The sermons ofPeter McKnight

The Rebuilder’s Obstacles

The RebuildersNehemiah 4Erindale Bible Chapel, Mississauga, Ontario

Daniel Defoe 1660-1731 – author of Robinson Crusoe; father of the English novel

Wherever God erects a house of prayer,

The Devil always build a chapel there

And ‘twill be found, upon examination

The latter has the largest congregation

The Bible calls the Devil our Adversary

When you partner with God, Satan will always oppose you.

  • 2 Cor. 7:5 – Paul: two areas of opposition - external and internal

    • “When we came into Macedonia, this body of ours had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn — conflicts on the outside, fears within.”

  • Satan tries to frighten us on the outside and frustrate us on the inside

  1. Satan’s strategy - v.1-12

    1. Threats of the wicked

      1. mockery, derision - 1-3

        1. aim: to shame, embarrass the workers

        2. “it’s impossible for you to rebuild”

        3. it’s ridiculous to even think of it!

        4. you will only fail again!

      2. threatened military action - 7-9, 11

        1. aim: to terrify the workers and forcibly stop the work

      3. Satan will always try to stop the work of God in your life

    1. Tiredness of the workers

      1. too little strength - v.10

        1. Satan’s aim: fatigue; focus on self and own weakness

      2. too much rubble - v.10

        1. Satan’s aim: discouragement; focus on the size of the problems

        2. the rubble was the result of earlier defeats.

          1. Satan loves to remind us of our past failures and tries to convince us that we cannot rebuild because of them.

          2. God loves to take our brokenness, the “rubble” of our lives and make something beautiful and constructive out of it.

            1. Isa. 61 – 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 proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, provide for those who grieve in Zion — to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.

      3. Note – the workers became fatigued when the work was already half done!

        1. the peril of being halfway through:

        2. your initial enthusiasm has dissipated

        3. your joy at being almost finished hasn’t arrived yet

        4. the “February Syndrome”

    1. Testimony of the worldly – v. 12

      1. who were these people?

        1. they were Jews, therefore they had a hearing among their countrymen

        2. they were people who should have known better

      2. where were they coming from?

        1. they lived near the enemy - in the “suburbs” of God’s grace

          1. cf. Lot chose to live near Sodom; soon he lived in Sodom - Gen.13:12; 14:12

            1. 1 John 2:15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

            2. Matthew 6:24 No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

      3. what was their focus?

        1. they were looking at what the enemy was up to, not God

        2. Satan had their attention, had captured their focus

      4. what was their message?

        1. defeat, discouragement, despair

          1. wherever you turn, they’ll attack you

          2. you can’t succeed, so why try?

          3. repeated 10 times over; they never shut up!

      5. Note - beware of the company you keep; a Christian friend who is not wholeheartedly committed to the Lord can be the means Satan uses to drag you down spiritually!

        1. 1 Corinthians 15:33 Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”

  4. Scipture’s remedy

    1. Pray – v. 4-5; 9

      1. the first line of defence for God’s servant

        1. 2 Corinthians 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.

      2. cf. - our first inclination when we encounter opposition is to fight fire with fire; to fight the enemy in the energy of the flesh

        1. NB - Nehemiah didn’t answer their ridicule – v. 4

          1. Proverbs 26:4 Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him yourself.

        2. e.g. - Hezekiah - 2 Ki.19:14 - Hezekiah received a threatening letter (from King Sennacherib of Assyria) and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord.

    1. Post guards on the wall – v. 13

      1. Piety leads to practicality

        1. Matthew 26:41 Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation

        2. Street illustration A man walked down a street and fell into a deep hole in the sidewalk. He rubbed his head and said “I never saw that hole.” It took him a long time to climb out. The next day, he walked down the same street, and fell into the hole again. He rubbed his head and said “Stupid me, I fell into the same hole.” It took him a long time to climb out. The third day, he walked down the same street, and fell into the hole again. This time, he rubbed his head and said “I’ve got to stop falling into this hole.” He climbed right out. The fourth day, he walked down the same street, and this time, he very carefully walked around the hole. The fifth day, he decided to walk down a different street.

      2. J. Sidlow Baxter - “Prayer without precaution is presumption”

      3. Oliver Cromwell - “Trust in God and keep your powder dry”

      4. the need for “guards on the wall” in the church - prayer warriors

    1. Remember the Lord - v.14

      1. our perspective needs to be up, not down - cf. v.10

      2. the size of our problem varies inversely with the size of our God

      3. With God… no promise is too hard to keep; no prayer is too hard to answer; no problem too hard to solve; no place too hard to reach; no person too hard to save.

        1. Romans 8:31 If God is for us, who can be against us?

        2. 1 John 4:4 – He that is in you is greater than he that is in the world

        3. Luke 18:27 Jesus said, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.” He is a God of the possible!

    1. Keep your weapons in hand - v.16-18

      1. Eph.6:16-17 - the shield of faith and the sword of the Spiritr

    1. Listen for the sound of the trumpet - v.19-20

      1. the need for unity in the work

      2. be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit

      3. the trumpeter was with Nehemiah, the leader - v.18

    1. Stay close - v.20, 22

      1. the Christian who wanders away from God soon loses effectiveness

      2. e.g. – Peter was following afar off when he denied Jesus

    1. Be a 24/7 Christian - v.23

      1. Satan attacks when you are “off duty” – e.g. David and Bathsheba

Date from the series schedule printed in the “Ground Zero…” bulletin write-up (sermons/_misc), which lists this message by title and chapter; the file timestamp is weeks later.