A Mind to Work
Notes
Transcript
Our theme for this year is “The Church and me in 2023”. We will be focusing on Church outreach and our involvement in God’s Church.
The Church and Me in 2023
24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
We are in a series simply titled “Rebuilding”
Through this series we study Nehemiah and his mission to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
With this we will see how to apply the techniques and lessons learned in Nehemiah to our lives today.
How to rebuild, restore, and renew our lives, our ministry, our church, and our relationship with Christ.
We need to be effective ministers to one another.
Remember, minister simply means- to attend to the needs of someone.
Something we need, even when faced with fierce opposition.
Lets take a look at Nehemiah chapter 4.
1 But it came to pass, that when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews.
2 And he spake before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, What do these feeble Jews? will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they make an end in a day? will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned?
3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall.
4 Hear, O our God; for we are despised: and turn their reproach upon their own head, and give them for a prey in the land of captivity:
5 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.
6 So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work.
*open Prayer*
We open up this morning with ridicule and mocking. That is the response to the revival that is breaking out among the people.
Ridicule can come from anywhere. Complete strangers, friends, enemies, loved ones.... be prepared.
It is ugly, it is often cruel, and it is designed to discourage you.
To put you into a position of total despair.
Interestingly, Nehemiah does not respond to this with equally damaging insults. Instead he takes a much different approach. One I know I struggle with quite a bit… He turns to God in prayer.
When ridicule and mocking of your faith occurs, especially when you know what you are doing is right, we need to not get discouraged.
We need to not respond in the same wicked way, instead open up about the situation to God.
God will give you the strength, encouragement, and guidance to carry on.
Again we see the power of prayer in action.
I told you Nehemiah was a man of action, but he was also a man of prayer!
The real test of a leader is how they face crises and reacts to opposition.
You will face opposition in your Christian walk, count on that.
If you were here during our Wednesday night class, we talked about this
Let me run though a couple of verses again real quick, in case you missed it.
James chapter 1
12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. 13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: 14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
To get some context here, James is talking about those that love God (verse 12). He is talking about us children of God.
Verse 14 he says “every man is tempted”.
Christian, you will face opposition. You will face temptations.
The world will expect you to give up and give in.
“You can never succeed!” they will cry out to you.
It may even sound like this… “don’t judge me”
“who do you think you are’
“that is just your truth”
“your god isn’t real” “he doesn’t care about us” “if there was a god why would he allow________?”
Opposition is just a fact of life.
If you are afraid of being hated, you will struggle in your Christian growth.
Not that it is impossible for you to grow, but it will be much more challenging.
Why?
Because the world will display hatred for you. In every sense of the word.
Hatred- intense dislike or ill will
The opposite of love
While the Hebrews naturally had a whole range of such emotions ranging from outright death-seeking malice to mere preference, disregard, and rejection, they had no suitable words to express different shades of meaning. Thus words such as “love” and its opposite “hate” (Heb. kānēʾ; Gk. miséō) were used to express the idea of preference.
18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
You better get used to the idea that the world Hates you.
The world hates Jesus, and so if you are displaying a Christ-like attitude, they will hate you.
The question is not will they oppose you, they question is how will you react?
Verses 1-3 in Nehemiah 4 are clearly people attempting to discourage the workers of the Lord.
Lets look at verse 2 again.
2 And he spake before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, What do these feeble Jews? will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they make an end in a day? will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned?
The most hurtful form of discouragement is often enhanced with some truths.
For example, they called the Jewish workers “feeble”.
Feeble- lacking physical strength, especially as a result of age or illness:
It is true, the Jewish workers were feeble.
They certainty could not complete this work in one day.
Look at how many years it took just to get this far.
Building the wall around the city was certainty not an idea they were comfortable with, or even physically suited for.
But God does not call the qualified, He qualifies the called.
They knew God is with them and will see them through.
They mocked them. You can almost hear their sarcastic tone…
3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall.
“Even a fox will break down that stone wall”.
Notice Sanballat and Tobiah were not able to legally or physically stop the building of the wall.
Their primary point of attack was on discouragement.
An attack on the mind.
Lets look at Romans 12 again.
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
The renewing of the mind....
I don’t think we would be doing a service in our rebuilding/renewing series if we do not talk about the mind.
When we renew our mind, when we repent worldly thinking, and embrace heavenly thinking, know that you are setting yourself up to be a “dangerous Christian”.
Satan doesn't like dangerous Christians, they can turn the world upside down!
Expect him to come after your mind.
Which is why we should wear the helmet of salvation to protect it.
But that is getting into a whole nother sermon.
Note Sanballat and Tobiah us their speech to attempt to dismay and discourage the workers.
At this point the wall is about half way done...
Let me rephrase that, the wall is “only halfway done”
*insert heavy sarcastic tone*
Ever heard this type of rhetoric before?
“And you call yourself a Christian?”
“You will never amount to much, just look at you.”
“Your church will never be able to provide what the mega church’s do”
When there is no legal play, the enemy will seek our mental attacks to discourage.
When satan asks these questions you respond with like Paul did in Romans
31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
When the enemy uses mental attacks, that means they are desperate.
They know they cannot physically or legally stop you, so they want to mentally stop you.
You are now actively engaged in the enemies battle plan for spiritual warfare.
He comes to kill, divide, and destroy.
This is true when speaking about the church as a whole,
the local church,
and the individual soul.
Satan wants you to be divided in every aspect of your life.
Lets look at another point in Nehemiah...
Whats interesting here though is were Nehemiah was building them up together as a team in chapter 2, notice the opposition seeks to cause division.
Look at the the last three words in verse 3.
“their stone wall”
Its “us verse them” mentally.
That is a powerful tactic of Satan. He loves to divide
Especially when its God’s children.
He counts it as bonus points when he can do it in the church.
To compare the language they use, lets look at chapter 2 again.
17 Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach. 18 Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king’s words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work.
Nehemiah is using words like “us” and “we”.
Unity.... a like minded attitude of being about God’s work.... together.... in one accord.
Do you think there is a message somewhere in here for the state of the church today?
Compare these two verses today...
19 A false witness that speaketh lies, And he that soweth discord among brethren.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
I am going to let you dwell on those two verses while we look a little closer at Nehemiah’s response...
4 Hear, O our God; for we are despised: and turn their reproach upon their own head, and give them for a prey in the land of captivity: 5 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 was visibly upset by the whole situation.
Rightfully so, and therefore was called to action.
But instead of responding by trading insults, or physically violence, Nehemiah says this prayer to the Lord.
And he holds nothing back.
Did you know it is OK to be honest with the Lord?
That seems like a strange thing to say but let me elaborate.
Nehemiah says what he is thinking… He prays ever thing on his heart to God.
I mean he is literally is praying for God to send these two to Hell, is he not?
Listen, God already knows how you feel inside...
Why is it that sometimes we have to censure our prayers to make them “God appropriate”.
It is fake when we do that.
It is not a real prayer when it is censured.
Nehemiah does not censure his prayer, he does not whine to God, he does not complain.
He prays for God to take these two out, “just remove this problem from me for all of eternity!”
Sound like a familiar prayer, “God just get rid of this for me”.
As rough as this sounds, I submit to you this was a good thing for Nehemiah.
We are going to talk about why this was a good move.
Nehemiah let what was on his heart be known through prayer to God. God already knows, he was just giving the thoughts to God to deal with
It is way better to give God whats on your hart than to let it build up and turn to physical violence or even insults.
that kills your testimony and impacts the work God has for you.
instead of cursing them out, or reading them the riot act, pour out your heart to God.
Now, I would not endorse praying for God to take revenge on anyone, that is not what Nehemiah is doing. He is praying the problem needs to be removed.
Everyone understands those are two different things right?
It is not like Nehemiah went home and was like “how could these people insult me? I know what I’ll do”
He simply Gave what was on his heart to God.
Now it is in God’s hands.
I further submit to you that God has no obligation to answer all your prayers.
When I was a kid, my dad loved listening to country music while at work. I’m reminded of that old song “unanswered prayers”.
It is true, that some of God’s greatest gifts is not giving us what we want...
Especially knowing He has something better in store for us.
So let’s look at the results of Nehemiah’s prayer....
6 So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work.
Nehemiah, is half way up this mountain. He prays God remove the upper half of this mountain....
To remove the resistance in his mission.
That is what Sanballat and Tobiah are, resistance.
That is also why we do not like to clime big mountains.
“I’m tired of walking, I’m tired of dealing with all this....
My legs cannot take it anymore!”
“God, remove this mountain in my life”
Instead of God answering your prayer to remove resistance, he strengthens your legs!
Look at verse 6 again. “so we built the wall”.
Work did not stop and the enemies attack on the mind did not work!
Why?
BECAUSE THE PEOPLE HAD A MIND TO WORK
They did not let the enemy into their mind. They were strong together even when they were week physically.
If God be for us, who can be against us?
Notice the immediate result of the prayer.
The answer to prayer did absolutely nothing to effect the enemy.
Nothing!!!
What changed was on the workers. They had a mind to work.
They were motivated, dedicated, and committed to completing the work the Lord had placed before them!
Church, there is a lesson here somewhere, I’m sure of it!
God did listen to this angry prayer, but by giving it to God, Nehemiah allowed God to work through HIS people instead.
The focus is not on the enemy, its on you.
Remember, obedience to your ministry is between God and you!
The power of your ministry if because of the relationship between God you!
Notice your enemies are not even in the equation.
Church, how do we rebuild the walls today?
How do we restore, renew our churches today?
Our ministries today?
Our relationship with God today?
It is solely between you and God.
What is your relationship with God look like today?
Do you trust Him as your personal savior?
I am not talking about a religion, or a title, do you have a saving relationship with Jesus right now?
If you don’t you need to come to know him now.
Your in a spiritually burning building, and I am yelling directions to the exit.
There is only one exit and His name is Jesus!
6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Come let me show you Him today!
Christian brother or sister, are you climbing a mountain today?
The enemy wants you to give up, to give in.
Do not give way to the enemy.
Can I encourage you today to keep going. Keep moving forward for Christ.
Come give what is on your heart to Jesus.
Let Him do a work in your life today.
*closing prayer*