Reformation or Revolution

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Join us on Sunday Mornings at 9:30 am dor Sunday School, Wednesday evenings at 6pm for our Study on Puritan theology.

Today is our Reformation day party at 5pm

Prepare for Worship

Call To Worship

353 O Church Arise

Confession

Prayer of Confession

Almighty God, we acknowledge and confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed; we have not loved you with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength; we have not loved our neighbor as ourselves. Deepen within us our sorrow for the wrong we have done, and the good we have left undone. Lord, you are full of compassion and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy; there is always forgiveness with you! Restore to us the joy of your salvation; bind up that which is broken, give light to our minds, strength to our wills, and rest to our souls. Speak to each of us, and let your word abide with us until it has wrought in us your holy will. Amen.

Assurance of Faith

Though we have sinned against our God, we know:

God is slow to anger and full of compassion. He forgives all who humbly repent and trust in his Son as Saviour and Lord. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Worship

177 In Christ Alone

80 How Deep the Fathers Love

Whom Shall I Fear

Prayers of the People

Prayer Request

Lords Prayer: Found on the back cover of the Westminster Hand out

Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy

kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us

this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our

debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever.

Amen.

Reformation of Revolution

Turn to Nehemiah 4

Nehemiah 4 ESV

Now when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and greatly enraged, and he jeered at the Jews. 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?” 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!” 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. Do not cover their guilt, and let not their sin be blotted out from your sight, for they have provoked you to anger in the presence of the builders. So we built the wall. And all the wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work. But 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. And they all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it. And we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night. 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.” And our enemies said, “They will not know or see till we come among them and kill them and stop the work.” At that time the Jews who lived near them came from all directions and said to us ten times, “You must return to us.” So in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in open places, I stationed the people by their clans, with their swords, their spears, and their bows. And 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.” When our enemies heard that it was known to us and that God had frustrated their plan, we all returned to the wall, each to his work. From 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, who 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. And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built. The man who sounded the trumpet was beside me. And I said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “The work is great and widely spread, and we are separated on the wall, far from one another. In the place where you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.” So we labored at the work, and half of them held the spears from the break of dawn until the stars came out. I also said to the people at that time, “Let every man and his servant pass the night within Jerusalem, that they may be a guard for us by night and may labor by day.” So 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.

We are faced with a time when our world is being reformed around us.

We must decide how to respond.

Is the answer revolution, or is it reformation?

Revolution is fighting against the powers that be, responding kind for kind.

Reformation is seeking to reform what was built before according to standard.

Example of Nehemiah

Back story of how Nehemiah got to where he was in this passage.

In Exile, served as the Kings cup bearer, recieved news that the remnant in Jerusalem were living in squalor, prayed to God for guidance and for favor, sought the kings blessing, king responds favorably because God had blessed the endeavor

Is allowed to travel to Jerusalem with special privilege, angers the surrounding governors Sanballat and Tobiah

Rallies the people to begin rebuilding the wall

Nehemiah’s detractors

Tobiah and Sanballat ridicule and make fun

Nehemiah responds with prayer, imprecatory prayer Nehemiah 4:4-5

Nehemiah 4:4–5 ESV

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. Do not cover their guilt, and let not their sin be blotted out from your sight, for they have provoked you to anger in the presence of the builders.

Defies his enemies and detractors and obeys GOd

They gather and plot, seeking to sew discord among the people

the people of God prayed

Nehemiah's Doubters

The people began to doubt, they were overwhelmed by the extent of the work

The people began to fear, they listened to the detractors and enemies

They believed that they would be destroyed before they could accomplish their task

Their own families tried to call them back to their homes from Jerusalem

Nehemiah reassures them that this is the will of the Lord they will not fail Nehemiah 4:14

Nehemiah 4:14 ESV

And 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.”

The people were never quite sure of themselves or Nehemiah's plan, but they stuck to it because of Nehemiah's resolve and faith

Nehemiah’ s Resolve

He did not doubt, when faced with a challenge he looked to God to provide the answer, to provide the resources, to provide the laborers, to provide the protection.

He trusted that God would provide all these things, and He did

The King gave him safe passage, and lumber to build with

The remnant in Israel trusted this man whom they did not know, and embarked on an almost impossible task

God frustrated the plans of their enemies by giving them resolve in their hearts

God provided a man like Nehemiah who would lead them through this struggle

God works in mysterious ways, and the most mysterious thing is that those ways normally don’t appear mysterious.

He provides for His people through the means of moving hearts, strengthening resolves, bestowing bravery, wisdom, and strength.

There is far more to this story, Nehemiah goes on to be Governor, and leads his people back into covenant with God, bringing them back into line with God’s will and God’s law. And God blesses them richly.

The Example of the Reformation

When God’s people find themselves to be outside of God’s will, and under the control of those who oppose God’s will, they are often inclined to believe they need a revolution to right the wrongs.

But when we look at the example of the Nehemiah, and the example of the Reformers, revolution is not what we see.

We do not see these great leaders brought up by God to fight against the powers that be with force

Rather we see them being faithful to Gods instruction. They relied on God to put what was wrong, right.

But they did not sit back and wait for a miraculous change. They brought about change by being faithful to God’s instruction

We can look at the examples that the reformers bought to us in the principles of the Reformation.

They sought not to destroy the church as it existed at that time, but rather to bring reformation, a reforming of the church in the image of God’s plan.

A Look at the Reformation

We will not spend much time, but it is important to understand the context of the reformation and how in some ways it mirrored the situation of Nehemiah

October 31st, 1517 a monk named Martin Luther posted up a debate challenge on the community bulletin board.

He was seeking to debate some closely held beliefs of the church at that time. Things he could no longer believe because he had gone to Scripture and found them to not be in accord with God’s word.

What he did there that day would change Christianity and the world forever.

He stood against conventional wisdom, risked life and limb, because he believed that God’s will was paramount.

Like in the time of Nehemiah, God’s people were being abused, they were unprotected from greedy leaders who sought to extort them, and deny them the true worship of GOd.

Like inthe time of Nehemiah, God raised up men to bring about change, men willing to die for God’s will.

Over the past 5 weeks we have looked at such men and their stories, along with the principles of the reformation.

A Look at our Reformers

John Calvin - Sola Scriptura - Scripture alone as our only infallible rule to faith and life

Calvin spent his life pouring over the Scripture, reading and writing about the truths of God that found in the word

His work focused mankind back on God's word rather than the whims of men in charge of church and state

Like Nehemiah heeding the calling of God, we must turn back and look to where God has directed us

John Bunyan - Sola Gratia - we are saved only by the grace of God, and nothing within us

Bunyan knew that His works and life were insufficient for salvation, and rested in God’s grace in all aspects of life, spending over 12 years imprisoned for refusing to stop preaching

His life testifies to us that we must see God’s grace as sufficient in all our endeavors even when it does not seem like things are going our way, much like the people rebuilding the wall

John Owens - Sola Fide - we are saved through the faith that comes through the regenerating work of God in the Holy Spirit

John Owen suffered much affliction in his life, but through it all he never lost faith, he faithfully plodded on with the work God gave him.

Sometimes, when the work is so overwhelming and our conditions we are working in so arduous, it can be tempting to call it quits. Our faith in the one who makes all things possible is what must carry us through.

John Edwards - Solus Christus - we are only saved because of the sacrificial work of Christ on the Cross, He is the only way to eternal life

We saw how John Edwards life was anything but profound and exciting, like Nehemiah he did the job God gave him.

That is until God decided to use this ordinary man in such an extraordinary way. Bringing about a Great Awakening of Faith here and in England. An Awakening that would eventually lead to the formation of this nation.

John Knox - Soli Deo Gloria - each and everything we do in this life is to be done for one sole purpose and that is the glorification of our Creator

In Knox we saw hold a small feeble man could be transformed into a giant to bring about profound change not only in the church, but in a nation, and in the world.

Seeking to live His whole life to the glory of God and bring others into line with that principle, Knox changed the world as we know it, and most of us have never heard his name before.

He like Nehemiah had no fear of man, because he knew that his labor was of God.

Lessons of the Reformation

Like the story of Nehemiah, the stories of these men tell us something about our own time.

If we truly love our God, we will seek to do as He has commanded. We will not let man nor tradition stop us from following what God has planned for us.

The Sword and the Trowel

Nehemiah saw the fear in the people, he knew that they would soon become mentally defeated if he did not offer them a feasible solution.

First he reminded them that their success or failure was in God’s hands. But then he gave them a a task. A means to obey God and enjoy the blessing of their obedience.

He gave them a sword and a trowel. Neh 4:17-18

Nehemiah 4:17–18 ESV

who 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. And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built. The man who sounded the trumpet was beside me.

Standing Guard

He did not ask them to go to the wall and build undefended. He did not ask them to have a blind faith, but rather a faith grounded in practical wisdom.

He knew that they were being obedient to God therefore, if they armed themselves and prepared for battle. God would bless both their defense and their labor, because it was in obedience to Him.

Building Anew

Jerusalem was still God’s blessed city. Over the period of the previous hundred years He had brought most of the Jews out of exile and back to Jerusalem.

He had sent men to lead the rebuilding of the temple, but still the people suffered for they had no defense. No safe place to worship their God.

This was Nehemiah’s role to complete the work of restoring Jerusalem as a place where God’s people could worship Him and prosper once again.

Defying Tyrants

I am willing to say that if we as Christians are wise, and we look at the state of our world around us, we will find that we are not in decline as many would say, but rather we have reached near bottom.

Mankind has once again turned its back on obedience to its Maker. Again we are faced with a situation, where do we go from here? Revolution or Reformation

If Christianity ever did hold power in this country, and I think that is unlikely, it no longer does.

The tyrants that rule now, hate God. They love themselves. They love their power.

Many are calling for a revolution, but that is not the answer. That is a way to sure defeat.

The Christian way is a Reformation.

Conclusion

The call of this reformation is Obey God, Defy Tyrants. Obedience to the Creator is the only way.

Repent and believe. Turn your self, your families, and your church back to the will of God. Serve him and proclaim Him unapologetically. Turn back to His standards of right and wrong.

Do not fear man. Fear God. Trust Him for your salvation, be obedient, do the work He has prepared for you, and trust Him to make the labor fruitful.

Doxology

Closing Prayer

If anyone has any questions or concerns feel free to catch me afterwards. And a quick reminder we do have plates in the back for anyone who desires to worship through giving today. The plate to the right is general giving, and the one to the left is specific for our missions giving.

Join us as we sing the doxology:

Praise God from whom all blessings flow, Praise Him all creatures here below, Praise Him above ye Heavenly Host, Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

Before we dismiss, I would like to recognize our School families that have joined us today. Please stand up. We are excited about the growth of the school and how it is affording us the opportunity to serve the local community. After Chrurch please take some time and get to know these families, as though we may all attend different churches, we are all part of the Body of Christ and we must work in unity to further the Kingdom as we have been commisioned to do.

God bless you all. You are dismissed.