Sermon Tone Analysis

Intro

There were once two farmers who had fields that neighbored each other.

Both farmers loved God and would pray to him every day.

One farmer would rise early in the morning, pray that the Lord would give him a large harvest and then go out to work the fields.

The second farmer would also rise early, and pray that the Lord would bless his harvest and then take care of other chores around the farm like feeding the sheep and sweeping the barn.

When harvest time came, the first farmer went out and gathered more than he could store in his barns.

The second farmer went to his field and was worried because he didn’t see one single sprout in the entire field.

Confused, he went to his neighbor who was stocking his barns and said, “Friend, how is it that your field produced such a large harvest and mine not even a sprout?”

The first farmer answered, “Well the Lord blessed me.

I prayed and he answered me by giving me a great harvest.”

The second farmer replied, “Well I prayed too.

Every day!”

And the first farmer answered, “A farmer prays for a harvest and then works the fields.

He doesn’t pray for a harvest instead of working the fields.”

This simple parable reminds us an important aspect about living for the the kingdom that is often misunderstood by Christians.

In order to live for God’s will and grow his kingdom on the earth through the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ, we must have both prayer and action

If we want to see others saved, we must pray that the Lord would go before us to open blind eyes to save sinners,

But then we must also go out and actually do the work of the kingdom.

by living out the gospel in our lives and sharing the gospel as we have opportunity

As we study , we will see that when God’s people labor to grow his kingdom on the earth they will faced with opposition from the world, God’s people consistently respond with prayer to remind themselves of God’s power and his work to save sinners and move from that prayer to get to work themselves to see God’s kingdom grow.

They don’t pray and then sit back and relax waiting on miracles

They don’t pray and then sit back and relax waiting on miracles

Nor do they ignore God altogether believing they can do accomplish God’s purposes for their lives on their own on their own.

As we live for his kingdom, God invites us to join him in his work and get our hands dirty.

Not to just pray for God’s will to be done, but to take action and labor faithfully even when we face intense opposition from the world around us.

Living by faith requires prayer and action

Context

In , God’s people are all working on sections of the wall around the entire city.

Last week we discussed how it is crucial that everyone of us play our part in the church so that God can accomplish his purposes for that church.

In other words, we must all play our part so that our church can be a light to Northwest Arkansas as we proclaim that God saves sinners.

However, when God’s people join his work to build his kingdom on earth, the church will face opposition.

And as we as a church begin to labor for the kingdom by telling other people about Christ, we must endure opposition with an active faith that trusts God to accomplish his will for his church.

And in we see an example of how God’s people should respond as they are laboring to build God’s kingdom on the earth and the world starts pushing back

1.

A Threat of Words

Now when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and greatly enraged, and he jeered at the Jews. 2 And he said in the presence of his brothers and of the army of Samaria, “What are these feeble Jews doing?

Will they restore it for themselves?

Will they sacrifice?

Will they finish up in a day?

Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, and burned ones at that?” 3 Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, “Yes, what they are building—if a fox goes up on it he will break down their stone wall!”

Now when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and greatly enraged, and he jeered at the Jews. 2 And he said in the presence of his brothers and of the army of Samaria, “What are these feeble Jews doing?

Will they restore it for themselves?

Will they sacrifice?

Will they finish up in a day?

Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, and burned ones at that?” 3 Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, “Yes, what they are building—if a fox goes up on it he will break down their stone wall!”

Sanballat is the leader of Samaria just north of Jerusalem.

And Nehemiah says he was angry and greatly enraged.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

In Sanballat and Tobiah were just displeased the Nehemiah had come, but not that the wall was beginning to look like a wall again, they go from displeased to irate.

Why where they so angry?

If Nehemiah succeeds in rebuilding the wall then Sanballat’s and Tobiah’s power and influence would wain.

They were interested in ruling their own kingdoms where they could be the head honchos and oppress God’s people for their own profit.

And Nehemiah’s work was leading Israel to rebuild the wall so that God’s kingdom, not Sanballat and Tobiah’s, would grow on the earth.

In other words, Sanballat and Tobiah saw the expansion of God’s kingdom as the destruction of their own.

The fact that God has a kingdom confronts every person with a choice.

They can either repent of their sin and live for his kingdom and worship him, or they will continue living for themselves.

If God’s kingdom remains powerless, then they never need to deal with the call to repent of their sin and worship God alone.

God’s kingdom is anywhere his rule and reign is celebrated by his people

And his kingdom is threatening to his enemies because it challenges every part of their life.

But those of the world want nothing to do with God’s kingdom because it forces them to admit that they are not god of their own life,

The fact that God has a kingdom confronts every person with a choice.

They will either live for his kingdom and worship him, or they will continue living for themselves.

and that they are evil because they have sinned against a holy God.

This is why God’s enemies hate God’s people.

Because of their love for their sin, they don’t want to give up their sins and worship God alone.

They want nothing to do with God’s kingdom because it forces them to admit that they are not god of their own life, and that they need a savior to forgive them of their evil.

Make no mistake about it.

God’s enemies, that is any person who has not been elected to salvation through the gospel of Jesus Christ, want God’s kingdom to fail and they will use whatever means necessary to make war against it.

And often the world’s assault on the kingdom of God will begin with a persecution of words just like in Nehemiah.

Sanballat attacks the Jews by yelling out questions to discourage them from the work.

To make the feel stupid or foolish for trusting in God and his kingdom.

“What are these feeble Jews doing?

Will they restore it for themselves?

Will they sacrifice?

Will they finish up in a day?

Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, and burned ones at that?” 3 Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, “Yes, what they are building—if a fox goes up on it he will break down their stone wall!”

He asks “What are these feeble Jews doing?

Look how weak and foolish they are trying to rebuild this wall.

Will they restore it for themselves?

Will they sacrifice?

In other words, are these fanatics going to pray the wall up?

Is that how they are going to accomplish their work.

Will they finish up in a day?

Do they even know what they have taken on.

There is no way they can do it.

Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, and burned ones at that?”

Its going to be impossible for them to build with how much of a mess it is.

3 Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, “Yes, what they are building—if a fox goes up on it he will break down their stone wall!”

Tobiah jeers with Sanballat that the wall the Jews are building is as fragile as a house of cards.

Even the small paw of a fox that climbs on the wall will cause the whole thing to tumble down.

The big idea is that the enemies of God will always try to make God’s people give up on his kingdom by ridiculing and mocking them in attempt to make them feel so foolish in their faith that they either hide it, or give up on it all together.

And this same thing is happening in our culture today.

God’s enemies mock our faith and our morals because we dare to believe what God’s Word says is true.

Particularly in regards to homosexuality, gender identity and abortion, the world wants you to feel like you are on the wrong side of history.

That you are backwards and foolish to be so unloving and cruel to people who are choosing to live their life their way.

All the mocking and mischaracterization is done in an attempt, just like in Nehemiah’s day, to get us to stop living for the kingdom of God or at the very least to shut up about it so that those people who love their sin would not have to face the conviction of God’s rule being brought to bear on their life through the gospel.

So what does Nehemiah do in the face of this opposition?

He turns to...

2. A Prayer of Faith

Hear, O our God, for we are despised.

Turn back their taunt on their own heads and give them up to be plundered in a land where they are captives.