6-5-22 Letters From the King

Let’s just begin with prayer this morning. Father in Heaven, You are holy, loving, awesome, and kind. We come before you today asking You to speak. We want to listen to what You have to say to us, obey Your voice, and walk in deeper relationship and love with You. Help us to move forward in Your ways, Your statutes, Your precepts, and Your lovingkindness. Thank You for your mercy, grace, and provision. I ask that You make Your truth plain to us today and that You would empower us to humble ourselves and simply believe what You say to us in faith. Meet every need in this place today and touch every heart. In Jesus’ mighty, powerful, matchless Name, amen. We’ll be back in Nehemiah chapter 2 today. If you missed some of our past messages, let me give some quick context. Nehemiah is going to Jerusalem to rebuild the city walls, and he represents how the Holy Spirit comes to us. The Holy Spirit wants to rebuild our personalities and make us whole and holy people who can keep the bad stuff out and allow God’s good things in. And in the context of chapter 2, Nehemiah asks the king to give him a little time off to go work on the wall. He asks for 12 years off of work to rebuild the city. If that wasn’t a big enough ask, Nehemiah will ask for a little more from the king. There’s a principle here about asking for what we need. James says, “You don’t have what you want, because you don’t ask God.” James 4:2 NIRV. How often do we wish or hope for things to get better, for God to provide, move, or circumstances to change, but we just never seem to get around to praying about it? We don’t ever actually ask God to do something in that area of need or that desire. Nehemiah shows us the value of even making quick prayers as soon as things pop up or we have a need. Short prayers in the moment are good; whenever you see a need, just say a quick prayer right where you are. Nehemiah 2:4 NKJV Then the king said to me, “What do you request?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. Nehemiah prays quickly at the exact moment Your Worship Can’t Be Stopped | 1 that the king asks him what’s going on. And God answers Nehemiah’s prayer; He gives him favor as he asks to help his people. Nehemiah asks for 12 years off work, then asks for something else. He asks for letters of authority. Nehemiah 2:7-10 NKJV Furthermore I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given to me for the governors of the region beyond the River, that they must permit me to pass through till I come to Judah, 8 and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he must give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel which pertains to the temple, for the city wall, and for the house that I will occupy.” And the king granted them to me according to the good hand of my God upon me. 9 Then I went to the governors in the region beyond the River, and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me. 10 When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard of it, they were deeply disturbed that a man had come to seek the well-being of the children of Israel. God moved on the heart of the king, and he gave Nehemiah the letters of authority that he asked for so he could go where he needed to go and have all the materials he needed to complete the rebuilding of the walls. In the same way, Jesus has given you the authority you need, in His Name, to go where you need to go and do what you need to do to advance His kingdom. God never asks us to do anything without giving us the authority and the ability to do it. In this analogy, we can see two truths. One is about the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has all authority to move in God’s will and way. He is God. The Holy Spirit is a part of the Trinity, so that makes sense. He has the power to take us where we need to go relationally, emotionally, and physically to see God’s kingdom advanced. His work can look very different depending on our needs and starting point. Your Worship Can’t Be Stopped | 2 One example of the Holy Spirit moving a person into His will in His timing and putting them where they need to be is Phillip in Acts 8. The Holy Spirit told him where to go, and he obeyed. He went. Acts 8:26-29 NKJV Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is desert. 27 So he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship, 28 was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet. 29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.” You may know the rest of the story, but Philip obeyed the Holy Spirit, caught up with the chariot, and talked to the Ethiopian eunuch about Jesus. And the man received Christ! He even was baptized in a ditch along the road. The Holy Spirit set up this encounter and asked Philip to go, and Philip obeyed. Obedience is always our part. We don’t have to worry about how people respond, we don’t have to come up with some elaborate scheme to convince people to follow Jesus, and we don’t have to know how God’s plan works, but we do have to obey when God tells us to do something. Philip obeys, and the Holy Spirit does His work. Then, He uses His power to move Philip somewhere else physically. The Holy Spirit puts Philip exactly where He wants him. Acts 8:39-40 NKJV “Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip was found at Azotus. And passing through, he preached in all the cities till he came to Caesarea.” The Holy Spirit takes Philip physically to a different location. God makes sure Philip gets where he needs to go to minister and be in God’s will. Similarly, Nehemiah (who represents the Holy Spirit) gets letters from the king to go to Your Worship Can’t Be Stopped | 3 Jerusalem to help rebuild the wall. God makes sure Nehemiah gets where he needs to be. The Holy Spirit wants to take us to different, new places of healthiness, holiness, wholeness, and ministry, just like He took Philip 20 miles from the Gaza-Jerusalem road. God wants to take us to new, healthier places spiritually. He wants to help us see that if we simply obey His voice; if we simply respond to the truth of the Word of God and the promptings of the Holy Spirit, He’ll take us exactly where we need to go to be healed, to be made whole, and to minister the life of Jesus Christ to others. I want to pause here for a moment as we’re talking about the work of the Holy Spirit in us and through us. There is a difference between being baptized into the body of Christ and being baptized into the Holy Spirit. Being baptized into the body of Christ is a work of the Holy Spirit that deals with our identity and position in Jesus Christ. In other words, when we’re baptized into Christ, we become a child of God, grafted into Christ’s body; we become positionally pure and holy before God. The Holy Spirit lives in us at that point of salvation. He takes up residence in our hearts. But being baptized into the Holy Spirit is a work of Christ (Jesus does the baptizing) that deals with our empowerment for holy living and ministry.1 Baptism in the Holy Spirit is unto power. That’s what Jesus said would happen at Pentecost as the Holy Spirit was poured out. Acts 1:8 NKJV But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” My point here is that if you welcome the Holy Spirit’s ministry into your life, you’ll get a prayer language, you’ll be able to move in power in response to His voice, and you’ll have even more fire and passion for the Lord. You’ll receive 1 Duffield, Guy P. Foundations of Pentecostal Theology (Revised & Updated) Volume 1, P243. Foursquare Media, 2016. Your Worship Can’t Be Stopped | 4 the power to move to a place spiritually where you can push back the darkness and minister Jesus Christ to people you meet. So in one part of the analogy, the Holy Spirit, like Nehemiah, has power and authority, and He comes in might to heal us, set us free, move on our hearts, helps us obey, and brings us closer to Jesus. The Holy Spirit has all power and authority, but He wants to share it. He wants to empower us as well. This sharing of power, this outpouring of the ability to push back the darkness, is the other aspect of the Nehemiah analogy. God gives us power and authority. As we open ourselves to Jesus, we receive it from the Holy Spirit. Now, the power and authority that we get aren’t often the kind, the type, or the quality we think. The power of God rarely looks like we think it should. It often looks more like weakness and humility, to be honest. Nehemiah had the authority to pass through the territory to get where he needed to go. He also was given the power to get the resources he needed to build the wall. In other words, Nehemiah had the power to serve people and help them build a wall. The word authority in the Bible usually refers to a person’s right to do certain things because of their position. The word emphasizes the legality and the right more than the physical strength needed to do something. When you came to Jesus, put your faith in Him as Your Lord and Savior, and chose to follow Him, you were made legally, positionally holy and righteous before God. You now have the legal right and authority to be God’s witness. The Bible says that you’ll get power and authority, and then you’ll be a witness. Or, because you have power and authority, you can represent Jesus and tell people about Him, about the transformation He brings as we choose to walk with Him. Your Worship Can’t Be Stopped | 5 I do need to point out that the most notable and essential use of the power and authority God gives us is to serve others. It’s not to perform miracles, though that may often be a part of it. It’s not to tell others what to do or control them, and it’s not to cause earthquakes or lightning strikes on people who don’t follow Jesus (the disciples asked about that, by the way). No, the power and authority the Holy Spirit gives us are for serving other people in humility and love. Luke 22:25-27 NLT “Jesus told them, “In this world the kings and great men lord it over their people, yet they are called ‘friends of the people.’ 26 But among you it will be different. Those who are the greatest among you should take the lowest rank, and the leader should be like a servant. 27 Who is more important, the one who sits at the table or the one who serves? The one who sits at the table, of course. But not here! For I am among you as one who serves.” Jesus is saying that it’s not godly when we lord our power, authority, knowledge, or knowledge of Christ over other people. It’s worldly! That phrase “lord it over” means to rule over, or to have power over. And Jesus says, quite frankly, that we don’t have authority over other people in His kingdom. He’s not saying that there isn’t an organizational authority. That has to do with structure, organization, operations, and administration. He’s talking about relational authority. He’s talking about how the more power you have organizationally, the more you should use that power to love and serve. This phrase ‘lord it over’ is used in other parts of the Bible to describe Jesus' lordship and dominion over all things because of His death and resurrection. It doesn’t describe believers bossing everybody around in the Name of Jesus. Does this make sense? There is another side of authority, and it’s the truth that God puts people in authority and tells us to submit to it. Romans 13:1-3 NLT “Everyone must submit Your Worship Can’t Be Stopped | 6 to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God. 2 So anyone who rebels against authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and they will be punished. 3 For the authorities do not strike fear in people who are doing right, but in those who are doing wrong. Would you like to live without fear of the authorities? Do what is right, and they will honor you.” This authority has to do with order vs chaos, with growth and development, honor and service, humility, grace, and gratitude. The Bible says that if you do what’s right the people in authority will honor you. So is this aspect of honoring authority and voluntarily coming under. But it’s funny what Paul says because he uses this submission to authority baseline to say, ‘use your authority to love and serve others.” 2 Corinthians 10:8 EXB But this authority is to build you up, not to tear you down. I think you understand that the power and authority the Holy Spirit gives us are for serving other people in humility and love. Now, we do have authority on earth in some other ways besides loving and serving. We have power and authority in spiritual ways. Matthew 10:1 NKJV And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease. We have the power to overcome our spiritual enemies! The Holy Spirit has given us the ability to change things through prayer. He’s given us what we need to be witnesses of Jesus Christ. We can’t control people, and we can’t force them to come to Christ (people have tried). But when the word of God is demonstrated in power to heal, shown in power to deliver, seen as the power to save people from demonic oppression, Your Worship Can’t Be Stopped | 7 bondage, and slavery, people often will want to follow Jesus because they see He’s a good, loving, kind Ruler. There is an entire study about the different realms of authority we have as believers. I don’t have time to get into it today fully. It would probably make a good sermon series. But my point is that as we yield to the Holy Spirit and His work in obedience, as we choose to love and serve others, we’ll see God provide what we need to be made whole and to help others heal too. It’s the Holy Spirit’s mission to make us holy like He is holy so we can be whole like God is whole. And God gives us the authority to do it. He won’t do the work for us; He can’t obey for us. But He will ensure we have what we need to do it. Nehemiah gets letters of authority so he can do God’s work. Nehemiah 2:7 NKJV Furthermore I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given to me for the governors of the region beyond the River, that they must permit me to pass through till I come to Judah.” In this first letter, Nehemiah gets a guarantee that he will be able to make it to Judah. He is promised protection to Judah. As some of you know, Judah means praise. God has given you the power and the authority to worship and praise His Name. No matter what circumstance you find yourself in, no matter how hurt, broken, oppressed, or beaten down you may be, no one can ever take your ability to praise and worship Jesus Christ. You have a letter from the King of Kings that says you must be allowed to praise. You must be allowed to get to Judah - if you want to go there. Getting to Judah matters because it means no one can ever take away your lifeline. No one can ever stop you from receiving love and grace from God. Nothing can ever prevent you from accessing the power of the blood of Jesus Christ in Your Worship Can’t Be Stopped | 8 whatever situation you're facing. You have access whenever you choose to worship and give God praise. You may remember a few biblical examples of this; one is Daniel. He praised his way right into a lion’s den, and then he worshiped his way out again. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to honor a statue of Nebuchannezer but chose to worship God in the fire. And God brought them out as witnesses of the One True God. They couldn’t take away Paul’s power to worship Jesus even though they beat him and threw Him in prison. And his worship led to a strong ability to serve others. Acts 16:22-35 NKJV Then the multitude rose up together against them; and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods. 23 And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. 24 Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. 25 But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed. 27 And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. 28 But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, “Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.” 29 Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all Your Worship Can’t Be Stopped | 9 his family were baptized. 34 Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household. 35 And when it was day, the magistrates sent the officers, saying, “Let those men go.” After getting beaten up and stripped, Paul and Silas sit in prison with their feet in the stocks. But despite all that, they still exercise their power and authority to praise, worship and pray to Jesus. And as they do, God moves! He sends an earthquake and breaks the prison's foundations; he destroys the roots of what is holding them in bondage and captivity. But the earthquake and the breaking out of bondage isn’t where the real power is in this story. An earthquake is powerful. Often that cool stuff that everyone can see is what we hope will happen when we pray. But the earthquake isn’t where the real power is. God most likely caused the earthquake to open the prison doors, but He wasn’t in the earthquake. 1 Kings 19:11-12 NKJV Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. God is in the still small voice, even though He moved with an earthquake. And with a still small voice, God speaks; He speaks through Paul and Silas to witness the love of Christ to a jailor who thinks his only option is suicide. It’s like Jesus said - the power of God is the witness we have of His love. The jailer knew that he was as good as dead when the prison doors opened. He’s about to kill himself because he knows he will die a slow and horrible death for letting prisoners escape, even if it was an act of God. But the more Your Worship Can’t Be Stopped | 10 powerful act of God, the most powerful one, is love. Remember how God loved the world, so He gave His Son? God gives Paul and Silas the power to love the jailer. Even though they could have, they don’t run out of that prison as soon as God sends the earthquake. God wanted them to be free; that’s why He sent the quake as an answer to their prayer, worship, and praise. Paul and Silas move into their authority to witness. They use their God-given power to love. And they walk in their authority to suffer for someone who is lost, broken, and in need of the saving grace of Jesus Christ. They take the slow way out of the prison and see this poor guard, fearful to the point of suicide, and say, “no-stop! Don’t kill yourself; we’ll stay. We’ll stay in prison because we care more about you, your life, your eternal salvation, and your relationship with Jesus Christ than we do about getting out of this horrible prison. We would rather suffer for you than see you kill yourself and your family doomed to hell. This jailer comes to salvation because Paul and Silas exercised power to love, suffer, and serve, and it was given to them by the Holy Spirit. His whole family came to Jesus because they recognized the power we have to love and serve others, even though it sometimes causes big earthquakes. My point is that, just like Nehemiah is given a letter of authority to get to Judah safely, no one can take away your ability to worship and praise. And if you will use the power you have to worship, God will move in power and give you opportunities to love and serve others. And as you love and serve them, many will come to Jesus. God wants us to move into the power to witness and the authority to love, not like the world loves, but the way God does, by laying down His life for people. John 3:16 NKJV For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have Your Worship Can’t Be Stopped | 11 everlasting life. God loved, so He gave. He loved the world, so He served. He loved, so He stuffed for us and saved us. Nehemiah was also given a letter of authority to get the materials he needed to build the walls. As you choose to praise and worship, God will provide you with what you need to be healthy, healed, and whole. Nehemiah 2:8 NKJV “and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he must give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel which pertains to the temple, for the city wall, and for the house that I will occupy.” And the king granted them to me according to the good hand of my God upon me.” I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the person in charge of the king’s forest, the person in charge of resources to build the city, shares a name with a famous worshiper. The famous Asaph (different than this one) wrote multiple Psalms, and David made him a worship pastor. Though many of his prophecies came through song, he was also a prophet. 2 Chronicles 29:30 GNT The king and the leaders of the nation told the Levites to sing to the Lord the songs of praise that were written by David and by Asaph the prophet. So everyone sang with great joy as they knelt and worshiped God. My point is that as you worship the King of Kings, He will give you what you need to be healthy, whole, and to minister and witness to others. Asaph’s name means ‘gatherer,’ and as you worship the Lord, He will gather the resources you need to continue moving forward, and he’ll gather people for you to minister to so you can move in the power of service and witness. I do need to make you aware that if you choose to worship, even though you’ll get what you need to grow in health and holiness, the enemy won’t like it. Nehemiah 2:9-10 NKJV Then I went to the governors in the region beyond the River, and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent Your Worship Can’t Be Stopped | 12 captains of the army and horsemen with me. 10 When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard of it, they were deeply disturbed that a man had come to seek the well-being of the children of Israel. Nehemiah has enemies, Sanballat and Tobiah. Sanballat means “the enemy is secret.” If the enemy can convince you in secret not to use the power of praise that you have available to you, then he will effectively stop you from moving forward, rebuilding the gates of your heart, ministering to others, and from growth. You have letters from the King of Kings that say you can go to Judah unharmed. You have the legal right to praise and worship Jesus Christ, and the enemy can’t do anything about it except one: if he can secretly convince you not to worship, not to praise, then he can bring the work God wants to do in you do a screeching halt. And so that’s the question for us today. Will we allow this slimy, secretive enemy to creep in and stop our praise? Will we discount the power and legal right we have to pray, worship, and witness for Jesus Christ? Will we fight with our praises as they did in front of the walls of Jericho? Or will we allow our voices to be silent and fade away? It’s a choice we each have to make every day. And I encourage you to take hold of the promises of God for worship; take hold of the power of praise, and use it each day. And if you do, I promise you’ll see breakthrough, you’ll see God move mountains with earthquakes and lead you into love for people. You’ll see people come to Christ and the enemy's works torn down as you press in to praise. So let’s do - let's move into a time of worship and praise. Your Worship Can’t Be Stopped | 13