Great Work
Notes
Transcript
Have you ever been accused of something that you didn’t do?
When I was in in college I needed a new backpack and went to Walmart to get one.
And so I bought the backpack and I am getting ready to leave and I guess the worker there decided that I looked a little sketchy and decided she needed to see my receipt before I headed out.
The issue is I threw away the receipt as soon as I got it in this big trashcan that the store had.
So now instead of just needing the receipt she was searching the backpack.
And so as she is searching it I am explaining how I actually purchased it and threw it away.
to which she decided to tell me that I better start digging threw the trash to find it.
And not only that but she started to tell me that I might get arrested and she was really letting me have it.
So I decided okay if I want my backpack I guess I need to dig threw the trash, which normal trash cans are not the best, but a walmart trash can is really bad.
But I found it and I actually felt a little bad for this lady because when I brought the reciept to her she looked horrified
But can you relate to that? Where you have been accused of somthing you did not do?
Because really today we are looking at a story in the Bible where this guy named Nehemiah is accused of doing something he was not doing, and not only that but really on a broader level we see that people not only do that but they even use other methods to stop Nehemiah from accomplishing what God had called him to do.
But if you have not been with us, let me catch you up to speed, because we have been looking at this story of this guy Nehemiah
And Nehemiah has begun to rebuild the city of Jeruselum that laid in ruins.
But the issue is Nehemiah has faced a lot of oppisition from people externally and internally.
And really today Nehemiah actually faces more opposition, but I want you to notice something because all of the opposition Nehemiah has encountered so far has been very direct.
They have been where Nehemiah know’s he is in a battle.
People are complaining, people are threatning his life and it is direct.
But the opposition Nehemiah faces now is actually very suttle.
Where if Nehemiah is not careful he will not even know there is a battle.
And before we even get into the passage I want you to know that this is how Satan works.
Because if we were to simplify how satan pulls us away from God it would be agressivly and suttley
And can I just point out that often times what will cause the most damage is when we are attacked suttly.
Because when we are facing something directly we know we are in a war. We know to have up our guard.
I mean if someone said Pastor I didn’t like what you preached today, I want to fight you in the parking lot after church (because this happens all the time)
Hopefully I would deescalate or doing something about it, but I am going to change and get ready for it.
But lets say instead of them challenging me they just punched me while I was off guard and not prepared
That would be a lot worst because I would not be prepared.
But you know thats true in our lives when we are not prepared it can disrupt the big things that God has called us to do.
So today we are going to be in Nehemiah 6:1-15 and really we are going to look at how we can be prepared for the suttle battles we face in life.
So once again we are in Nehemiah 6:1-15 and we are starting in just the first few verses 1-4. It says this:
1 Now when Sanballat and Tobiah and Geshem the Arab and the rest of our enemies heard that I had built the wall and that there was no breach left in it (although up to that time I had not set up the doors in the gates), 2 Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, “Come and let us meet together at Hakkephirim in the plain of Ono.” But they intended to do me harm. 3 And I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?” 4 And they sent to me four times in this way, and I answered them in the same manner.
So look whats happening because these guys who have been threatening Nehemiah’s life and trash talking him here that the wall is alomst complete, and so they are realizing that they have almost lost to they change their tactic.
Instead of being direct they reach out to Nehemiah and they say hey buddy lets get together, we can all get along.
But Nehemiah is smart because he recognizes these guys do not want to get together because they miss him, but they want to get together to harm him.
And really Nehemiah is able to recognize the reality of his situation.
You know so often when we are under attack before anything else we just need to step back and say that does not sound right to me.
because what sin almost always does is it promises something that sounds great, it sounds like it will fulfill you, but in reality it not only leaves you feeling unfulfilled, but it causes so much destruction along the way.
Its almost like if you got a scam email from another country and in it they say I am a princess in another country, but I got stranded while traveling and I need you to send be 3,000 dollars and once you do that you become royalty.
I mean you are excited (you are about to be a prince or princess), until you learn it was scam and you actually realize you lost $3000
But on a serious note thats what sin does. It promises one thing but delivers nothing.
And I just want to so real this morning, because when we look at sin in our life, we can see this.
We see this in pornography- It promises you can be satisfied, by a computer screen
We see this with Greed, where we say if I can just get that thing I will feel complete
We see this at work, where we say if I can just get a promotion, I will be complete.
But here the thing when we are able to step back and look at what these things lead to we can see that they will lead to things that will not only separate us from God, but also separate us from the people around us.
And here is the second thing I want you to notice, because in verse 4 we are told Nehemiah do not just deal with this message once, or twice, but 4 times!
And I just need to add satan is persistant, where these things will nit just try to creep in our life once, but it will try when we are tired, when we are alone, when we are just feeling angry.
And we need to constantly be prepared.
And in verse 3 Nehemiah has such a good response because in the middle of these temptations Nehemiah says:
“I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?”
Basically he says I am building what God had called me to do and I am going to make sure there is no way it will get destroyed.
Can I just pause here (and this is the most important point I want you to get), If you are here God is working a great work in you.
If you are a Father or a Mother next time you feel insignificant, I want you to look at a baby photo of your child and see how much they have grown and think about the influnce you have had and are currently having on them.
God is working a great work in you.
Singles next time you feel insignificant, I want you to think of all the lives you encounter and have the ability to impact each day.
God is working a great work in you.
Teens next time you feel like you are caught in this boring stage of your life where you go to school and its torturer, God is working a great work in you.
Whether God has called you to build something like a city or your family, God has called you to do a great work.
And when you have anything come up in life that threatens that great work, please, please, please, do not allow sin to destroy the great work God is doing in you.
The thing God has called you to do is worth it
Your spouse is worth it
Your kids are worth it
Do not allow sin to destroy what God is doing in you.
Well look at this next section verses 5-9 because Sanballat changes his method. It says this:
5 In the same way Sanballat for the fifth time sent his servant to me with an open letter in his hand. 6 In it was written, “It is reported among the nations, and Geshem also says it, that you and the Jews intend to rebel; that is why you are building the wall. And according to these reports you wish to become their king. 7 And you have also set up prophets to proclaim concerning you in Jerusalem, ‘There is a king in Judah.’ And now the king will hear of these reports. So now come and let us take counsel together.” 8 Then I sent to him, saying, “No such things as you say have been done, for you are inventing them out of your own mind.” 9 For they all wanted to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will drop from the work, and it will not be done.” But now, O God, strengthen my hands.
So like I mentioned the method changes where now this guy named Sanballat decides to send an open letter that told Nehemiah basically that people are saying you are rebuilding this city because you want to lead a rebellion and become king.
Which by the way I want you to notice whenever someone comes to you and says “people are saying” it typically means them and their spouse and maybe one other person
but I want you to notice that the letter is open, and Sanballat did not forget to seal it, but he is sending this so a rumor will get started about Nehemiah and people will start to discredit Nehemiah.
And Nehemiah probably receives this and he knows there is no truth at all
But you can imagine the anxiety in Nehemiah’s mind because what if others start to believe this,
and Sanballat is saying well lets just talk about it and we can clear your name.
I am here to help;
And what is so interesting is basically Sanballat is causing the issue and then saying well I can fix the issue.
And I just need to say this is another tactic that our sin does.
It causes the issue and then it tells us it can fix the issue, when in reality sin cannot make the issue better.
It would be like if you backed into a car and it left a dent, but then you thought well what if I backed into another car to see if that will make it better.
And Nehemiah tells these guys that is madness infact he says Nehemiah there is no truth here and you have made up all of this in your mind!
but I love how Nehemiah responds at the end of verse 9 and I want you to read this with me. It is on the screen and it says this “O God strengthen my hand”
Basically I am not going to turn to the thing or the person that got me in this situation but instead I am going to turn to God because He is the only one who is able to pull me out.
Well look at this last part of the story because Sanballat changes his technique one more time in verses 10-12 and it says this:
10 Now when I went into the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was confined to his home, he said, “Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple. Let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you. They are coming to kill you by night.” 11 But I said, “Should such a man as I run away? And what man such as I could go into the temple and live? I will not go in.” 12 And I understood and saw that God had not sent him, but he had pronounced the prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.
I told you that when sis tries to creep in your life it is persitant isn’t it?
And not only that but it can work through people whom we trust.
Because a new person is brought into the story named Shemaiah and he is trying to convince Nehemiah that he is going to get killed and not only that but he should hide in the temple for protection.
And he is not saying this to protect Nehemiah but to ruin his reputation and make it so no one will follow him
because the thing is Nehemiah should not be in temple, because at this point only the priest could be in the temple because anyone they believed anyone else would make it unclean.
But Nehemiah recognizes it is wrong and ultimately I want you to notice what is happening here.
Because they guys really have it out for Nehemiah don’t they?
I mean they are trying everything they can to stop what Nehemiah is doing.
But in the middle of Nehemiah facing all of this He remembers
First off his Great God.
But second off his great work.
I want to look at the end result of this by jumping to verses 15 and 16 and just listen to this:
15 So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. 16 And when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem, for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God.
The wall was finished and not just that but the wall showed the glory of God where people realized how great God is.
You know there are times opposition will come whenever we are accomplishing God’s work, but in the middle of that we have a God who want’s to bring that work to completion.
The question is are you ready to fight for the work that God has called you.
Because there is nothing like that moment when you finish the wall or the work and look back at where God has brought you.
Remember how great our God is and how great the work is.
The work you are doing is worth it.
