Welcome and good morning everyone! So blessed to see everyone here today! We had a wonderful marriage retreat weekend last week and experienced God in a tremendous way! Thank you to all those that participated in this marriage retreat.
This week the title of our message is rebuilding the wall. It is a lesson from the book of Nehemiah and I trust it will be impactful in your life. Before we get into the book of Nehemiah, I want to share some information about another famous wall.
This wall was built more than 2,300 years ago. It has an official length of over 13,000 miles long. The average height of this wall is over 25 feet tall with parts of the wall eclipsing 45 feet tall. Not only is this wall high, it is wide. The average width is 21 feet. So in some place the wall is just as wide as it is high. Over the years, millions of laborers have worked on this wall. I am of coarse speaking about the great wall of China. It is interesting to note that the wall is disappearing year by year as a result of people vandalizing the wall, taking brings, weathering and in some areas the wall is collapsing. It is estimated that one third of the wall has already disappeared.
Like the Great Wall of China, there was a wall surrounding the city of Jerusalem to provide protection for its citizens. Well constructed walls during this time period, provided an enormous amount of protection from their enemies. Archeologists have discovered parts of Nehemiah’s wall and the length of the wall was around 2.5 miles with a height of about 39 feet and was 8 feet thick. This morning, we are talking about building protective walls, how to fight off discouragement and how we have already won the victory.
I. Building walls
A. Background on Nehemiah
a. Nehemiah, the author of the book was a cup bearer to the king of Artaxerxes.
b. During this time period, the cup bearer was a high ranking officer and was responsible for pouring and serving drinks at the royals table.
c. Due to constant plots to kill kings during this time period, the cupbearer was a person that the king totally trusted.
d. The cup bearer would guard against poison in the kings cup and would at times be required to swallow some of the drink before the king took a sip.
e. Because of his closeness to the king, the cupbearer had a great amount of influence in the king’s life.
B. The need
a. After learning that the Jewish remnant were in distress and the wall of Jerusalem was broken down, Nehemiah asked permission from the king to return to the city and work to rebuild the walls.
b. The king approved Nehemiah’s request, in fact, so much so, he placed him in charge with the mission to rebuild the wall and gave him provision of lumber from his own forest.
c. This rebuild was going to take a lot of hard work. Obviously, they did not have any heavy equipment during this time. They did not have the technology we have today. They did not have the engineering knowledge we have.
C. In face of adversity
a. As the people labored in building the wall, they faced a tremendous amount of opposition.
b. There in Nehemiah chapter four, we see some of the enemies of Israel were furious and were mocking the Jews who were working on the wall.
c. The enemies then conspired with each other to attack and to create confusion.
d. Under this constant threat and opposition Nehemiah and crew continued to work on the wall.
e. The workers became weary and discouraged, but they never stopped working and after 52 days they were victorious and completed the wall.
II. Fighting off discouragement
A. Personal
a. The story of Nehemiah is an amazing story of ordinary people doing something extra ordinary.
b. Even in the face of discouragement these men and women of God were able to overcome.
c. Maybe, you are here this morning and you are feeling discouraged?
d. There have definitely been times in my life that I have grown weary in the battle.
e. There are some truths here in Nehemiah that can help us this morning to remain strong, and be faithful to the Lord, even in the midst of struggle.
B. Troubled trials
a. No matter where you find yourself in your walk with the Lord, we can all know that we will all face trouble in our labors.
b. The enemy of God does not just sit around and say “Oh, that is so nice that so and so is leading people to the Lord. I am just so happy for them and I sure hope they win others.”
c. NO, He fights us every step of the way! He does not like it when we are advancing God’s kingdom.
C. Mockery from the world
a. People from the world will mock what you do. They will try to intimidate you.
b. Those that do not know Jesus are often the first to attack those that are living and serving the Lord.
c. They do so out of ignorance, they do so because they do not have a comprehension of living life for other than themselves.
d. They do so because misery loves company and when you are doing good in your life, they feel intimated and they lash out.
e. Jesus warned his disciples in John 15: 18- NKJV -18 “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. And then in verse 20 20 Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.
D. Mockery from within
a. Not only will we face opposition from worldly people, we may face opposition from within.
b. This can be one of the most challenging obstacles to overcome in our lives. These are people from inside the church that come in the form of deception that they are one of us, however, they are not.
c. They have a nefarious motive in their hearts and life. These are people that are quick to gossip, they are quick to put down others in the church, they are quick talk bad about others.
d. The bible says that we will know them by their fruit. Jesus said in Matthew 7:18-20 - 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
III. Go on offensive
A. Trouble came
a. When trouble came to Nehemiah and his team, they did not cower in the corner and do nothing. They took charge and marched forward.
b. In fact let’s go to our story found in Nehemiah 4: 7-9 7 Now it happened, when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the walls of Jerusalem were being restored and the gaps were beginning to be closed, that they became very angry, 8 and all of them conspired together to come and attack Jerusalem and create confusion. 9 Nevertheless we made our prayer to our God, and because of them we set a watch against them day and night.
c. There are several important lessons that we can glean from out story.
B. Started with prayer
a. In the face of adversity and attack from the enemy, Nehemiah and team took the situation to prayer.
b. They prayed for their safety, they repented for their nation who had fallen away from God.
c. They prayed for their city and the work that they were doing on rebuilding the walls.
d. At the end of the day, God enable them to complete this vital project.
e. There is power when we get on our knees and pray. The bible says in James 5: 16- The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
f. The bible further goes on to say in Mark 11:24 NKJV - 24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.
g. Truly, we are in a spiritual battle. We win the battle by the Spirit of God!
C. Pay Attention
a. Secondly, Nehemiah encouraged those with him to be watchful.
b. The enemy has many tricks that he implores to discourage us from completing the work of God in our lives.
c. The bible says in 1 Peter 5:8NKJV8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
d. The enemy uses lies and deception. Jesus was teaching his disciples in John 8:44 NKJV44 When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
e. We need to be watchful and alert and not be ignorant of the enemies devises.
f. We need to understand that we do not fight him with bows and arrows. In fact, 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 says: NKJV4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,
D. Work as a team
a. It was a great task to complete this wall and it could not be done by one person.
b. Nehemiah and his team had to work together in order to accomplish this great feat.
c. There is power in unity!! Repeat
d. This power comes from the Lord when we work in concert with him and others.
e. Have you ever heard an orchestra play? It is really an amazing experience. To see all these musicians working succinctly with one another to make a musical masterpiece. Beethoven Symphony Number 3 by many accounts is the greatest piece of innovation and music genius to exist.
f. Matthew 18:19 NKJV 19 “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.
g. I going to play a portion of a video from youtube of an orchestra directed by famous Conductor Leonard Bernstein. They are playing Beethoven Symphony Number 3.
• Tech team to play youtube video: Ludwig Van Beethoven Symphony No. 3. Start play at 5:55- 6:55.
Closing:
As we wrap up our time here this morning, we need to understand that there are some things worth fighting for. Our families are worth fighting for, our faith is worth fighting for, our future is worth fighting for. Nehemiah understood this, and he worked to build a wall to accomplish this for his people. The possibilities are endless if we were determined to push through all adversity and pursue the Lord in our lives. When we do this individually it is powerful, when we do this collectively, we will accomplish some supernatural things.
