Rise Up and Build (Part 4):
Sword and Shovel
Nehemiah 4:1-23
Series Recap: - LOGO SLIDE 1
A) The Current Situation – We have talked over the past three weeks about our current situation here at Third Avenue Church. We are a declining Middle Class white church within a mostly African American community filled with drugs, crime, gangs, and poverty. Our community is within a city that has experienced drastic decline and disappointments over the past 40 years. Most people don't look ahead to better times, instead they focus on what was and the good ole days.
But that is not where God wants us! I truly believe that the best days for our Community and Third Avenue Church lie ahead of us...not behind. I believe that God has a vision for us that far surpasses all of the obstacles that we have faced and will continue to face. The best is yet to come!
B) We must be Broken - But in order for us to rebuild a better future we must first be broken over the desolation that is ever before us. We must see the poverty, we must see the drug and alcohol addictions, we must see the unwed mothers, the unfathered children, the gangs, and the violence AND WE MUST WEEP! In order for us to rebuild we must see the petty battles we have fought, the fights that weren't worth fighting, and we must fight the battles that actually mean something. We can't hold on to our petty, trivial preferences anymore. What is the value of focusing on music styles, rows verses circles, ties or no ties, or whats in the piece of paper we hand out on Sundays – when all the while there are people right outside our doors who are on their way to an eternity separated from God in a Devil's hell; - when all the while there are people in our church who need to be discipled and matured in their walk with God. We must be broken over our gossip, over our backbiting, and over our sinfulness! - WE MUST BE BROKEN!
C) We must rely on the Hand of God – And when we are broken then we have made it possible for God to take us in His hands and work mightily through us. His ways our now our ways, and all of our dependence is in him. In the hands of God we declare... WE DEPEND ON HIM IN ALL THINGS! And guess what... in the hands of God you can do all things!
D) Separate Yourself from the Naysayers – When you are broken and fully dependent on God, then you are able to break away from the pack. There are two people in a church. There are those who oppose the work and those who are part of the building process. Last week we spoke about Naysayers and Rebuilders.
SLIDE 2
Which person are you choosing to be. Someone who sees God's hand all over this and says “LET US RISE UP AND BUILD” or those who oppose the work of God; who will continue to complain and grumble as the Israelites of old who did not see the promised land.
I. Sermon Intro: -
TITLE SLIDE 3
A) There Will Always Be a Fight – Determining to Rise Up and Build is only part of the fight. The battle has only just begun, and it will never end in this lifetime. You see we are always in a fight, what you must determine is what fight is important.
PASSAGE SLIDE 4, 5, 6, 7
B) Fight the Right Fight - Ephesians 6:10-13 - Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm..
SLIDE 8
You see, the Bible says the only fights worth fighting are those that are not against people, but against the spiritual forces of evil. We must stop fighting amongst ourselves and start fighting the real enemy. Lets look at how Nehemiah prioritized his fights and how exactly he fought! Because some fights need swords and some fights need shovels... and most fights need both!
PASSAGE SLIDES 9, 10, 11, 12
C) Nehemiah 4:6-9 - So we built the wall. And all the wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work. 7But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem was going forward and that the breaches were beginning to be closed, they were very angry. 8And they all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it. 9And we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night
II. Body: So lets look at the fights we will fight as we rebuild and how to fight them.
SLIDE 13
A. WHEN YOU REBUILD YOU WILL FIGHT AGAINST MOCKERY AND CONFUSION (4:1-9)
TITLE SLIDE 14
a) Mockery – We talked about this last week. The greatest opposition to the work of God is often grumbling and complaining. Sanballat and Tobiah think that by their constant mockery they can discourage the Israelites enough to the point where they will give up.
b) Notes on 4:1-5 – Sanballat and Tobiah are back to their old ways of grumbling and complaining. I swear thats all these guys do. Tobiah comments “if a fox jumps on their little wall it will fall down.” Sanballat jokes “do they think they will finish in a day... do they really think they can actually do this in their own strength... perhaps they should step up the sacrifices – mocking God too.
c) Discouragement is often the response – I'll admit it... when people mock me or complain and grumble against the work of God here, I get very discouraged. Statistics tell us that the three most stressful jobs on the planet are 1) President of the USA, 2) The Director of a Hospital, and 3) being a pastor. Why? Because it can be very discouraging. Perhaps when people come at you with mockery, complaining, and gossip.. you get discouraged too.
d) Confusion – Here we see the enemy's main plan. They will cause confusion. Another way of seeing that is disunity. They will cause the people to fight amongst themselves or become discouraged and quit. Nothing will kill the work of wGod faster than disunity. Jesus himself said the famous words “a house divided can not stand.”
e) We fight with PRAYER – I know it seems like a broken record at this point, but this is always going to be our greatest weapon. WE fight with prayer! Prayer is our first response, not our last resort.
SLIDE 15
Prayer is the fastest and most effective way to destroy discouragement and disunity. If we fight against people we always lose, but when we fight against the spirit of evil working in people by praying to our heavenly father who fights on our behalf we will always win.
SLIDE 16
B. WHEN YOU REBUILD YOU WILL FIGHT AGAINST FATIGUE (4:10-11,14)
PASSAGE SLIDES 17, 18, 19
a) Nehemiah 10-11, 14 - In Judah it was said,“The strength of those who bear the burdens is failing. There is too much rubble. By ourselves we will not be able to rebuild the wall.” 11And our enemies said, “They will not know or see till we come among them and kill them and stop the work.” 14And I looked and arose and said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.”
SLIDE 20
b) The Half Way Point – So the wall is halfway built. It is always at the half way point where the fatigue sets in and the battle seems the hardest. The adrenaline of the challenge is over and the light at the end of the tunnel is still too distant to see. There's too much rubble. We will never finish. The people are too tired, worn down, sick, hungry, and to top it off there are lots of people coming to kill us...
c) Nehemiah's Braveheart Speech – This is Nehemiah's Braveheart speech... “but they will never take your freedom”... He says... I know your tired... I know you are scared... but REMEMBER THE LORD WHO IS GREAT AND AWESOME!!!!!! So fight for your brothers, sons, daughters, wives, homes!
d) We fight with the POWER OF GOD! - There is no better way to overcome fatigue than to remember that your God is great and awesome and that he fights for you!
SLIDE 21
When you get tired of the spiritual fight, rely on the power of your great and awesome God who fights for you!
SLIDE 22
C. WHEN YOU REBUILD YOU WILL BUILD AND FIGHT AT THE SAME TIME (4:15-23)
PASSAGE SLIDES 23, 24, 25, 26
a) Nehemiah 4:16-18, 23 - 16From that day on, half of my servants worked on construction, and half held the spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail. And the leaders stood behind the whole house of Judah, 17who were building on the wall. Those who carried burdens were loaded in such a way that each labored on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other.18And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built. The man who sounded the trumpet was beside me. there. Our God will fight for us.” 23So neither I nor my brothers nor my servants nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us took off our clothes; each kept his weapon at his right hand.
SLIDE 27
b) Rebuilding never ends – the fight never ends – Listen, its' easy to think that once something is accomplished there is nothing left to do.
In our spiritual lives, rebuilding is never over. We are constantly being transformed. That means the fight is never over against our flesh, against sin, and against the spiritual evil in the hearts of men and the forces of darkness. This means you are always called to carry a sword in one hand and a shovel in the other.
SLIDE 28
In order to fight you must carry the Sword of the Spirit (Prayer and the Word). In order to build you must carry the Shovel of the Spirit (The Power of God). This is a very promising combination to overcome the enemy and any obstacle standing in front of you.
III. Conclusion–
a) Some of you still need to determine to build! - Some of you need to pick up a shovel and follow God's leading to rebuild our church, our community, and our own spiritual lives.
b) Some of you still need to determine to fight! - Some of you need to pick up a sword and follow God's leading to fight the right fights. Our fight is not against each other, it's against the powers of Satan that will do anything it can to put the final nail in the coffin of this church. We will never let that happen.
c) God is calling all of us to fight and to build – Soets Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.” Fight for the spiritual lives of your brothers. Your sons, your daughters, your wives, your homes, and your church!