In our sermon series on the Book of Nehemiah, we've explored quite a bit about Nehemiah's life, his calling, his journey, and his reliance on God to accomplish that which God set out for him to do -- rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. We've seen that Nehemiah was a man of compassion. When he saw that the walls of the Beloved City were in ruins, he wept (Nehemiah 1:4). He also fasted and prayed, as was his custom. Nehemiah was a man of great courage; a true leader who kept fighting for what God had called him to do.

 

For our theme this Sunday, we see that Nehemiah and his people are nearing the completion of the walls of Jerusalem, which took a surprisingly brief amount of time for them to accomplish. This is mainly because God was guiding Nehemiah and his brothers and sisters in the process, because God was the Author of that vision. God wanted the walls, among other parts of Jerusalem, rebuilt. Chapter 6 of the Book picks up with Nehemiah needing merely to hang some doors and windows for the wall, but other than that, the work is accomplished. But this does not mean that opposition to Nehemiah's work and vision had ended. In fact, it got worse. Nehemiah had to exercise a valuable discipline: dealing with difficult people!

 

As we will see on Sunday, Nehemiah's enemies formed various plots to confuse him, persuade him to change his mind, dissuade him from the narrow vision at hand (to build the walls), deceive him into believing his decisions were wrong, induce fear through aspects of intimidation or coercion, and overall, treating Nehemiah very badly. We will see that the three strategies of Nehemiah's enemies are also three strategies used by God's enemy today to stop the progress of the kingdom of God on earth, namely (1) Intrigue, (2) Intimidation, and (3) Infiltration. As we continue on our journey in reading Nehemiah we will see some parallels to our own situation at MLEPC as God is calling us to a new way of doing ministry. As He is calling us to reach the unchurched in specific ways, God is calling us to pull together, for a common cause -- a unifying cause to reach the lost. This requires sacrifice and it requires a whole lot of prayer ... something that Nehemiah was well versed in doing!

 

Please join us this Sunday as we seek God's will through His revealed Word, and as we look to Nehemiah as an example of virtue, courage, prayer, wisdom, and faithfulness to the Lord.

 

May God richly bless you, dearly beloved,

 

Pastor Steve