Encouraging Words 4

Nehemiah 4: 6; 10 "So we built the wall, and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a mind to work....10 Then Judah said, “The strength of the laborers is failing, and there is so much rubbish that we are not able to build the wall.”

Notice how they began so strong..."The people had a mind to work."

They were exuberant, excited, motivated, energetic and encouraged.

But just 4 verses later something has happened to all of that!

Now they are fearful, weary, listless, unmotivated and discouraged.

Three things were responsible for this sudden change of heart...

Their focus had shifted from the purpose before them to the mess surrounding them. "There is so much rubbish we are not able to build the wall" (4:10).

They became intimidated by their enemies. "We have been told ten times that our enemies will 'come into our midst and kill us.'" (4:11-12)

They grew weary in the work. "The strength of the laborers is failing." (4:10)

These three things conspired together to bring a halt to the work and produced total discouragement in God's people.

What Nehemiah does next reveals the great power of encouragement...

He gathered the fearful, weary, and discouraged people together and encouraged them, which brought about 3 dramatic changes.

First, His encouragement...

Restored their courage...

Nehemiah encouraged them first by saying, "Do not be afraid of them..."

At the beginning they had possessed courage...

Then they became discouraged; which was then turned around by encouragement.

Nehemiah's words are not a rebuke, but are an encouragement to shake off the spirit of fear.

How often God's people fall prey to fear, which is one of the great tools of Satan in bringing discouragement to our hearts!

King David battled fear so often in the Psalms...

"When I am afraid, I will trust in you" (Ps. 56:3).

"The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?" (27:1).

"You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,

Nor of the arrow that flies by day,

6 Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,

Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday" (91:5-6).

David repeatedly shook off fear by quoting the Word of God!

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The Bible tells us clearly that fear does not come from God.

2 Tim. 1:7 "For God did not give us a spirit of fear. He gave us a spirit of power and of love and of self-control."

If you're tormented by fear, the first thing to know is that God did not give you that fear...He doesn't want you to suffer with it!

The Bible tells us that God's love will cast out that spirit of fear...

1 John 4:18 says, "Perfect love (God's love) casts out fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life—fear of death, fear of judgment—is the person not yet fully formed in love."

Nehemiah was looking at a group of people that had succumbed to the fear of men...fear of them had gripped their hearts.

So Nehemiah encouraged them saying, "Don't be afraid of them!"

Who are they?

God will fight for us, we're the winners!

Don't forget Who you are and Whose you are!

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ILLUS: In Paul's travels he one time shipwrecked onto an island called Malta.

It was wintertime and the ocean-soaked crew, along with all the prisoners, including Paul, were shivering to the bone.

So Paul began to gather some sticks for a fire.

The Bible records, "But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out by reason of the heat, and fastened on his hand" (Acts 28:3).

Have you ever noticed that it's when we're in the middle of a hot trial of faith that Satan emerges to strike us with his poison.

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Now, this viper was no doubt what we call a "two-stepper."

His venom was so potent that you took two steps and died.

This kind of snake venom paralyzes your lungs until you can't breathe.

We're told that it "fastened" onto Paul's hand which likely means it wrapped itself around his hand.

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Now, this viper is very much a picture of fear...

It fastens itself to you, it injects its poison into your mind and heart, and paralyzes you into inactivity, just like it did Nehemiah's builders.

Notice how Paul responded to this sudden attack from the serpent.

"Paul shook off the snake into the fire. He was not hurt in any way" (28:5).

There was no swelling...

The natives that were watching were certain he was being judged for whatever had made him a prisoner, but soon were amazed that nothing happened to him.

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Folks, in our day of hypersensitivity and Political Correctness, when it seems like everyone is walking around offended about something, we Christians need to learn to shake some things off!

When someone says something hurtful, give it to God and shake it off!

When things don't go the way you thought they would, give it to God and shake it off!

And when the devil tries to inject the poison of fear into you, give it to God and shake it off!

Nehemiah is encouraging God's people to shake it off!

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Secondly, by the power of encouragement he...

Adjusted their focus...

"Remember the Lord, great and awesome..."

He's saying "Get your eyes off of your enemy and off of the mess and onto God!"

Don't forget that God is great, and God is awesome!

We should often remind ourselves of the awesome power of the God we serve!

The Prophet Zephaniah wrote, "The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves" (3:17).

Moses one day broke out in praise saying, "Who among the gods is like you, LORD? Who is like you-- majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?" (Ex. 15:11)

Jeremiah felt the same way, "No one is like you, LORD; you are great, and your name is mighty in power" (Jer. 10:6).

Listen: The God who promised that He would "make all things work together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose"......is going to turn your mess into a message, and your moaning into a testimony, so TURN YOUR EYES ONTO HIM!

"You will keep the man in perfect peace whose mind is kept on You," said Isaiah (Is 26:3).

I encourage you, said Nehemiah, to Get your eyes back on Him!

Sometimes all it takes to help a struggling believer is to encourage them to get their eyes back on God!

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And thirdly, by the power of encouragement...

He pulled them back to their purpose...

He reminded them WHY they were back in Jerusalem---rebuilding the torn down wall as well as the entire city....

He said, "Fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives and your houses."

He's saying, "Remember your PURPOSE, oh Israel!"

You see, God had given them the land of Canaan....this was part of their destiny....

They were building the wall and restoring the city so that God might have a testimony of His greatness through them to the entire world!"

And for this to happen their children, and their children's children...their posterity and future generations, must have a place to live and multiply!

He's saying, "Israel, I encourage you to think about, not just THAT you are here, but WHY you are here!"

You see, our purpose is always revealed when we understand our WHY.

ILLUS: One day a traveller was walking down a road and came across 2 stonecutters working in a quarry who had been commissioned by the king.

Each was busy cutting a block of stone.

Interested to find out what they were working on, he asked the first stonecutter what he was doing.

“I am cutting a stone!”

Still no wiser the traveller turned to the second stonecutter and asked him what he was doing.

He seemed to be the happiest of the two and when asked what he was doing replied: “I am building a cathedral.”

One knew HOW to build, while the other knew WHY they were doing it, and he was the most inspired.

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Every Christian should understand, not just HOW to do church, but WHY we do church, not just THAT you are a Christian, but WHY you are a Christian.

It's not just so that you can go to heaven one day...

Listen: Christians are called to have an answer in a world full of questions.

We are, Jesus said, "The LIGHT of the world, the SALT of the earth."

Peter gave us a HUGE purpose statement...

"You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a called out people (here comes the WHY) so that you may shout out to others how God called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light" (1 Pet 2:9).

A church that understands HOW will do a certain amount of good.

But a church that understands WHY will transform the world!

Nehemiah encouraged them to remember their WHY....

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Nehemiah's skillful encouragement 1.) restored their courage, 2.) adjusted their focus, 3.) piqued their purpose.

Now look at the fruit of Nehemiah's encouragement:

Neh 4:16-17, 6:15 "From that day on...Those who were building the wall and those who carried loads did their work with one hand, and held something to fight with in the other hand....So the wall was finished....in fifty-two days."

The Children of Israel accomplished a miraculous engineering feat by finishing this quickly.

And it was the power of encouragement skillfully employed by Nehemiah that got them back into the game!