The Sword and the Trowel
A Call to Build and to Fight
Introduction: The church that the world loves the most is sure to be the church that God despises. I am not sure if I am one of the few or one of the many who feels that, as believers we are growing tired as we build the kingdom of God while constantly fighting the kingdom of Satan. But we are called to do exactly that! I wonder if We are so concerned with the lies that we are who the world says we are, that we go out of our way to show the world that we are not the bigots they say we are? Why would we compromise the truth to appease the God- haters in this world? some people reason "Well now, we can't be seen as being against anything, because that may offend some people." Well, the one most offended is God and those who claim to love him don't seem to care. Are we going to just sit back as the world dictates to us, what we should believe? No Way!
As the salt and the light in this dark and loveless world we are called to do two things: to Build & to Fight.
Backdrop: Israel was in rubble after King Nebuchadnezzar destroyed their nation to the ground. Nehemiah and his fellow countrymen were building it back up in the face of opposition.
That's the reason I chose this message because it parallels with the church today just as Nehemiah was dealing with people who tore down Israel, today's church is dealing with communities that are torn down by apathy, immorality and corruption and it is our time to build our communities back up.
Transition: I would like to pull three lessons from the fourth chapter of Nehemiah that applies to our church today. First lesson is that We will have an Enemy. Second, We must work in Unity. Third, Building and Fighting is our Destiny.
I. We have a common Enemy
Nehemiah 4:1, 2 - "When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, He ridiculed the Jews, and in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, "What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble - burned as they are?"
Do you ever notice that every time you want to rebuild something good in your life, that there is always someone who wants to tear it down? A great preacher once said that "There's never been a good work that hasn't been met with opposition." If the birthmark of a believer is a bulls eye - then we should wonder if we are doing any good if we do not have any opposition from Satan. Just as a rattle snake rattles or a cat hisses when something puts it in danger, if you can't make the devil roar, you're not doing him much harm; but the more he roars, the more reason angels have to sing! You only catch flak from the enemy when you are over the bulls eye. Only when you hit a nerve does the leg jerk. Jesus said "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me." We read in 1 Peter 4:14 - "If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you." They lash out at the truth, which is the Lord living in you.
Ridicule is a natural part of the Christian life. If you don't have a thick skin then you might not be cut out to be a servant of God. We read here in the first 2 verses in chapter 4, where Sanballat is making fun of Nehemiah and the Jews who are hastily rebuilding the destroyed wall. If it makes others happy to mock us while we are working let them do it, it shouldn't bother us. Its so disappointing to see good Christians give up their work because of the ridicule of their enemies.
Our enemies work so hard to discourage you with their words. Sanballat tried to discourage them from finishing the wall "are you going to be able to finish that today? Ha ha!" He tries to get them to doubt that they can finish what they are starting. Our enemies will try to get us to doubt that we can finish what we started. Our enemies will try to get us to doubt our calling and our work.
Tobiah the Ammonite, who was at his side, said "What they are building - if even a fox climbed up on it, he would break down their wall of stones!" v. 3
Someone once said "Insults are arguments employed by those who are in the wrong."
Not only was it Sanballat but also Tobiah the Ammonite who was joining in on ridiculing the Jews. You can be sure where there is a bad man there is another one nearby. Evil people, like wolves like to run in packs.
We read in this chapter how they conspired together to fight against Jerusalem. Remember we read In Matthew 26:4 how the chief priests and elders conspired to arrest and kill Jesus. It never ceases to amaze me how unified evil people can be. Isn't that a scary thought? It's fascinating that the masters of division are never divided themselves. I hate to admit it but unfortunately hatred is a grat unifying force. You never hear of any division among the demons in hell. They like to divide us into factions but there are no factions among themselves; unfortunately it seems that they are more unified than the church. Can you imagine the great things that could be accomplished if we were as united in the service of God as wicked men are in their service to Satan?
Transition: This leads me to our second lesson in Nehemiah.
II. We must work together in Unity
Nehemiah 4:6 - "So we rebuild the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart."
Ill: In one of Aesops fables he describes an old man who had several sons, who were always having a falling out with one another. He tried in vain to get his sons to reconcile and live in harmony. He had enough, and one day he called them all together and gathered a bundle of sticks and tied them together and asked each one of them to try to break the bundle of sticks. Each one tried as hard as they could but none of them could break the bundle of sticks. Then the father cut the cord that he tied them together with and told his sons to break them separately. this was done with the greatest ease. "See, my sons," the old man said "the power of unity!"
Bound together by brotherly love, you may defy almost every mortal danger, but divided, you will fall prey to your enemies. Eccl 4:12 says "A cord of three strands is not quickly broken."
Even though the wall that Nehemiah and the Jews had set out to build wasn't finished, it certainly was well on its way to being so. The reason that so much progress was made is not only because they were all unified in getting the task accomplished but because they were all equally determined to get it done. "the people worked with ALL their heart." If we want to see the greater good accomplished then we have to work together. But there is nothing impossible for those who work together with all their hearts. The people who were unified in building the tower of Babel, no doubt it was an evil project - but God even said "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them." If we work together for the good then what is impossible for us? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
However, what tends to happen is that we begin to work against each other instead of working with each other.
Ill. Two boys were riding a tandem bicycle. (A two seated bicycle where both riders pedal the bicycle) They came to a steep hill and it was a great struggle for those boys to get up that hill. Finally when they made it to the top, One boy turned to the other and said "Wow that sure was a tough hill to climb, wasn't it?" the boy who was in back answered "you ain't lyin' and if I hadn't kept the brakes on all the way we would certainly have rolled down backwards." (sermon central ill.)
I wonder how many of us are working against our own interest?
Transition: We will have a common enemy, we must work together in unity, and our final point this morning is Building and Fighting is our destiny.
III. Building and Fighting is our Destiny
Nehemiah 4:16 - "And it came to pass from that time forth, that the half of my servants wrought in the work, and the other half of them held both the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the habergeons; and the rulers were behind all the house of Judah. They which builded on the wall, and they that bare burdens, with those that loaded, every one with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon."
Metaphorically speaking They had a trowel in one hand and a sword in the other. Just as they were defending the kingdom and building their nation, we are called to destroy the kingdom of Satan while we build the kingdom of God.
Ill. The 4,000 mile-long Great Wall of China was built to keep invaders out from the north. the first wall was constructed by Shi Huangdi, the first emperor of China, who lived between 259-210 BC. But in AD 1644 the Manchus broke through the Great Wall and overran China. They did this by bribing a general of the Ming dynasty to open the gates. During the reconstruction of ancient Jerusalem, Nehemiah understood the acute danger posed by those who opposed the rebuilding of the city's ruined walls. So he commanded constant vigilance. half of the workers were to stand watch while half rebuilt the walls. As Christians, we must be vigilant that nothing breaches our spiritual defenses. Even the most mature believer can never afford to let down his guard. (sermon central ill.)
We build up the kingdom of God by sharing the gospel with preaching and teaching and through and by our good works of love, and we are constantly on guard against a real enemy that not only wishes to hinder our progress, but never stops in his efforts to destroy us thereby destroying our work.
What began with ridicule in verses 1-3 escalates to a physical attack in verse 8
Nothing is beneath the devil. There will be enemies all around. we fight against the flesh. We fight against the world. We fight against Satan. Our enemy the devil reasons that it's better to cut the fuse before the evangelical explosion. There are times the devil will send his agents to fight against us inside the church in order to keep us from doing our mission outside the church. Satan thinks it is better to nip it in the bud, before revival begins to bloom.
Never retreating, we must fight the devil off whenever he invades us and keep building God's kingdom at the same time in order to make any progress in rebuilding our communities.
Conclusion:
One thing becomes apparently clear this morning. God calls everyone to do something and never calls anyone to do nothing! The Harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few. We must get up, get out, and get on; with whatever work God has called us to! There is rampant evil that needs to be fought against. There are lies that need to be exposed. There are corruptions and wickedness taking place in dark places in the world that need the light of truth to be shined on. There are lives that need to be saved. There are hurting people that need to be healed. There are poor, abandoned, neglected, lonely, isolated, suffering people that need to be loved and restored! There are doctrines and good Christians that need to be defended!
With a Sword in one hand and a trowel in the other we work to destroy the kingdom of Satan while we build the kingodom of God. That is our destiny.
[Call to Stand]
You are either in the camp of Sanballat and Tobiah or you are with Nehemiah this morning. If you feel that you have been on the wrong side of that wall lately, I want you to know that you are not alone and you are not the first. I myself was on the wrong side at one time. Even as a Christian I found myself there a time or two. But thanks to the love of Jesus and by the grace of the God of endless mercy, I have been put inside the love and protection of the Rock of Ages. He has allowed me to help him to build and to fight for him. What an incredible honor! He is calling you to join him. All you need to do is call out to Jesus, pray and ask him to forgive you and to guide you into a new way of life and he will.
