Two weeks ago, we studied about the restoration of the wall in the book of Nehemiah.
We learned that we are the temple of God, that God came to live in us, the Holy Spirit duels in our lives and we received salvation through the the work of the cross. It is a miracle. We can’t save ourselves.
The new birth occurs as an instantaneous miracle in our spirit but the restoration of our soul is a process, there are no miracles. It’s a long and wonderful task that must be undertaken with the help of the Holy Spirit.
Your spirit was regenerated by the work of the cross, by the sacrifice of Jesus, but your soul is in constant process of restoration.
You are an active participant in this work, because you are the one who decides whether to act, obey what God has asked of you by the Holy Spirit through the word and through the body of Christ.
For this work to be complete you can count on the family of God, they will help you to carry your loads.
However there will be resistance from your flesh and also from Satan.
We are all in the process of restoration and we have the help of the most wonderful person. The Holy Spirit. You cooperate in this work by walking in obedience, choosing to please the Lord, renewing your mind and identifying the lies on your way of thinking.
Today I want us to focus on the enemy’s attack against you and also in the importance of the body of Christ in this process of restoration the wall of your soul.
Did you know that spiritual opposition will come, when you start to overcome sin in your life, and you begin to triumph over addiction, spending more time in prayer, our you boldly start to share your faith with people around you. All of those actions are you rebuild the walls of your life.
Be sure that the devil’s goal is to hold God’s people from growth and to do great things for God. He will attack you.
We see this situation happing in Nehemiah 4.1-3, “When Sanballat heard that we Jews had begun rebuilding the wall, he was furious and began to ridicule us. In front of his companions and the Samaritan troops he said, “What do these miserable Jews think they’re doing? Do they intend to rebuild the city? Do they think that by offering sacrifices they can finish the work in one day? Can they make building stones out of heaps of burnt rubble?” Tobiah was standing there beside him, and he added, “What kind of wall could they ever build? Even a fox could knock it down!””
Nehemiah 4:1-3 GNB
The people of God were building the wall and the enemy, here represented by Sanballat which means – Bramble bush, or thorn, (like the torn Paul talks about, “thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me” 2 Corinthians 12:7).He came and started mocking them, putting doubts in their minds, threatening the Jews and planning to fight against Jerusalem.
But what did Nehemiah do? He responded with prayer. He prayed and was watchful, setting guards to protect the work of the people day and night. Nehemiah 4:4-5,13 “4 Hear us, our God, for we are despised. Turn their insults back on their own heads. Give them over as plunder in a land of captivity. 5 Do not cover up their guilt or blot out their sins from your sight, for they have thrown insults in the face of the builders.” 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. Nehemiah 4:4-5,13
As our friend Nehemiah we need to do the same pray and watch, be spiritual and practical.
Another weapon that Satan will use against us is discouragement, specially if you are in the middle of something. You’ve just started a new job, at the start everything was wonderful but now there’s this co-worker who’s always giving you a hard time, our you are in a new school, new town, new country and you were so happy with your new beginning but now you feel like there are so many problems coming at once that the only thing you can think of is: “I’ll give up.”But if you do, you’ll never see the other side.
If you give in to the spirit of discouragement, you rob yourself of hope. When you give up, you surrender to Satan’s will for your life.
You must choose to persevere with God, like Nehemiah and the people of Jerusalem. They received all the encouragement they needed to continue working from God, and He will do the same for you – He will give you courage and power to keep going and never give up.
There are moments in our life that we lose our focus and we start to look at our problems, to the mess around us, to all our bills, school assignments, our physical pain and problems. But what did Nehemiah do? We must learn from him. He armed the people and encouraged them.
Nehemiah 4.14 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 families, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.” Nehemiah 4.14
Psalm 89.8 Who is like you, Lord God Almighty? You, Lord, are mighty, and your faithfulness surrounds you. Psalm 89.8
Whenever you feel discouraged, take a moment to pray, fix your eyes on Jesus, and don’t stop. Keep moving forward, keep doing the work God has assigned to you.
The people of Jerusalem had swords, but our weapons are spiritual. Your sword is the word of God that you know by heart. Only with His word you will be able to fight against the enemy of your soul. Testimony- I friend of my had COVID and she had to stay in hospital for months . During time she was in the ventilator in the intensive care the only thing she had to fight her fear of death were the bible verses that she knew by heart.
Remember prayer is your first obligation, not your last resort. And remember who is the Lord. Rest in his power and love, for “He alone is great and awesome” Nehemiah 4:14
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Let’s look now in the importance of the body of Christ in this process of restoration.
In the chapter 3 we note the phrases “next to him” and “next to them” many times as the chapter describes those who were working in the restoration of the wall. There are a list of names and they were from different backgrounds, professionally and spiritually. Nehemiah had divided the people in groups, and he stationed those groups in different gates around the city. Wherever a group of builders stopped, another continued.
Nehemiah 3 1-4 1 Eliashib the high priest and his fellow priests went to work and rebuilt the Sheep Gate. They dedicated it and set its doors in place, building as far as the Tower of the Hundred, which they dedicated, and as far as the Tower of Hananel. 2 The men of Jericho built the adjoining section, and Zakkur son of Imri built next to them. 3 The Fish Gate was rebuilt by the sons of Hassenaah. They laid its beams and put its doors and bolts and bars in place. 4 Meremoth son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz, repaired the next section. Next to him Meshullam son of Berekiah, the son of Meshezabel, made repairs, and next to him Zadok son of Baana also made repairs. Nehemiah 3 1-4
The people were working together side by side, hand in hand, there were no gaps between them. Did you know that there is a lesson to be taken from this? The only way for the body of Christ to bring the kingdom of God to earth is when we work together.
Jesus did not build His church to be an arena of spectators. He called you and I to make a difference in this world. We see a contrast in the church today—hardworking good-heart Christian who are eager to serve the Lord and serve others any way they can, plus a number who prefer to sit and watch others work. This is not the way it is supposed to be, we need each other. You are very important. When you don’t do your part, someone will have to do it and they will tire quicker because they did their part and yours as well.
We have a great job to do. We are called to rebuild the walls of our culture, the wall of our church, and the walls of broken lives around us. We have the message of eternal life; we know the Good News that can save the lost.
As you serve with your gifts and talents in our welcome team, worship team, children’s ministry, youth ministry, prayer team, recording and sound system, at the cell meeting, you are helping. When you serve you build your own soul. Did you know that? When you get involved, you are loving your neighbour. You are leaving your selfish life behind and caring for others.
You may think there is enough people doing those jobs already, but I can tell you there is not, we still need people. If We have more we can draw up a roster (róaster) and everyone will have their turn to help and to sit down and listen to the sermon.
Remember the body of Christ is not only about the leaders of the church, it is all of us. When you care for your neighbour. When you visit the one who is sick, or you help them with their kids or with their house chores, you cook a meal or you call to see how they are doing because you haven’t seen them at church that week. When you approach a visitor and greet him. When you pray for the sick.
All those actions are part of work of restoration of the wall that we were called to rebuilt. People are broken and when you love then without asking for anything in return, you are healing them. Jesus said for us to love one another. “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”John 13:34 NIV
The only way to heal people’s heart is through real love. When we care from one another , through action.
There are some many gaps on our walls and if there are only one or two people working we will never see the work done.
Those few workers will probably die and the wall will still sit in ruins, the enemy will keep attacking us through these same breaches and the Glory of the Lord will not be manifested.
Let’s read Ephesians 2:20-22
“You, too, are built upon the foundation laid by the apostles and prophets, the cornerstone being Christ Jesus himself. He is the one who holds the whole building together and makes it grow into a sacred temple dedicated to the Lord. In union with him you too are being built together with all the others into a place where God lives through his Spirit.”
Ephesians 2:20-22 GNB
Conclusion
Remember, when you start to overcome sin, when you begin to overcome addiction. As you spend more time in prayer, and when you boldly share your faith with people around you. Spiritual opposition will come, because the devil’s goal is to keep God’s people from growing and doing great things.
We need to be prepared for the battle, be alert; do not give room for thoughts and words of unbelief, discouragement or doubts. We need be on guard, always ready to use the sword and the work tools. Be united with brothers and sisters, because the battle will not be easy if we cannot support each other
Like they did in Nehemiah 4. 16- 18 16.From that day on, half of my men did the work, while the other half were equipped with spears, shields, bows and armour. The officers posted themselves behind all the people of Judah 17 who were building the wall. Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, 18 and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked. But the man who sounded the trumpet stayed with me. Nehemiah 4. 16- 18
This passage teaches us that when we are being attacked by the enemy, we have to know how to use the word of God as our weapon while continue on doing the work of God. Satan will come against us but don’t stop, keep going, invite your family in Christ to pray with you and for you, use the word of God as your anchor, your strength and keep doing what you were called to do.
Also remember, the restoration of the walls is not a job of the leadership of the church, it is everyone’s job. You have a gate to rebuild, you have gaps to close. Imagine what would happen if your mom was the only one doing all the work at your house, cooking, shopping, cleaning, the washing, ironing, while still with her job outside and no one helps, how long do you think she would be able to keep it up and being health?
The bible calls the church the body of Christ, it means that we are all members. Each of us has a function and if we don’t work properly the body becomes ill and does not live the way it supposes to live.
Let’s find our place and work together to rebuilt the wall.
We have a great job to do. We are called to rebuild the walls of our culture, the walls of our church, and the walls of broken lives around us. We have the message of eternal life; we know the Good News that can save the lost.
Pray. – – – work with one hand and held a weapon in the other,
Prayer and love,
using the word as a weapon against the enemy attacks and loving our neighbours, caring for them.
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.” Nehemiah 4.14
We only fight because we love.