RISE UP! And Assess Reality!

Today is week of 4 of our RISE UP! Capital Campaign.  Where have we been in the recent weeks?

 

Week 1 was RISE UP! And Remember God’s Faithfulness!  Has God been faithful to you?  Has God been faithful to us?  Don’t forget it!

 

Week 2 was RISE UP! And Kneel Down!  This capital campaign will not be successful unless we pray and ask God to intervene and ask how we should participate.  By the way, we still have two one-hour time slots left for our 24-hour prayer vigil.  They are 2 and 3 AM.

 

Week 3 was RISE UP! And Reclaim God’s Vision!  God’s vision for Nehemiah was to rebuild the city walls so that people of God would be safe and secure in the city of God. 

 

At EBC, our vision is to love God and love people and make disciples.  Our vision is to make disciples of this generation and the next generations of children of teenagers.  A Family Life Center can help with this vision tremendously.

 

Week 4 is RISE UP! And Access Reality.  Today, for the first time, but not the last time, we will see that when an individual or a group of individuals is seeking to following the follow the Lord, the reality is that there will be opposition. 

 

I want you to see this morning that opposition can come from people, passivity, and perspective.

 

 

1. Opposition can come in the form of people, 2:9-10.

9 Then I went to the governors in the region beyond the River, and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me. 10 When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard of it, they were deeply disturbed that a man had come to seek the well-being of the children of Israel. 

 

Verse 9 says that Nehemiah went to the governors beyond the Euphrates River and gave them the letters from the king.  What is that about?  Look back at 2:7.

 

7 Furthermore I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given to me for the governors of the region beyond the River, that they must permit me to pass through till I come to Judah.

 

In order to get the timber needed from the king’s forest to rebuild the walls and gates, Nehemiah had to pass through enemy territory.  Therefore, he requested letters from the king that gave him permission. 

 

However, that didn’t sit well with these governors.  The king had even sent an entourage with Nehemiah to protect him, and verse 10 shows the first opposition that Nehemiah encountered.

 

Sanballat and Tobiah were their names, and they didn’t like the idea of Nehemiah rebuilding the city because of what that would mean for Israel.  These men were leaders of Samaria, and Nehemiah’s efforts, if successful, would embolden Israel and make them harder to conquer.  Therefore, they didn’t like and opposed what Nehemiah was planning.

 

I know there are some church member today that don’t think we need a FLC.  There are others who are fine with a FLC but not right now.  There are others who are fine with a FLC but not for that price.

 

I understand, but I want you to remind you that we haven’t gotten to this point over night.  We also haven’t gotten here because of the vision of one person but of many, and it has been well-said that delayed obedience is disobedience.

 

In Deuteronomy 1, Israel turned an 11-day journey into the Promised Land into a 40-year wandering in the wilderness.  How?  They were fearful and disobedient to what God told them to do and had even provided for them.

 

 

2. Opposition can come in the form of passivity, 2:11-12.

11 So I came to Jerusalem and was there three days. 12 Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me; I told no one what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem; nor was there any animal with me, except the one on which I rode.

 

Verse 11 says that Nehemiah came to Jerusalem for a three-day tour.  Verse 12 says that he did his surveying and accessing of reality at night, and he had some men with him that evidently shared his vision.

 

The end of verse 12 gives us insight into what drove Nehemiah.  God had put in his heart to rebuild Jerusalem.  It was Nehemiah but God. 

 

However, think about this.  What if Nehemiah would have said to God, “Thanks but no thanks.”  What if he chose not to act on what God wanted him to do for whatever reason?

 

Well, simply put, that would have been disobedience, and Nehemiah would have run the risk of discipline for himself and the remnant if he would have responded passively to what God put in his heart. 

 

I did this last week so I won’t do it again, but over 14 years ago, God put it in the heart of EBC to build a FLC, and you approved.  For the past 14 years, EBC has been acquiring property to make that happen, and you approved.  In the past two years, we hired an architect to design a FLC, and you approved, and God provide the property to build it on this block, and you approved. 

 

Now, I am asking God to provide the money through His people.  You get another opportunity to actively approve rather than passively do nothing.

 

 

3. Opposition can come in the form of perspective, 2:13-16.

13 And I went out by night through the Valley Gate to the Serpent Well and the Refuse Gate, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down and its gates which were burned with fire. 14 Then I went on to the Fountain Gate and to the King’s Pool, but there was no room for the animal under me to pass. 15 So I went up in the night by the valley, and viewed the wall; then I turned back and entered by the Valley Gate, and so returned. 16 And the officials did not know where I had gone or what I had done; I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, or the others who did the work.

 

When Nehemiah went out at night, what do you think he saw?  He saw exactly what we knew he would see. 

 

The walls were broken down.  The gates had been burned.  There was so much ruin piled up that his donkey couldn’t pass through. 

 

The story of Nehemiah is that he responded to God’s vision with faith instead of fear.  What is the difference?  It is all about perspective. 

 

The perspective of fear sees circumstances instead of God.  In this case, the circumstances were a city in ruins, 140 years, too few people to do anything about it.

 

The perspective of faith sees God in the circumstances.  Faith doesn’t deny the circumstances. However, faith sees God in the circumstances and able to overcome the circumstances. 

 

Think back with me to three very familiar Old Testament Bible stories.  What if Noah responded with fear instead of faith to what God told him to do?  He had never heard of rain.  No one ever needed a boat of that size.  How could one man and his family accomplish such?  See Genesis 6:12-14, 22.

 

12 So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.  13 And God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14 Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch.  22 Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did.

 

What if Joshua responded with fear instead of faith when God told him how to take Jericho?  Obviously, God had never attended West Point.  He must have failed military strategies.  You want me to circle the city in silence for six days?  On the seventh day, you want me to circle and then yell?  That’s going to bring the walls down and give us the city?  See Joshua 6:1-5.

 

Now Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel; none went out, and none came in. 2 And the Lord said to Joshua: “See! I have given Jericho into your hand, its king, and the mighty men of valor. 3 You shall march around the city, all you men of war; you shall go all around the city once. This you shall do six days. 4 And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. But the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. 5 It shall come to pass, when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, that all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the wall of the city will fall down flat. And the people shall go up every man straight before him.”

 

What is David responded with fear instead of faith when Goliath taunted the God of Israel?  Goliath was too big.  He had already killed too many.  David was just a little shepherd boy.  1 Samuel 17:10, 37, 45.

 

10 And the Philistine said, “I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.”

 

37 Moreover David said, “The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”  And Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you!”

 

45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.

 

Brothers and sisters, I want to ask you to ask God to replace your fear with faith…faith in Him, and faith in your leaders, but that isn’t all.

 

Tony Evans said, “Obedience is the visible, verifiable proof of your faith or trust.  I’m not just asking you to trust but also to obey.”

 

Trust and obey…that would make a great song. 

 

1

When we walk with the Lord

  In the light of His Word,

What a glory He sheds on our way;

  While we do His good will,

  He abides with us still,

And with all who will trust and obey.

 2

Not a shadow can rise,

  Not a cloud in the skies,

But His smile quickly drives it away;

  Not a doubt or a fear,

  Not a sigh or a tear,

Can abide while we trust and obey.

3

Not a burden we bear,

  Not a sorrow we share,

But our toil He doth richly repay;

  Not a grief or a loss,

  Not a frown or a cross,

But is blest if we trust and obey.

4

But we never can prove

  The delights of His love,

Until all on the altar we lay;

  For the favor He shows,

  And the joy He bestows,

Are for them who will trust and obey.

5

Then in fellowship sweet

  We will sit at His feet,

Or we’ll walk by His side in the way;

  What He says we will do;

  Where He sends, we will go,

Never fear, only trust and obey.

But that song isn’t simply some one’s thoughts and ideas, it is the truth of Scriptures.  See Proverbs 3:5-6.

 

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

And lean not on your own understanding;

6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,

And He shall direct your paths.