SERMON BRIEF
Date Written: January 22, 2015
Date Preached: January 25, 2015
Church: OPBC (AM) Sunday
FOUNDATIONAL ELEMENTS
Title: Overcoming Fear thru Discipline/Focus
Text: Nehemiah 4:1-14 (ESV)
ETS: Here we find Nehemiah using discipline to help the people overcome their fear.
ESS: Today’s passage is reveals a strategy that is applicable to all believers in ANY time. It is not only about a physical danger, but can be applied to any spiritual pitfalls that may arise.
Introduction:
For the past 3 weeks you have heard me speak on the subject of fear. You heard me confess my fear in the situations of my life! You heard how fear must not be the focus for God’s children. You heard God provides 3 tools that we have, as believers, to overcome fear in our lives!
The 1st tool is the POWER of God! We learned we are not the initiator of our salvation OR the powers behind our redemption! We realized that only thru the power of God we are saved! It is only in THAT power we move ahead & do what God has called us to do…
The 2nd tool we have is the LOVE of God! His love is what drives Him to our redemption and it is His love for us that keeps and secure in that redemption! His love covers all…
Finally this morning I want us to look at one more tool in the believer’s tool belt…let’s look again at what Paul told Timothy 2 Tim 1:7 [NLT] [show verse now]
“7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”
Self-discipline is the 3rd tool Paul reveals, but what does he mean by self-discipline?
Other translations say…
NIV says, 7For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.
NASB says, 7 For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.
KJV says, 7For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
NKJV says, 7For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
HCSB says, 7 For God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.
What Paul is saying to Timothy is to keep a sound mind about himself as he serves Christ! Paul is telling us to have good, sound judgment in our walk so that when fear rises up… we can keep our wits about us and serve as God has called us to serve!
Now we must understand that it is more than keeping our wits, but it is a matter of reliance upon the protective arm of God to shield us and move us forward in his plan.
So when we look at what Paul was saying to Timothy in 1 Tim 2… God has called us and in His calling, we have NO reason to live fearfully… and that when we battle fear we have the tools with which to fight it!
However, in serving God we know that we are NOT robots, we are NOT puppets controlled by His strings, but God has granted us free will and we MUST make choices to serve Him!
We MUST make choices to move forward in our Christian walk! It just doesn’t HAPPEN, we have to make the choice and take the steps of faith needed!
This means that when FEAR presents itself in our lives, we have to MAKE the choice to pull out and use these tools to defeat fear and allow us to be overcomers in our walk with Christ!
When we look at the POWER of God and the LOVE of God… those 2 tools are things we usually don’t have problems in believing and receiving…because we believe in the power of God, and we revel in the Love of God.
BUT when it comes to discipline and a sound mind or sound judgment MANY of us shy away and think, “I cannot do that! I am too weak!” But this is where the POWER of God is manifested in our lives… through our discipline and judgment within our daily Christian walk!
This how we can SEE the power of God and love of God evident in our lives… by fleshing it out through our own CHOICE to live spiritually disciplined life! To stand in the gap when FEAR raises its ugly head!
While I was praying about this week God laid the story of Nehemiah on my heart… In case you don’t know it or don’t remember this story, let me give you just a little background!
Nehemiah was the cupbearer for the King of Persia and he had heard about the situation in Jerusalem how the walls were torn down and the city was open to be raided at any time. This was a matter of national pride and protection.
There had been MANY Jews who had already returned to Jerusalem and they had began work on the Temple, but had grown complacent and had stopped working toward rebuilding the Temple OR the city.
This left them open to attacks and Nehemiah wanted to fix the situation. He asks the king for permission to go and build the wall. The king gives permission and provides resources for the project and protection during travel…
Nehemiah gets to Jerusalem and finds disheartened and discouraged people because many enemies were against them building! When they would build, it would be torn down.
Nehemiah reveals his plan to rebuild the walls and there were many who had fears and doubts that it could be done because their enemies were strong in their eyes and they could not see how it could be done.
My brothers and sisters this is an incredibly accurate picture of where we are as a church here at Oak Park. The once proud church that was the envy of all churches on the West Bank is now decimated and torn down in number and spirit.
We have tried and tried on many occasions to lift ourselves out of this malaise but the enemy is strong and every time we have built or tried to build… the enemy has torn it down…
We are disheartened and discouraged and there are many of us who simply think it is IMPOSSIBLE to rebuild this church! WE seem to think the enemy is too strong and we are too weak…and because of this is fear runs amok!
Pastor, we have tried things before and what we have experienced is a lot of failure, so what is different about this effort? Why should we have any confidence that this effort will succeed when all others have failed?
If our focus is on what we believe to be failure or success then we must realize that is NOT where God wants our focus to be! He desires our focus and attention to be on Him and it should NEVER be on how strong our enemy is OR how much failure we believe we have endured in the past!
Yes, we can acknowledge our past and we have to respect the power of our enemy, but understand this… Our God is more powerful and OUR God moves us past the failures of yesterday… and OUR God moves us toward the victory of today and tomorrow!
Dearest Oak Park member… this is exactly where we are as a fellowship! We are torn down and for a lot of us, all seems lost and hopeless. We believe God can turn this church around, but are we willing to let him?
So often, we yearn for victory, but we are not willing to put in the work that is required! The work of the ministry is HARD work and it requires a sound mind, sound judgment and discipline on behalf of the believers!
Turn to Neh4 and I will read to you about what Nehemiah did to help his people overcome their fear thru discipline and self-control! Turn Neh 4 and I am going to read vv1-14
1Now when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and greatly enraged, and he jeered at the Jews. 2And 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?” 3Tobiah 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!” 4Hear, 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. 5Do 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. 6So we built the wall. And all the wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work. 7But 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. 8And they all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it. 9And we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night. 10In 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.” 11And our enemies said, “They will not know or see till we come among them and kill them and stop the work.” 12At that time the Jews who lived near them came from all directions and said to us ten times, “You must return to us.” 13So 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. 14And 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.”
So what does it mean to face the enemy in this world with self-control, sound judgment and self-discipline? I believe for us to face down the fear the enemy throws our way, we first allow God’s power to rest upon us.
After His power then we trust in the Love of God that has delivered us and finally we have the self-discipline God instills within our hearts and lives so that we may live FOR Christ.
We must live a life that reflects their confidence in our Savior! We must live lives that reflect our reliance upon Him… and when we are able to do that… our judgment is sound and on the same page with the Holy Spirit in us!
When we think of Sound Judgment or discipline the 1st area I think we must focus upon is…
Sound Judgment in the face of the Enemy – v1-6:
1Now when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and greatly enraged, and he jeered at the Jews. 2And 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?” 3Tobiah 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!” 4Hear, 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. 5Do 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. 6So we built the wall…12At that time the Jews who lived near them came from all directions and said to us ten times, “You must return to us.”
Knowing the enemy is strong and will resist…(v1-2)
1Now when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and greatly enraged, and he jeered at the Jews. 2And 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?”
When we look at v1-2 we see there was strong opposition to the wall being rebuilt! The Jews of Nehemiah’s day had many enemies that wanted to keep them in slavery…keep harassing them and upending their lives in any way…
Nehemiah realizes that the enemy in Jerusalem is real and forceful! Sandbalat was a man of considerable influence and he had rallied the community around him to oppose the rebuilding of the wall…
People TODAY we stand before a strong enemy who definitely does desire to oppose the rebuild of this church and our influence within the community.
We must recognize the enemy for who He is… He is the powerful (but not ALL powerful) leader of this world and his desire is to stop us from building ANYTHING for the kingdom of God!
These verses say that Sandballat was angry and enraged! That is exactly how Satan acts when the people of the Lord have focus and a vision… this infuriates him!
This passage says he ‘jeered’ at the Jews… when we begin to work of Christ, Satan is going to throw jeers our way and they may come from MANY of those we would never expect it from…
People the enemy is going to come against us… but don’t fear! The enemy is going to ridicule what we are doing and tell us it simply wont work… but don’t fear!
If we are going to serve God we must have a sound mind and sound judgment in…
Knowing that ridicule and mockery IS going to come from many places…(v3, 12)
3Tobiah 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!”
In v3 the ridicule and mockery comes from the enemy as they say the wall will fall down when something as small as a fox jumps on it… they wanted to ridicule them into quitting!
In v12 we find that not all the Jews were on board with this plan Nehemiah had brought into the city… they were distressed at the opposition, they were fearful of the situation and they said,
[show v12 here]
12At that time the Jews who lived near them came from all directions and said to us ten times, “You must return to us.”
In other words, this was fellow Jews saying, “Guys get out of there while you can… this is a sinking ship and you don’t want to be there when it goes down!”
My brothers and sisters there are those who we know… those we love and admire… those we may respect… and they are going to say things like, “Your church in THAT community, y’all can’t do that! That’s impossible!”
Many have left our fellowship and some have even said to me that they see this ship sinking and don’t want to be a part of it going down…
My friends the truth is that the enemy is going to try to discourage us by mocking us and ridiculing us… He will also use ANYONE close to us to get to us to give up hope!
I want to share with you that the key is NOT to fall prey to the fear that comes with ridicule and mockery, but…
Knowing where to turn in the face of fear…(v4-5)
4Hear, 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. 5Do 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.
Here we find Nehemiah going to God for comfort and courage in a time of doubt and hardship. Fear was welling up in the hearts of the people, but Nehemiah knew where to turn… He turned to God!
His prayer was straight-forward and honest…We don’t have to sugar coat our prayers to God, he knows our innermost thoughts anyway… We need to pray honestly!
Nehemiah lays his feelings out on the table for all to see… admits his frustration over the enemy and what the enemy is trying to do…
People, when fear wells up, we cannot turn away and feel sorry for ourselves, we must be like Nehemiah and we must face our fear while praying with this same passion!
Pray that God will turn our enemy on his head…
Pray that God will shame our enemy and exalt his work in us!
When fear comes our way, we must turn to God in prayer, …now I know that in our fellowship we have MANY who are willing take to our knees in prayer, but then we seem to stop… My brothers and sisters, PRAYER IS JUST THE BEGINNING!
To overcome this fear and move forward we must pray…
Knowing that action is required…(v6a)
6So we built the wall…
The first phrase of v6 lets us see the prayer of Nehemiah fleshed out in his actions… ‘so we built the wall…’ reflects that the fear instilled by the enemy was overcome through going to God in prayer and then taking the action God had directed…
I want to tell you that the mountain seems high to us now, but that mountain CAN be climbed! However, we are not going to climb that mountain thru prayer alone! Prayer undergirds all we do… but we are called to action by God!
The great commission says GO, MAKE disciples, TEACH, BAPTIZE… all action verbs! Our very own purpose verse for the church is FILLED with action items…
LOVE the Lord your God…
LOVE your neighbor…
People we cannot simply gather and pray and then wait on God… God is all powerful and can do what He wants, but His desire is that WE are his hands and feet here in this world. That WE are called to share the Gospel. That WE are the ones to be ACTIVE for the sake of the Gospel!
We cannot stand idly by…we must be ACTIVE in doing what God has called us to do! This means when we begin to hand out assignments for this revitalization I am calling on YOU to step us and get involved!
Sound Judgment in the midst of the battle – v6-12:
Sometimes we see the mission and get ready for the mission and think that once we plan it, all will go well after…. It is clear from these passages that we must show sound judgment in the midst of the battle as well as in the planning of the battle!
Knowing that action on our part equals resistance on the part of the enemy (v6-8,11)
6So we built the wall. And all the wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work. 7But 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. 8And they all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it. 11And our enemies said, “They will not know or see till we come among them and kill them and stop the work.”
When we act the enemy WILL come against us… it is just the nature of this battle going on here in this world!
Here the enemies of the Jews began to threaten with bodily harm! They wanted to pick a fight with them… they wanted to intimidate them…
People we are going to face the same things here… it will come in MANY different forms. It may come from the community pushing back against taking Christ forward.
It may come from the culture saying that we can’t have a church that mixes cultures… It may come as a more direct attack in that someone tries to bully us about our church activities… this world is going to come against us more and more as time moves on!
We must expect resistance from the enemy but we can also face and overcome our fears…
Knowing our protection is from Him but He requires action on our part (v9)
9And we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night.
Nehemiah heard the ridicule, he ignored it…
Nehemiah heard the threats, he disregarded it…
HOW? WHY? He turned to God for encouragement… he turned to God for protection!
People our ONLY answer for our fear is to turn to God… Turn to HIS power, Rest in His love and live out our lives with the sound judgment and calm assurance only he brings!
Nehemiah faced threats from the enemies, but there were also rumbling among the Jews and we can overcome our fear when we understand that…
…there are going to be those within our own walls who will want to give up/throw in the towel (v10,12)
10In 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.”… 12At that time the Jews who lived near them came from all directions and said to us ten times, “You must return to us.”
Nehemiah also faced an enemy from within as there were many Jews begging them to throw in the towel and give up because of all the obstacles and danger that presented itself!
These Jews said, “You must return to us!” in other words GET OUT OF THERE! But he knew they could not listen to those voices either…
There are going to be voices EVEN IN OUR FELLOWSHIP that are going to cry out for us to give up! Let’s just sell this property and go build us a small church for US… they have said to me!
I am NOT going to turn tail and run, just because the mountain looks too high! My brothers and sisters we are NOT throwing in the towel, and EVEN if God chooses to call me away…which I don’t plan on happening… He still wants this fellowship to focus on HIS plan and moving to it!
Nehemiah was called there to lead the people in this effort and eventually he was called back to Persia to serve the King, but God called Nehemiah for such a time as this… and that applies to US as well.
For such a time as this we are HERE and we must NOT abandon our effort regardless of the doubters and mockers!
So when we get it in our heads that we must show sound judgment in the face of the enemy and in the midst of the battle…we also must show…
Sound Judgment in the midst of the task – v13-14:
I know that I have fallen prey to this one… I plan and coordinate and work those plans and try my best to make all the right connections, only to see something fail because I did not show good judgment in the task… We must show good judgment in every task God calls us to…first we must
Know that we must DO the work…(v13)
13So 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.
Nehemiah knew the wall was NOT going to build itself. They could pray all night long, but God was not going to build the wall for them… they had to get in there and do the work!
Nehemiah knew that the people would not be able to DO the building of the wall on their own and God placed him in leadership and Nehemiah took that responsibility very seriously…
He planned out the work and how they could survive the when the enemy came to attack… They had a hammer in one hand and a sword in the other…
People we are called to go into battle for the Lord… we are also called to win others to Christ! We must always remember to take the SWORD of the Word with us… never build or battle without your sword!
Not only do we need to be vigilant over the ‘DOING’ of the work, but we must understand that MANY people lose heart after the first failure, but…
We must stay vigilant and be encouragers! (v14a)
14And 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.
Nehemiah saw the fear in their eyes and the doubt on their face… but look what he said… he said “Don’t be afraid” or “Don’t live in fear”… do what God has called you to do, He will both guide and protect you!
How often are we like Peter walking on the water? We step out in faith and we believe, but when the first sign of trouble, we lose focus… we must remain fixed on Jesus who is that author of our faith!
Finally this morning we must remember and…
Know this is ultimately God’s battle we are tools in His hands (14b)
…Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.”
The LORD is great and awesome… you are called to stand up and do the work of the Kingdom, but you are also called to remember WHOSE Kingdom is it…
Let’s fight FOR our fellowship…
Let’s fight FOR our church…
Let’s fight most of all for our Savior!
