God. You’d better take hold of the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. All of the courage in the world will not overcome the devil unless you have a grip on the Sword of the Spirit. You may have some verses memorized, and you may have a decent knowledge of the Word of God, but unless you have faith and courage, you still will not be able to defeat him. Knowledge alone is not good enough. It must generate faith and courage and strength. You must know that God is with you, 109
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and His Word is truth if you are going to successfully withstand the devil. III. THE REASONS FOR THE OPPOSITION There were basically two things that these men wanted to do to Nehemiah. A. Discredit the work They said “Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall” (Nehemiah 4:3). When people have no valid reason for opposing you, they will just ridicule you. If you hear someone ridicule you or the church, you can mark it down they don’t have any valid reason for doing so. It is an easy way to try to discredit the work of God. It is effective in discouraging people. Nehemiah meant Sanballat and the others no harm. He would have built the wall and gone back to Babylon without ever bothering them. People will say, “Why do you want to start another church?” or, “Do you think you’ll be able to start a church with those feeble church members?!” They are like the world; they always look at size. They always look at physical strength or something else along that line. But it doesn’t take all that; it only takes some folks who love God, who are dedicated and will pray and trust Him, and God will do the work. It is God who gives the increase anyway. Ridicule is an effective tool, if you listen to it. A wife whose husband ridicules her for going to church will be discouraged. Some parents ridicule their children for wanting to do right or for wanting to go to church or to the mission field. They just constantly tear them down with scorn and ridicule. I’ve seen this thing called peer pressure. Teenagers come under ridicule, mock, and scorn all of the time in the form of friends who ridicule them for going to church or carrying their Bibles to school. The Scriptures say, “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to 110
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try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:” (Peter 4:12). Jesus said He found tribulation in the world, and in the world you’ll find tribulation. We surely are not above Him! So, they wanted to discredit the work of God, and the reason they did that was in order to discourage the workers. B. Discourage the workers Again, ridicule is a very effective tool of Satan. God cannot use discouraged people. Elijah was a great man of God, and in 1 Kings 18, we have the wonderful story of how he prayed fire down from heaven. But, in chapter 19, we find that he was discouraged, and he went and sat down under a juniper tree and wished to die. So, God told him to go find Elisha so He could call him to take Elijah’s place. When Elijah got discouraged, God could not use him so He took him on home. When you get discouraged, God cannot use you. Discouragement is a lack of faith. We say, “...all things work together for good to them that love God,” and if we believe that, we’ll not get discouraged. We say “If God be for us, who can be against us?”! If we believe that, we’ll not get discouraged. Discouragement comes because of faithlessness. A lack of faith in the Word of God or in the promises of God or that God is in control and will supply the need even though everything looks bad around us, will cause discouragement. Do not let the devil discourage you. Claim the promises of God. Take the Book, and know if you live by sight you will be discouraged, but if you live by faith in the promises of God, you cannot help but be encouraged and strengthened because what God said is true. My eyes tell me one thing, but my faith tells me another thing is true. My eyes tell me my world is falling apart, but God says He is on the throne, and all things work together for good. So, you have to make up your mind about who you are going to believe—your eyes or your faith!
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IV. THE RESPONSE OF NEHEMIAH Here is the key to the chapter and to Nehemiah’s victory over these men. They did not succeed; they did not attack; they did not tear down the walls; they did not destroy the city. I’ll give you three things Nehemiah did that helped him overcome these men. A. Supplication In verse 4 and verse 9, we find that Nehemiah prayed. Nehemiah had learned a tremendous lesson. He had learned to pray first about everything. Prayer is not our last resort; it is our first line of warfare. It is this wicked flesh of ours that prides itself in being able to handle every situation all by itself. That is what keeps us from praying. That is why we put off praying until the very last thing, because we say, “Oh, I’m smart enough, and I can handle this situation alone.” Then when we try to handle it, it gets more out of control, until we finally say, “Well, we’ll have to pray about this.” If we would just pray about it first, it would never get out of control. The disciples, in Acts chapter 4, came out of prison, and the first thing they did was pray. They said, “And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word.” So, the disciples knew they were in trouble, and they went to God first in prayer. They didn’t go up to the capital in Rome, and they didn’t send letters to Caesar. They just prayed and said “...Lord...grant unto thy servants...boldness.” Our Lord prayed and fasted forty days and nights before He faced the devil. He prayed first before He had to face the trials and temptations. Hezekiah received the word that his city had been surrounded by the Assyrians, and “...for this cause Hezekiah the king, and the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz, prayed and cried to heaven” (2 Chronicles 32:20). He prayed first and claimed the victory first, and the angel of the Lord went out and slew the enemy. He won the victory because he prayed first. You’d 112
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better learn how to pray, and you’d better learn how to pray about everything, and you’d better learn how to pray first about everything. If only we could learn that lesson, what trouble we could save ourselves, and what victories we would win. B. Dedication In Nehemiah 4:6, it says, “So built we the wall.” In verses 1-3, it talks about the opposition; and the scorn; and the ridicule; and the threatening letters. In verses 4 and 5, Nehemiah just prays. We find here (4:16-17,23) that there was dedication. They understood the opposition; they knew the seriousness of the situation; they knew they were surrounded; and they knew all of their enemies had come. But they just prayed and went on with their work because they were dedicated to building the wall. They were not going to be distracted by threats or anything else. Nehemiah and the people were determined to accomplish this task for the glory of God. No matter what happened, they were determined to go on. If we need anything today, we need some men with courage! Men used to be men! Men used to be tough! It used to be that men never got discouraged, and now its almost getting to the place where the women are stronger than the men! I know of homes where the man is the one who is always discouraged, and it is the woman who always has to keep him built up. Men ought to be men, and they ought to read the Word of God and believe it. Men ought to be men of courage and strength and commitment and dedication and faith. We’ve raised a sissified generation with no goals and no purpose who are easily discouraged and defeated—a bunch of quitters. They know nothing of work or of courage or of commitment, and the least little thing comes along and blows them off their feet. Oh, that God would give us some old-fashioned men with courage and strength and backbone who don’t know how to quit. The kind of men who’ll say, “Come hell or high water, I’m going to do something for the glory of God!” That is the 113
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kind of men it takes to overcome the devil. Jesus said, “...No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62). It’ll take some men who can endure warfare. This is not just a playground and fellowship; this is a partnership in the army of God. We need to understand we are in a warfare, and the devil will come and oppose us. C. Preparation It’s amazing how practical Nehemiah was! He did a few things that proved this. Number one—He placed the men by their homes (verse 4). That’s practical because, I may not fight for you, but I’d sure fight for my wife and kids. So, in effect he was saying, “You’re not just defending the wall or your leader, but you’re defending your wife and children.” Number two—He gave them each a weapon—a sword, a spear, or a bow. Now, that is getting real practical in the midst of warfare. Number three—Nehemiah never allowed himself to be distracted. He did not get into any kind of verbal argument with these men. He just ignored them and went on with the work of God. He didn’t write a letter; he didn’t ask them to talk about it. He just asked the Lord to help him, and then he turned them over to God. He said, “And cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from before thee: for they have provoked thee to anger before the builders” (Nehemiah 4:5). He didn’t say, “Lord, they’ve hurt my feelings.” He said, “...they have provoked thee to anger...” In effect, he was saying, “You take care of them while I build this wall.” If the devil can’t defeat you, he will try to distract you. It was probably a real temptation to Nehemiah to stop building the wall and go down and try to talk to these fellows, but he decided to just talk to God and leave it to Him so he could go on with the work. Nehemiah also did not retaliate, and he did not seek revenge. He did not get into a verbal battle, and he didn’t 114
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get into a letter writing campaign. He didn’t even really try to get an army together. He just took his workers and gave them a sword each and told them to fight if the enemy came. But he didn’t allow them to quit working on the wall. There are a lot of people, churches, and preachers who have quit building to fight. They write more letters to congressmen than they give out tracts. They have quit building the work, and they’ve started battling. The Bible says, we are servants and we are soldiers, but we are to serve God and fight only when we are hindered from working. As long as we are not hindered from working, we are to work. God called us to build a work; God called us to build a wall; God called us to build a church; and so, we need to not get distracted and drop building the church to go fight for some cause. This is the cause we’re supposed to give ourselves to. Nehemiah told his men to keep working until they heard the trumpet blow. That would warn them that the enemy was coming. If I have an enemy, and he hates me and he is after me and he knows no pity and he is going to use every tactic he can to defeat me, then I’d better carry the Sword all of the time. I’d better hide God’s Word in my heart that I might not sin against God. I’d better put on the whole armor of God, the shield of faith, and the breastplate of righteousness. I’d better hold on to the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. I’d better have my feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace. I’d better gird up my loins with truth. You see, if you really believe there is an enemy who is after you and who has no pity or mercy, then you will be concerned This is not a playground; this is a battlefield. It’s not just coming to church and reading the Bible and praying. The devil is after you and your kids and your testimony. He is out to destroy the church and the work of God. He wants to send souls to hell because he knows he is going to hell. You need to be serious about getting into the Word of God every day. You’d 115
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better put a hedge about your children and build something around them. You’d better put some convictions and standards in your home to keep the devil out. The reason you have standards, such as not allowing your kids to watch television, is to keep the devil out. He is real, and he is out to destroy you. D. Cooperation I noticed also the willingness of these people to do and work and labor and cooperate. I noticed their warfare and how they didn’t balk. They took their weapons and went back to work and just followed their orders, and God gave them victory in return. V. THE RALLY POINT Look at chapter 4, verse 20. Nehemiah says here, “In what place therefore ye hear the sound of the trumpet, resort ye thither unto us: our God shall fight for us.” According to Isaiah 58:1, the sound of the trumpet is the preaching of the Word of God. When I was reading this chapter, I said, “Lord, somewhere here there has to be a reference to two things. If this is going to apply to us today, there has to be a reference to the Word of God and a reference to the church.” I saw in verse 20 that the sound of the trumpet is the place where the Word of God is preached and the place where you come to find strength and help and holiness and encouragement. That’s where we go to meet with God’s people and crawl up out of the sewer of this world and cleanse ourselves with the preaching of the Word of God. There were three things that these people found when they came to the sound of the trumpet. A. Fervent preaching Nehemiah encouraged their hearts, and he said “...our God shall fight for us.” How many times I’ve come to the house of God to hear someone preach, and God has strengthened, encouraged, and blessed me. Just about 116
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every spiritual blessing I’ve ever had took place in the house of God. That’s why it is so important to come to the house of God. B. Firm encouragement Your heart will be encouraged when you are in the house of God because of the fellowship of God’s people and because straight, Bible preaching will encourage the faint-hearted without fail! C. Friendly testimonies You’ll hear people testify they’re going through the same thing you are going through. Then you’ll hear people testify that God gave them victory and how God gave them victory. You’ll begin to be encouraged because you’ll say to yourself, “Hey, other folks are going through the same problems I am going through, and God gave them victory these ways—through prayer, through the Word, and through faith, and God can give me victory through the same means.” Your heart will be encouraged as you rally around the sound of the trumpet—the place where the Word of God is proclaimed, the trumpet is lifted, and the Word is preached. You cannot have victory without the church. You cannot have victory without the Word of God. You cannot have victory without prayer. You cannot have victory without dedication. How dedicated are we to the Lord Himself? How dedicated are we to the church that God has called us to help build? God is looking for some men like Nehemiah. He is looking for some men like those who followed Nehemiah. He is looking for some men of God, men of courage, and men who have armed themselves and clothed themselves with the armor of God. That is who God is looking for. So, if you’re going to be an effective servant of God, there is the necessity of courage and the whole armor of God. Amen!
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Expository Outline #11 The Necessity of Prayer and Faith (Nehemiah 4) Introduction In this message, we will take a look at the discouragement that comes many times halfway through the battle and how to overcome it! I. THE DISCOURAGEMENT HALFWAY A. Illustrations B. Exhortations II. THE ENCOURAGEMENT HALFWAY A. Preparation B. Opposition C. Reaction D. Concentration
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Chapter 11 THE NECESSITY OF PRAYER AND FAITH (Nehemiah 4) I. THE DISCOURAGEMENT HALFWAY Turn to chapter 4, verse 6. We need to talk about the danger of halfway. Halfway is a very dangerous place in anything. It is the most discouraging place you can come to. A. Illustrations Have you ever set out to climb a mountain or maybe go on a hike, and you say, “Oh, I can do that in a couple of hours?” But in a couple of hours you’re only halfway there! You still have halfway to go, and you look back, and it’s just about as far one way as it is the other, and you really don’t know which direction to go. Have you ever gone on a trip, and you tell the kids its going to take a few hours to get there, and after they sit as quietly as they can for a couple of hours, they start asking, “When are we going to get there?” and you say “We’re only halfway!” Being only halfway is a very discouraging thing. This was the time when Sanballat, Geshem, and Tobiah, the enemies of Nehemiah, decided to come. It was a very discouraging time for those people. They were weary, and some of them began to complain about different things. They became discouraged and fearful when they found out their enemies were really getting serious about hindering the work of God. B. Exhortations 120
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This is also true of the Christian life. I was just thinking that I’ve been saved for twenty years, and if the Lord tarries His coming, I hope to live another twenty years! But I’m only halfway there. I thought to myself, “If I’d known then, what I know now, I don’t know if I’d ever have started the journey! I’m glad that God reveals His will just one day at a time. You get to the place where you begin to realize this thing of living for Christ is a wonderful thing, but it is a battle every day. A battle to do right. A battle to overcome the flesh. A battle to overcome the temptations and the drawings of the world. A battle of facing Satan and overcoming the devil in our lives. So, all of these things are true, and when you have done that for about twenty years, you say, “Lord, I have at least twenty years to go!” I’m glad I don’t know the future and that God will reveal it to me one day at a time because if I had really known twenty years ago, everything I know now, I don’t know if I could take it or not. You might get to the place where you think the battle has taken more out of you, cost more than you ever dreamed, and is not exactly what you think it’s cut out to be. I’m glad it is a life of joy, a life of peace, a life of victory. Thank God, there is joy and peace and victory in the battle. A lot of times we ask the Lord to get us out of the battle, but God wants to give us peace and joy and victory in the battle. So, the battle is always going to be there. Everyone in America is so happy the war (Desert Storm) is over, and the soldiers are gradually coming back home. But this thing of living for Christ and being a soldier and being engaged in warfare will never be over until Jesus comes. It’s just as real to me when I’m praying and reading the Word of God, studying and preaching, and witnessing and communicating the Gospel to lost folks, as if I were in Saudi Arabia with a gun in my hand. If you’re praying; if you’re on the firing line; if you have a burden to get people saved; you’ll understand what I’m talking about. So, you say, “I’m only halfway there, and I’ve already suffered all of 121
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this, and I know there are more battles ahead; and I know as long as I’m a soldier in Christ, there are going to be battles. I know all of that, and yet I want to stay in the battle, and I want God to give me grace. I know there is victory in Him, but I know I must stay close to Him.” So, there is this battle! There is this warfare that we’re engaged in. II. THE ENCOURAGEMENT HALFWAY Now, there are four things I want to mention to you that may be a source of strength and victory as we are in the battle. A. Preparation Be prepared for the battle! You know, a lot of times armies lose wars because they are taken by surprise. I’m sure Sadam Hussan was somewhat taken by surprise. He knew all of those trucks were coming, but somehow I don’t think he really believed we’d ever drop a bomb. I don’t think he was really prepared for it. He was taken by surprise, and there have been a lot of armies and a lot of battles fought, and every general wants to take advantage of the element of surprise. So, the devil is a master soldier, and he hates God; he hates you; he hates your soul, and if he could, he would drag you out of the hands of God and right down to hell. But thank God we’re safe, and no man can pluck us out of the Father’s hand. But the devil wants to; and he endeavors to; and if you are saved, his goal is that your life will not count anything for God. He is going to stay on your case, and he is going to badger and tempt you and distract you; and he is going to mess up your priorities. He’s going to get you so busy you’ll become entangled in the affairs of this life so you won’t have time to serve God, or pray, or give out a tract, or witness to a friend or neighbor. You’ll just live your life making money and paying the bills, and the rest of the world will remain lost and die and go to hell. And when you die and go to heaven, and God asks you what you did, you’ll just say, “Well, 122
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I’m not sure what I did. I spent my whole life just making money and paying bills.” There is more to life than making money and paying bills! AMEN? There is this thing of being involved in the warfare, and witnessing, and praying, and going, and giving, and serving God. And if you’re are saved, there ought to be a desire in your heart to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. So be prepared! This was an ideal time for Sanballat and his friends to come. The people were already tired and weary. Look at chapter 4, verse 10. The “bearers of burdens” were those men who carried the materials to the workers. They were the fellows who carried the bricks to the masons and the fellows who carried the lumber to the carpenters. They had to go out and maybe cut the stones themselves or find the stones in the rubble and cut the old mortar away. They had to bring the stones back and give them to the fellow who was laying them on the wall. They had to go out and cut the timbers and lay the timbers and square up the timbers. They’d bring them to the carpenter, and he would put them up and build a gate. Concerning these bearers of burdens, Judah said, “Their strength is decayed.” They were tired and weary. They were halfway through this thing. If the time situation matched the accomplishment on the wall, then they were about a month into this thing. It took them fifty-two days to build the wall, so half of that would be about twenty-six days. So, for about twenty-six days, they’ve been laboring night and day. They’ve been working and laboring; and they are tired and weary. In chapter 4, verse 12, it says when the Jews who lived on the outskirts came to warn the people, they said, “They’ve got so many soldiers, you can’t find a place to hide.” These fellows came ten times to Nehemiah to tell him their enemies were building an army, and there was no place to hide. They said, “You’re just stuck here behind this half-finished wall, and there is no place to hide, and no matter where you go, there will be no place to 123
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hide.” So, the folks were tired, and they were hearing about all of these enemies and armies coming. Verse 2 says, not only were they tired and weary, but they were becoming fearful. You notice there are three things that he mentions. Number one—He says they are tired. Number two—He says in verse ten, there is much rubbish. That is, the wall has fallen down, and there is all kinds of decayed timbers and rock and mortar and other parts of the wall laying all around where the armies of Babylon had come and destroyed the wall around Jerusalem. So, they have to clean all the mess up. (It’s like when a house burns down. You’ve got to go in and move all of the burnt timbers and all of the burnt block and brick. You’ve got to clean all of that away before you can start building again.) They are taking all of this rubbish and moving it. They build a section of wall, come to some more rubbish and move it out, and then build another section of the wall. So, Judah says, “We’re too tired. There is too much junk in the way.” Number three—He says there are too many enemies. Now, Nehemiah has some real problems because the people are tired, and they are discouraged, and they are becoming fearful of the enemy. Discouragement is contagious! In chapter 4, verse 14, you see here the rumors are starting to roll, and Judah comes and says they are too tired and there is too much rubble, and these other Jews come and say there are too many enemies, and evidently that discouragement and that dread gives them the feeling of a wet blanket. Nehemiah sensed that and ran out to the people and said, “Don’t be afraid.” Now, the reason he said that was because they were afraid! Do you remember back in verse 2, Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem began asking questions. They questioned the resources of the Jews. They asked, “What can you feeble Jews do? What is there for you to work with? Where are you going to get all the timbers and the brick and all the lumber and the things 124
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that you need?” They placed a question mark on their resources. Then Sanballat questioned their motives. He asked, “Will you sacrifice and fortify yourself? Are you really going to do this for the glory of God? Are you really going to do this so you can sacrifice?” Next, he questioned their enthusiasm. He asked, “Will you make an end in a day? You’re going to wear out before you are done!” Last, he questioned their work. He said, “The thing you’ve taken on is too big. Are you going to revive the stones out of the heaps? Do you really think you can build this wall again out of all this rubble lying around? Do you think you’re going to have all the time and energy to take all the old mortar off?” You may have done something like that, such as tearing down a building or going to a place where one has been torn down, and you take those bricks and a hammer and you knock off all of the old mortar so you can use those bricks again. Sanballat even questioned the work that they’d already done. He asked, “Do you think the wall is going to stand up? The first fox that runs across that wall will knock it down!” He questioned everything: their resources, their motives, their enthusiasm, and their work. The enemies did and said everything they could think of to discourage the Jews. You know it’s sort of like erecting a building. First, you put in hours and hours and hours looking over a blueprint and thinking of everything you have to buy, and you then get all of your papers and applications just right so they look good to the bank. Then, you spend all day checking prices, and when you get all of that done, the bank calls and says the loan has been approved, and the financing and the blueprints have been approved, and everything’s okay. Then you say, “Now, we have the building to erect!” Notice in verse 12, they were fearful. The basis of their fear was that the men living around the outskirts of the city were not well-protected. Maybe they were not even helping on the wall. They were fearful Nehemiah could not defend them. The foundation of their fear was that they were living too near the enemy. They were not close enough to the work, nor 125
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close enough to Nehemiah, to see what God was doing so that they might keep themselves encouraged in the work of God. We find they were too close to the enemy. They heard more from the enemy than they did from Nehemiah. We can get that way—too far from the source of blessing and power to receive strength. Too many Christians live to close to the enemy. Too many unsaved friends; too much television; too much outside worldly influence! You cannot help but be discouraged if you listen more to the world than you do to God! The world will discourage you! The enemy will say the task is too big, too hard, and will cost too much! Fear is a very real thing, or God would not have said three hundred sixty-five times in the Bible, “Fear not!” Fear is contagious! No one ever comes to the house of God and has a neutral effect upon the service! Read that statement again! When you come to the house of God, you bring a definite spirit and attitude with you, and it affects the service. Brother Williamson was here recently and stated he had more liberty preaching in our church than he had in all the churches he had preached in. He preached for two hours because there was a spirit of liberty. In 1 Corinthians 14:24, it says the lost are “convinced by all.” That means all those who attend the service help bring conviction on a lost man! What is your attitude? What is your spirit? Whatever it is, it is contagious, and it affects the service and the preacher. On the way to the house of God, you ought to ask God to cleanse you of all bad attitudes, as well as sins, and come in endeavoring to be a positive blessing to the service! Remember when Daniel prayed, and the angel finally arrived and explained to Daniel that he had been battling demonic forces for three weeks in order to answer his prayer? There are angelic and demonic forces at work in every service. Right now, there are spiritual forces battling over the souls of men. You are on one side or the other! You either hinder or help in the battle! 126
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B. Opposition Why did these men oppose Nehemiah? He meant no harm. He posed no threat! He had the purest of motives! He had no ill feelings. He only wanted to remove the reproach from the people of God! But this thing of glorifying God is the very thing that arouses the devil. Whenever there is a demonstration of God’s power and blessing, he wants to hinder it. Jesus experienced this in His own ministry. Constantly, He was hounded by the Pharisees, Sadducees, and the devil himself. Stephen was full of faith and power and did miracles, and that stirred up the devil, and then he stirred up the Pharisees until they gnashed on Stephen with their teeth. Just the fact that God is at work will arouse the wrath of the wicked one. Wherever there is evidence of Holy Ghost activity, Satan is sure to counteract and counterfeit! That’s the reason why the devil doesn’t seem to bother some churches. There are services, but they are dead, lukewarm, and formal. That doesn’t bother him at all. Satan will endeavor to defeat you, and in so doing, he thinks he is defeating the Lord. You see, if God is in you and promises to give you victory, then the devil feels if he can defeat you, he has won a battle over the Lord. That means that not only are you in the battle, but YOU ARE THE BATTLE! If you are genuinely in the battle, then thank God you are doing enough to arouse the devil! You need to get concerned if there is no warfare in your life. You are either not saved, or you are backslidden and doing nothing to forward the cause of Christ! C. Reaction Notice in chapter 4, verses 4,14,16, and 17, that Nehemiah looked to God! He prayed! He took his need and his fear to the Lord. I have a suspicion that folks today look everywhere but to the Lord. That’s the reason that the mid-week prayer meeting is the least attended service of the week. 127
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They do not see the need of praying! They are looking in the wrong direction! Nehemiah says he watched. Watch and Pray! If a person just watches and doesn’t pray, he won’t be assured of God’s blessing. It then becomes a thing of pride where he says, “My men and my soldiers can handle this situation.” On the the other hand, had Nehemiah just prayed and had never given the men swords and had never put a watchman up on the tower, it would have been very foolish, and it would not have brought any fear to the enemy. It would have been a thing of presumption; of presuming upon the grace of God. The Bible says, “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God” (Matthew 4:7; Luke 4:12). So, you have to have the balance here in which you pray, but you also watch. I pray, but in one sense I do my part, and I put as much feet to my prayers as I can, knowing there is only a few things that I can do. But I will do what I can do and expect God to do the rest. Watch and Pray! Notice Nehemiah’s battle cry. In verse 14, he says first, we are to remember the Lord. Remember how God delivered Jehosophat! Remember how God delivered Israel out of Egypt and across the Red Sea! Remember how God caused the sun to stand still for Joshua! Remember how God gave the manna in the wilderness and water from the rock! Remember the Lord—how great and terrible He is! He is especially great and terrible to our enemies. Secondly, Nehemiah said to remember our families. Whenever we are in a spiritual battle, we are not only fighting for ourselves and for the church, but also for our children and our families. I understand that our kind of church and our kind of preaching does not appeal to the flesh, and it is not a crowd drawing kind of ministry. I understand that. You say, “Preacher why don’t you ease up a little bit?” Because I want my kids to hear the whole counsel of God! I’m saying, it’s our kids that we’re fighting for. Thirdly, in verse 16, Nehemiah gave the men swords, weapons, shields, 128
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and bows, and he said, “Resist!” The Bible says in the book of James, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). After that, it says this. “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you” (James 4:8). Get close to God and resist the devil. Get as close as you can to God and as far away as you can from the devil, and you will be blessed of God. The problem is we try to walk that line, and we try not to get too far away from God, but as close to sin and the devil as we can, and we lose the strength and the blessing of God. D. Concentration Never allow battling to replace building! God calls us to win souls. God calls us to build a work for God. We battle only when the enemy shows up. Some preachers like to fight and are not happy unless they are fighting. Some churches and some pastors get so involved in fighting everybody, they never have any time to build anything, or to work or to win souls. Let me give you an illustration. Dr. Bill Rice told this story before he died. He said that when he was a little boy they lived in Texas. It was during the depression years, and they were very poor. One Saturday morning, he wanted to go fishing with one of his friends. So, he and his friend went to his friend’s mom and asked her if they could go fishing, and she said, “Yes.” Then, they went to Mrs. Rice and asked her if Bill could go fishing, and she said, “No, because he is going to have to go find some work cutting grass, or whatever, so we can have some money to buy some food for supper tonight.” So, they begged and they pleaded, and finally they said, “We’ll catch some fish today, and we’ll bring some back for supper.” She said, “Okay, but you must bring back some fish!” Well, they got down to the river bank, and they started digging worms, and you know how little boys get to playing. They were digging worms, and all of the sudden, those worms turned into snakes, and they went on a snake killing 129
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spree. Well, pretty soon the time had gone, and it started getting dark, and they had to go home, and they hadn’t caught any fish. So, Bill said he walked up on the front porch, and his mom met him at the screen door and said, “Son, did you catch any fish?” He replied, “No, but I sure did kill a lot of snakes!” Here is the moral of the story: Don’t get so busy killing snakes that you forget to catch some fish! There are a lot of battles to fight, but that’s not what God called us to do! He called us to be fishers of men. So, don’t get so busy battling and fighting that you forget to do the real work of the ministry: preaching the Word of God; pastoring and loving people; praying and being in the spiritual warfare. We have given too much attention to the wrong enemy. When something goes wrong in our country, we start writing letters to the President, but we don’t need to write letters to Washington. We need to send a letter to God and say, “Lord, we need your help.” He is the One who can change everything. He sets up kings, and He takes down kings, so don’t worry about the king. Just get on your knees, and pray to the One who set up the king! That is how you win spiritual battles. I trust you see the necessity of prayer and faith in this warfare! Amen!
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Expository Outline #12 The Necessity of Wisdom and Love (Nehemiah 5) Introduction In the last two messages we have dealt with the problem of external opposition, but now we will learn how Nehemiah dealt with internal dissension! I. THE CURSE OF INTERNAL DISSENSION A. The external first B. The infernal pattern C. The eternal promise II. THE CAUSE OF INTERNAL DISSENSION A. Ignorance of the Word B. Disobedience to the Word C. Love of the world III. THE CURE FOR INTERNAL DISSENSION A. Wisdom 1. You need wisdom to keep your eyes on Jesus. 2. You need to know who your real enemy is. 3. You have to know your priorities. B. Love IV. THE CONTINUANCE OF THE WORK
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Chapter 12 THE NECESSITY OF WISDOM AND LOVE (Nehemiah 5) Introduction Remember, the theme of Nehemiah is “Essentials for Effective Christian Service”—how to serve God effectively. We had two messages in Nehemiah chapter 4 about our spiritual warfare, and those dealt with the external conflict. But the opposition that he faces in chapter 5 is opposition from without. We find that there is not only external opposition, but there is also internal dissension. The first message in Nehemiah 4 was the Necessity of Courage and Armor. It showed the necessity of having courage to stand for God and the necessity of putting on the whole armor of God. Those things give you a balance. You can have all of the courage in the world, but if you don’t have the weapons with which to fight, you will still lose the battle. Then, the second message dealt with the Necessity of Prayer and Faith—not just faith in prayer, but faith to take some steps: faith to obey; faith to launch out; and also, of course, faith in prayer and faith to pray. The devil always begins with external opposition, for some people can and will be easily defeated by that alone. There are a lot of people and churches which face external opposition. Opposition can come from the government and from the county or the state, and it can be against Christian schools, children’s homes, and a lot of other areas. Many 132
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Christians are defeated because of this external opposition. They get scared, and they become fearful of what might happen to them, or to the church, or to their children, and they compromise. They give in, and they end up bowing down to that external opposition. Nehemiah was not a man of fear. He was a man of faith, and he knew that the Lord was with him and would indeed give the victory. In Nehemiah chapter 5, we learn about the external opposition and also about the internal dissension. In verses 1-5, the poor people began saying, “Nehemiah, we feel like we have been wronged. The richer people have taken our houses because we didn’t have money to pay the taxes; and so, we had to borrow money from them, and they charged us interest, and now we are in greater debt. We had to sell our children into slavery to get the money to pay off these debts, and now we are not able to redeem them.” Nehemiah understood that the richer people were oppressing the poor people and had taken their children as slaves. That was somewhat permissible under the law. If you owed someone a debt, and you couldn’t pay it, you could become a slave to pay off the debt, or you could place one of your children to work for that man until he paid off the debt. But there was a situation here where they were so oppressed they could not pay back the debt, and the rich men were placing more usury upon them, taking their land and their corn and their houses and their children until they had nothing left. The people cried out and said, “This is not right! Nehemiah, can you help us?” In verse 6, it says Nehemiah’s response was that he was very angry. In verses 7-9, he rebuked these elders for having done such a thing and told them they must restore the land. In verse 12, they responded, “We will restore them.” They took a promise, and they released the land, the olive yards, the houses, and the children back to their owners. In verse 13, they said, “Amen,” and praised the LORD! Then beginning in verse 14, Nehemiah gave his personal testimony as 133
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to how he lived during his years in Jerusalem. He said that he did not take the governor’s bread (that is, he did not tax the people or require them to give him anything). He evidently had money saved up from working in Babylon, or the king was still giving him money. In verse 16, he said that he continued in the work of the wall, neither bought any land, and all his servants were gathered unto him. He set an example for the people. Now, as I said the last time, everything was going along smoothly until we got to chapter 4, when Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem, and the Ammonites, the Arabians, and the armies of Samaria, showed up. We found out how Nehemiah faced this great external opposition. He gathered the people together and told them what they were going to do. He said, “We’ll give one man a trumpet who will walk around and look for the enemy. Every other man will carry a trowel in one hand and a sword in the other hand, and when you hear the trumpet blow, you gather to that person.” So, he devised that plan, and with it they discouraged the enemy and overcame the external foe. But the devil never gives up! There is always a certain kind of pattern that the devil applies, and this pattern is to get some external foes out here around us, and then he can use those external foes many times to create internal dissension. I. THE CURSE OF INTERNAL DISSENSION A. The external first First, comes the external, and then comes the internal. It seems like it always works that way. The king himself, back in chapter 2, was the first obstacle that had to be overcome, and Nehemiah prayed, “Lord, give me favour in the sight of the king.” God, indeed, did that and worked miraculously in the heart of the king. The king said to Nehemiah, “I will give you timber, a letter, my soldiers to accompany you there, and I will 134
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commission you to go to Jerusalem and rebuild the wall around the city. So, the king was overcome. Then in chapter 2, the Bible says that Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem came, and they were angry because God had sent a man to look after the welfare of the children of Israel. The devil seems to always start on the outside and work his way in. B. The internal pattern We find this same pattern to be true in the lives of the children of Israel and in the life of the Church. You remember that God’s people faced some external opposition in the land of Egypt. The Bible says that the Pharaohs came who knew not Joseph, and they began to afflict the people of God. So, there was external opposition; the devil trying to destroy the people of God in the land of Egypt. But the Bible says that the more they afflicted them, the more they grew and multiplied. So, God put a hedge about His people and He protected them. Then finally, God gave them deliverance from the external opposition, and they went into the land of the wilderness and began to wander through the wilderness journeying toward the Promised Land. On the way, there was nothing but internal dissension. How many times it says in Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy that they murmured against God and Moses! They cried and said, “We don’t have anything to eat,” and God gave them quail and manna. They said, “We don’t have anything to drink,” and God gave them water from the rock. They said, “We’d rather just go back to Egypt and live back there than die here in the wilderness.” So, there was internal dissension and complaining and murmuring. That is exactly how the devil always works. He uses the external opposition to get our minds off of our objective, and then suddenly we are fighting among ourselves. In the book of Acts, you’ll find this same pattern in the church. You remember in Acts chapters 3, 4, and 5, that the church faced this external 135
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opposition. We find that Peter was in prison for preaching. He was then beaten and released, and the Bible says he went away rejoicing because he was counted worthy to suffer for the name of God. They overcame this opposition of the Roman government and the authorities and others who were crying out against their preaching. Then, we find in Acts chapter 5, there arose some internal problems. Ananias and Sapphira came, and they lied to Peter and the apostles about how much offering they were going to give to the church, and the Bible says God smote them dead because they lied to the Holy Ghost. Then, in Acts chapter 6, we find more internal dissension. The Bible says the Greeks started complaining about the Hebrews in the daily ministration (that was the daily giving out of the food), and they came and said, “You are favoring the Jews because there are more Jews saved than there are Gentiles.” So, they started this internal dissension. Now, to solve this problem they appointed seven men of whom Stephen was one, and they began to make sure that everything was done right within the church. I’m simply saying there is this pattern the devil seemingly always uses, this thing of external opposition and then internal dissension. C. The eternal promise The church cannot be destroyed from without! “...the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). Every church that has ever been destroyed and every church that has ever closed its doors has done so because its people robbed themselves of the blessings of God. They quenched and grieved the Holy Spirit. It should really speak to our heart that we need to be careful about this internal dissension that can come within a church. What happens is that many times the external opposition comes, and then the people begin fighting and fussing and arguing as to how to respond to the external opposition, and then it becomes an internal problem. Some of the members want to side with the external foe. 136
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Do you remember back in chapter 4, when Judah started rumors about there being too much rubbish and about the burden bearers having no strength? Now, not only was Nehemiah facing Sanballat, but he was facing some of the people who were listening to the enemies and being discouraged by them. The other Jews who lived outside the city came and said, “Nehemiah, we just can’t win. Everywhere we look, the enemies are all around us, and no matter where we go, there is no place to hide.” But Nehemiah knew the power of God. He knew the power of prayer. He knew God had sent them there to do something, and he was not going to be hindered or stopped in the work of God. So, he overcame these things. Let me tell you how it happens. I’ve been in some of these situations. The government takes a church to court. They want to close down the Christian school or the children’s home, or perhaps there is some kind of zoning law that says they cannot have a church. So, the government takes the school or the church to court. If the people stick together, they can win! But these people become fearful, and they start saying, “Well, you know, Pastor. All you have to do is go up there to the courthouse and sign on the dotted line, and then everything will be all right.” That is what they said to John Bunyan. “John Bunyan, all you have to do is sign on the dotted line, and then you can preach on the streets of England.” He said, “I’ll not sign on the dotted line because God called me to preach, and He commanded me to preach, and what God commands us to do, we do not need a license to do.” So, we find that people become fearful, and they don’t know what they believe, and they start pressuring the pastor and the deacons and others to sign the papers and give in and to compromise. We find that is one of the problems. What every Christian needs to do is to form these convictions about the Word of God. The bottom line of all of this argument with the 137
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government is that Jesus Christ alone is Lord of the Church. That is our doctrine, and that is what we believe. Now, people will say, “What about Romans 13 and the other Scriptures that say, “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar’s” (Luke 20:25). Caesar represented the highest form of law in that day. Who was Caesar? Caesar was just one man in that day in which they did not have a democracy; they had a monarchy or a dictatorship, and whatever he said went, and he was looked upon as one of the gods. There was one day a year when everyone in the empire had to bow on their knees and say, “Caesar is Lord!” And when that day came, the Christians bowed down and said, “Jesus is Lord!” The Christians of Paul’s day were accused of being traitors because they would not say, “Caesar is Lord!” The question comes to us today: Who is our Caesar? What is the supreme law of the land? It is, of course, the Constitution of the United States. That is our Caesar. It is given to us in the pledge to the American flag. When our forefathers set this country up, it was set up as “one nation under God.” Our forefathers knew that the only person who had the right to rule over another person was God Almighty. He is our Caesar! He is our Lord! He is our supreme form of government! Thomas Jefferson said that when a government becomes tyrannical and ungodly, it was the right and the duty of that people to overthrow that government. That was exactly what they did with England. England came over and tried to establish its rule here, and that was why there was the Revolutionary War. Our forefathers fought for freedom. They fought against tyrannical government. They fought against the dictatorship. England called them traitors, and you and I will be called traitors, and we will be looked down upon. But we are really the true Americans. We are the ones who really believe in liberty and freedom and justice for all, but they do not understand that. So, we need to get united in our convictions about this. 138
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When we resist unlawful, unconstitutional government, we are fighting to preserve the true America of our forefathers! The America that is in effect today is not the America of our forefathers. The governors and the congressmen who are in office today are nothing compared to any of our forefathers, such as Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and John Adams. Those men believed in God and believed in liberty and in freedom under God, and they established this nation so that we the people would rule and so that government officials would be “public servants.” They were not to be rulers but servants. But the government officials of today have turned it around. Instead of we the people ruling, it is government that has come to rule over us. I say again, we are not traitors, and we are not rebels, but we are resistors. The Bible says that we are to resist the devil, and we should resist every form of the devil. The Constitution says this: “Congress shall pass no law concerning the establishment of religion.” Now, if the Constitution is the highest law of the land, nothing can contradict the Constitution. If it does, it is an unconstitutional law. That means that no state, county, or city government can pass any law that violates the Constitution. So, when we rebel against a certain law, it is because it (1) contradicts the lordship of Christ over the Church. It’s because it (2) contradicts our God-given, constitutional rights, and it is because it (3) contradicts the Word of God. It is not that we are rebels. It is not that we are just wanting to demand our own rights. It is the fact that Jesus alone is Lord of the Church. So, we are not resisting Godgiven authority, but we are trying to defend our spiritual heritage. Can you imagine the state fire marshal trying to tell Moses how to build the tabernacle?! Can you imagine the county zoning commissioner trying to tell Solomon where to build the temple?! Here is the bottom line—If the state fire marshal can come in and tell you how to build your church, then the secretary of education can come in and tell you how to run your Sunday School. These things have paved the way. That is exactly what 139
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is going to happen if they approve this International Bill of Rights for the Children. That is exactly what is coming! All of these years that the church has given in to different government agencies has paved the way for more aggressive leaders; and for them to become involved in the preaching and teaching ministry of the church. Again, I ask, “Why did John Bunyan spend twelve years in prison?” Someone once asked, “What did he accomplish? All he had to do was to sign the bottom line.” But if he had, he would have been admitting that the government had authority over his church. Why did James Ireland (an early American Virginia pastor) spend all of those months in prison? It was for the same reason. They told him that he couldn’t preach on the streets of Virginia unless he had a preaching license, and he told them God had commanded him to preach, and he was not going to be a state licensed preacher, and he preached from the jails of Williamstown, Virginia, that Jesus Christ alone is Lord of the Church. We do not resist because we know that we are going to win, but because it is right! A lot of preachers like to preach about the three Hebrew boys and how they went into the fiery furnace, and God protected them, and they came out unharmed. They like to preach about Daniel going into the lion’s den and how he, too, came out unharmed. But folks don’t like to preach about Stephen being stoned. It wasn’t right because those men came out; it was right because they went in. When Daniel went into the lion’s den, he was right whether he came out or not; and when the three Hebrew boys went into the furnace, they pleased God whether they came out or not; and when Stephen was stoned, he was stoned pleasing God. When the Apostle Paul was thrown into prison the last time and beheaded, he was right when he went in. He didn’t have to come out to be right. When John the Baptist was beheaded, he was right when he went into prison, not when he came out, because he didn’t come out! So, we see this curse of internal dissension is a major area in which churches have suffered. But why? 140
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II. THE CAUSE OF INTERNAL DISSENSION A. Ignorance of the Word Nehemiah is dealing with a whole generation who had no temple. They had been in Babylon for seventy years, away from church, so to speak. They did not have a priest or a church, nor did they have a city or a wall around the city. Those Jew are the fifty thousand who had just come out of Babylon, who were reared in a heathen country. The same thing is true today. We have been, and we are, dealing with a generation that has been raised in an anti-God, Babylonian system of doctrine and government. You can’t walk outside of the four walls of this church without being bombarded by the philosophy of the world. We were raised in a public school. We were taught public school doctrine. Now, we’re just getting a line on this thing. They lied to us, and they didn’t tell us the truth and they didn’t really tell us what the Constitution said. They twisted it around just like they do the Word of God to make it say what they want it to say, but it says that we the people rule. It says they are our public servants. So, there was an ignorance of the Word of God. The Bible tells us that we must study to show ourselves approved unto God, and so, we need to come to know the Word of God, and what our rights are, and what our heritage is as blood-washed believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. B. Disobedience to the Word You’ll find that these Jews took the young men and placed them in bondage and took their money and land. In Leviticus chapter 25, God said one Jew was not to put another Jew into bondage, and one Jew was not to charge another Jew interest, or usury. Even the heathen slaves were to be released every seventh year, and every fiftieth year everything was returned to its owner. They did not regard the Word of God, and their personal interest became more important to them than obedience to the Word of God. 141
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C. Love of the world These rich Jews had money, but they wanted more money. It was their wicked lust for security and riches and luxury and the love of the world that caused this internal dissension. Now, what was the cure? III. THE CURE FOR INTERNAL DISSENSION What is the cure for a problem within a church? Well, this message is entitled The Necessity of Wisdom and Love. A. Wisdom You see God’s people need wisdom to know what to do; to know the Word of God; to know how to respond to one another. They need love by which to live with one another. We must have wisdom to know how to love. We must have love so that we might overcome. Let me give you some practical things about wisdom. These Jews were ignorant of the Word of God. So, wisdom is the opposite of ignorance. If the problem is ignorance, then the answer is wisdom. There are four things that I want to mention. 1. You need wisdom to keep your eyes on Jesus! Why? Well, there are three reasons. First of all, everyone is imperfect. No one is perfect. I am not perfect. Sooner or later you will be disenchanted, disillusioned, or disappointed by me or someone else. When you first get saved and start going to church, you think the people and their pastor are the most wonderful people in all of the world. It doesn’t take long to find out they are made out of the same flesh and blood that you are made out of. Secondly, because of this, everybody is also different. Everybody has a different personality, and everybody responds differently to the Word of God. God made us all to be different. Thirdly, everybody will fail you at one time or another. 142
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Everybody will disappoint you at one time or another. I will disappoint you, and you will disappoint me, but if we understand that and know it is going to happen, then we will not be disillusioned to the point of discouragement. So, keep you eyes on Jesus because He is the only one who is perfect. He is the only one who is right, and He is not just different; He is perfect. 2. You need to know who your real enemy is! You have to understand who your real enemy is. You remember back in Daniel chapter 10, when Daniel was praying and trying to get an answer from God? The Bible says that the Prince of Tyre came and withstood the angel who had the answer on the way. We can talk all about tyrannical government, but we have to remember that our real enemy is the devil. He is the one who we have to defeat if we want to win down here. The same thing is true in a local church situation. Someone gets upset at you or says something about you, but it really isn’t them; it is the devil. The devil is behind it all. The flesh, the world, and the devil are always trying to tear up the church. 3. You have to know your priorities! You have to know what is important. Go back to verse 16. It says “Yea, also I continued in the work of this wall.” You see, Nehemiah did not come to Jerusalem to fight. He came to build, and no matter whether it was Sanballat, Tobiah, or Geshem out there writing threatening letters and gathering together the army of Samaria, or whether it was people fighting on the inside with one another, he was never distracted from what God had called him to do. So, he knew his priorities. God has called us to build, to win souls, and to support missionaries, and no matter what happens on the outside, and no matter how much time has to be spent fighting the government, we are not to be distracted from what God has called us to do. Keep your priorities straight. Remember what God has called us to do. 143
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4. You have to have the wisdom to know what to say and how to say it! James chapter 3 says your tongue can be a world of fire. It can be a thing the devil can use to destroy the church. Problems, dissension, hard feelings, and bitterness come because of the tongue, and the next thing you know, you have a church split because someone said the wrong thing, in the wrong way, at the wrong time. The Bible says our speech is to be “...alway with grace, seasoned with salt.” The Bible says we are the salt of the world. Do you know what salt does? We say salt is a preservative, but it is a temporary preservative. You can put salt on meat, but it will not preserve it forever. Eventually decay will set in, and if meat is already rotten, then you can put all of the salt on it that you want to, but it will not restore it back to health. I’m saying that we are the salt of the earth. God says in the last day perilous times are coming, but we are the salt in that we hinder the decay. We’re not going to prevent it, for it will come, but we are to be hinderers of decay. We are to hinder corruption. We are to put it off as long as we can. We are to stand up and say, “We are God’s people, and we will not bow or give in. We are going to do what is right no matter what you do to us!” We should hinder until Jesus comes. The Bible says “...only he who now letteth will let.” That word “let” in the old English means “hinder.” He is saying that the Church of the Lord will hinder Satan, and it will hinder the anti-Christ until the saints are taken out of the way. So, we are to be hinderers until Jesus comes. That takes wisdom. B. Love Love will do three things: Number one—Love is submissive to authority! A husband who loves God will obey God. A wife who loves her husband will obey her husband. People who love their pastor will obey their pastor. So, if you want to keep harmony in the church, then just love one another. One of the aspects of love is that love is submissive to those in authority over it. 144
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Number two—Love is forgiving! As I said before, everybody is imperfect; everybody is different; everybody will fail you. And, probably, everybody will offend you at one time or another. The Bible says we are to forgive one another seventy times seven. So, if I love my wife, I will forgive her. When we got married, I had enough sense to know there were going to be differences and that there were going to be times when I would offend her, and she would offend me. So, when we were married, I had already forgiven her of anything that she was going to do in the future. It is the same with the church situation. I know that every person will disappoint me or offend me at one time or another, but I’ve already forgiven them for it. I already know it’s going to happen, so it won’t surprise me, and no matter what they do, I’m still going to love them. Number three—Notice the feelings and the moods of others! Usually misunderstandings take place because someone comes in feeling sick, or someone who looses their temper easily is offended because of the mood they are in at that moment. Maybe it is because they haven’t had enough sleep, or something else, and someone says something to them, and they take it the wrong way. The Bible says to weep with them that weep and to rejoice with them that rejoice. So, when you come into the house of God, you ought to notice peoples’ moods and their feelings. You can tell by a person’s countenance what kind of a mood they are in; whether they are feeling good or sick. You can look into their eyes and find out if they are weeping or rejoicing. God says that if you find out they are weeping, then you are to weep with them. If they are unhappy, then get unhappy with them and find out what the problem is, and try to cheer them up. If they are rejoicing, then rejoice with them. IV. THE CONTINUANCE OF THE WORK There is victory in just doing right! I mentioned before that the three 145
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Hebrew boys had victory when they went into the furnace, not when they came out. Daniel had victory when he went into the lion’s den, not when he came out. Stephen had victory when he preached the whole council of God to those Pharisees that day, not when he got stoned and not when he saw Jesus standing at the right hand of the Father. He had victory just when he did what was right. Doing right is victory in itself! Then again, we need to be careful about getting distracted. Nehemiah and his men did not get distracted. They continued serving God. They continued the work on the wall, and they finished what they had started. I have an inbred characteristic that tells me to finish whatever I start. I have come to build a church here, and by God’s grace, I’m doing that. I will not be stopped or distracted, and I won’t compromise either, even if it means going into the fire or into the lion’s den. If it means spending some time in jail, it doesn’t matter. That is irrelevant. We are going to do what is right by the grace of God and by the Word of God! So, what we need is wisdom—wisdom to know how to deal with each other. Then, we need love so that we might overcome any opposition the devil, the world, or the flesh may throw our way. The essential to being an effective servant for God is wisdom and love. I’m glad the Bible says “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally...” (James 1:5). So, we can have the wisdom to keep our eyes on Jesus. We can have the wisdom to remember who our real enemy is. We can have the wisdom to know what to say if we ask for it. We can have the wisdom to keep our priorities straight. The Bible says we can love. God, the Holy Ghost, has shed His love abroad in our hearts. If we are saved, we have the wisdom of God available to us, and we have the love of God available to us. That will enable us to overcome the external opposition and the internal dissension the devil wants to throw our way. We just need to stick together, and stick with the Word of God. The 146
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motto of Kentucky is this: “United we stand, divided we fall!� It was the devil’s tactic that tried to divide Nehemiah from his people and to divide the Jews amongst themselves. But Nehemiah had the wisdom and the love to settle the problem and to go on serving God. Amen!
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Expository Outline #13 The Necessity of Taking a Stand (Nehemiah 6) Introduction I. THE WORLD’S FRIENDSHIP A. The invitation 1. Personal standards 2. Political standards B. Permission II. THE WORLD’S SLANDER A. Accusations B. Answers III. THE WORLD’S RELIGION A. Last prophets B. Present religion
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Chapter Thirteen THE NECESSITY OF TAKING A STAND (Nehemiah 6) Introduction In chapter 6, Sanballat comes and desires to meet with Nehemiah. He wants to hold an ecumenical meeting. Nehemiah lets him know in no uncertain terms that he is engaged in doing a great work and has no time for such conferences. Sanballat sends this invitation four times and again in verse 6, he sends another message. This was a message of slander, a threat, some blackmail. He accused Nehemiah of being a rebel against the king of Babylon. He also accused Nehemiah of the ulterior motive of wanting to be the new king over Jerusalem; and also, that he had persuaded some prophets to promote this idea. Nehemiah responded by simply telling Sanballat that all of this was a pack of lies, conceived in his own wicked heart. In verse 9, Nehemiah prays again. In verse 10, another of the prophets comes and advises him to run and hide. I love his response in verse 11! “Should such a man as I flee?” Isn’t that great? Isn’t that classic and soulstirring? Nehemiah knew the prophet had been hired by Sanballat to bring him to fear. It surely pays to pray and be sensitive to the Holy Spirit, for it is from Him that we derive wisdom and courage needed in times like these. They were desperately trying to bring reproach upon God’s man. In verse 14, he again prayed. Then in verse 15, the wall was finished. Hallelujah! They perceived that this work was wrought by the supernatural 150
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hand of God. They knew somebody bigger than Nehemiah was behind this great movement! Nehemiah is taking a stand. He says, “Should such a man as I flee?” He is saying he is not going to run, but he is going to stand. The Bible says in Ephesians 6:13, “...having done all, to stand.” Put on the whole armor of God and just stand. Someone once said, “If you don’t stand for something, then you’ll fall for anything.” That is true in any area of life. If you don’t have a knowledge of the Word of God, and you don’t know what you believe, and you cannot stand upon what you believe, then you will fall for anything. That is true doctrinally speaking. The Bible talks about not being blown around with every wind of doctrine but being firm and steadfast and unmovable in the work of God. So, in chapter 4, we notice that Nehemiah faces this external opposition. Then in chapter 5, he faces the internal dissension. He has problems not only on the outside, but also on the inside. In chapter 6, he again has problems with external opposition in light of which he has to take a stand that he is going to be God’s man and God’s leader. Now, the devil is as relentless as these enemies of Nehemiah. The devil will never give up, and he will never quit. If you don’t know that you are a child of God, and if you don’t know that you have victory in Jesus Christ, it is a very discouraging and frustrating thing to think that you’re going to have to fight the devil the rest of your life. But the encouraging thing is that we can have victory in the Lord Jesus Christ. We can overcome the devil by being filled with the Spirit and by being filled with the Word of God and by meditating and quoting the Word of God to the devil. Notice in Nehemiah 6, verse 15, the first word is “So.” That word “So” really speaks of the intensity of the opposition. Nehemiah is saying, “So”— That is, “In spite of all this, the wall has been finished.” There always has been persecution, and there always will be persecution. The Bible says, “...all 151
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that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12). In the last days, perilous times shall come and persecution will be even worse. Jesus said, “In the world ye shall have tribulation:” (John 16:33). The apostle Paul in Acts 14, verse 22, went back through the churches confirming and preaching to them that through much tribulation they would enter the kingdom of God. You don’t hear much of that preached today. It is mostly, “It’s fun being saved!” or “Just pray this little prayer and everything will be all right.” Paul’s preaching said it would be through much tribulation that men would enter the kingdom of God. He was saying we need to count the cost. When you get saved you take on a whole new set of enemies. Self becomes your enemy, the world becomes your enemy, and the devil becomes your enemy. You have changed sides in the warfare, and you become an enemy of those three things. Do you remember that in 2 Peter it talks about judgment beginning in the house of God? It was talking about the coming of our Lord. In the last days, God will separate the wheat from the tares. God will cleanse and purge His Church so that He might present a glorious Church without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. Now, there are always those who want to go along for personal gain. There were a few rich Jews in that crowd who were taking advantage of the poor people and the work situation, and they were getting servants and slaves and taxing the people and charging outrageous interest rates and usury. So, we find that there are always those who have ulterior motives. There will come a time when God will separate the true from the false. There are many times in the life of a church that God separates the true from the false. Issues will come where you have to take a stand either on the side of the Word of God or to fulfill your fleshly lusts, and the real you will be found out. God will always test us and our motives, and He will judge us as to why we’re serving Him. The Bible says that they who live godly shall suffer persecution. If you stand, you will suffer. If you have submitted to 152
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the lordship of Jesus Christ, and if you know He alone is your Lord, you will not feel at home in this world. The world is constantly trying to usurp the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ either in your personal life or in your church life. We could talk about John being beheaded, about Stephen being stoned, about James being beheaded, or about Paul being beheaded, and the many times God has used the hot iron of persecution to remove wrinkles from the Church. Our Baptist heritage has been a heritage of persecution. It is called the “Trail of Blood.” Those fifty-million martyrs during the Dark Ages gave their lives simply because they believed that Jesus Christ alone was Lord over them and over their churches, and they would not compromise the lordship of Christ. That was the whole issue. That was the bottom line. The state church said, “Just sign these papers, and everything will be all right!” and they said, “We cannot do this!” They told John Bunyan that if he would just take a license, he would be allowed to preach all he wanted to on the streets of London. But he wouldn’t sign it. He was preaching because God had commanded him, not because they had given him permission to preach; so he wouldn’t sign their papers. He spent twelve years in prison because he would not compromise the Word of God or the lordship of Christ. That is exactly what they say today. They say, “Preacher, just sign a few papers and sign a few forms,” and when you do those things, you are admitting that the state has jurisdiction over the Church, that the state is the Lord of the Church, and that Jesus is not Lord of the Church. If Jesus is not Lord of the Church, then why should He be concerned about blessing the Church, if it is not His own? When a church ceases to acknowledge that Jesus Christ alone is the head of the Church, then why should He bless that church? There are two questions that every Christian ought to settle. Question Number One— “Who is Lord?” Nehemiah had settled this thing back in chapter 2, verse 20. He said, “The God of heaven, he will 153
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prosper us.” Nehemiah knew who God was. He knew God, and he knew that He was Lord. He went on to say to these men who were trying to usurp authority and trying to hinder the work of God, “...therefore we his servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial in Jerusalem.” Back in chapter 1, it says that Jerusalem was a place where God had set His name, and they were building the wall around God’s city. They were doing the work of God, and they said, “Sanballat, you do not have any right here, and you do not have any portion here. You have no memorial in Jerusalem, and we don’t have to have your permission or your approval because God has called us to do this. He will prosper us; He is Lord; He is our Master; we look to Him.” Do you remember when the Bible said that Uzziah was king and Azariah was the priest, and one day Azariah was not there so king Uzziah took it upon himself to go into the temple and offer a sacrifice? The Bible says that the priest came and saw the king in the temple. The king was smitten with leprosy and eighty priests came in and kicked him out of the temple, and they said, “You are the king, but you are not allowed in the house of God.” The king was not allowed to return to the house of God again. That is exactly what needs to be done today. We need to go and say, “You may be the king or the government, but you are not allowed in the house of God.” You know what they believe in? They really believe in the separation of the church from the state, but they do not believe in the separation of the state from the church. They do not want us bothering them, but they’ll pass every rule and regulation to try to stop the work of God that they possibly can. I came across that fact in the IRS code book, code 501 (c) (3) Non-profit Tax Exempt Organizations. It says that these organizations can be religious organizations or educational organizations and any kind of other non-profit organizations, and the last, little, fine print says that they must promise not 154
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to become involved in politics. In other words, if a church signs up for a 501 (c) (3) number, then they are promising never to say anything politically from the pulpit. Some people say that you shouldn’t mix politics with religion. I mix my Bible with everything I believe! It affects my politics, it affects my life, and it affects my family. You can not separate God from the state or God from politics or God from anything else. That’s where a lot of our problems are. We tried to kick God out of the government and out of our schools. When our forefathers wrote the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they had in mind that the state would not interfere with the church and religion. “Congress shall make no law regarding the establishment of religion.” They did have in mind that Christians would rule the government. Our government and our forefathers knew that if Christian people did not influence government and did not run the government, that it would be a sad day, and that is the day in which we have arrived. It is another sad thing on our part that we give to the Lord only because it is tax deductible. In the New Testament days, Rome didn’t give them any tax deductions. They didn’t tithe because Rome gave them a tax deduction. They tithed because God commanded them to. We fall down before the god of money instead of really worshipping God. So, we need to answer that question, “Who is Lord?” Question Number Two—“Who does the Church belong to?” (Colossians 1:16). Our Lord Jesus Christ is the Creator. All things are made by Him and for Him. Every person in the government was made by Him, and the government was made for Him. All principalities and powers and all forms of authority are under Him and not over Him. It says He is the head of the Church and that in all things of the Church, He should have the preeminence. Have you ever heard someone address a king and say, “Your 155
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Honor,” or “Your Highness,” or “Your Imminence?” Imminence means first, but Jesus is preeminent. He is before the first! He is the First. He is the firstborn. He is the Alpha and the Omega. This is simply saying that Jesus Christ, and He alone, is Lord of the Church. So, if He is Lord of the Church, then we need to determine and settle everything by those two things. Jesus Christ is Lord, and He is Lord of the Church. No one else can be. That is why in Acts 5, when they said, “You can’t preach on the streets of Jerusalem, and you can’t go on telling everybody that Jesus rose from the dead, and you can’t go on making all of these converts,” Peter responded, and said, “We ought to obey God rather than men.” Was Peter being a rebel? No! Was he being disrespectful? No! He was simply saying that Jesus Christ is Lord, and He has commanded us to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to others. We cannot allow the state, or the government, or the county, or anyone to hinder the work of God and the preaching of the Word of God. If you checked our Baptist history, you would find that our preachers were known for their prison terms! They were not known for their sharkskin boots or their three-piece suits. They were known as men of God who had conflict with those in authority; who went to prison, and who preached the Word of God. If we’re going to retreat in the day of battle and if we are not willing to forsake all and follow Him, then it is best for us to go AWOL right now. AMEN? They are easier on you if you go AWOL than if you desert in the midst of the battle. Gideon went to battle, and God told him that he had too many men. What God was saying was that when you go into battle you don’t need a big crowd; you need a good crowd! Gideon got up and said, “If you’re scared, go home,” and twenty-two thousand men got up and went home! So, you don’t want a bunch of cowards in the battle. Gideon ended up with only three hundred men, but he won the battle because he 156
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had some men who, like Nehemiah, were willing to take a stand. There is a three-fold explanation for the success of Nehemiah’s work. Number one—It was God’s work. The Bible says they perceived that the work was wrought of God. The very first key was that God was in it. The presence of God and the purpose of God was being fulfilled. Nehemiah was over there in Babylon happy and content, and it was God who burdened his heart, and it was God who moved upon him and caused him to pray and fast for those four months and then go before the king. It was God who opened the door, and it was God who allowed the king to give passage to Nehemiah, permission for him to go, all the timber, and a royal escort for safety. Nehemiah knew the work was successful because it was God’s work. This is the Lord’s church. He has sent me here, and He has blessed me, and He will prosper us. That is what Nehemiah was saying. So, the first key to success is that this is the Lord’s church. Are we here because we really believe in our hearts that God has sent us here? If I didn’t think God was in this thing, then I’d leave right now, but I know, and I’m convinced that God is in this work and this is a work of God. Not only was the purpose and the presence of God a key to Nehemiah’s success but also: Number two—He had the people of God. Listen; you must have God’s initiation, but you also have to have the people’s cooperation. These people had a mind to work. Nehemiah was raised up to be their leader, and they followed him. Whenever God has a desire to do anything, He always calls a man. When God wanted to call the people out of Egypt, He called Moses to lead the people. When He wanted to lead the people into the land of Caanan, He called Joshua to lead them. So, God raises up a man and gives him a burden and uses men, but He also uses people to help those men. God gave 157
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Moses seventy elders of Israel who helped Moses and served him. Joshua also had those who helped him and those who built the tabernacle and those who came and led in the battles, and the soldiers and everybody did their part. There is a song that says, “To be used of God, to sing, to preach, to pray;—To be used of God, to show someone the way;—I long so much, to feel the touch, of God’s consuming fire;—To be used of God, is my desire.” People should have the desire to be used of God. The third key to Nehemiah’s success was: Number three—The power of prayer. The foes that you and I face are too big for any one of us. The foes are not only the world, the flesh, and the devil, but the world has all kinds of foes that are trying to hinder the work of God, whether it be the state, the county, or whoever. Our only hope is to be right with God and on praying ground so that we might call upon Him when we are attacked by the enemy. The only hope for America is a militant church which is filled with the Holy Ghost of God and which has abandoned itself to the very will of God. We need that kind of an attitude. Now, there is new opposition. We come to chapter 6, and there is new direction and new opposition, and this time Sanballat doesn’t come with the armies of Samaria. He comes with a friendly tone in his voice and says, “Nehemiah, come down here and let’s meet together.” He had threatened him and brought armies, but that didn’t work. So, now he says, “Let’s have a conference down on the plain of Ono,” and Nehemiah said, “Oh, no!” He says, “...they thought to do me mischief.” There were three different things that they brought against Nehemiah. I. THE WORLD’S FRIENDSHIP The wall is almost completed. Did you ever notice how the devil comes with great fury just when you’re almost finished with something?! You know, 158
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just before you accomplish some great task, the devil always comes and tries to hinder you. The Bible says that in the last days he will come with great fury because he knows he has but a short time left. When you have a short time left, that is when you are most tempted to quit. A. The invitation It seems here that Sanballat wanted to be friends. He said, “Come, let us meet together.” Notice what Nehemiah says in verse 3. He says “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?” When you meet with the world you come down. When you meet and listen to the world and you have your conferences with the world and you allow the world to influence you, you have taken a step down. 1. Personal standards In personal standards, the world says, “Come on, let’s just talk about this. You can have just one drink or just one smoke. Just try it one time; it won’t hurt anything!” You’ve stepped down and out of the will of God. You’ve stepped down from your exalted position as a servant of God and a child of God. You’ve stepped down to become a friend to the world. So, beware of the world’s friendship! 2. Political standards The same is true in the political realm. This is what Nehemiah is facing here. As I said before, they believe that the church should stay out of the state’s business but not that the state should stay out of the church’s business. They come and say, “We could tax you if we wanted to, but we’re going to be really nice to you and exempt you! All you have to do is meet with us and sign a few papers.” As I said before, to sign a state form is admitting that the state has power over the church. What do you do? You just refuse! You say, “Well, what if they come and put me in jail?” Well, Paul went to jail! B. Permission 159
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The jurisdiction of the state over the church is a thing that we need to be really careful about so that we don’t become a state church. Jesus, as I said before, will always have the Church. You need to answer this question. Does a church exist by the permission of the state or at the command of the Lord Jesus Christ? Most churches today meet because, in a sense, the state has given them permission to have church. That is how this thing started in Russia years ago. The state said, “You can have church if you sign these papers and promise us not to do a few things.” Bro. Dixon told me the state churches in Russia do not have any children in them because when they became a state church, they had to promise not to teach anyone eighteen years old and under anything about the Word of God. So, the state churches there cannot have children, but the underground churches are full of children who are being taught the Word of God. So, when a church becomes a state church and bows to a lower authority, why should God bless that church which no longer acknowledges Him as Lord over them? The devil constantly puts these temptations in front of us, not only in our personal life and our political life, but also in our church life. The devil constantly says, “You don’t really need to draw the line so tight. You don’t really need all of those standards.” God gave us standards in the Word of God. They are not our standards; they are His standards. In 1 Timothy, chapter 3, it talks about the standards where the pastor and the deacons represent those who serve God. Yes, we have standards. Yes, we will always have standards. We will require that if a man preach the Word of God here or teach a class, he will have to be faithful. He will have to look like a man. The ladies will have to dress like ladies. We will have some standards, but the world says, “Let’s talk about it.” No! We know what the Lord says, and there is no use talking about it. It is time that we take a stand on the Word of God! The ecumenical movement says, “Listen, we are going to have a ecu160
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menical Easter service. We’re going to have a sunrise service and worship the sun as it comes up. You’re invited to come.”—But we say, “No, I don’t think we’ll be there.”—They are the ones who always want to make a big issue out of it. “Why don’t you come, everyone else is coming!” Well, everybody and his brother may go to the plain of Ono, but I’m not going. Everywhere you turn the world wants you to compromise. II. THE WORLD’S SLANDER A. Accusations They tried to accuse Nehemiah of ulterior motives. They said, “Nehemiah, we know what you are really thinking. You are really going to rebel against Babylon.”—Nehemiah said, “No, that is not what I’m going to do.”—They said “Nehemiah, you really want to become the king of Judah, and we even heard that you’ve got prophets going around preaching in your behalf giving political speeches on why they ought to have you be the king of Judah.”—In Nehemiah 6:8, he simply said, “There are no such things done as thou sayest, but thou faintest them out of thine own heart.” B. Answers There were two things that helped Nehemiah overcome the slander. Number one—He had a clean life. Number two—He had a clear conscience. When a man has a clean life and a clear conscience, he’ll have more boldness than the world will want to think about. Nehemiah was saying, “Check me out! You can go back and check my history and all the churches I’ve pastored, and you’ll find I have a clean record. I’ve got a clear conscience before God, and I know my motives are pure. I know why I’m here, and I know who I’m serving.” In Nehemiah 5:15, Nehemiah proved that he didn’t have any ulterior motives. He said, “Number one, I haven’t taken any pay; Number two, I haven’t taxed the people; Number three, I haven’t taken anything from them; Number four, I haven’t given any political speeches.” In verses 17 and 18, he 161
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said, “I haven’t done anything that the governors before me have done.” In verse 19, he bowed before the Lord and said, “Lord, you know my heart, and you reward me and judge me according to the good I have done.” You know what the world banks on? When the world slanders a man, they’re banking that he has something to hide, and if he has something to hide, then the first time someone raises an accusation, he’ll back off. If he doesn’t have anything to hide, then the world better watch out! He’ll have more boldness, and he’ll come out on top. There comes to mind the value of your testimony. The devil will come and say, “Just this one time!” You will give in and compromise, and you will do something, just one time, but the devil will never let you forget that one time. Down the road somewhere someone will say, “Have you ever done this?” and you’ll have to drop your head and back off because you’ll be afraid you’ll be exposed. If you live consistently and purely, then down the line it won’t matter what they say because you’ll have a clean life and a clear conscience, and they won’t be able to prove anything nor will they be able to harm you. You’ll have boldness to go on with the work of God. Beware of the world’s slander! III. THE WORLD’S RELIGION A. Past prophets The third thing that Nehemiah had to be aware of was the world’s religion. Notice in verse 20, he talked about this man who came, and in Nehemiah 6:10, he said, “Afterward I came unto the house of Shemaiah...” Shemaiah, he perceived in verse 12, was not sent of God and had pronounced this prophecy against him for he had been hired by Sanballat and Tobiah. Notice in verse 14, he talked about the prophetess, Noadiah, and the rest of the prophets who had put him in fear. The religious crowd got onto Nehemiah and said, “Now, Nehemiah you need to back off, or you’re going
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to get us all in trouble, and you’re going to bring down the wrath of the army of Samaria.” There were some things indicated here about the world’s prophets. First of all, they were fearful. They were afraid and they wanted to put Nehemiah in fear. Secondly, they were false prophets (verse 12). Thirdly, in verse 13, it says they were hired. They were financially-minded. They preached for money. In verse 11, they were self-seeking prophets. They said, “Nehemiah, go hide yourself and save yourself.” B. Present religion Is that not what today’s religion says? The religion of today says, “You’d better save your own hide! You’ve got of take care of old number one.” That is exactly what the world says. That is exactly what a lot of preachers say. That is what they told Bro. Roloff when he wouldn’t sign the forms. They said, “Bro. Roloff you could save yourself a lot of heartache if you would just sign the forms.” —“Bro. Roloff, if you would just cooperate you could stay out of jail!”—Then when he went to jail, they said, “Well, he brought all of this trouble on himself.”—Many of those preachers (especially the Southern Baptist ones) went to court and testified against him and said, “We have children’s homes, and we signed the forms and allowed the state to come in, and we have no problems.” I guarantee that if you’d look at their kids and at the ones Bro. Roloff had, you would see two different results. The world wants to do anything to keep from being persecuted. No one in their right mind wants to be put in jail, but no man is qualified to lead the work of God who is self-seeking and influenced by popular opinion. No man is qualified to lead the work of God who seeks to always defend himself and who always seeks to make it easy on himself and who is easily influenced by popular opinion. The three Hebrew boys were told, in effect, “Listen fellows, all you have to do is bow just one time, and you don’t have to mean it in your heart, 163
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because God knows your heart, and He knows this is just something you’re doing outwardly. Just do it one time, and you’ll be saved from the fiery furnace.” Daniel was told, “All you have to do is not pray for thirty days. Or what you could do is pray silently. You don’t have to open your windows and pray toward Jerusalem; just pray silently!” For Daniel, to pray differently would have been to compromise his convictions. He always prayed out loud, with his window open, and they heard him pray. The issue is, “Who are we serving?” The Bible talks about the fear of man that bringeth a snare. Who is Lord? Are we going to take a stand? When our Lord was tempted, He faced the same things. He faced the world’s friendship, for the devil promised Him all of the kingdoms of the world if He would bow down and worship him. He faced the world’s slander. The world said that He was the friend of publicans and a winebibber. They said, “Did you see the Lord up there at the well talking to that harlot? Did you see Him up there taking up for that woman caught up in adultery?”—They did not know that He said, “Go and sin no more.” He faced the world’s religion.—They said when he was being crucified, “Save yourself. You’ve saved others, so why can’t you save yourself?” He didn’t come to save Himself. He came to save you and me. He was not concerned about Himself. He was concerned about those who were lost. The strength of tea is only revealed by hot water. The strength of a Christian is only revealed in times of trial and persecution. Trials and troubles and persecutions that come, do not ruin the Christian, but they reveal the Christian. Romans 8:28 says,”...all things work together for good to them that love God.” The trials and troubles are not meant to ruin me, but they will reveal to others my true character and my true colors. Do we really believe this is God’s work? Do we really believe Jesus alone is Lord of the Church? Are we really determined to forsake all and follow Him? If we 164
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want to be effective servants of God, then God will put us to the test. God will see if we are really willing to take a stand for Him. We sing that song “Standing on the Promises,” and that is where your faith and your strength comes from. That is what Nehemiah chapter 6 is all about. He is simply saying, “I know there is an enemy, and I know that the world’s friendship is there, the world’s slander is there, and the world’s religion is there, and they are all trying to get me to come down to where they are. But I’m just going to stand and continue to work for God and ignore what the world has to say about the work of God and the worker of God and the Word of God.” By faith we can serve Him, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Amen!
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Expository Outline #14 The Necessity of Leadership and Authority (Nehemiah 7) Introduction A. God is the final authority in all matters. B. Authority came because of sin. C. Authority brings order out of confusion. D. Though the Church is an organism, we must have organization. E. There is a job for everyone. I. THE COMPLETION OF THE WALL (6:15; 7:1) A. By the power of prayer B. By the protection of God C. By the purpose of one man D. By the planning of wisdom II. THE CHARGE OF NEHEMIAH A. Appointments of the servants B. Qualifications 1. They were men (7:2,3). 2. They were faithful. 3. They feared God (7:2). 4. They were sensitive to God. 5. They based their decisions on the Word of God. 6. They were sacrificial in their giving.
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Chapter Fourteen THE NECESSITY OF LEADERSHIP AND AUTHORITY (Nehemiah 7) Introduction I want to talk about authority and leadership. Let me give you just a few thoughts to begin with. A. God is the final authority in all matters. When you talk about God, you talk about Him who knows all truth and who has never spoken an untruth, and whenever His Word speaks on any particular subject, it is always the truth. The Word of God is not a science book, but when it talks about science it is right. So, when you talk about authority, you are talking about God. God always has the final word. His Word is absolute truth when contrasted with the opinions of men. A lot of folks will ask, “Preacher, what do you think about this?” If you want to know what I think about it, that is one thing. If you want to know what the Word of God says about it, that is another thing. Someone once said, “Armpits and opinions are alike, they both stink!” That is true because every thing that we have an opinion about, that is all it is—an opinion. All it is based upon is our limited knowledge and experience or what we heard from somebody else. We might even be hearing it from the third or fourth person. All of our knowledge came to us that way. We were not in the beginning. 168
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We do not know how everything was created, and we don’t know how everything works. All we know is what we can learn by our finite minds and our limited experience, but God knows all things, and He made all things, and therefore when God speaks, He is the final authority. He is the Leader of all leaders. He is the King of all kings. B. Authority came because of sin. Leadership is necessary because of sin. Back in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were getting along fine until sin came along. When sin came, then God said to the woman, “...and he shall rule over thee” (Genesis 3:16). Because she had sinned against God, and because she had become a sinner, she needed someone in leadership over her. So, authority is necessary today; government is necessary today; leaders are necessary today; husbands are necessary today; pastors are necessary today, and in every aspect of life, leadership is necessary because of the wickedness and the sinfulness of man’s heart. It is God’s control. It is God’s check valve. It is God’s system of checks and balances to put someone in leadership who is responsible to Him alone, and He guides them so they might properly guide, control, and restrain others. That is like the government in Romans 13. God said the government was given to punish the evil doer. It says God-ordained government rewards the good man, but punishes the evil doer. So, government, leadership, and authority were given to help curb man’s sinful and wicked heart. Can you imagine what the world would be like today if there were no laws at all and if there were no jails or prisons? We’re pretty lenient today, and a lot of states don’t have capital punishment and that is a great problem, and it has increased the crime over the years. But you can imagine the wickedness of man’s heart and what men would do if there were no laws or restraints? In my own life, the only reason I didn’t get into any more trouble than I did as a child was because of fear. I feared my father. God placed him over me. God 169
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put that authority in my life as a child. One of the reasons God gives you a father is to curb your wicked, sinful heart. Sometimes kids will say, “My mom and dad just won’t let me do anything!” God put those parents there, not so that kids couldn’t have any fun, but to keep them from sin and from destroying their own lives. As I read Esther, I thought about how the king made Haman rich and important. If you read this book in this light, Mordecai is a picture of the Holy Spirit, and Haman is a picture of the flesh. The king is going to be controlled by either Mordecai or Haman. He is going to be controlled by either the Spirit or the flesh, and he put the flesh in control. When the flesh got in control, it said, “We’re going to destroy these Jews!” Haman had the king make a law, and it became the law of the Medes and Persians which could not be changed. I thought about the fact that when the flesh is in control, many times it does things that cannot be reversed, and you just reap what you sow. Leadership is given and government is given so we will not do things that cannot be reversed, and so we will not ruin and wreck our lives and the lives of others. So, you ought to thank God that He put somebody in authority over you! Kids ought to thank God for Christian parents who don’t let them run the streets and get on drugs and ruin their bodies and who don’t let them harm others. There is authority in the home. There is the husband who is responsible to God for how he runs the home and what he allows in his home. He is responsible for how he treats his wife and family. There is the church, and God gave every church a pastor. That pastor is God’s authority in the church. Even in business there is authority. Ephesians 6 talks about masters and servants and employees and employers. There is government and authority in every area of life. There are governments and there are kings. The Bible says to “Honor the king” (1 Peter 2:17), and we are to obey the government as best we can until it is contrary to the Word of God. 170
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C. Authority brings order out of confusion. Someone must be in charge! If you get a group of folks together, there will emerge a natural leader. Whether he is a good leader or a bad leader is a different thing, but any time you have a group together, somebody emerges as the leader. If you go to the high school and see a group of teenagers standing around, one of those guys is the leader— just by his personality, forwardness, or outwardness. Maybe because he has the most money, or maybe he is the funniest, but in every group there emerges a leader. Anything that has two heads is a monster. The knights of King Arthur used to slay those two-headed dragons. Any time you have two heads you have confusion. God always chose to put one person in charge because of that reason. If nobody is in charge, then there is confusion and nothing gets done. Someone must always be responsible and in charge in order for things to get done. So, Nehemiah is in that position. D. Though the Church is an organism, it must have organization. We, the Church, are a living organism. That is hard for us to understand but it is true. We are not just pews and walls; we are not just a physical building; we are a body. We are a living organism in touch with the Head, and if we’re not in touch with Him then something is not going to function properly in the body. Even though we are a living organism, there has to be organization. God set it up with the pastor and deacons in the church, and with employees and employers and servants in the work world. God set all of this up with husbands and wives and children; with government and people. It is all set up so that someone is in charge, and somebody is responsible. We need organization. Your body is organized. When something is wrong with a person mentally, then we can tell that something is not right. When someone has a physical deformity, that means that part of the body is not responding properly to the head and the brain. The same thing is true of a church. The church is organized and it must be organized and it must have a leader. 171
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E. There is a job for everyone. Look at Nehemiah 7:3. Nehemiah was setting up things to protect the city. He told the people that when it got dark, they should shut the gate so that no enemies could get in. Before this there was no reason to shut the gates, because there were no gates! There was not even a wall at the beginning. Now, he had the wall finished, and he had the gates and the doors set in place, and it would have been easy for him to sit around and say, “Glory to God; look what we’ve done!” But the job wasn’t finished yet. The reason the wall was there was to protect the people. So, Nehemiah was thinking ahead. He said, “The walls are up, and everything is complete, but when you go to bed tonight shut the gate, and that will keep the enemy out.” He said, “In the morning you are not to open those gates until it is daylight.” He was doing all of this to protect and benefit the people of God. Notice that twice in verse three, he uses the phrase “every one in his watch.” Every person was to watch his part of the wall. Every person was to take care of their responsibilities and their families. You are to do what God has given you to do, and you are to exercise your spiritual gift, and everyone is to be involved in the work of God. Some folks will say, “Well, preacher, I just don’t have very many gifts or talents. I can’t teach a Sunday school class, and I can’t do this or that.” Look at James 3:1. There are the masters, the leaders, and the teachers, but James says you shouldn’t even want to be any of those things because you are going to stand before God one of these days. If God gave you the gift of teaching, then He is going to judge you for what you taught and how you taught and for what you preached and how you preached. James says not to worry about finding a place of leadership in the church. Don’t worry about whether you’re going to be a deacon or not. Don’t worry about whether you’re going to teach a class or not. Here are some things that you can do. Number one—Everybody can pray! That is the most important thing. 172
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Nothing eternal is ever accomplished apart from prayer. I doubt that the world has ever seen what a church can do if every person got right with God and every person prayed with unity and power. The world has never seen what a church could do if everybody believed that everything depended on their prayer life; and it does. Someone said that a church is like a chain. It is only as strong as its weakest link. The church is only as strong as its weakest member. That makes it very real and very personal. The church is only as strong as I am. The church really only prays as much as I do. You can pray. Number two—You can witness. You can invite folks to come to the house of God. You can be there and say, “Amen!” Number three—You can give. Everybody can tithe and everybody can give something. You can do the most important things, but many times the flesh wants to be exalted, and it wants to have a title, and it wants to have a position rather than a service and a ministry. You can be much more effective without having a title by doing the most important things. I. THE COMPLETION OF THE WALL (6:15;7:1) This had to have been a happy day for Nehemiah. He had prayed and fasted for four months about it, and now the wall is completed. Let me give you four reasons why it was completed. A. By the power of prayer I have already mentioned how many times Nehemiah prayed. He prayed and prayed; when things were bad, he prayed; and when things were good, he prayed; whenever he had a problem, he prayed. When his enemies came, he prayed. For the internal problem, he prayed and for the external opposition, he prayed. One of the reasons that the wall was finished was because of the power of prayer. The only way that a church can be built is by the power of prayer. God has to be in it, and He has to be invited to be 173
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the head of it, and He has to be in the center of it. That all comes through the ministry of prayer. B. By the protection of God Nehemiah had enemies every day threatening. “...they said unto us ten times...they sent unto me four times after this sort” (Nehemiah 4:12, 6:4). Every day he faced Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem, and the armies of Samaria and the Arabians. All of those enemies just kept coming and charging at him. He had to think about them, deal with them, and pray about them every day. It was all because of the blessing, the presence, and the protection of God that the wall was built. Think about how vulnerable these people were! Back in the books of the Chronicles and the Kings it talks about them going to war and having no weapons except for their garden tools and their axes. They had no spears or swords or weapons of any kind. The Philistines would come in and take all of their weapons away, and they were left vulnerable. They had no wall and no gates and were completely exposed to the enemy, but God protected them. I don’t know who you are or where you live or what your problem is, but God can protect you. No matter how vulnerable you may feel, God has a hedge about you, and even the devil can’t get in until God takes the hedge down. You’re safe in the hands of God. C. By the purpose of one man Nehemiah had a burden. Nehemiah was determined. God gave him the burden, the message, the means, and the motivation, and he left his safe, secure job back in Babylon and gave himself to the task. He didn’t take any financial means for his job. He gave himself, and because of just one man who was burdened and determined, that attitude caught on with the people, and the Bible says, “the people had a mind to work” (Nehemiah 4:6). They did the work of God, and “...So the wall was finished in the 174
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twenty and fifth day of the month...” (Nehemiah 6:15). So, we find that in fifty-two days they finished the wall because one man got burdened. God can use one person. You’ll never know the power of just one person. God will call someone like a Samson. God will call an Elijah. God will call a Joshua. God will call just one man and because of the burden, the vision, and the faith of that one man, much can be done. You could be that one person. I’ve pastored in years gone by and maybe just one fellow would come and say, “Preacher, if you’ll buy a bus, I’ll run a bus route.” We would get a bus, and he’d start a bus ministry, and someone else would see the vision and see him bringing in the kids and teaching them the Word of God, and they’d say, “Preacher, I’d like to help so-and-so on the bus route.” Ladies come and say, “God has dealt with our hearts, and we want to start a deaf ministry.” There are all kinds of things you can do, but you have to be used of God, and you have to have a burden for it. Just one man was right with God, and really just that one man was responsible for building the wall. D. By the planning of wisdom Nehemiah didn’t just jump into it. He surveyed and he prayed. He asked the king for the materials, the timber, and the escort. He went out and surveyed the city walls. He went out and saw what was needed, and when he had it all in his mind, he approached the people and said, “God has sent me here, and we’re going to rebuild the wall. The king is giving us protection, he’s given us his word, and he’s given us the timber.” Nehemiah encouraged the people, and they got behind him. Now, the walls were built and the gates were up, but immediately Nehemiah began to organize the thing. He did not go to Jerusalem just to build a wall. But he built the wall so the people could be safe and worship God. He was setting this thing up, and you’ll notice that he began in verse two to put the rulers and the nobles in charge, and he got the priests ready 175
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and the porters and the singers. Everything began revolving not around the physical safety of the people, but around the spiritual worship of the people. Now, he wanted the people to worship God. He’d built the wall, and he had gotten the gates up and shut at night, but now he had to get the priests in order, and he needed to take an offering and support the priesthood. He needed to get the singers and the porters and the servants and all of these men organized. He began to set this thing up so now they could fulfill the purpose of the wall. You may be building a church, but the purpose of the church is to worship God. It is not enough just to say we have a church. We should be able to say we have a church that worships God, a church that is in touch with God, and a church with the power and presence of God in it. That is the purpose of the church. I hope we never come to the place where we are just content to say that we have church. There are too many places like that. When you ask someone if they go to church, they’ll always say, “Yes, I go to church!” They just go to church. They don’t get blessed, and they don’t sense or feel anything. They don’t hear anything, and they don’t give anything. They just go to church. No! No! No! You don’t go to church just to go to church. You go to worship God and to get in touch with Him. It’s like in the Song of Solomon where she was not happy unless she got in touch with him. It was not enough for her to say, “I know Solomon” or “ I once met Solomon.” She wanted to be in communion with him right then, and she was never happy unless she was that way. So, we find there is a reason, and Nehemiah is now organizing this thing so they can worship God. II. THE CHARGE OF NEHEMIAH It says that he placed Hanani and Hananiah, the ruler of the palace, in 176
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charge over Jerusalem for he was a faithful man and feared God above many (Nehemiah 7:2). A. Appointments of the servants There are different groups mentioned in chapter 7, beginning in verse 9. Nehemiah gave two men charge over Jerusalem, but he also began to set servants in place. It is strange that he put the servants in there first of all. You don’t need a leader unless you have servants. You don’t need anybody in charge unless there is someone that needs leadership and guidance. You don’t need pastors or deacons unless there is someone who needs to be led. In verse 39, he mentions first of all the priests. The priests were the direct descendants of Aaron. They were the sons of Aaron. They were those who took care of the sacrifices. There was a high priest, but the priests were responsible mainly for the spiritual atmosphere and the spiritual oversight of the tabernacle and the temple. They offered the sacrifices since that was the their job, and they took care of the inward things such as the candlestick and the shew bread. They took care of the temple of God. Secondly, he mentions the Levites. The Levites were the tribe of Levi. The tribe of Levi was given wholly over to the service of the priests. So, you had the priests who were Levites, but also who were direct descendants of Aaron, and you had the Levites who were their brothers, and they were to help the priests do their office. Then, you have the singers who were the sons of Asaph. Psalms 79 and 83 were written by Asaph. He was the music director of the temple. Next, there were the porters. The word “porter” means door-keeper. This is what David was saying when he said, “I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God...” (Psalm 84:10). So, these porters kept the doors. They screened the people who came in. Do you remember that the Gentiles were not allowed in the tabernacle of the temple? People who had certain diseases or certain sicknesses were not allowed to come into the house of 177
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God. So, the porters were also servants of the priest who kept the doors and screened the people who came in. Then, came the Nethinims. This word is found just four or five times in all the Scripture and it means servant. I’ll tell you what I think from what I’ve studied about this. In Joshua 9, the Gibeonites deceived Joshua. They came to him in old clothes and with old wine skins and told him they had come from a faraway land and that they wanted to make a peace treaty with him. So, Joshua didn’t take council of the Lord, which was a mistake, and he signed a peace treaty with these people. Later, he found out that they were from just across the river. So, he had already made a peace treaty with them, and he couldn’t break it, but he said, “I won’t harm you or destroy you, but from now on you will be our servants to gather wood and draw water for the house of our God.” So, I believe that the Nephinims started in Joshua chapter 9. Another reason why I believe that, is because when their names are given in verse 46 and following, most of the names listed are Caananite names. They are Gentile names, not Hebrew names. I believe, therefore, that they started then. They were servants and they took care of the physical things. They carried water and they cut the wood that was used to build a fire under the altar. The lesson is simply this—All of these people were servants. The priests were servants of God. The Levites served the priests. The porters kept the gate and helped the Levites. The singers sang and prepared the atmosphere of the house of God for worship. The Nephinims came and did the physical things. They were all servants one of another. What we really ought to do is to have every person pray that God would give him the heart of a servant. The apostles argued one day over who was the greatest, and Jesus said the greatest was the one who was the servant among them. The greatest in God’s sight is not one who holds a title. He is 178
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not one who is called pastor or master or teacher. The first shall be last, and the last shall be first. He was saying that the servant is the greatest in the sight of God. B. Qualifications In verses 2, 3, and following, we find the qualifications of these servants. This is what Nehemiah saw in them that caused him to appoint them to a place of leadership. 1. They were men (7:2,3). God always called men to be leaders. I don’t need to say too much about that. You know what 1 Corinthians 14 says about women keeping silence in the church. It says that if they are to learn anything, they are to go home and ask their husbands. The Bible says in 1 Timothy 2, that a woman is not teach or to usurp authority over the man. God never calls a woman into leadership, especially in the New Testament church. In Nehemiah chapter 7, all of the leaders and servants were men. It doesn’t say that a woman can’t serve God, but she is not to serve God in a place of leadership. Women are not to run the house of God. God calls men into authority in the home, the church, and the government. A few years ago, when Sandra O’Connor was placed up as a nominee for the Supreme Court, everybody wanted to know if she was a liberal or a conservative, or a Democrat or a Republican, and what she was going to do. The question should have been—Was she a man? She was not! They place women in leadership who then make decisions for you and I every day! Ladies need to be careful in the church. We are talking about the spiritual part of the church. Men have been called of God to be spiritual leaders, and women are not to take authority and make decisions. Women are not to take positions of teaching men and giving orders and commanding 179
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men. Every position of leadership ought to be filled by a man of God. God not only calls men, but He usually calls one man. When God looked for a leader to free the people of Israel, He called Moses. When He wanted the people to cross over to Caanan, He called Joshua. God called Samson and Samuel. There weren’t dozens of John the Baptists announcing the coming of the Lord. There was just one! That gave it consistency and regularity. That means there is the same voice, preaching the same doctrine and the same truth, Sunday after Sunday. God calls a man, and that is the first requirement for a leader and a servant called of God. 2. They were faithful. These men were faithful. They had worked on the wall. Nehemiah had watched them for fifty-two days while they worked on the wall, and he noticed their leadership. He noticed they were kind, but yet, when something needed to be done, they would do it themselves, or they would ask someone else to get the job done. They were faithful leaders who were there every day, from morning until night. Several years ago, I was the assistant pastor in a church in West Virginia, and the pastor resigned and took a church in Tennessee. So, the deacons (there were 3 good deacons and 3 unqualified deacons) asked me if I would consider taking the church. I said, “Yes, but I want to talk first.” Well, you know now that I didn’t get the church. The deacons were there, and I said, “If I take the church, I will expect you three men to resign.” They wanted to know why, so I said, “Number one, some of you aren’t faithful.”—For example, one of their wives was the church secretary, and she was a good one. I asked her one day, “Why did you request the job of church secretary?” and she told me that her boys were in a Christian school (which was good), and she needed the money to put them through school. (I know better now. She should have been a keeper at home and homeschooled her children.) I said, “That’s great. You help us, and we’ll help you keep your kids in a Christian school.”— 180
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So, that deacon, who taught a Sunday school class and who ran a bus route and who was at one time somewhat faithful, took a job in which he had to be gone two or three Sundays out of every month working. I said, “Mr. Lewis, why did you take that job?”—He said, “Well, I want to keep my kids in a Christian school.”—I said, “Wait a minute. Your wife is working to keep your kids in school, and if you really love God and want to be a deacon, then you have to be faithful.” I said, “You have to be in church to run that bus and teach that class, and you can’t just come one Sunday a month and be a deacon.” He got upset with me! Deacons are almost in the same class as pastors, and they both need to be faithful. 3. They feared God (7:2). The Bible says here that they “feared God above many.” That word “fear” is similar to the word phobia. Some folks have claustrophobia and are afraid of tight places. There is a phobia of God. It is healthy. It makes you love, respect, and obey God. These men, if they were going to be leaders, had to “fear God above many,” and especially above man. If a man fears God, he will preach the whole counsel of God. Folks say, “Preacher, why do you preach so hard?” It is because of the fear of God. The fear of God will make you honest in everything. It will make you disregard the feelings of men. The reason that we can drive on smooth highways is because a dynamite man has been through there. I noticed when I worked in the mines, that when the dynamite man showed up, everyone left! He was a lonely man! Some men are just dynamite men. The reason that we’re riding smooth is because someone came through and blasted the way for us. Someone came and preached the Word of God. Somebody was lonely. Whenever the dynamite man shows up, just thank God that he is there and he is going to clear a road. 181
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Preachers are probably the most misunderstood creatures in the world! Folks think preachers delight in hurting people. That is just not true. The men that I know who really preach, will weep when they preach, and it really hurts and grieves them to know that truth has offended somebody. They don’t want to hurt people, but they still fear God, and they still have the responsibility to preach the whole counsel of God. 4. They were sensitive to God. Look at Nehemiah 6:12 and 7:5. Nehemiah was sensitive to the Holy Spirit. He said, “I perceived that God had not sent him.” How did he know that? He was sensitive to the Holy Spirit. Nehemiah said, “...my God put into my heart” to do this thing. You can only do that through prayer. Nehemiah knew the mind of God. He’d prayed about that thing for four months. He knew the mind of God, although no one else may have understood that. Men in leadership are misunderstood many times because they have prayed about something, and they know it is the will of God, and people think that they are just hard-headed and stubborn. It is not that. It is just that they know that is what God wants them to do. You have to understand the position of leadership and being sensitive to the Holy Spirit. If I pray for something more than I pray for anything else, I pray that I’ll be sensitive to the Spirit. This is not my church; it is God’s church. He is the Chief Shepherd, and I’m the under-shepherd. All I can do is to say, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” I know that I don’t have the wisdom I need to pastor a church, and I know I don’t have the natural wisdom to make the right decisions. I have failed too many times. The Lord helps the simple! So many times I don’t know how to do something, and I say, “I’m just going to pray and do the best that I can.” When you don’t know what to do, and you really want to know what to do, He will help you. 5. They based their decisions on the Word of God. 182
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Look at Nehemiah 7:5. Their decisions were made on what was written in the register, which was the Word of God. Nehemiah didn’t just say, “Well, I’m the governor around here, and I built this wall so I’m going to put in positions those people whom I think are necessary.” He didn’t do that. He went to the register to find out if they were really true, blue Jews (7:64). Nehemiah didn’t get up and say, “These are the fellows that I want as priests.” He was saying, “Fellows, we’re going to go to the Book of God, and we’re going to find your genealogy, and if your name is not here and you can’t prove that you are a son of Levi or a son of Aaron, then you will not be a priest.” His decisions were based on the Word of God. He rejected the priests who were not written in the genealogy (7:65). He said the only persons who could offer a sacrifice were the priests who could prove their genealogy by the records of God. No one was going to offer sacrifices until there was a priest. Do you remember when Samuel didn’t show up, and the Bible says that Saul offered the sacrifice? Then, Samuel did show up and said to him, in effect, “God is going to take the kingdom from you, for you have entered holy ground.” I’m saying that Nehemiah based every decision on the Word of God, and every true leader must be guided by the Word of God and the Spirit of God. He cannot be subject to popular opinion, and he cannot be subject to that thing which looks successful. He cannot be guided by emotions or fear or family or friends or monetary means or by who has money and who doesn’t have money. He must be guided by the Word of God and the Spirit of God alone. He and God must have that settled. It is always back to the Word of God. 6. They were sacrificial in their giving. Look at Nehemiah 7:70-73. These men who Nehemiah appointed were sacrificial in their giving. They gave constantly. Nehemiah gave the most and others also gave. They gave the priests garments and money. It 183
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was necessary to get the temple back in order to be able to worship God. I believe that is a qualification of every leader. He should set the example in every area. I know preachers who don’t believe they ought to tithe because they receive the tithe! Every person ought to give. These men who were leaders sacrificed because they loved God and feared God. They were faithful and had a real burden for the work of God. So, these are the qualifications and the characteristics of a good leader. Without desiring the office of a leader, you ought to desire the characteristics of a leader. You ought to not want the position, but you ought to want the spirituality of a real leader. There is such a thing as biblical authority; a biblical chain of command. Someone is in authority in your home. Someone is in authority in the church. Someone is in authority in the government. God placed these men in authority over us, and they are responsible to God (Hebrews 13:17). As pastor, I will give an account for this church, and nobody else. You will give account of your personal life and how you responded to leadership and how you loved and lived for God. I will do the same thing. I’ll give account as the head of my home. One day the government and those in office will give an account to God, as to how they ruled over the people of this nation. If you own a business, you will give an account one day as to how you treated the employees (Ephesians 6). Every person in authority is responsible to God. Nehemiah was a leader. Nehemiah did not build the house of God and the wall just because humanly he was a good leader but because he prayed, he was sensitive to the Holy Spirit, and he asked for the wisdom of God, and those spiritual characteristics made him the leader that he was. Amen!
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Expository Outline #15 The Necessity of Joy (Nehemiah 8) Introduction I. THE IMPORTANCE OF JOY A. Commanded to rejoice B. Rejoicing in trials C. Necessary for strength D. Necessary for worship 1. Complete participation 2. Cooperation and unity 3. Commandment 4. Communion 5. Conversation II. THE INGREDIENTS OF JOY A. Forgiveness brings joy. B. Affliction brings joy. C. Obedience brings joy. D. Joy is independent of circumstances. E. Joy is strengthened by prayer. F. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit.
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Chapter Fifteen THE NECESSITY OF JOY (Nehemiah 8) Introduction Joy, rejoicing, and praising God are all necessary for effective Christian service. Nehemiah makes a sweeping statement in chapter 8, and the last part of verse 10. He says, “...the joy of the LORD is your strength.” In that one statement, he tells us why it is so necessary to have joy in the Christian life—because without joy there is no strength. You surely cannot serve God without strength. If I wasn’t talking about Christian service here, I would call it Nehemiah’s old-fashioned camp meeting. He is about to have an oldfashioned camp meeting, and we’re going to talk about the ingredients of his camp meeting. As I said, Nehemiah 8, verse ten, is the key verse for the chapter: “...the joy of the LORD is your strength.” I’m sure you’ve heard that before. So, joy is definitely essential in Christian service. In chapter 6, Nehemiah had finished the wall. In chapter 7, he began to organize right away, and he took nothing for granted. It is very easy, after a great victory, to assume everything is going to be all right, but that is not necessarily true. As a matter a fact, many times it is after a great victory that the devil comes and throws a real wrench into your situation, and catches you off guard. In his wisdom, Nehemiah began to immediately put people in charge, set up the opening of the gates, and all of the other things (such as the priesthood) because, as I’ve already mentioned, the purpose of the wall was to give them a safe place in which to worship God. 186
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I. THE IMPORTANCE OF JOY In Nehemiah, chapter 8, the people began to get together, and they worshipped God and rejoiced. Notice verse 5 says the people stood up, verse 6 says Ezra blessed the Lord and they bowed their heads and worshipped the Lord, verse 8 says they read the Word of God, and verse 9 says they were weeping. But in verse 10, Nehemiah said, “You go and rejoice, for this day is holy unto the Lord.” In the last part of verse 17, it says, “And there was very great gladness.” So, the theme of this chapter is rejoicing and having joy in the your Christian service. So, there is the importance of joy. A. Commanded to rejoice We’ll look at some verses which deal with joy and rejoicing. Notice that we are commanded to rejoice as we serve God. Psalm 100—Come before His presence with singing and enter into His courts with praise. Psalm 48:1,2—God is great, He is altogether lovely, He is our Savior, and He is to be praised. Psalm 40:16—Again the psalmist is writing, and he is telling us we ought to seek the Lord and rejoice and be glad. We should say in our hearts, “The Lord is to be magnified!” Psalm 35:18—We aren’t just talking about private praise. We are talking about public testimonies. Psalm 32:11—We need to practice shouting more often! It says that if you are upright in heart you will shout. Psalm 50:23—You say, “Preacher, I want to glorify God!” Offer praise! Just praise Him. God will reveal things to you and bless you if you’ll offer praise and glorify Him. Psalm 92:1,4—I can rejoice in verse 4! “For thou, LORD, hast made me glad through thy work.” I’m glad for this work. I’m glad to pastor this work. He says here that it is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord. 187
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James 4:17—He that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord and to sing praises unto His name. We are indeed to praise the Lord. Nehemiah is telling us in Nehemiah 8 that we are to praise God while we serve Him. If you don’t have any real joy, then you will not serve the Lord. You hardly ever see anyone trying to serve God without any joy and when you do it is a very discouraging thing. You serve Him because you are rejoicing in what He has done for you. When you lose that aspect of rejoicing, and when you lose the fact that you appreciate and are thankful for the things God has done for you, it will make you lose the desire to serve God. That is why the joy of the Lord is your strength. When you lose that joy and you forget to praise God and when you forget to count your blessings, that is when you lose your strength. You’ll just sort of get discouraged, you’ll fall by the way side, you’ll not have the zeal to serve God, and you’ll not have the joy that you would want to share with someone else. You’ll not be witnessing, and you’ll not be serving God because you cannot do it without joy in your heart. There are some things, of course, that will rob you of your joy. You must appreciate the things God has done for you, and you must not forget the blessings. B. Rejoicing in trials James 1:2—This verse tells us we are not only to thank God for our blessings and to rejoice in our blessings, but we are to also rejoice in our trials! It says, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations.” That word divers mean “of various kinds.” It means “a multitude of,” and it includes not only being tempted by sin but also by the trials of life. Notice in verse 3, James defines that word temptation by saying, “Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.” The trying of your faith is what he is mentioning in verse 2 in the word temptation. The word temptation means “the trying of your faith.” So, he says when 188
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God tests your faith, and you go off into the trials and temptations, you are to count it all joy. The flesh does not like that! Amen!? The flesh enjoys complaining. The flesh likes telling everybody else about everything that has gone wrong. The flesh just really enjoys bragging about all that it has been through and just how bad things are. That is the flesh; but James says that we are to count it all joy. In the book of Nehemiah, he had the wall finished, but ever since the wall had been finished, Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem had come and tried to discourage him. They’d written letters, and they’d tried to tear down the work of God. Nehemiah told the people they were going to have to shut the gates at night and leave them shut until the sun came up in the morning because there was still danger. But, even in the midst of all that danger and the trying of his faith, Nehemiah was having an old-fashioned camp meeting! He said, “Ezra, get out the book of the law and read the Word of God.” And they preached the Word of God, and the people wept, but Nehemiah said, “Don’t weep, for God has delivered you from captivity, and we’ve finished the wall and God is blessing you!” He said, “We are not going to weep, we are going to rejoice, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” So, in the middle of all of these problems and the danger of the enemies of God, Nehemiah was rejoicing and praising God. C. Necessary for strength Nehemiah 8:10—He is saying here that joy brings strength. Sometimes you have to rejoice by faith! Sometimes you have to shout on credit. Sometimes you may look around and see that things are bad and the bills aren’t paid and the kids are going crazy, the car is broken down, and the well has gone dry and everything is going wrong. Then you’ll just have to rejoice by faith, and faith cometh by the hearing of the Word of God. As you read the Word of God, the Holy Spirit will bring things to your mind, “...all things work together for good to them that love God.” 189
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You have to rejoice by faith. Whatsoever is not of faith is sin. Sometimes you can sit down and you can count all your blessings and that is what you ought to do. You ought to count your blessings and name them one by one and rejoice in what God has done. Sometimes though, you are sitting in the back and you can’t see what is going on and you can’t name very many blessings or answered prayers. But then you’re going to have to praise God in the trials and count it all joy, even when things are going wrong, because if you lose your joy, then you will lose your strength (John 15:11, 16:20-24). Nothing can rob you of that joy. It is supernatural and God-given and it can overcome all circumstances. D. Necessary for worship Nehemiah 8:1-8—Let me give you five things that Nehemiah included in his camp meeting. 1. Complete participation Wouldn’t it be wonderful to pastor a church in which everybody participated?! That is the dream of every pastor, to pastor a church where everybody is there for every service and everybody gives and tithes and everybody shows up for visitation—a church where there is 100% participation. That is exactly how it ought to be. Every Christian should be faithful. I know that some folks question me sometimes about what I do and what I don’t do. The Sunday morning crowd comes, and then they miss a few weeks, and most preachers go and beg them to come back, but I don’t want the Sunday morning crowd. Did you ever notice what a damp spirit there is when they are around? I’ve been to churches to preach where they have 200 on Sunday mornings and only about 50 on Sunday nights and Wednesday nights. I wouldn’t give you a nickel for that Sunday morning crowd. You might as well do away with that 150. Preachers will say, “But they give money.” Well, I don’t want their money. I want folks who want to serve God and who want to be completely faithful all of the time. The Bible says that all saved people ought to serve God, be faithful, 190
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tithe, and participate 100%. That is what every child of God should want to do. Every member of the church should be there for every service, and give and tithe, and when they are not there, they should be missed. Folks should know they are doing their part and serving God. 2. Cooperation and unity Notice that not only did everybody show up, but when they did show up it says they were together as one man. Sometimes you can have everybody there, but you end up having a fight! That is not any good! If you want to have a church service or a camp meeting, it is when 100% of the people are there, and they are 100% in agreement. They are there praying the same and worshipping the same and they’re desiring the same thing—that Jesus Christ will be magnified and God will be glorified. There must be no one there who is self-seeking or wanting things to be their own way. Everybody must be desiring together that Jesus Christ be magnified, exalted, and glorified in the eyes of all the people and that souls will be saved. When you have that, you will have a revival spirit. So, there was complete participation and cooperation. 3. Commandments preached The law was preached (Nehemiah 8:1,8), and David wrote again and said, “In God will I praise his Word” (Psalm 56:10). Since Jesus is the Word, when you praise the Word you are praising the Word. We ought to thank God for the Word of God. I praise the Lord that I have a Bible and that I know preachers who preach the whole council of the Word of God. Our only hope is the Bible and obeying, loving, reading, and meditating in the Word of God. That is our only hope. It is not what I think or my opinion. God, deliver us from such things so that we would just preach what God says in His Word! We ought to rejoice and praise God in His Word. I rejoice and thank God that by the foolishness of preaching God saves those who believe. We should never allow ourselves to get used to the preaching of the Word of God. 191
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4. Communion There was also communion or prayer. Nehemiah 8:6 says, “And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God.” He prayed and blessed and praised God. He prayed that God would bless their gathering together. It wasn’t a conference, since the purpose of a conference is to discuss some things. It was a meeting or convention. The purpose of a convention is to make decisions, and since Nehemiah wanted them to decide some things, they had an old-fashioned convention or camp meeting. Prayer should always be a part of that (John 16:24). Joy comes when we pray, and joy comes from answered prayer. I don’t know about you, but there is nothing that causes my heart to rejoice more than to know that God has heard and answered my prayer. It gives me joy to know that I prayed specifically for something, and God answered exactly like I prayed—there was no coincidence or accident about it. It was the hand of God, and the God who made the universe and who sits on the great white throne of Glory heard my prayer and sent an angel to answer my prayer and work out the circumstances to meet my need. That will cause you to rejoice. You will rejoice as you pray, but you will also rejoice because God heard and answered your prayer (Psalm 16:11). Where does joy come from? Joy and pleasures for evermore come from His presence. The pleasures of this world are nothing compared to the pleasures that can be enjoyed by the child of God in prayer. When we think of having a vacation or a pleasant time, we don’t think of praying do we? The psalmist said that in His presence are pleasures for evermore and fullness of joy. If you don’t have any joy, then it may be you are not spending enough time in His presence. If things get you down, and you seem to be discouraged and defeated, and you’ve lost your joy, then it may be that you need to spend more time in the presence of Him 192
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who is altogether lovely. Did you ever think of who the happiest person in the world is? It is the Lord! What does He have to worry about. The Bible says of the Lord Jesus, “Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity...God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness...” (Hebrews 1:9). Jesus said, “...my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth...” (John 14:27). Then He said, “...I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you” ( John 16:22). 5. Conversation Notice that there was not only prayer and communion, but there was also praise and conversation (Nehemiah 8:6). Notice that it says, “And all the people answered, Amen, Amen...!” Now, there is a Bible verse that proves that folks should say, “Amen!” They were praising and lifting their hands toward heaven. They bowed their faces to the ground in humility. They were humbled by the preaching of the Word of God. They were worshipping the Lord in humility not in pride. They were not bragging. They were saying, “It is not me or anything that I’ve done; it is only Him.” They were pointing to the One that they were praising, and they were lifting their hands toward the One who had met all of their needs and blessed them. They were just simply saying, “Look to Him, not at us. It is Him!” II. THE INGREDIENTS OF JOY How can I be a joyful Christian? What brings joy to a Christians heart? A. Forgiveness brings joy. Nehemiah 8:6 —I believe that here they were basically praising God for His forgiveness. Their joy was based upon the knowledge of their forgiveness. You see, they had been freed personally from Babylonian captivity. That meant they could go back to the book of Deuteronomy and read there where Moses said, “If you keep the law God will bless you and keep you in the land, and you’ll be fed and God will meet every need, but if you 193
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sin God will scatter you to the four corners of the earth, but if in the farthest corner of the earth you confess your sin and look back toward the land, God will bring you out of captivity.” So, they had been in the land of Babylon, and Nehemiah had been the cupbearer of the king and 50,000 of them had been released to come back. This meant they had cried out to God, and God had heard their prayer and had forgiven their sins. He had burdened the heart of the king to release these 50,000 captives so they might go back and rebuild the wall around Jerusalem, and later Ezra would go on to rebuild the temple of God. So, Nehemiah was saying they were to rejoice, and Ezra raised his voice and praised and blessed the Lord, and the people fell upon their faces and worshipped God. Nehemiah 8:17 says there was very great gladness, and verse 10 says, “...the joy of the LORD is your strength.” Nehemiah told them to go their ways, eat the fat, drink the sweet, make merry in their hearts, and rejoice and praise the Lord. Why? Because their sins had been forgiven. In Luke 10:17, Jesus sent the disciples out and they came back and said, “Lord, even the devils are subject unto us...” But He said, in verse 20, “...in this rejoice not that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.” He said, “Rejoice that your sins have been forgiven.” Notice in Nehemiah 8:9, it says that when they heard the Word of God they wept. They saw in the law of God how they were supposed to be living and all the laws they were supposed to be keeping and how they were to be a separated and peculiar people, and they read how they had miserably failed God, and their hearts were broken, and they wept because they had so miserably failed God. They wept and cried until Nehemiah came and said, “This day is holy in the Lord, do not mourn, do not weep.” The devil will sometimes come while someone is preaching, or 194
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maybe even when you are at home, and put upon you the sense of failure. He will use that against you many times. He’ll come and say, “You have failed miserably; you are not what God wants you to be, and God will never forgive you or use you!” Nehemiah said, “No, the very fact that you are here in the land and the wall has been built means that you indeed have been forgiven by God, and He wants to bless you!” It is good to weep over your sins, but it is not good to stay in that situation. The reason we weep over our sins is so we might rejoice in our salvation. Don’t let the devil deceive you into staying in a condition of weeping over your sins, when by the blood of Christ you have been cleansed from all your sin. The devil comes sometimes when you’re confessing sin and says, “You can’t serve God; you’re too weak and you’re a failure!” That will cause you to become discouraged, and God will tell you exactly what Nehemiah told the people. It is good to confess your sin and to be broken about your sin. If you will not confess your sin you will not stay in the light. It is good to ask God to help you forsake your sin, but don’t stay in that condition. If we confess our sins then He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So, thank God I have been saved, cleansed, and forgiven. It is the same thing with sinners. A lot of people will come and say, “I’m just too wicked to get saved, so I guess I’ll just die and go to hell.” The Bible says that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. You can be saved, and you can be forgiven. Rejoice in that thought! Even as a child God the devil will use a good thing against you. The Bible says a contrite heart is pleasing in the sight of God so it is an acceptable sacrifice unto God, but He does not want you to stay there. It is to be a temporary situation. The prodigal came home expecting to be made a servant in his father’s house, but the father was waiting with open arms and received him and forgave him and then it says, 195
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“And they began to be merry.” (Luke 15:24). The son was sorry for his sin. He had come to the end of himself and would have been content just to be a servant in his father’s house, but his father forgave him and restored him to sonship. He gave him a coat for his back, a ring for his finger, and shoes for his feet. He told his servants to kill the fatted calf and make merry, and the prodigal son forgot all of the past and rejoiced in his father’s forgiveness, and they began to make merry together. Joy comes from knowing your sins have been forgiven. B. Affliction brings joy. Real joy is nourished by affliction. Not only are we to rejoice in our afflictions, but afflictions and trials actually nourish and feed and strengthen our joy! Problems help us to become completely dependent upon God. Many times troubles and trials will come your way because God is trying to divorce you from all earthly help. I’ve had friends turn on me, not because they were wrong or I was wrong, but because God was trying to divorce me from all earthly help. The next time somebody turns on you, just remember that the Lord may be trying to get you closer to Him. The fewer folks you are friends with here, the closer you’ll be to Him. Sometimes God may take your best friend away just so you’ll spend more time with Him. We can come to the place where we trust in men and the help of men and others. We’ll look to others, or even to the church, but we need to come to the place where we can trust God alone and pray and get a hold of God. So, trials nourish our joy and our dependence upon God. Did you ever notice that many times people with the most problems have the greatest joy? A lot of times we don’t recognize that because the people who live that way never talk about their problems. Many times they may ask prayer for an unspoken request rather than tell you all of their problems. They don’t brag about them or talk about them, and sometimes they don’t even ask prayer for them, but they have a lot of burdens and problems. Those people just might be the most joyful people in the church. Those people have found 196
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that those problems and trials have caused them to have to go back to the Lord, and they have found their joy in the Lord. Rejoice in the Lord! You squeeze the grape and the wine comes forth. Many times we only see the wine. We don’t see the grape being squashed. You take the petals of a rose and you crush those petals and fragrance comes out. Many times we see the fragrance of a person’s personality and the wine of their happiness, but we don’t see them being crushed and squeezed with the trials of life. This was so, even with our Lord. The Bible says He was a man of sorrows, but He said, “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full” (John 15:11), “...your joy no man taketh from you” (John 6:22), and “ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full” (John 6:24). Those fellows who persecute us today have been around for a long time! They persecuted the prophets years ago. Our Lord said to just rejoice when men persecute you and revile you and say things falsely against you. He said to leap for joy! We are to rejoice in trials because they nourish our joy. C. Obedience brings joy. This is what Nehemiah 8 is really all about. They had read the Word of God that in the seventh month of every year they were to celebrate the feast of tabernacles. They were to go out and build booths, and they were not to live in their houses for that whole week. This was to remind them of the time God had delivered them and brought them out and saved them and redeemed them out of Egypt, and how they had wandered in the wilderness. They were to celebrate the redemption and the deliverance of God. They were to go back and relive that experience. They began to read the Word of God, and they found out they had never done that since they had come out of the wilderness. So, they read the Word of God and did what it commanded them to do, and it says, “And there was very great gladness” (Nehemiah 8:17). Why? Because they read the Word of God and began to obey it. 197
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Of our Lord it was said, “...who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame,” (Hebrews 12:2). Humanly speaking, look at the life of our Lord. He had twelve disciples for three and a half years, and all of them denied Him the last day; one of them betrayed him, one of them denied Him and cursed Him, and then He was crucified and put into a tomb. That is all the world sees. The world says, “He was a failure. After three and a half years of preaching and teaching, no one followed Him, they all forsook Him and fled, and He ended up crucified on the cross.” You and I may not be successful to human eyes, and we may not look as though we have the blessing of God, but if you love God and the Bible and you are faithful to Him and you do His will, you ought to have joy in your heart. You may be counted as a failure in the world, but do the will of God. As far as the world is concerned, Moses was a failure. To the world, Abraham was a failure wandering around all of his life looking for a city that he didn’t find until he died. Obedience may not bring success, but it brings joy! You are to read the Word of God and find out how you are supposed to live, how you are supposed to dress, where you should go, where you shouldn’t go, how to raise your kids, what kind of family to have, and how to be involved in church, and if you just do all of that, you’ll have joy. If you’re saved, you’ve had that experience before. You might have read something and then you did it and rejoiced and had joy because you knew you had done what God wanted you to do. D. Joy is independent of circumstances. Joy comes from God and from within. That is why Paul could sing in prison. That is why when John the Baptist was in prison he could say, “...the friend of the bridegroom...rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must 198
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decrease” (John 3:29,30). John said, “This is what it is all about. I’m on the decrease and I’m going to die, but He is on the increase.” These fellows knew that joy did not come from their circumstances. E. Joy is strengthened in prayer. Psalm 63:7—There is a picture here of maybe an eagle or a hen spreading her wings and her babies finding safety and refuge in her presence under the shadow of her wings. The closer we are to God the more joy we have. F. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit. If you are saved you are forgiven. If you’ve been obedient and prayerful, then that natural fruit will come. You can’t work it up! You can’t just say, “I’m going to be a more joyful Christian.” You can’t do that because it is a fruit of the Spirit. Fruit does not come because you have determined you are going to bear fruit. Fruit comes naturally when the sap is running through the tree properly, and when the Holy Spirit has free flow in your life and your sins are confessed and when you are obedient and prayerful and seeking His will, you will have joy. Joy becomes a spiritual thermometer. When I don’t have joy, I need to check and see what is wrong, and I don’t need to blame others, because joy comes on the inside. Joy does not depend upon circumstances. So, if I don’t have any joy, something is wrong on the inside. If Paul could rejoice in prison, then surely we can rejoice in the circumstances of life in which we find ourselves. Joy is a fruit, and if there is no fruit then something is wrong with the root. You can’t glue or tape fruit onto a tree that has none, and then say, “Now I’ve got fruit.” You have to go ask the tree doctor what is wrong with your tree. He’ll tell you to fertilize it or paint the bark or cut the dead limbs off, and he’ll tell you what to do to the tree to make it grow fruit naturally. So, fruit doesn’t come by determination, it comes naturally when your heart is right with God. The Jews came together to the house of God—they were as one man;
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they read the Word of God and confessed their sins; they prayed and praised the Lord, and it says there was very great gladness. Then notice what Nehemiah told them to do in Nehemiah 8:10. You know what you do if you have joy? You’ll want to share it with someone else. He told them to go find someone who had nothing and give them a portion. They were to help those who had nothing to rejoice. If you have joy, then you’ll want to find someone to share it with. Have you noticed that the people who have the most friends are the people with the most joy. Folks who have no joy or peace are not pleasant to be around. If you have joy, people will enjoy being around you. If there was a big tree outside that had big peaches or apples on it, that would be where the children would go. They wouldn’t bother with an old oak tree, but they would go to that other tree and get every piece of fruit they could off of it. If you want folks to gather around you, just have some joy. Folks will come by and say, “I need some of that,” and they’ll start picking! The more they pick, the more joy you’ll have, and then you’ll have been a blessing to someone else. Amen!
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Expository Outline #16 The Necessity of Worship and Revival (Nehemiah 9 & 10) Introduction I. THE PREPARATION A. Contrition of heart (9:1) B. Separation of the soul (9:2) C. Meditation on the Word (9:3) II. THE PARTICULARS OF PRAISE A. His lordship (9:6) B. His faithfulness (9:8) C. His protection (9:11) D. His Word (9:13) E. His supply (9:15, 21, 25) F. His grace (9:17, 27, 31) G. His Spirit (9:20) H. His victory (9:22) I. His children (9:23) III. THE PLAN A. Obedience (10:29) B. Separation (10:30) C. Sacrifice (10:31-36) D. Tithe (10:37) E. Faithfulness (10:39)
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Chapter Sixteen THE NECESSITY OF WORSHIP AND REVIVAL (Nehemiah 9 and 10) Introduction Worship and revival is exactly what they have in Nehemiah, chapters 9 and 10. If there is a missing ingredient in our churches today, it is this thing of worship. Folks do not know how to worship. Folks don’t want to take time to worship. We find in Nehemiah, chapter 8, a people who began to worship God again after having not worshipped Him for some time. Do you remember back in chapter 8, that ever since the days of Joshua, they had not kept the feast of the tabernacle? But Ezra got up and preached the Word of God, and they saw their sins and confessed them. They were broken about their sins, and Nehemiah told them not to just be broken, but to obey the Word of God. According to the Word of God, they obeyed and built themselves booths, and for eight days they assembled themselves together in the booths and worshipped God. Do you remember the conversation our Lord had with the woman at the well? He said to her, “...they that worship him, must worship him in Spirit and in truth” (John 4:24), “...for the Father seeketh such to worship him” (John 4:23). Today, our Lord is calling out a people to His name who will worship Him, and God’s people ought to worship the Lord, and love Him, and adore Him, and fall down before Him. We ought to tell Him we love Him and praise Him for all He has done. That is what these people did. 202
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They rehearsed their whole history. They went all the way back to the time when God delivered them from Pharaoh and led them across the Red Sea and provided all of their needs in the wilderness. It is good sometimes just to go back and relive what God has done for you. Just go back and praise Him for the day you got saved. Praise Him for every need He has met and for all of His faithfulness. I believe that God wants to bless His people—He wants to reveal Himself—He wants to revive His people, but we must meet the conditions of revival. The flesh fights everything God is trying to do. When you sit in a church service, you have to fight the flesh. When the invitation is given, you fight the flesh. When the Holy Spirit tells you to give a testimony, you again have to fight the flesh. The flesh just fights against you all of the time. The Bible tells us this flesh is contrary to the Spirit and that is the reason why you cannot do the things you want to do. That is the reason that sometimes when there is the desire in your heart to get up and testify, or to come to the altar and pray, or to praise the Lord, or to give a testimony, the flesh is there battling you. The only thing you can do with the flesh is crucify it. We are crucified with Christ. The flesh manifests itself in this thing called pride. It is that pride, that fleshly part of us, which hinders us from testifying, or praising God, or saying, “Amen.” It hinders us from really worshipping publicly and praising God for all of His goodness and all of His grace. I. THE PREPARATION First of all, in chapter 9, there is the preparation for worship. Notice that these people in chapter 9, verses 1 and 2, are fasting with sackcloth and earth upon them, and they have separated themselves from the strangers. In verse 3, they stand up again and read from the Word of God. A. Contrition of heart (9:1) 203
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The first thing that a church needs to do to prepare themselves for worship is to have a time of fasting; not necessarily going without food, but the idea of really confessing our sins to God. It is this thing of brokenness and repentance. In chapter 8, we see them feasting and rejoicing, but when they came back to the Word of God and read it again, we find they were fasting and broken. As they read the Word of God, they saw the holiness of God; the faithfulness of God to their fathers; and they saw how their fathers fell time after time and yet how God delivered them and blessed them and preserved them and supplied their needs. Then, the people began to see their own wickedness and worldliness, and they saw the goodness of God. When they saw the goodness of God, it caused them to stand up and bless the Lord. The Levites got up in verse 5, and said, “Stand up and bless the LORD...!” They began praising His name in verse 6, and they praised His name all the way down through the end of the chapter. There must be a time of brokenness, repentance, and confession of sin. There will never be true repentance until there is brokenness. The Bible says God will not despise a broken and contrite heart. God requires it! There has to be this humbling before God. When a man humbles himself before God, it will result in praise and worship. You must have those times where you humble yourself before God and just say, “Lord, I’m nothing and I need you to help me because I cannot do anything, be anything, or be a blessing to anyone without you.” It will soften your heart and keep your heart tender, but if you don’t have those times of humbling before God and confessing before God, your heart will become cold and hard, and God will not be able to work on you, and do things with you, and use you like He once could. You go out in the springtime and plow your garden and then plow it again. You till it and disk it and harrow it, and you prepare it for the planting of the seed. That is exactly what they are doing here in Nehemiah, and that 204
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is exactly what the children of God ought to do every day and every week. When we come to the house of God, we should ask the Holy Ghost to plow our hearts so that we might receive the seed of the abundant life of God. God wants to give you joy and peace. God wants to send revival. God wants to enable you to worship Him in Spirit and in truth, but you’ve got to humble yourself before Him. You cannot allow your heart to become hardened by sin and pride. Joy always follows brokenness and repentance. That repentant attitude always precedes a time of joy and rejoicing. Repentance is not only for the sinner, and it is not only for those who have just been saved and have a lot of problems and habits to overcome. Repentance ought to be a part of every child of God’s life. You should allow God to speak to your heart and allow God to show you things in your life. They may not be bad habits, but they may be fleshly things like pride or bitterness or a bad temper or impatience, and those deeper things of the spirit (2 Corinthians 7:1). There are sins of the flesh, and most of those are overcome at salvation, but he says, “Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the...spirit.” Those are the ones that are harder to detect and harder to be revealed. Those are the ones that many times we fight against the most. We see the outward things, and a lot of times, if for no other reason than because of pride, we want the outside to look good, while inside, like the Pharisees, we are full of dead men’s bones. It is the Spirit who God really wants to deal with us about. As long as we are satisfied with ourselves, we’ll never seek anything from God. I was at a camp meeting one night, and the pastor got up and introduced the service and was talking about how hard it is in these last days, even after having been saved for years, to keep our hearts right with God and how often we need preaching and how hard it is to keep a burden for souls. It seems like when we first got saved all we thought about was someone else getting saved. We would think of all kinds of people who needed to be 205
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saved, and there were times when we had a burden, and we’d be walking down the street or driving through town and every person we saw we’d wonder if they were saved. Now, there are times when we find ourselves going for weeks and months and never wondering if anyone else is saved and never praying for anyone else to be saved. It is like that, and I can identify with that. It is harder today to keep a burden. It is harder today to witness than it ever has been. It may be because the world has rejected our message so long that it is easy to get to the place where we just say, “I don’t even care if they get the message or not.” It is wrong for us to feel that way, and we need to get that burden and keep that burden. We will never worship Him until we quit worshipping ourselves. We’ll never see revival until there is an honest heart-searching before God. We’ll never see Him until we quit looking at ourselves. Look at Nehemiah 9:33. This verse is the story of our lives. These folks were just getting honest with God. They said, “Lord, you are right and we are wrong! You’ve been right the whole time, Lord, and we’ve been wrong!” Now, look at 9:28. The Levites said, “...many times didst thou deliver them according to thy mercies.” As I said before, you ought to go back and thank God for your salvation and for your Christian life. Everything is because of the mercy of God. In our nation it is the same way. It is because of our sin and our pride and wickedness that we fail to give God the glory. According to Nehemiah 9:36 and 37, they were servants because of their sins. It says in effect, “Lord, you saved us and you delivered us from Pharaoh and you brought us into this promised land and you gave us this land and the nations of this land so that we might rule over them, but today we are servants in this land! We’ve just been released from Babylonian captivity, and even the kings and the nations around us have us in bondage. We are servants in the land you gave us, and the land is yielding fruit just like you said it would, but it is going to 206
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the kings whom thou hast set over us because of our sins.” They were just getting honest with God and saying, “We are servants when we ought to be kings and priests, and we are servants in our own land and are not able to enjoy the blessings of God because of our sins.” The same thing is true of America today. We are slaves in our own country! We are taxed unto poverty, but it is our fault. Our forefathers set this thing up with one nation under God, but we started enjoying the blessings and forgot about God. When our troops were over in Saudi Arabia, President Bush came out and said we needed everybody to pray for them, but when the troops came home and everything was all right, he said he appreciated Mr. Baker and Mr. Powell and a number of other people, but he never one time thanked God for the blessing. God will get fed up with that after a while. He won’t let other men steal His glory. It is no wonder that our country is in the shape it is in. So, number one, they had this time of confession and repentance and really seeking God and asking God for forgiveness. They said, “Lord, we’ve been wrong all of these years and you’ve been right and now we are servants.” He says in verse 38, “...because of all this we make a sure covenant...” So, the first thing they did was confess their sin. B. Separation of the soul (9:2) Nehemiah 9:2—God cannot bless a worldly Christian. It does not matter who you are or what your name is; God is not going to go contrary to His Word. The Bible says, “Be not conformed to this world” (Romans 12:2). The Christian who hangs on to the world will really never know the blessing of God. You ought to be careful about worldliness. Worldliness is simply being like the world. It is that simple. People say, “I wonder what is in style?” You get these crazy, wild looking clothes and hairdos. They are made to be sensual and sexy, and they are made to draw attention to the wrong thing 207
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(1 Timothy 2). There is nothing wrong with being simple, plain, and clean and not trying to draw attention to yourself but to the Son of God, your Saviour and trying to give Him the glory. The new style for boys is getting their sideburns cut off! Someone once told me that one of his boys from their Christian school came in with his sideburns cut off and they were going to go somewhere to a game, and he told the boy he couldn’t participate in the game or even come to school that way. The boy asked him what he was going to do, and the preacher made him some sideburns from the rest of his hair! C. Meditation on the Word (9:3) Nehemiah 9:3—They read the Word of God and confessed their sins, and then beginning in verse 4, they began to worship God. This book will cause you to worship God! This book needs to be preached like it’s never been preached before! I like camp meetings, and I like preaching in them. II. THE PARTICULARS OF PRAISE Let’s look at some things that they praised Him for. A. His lordship (9:6) Nehemiah 9:6—They praised Him for His lordship. They said, “...even thou, art LORD alone...” We worship the one and only true God! Notice that Nehemiah said that one way this glory of God and the power of God and the lordship of God was manifest was in creation. Our God, the one who bought us and made us and saved us, He is the one who spoke the world into being by the power of His Word. He breathed this world into being. What other religion can testify of a God like that?! Mohammed couldn’t do that and Shinto couldn’t do that and Buddha couldn’t do that and Joseph Smith couldn’t do that and Adam G. White couldn’t do that and neither could anyone else! The psalmist said, “...O God, who is like unto thee” (Psalm 71:19). Who can make a tree? Who could create the sun and 208
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put it 93,0000 miles away? Who can do any of that?! Notice in verse 10, it says, “And shewedst signs and wonders upon Pharaoh...” Who else could open blinded eyes? Mohammed, Buddha, Shinto, and none of the rest of those guys ever did that. Who could cause the lame to walk and do all of those miracles? Who could cause the Red Sea to stand up on end? Who could split the Jordan River and allow the people to go across on dry land? Who could cause the sun to stand still? Who could cause it not to rain for 3 1/2 years? We ought to worship our God and praise Him, for He is worthy of our praise. Amen?! He is God and God alone. He is the only One. B. His faithfulness (9:8) Nehemiah 9:8—Here they are praising God for His faithfulness. He was faithful to forgive. I came to God by faith and He just said, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful...to forgive us our sins” (1 John 1:9). On June 11, 1969, I came by faith, and all I could do was cast myself upon the mercy and the faithfulness of God, and He performed His words that night and He spoke peace to my heart and forgave my sins, and ever since that day He has been faithful to me. He has been faithful to give grace in the trials of life. I know He’ll be faithful! He will not place any temptation upon you more than you can bear. God is faithful and He will give you a way of escape that you may be able to bear it. God has always been faithful, and His grace is sufficient. He has always been faithful to give grace in the trials of life. He has been faithful to keep me in the times of temptation. I can testify that in twenty-seven years, He has never failed me. In 6,000 years, He has never failed His people. Thank God that He is faithful and He never fails! He is always faithful in spite of our faithlessness. Notice it says here, “You blessed them Lord, and they rebelled. You didn’t take the fire from them and you didn’t take the blessings from them; you still supplied their needs and you still gave them manna from Heaven and water 209
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from the rock, all because of your mercy and grace and faithfulness.” God said to His people, “I will bring you to the wilderness.” It didn’t depend upon what they did. God promised it. C. His protection (9:11) Nehemiah 9:11—God has been faithful to protect us. The Jews praised Him for His protection. I praise the Lord for keeping us safe out on the highways. You often hear about other people and other preachers having terrible wrecks and accidents. On March 23, 1987, when we were hit and lost our travel trailer, God watched over us and protected us. There are ways God has protected you that you don’t even know about. D. His Word (9:13) Nehemiah 9:13—They are now praising Him for His Word. They said, “You came down and gave us your Word and the law and the commandments.” Where would you be tonight without a Bible that encourages you and strengthens you and gives you wisdom and guidance and leadership and help? All of those things come because of the Word of God. I’m glad for the Word, and I praise Him for it. E. His supply (9:15,21,25) Nehemiah 9:15, 21, and 25—God supplied their every need. There have been times when I have been down to my last penny, but God has been faithful. There have been times when I had no one else to call, but I could always call on Him. My every bill has been paid. He even gave me the faith to trust Him in those times and faith to keep going on. Once I needed two hundred dollars. I needed one hundred dollars to pay some church bills, and I needed one hundred dollars for myself. I was sitting in my office that morning praying and asking the Lord for two hundred dollars and the phone rang. I picked up the phone, and it was a missionary friend of mine, Bro. Bob Dayton, and I said to myself, “Oh, no! Not a missionary! I just know he is wanting some money, and I need some 210
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money!” He said, “I’m in town and I’ll be stopping by your office.” So, he came to my office, and we talked for a while, and finally he said, “The Lord sent me by here and told me to give you two hundred dollars.” It is amazing how God will meet your needs. I was at Bro. Bane’s church in Florida with no meetings or income for about two or three months, and I didn’t have any propane. We couldn’t even cook supper! I said, “Lord, all I need is eight dollars to put some propane in one of these tanks so we can cook supper tonight.” So, when I went to the post office that day, there was a check in the mail for twenty dollars. What I’m saying is that God will supply your needs. God is able! F. His grace (9:17,27,31) Nehemiah 9:17, 27, and 31—They were also praising God for His mercy and for His grace. They said, “Lord, we were out there in the middle of the wilderness, and we rebelled against you and wanted to turn back, but you still didn’t forsake us.” Aren’t you glad the Lord is slow to anger? Aren’t you glad the Lord is not impatient like us? Aren’t you glad He doesn’t jerk you up and put a knot on your head like we do to our kids sometimes? (verses 27 and 31). I’m glad for the mercy and patience of God. G. His Spirit (9:20) Nehemiah 9:20—They were thankful for the Holy Spirit. We talk about loving the Lord and how the Lord does things, but everything that is done to you, through you, and in you is done by the Holy Spirit today. When our Lord went back to Heaven, He said, “I’ve got to go away, but I’ll send the Holy Spirit and He will be in you and He will lead you unto all truth and He will guide you and He will give you peace and strength.” Every blessing and spiritual experience we have comes because of the working of the Holy Spirit. The faithfulness of the Holy Spirit is to instruct them. Nehemiah says in 9:20, “Thou gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them.” 211
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There is a great difference between an Old Testament and a New Testament believer. The Old Testament believer didn’t have a Bible, and he didn’t have the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God in the Old Testament would come upon David or upon Samson, they would do a mighty task, and then the Spirit would leave them. That is why David prayed in Psalm 51 and said in verse 11, “...take not thy holy spirit from me.” He was saying, “Lord, I have enjoyed the presence of the Spirit, please don’t take it from me.” He was not talking about losing his salvation. He was just praying in the Old Testament way since they were not permanently indwelt by the Holy Spirit. I cannot personally imagine that! I cannot imagine having the Holy Spirit speak to me and work on me one day, and the next day be gone! That accounts for a lot of the sin and failure in the Old Testament. Over there in Acts 17:30, when Paul was preaching, he said, “And the times of this ignorance God winked at.” They didn’t have the Bible and they didn’t have the Holy Spirit and they didn’t have the two things that we depend upon the most. Then Paul said, “...but now commandeth all men every where to repent.” Back then they didn’t have the Bible and the Holy Spirit, and they did a lot of things that make us wonder how they got by with it. How did Lot live like that and get by with it? How did David tell all of those lies and get by with it? They didn’t have the Bible or the Holy Spirit, and we ought to thank God that today we have the Holy Spirit in us to lead us and guide us. If a man is saved, then he has the Holy Spirit, and the Bible says that He’ll never leave you or forsake you. The Holy Spirit will always be doing one of two things. He’ll either be convicting you because you are doing something wrong or comforting you because you are doing something right. Every day I have one of those two feelings. One of those two things will be going on in your heart all of the time, if you are truly saved. He is never quiet! He is always doing something. 212
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H. His victory (9:22) Nehemiah 9:22—Nehemiah said, “Lord, we came into the enemy’s territory; we crossed the Jordan, and we came into the mighty Canaanite nations.” These were the strongest, mightiest nations. In the book of Judges, it says they had chariots with wheels of iron. They were an advanced people, and they had already learned to extract the iron from the rock and build weapons and materials and chariots, and he said they were a people of iron chariots. But he said, “...and gavest them into their hands” (Nehemiah 9:24). God gave them victory. I’m glad God gives me victory. I’m glad He didn’t just save me and leave me alone, but He gave me power. He broke the power of canceled sin, and He gave me new direction. Before I was saved, I was helpless against the devil. I couldn’t say, “No,” to anybody or anything except out of fear; but when I got saved, He said, “...greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4). When I got saved, I could say, “No,” to the devil, and I could say, “No,” to my friends, not because I was big and strong, but because He gave me victory. He gave me the power and the ability and the courage to say, “No,” to the devil. I. His children (9:23) Here they were thanking God for blessing their children and that God was blessing them with children. They were thanking God for their families. These folks wouldn’t have been there had God not given them children! You ought to thank God for your family. You ought to thank God for your wife or for your husband. III. THE PLAN Look at Nehemiah 9:38. They end chapter nine by drawing up a covenant. Beginning in chapter 10, verse 1, they are going to read everybody’s name who wrote and signed that covenant. They are saying, 213
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“Lord, we are at your mercy, and here we are again back in the land, but we are surrounded by the enemy. We’ve got the wall built, but we can’t really protect ourselves because we don’t have the army or the weapons with which to defend ourselves.” They said, “Lord, we don’t deserve your blessing because we have failed you and we have done wickedly; you have done right and we have done wrong; we are servants in our own land because of our sins, and we don’t deserve your blessing, but we are going to make a covenant with you. We are going to write down here what we are going to do, and if by grace you’ll protect us and help us in this new land, we’ll serve you.” A. Obedience (10:29) They claimed here that they were going to keep the law. They were going to obey the Word of God. If you want to have revival, then just say, “Lord, whatever I read in your Word, I’m going to do. No matter what it costs me or how different from the world it will make me, and no matter what folks will think of me if I live by the Book, I will do it!” If you do that you will surely have revival. B. Separation (10:30) Here they promised to separate themselves from the rest of the world. They said they weren’t going to let their sons and daughters marry the other people of the land. They were going to separate themselves from the world (Romans 12:1). C. Sacrifice (10:31-36) In these verses, we see the people mentioning all of the things they were going to do; some things they were not going to do; some things they were going to give to God’s work. True worship involves sacrifice. When David had sinned, Nathan the prophet offered to bring the lamb and provide all that was necessary for David’s restoration, but David refused, saying, in effect, “I will not offer to God that which cost me nothing.” 214
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D. Tithe (10:37) Here the people promised to tithe and support the priests and the Levites. I want to say that God still expects his people to tithe. Some would say that this is legalism. But I remind you that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and others tithed before Moses recorded it as law. Hebrews 8:10 states that when we are saved, the law of God is written in our hearts. God did not save us to break the law, but “That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us...” (Romans 8:4). A saved person will have no trouble tithing and giving to God’s work. It is written in his heart, and His “...commandments are not grievous” (1 John 5:3). E. Faithfulness (10:39) Notice the promise of this verse, “...we will not forsake the house of our God.” That is a promise every child of God ought to make for “...it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful” (1 Corinthians 4:2). May God help us to experience worship and revival such as this in our own hearts! Amen!
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Expository Outline #17 The Necessity of Vision, Virtue, and Vigilance (Nehemiah 13) Introduction I. VISION A. Understanding God’s salvation B. Understanding God’s purpose C. Understanding God’s holiness II. VIRTUE A. Keep your vows B. Overcome opposition C. Nehemiah’s example 1. Be faithful 2. Be fervent 3. Be forceful III. VIGILANCE A. Friends B. Church C. Money D. Worship E. Family 1. Marry saved people only 2. Marry permanently F. Separation
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Chapter Seventeen THE NECESSITY OF VISION, VIRTUE, AND VIGILANCE (Nehemiah 13) Introduction Do you remember that Nehemiah promised the king back in chapter 2 he would return to be his cupbearer after building the wall? The closest we can tell, according to history and the events given, Nehemiah spent a total of about twelve years in the land of Israel, and then he was gone for maybe ten to twelve years. In chapter 13, he was coming back. We find in verse 6, that he had again obtained leave of the king to go to Jerusalem. He came back to Jerusalem, and it says, “I...understood of the evil that Eliashib did for Tobiah...” When he came back, he found that things had gone back to the way that they were before. This was not one of those situations where they lived happily ever after! As long as there is a world, a flesh, and a devil, it will be an everyday battle to live for God, keep your own heart right with God, and keep the church right with God. As long as you are walking in this flesh and as long as you are on this earth, you will be in a spiritual warfare. So, all was not going well. You might call this chapter “The Necessity of House Cleaning” because Nehemiah came back and he definitely cleaned house! It was what they used to call a “back-door” revival. That was when you had a revival and about half of the church got mad and left. That was 218
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about what happened here. He was going to thin things down. He took the elders and put them in their place and made them take over their responsibility again. In verse 11, he lined them up and told them they were going to tithe! Nehemiah is of a very strong personality and he is a very strong leader and that is exactly what is needed in every situation. Someone has to be in control. Someone has to be in charge. There is a great necessity for leadership today. Men who know God, walk with God, know what God wants, and who are willing to enforce the laws of God are much needed today. We need men who’ll just say, “This is right, and this is what we’re going to do, and this is how we ought to live.” In chapter 13 there were three things these people lacked which were the reasons that they backslid. These were the reasons they went back to committing the same sins they were involved in when Nehemiah had come to Jerusalem twenty-four years before. He had come and cleansed the city, then he left and was gone for about twelve years, and now he had come back and they were committing the same sins they were guilty of when he first came to the city. These areas Nehemiah mentioned in chapter 13 are of vast importance to us even today. I. VISION They had either lost their vision or they never really had one. Notice what it says in verse 7. Nehemiah saw things like they really were. He understood the evil that was going on. Do you know what is wrong with a lot of folks today? They don’t understand sin. They don’t understand the holiness of God. There are a lot of folks today who just don’t understand what it really means to be saved and born again by the Holy Spirit of God. They don’t understand repentance. They understand that they should read the Bible, go to church, and all of 219
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those kinds of things, but they do not understand the spiritual truth or the spiritual meaning of being saved, of being born again, of repenting of sin, or of knowing Christ as their Savior. They just do not understand the spiritual part of it. Every Christian needs to see things as they really are. You need to get your vision straightened out in some very important areas of your life. A. Understanding salvation Nehemiah understood salvation. Salvation begins with repentance. Repentance is confessing you are a sinner. It is the fact that you are sorry you are a sinner, and you are sorry for your sin. It is the fact that you are now willing to turn from the sin in your life. No one has ever been saved until they have experienced that repentant attitude in their heart. When you got saved you may not have used the word repentance. You may not have said, “Lord, I repent!” But there had to be a repentant attitude in your heart. If you didn’t have the attitude in which you knew you were a sinner, and you were sorry for your sins, then you didn’t really get saved or born again. There are a lot of folks who didn’t really get saved. They didn’t really have a changed life, and if it was changed, then it was only changed for a little while, just like the dog who eventually returns to its vomit and like the sow who eventually returns to the mud and the mire. This fake salvation is only a temporary thing. When a man really gets saved his nature will be changed. He doesn’t go back to the vomit, or to the mud and the mire. He doesn’t go back to what he was before. His life has been changed. His very nature has been changed. He cannot go back and live in the sin and the filth of wickedness like he did before and enjoy it. He cannot do that because he is a new creation and old things have passed away and all things have become new. If a man can go back and live like he did before, then he never got the real thing. B. Understanding God’s purpose 220
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In verse 7, Nehemiah understood the purpose of God. He understood that the Jews were God’s people. He understood that they were to be a different people and that they were living under a different law. They had a different Master. They were from a different world. They were the people of God. They were a peculiar people and a separated people. Nehemiah understood that, but the Jews in Jerusalem didn’t understand that. They didn’t really see for themselves exactly who they were and how they were supposed to live. On the prior occasion when they had the great dedication service and they signed the covenant and said they would serve God, they really didn’t understand what was involved. To them it was just something that was going on. It is like coming to a great revival service where there is a revival spirit, and everybody else is going to the altar and getting right with God, so you go down to the altar to pray and get right with God. You just do it because it was the thing to do. A lot of folks come just because it is the program. A lot of folks come, but they don’t understand it for themselves. They’re just doing what everyone else is doing. Nehemiah was in leadership, and he said that they were going to do this, this, this and this; so they said, “Well, we’ll do it and we’ll have a covenant and we’ll sign it and promise God that we’ll serve Him,” but it really wasn’t a conviction of their own hearts. They were leaning on Nehemiah’s convictions. They were leaning on the program. Every Christian needs to form his own convictions and live by his own heart. C. Understanding God’s holiness Nehemiah understood that God isn’t interested in crowds. God isn’t interested in a big crowd; He is interested in a clean crowd. That was why Nehemiah was trying to cleanse the house of God. He knew God was not dependent upon a multitude. It is up to the Lord to deliver by many or by few. He can save by whichever one He chooses. He is a sovereign God, and the Bible says, “...few 221
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there be that find it” (Matthew 7:14). Few are going to serve God, but if the few will stay clean, then God can use them to reach the multitudes. Nehemiah understood the holiness of God. He understood that God is not impressed by crowds, and He is not impressed by great, outward things. He is looking for a small group who will be clean and who are willing to be used of Him. I’ve said before that every Christian needs to see these things for himself. Folks are always saying, “Well, our church believes...,” or “our preacher believes...” It should be, “I believe...” Have you not read the Word of God? Can you not form some convictions based upon what you read? Does not the Holy Spirit convict you as you read the Word of God? Does He not form in your heart convictions? It should not to be, “My pastor believes this,” or “our church believes this.” It ought to be, “I’ve read the Word of God and I’ve heard preaching and God spoke to my heart and this is what I believe.” It has to become personal or it will not be lasting. I’ve had friends down through the years who at one time claimed to believe just like I do, but now they don’t dress like they used to dress; they don’t live like they used to live; and they don’t preach like they used to preach. It was just the big thing of the day. And if you wanted to be one of the big preachers, you had to believe all of those things and you had to live a certain way. But it was not a personal conviction based upon the Holy Spirit working in their hearts through the Word of God. It was a temporary thing, and now they’ve gone back the other way, just like this crowd did here. They just went along with the crowd and the preacher; and these men went along with Nehemiah’s convictions; but there comes a day when you need to get your own convictions. You need to come to the place where you can say, “This is what I believe!” So, we find that these people were lacking in this vision—that is the ability to see God and to see things and to see sin as it really is. 222
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II. VIRTUE These people were also lacking virtue. They had made a promise, and they had broken it. That is a lack of virtue. Peter said, “...add to your faith virtue...” (1 Peter 1:5). Virtue is moral character. Virtue is faithfulness. Virtue is being dependable. Virtue is being hard-working. A. Keep your vows Virtue is keeping your word when you say that you’ll do something, and if you have character and virtue you will do what you promised to do. The Bible talks about, “...He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not” (Psalm 15:4). This means that if I swear or make a promise to someone, and then I find out it is going to hurt me, I go ahead and do it anyway because I promised that I would. If I promise someone I’ll help them financially, and the time comes and I don’t have the money, I just go ahead and help them anyway because I promised I would. That is character. That is virtue. Virtue is lacking today! You’ll need virtue. You’ll need moral character. You’ll need strength. Virtue comes as you surrender yourself to the Holy Spirit of God. You don’t have any virtue in yourself. You don’t have any character in yourself. We’re sinners and we are born in sin. Paul said, “...in me...dwelleth no good thing” (Romans 7:18). I don’t have it, but He’ll give it to me if I want it. He’ll give me the strength to live for Him. B. Overcome opposition You need strength to overcome opposition. As I said before, we are in a spiritual warfare. There are Sanballats, Tobiahs, and Geshems everywhere you look. There is the world and the flesh, and there is the devil. There is always an enemy out there. The problem is pride! “Pride goeth before destruction...” (Proverbs 16:18). We don’t see it. We never imagine it. You get to the place where everything is going smooth, and all of the bills are paid; you’re a big name preacher; you preach all over the country; folks look up to you, and you have a big church; you write books; you have tapes 223
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and all of that. There is nothing wrong with any of that, but it doesn’t leave much to pray about. You’d better remember to pray about that old, wicked heart of yours because it will lead you astray! The flesh is wicked. This heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. You can fall! I can fall! If you get to the place where you think you can’t fall; and you think you’re above sin; and you think you can always overcome the devil; and you think you can always handle the flesh—that is when you are most likely to fall. That is what happens to all of those preachers that you hear about falling into sin. I’m not being critical! I say that fearfully! I pray, that no matter how good things are; and no matter how big the church gets; and no matter how much money we have in the bank, we will keep ourselves in dependence upon God. I’m talking about in our personal lives. C. Follow Nehemiah’s example 1. Be faithful Nehemiah is an example of someone who has been faithful. Nehemiah was probably about forty years of age when he first came to Jerusalem. He was there twelve years and gone twelve years. That would make him about sixty-four years old, and he was still just as faithful as ever. It is a strange thing when you think of Noah and how he was in a wicked generation in which every imagination of the heart was wicked, and yet he lived for God. Then you think of Lot who had Abraham, the friend of God, for an uncle, and he couldn’t live for God! Here was Nehemiah and he was over there in an old, cold, dead, wicked place called Babylon, where there were heathens, and they worshipped other gods; and here were the people back in Jerusalem and they had a wall around the city and they had the temple and they had preachers, and yet they were continually in a backslidden state. Do you know who preached to these people while Nehemiah was 224
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gone? Malachi did! He preached about these very things. Malachi talked to them about them taking strange wives, breaking the Sabbath, and tithing. For twelve years they heard preaching, but it didn’t affect them at all until somebody showed up and said, “We’re going to do it!” So, we find that Nehemiah was faithful. What kept him on fire for God? He had a vision, and he understood some things. He saw who he was. He saw what God had done for him. He saw the holiness of God. He saw the purpose of God for the Jews. He saw some things that no one else saw and not only that—he had virtue 2. Be fervent Not only was Nehemiah faithful, but he was also fervent. He came back and cleaned house! Amen?! 3. Be forceful Nehemiah was also forceful. He said, “This is what we’re going to do!” Why? He had vision and he had virtue. III. VIGILANCE The Bible says, “...be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). There is the necessity of vision, virtue, and of vigilance. There were several areas in chapter 13 that demanded vigilance, but they did not guard them. To be vigilant simply means to be on guard. Being vigilant means that you wake up every morning saying, “Lord, today I could fall, and I need you today. Lord, today I could have the thoughts that would lead me away from God. Today, I could do something that would break the heart of God and cause me to lose my testimony with others.” Let me mention six areas briefly that need vigilance. A. Friends Look at chapter 13, verses 4-10. It talks about the priests being allied 225
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with Tobiah. These people didn’t watch their friendships. Young people especially need to watch their friendships because friends can lead them away from God. One day, just like with Eliashib, the priest, Tobiah is going to put you on the spot! He’ll say, “You’re either going to be my friend and turn on God, or you’ll choose God, and I’ll not be your friend anymore.” Every friend will do you that way if they are not the right kind of friend. Every ungodly or worldly friend will sooner or later pit himself against your loyalty and your love and your allegiance to God Himself. That is exactly what happens. It happened one day when Tobiah said, “I’m going to move into the house of God and take up residence.” Eliashib was put on the spot. Either he took his stand for God and lost that friendship, or Tobiah remained his friend. He compromised and let Tobiah move in. He made friends with the wrong people. Watch your friendships! There is a danger. I’m not saying you can’t have an unsaved friend. I’m saying that the reason you have unsaved friends should be so you can witness to them and get them saved. When you forget about trying to get them saved and become their friend just for friendship’s sake, they will drag you away from God. B. Church Notice Nehemiah 13, verses 10 and 11. There is the area of the church. The devil is going to come along sooner or later and say, “Listen, you don’t really need the church. You can get along without the church. You don’t have to go every service.” The devil will talk you out of church. You’d better stay vigilant! This was written 3,000 years ago, and it is still true. Look at 1 John 3:14. The Bible says also that Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for it. When you get saved, you will begin to love the things God loves, and God loves the Church. There are a lot of folks who say the Church is a thing of the past and churches are not good, but the 226
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Church is still the Church; and it still belongs to Him, and He purchased it with His own blood, and He redeemed it with His own suffering. We ought to love the Church of God. These people had forsaken it and had forgotten how important it was. They had forgotten the price that Nehemiah and others paid so they might have the wall around the city and the temple. C. Money Look at Nehemiah 13, verses 12 and 13. The third area that you ought to keep your eye on is your money. You’d better beware of greed and worldliness and materialism. You don’t have to be rich to be greedy. I know a lot of poor folks that wish they had this and they wish they had that. It is not how much money you have. It is your attitude toward money. Greed, worldliness, materialism, and the love of money are all still the root of all evil. So, these folks just stopped tithing. The Levites had to leave Jerusalem and go back to their homes and farms and fields, and they had to feed themselves and their families, and the house of God was forsaken. There were no Levites because there was no tithing. D. Worship In verse 15 we find they broke the Sabbath day. The Sabbath was a day of rest and worship. Here is what they neglected. They neglected their personal relationship with God. Nehemiah talked about their relationship to others (their friends), and he talked about their relationship to the people of God and the church, and he talked about their relationship to money and things, and now he says, “You need to check your relationship to God.” The reason they were working on the Sabbath was because they weren’t worshipping or praying or reading the Bible. You have to keep a guard on your personal worship of God. The only time you read your Bible shouldn’t be when you come to the house of God. The only time you pray should not be when you come to the house of God. 227
The Necessity of Vision, Virtue, and Vigilance
That is not it. It is a personal thing. It ought to be a daily thing. You ought to wake up with God on your mind, and you ought to go through the day with God on your mind. You ought to go to bed at night worshipping God and loving Him and serving Him. You ought to say, “O God, lead me and guide me every moment of every day.” You ought to be sensitive to the presence of God. It’s not just a Sunday thing. It is an everyday thing of living for God. E. Family Verse 23 gives us the fifth area. These people married the wrong people. 1. Marry saved people only We are only to marry saved people and spiritual people (2 Corinthians 6:14). 2. Marry permanently When you walk down the aisle and say, “I do,” it should be forever! It is forever in the sight of God. It doesn’t matter what the courthouse says. It doesn’t matter what the judges say. God says that it is eternal! It is one man and one woman as long as they live, and that is the way God looks at it. Nothing else, and no other way, is right. F. Separation Look at verse 24. They lost their separation. They were talking like the world and like the heathen, and they were dressing like the heathen. It was just little by little. They lost their separation from the world. It will happen. What do you have to do? You have to keep vigilant! You have to have a vision. You have to understand and see some things. I’m a child of God. I’m not of this world. I may be in it, but I am not of it! I’m a child of God. I am to be different. Then you have virtue. You say, “By the grace of God I am going to be different.” Then you wake up every day saying, “Today I am going to be different and today I’m going to maintain my separation and today I am going to pray and read the Word of God.” 228
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Every day you have to keep vigilant. That is why Paul said, “I die daily� (1 Corinthians 15:31). That is why he said we are to take up our cross daily and follow Jesus. If you just take it up on Sunday, then little by little you will lose your relationship to God. Why not right now, afresh and anew, renew your vision, your virtue, and your vigilance, and determine to live for Him daily? If you do so, you will be an effective servant for God! Amen!
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