THE SWORD AND THE TROWEL
NEH. 4:1-17 NKJV
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. Barbara Honig from California was helplessly lost in a small town in upstate New York. She flagged down a passing police officer. It turned out the address she was looking for was in the opposite direction.
2. “Is it ok if I make a Uturn?” she asked the officer. “If I don’t see you,” he said, walking back to his car. She quickly did a uturn and got about a block before the police car came up behind her and pulled her over. Ambling over, the officer said, “I saw you.” [Reader’s Digest] Sounds like our Pete Smith!
B. TEXT
1 But it so happened, when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, that he was furious and very indignant, and mocked the Jews. 2 He spoke before...the army of Samaria, and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing?...Will they revive the stones...that are burned [with fire]?” 3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite...said, “Whatever they build, if even a fox goes up on it, he will break down their stone wall.” 7 When Sanballat, Tobiah, [& other enemies] heard that the walls of Jerusalem were being restored and the gaps were beginning to be closed, they became very angry, 8 and all of them conspired together to come and attack Jerusalem....11 And our adversaries said, “They will neither know nor see anything, till we come into their midst and kill them and cause the work to cease.” 13 Therefore I positioned...the people according to their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows. 14 And I said, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.” 15 All of us returned to the wall, everyone to his work....17 Those who built on the wall...[worked] so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon. Neh. 4:1-17
C. THESIS
1. Today’s message is about spiritual warfare. God told the Israelites to “arise and build” (2:20). The GOAL FOR GOD’S PEOPLE was is TO REBUILD GOD’S KINGDOM. The Hebrew word for “rebuild” is also used for the healing of a wound.
2. But when we begin to rebuild, the enemy will raise up opposition. So IF we build, we WILL have to fight; so we might as well plan on fighting from the beginning. The title of today’s message is “The Sword & the Trowel.”
I. THERE WILL BE OPPOSITION TO GOD’S WORK
A. DEVIL DERIDES THE WEAKNESS OF THE CHURCH
1. Sanballat Derided; He "mocked the Jews" (ver. 1).
2. Sanballat Under-estimated; "These feeble Jews" (ver. 2).
3. Tobiah Misrepresented; "If a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall" (ver. 3).
4. "And all of them conspired together to come and attack Jerusalem and create confusion." (ver. 8).
B. CONDUCTED PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE
1. The enemies of Israel used psychological warfare to discourage the Jews from building – to break their morale.
2. Some of the workers did became discouraged and wanted to quit. Many were fearful for their lives and families. They began to question whether it was worth it.
3. If the devil’s telling you there’s no hope, then you know there IS hope – right around the corner. If the devil tells you you’re not worthy, then be assured, you are! If the enemy tells you that you’ll never be free, or whole, or healed, or happy -- then you can take it to the bank that the reverse it true and that there’s a rainstorm of God’s blessings about to fall on you! Hallelujah!
C. WHAT DO YOU NEED TO STRENGTHEN?
1. WHAT AREAS OF YOUR LIFE ARE WEAK/BROKEN DOWN?
a. KIDS: Do you have strained relationships?
b. FINANCIAL STRESS: Is this a weight on you?
c. HEALTH PROBLEMS: Is this a worry?
d. Suffering from MARITAL PROBLEMS?
e. Battling LONELINESS or DEPRESSION?
f. Are you being TEMPTED – pornography, alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, cursing, unforgiveness, bad thoughts, sex outside marriage, etc.
2. YOU MUST NOT GIVE UP THE BATTLE! It’s easy to think your situation will never change. “I just can’t do it, Pastor!” Praise God, we don’t have to face our strongholds alone. WE HAVE A CHAMPION, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is living inside of us! “Greater is He who is in you than he that is in the world!”
3. Jesus has never lost a battle! He overcame death, Hell, and the grave. Jesus said, “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you” (Lk. 10:19).
II. NEHEMIAH COUNTERED THE ENEMY
A. WITH PRAYER & FAITH
First, Nehemiah interceded for God’s help, “Hear us, our God...Turn their insults back!”(vs. 4). In verse 9, Nehemiah said, “But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat.” In verse 14 he encouraged the Israelites, “Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your families, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes!”
B. ONLY BY PRAYER DO WE PREVAIL
1. When Joshua & Moses fought the Amalekites, God made success and failure dependent on whether Moses prayed or not. The message is...when we're praying, we're winning. When we're not praying, we're losing. When Moses held up his hands in prayer, Israel prevailed; but when he let down his hands, Amalek prevailed.
2. “But Pastor, The battle is the Lord’s!” Yes, but WE have to play a part in it. He will do HIS part, but He won’t do YOUR part! “You have not, because you ask not” James 4:2. Their success was not in their swords, but in dependency on God.
3. The battle was not determined by who had the superior force or the best trained men. The battle was decided in the spiritual realm. It was the same with Nehemiah & the builders.
III. EVERY WORKER HAD A SWORD & A TROWEL
A. ALL THE WORKERS HAD TWO TOOLS
1. What a marvelous picture. Not only are we called to rebuild the Kingdom, we’re called to spiritual warfare while we’re working. This description of armed workers makes us “Combat Engineers;” we carry tools to build the kingdom, but also weapons to fight the enemy. All the workers had 2 things: one tool for building and one tool for fighting the enemy!
2. HOW DO WE BUILD THE KINGDOM?
a. Get a burden for reaching the lost: Soulwinning.
b. Decide to work in the church. The Church is Christ’s vehicle to win & disciple the world.
c. Determine to change things through prayer or make new commitments to God.
3. THE WORD OF GOD IS BOTH A BUILDING TOOL AND THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT!
a. BUILDING TOOL. In Acts 20:32, Paul said, “Now I commit you to God and to the Word of his grace, which can BUILD YOU UP and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” The Word saves, teaches, guides & keeps us in relationship with God. It also ushers us into Heaven.
b. THE WORD IS ALSO AN OFFENSIVE WEAPON. Eph. 6:17-18 says, “and [take] the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” Paul shows us that our prayers should be combined with the scriptures. Only then is God’s powerful Word interlaced with intercessions God has promised to answer. It’s an unbeatable combination! So we’re supposed to Read it; Memorize it; Speak it; and Use it in our prayers to strike down the enemy!
B. BE BOLD IN DEFYING THE DEVIL
1. If you’re going to make the devil mad, you might as well make him REAL mad. He can’t do anything to you anyway!
2. It’s like a boy dragging a stick down the sidewalk. As he passed a house with a ferocious dog, it charged him and barked furiously, even slamming into the fence in its fury.
3. At first the boy retreated in terror, but after examining the strength of the fence & realizing the dog could never get through to him, he went back to the corner of the fence and walked down the entire length dragging his stick across the bars. The dog went berserk. The boy enjoyed it so much that he did it again. Why? Because he could!
4. Since God is watching over us and we’re doing his work, we should be just as bold in defying the enemy; such bravery brings glory to God because we don’t cringe before the world’s idols or threats, we don’t fear what it fears.
5. The devil doesn’t like it when we decide to make an impact for God. Neh. 2:10 tells us that Sanballat & Tobiah were grieved when they heard that someone had come to seek the welfare of God’s people. The enemy hates it when God’s work goes forward. So don’t be surprised if you run into opposition.
6. Let’s turn the tables: Instead of the devil coming after us, we need to start going after the devil first!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION: “YOU DON’T NEED TO PRAY?”
1. A Pentecostal church building in Leduc, Canada, was sold to another congregation. So the building was being moved ten miles away to the new location. But as it was being moved on a mammoth trailer, it came in contact with a 138,000-volt power line, which started a fire on the roof of the building.
2. The driver phoned the Beaumont fire department from a farmhouse. “There’s a large building on fire about a mile east of the town on Highway 625.” The dispatcher said, ”I’m sorry, but that’s outside our jurisdiction.”
3. “Well, get your equipment ready,” the driver replied. “because it’ll be in your jurisdiction in about five minutes!” [John Hilliard] You may not think you need to pray right now, but chances are, trouble is approaching from some direction.
4. Jesus told His disciples, “Pray that you won’t fall into temptation.” Peter probably wished he’d listened and prayed BEFORE his test came, so that when it came, he wouldn’t fail! We should pray NOW, during the good times, so that when difficult days come, we’ll have a covering of prayer to keep us through the difficulty!
B. ILLUSTRATION 2: OUR GOD’S NEVER LOST A BATTLE
1. It is said that Alexander the Great was strolling among the tents of his soldiers on the evening before some great battle. Hearing some of his men engaged in conversation in one of the tents, he stopped to listen.
2. The men were losing courage and heart, and said so. They discussed their feelings of insufficiency for the battle the next day with a powerful opponent.
3. Alexander slipped into the tent, and said, "Remember this: that Alexander is with you." He who had never lost a battle, wouldn’t lose the one tomorrow!
4. WE SERVE A GOD WHO’S NEVER LOST A BATTLE! He shall not fail you! Have faith and trust Him!
C. THE CALL
1. How many of you want to ask Jesus to change your destiny, to break the curse of sin off your lives? PRAYER.
2. We’ve placed 9 Prayer Banners around the sanctuary. Let’s take the last 20 minutes to pray for 2-3 minutes at each.
