Breaking Down Barriers & Building Up The Wall (Pt. 5)
Sermon – 25 July 2004
We have been spending a fair amount of time in this series discussing for several weeks the barriers that have been erected within the church and have kept her from attaining to all that the lord would have her do.
I will not be covering that material again today – last week we spent ample time reviewing all that we had covered in the first three messages if the series.
Last week we began to look at the matter of building up the wall – as we discussed last week, the building of the wall is symbolic of the building of the Kingdom of God – a job that we have been charged with.
We looked at two matters regarding the building of the wall…
1. Take Up Our Positions – we looked at the text from Nehemiah 3 where we see the assembly of the families who were charged with the rebuilding of the wall as the people of Judah returned from the Babylonian captivity.
We saw that among these people who were rebuilding the wall there were no skilled masons or carpenters mentioned (thought there may have been some). What was mentioned was temple merchants, priests, goldsmiths and perfume makers.
God used people from all backgrounds and skill levels to accomplish the work he had sent them to do – they did not shrink back for lack of training or experience. They trusted in the Lord who had called them to do the work.
2. Take Out The Past - Nehemiah 4:10 Meanwhile, the people in Judah said, "The strength of the laborers is giving out, and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall."
This rubble was the leftovers of Judah’s defeat at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar and it had become a hindrance to the labor they were doing for the Lord.
The ‘rubble’ of their past had become such a hindrance to them that they became discouraged in the work they had been called to.
Similarly, there are many in the church today who have ‘rubble’ from their past that Satan has used to discourage them from what god has called them to. Last week I focused in on unforgiveness but the principle is transcendent.
The Enemy will try to use the rubble from our past to keep us focused on our failures and not on the grace of God. That is one of Satan’s great schemes – too keep people focused on themselves and/or their sin and not on the grace of God that has set them free.
Jesus quoted Isaiah regarding himself and it also pertains to us…
Isaiah 61:1-3
The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners…
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
Main text:
Nehemiah 4:11-15
11 Also our enemies said, "Before they know it or see us, we will be right there among them and will kill them and put an end to the work."
12 Then the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times over, "Wherever you turn, they will attack us." 13 Therefore I stationed some of the people behind the lowest points of the wall at the exposed places, posting them by families, with their swords, spears and bows. 14 After I looked things over, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, "Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes." 15 When our enemies heard that we were aware of their plot and that God had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall, each to his own work.
This text takes place at a point where the work has been going on and the wall has reached half it’s height (26 ft.). Now the enemies of Judah are coming against the work and trying to stop the work form continuing.
As we discussed last week, they have already been taunting them at their efforts to rebuild the wall.
But they are serious about stopping this work.
1. Take Down Satan’s Plot –
Nehemiah 4:11
Our enemies said, "Before they know it or see us, we will be right there among them and will kill them and put an end to the work."
The enemies of Judah knew the secret to a successful plan of attack – they must get in amongst the people that they might divide and conquer them.
There even began to be rumors of fear that began to circulate amongst the Jews…
Nehemiah 4:12
Then the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times over, "Wherever you turn, they will attack us."
The Jews were afraid the enemy, they felt surrounded and hopeless in the face of the enemy of God’s plan – but God’s man, Nehemiah was not dissuaded.
I mentioned a couple of weeks ago what Jesus said…
Matthew 12:25
"Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.
This principle still holds true to this day. When it comes to the church it is far more than simple strategy though. It is a truth that the enemy understands all too well and wil exploit to the fullest.
Psalm 133:1-134:1
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brethren to dwell together in unity!
2 It is like the precious oil upon the head,
Running down on the beard,
The beard of Aaron,
Running down on the edge of his garments.
3 It is like the dew of Hermon,
Descending upon the mountains of Zion;
For there the LORD commanded the blessing -- Life forevermore.
It is in the place of unity that God commands His blessing! If we do not seek, cultivate and maintain unity within the church (our own and the big “C”) then we can never expect to know the blessings of God.
John 17:20-23
I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
As I mentioned earlier, the rebuilding of the wall symbolizes for us the building of god’s kingdom on earth.
Jesus prayed that the church would be united in order to reach the world with the gospel – to build the Kingdom of God!
Sometimes when we speak of unity people get the image of us all standing around hugging one another and singing kum-baya and that is simply not the case.
When the church remains disjointed then the gospel suffers for two reasons –
1) The purpose of unity is so that the church might reach the world, when the church is out of unity their focus is not on doing the will of the Father and completing the work he sent us to do.
2) Because God does not command his blessing where there is disunity.
We have to recognize that the enemy is going to do everything he can to destroy our unity – even here at Cornerstone because he understands the power there is in unity.
The enemy wants us to be so consumed with what he is doing in our lives that we do not have time to consider what God desires to do in us and through us.
2 Corinthians 2:10-11
I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, 11 in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.
This takes us back to last weeks sermon for one powerful tool in Satan’s arsenal is unforgiveness. But again, his ultimate plot is to bring about disunity but – we are not unaware of his schemes.
Therefore we must take them down!
Take Up Our Positions, Take Out The Past, Take Down The Plot…
2. Take On God’s Plan –
Nehemiah 4:14,15
After I looked things over, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, "Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes." 15 When our enemies heard that we were aware of their plot and that God had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall, each to his own work.
Notice that Nehemiah surveyed the situation – he considered the enemies and their threats and their plot against the plan of God.
Then he considered who God is, and what He had already done, and what He had called them to do – for him the issues was finished
Habakkuk 3:2
LORD, I have heard of your fame;
I stand in awe of your deeds, O LORD.
Renew them in our day; in our time make them known.
They knew that God was a never-changing God and that He would do what He had done.
Hebrews 13:8
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
We have to remember that these were people who had either been taken into captivity or grown up in captivity as a direct result of God’s will.
Now here they are completely trusting in Him in the face of an enemy plot to destroy them and stop the rebuilding of the wall.
The difference now as opposed to when they were taken off into captivity is that they were serving God with all their hearts.
Nehemiah 4:6
So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart.
Jesus never promised us that living for him would be easy. In fact He promised the opposite…
John 16:33
In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
It is time for the church of Jesus Christ to put the Enemy on notice – “we are aware of your plot but God has frustrated it!” and then simply return to to building the kingdom of God, each to his own work.
15 When our enemies heard that we were aware of their plot and that God had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall, each to his own work.
Earlier I made the point that the enemy wants us to be so consumed with what he is doing in our lives that we do not have time to consider what God desires to do in us and through us.
Alex Grant, pioneer missionary to the Straits Settlements and China, once got up in a meeting in Singapore, and read solemnly Habakkuk 3:17—
“Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines, the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall...yield no meat: the flocks shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: YET WILL I REJOICE IN THE LORD.”
Pausing a moment, he said: “What could the Devil do with a man like that?” and sat down.
A sermon in a sentence.
—Acts and Facts
What could God do with a people who will determine in their hearts that no matter the circumstance, no matter the calamity, we will serve the Lord.
2 Chronicles 16:9
For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.
God is looking for a people who will…
Take Up Our Positions, Take Out The Past, Take Down Satan’s Plot and…
Take On God’s Plan
