Message 5: “The Rugged Road of Rebuilding”
Neh. 4:1-15
Introduction
Welcome back to part 5 of our series in Neh. in which we are looking at a wall rebuilding project under the leadership of Neh…
-making the connection that our lives are like the walls of Jer…there is some degree of brokenness...damage...parts of our life are crumbling, in need of repair...doesn’t mean that we’re completely ruined...for some it’s just a little area.....for others there’s lots of rubble…
....but for all of us there is a need for restoration and rebuilding....
Review of the rebuilding process:
Part 1: Prayerful admission of our brokenness… thru prayer that is honest, humble, confessional...so freeing to be able to honestly admit “I am broken…there is brokenness in my life”
Part 2: The Truth about who God says you are..
(His approval, authority, angel army)
Part 3: Partnership with the HS - Master Rebuilder...
( compassionate, committed, companionship)
Part 4: Fellow Rebuilders... the support of other people as we work together to rebuild and strengthen each other’s lives…”next to him”
Part 5
Today we come to part 5, which is actually chapter 4 of Neh. (turn there)…where we discover this reality:
When we begin to see some real progress happening in the rebuilding our broken lives, we will encounter Satanic opposition.
-the minute we get serious about seeing God bring wholeness, healing, restoration to our lives, we then enter a realm of spiritual warfare designed by the enemy to stop our progress and keep us living in brokenness and in ruins.
…prayer…read…
-this chapter is all about spiritual warfare.....we can expect it when our lives are being restored and God is doing a good work of rebuilding within us....
-this spiritual warfare is not to be feared, but faced and overcome through the conquering power of Jesus Christ…through the cross of JC…
It’s important that we understand spiritual warfare from a position of triumph in Christ, not from a position of defeat.... or dread...... or fear..... or preoccupation.......
Even though we believe in the reality of Satan and the reality of God, the Bible does not teach that they are two equal, but opposite forces. The Bible does not teach that God and Satan are two equally powerful rulers: God on the good side, Satan on the bad side involved in a cosmic tug of war, one side winning sometimes, then the other side, the final outcome unsure: that is not what the Bible teaches…
The truth is, Satan is a defeated foe, who tries to appear powerful to those who will let him. But God is superior to him in every way; our God is the supreme ruler of all, including Satan and his demons.
The Bible teaches that Satan’s influence is controlled by God…God has Satan on a short leash…Satan has not been given complete freedom to work his evil plans…we see that in the book of Job where Satan has to ask God permission to test Job and is given very limited perameters in which to operate…
More on that later…
Sanballat and Tobiah
Back to our Neh. 4, let’s talk about these two characters Sanballat and Tobiah. Who were they? Obviously they were some kind of rulers leading the verbal opposition against Neh. and the Jews who were doing the rebuilding.
Historically, Sanballat was the man put in charge of the defeated people of Jer. by the conquering Babylonians. He was the governor of a region in ruins; he was the ruler of rubble.
Tobiah, his right hand man, was also a governing official, a puppet leader also put in place by the Babylonian empire.
Both of these men were given authority over a dominion they had no actual right to control. They came in by force and they ruled by force. Their method of ruling was to keep the people afraid, broken, and intimidated. So any work of rebuilding, of restored Jewish life, was a threat to their dictatorship…
A Picture of Satan
This is a picture of Satan. Our spiritual enemy, the Devil himself, is just like these two guys. Just like Sanballat and Tobiah, his only interest is in keeping people in a state of defeat and despair. He is completely disinterested in a person’s well-being. His sole motivation is to steal, kill and destroy (Jn. 10:10).
He tries to convince us he has authority over our lives when in reality he has no right to exercise rule and control over us. But through all kinds of strategies, he tries to keep us afraid, broken and intimidated so we are under his control and separated from God’s help. And he gets angry when we start making progress in our spiritual restoration…just like Sanballat and Tobiah, Satan gets angry when we grow…find victory, overcome, rise above sin, experience freedom…forgive, reconciliation, restoration…
* remember that Satan’s anger is primarily directed toward Christ…and then towards you and I simply because we are so precious to Him…if he can’t hurt God he will try to hurt God’s children…
One thing is certain, Satan is sure to find some people to be his puppets in trying to oppose your spiritual progress…
-Satan is always trying to direct people or circumstances at us that are intended to keep us broken and in ruins…
* very important to remember what Eph. 6:12 says:
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Satan’s Strategies
-let’s look now at a few specific strategies Satan uses in his effort to oppose us in the rebuilding of our lives by God.
I see these attacks as very descriptive of the way Satan works against us particularly in North America…there is a subtlety/ mock sophistication to these attacks…
Verses 1-3…
• ridicule, mockery, intimidation
• “what are these feeble Jews doing?”
Lie: you’re weak and powerless…
Truth: I am weak, but “I can do everything through Him who gives me strength” (Phil. 4:13)
• “will they restore their wall?”
Lie: you’ll never be restored, healed, whole…
Truth: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”
(2 Cor. 5:17)
• “will they offer sacrifices?”
Lie: you’re not good enough for God…
Truth: “I’m not, but Christ’s gift of righteousness qualifies me to draw near to God.” (Heb. 10:19-22)
• “will they finish in a day?”
Lie: you are doomed to repeated failure…
Truth: “…he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus…” (Phil. 1:6)
• “can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble?”
Lie: I don’t have the proper building materials or resources…
Truth: “I will restore the fortunes of Jacob’s tents and have compassion on his dwellings; the city will be rebuilt on her ruins… (Jer. 30:18)
* nothing more than a “school yard bully”…
Voice of the Accuser
-there’s another level of this spiritual attack we need to be aware of and that is the inner voice of the “Accuser” who tries to oppose us by reminding us past sins and failures and insisting we are disqualified from God’s blessings… (Rev.12:10....”For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down....”)
-did survey during Rev. series…discovered most common inner accusation among God’s people is: “I’m not good enough…”
Satan specializes in producing shame and insecurity....and shame and insecurity keep us away from God and from people (eg Adam and Eve in the Garden after they sinned.....)
But God specializes in grace, mercy, forgiveness, acceptance and loving kindness…
Another Two Satanic Strategies
• spiritual fatigue (v.10)
-“it’s too much…too hard…too overwhelming…”
-very common in the church today among those who are sincerely and actively committed to kingdom life…
• violent threats (v.11)
-that’s a very extreme threat, to be threatened with loss of life
-something some of our persecuted brothers and sisters in other countries experience on a regular basis (bulletin today – Xn teacher killed in Tanzania) …I see it coming here…
** By show of hands, how many of you can relate to any of these evil tactics? Have you seen any of them at work against you, perhaps especially since you’ve gotten serious about the rebuilding?
Word of Warning
A thought occurs: if at any time you and I find ourselves participating in any of these tactics ourselves....using anger to get our way....ridiculing… intimidating… mocking… manipulating… threatening...... being a bully…
…stop immediately and repent.....don’t let the enemy use you in any evil way…don’t be party to any of his schemes.
I can tell you absolutely that God will never use those tactics or lead you to use them to do His work ....
- don’t unwittingly get drawn into the Enemy’s evil schemes by participating in any of these tactics.
How to Stand Against Satan’s Attacks
Let’s look at how Neh. helps his people stand against these attacks from Satan…and how we can find the power to overcome this evil opposition…
-first part today, then the rest next week…found in the last part of ch. 4…
1. alert, constant prayer v.9
1 Pet 5:8 “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
2. extra support at the weakest places v.13
1 Thess. 5:14 “And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone.”
3. weapons of spiritual warfare v.13
2 Cor. 10:3-4 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.
-two of our greatest spiritual weapons are: the word of God and prayer…
Eph. 6:17-18 “Take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions…”
4. remember our great and awesome Lord v.14
-esp the cross of Jesus Christ…Christ’s victory on the cross…remember what He did on the cross…
-Jesus has “frustrated Satan’s plot” (v.15) by His victorious death and resurrection…
Col 2:15 “And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”
eg. House of a Thousand Terrors…
Conclusion
-it’s not your fight to win or lose…it’s God’s…and He has already won…
1 Jn 4:4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.