0:56 Well, Marynatha Bible Church, good evening. Welcome to our Friday night Bible study. It is a joy to be with you as we open the word of God. And as we open the word of God, may it may it change us tonight. May it transform us tonight.
1:12 May it turn our hearts closer to Christ tonight. As we begin our service, I'd like to read from Psalm 84. And may the words of the psalmist, they just wash over us and and remove all distractions tonight from our hearts. May it remove all lesser desires from our souls tonight. May the word of the Lord focus our attention on him today.
1:40 Psalm 84. To the choir master, according to the get it, a Psalm of the sons of Korah. Oh Lord of hosts. My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord. My heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.
2:03 Even the sparrow finds a home in the swallow and nest for herself, where she may lay her young at your altars, oh Lord of hosts, my King and my God. Blessed are those who dwell in your house ever singing your praise. Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose hearts are the highways to Zion. As they go through the Valley Of Baca, they make it a place of springs. The early rain also covers it with pools.
2:34 They go from strength to strength. Each one appears before God and Zion. Oh Lord, God of hosts, hear my prayer. Give ear, oh God of Jacob. Behold our shield, oh God.
2:49 Look on the face of your anointed for a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the Lord God is a sun and shield. The Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.
3:13 Oh Lord of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this night. And, Lord, we echo the words of the psalmist tonight, and we say, our trust is in you. Our hope is in you.
3:34 And, Father, our joy is in you. Help us, Lord. Cleanse our hearts. Focus our minds tonight. May we give utmost attention.
3:45 May we give our reverence and our all to you. Lord, change us tonight. Illuminate our hearts and our minds by the power of your spirit tonight. Lord, may we come away changed after we encounter you through the singing, through the praying, and through the preaching of your word. Lord, may you be glorified in all things.
4:07 And may we, your people, be filled with your joy everlasting. In Jesus name, Amen. Church, will you please stand and sing a song to the Lord tonight from your souls.
19:14 Father, we thank you for gathering us on this Friday night. It is our true delight to be in your house, to sing your praises, and to worship you, and to meet with you, Lord. And there's no greater joy Lord than to meet with you and to hear from you and to be close to you. And we thank you for the opportunity to do that as your people here in this place again. And we ask God that by your Holy Spirit, may there be power in our service, Lord, in all of it, God.
19:43 We want to leave this place being changed in our hearts, in our minds, even our bodies, Lord, we want to, leave strengthened and energized because of your great love that we are reminded of again and because we have heard from you through your word. And so we ask now, Lord, as we hear it, that you would move powerfully by your spirit, that we would leave this place knowing that we, we heard from you for certainty through your word. May we see Jesus in these verses, and may you be glorified in all we do today. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
20:23 Praise team. Thank you so much. Hey. Before you're seated, can you turn to somebody? Welcome to this Friday night bible study.
20:54 What a joy it is to see you here this Friday evening. We're going to worship in our giving. And so if it is on your heart to do that at this at this time, the ushers will help us. And there are instructions on the screens to aid us in how we can contribute to the work of the Lord here at Maranatha Bible Church. And we're so always grateful for your partnership in this way.
21:20 And, God has been so faithful over the years to fund what is happening here, to prepare us for major decisions like finding a new home. And we believe that as we continue to set our gaze on him and the mission that he's called us to, he will always supply our needs. Where God guides, he provides always. Believe that for your own life. We must believe that as a church and he has done it these last almost five years and he will continue to do it until we see him face to face.
21:50 And while that is taking place, I have a few announcements pertaining to this weekend especially. Men, you have been prepared the last few weeks to, join us for our men's breakfast. The first one here in this new home, and that is taking place tomorrow morning at 10:30AM. And we will be downstairs in the basement, and there will be food and there will be fellowship and there will be a couple of testimonies shared and we will sing with no instruments, just our booming manly voices. It'll be a wonderful time.
22:23 If you are a man here and you've never been part of any of our men's fellowship, we warmly invite you join us. This is an informal setting for you to get a chance to see other brothers at a closer, in a closer way and to hear their testimonies and their stories so that you can become more familiar with the brothers of this family. So please join us tomorrow. And speaking of family, we have our members meeting for the first time in our new home as well this Sunday, August 2, and that will be taking place about thirty minutes after the service on Sunday, and that is for members of MBC. You know if you are a member here, you've sat with elders, you've had an interview, you've been publicly acknowledged.
23:08 However, for those who have applied, you're also welcome to join and, we're looking forward to just the updates and the upcoming plans and the changes that have taken place in the last few months. So this is a crucial meeting to be a part of. If you are a member and you're wondering if you should go, I mean, we only have these twice a year, so it shouldn't be a question. It shouldn't be a debate. Please join us August 2, two days from now.
23:35 Besides that, we have our church picnic on the ninth, and so that is something that we'll be doing after our Lord's Day service as well, and, we're looking forward to organizing that. There's so much land here. I think last time we did it, people were dispersed in different parts. And so, we're gonna try to confine it this time, and our activities and our food and fellowship will be, maintained in one area. So, we're we're adjusting to all this space.
23:59 We don't know what to do with all this wiggle room, I guess. But, this time around, I I trust it will be a great blessing. There will be, of course, food and bring a change of clothes. If you wanna bring any activities and games for us to to fellowship around, you can do that as well. That is something we're excited for.
24:14 I just wanna show appreciation to the volunteers for the VBS that just finished today actually. Can we just show our appreciation? It was wonderful. The the children were blessed. The mothers were blessed as they had a chance to fellowship, while their their babies were being served.
24:37 They had a chance to receive, mutual encouragement testimonies from other mothers, and so it was just a great blessing. So from the leadership to visitors to and from the members, we just wanna say thank you to all of you who volunteer teaching our children, helping set up and tear down, commuting here. We're so grateful. Your efforts are not in vain and your ultimate reward is with the Lord Jesus Christ. So we're so blessed, and we are so grateful for your love for the children of MBC.
25:07 We're gonna start in a moment here, but I want to be transparent and let you know the greatest fear of a true preacher. Would you wanna know that? What is the greatest fear of a true preacher? The greatest fear of a true peep preacher or teacher is not that he would come up to the pulpit without his notes. It's not a wardrobe malfunction, nor is it arriving to wherever he is designated to preach or teach and find that nobody shows up.
25:40 That is not the greatest fear of anyone who proclaims god's word. The greatest fear for a true preacher is to preach god's word without the help of the holy spirit. And I want to encourage you always to pray for whoever comes up to this pulpit to never come up to this pulpit alone, but to come with the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit. The greatest men of God depended and relied on the unction of the Holy Spirit whenever they had an opportunity to proclaim God's word. And so I would love for us to pray for that and ask God to help us in this moment as we come to his holy word.
26:33 Can we do that together? We thank you, Lord, for that fear that you've placed in the hearts of men who have been called to preach your word. Oh, Lord, we also thank you that that fear does not have to be realized or experienced as long as they come before you in prayer and ask for your help. And that is what we do at this moment. We pray for the power of the Holy Spirit to rest upon this bible study.
27:10 We pray, oh lord, that you would do what you have done across the ages to those who long for more than just a lesson from the bible, and you would cause the preacher to disappear, and that the only voice that would be heard would be the voice of Christ. The only person that would be admired is the person of Christ. We pray that you would enable, that you would allow that to be our portion this evening to the glory of your great name. Let every verse that is unleashed be unleashed with great power. Let every truth that is discovered chisel our hearts.
27:59 We ask, oh God, that we would truly experience you through this new chapter in the book of Nehemiah, and we believe that you will meet us here. We ask these things in the name of the living Christ, Jesus. Amen and amen. The more I study the book of Nehemiah, the more I realize just how much of it is dedicated to revealing the great oppositions that this man of God experienced while he completely and wholeheartedly committed himself to the work of the Lord. We have seen that week after week.
28:41 We've seen it coming from different fronts namely from those who hate the people of God and hate the God of Israel. And the patterns that we have been able to identify have also reinforced for us how these things are not unique to Nehemiah but are found across the scriptures. It's the same playbook that we see throughout the ages. And coming to this new chapter Nehemiah five, I was also reminded of how what we're about to unfold here is very similar to what you see in the early chapters of the book of acts. Think about it.
29:27 How did Satan seek to oppose the church of Jesus Christ shortly after her birth on the day of Pentecost? Well, in acts chapter four, you have the religious leaders who threatened and intimidated the apostles, demanding them to no longer preach or teach in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, and that failed. The more they try to suppress them, the more they try to beat them, the more they try to arrest them, revival would break out. But as one famous preacher said, when the devil can no longer destroy the church through persecution, he joins them. And that is exactly what you find in Acts chapter five.
30:19 You have this husband and wife by the name of what? Ananias and Sapphira. They come to a meeting and they lie about their donation. They claimed that they sold everything, but they only gave part. And had they succeeded in convincing the leadership in the church of that time, they would have introduced to the church hypocrisy, greed, and compromise.
30:54 But thankfully, Peter discerned the source of this wicked scheme. And he says in Acts chapter five verse three, questioning Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit? And they overcame. Satan attempted to infect the church with sin, and it did not have a foothold. The church under the leadership of these holy men would not tolerate carnality, would not give into lies even though it's packaged financially.
31:40 But what happens next? It doesn't end there. You come to Acts chapter six. And in Acts chapter six, we discover that there is a dispute between the Greek speaking Jews and the Hebrew speaking Jews. And the Greek speaking Jews are complaining that their widows are being overlooked in the daily food distribution.
32:04 And so they come to the leadership and they say, what's going on here? And if it was not handled wisely, the church could have easily been accused of playing favorites. That's not a good look for the church, especially so early on in its movement. But on the other hand, there was also another temptation. There was another tactic at work.
32:31 Because if the apostles gave into the practical needs that were being presented to them, they could have been lured away from their primary responsibilities. And here they are called to pray. Here they are called to preach the word of God, but there was a bait to give into administration and charity work. So Satan in Acts chapter six does what? He seeks to divide and conquer.
33:04 And if you couldn't divide and conquer, then let's distract the men who have been called by God to spend time alone in his presence and then in the power of the Holy Spirit, proclaim the truth of God's written word. Why am I mentioning all of this? To remind you and I that Satan has many ways of slowing down God's work or stopping it altogether. But thankfully, his schemes are exposed in God's word. And it is up to us to be aware and knowledgeable concerning the schemes and the wiles of the evil one.
33:48 And here's what I find so fascinating. As we approach Nehemiah chapter five, we see a similar escalation of events that I just described to you from the book of acts. Because the opposition that we've been seeing in Nehemiah story up to this point has largely been external. But now Nehemiah is going to have to deal with conflict and tension from within. And this is what we will consider now as we turn to the book of Nehemiah chapter five.
34:24 As we're about to see, this internal crisis was just as serious if not more so than the threats posed by Sanballat and Tobiah. Let's read about it here in Nehemiah five beginning in verse one. Now there arose a great outcry of the people and of their wives against their Jewish brothers. For there were those who said with our sons and our daughters, we are many. So let us get grain that we may eat and keep alive.
34:56 There are also those who said we are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards, and our houses to get grain because of the famine. There were those who said we have borrowed money for the king's tax on our fields and our vineyards. Now our flesh is as the flesh of our brothers, our children are as their children, yet we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves and some of our daughters have already been enslaved. But it is not in our power to help it for other men have our fields and our vineyards. I was very angry when I heard their outcry and these words.
35:41 To the discerning eye, the timing of this emerging problem comes as no surprise. This is just another assault from the evil one with the same goal to stop the work of God. But there's another unfortunate reality to even the Christian experience that's found in the very first verse of this new chapter. There's a phrase in it that should sound familiar to us. It's right there in the first few words of verse one.
36:14 Look at it again with me. Now there arose a great outcry of the people. That word outcry describes severe distress. This is almost like a shriek of pain. This is intense.
36:35 But does it remind you of anything of the past concerning this people? Well, the same word, you got it. The same word there in outcry is exactly what God said when he told Moses what he heard from his people while they were enslaved in Egypt. It's in Exodus three verse nine. Allow me to read it to you.
37:00 And now behold the cry of the people of Israel has come to me and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppressed them. Isn't that staggering? It should be. Because what you have here is a lesson. A lesson that should humble us, actually should bring us to our knees before this Bible study even finishes.
37:29 You have the people of God who are crying out in Nehemiah five because of how their enemies are treating them? No. No. No. Because how their brothers are treating them.
37:46 And it's the same word used to describe how Egypt oppressed the people of God. This is a disappointing truth, but we have to admit it. That in many ways, you have those who are professing Christians, who are capable of treating other Christians the way the world does. And if we're really honest, sometimes even worse. Are they crying out against the injustice committed by Sanballat and Tobiah, the Amorites, the Moabites?
38:21 No. They are raising a protest against their own brothers. Are Christians capable of treating other Christians like enemies? Yes. Absolutely.
38:45 In fact, one of the most frightening verses that expose just how vile and terrifying our behavior can be towards each other is what Paul warned in Galatians. Have you ever considered what he meant when he said in Galatians five fifteen, but if you bite and devour one another, see and watch out that you are not consumed by one another. Is he talking to the world? But if you he's speaking to Christians. But if you bite and devour one another, what's the context of this warning?
39:34 Sinful behavior justified under Christian liberty. That's the context. There was infighting. There was disagreement. There are people who were excusing their attitude, their convictions, how they treated one another to the point where it became so self absorbed.
40:00 Everybody was in it for themselves in that church and in those churches. And Paul recognizes. Paul recognized that there was no love between these believers. Instead, there was selfish ambition. And so he uses his language so strategically, but if you bite and devour one another, what kind of imagery does that evoke?
40:26 That of wild beasts that tear each other apart. Do you know that there are some animals who in desperate situations are willing to eat their own kin, to consume their own cubs. What Paul is saying is, it's equally possible to so attack one another that you devour each other until the point of extinction. I know churches that have gone extinct because they have bitten and devoured one another until nobody existed anymore. The ministry was shut down.
41:18 That service is shut down. That local church shut down. This is a very real warning. And to our shock, perhaps, it reveals to us what we can become when the flesh is not restrained, when we are out of touch with the Holy Spirit, when we are no longer governed by the word of God, we can become animalistic Christians. This is not the world that he's talking about.
41:52 This is those who profess the name of Jesus Christ. This is what's about to happen in Nehemiah chapter five. There is about to be a civil war if Nehemiah does not step in with the wisdom of God and intervene quickly. Now there are three specific complaints back in Nehemiah five that were made known to him, and each of them reflects a unique emphasis though they all overlap in some way. So let's come back to them in Nehemiah five and look here at verse two.
42:29 They're they're easily discernible. The first one here is in verse two. For there were those who said, with our sons and our daughters, we are many, so let us get grain that we may eat and keep alive. So the first grievance that's presented to this leader, this man of God, comes from those who had large families. Evidently, they could not afford to feed all the mouths of their children.
42:57 And so they are lamenting this. And we have to be careful here because the issue was not that these families were too large. You'd be hard pressed to find how big families in the Bible, especially in the Old Testament is a problem. The opposite, they're great blessings. However, what you have here are many factors that made supporting large families unusually difficult.
43:23 We read it earlier. There's a famine. There are taxes imposed by the king of Persia. And worst of all, you had wealthier Jews who are exploiting families, making them even more poor, making them even more destitute as they are trying to just meet the basic needs of life. We'll get to that in a moment.
43:50 The second complaint comes here in verse three to our attention. Look at it again with me. There were also those who said, we are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards, and our houses to get grain because of the famine. So now we're looking at the landowners, not those who have large families necessarily, but those who have property. And they're telling Nehemiah, look, we have to mortgage our our real estate here because we can't afford to get food.
44:18 And so we have to now secure funds in order to just buy grain and corn. And the main reason for this difficult decision was because of what? A famine. We're not given much explanation about this famine. Some say this was a man made famine for different reasons.
44:35 Others say, no. It's a natural famine. Either way, it compounded the challenges of this group at this time. Lastly, there were those who had to borrow money just so they can cover their taxes. Look here at verse four.
44:52 There are those who said, we have borrowed money for the king's tax on our fields and our vineyards. So remember, Judah at this time was under Persia, Persian occupation. And so they they might have had homes and lands and property and fields, but they were severely taxed. And that didn't really work in their favor. That would just fund the king's lifestyle or his army.
45:22 And so they didn't really see any return on these taxes. They were enslaved by them as well. And it got so bad for some of these families that after borrowing so that they can pay off these bills, they actually had to give some of their children up to their creditors as debt slaves. Look at verse five. Now our flesh is as the flesh of our brothers.
45:51 Our children are as their children. What is he saying there? He's reminding Nehemiah, hey, this is coming from our fellow Jews. We're not talking about foreigners here. We're talking about those who share the same blood, who are part of the same covenant.
46:03 And they go on to say, yeah, we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters have already been enslaved, but it is not in our power to help it. We have no other choice, Nehemiah, for other men have our fields and our vineyards. Do you know what amazes me about these complaints? They're legitimate. They're real.
46:25 They're serious. But out of all of them, there wasn't one that was directed toward the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. You have to remember there's another element to all of this. Last week, we looked at Nehemiah four where Nehemiah asked of the men who volunteered so much of their time and their energy and their resources to resurrect these walls to stay all day and all night. Do you remember this?
46:56 Right? You saw an open window. Our enemies are silence for the time being, so let's take advantage of this. Don't go back home and commute. Stay here within the city walls and let's get this done.
47:10 And they complied. They said, yes. But you gotta think about the practical implications of that. That means most of these men are not going back home to work on their fields. That means a lot of them aren't able to, at least for a short amount of time, provide for their families.
47:28 In fact, that's exactly why I believe you look back at verse one now. Look at this carefully. Now there arose a great outcry of the people and of their wives. Seems as though the Holy Spirit is highlighting how the wives of these men who are serving Nehemiah at the walls were taking upon themselves greater responsibility to take care of what? Their families, the crops, the business.
47:57 Here's what's so amazing. None of these groups lament serving, serving God and seeking to accomplish this great work. They knew how to blame the right things. They did not see serving God as a burden. Is it possible to serve God to such a degree where you neglect the affairs of your home, your marriage, your children?
48:23 Absolutely. And that's wrong. That's not what I'm trying to propose here or to advocate. What I'm saying here, however, by way of principle is that even these people with all their troubles and all their difficulties saw it as a high privilege to serve god in this way. They weren't going to let go of their ministry so easily.
48:45 I'm afraid many Christians are really ready to give up serving God as one of their top things when things get tough. Not these people. When it all became known to Nehemiah, he was utterly livid. Why? Well, there was very little that he can do about the famine.
49:10 There was virtually nothing he could do about the king's taxes, But there was something that he could do about how some of these Jews were treating these poor Jews. And that is exactly what he is about to do. Before we look at that, we have to ask a few questions here. And you can answer this if you know the answer or you think you know. Question number one.
49:39 Was it unlawful for Jews to loan money to one another? Good. You know your Old Testament well. In case you're not convinced, look at this passage in Leviticus chapter 25. It's worth turning there, and it's worth putting this in the margin of Nehemiah five.
49:58 But look at Leviticus chapter 25 verse 35. You know where Leviticus is. Right? I hope. Leviticus 25 and verse 35.
50:15 If your brother becomes poor and cannot maintain himself with you, you shall support him as though he were a stranger and a sojourner, and he shall live with you. Take no interest from him or profit, but fear your God that your brother may live beside you. You shall not lend him your money at interest nor give him your food for profit. So was it legal to to lend money? Yes.
50:45 Could you take interest? No. You may do that with the foreigner, oh people of God, but you shall not do that to one another. Whatever you lend, let them pay you back just that. Don't add to it.
51:01 Were they charging interest back in Nehemiah five? Absolutely. They were making it impossible for them to be able to repay their debt. So lending money was totally acceptable. Taking advantage of that loan was not.
51:22 Question number two. Was it unlawful for a Jew to own another Jew as a slave? Was it unlawful? Are you sure? Come with me to Exodus chapter 21 verse one and two for a moment.
51:47 Exodus 21 verse one and two. Now these are the rules that you shall set before them. When you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years. And in the seventh, he shall go out free for nothing. Now there was a warning for the Jews treating their fellow Jews as property.
52:23 So when we're looking at slavery here, we're looking at it from the lens of a hired worker. And in many cases in the Old Testament, slavery was a form of debt service that was mutually arranged, that was carefully regulated, and always had a limited duration. And as we see here, regardless of the amount of debt that was owed, no matter what was left unpaid, a Hebrew slave could only work up to six years. And on the seventh year, he was to be released owing nothing no matter how he started. And this is elaborated in different places.
53:12 Another worthy place to turn to is the book of Deuteronomy. So go to Deuteronomy chapter 15. And here we see similar instructions, but with a greater follow-up. Deuteronomy 15. And I'll wait for you to get to verse 12.
53:35 Deuteronomy 15 verse 12, here's what it reads. If your brother, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you, he shall serve you six years. And in the seventh year, you shall let him go free from you. Same thing. Right?
53:53 But notice what it said next in verse 13. And when you let him go free from you, you shall not let him go empty handed. You shall furnish him with or furnish him liberally out of your flock, out of your threshing floor, and out of your wine press. As the Lord your God has blessed you, you shall give to him. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt.
54:17 And the Lord your God redeemed you. Therefore, I command you this today. This is quite remarkable, isn't it? This is very different than our concept of chattel slavery, like our history as a nation has unfortunately known. You don't get the impression at all that a Hebrew slave was to be treated like a piece of furniture or some kind of product.
54:46 They were to maintain their dignity. In fact, if one was to acquire Hebrew slave in order for them to pay off a debt, they were to lavish them with support and goods and resources upon letting them go. Moreover, a Hebrew slave can be treated so well by a master that there are even laws and instructions that show that should one want to return to their master and live with them for the rest of their lives, there is a specific protocol that can be done in order for that to be rectified. Why am I showing all of this? Well, I'm sure we can discuss more about slavery in the Bible, but I think we have a tension here now.
55:30 We have some kind of conflict with Nehemiah's account of things. Why? Well, if this type of arrangement is in accordance to God's law, then how is it that the people are complaining about it? And why is Nehemiah so angry about it? I think that's a worthy question.
55:55 Is it not? We're selling our sons and our daughters into slavery to our Jewish brothers. The law says you can do it. It's permitted. I believe the answer, at least a clue is found later in the book of Nehemiah.
56:14 Nehemiah in chapter 10 is going to lead the people into a new covenant with God. And in that covenant, the people are going to make specific promises to the Lord. And in that list of promises, you find something quite interesting that I believe sheds light on what we're studying here in Nehemiah five. So you know what I'm about to ask you to do. Right?
56:36 You have to go to Nehemiah chapter 10. And look here in verse 30 and consider just some of the vows that the same group of people are about to make. Nehemiah 10 verse 30. This is not where he begins. We're in the middle of this covenant being made, and notice what we read here.
56:58 Nehemiah ten thirty reads, we will not give our daughters to the peoples of the land or take their daughters for our sons. And if the peoples of the land bring in goods or any grain on the Sabbath day to sell, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or on a holy day. And we will forego the crops of the seventh year and the exaction of every debt. You see what they're saying here? They're trying to refresh their relationship with the Lord.
57:36 And the Jews of Nehemiah's time clearly had not honor God's law regarding debt, including the requirement to release the person who was indebted after every seven years or the year of jubilee which was every fifty years whichever came first. But notice here that the fact that they're making this promise here in chapter 10 implies that they haven't been observing it. They've been violating it. So how do we tie this with what we're looking at Nehemiah five? I believe the crime that they are committing was that when sons and daughters were being surrendered to fellow Jews in order for their debts to be paid off, the creditor planned to hold on to these slaves permanently.
58:30 They had no intention of releasing them when they were supposed to release them. In fact, they set up a system in such a way that every person who was in this situation would be stuck in an unending cycle of servitude. And Nehemiah says, you're abusing this law. You're supposed to delete the debt after every seven years, and you're not doing that. You're not planning to do that at least.
59:02 And so what do we find here? We find a man of God who is infuriated for one main reason. Verse six. He was what? Very angry when he heard their outcry and these words.
59:19 Was it because of the plight of the people? Was it because of this injustice? Sure. That's part of it. But down deep inside, the main reason for this man's fury was because God's law was being broken.
59:33 Can I ask you a question tonight? Do you get angry? I'm sure none of us won't admit it, so let me ask a different question. What makes you angry? You know, you have some Christians who say that believers should never be angry about anything at all.
59:57 And when I hear people talk like that, it makes me wonder how carefully they read their Bibles. Your lord and your savior got angry on different occasions. And the greatest men of God like Nehemiah in the scriptures knew righteous indignation. Are you prepared to say that they were wrong because they were angry? And because in your own mind, you've created Christianity in your own image that no Christian whatsoever can know some boiling of the spirit?
1:00:32 Does the Bible warn about this emotion? Absolutely. Can it quickly lead us into sin? You better believe it. But the Bible also describes a holy anger.
1:00:46 Holy. Dare I say that for you and I to truly know the Holy Spirit and to know the word of God in our hearts, you will become angry at certain things. And one of the main things that you and I should be sensitive to, what should stir our spirits is when people who claim to be in covenant with God don't honor the covenant deliberately. You read in Psalm one nineteen verse 53, where verse after verse in the longest Psalm, the psalmist describes the joys, the delights of digesting the word and feasting on the word and obeying the word. And there in that particular place, he says, hot indignation seizes me for the wicked who forsake your law.
1:01:47 That tells me that one of the results of growing in your relationship with God's word is that you're gonna get angry about some things that you weren't angry about before. Nehemiah was angry, and it's holy. But we have to be careful here because Nehemiah's anger is not going to lead him into unrighteousness. Why is this even important to discuss? Because emotions have a way of moving us to action.
1:02:27 And oftentimes, emotions lead us into the wrong direction. But if we know our Bibles well and if we are close to God, then he can even use emotions to stimulate us into right actions. Emotions are a wonderful starting place for us to take the necessary steps to address, correct, or confront situations that require our attention. So you see Nehemiah's anger here, his holy anger is going to lead him to holy action. He's not gonna give in to temper.
1:03:12 He's not going to attack those who are accused of this offense. In fact, if you look here in verse seven, says in Nehemiah five seven, I took counsel with myself, and I brought charges against the nobles and the officials. So there was this explosive anger internally, but he managed it. But more than just managing it, he translated it into the place of personal intimate counsel. I'm sure though it's not explicitly stated, he brought it before the Lord, and he used this moving of the soul to move him to take practical steps to resolve this problem.
1:04:01 So he's not necessarily acting in the moment with these feelings, but he doesn't negate the feelings, and he wisely takes those feelings to bring him to the place where he knows where he will be the safest, taking counsel with himself before God and then moving forward from that place. Sin should make us angry. Evil in society should make us angry. Conscience, unrepentant, deliberate, vehement, ugly sin in the church should make us angry. And Nehemiah shows us that.
1:04:47 But he does it wisely. We'll look at that more carefully in the weeks to come. There are many things that we can say about what we're looking at thus far, but I think there are at least two practical lessons that we can draw from the verses that we've explored tonight. The one thing that stands out to me is as the enemy is trying to cause and create havoc within the community, we see a very important step that is made to bring a solution to it. And it is this, The problem was brought to Nehemiah.
1:05:27 You might wonder why Nehemiah did not learn about this injustice earlier in his story. And I believe the answer is quite simple. He was so focused. He was so invested on his god given mission to rebuild the walls that he didn't know what was happening in the private lives of some of these Jews and what was taking place between these families. And so it had to be brought to his attention.
1:05:53 And that seems like such a simple point, but you'd be amazed to know how we can so easily overlook the simple things in church life. Nehemiah as a leader is not omniscient. He's not omnipresent. And, unfortunately, I think many leaders in the church are judged unfairly because they don't know everything about everybody. How can they?
1:06:14 They're not God. And so a a very helpful example is being brought before us here. If there is a problem that is worthy of the leadership's intervention, bring it to the leadership. Let them know about it. Now that doesn't mean we bring every problem to the leadership because then we fall into the trap of Acts chapter six, where leaders who are supposed to be devoted to prayer and the word of God are now managing conflict nonstop.
1:06:45 Jesus gave us important steps of how we should deal with sin. You know it very well from Matthew 18. That being said, there are some issues that arise within the church that demand emergency protocol. And what I love here is that the people cry out to their godly leader. And a truly godly leader will recognize the importance of such conflicts and will put a pause to what is important like the rebuilding of the wall in order to address it.
1:07:21 So from a leadership standpoint, what we learned from Nehemiah is that he did not ignore problems either. There are some leaders who ignore problems always in the church. And in their minds, they think, well, the Lord will take care of it. Yes, he will. But God has stationed you to be a shepherd to actually get in there and to clean the mess that sometimes the sheep make.
1:07:44 You know who believed that they shouldn't get involved with problems in the house of God? Eli, the priest. Do you remember him? He never wanted to deal with anything that his sons were doing, a light tap on the wrist. And what did that lead him to?
1:07:59 He got fired. By who? God. So, yes, the people have a responsibility to say, I don't know if the elders know this. I don't know if my spiritual mentor knows this.
1:08:13 I don't know if those who I'm accountable know this. Maybe I should bring this up to them so that we don't give Satan any more time or ground to gain. Let's confront it together. On the other hand, leaders also have to be willing to be confrontational when necessary. Not in anger, not in the flesh, in love, in patience, in holiness always guided by the word of God.
1:08:42 So I appreciate what's happening here. There is a team effort on display. And in my experience and what I've seen in other places, oftentimes, the reason why things dissolve in the local church setting is because people take too long to address the problem. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. Not here though.
1:09:13 Not here. Mm-mm. The second thing that we can draw from this text is that leaders and members together must always be on guard against the powerful infectious destructive work of selfishness in the community of faith. That's what's happening here. Right?
1:09:45 Selfishness. You had a group of nobles of wealthier Jews who were exploiting those who are poorer. And these wealthier Jews could care less by the fact that these poor Jews, many of them are dedicating their time and their efforts to rebuild the city walls. This is ugly. This is hideous.
1:10:11 And I won't spend too much time on this because a few Sundays ago, we designated most of a Sunday message to selfishness. But this kind of selfishness is manifesting in a particular way. Selfishness? Yes. But more specifically, greed.
1:10:31 Greed. Have you heard of that sin before? I'm not sure if it's talked about much. Greed. We see how it's playing out here, and that's why it may be challenging for some Christians to know how to apply this.
1:10:52 Because under the law of Christ, we don't have debt slave laws, unless you do. And I don't know what world you're living in if you do. We don't have regulations of how loans should be dealt with after a certain amount of time. That's under the Mosaic law. But the Bible in the New Testament does very much speak about greed.
1:11:21 I'm about to read a passage to you from the New Testament that if you did not know it was in the New Testament, you would think I'm reading from an Old Testament passage. And that's because this author acts like an Old Testament prophet though he is speaking to the dispersion of believers of his day. Instead of me just re reading it, why don't we just jump to it together? James chapter five. I want you to see the scathing rebuke that James gives in a letter that's supposed to be read to Christians.
1:12:03 James five. Come now, you rich. Weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted, and your garments are moth eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire.
1:12:33 You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you. Does that sound familiar to you? Crying out against you. Isn't that how we started Nehemiah chapter five?
1:12:53 And the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of host. You have lived on earth in luxury and in self indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the in the book of Isaiah, wouldn't you? You would think that this was Jeremiah's words.
1:13:20 No. This is James's words. And and this is so sizzling. This is so powerfully explained and exhorted that there's a debate among believers, students and theologians. Is James even speaking to Christians?
1:13:39 He must be speaking to the world. Okay. If you believe that he's speaking to unbelievers, believe that. But here's what you have to acknowledge. James is writing this to believers who are supposed to hear these words from the leadership in their churches.
1:13:53 So Christians are hearing it. And I believe what is more accurate is that James is addressing professing Christians who've brought in their greediness into the church. And there are two main indictments that he is addressing here. In the first part, he condemns the wealthy in the church for hoarding their wealth. That's what is noted in the first three verses.
1:14:34 You have laid up treasure in these last days. So he speaks about their materials, their gold. He speaks about their their garments. Later, he speaks about their property. But he confronts them.
1:14:48 He confronts them in this. You have clearly zero interest in the kingdom of God with your wealth. No contribution to the advancement of the gospel. No partnership in sustaining the work of God in the church. Come now you rich.
1:15:09 Let's talk. All you do is make, make, make so that you can keep, keep, keep. You fail to understand the purpose of your wealth. You're hoarders. You're selfish, not realizing, and we can spend the next fifteen minutes looking at this, that God has enriched you so that you can enrich his work, that you can support and move forward and stretch the work of Christ on the earth.
1:15:42 Does that mean that we have no permission to enjoy things in this life? No. Paul says otherwise. But in this case, hoarding. But the second manifestation of greed among these professing Christians here is fraud.
1:16:00 Look at verse four. Behold. In other words, check this out. Can you believe this? Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud are crying out against you.
1:16:20 So these same professing Christians who are hoarding their wealth are also holding back the compensation of those that work for them. Now who is he speaking about here? Who are those who are mowing their fields? I think primarily, he's referring to believers. That doesn't exclude unbelievers.
1:16:42 If it does mean believers and unbelievers, then what a rebuke. You as an employer are ruining your testimony because they are justly and fairly working for you, and you are holding back their pay. You're dangling it over them. You're not giving it to them on time on the agreement that you've made in that contract. You are unfair.
1:17:08 But notice here in verse six where he says, you have condemned and murdered the righteous person. That's how the ESV renders it. He does not resist you. I mean, rebuke after rebuke, you are actually robbing from the righteous, the just. And though you are treating them so unfairly, they don't resist you.
1:17:31 In their humility and their trust in God, they are allowing this to take place. They're not rebelling. They're not resisting. They're entrusting themselves to a holy God. How dare you?
1:17:48 You've kept back by fraud. And he invokes the name of the lord. And out of all the titles that he brings into this part of his message, he calls upon the one who is called the lord of hosts, the lord of heavenly armies. This is a righteous threat. You mistreat other people in your greed.
1:18:18 You're gonna have to face God with that, and he will show up in your life with his army. You can see how James feels very strongly about greed. And this seems so perhaps hard to grasp. It's clearly in the Bible. We see it as a warning.
1:18:42 It's being written to the church. And we might wonder, can it actually happen? Like, this this kind of stuff, does it actually make its way into the church? It does. It does.
1:18:57 You'd be amazed to know, especially those who are in positions of leadership and authority become very greedy, and they milk the sheep and abuse the sheep. There are so many stories that I can mention. I know of stories of even ministers who are supposed to be full time in the ministry, but they have involved themselves in other affairs. And instead of focusing on serving the people of God through the word of God, shepherding their souls, they use and leverage their spiritual position to do business with the sheep and not fair business, but hiding behind their authoritative post in order to intimidate other believers when they are treated unfairly, when they have been cheated, when they have been lured into what they thought would be something that was graciously extended to them by a trusted voice when in fact it bit them back. These are real stories.
1:20:14 And I believe this warning is for such people. They may not be able to resist you, but you are dealing with the lord of hosts who has an army that you cannot stop no matter how much money you think you have. In Nehemiah five six, we read, I was very angry when I heard their outcry and these words. What is he going to do about it? We'll find out next time we're together.
1:20:48 Let's pray. Father, we admit and we see yet again that in order for anything meaningful and wonderful to be built in your kingdom, it cannot coexist with selfishness. It cannot coexist with greed. And we see the threat being posed here in Nehemiah five. We see how clever the evil one is in trying to erode and trying to put to a stop Something that is a genuine move of God.
1:21:38 And Lord, now we look to our own assembly and we ask for your great protection. We ask, oh Lord, that you would give us what we are about to see in these following verses. The antidote to any of these hideous things and that is the fear of the Lord. Renew it in our hearts, Lord. We pray for every employer here that they would shine the light of Christ in their workplaces, that you would give them the wisdom to know how to even with their brilliance and their strategic thinking and the great sacrifices they have to make in their decisions.
1:22:19 Ultimately, people would see something greater. That's a love for God, a love for Christ. Men and women of integrity, men and women who see others creating the image of God, who will not abuse them or exploit them for temporary gain. We pray lord that you would enable us to be transparent with one another, to not allow any kind of strife or conflict to waste unnecessary time or to hurt people that can be avoided. Lord, we see just how relevant these truths are.
1:23:07 And, lord, we ask that you would even show us what it means to know righteous anger. An anger from you that enables us to pray with greater intensity, that moves us to evangelize, that would draw us to those who are broken and hurting and to deliver them with the truth. So many things were said and explained. Lord, we pray that they would not be misinterpreted. They would not be misapplied, but that they would be honored the way you intend them to be honored.
1:23:42 We thank you now as we stand and worship the lord of hosts who is our great defender against all injustice. Jesus' name we pray. Amen and amen. Let's stand. Let's drown out the sound of the rain.
1:23:56 Shall we? Let's worship the lord. So we didn't look at it, but if you revisit those same six verses that we explored and peek over to verse eight, the Holy Spirit through Nehemiah emphasizes and uses the word brother over and over again four times in those short verses in order to underscore the great tragedy of what was taking place in Jerusalem at that time. They were brothers. Brothers.
1:32:54 The other day, I was finishing the book of Romans and going to Romans chapter 14 where Paul is trying to coach the Jew Jewish believers and the Gentile believers who are under one banner, and there are different convictions and the things that we can put on the category of gray, gray matter. And then he makes this charge. He makes this appeal. Do not destroy your brother whom Christ died for. Can Christians annoy each other?
1:33:33 Yes. Can Christians hurt each other? Yes. Can Christians give you many reasons to give up on Christians? Yes.
1:33:43 You know what Paul is saying there? No matter how you feel about that brother or their convictions or whether they should eat this or if this day is holier than the other, Jesus died for that brother. And he wants the believers in the church of Rome to have that lens. Jesus died for you. And if he puts such value on you, if he was willing to go to such great lengths in order to have you, then who am I to give up on you so easily?
1:34:14 May the Lord give us such a love for one another. If we don't have it, we won't survive very long. We're only gonna run on enthusiasm and and the excitement of a new building and new people coming. That's great. That's not gonna sustain a ministry.
1:34:28 Only true brotherhood can. But we ask you that as you've now led us into our study to see the potential harm that could be known from within, that such harm would be foreign to us here at Maranatha Bible Church. Lord, if there's gonna be any conflict, let it be with those who have already made their stands against the truth. Enemies of the church, enemies of the gospel. And even then, teach us to love our enemies.
1:35:01 Lord, as we part ways tonight, help us be your church. Help us navigate these choppy waters, and help us always remember that there is no perfect church. What you do ask of every church is that they would strive unto perfection, that they would examine themselves, and that they would submit to everything in your holy word. That is the church you will bless. May we be such a church.
1:35:33 We thank you now in Jesus' name. Amen and amen. Before you leave, why don't you embrace a brother or a sister? Spend a little time on those comfy chairs and fellowship a little bit, would you? We'll see you this Sunday if this is your church home, and we'll see you next Friday to continue Nehemiah chapter five.
1:35:51 The Lord be with you. Take care now.
