We continue our new year’s series, “Rebuild our broken lives and others,” based on the book of Nehemiah. Around 445 B.C., an Israelite captivity living in a foreign country named Nehemiah heard about the broken temple sites in Jerusalem and cried out to the Lord. With God’s full blessing through the king of Persia, Artaxerxes, Nehemiah returned to his homeland, Jerusalem, received all necessary building materials and rebuilt the damaged tabernacle with the people of Israel. Under his leadership, they were united to participate in this recovery project over God’s dwelling place.

In our Old Testament for today, we have heard the people of Israel facing opposition to their restoration plan. Those obstacles came from their enemies as well as some of their own people. This morning I want us to learn how Nehemiah and the people of Israel handled and overcame those external and internal obstructions and apply these lessons to our spiritual renovation journey.

On the one hand, there were external attacks from the adversaries of the people of Israel. Those were Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem, the Arabians, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites. They became angry when they found out the people of Israel were building up the broken walls and gates in Jerusalem. They made fun of the Israelite workers with the following deceptive questions (Nehemiah 4:1,7). “Will they restore their wall? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble?” (Nehemiah 4:2). That was not the first time they exploded in anger and ridiculed the people of Israel. When the enemies discovered Nehemiah’s plan of rebuilding God’s dwelling place, they flew into a rage and mocked them. In this chapter, when the opponents received the news that the renovation of the tabernacle sites was more progress than before, they expressed more fury to the people of Israel. In a later chapter, when the enemies realized Nehemiah’s blueprint was almost done, they kept sending the same falsely accused message to him again and again. They intimidated the people of Israel repeatedly.

Does this type of evil strategy sound familiar? In the Book of Genesis, the serpent came to the woman called Eve and gave her the next doubtful question: “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?'” (Genesis 3:1). The devil tempted Adam and Eve to break God’s command. Eventually, they damaged their God-given temple and failed their God-blessed mission over the Garden of Eden. In the Gospel of Luke, the devil tested Jesus in the wilderness when He fasted and prayed for God’s restoration ministry. The purpose of the evil’s attack on Christ was not to start His sacred duty. In the same Gospel, when Jesus was crucified on a wooden cross, the evil spirit mocked and insulted Him through the Roman soldiers and one of the criminals hanging there. “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself” (Luke 23:37,39). The aim of that spiritual accusation against Christ then was not to complete His renovation task over the world. Despite the opposition, Jesus continued to move on and finally said at the cross, “It is finished” (John 19:29).

Having attackers in spirit is not uncommon in the Bible. Whenever the people of faith wanted to do their God-blessed task, there were always spiritual attacks from evil. In our New Testament for today, the Apostle Paul described this in the following statement: “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” (Ephesians 6:12). Our spiritual enemy seems to be the people around us and criticize and/or complain some things about our God-privileged ministry. When we look at the entire history of Christianity, we can see the enormous battle between God and our spiritual enemy, Satan, or between Good and Evil in a big godly sense. We need not be Bible scholars or theologians to figure out this holy battle. We have heard and seen many divine subjects that are debatable and even fightable from each supporting group. Please understand this. I am saying something different than which side is righter or better in those discussions. Here I am emphasizing who would benefit from those arguments we as Christians have had over the sensitive issues. We need to ask whether those debates have built up Christ’s churches and Christ’s congregational lives. We need to remind ourselves of our God-inherited mission. We are all called to love God with all our hearts and strength and love our neighbours based on Christ’s love for us with the help of the Holy Spirit. We are all encouraged to preserve God’s sacred name while renewing God-shaped images within us and reviving God-founded churches in our community. I will soon share how to overcome this external criticism of us as Christ’s church and followers.

On the other hand, there were internal obstructions from the people in Judah. The tribe of Judah was one of the twelve branches of Israel. After the death of Joshua, God chose this family as a leading group to “go up first to fight against the Canaanites” or conquer the promised land called Canaan (Judges 1:2). One day, they expressed their emotions on the renovation work: “The strength of the laborers is giving out, and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall” (Nehemiah 4:10). Some strong builders started feeling weak physically and overwhelming with their responsibilities emotionally. This outcome is understandable. Imagine that there was a massive number of broken stones, and they had to clear away before they rebuilt the destructive gates and walls. The people in Judah also began worrying about their uncertain safety since their opponents came and told them “ten times” that they would be killed and their work would not be finished (Nehemiah 4:11-12). The other groups of builders would have heard and seen their coworkers’ challenging situations. Finally, all the builders of Israel would have been impacted by Judah’s doubt and fear and would have got tired as well.

Have we ever felt a similar awareness the people of Judah had while working on our God-blessed project for our community, church, loved ones and ourselves? Whether it happens suddenly or gradually, we realize that we would not want to do it anymore due to tiredness and anxiety. We also recognize that we would not be able to do this continuously. This type of struggle arising within us can be more challenging than the outer obstruction on us. When depressed thoughts occur in our hearts, we may be tempted to give up on everything we do for God’s mission. We need help understanding this inward challenge and managing it. We will shortly also explore how to overcome this internal spiritual attack on us as Christ’s church and Christ’s soldiers.

So far, we have learned from today’s Nehemiah text that there are outward and inward distractions to avoid in our spiritual recovery journey. Our godly story for today not just helps us how to rebuild our broken sacred walls but also motivates us to fight our holy battles. First, whether external attacks or internal took place, Nehemiah knelt before the Lord and asked for His supernatural strength and guidance. When we read the full chapters of Nehemiah, we can find him as a person of “constant prayer,” and his prayers were recorded 14 times in this account. Nehemiah brought to the Lord all the challenges he had confronted and placed all the burdens he had experienced in His hand. Instead of arguing with his enemies or fighting back against them, Nehemiah poured out to God only how he felt about those outward and inward struggles and talked to God alone about how much he had been in trouble. Nehemiah looked up to the God of Heaven (Nehemiah 1:4), who had everything and controlled every matter. Furthermore, Nehemiah encouraged the people of Israel to remember the “great and awesome” God who would fight not for themselves but also for their loved ones and their homes (Nehemiah 4:14,23). Despite many obstacles to the renovation plan over the temple of Jerusalem, Nehemiah and the people of Israel completed that remarkable project in 52 days through his continued prayers (Nehemiah 6:15).

At this time, I want to echo what we have sung today: “Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere? Are we weak and heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care?” As I have stated before, one of the frequent weapons our spiritual enemy uses to attack us as God’s children is the scheme of doubt. This morning, Satan may whisper at us with the following questions: “Does God really care about me? Is God really in control of every situation I am in? Does God really have His provision and protection over my loved ones’ lives?” We need to remember God’s unchanged love and mighty power for us. God indeed loves each of us. God truly controls every circumstance we are under. God certainly provides us with everything we need and surely protects us from danger. Once again, I want to repeat what we have praised the Lord today: “What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!” Friends, are we encountering external challenges or internal obstacles? Whether we like it or not, one issue after another continues to follow us. While working on our God-inherited reformed ministry, starting within our broken sacred walls, in other words, our spiritual hearts, we may also face those outward and inward oppositions. Suppose we look to ourselves and/or look to other people. In that case, we may be discouraged or disappointed by the outcome of human limitation and vulnerability. Suppose we look unto God and seek His strength and guidance like Nehemiah and the people of Israel did in their recovery mission. In that case, our Commander, the Lord our Christ, will battle for us. Let us take everything, whether small or big, to Christ in prayer.

One interesting point I have noticed from Nehemiah’s description of the Fighter God is that the Lord battles not only for ourselves but also for our children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, our spouse, our parents and grandparents, and our homes and churches. Are we ever discouraged by seeing our loved ones helpless and in distress? Once again, we need to share our concerns with God honestly and ask God humbly to help our loved ones overcome their challenges. When we cry out to the Awesome God, the Lord can and will lead each of them to His beautiful paths. The Great God will and can also help each of us be strong in the Lord and overcome any obstacles in our holy race.

Second of all, Nehemiah not only prayed to God but also practiced what God had asked him to do with the people of Israel. Under the influence of Nehemiah, they had worked with one hand carrying building materials and with the other hand holding fighting weapons. All the people of Israel had dual responsibilities as a builder and a fighter and tried to do their own best in their God-given ministry. For example, until the recovery mission was completed, Nehemiah and his workers and warriors never took off their clothes and weapons, even while they were resting (Nehemiah 4:23). They had put their entire time, effort, and energy into what they had been asked to do for God. Genuine faith goes with sincere practice. Belief and behaviour work together. What we plan, prepare, and practice in God is the expression of what we have prayed to God. Since Nehemiah believed in God’s strategy, he posted them at appropriate working spots and provided essential battle instruments for them to fight. Nehemiah sent more officials to the people of Judah, who needed proper assistance due to their physical and emotional vulnerability. Nehemiah followed God’s directions given to him through prayers.

When we run into obstacles in our faith journey, we need to remember two things. As mentioned before, firstly, we need to look to God’s strength and request His outstanding counselling in prayer. Secondly, we need to be assured of the importance of practice, whether it is done physically or spiritually. According to the Bible, “our bodies are “temples of the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 6:19). That is the reason why we need to take care of God’s precious tabernacles within us well. The Apostle Paul encouraged his readers to train themselves to be godly. At that time, he pointed out that “physical training” had some value in their spiritual race (1 Timothy 4:7-8). Paul also motivated his audience to fix their eyes on Jesus, the Pioneer and Perfecter of faith, and strengthen their feeble arms and weak knees in their walk with God (Hebrews 12:2, 12). Physical stamina comes from both prayer and practice. We can overcome external discouragements and internal disappointments by asking God to enhance our spirits and shape our flesh temple. Regardless of our physical fitness stage, we can maintain and even improve the capacity of God’s tabernacles within us by exercising, eating nutritious food and having a good sleep and a proper rest. This critical principle is not just applied to older people but also to younger ones. The Prophet Isaiah declared the truth of practical faith in God: “Even youths grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall, but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” (Isaiah 40:30-31). Whether studying, working, or doing whatever for God’s glory and for our loved ones’ sake, we need to remember God battling with us in the broken and damaged situations we may be in. God wants us to keep doing the right things by faith in Lord and by practice toward God’s teaching, whether minor or much.

I want to conclude this message with one well-known acted prayer taught by Jesus: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you” (Matt. 7:7). According to this scripture, faith allows us not only to ask what God wants to do for us but also to seek the way God has shown us and knock on the doors God has provided for us. Faith gives us the power to motivate ourselves to keep giving our best to God even when we feel like giving up in challenging situations.

Just like athletes doing their best for their sports and following the rules, we need to do our best for our recovery race before God and check whether we honour His divine laws. We cannot do our best in the spiritual project when we follow our sinful nature. Once again, this distraction or temptation usually happens in our inner being. When we kneel before God and repent of what is holding us back from running the renovation journey, Christ will restore us from the brokenness, and the Holy Spirit will fill our damaged hearts with His peace and joyfulness. One more time, we need to remember that our Lord, Jesus Christ, has already recovered the destructive temples within His followers and His churches. When we look up to the Awesome and Great God in prayer, do our best, and follow the divine recovery principles, He will help us complete our God-given renovation ministry.

*In this sermon, I have used some thoughts from the various messages based on the texts: Nehemiah 4:1-23; Ephesians 6:10-13,18.