Sermon Notes 1/21/24

Nehemiah 4: 14-23 | The Sword and the Trowel

Are you tired today?

Main Idea:

The battle belongs to the Lord and he will frustrate the plans of those who oppose His work of building His kingdom

Why (transformational intent of the passage)?:

To press on with His Kingdom building work and not be consumed or distracted by the enemy when we face the mockery, fear, and division

Nehemiah 4:14-15

Nehemiah calls the people to “Remember the Lord who is great and awesome”

How do the people respond?

Nehemiah 4:15

The Lord has frustrated the enemy
- The desire of the enemy is to see the work of rebuilding the wall stopped

The enemy of God loves nothing more than to see His work languish

Insults, threats, and disunity are used by the enemy in the church

to incapacitate us

Nehemiah 4:16-18

The people build with the sword and the trowel in hand

They are equipped for battle and equipped for building

The battle and the building we do is not done with the weapons and tools of this world

We have a sword that pierces hearts and minds and souls

Nehemiah 4:20

The work of building the kingdom isn’t accomplished by our physical might

V20 – “Our God will fight for us”

Nehemiah 4:16-20

The people of God have now been placed in their positions to build and to battle if necessary

Where is our position the Lord has placed us for His Kingdom?

Live for Jesus….like we believe it!
Not in a self-righteous way…confess sin and seek forgiveness and reconciliation
We don’t work to save ourselves, but we live in the joy of our God and salvation!

Nehemiah 4:21-23

The people’s response to the enemy is one that encompasses the whole of their lives

Nehemiah 4:16-23

Focus our zeal on where we are positioned so we don’t burn out
Christ has already won the battle for us, don’t work to try to earn what he has freely given

Live for Jesus…

Tell and show (use the sword and the trowel) a world looking for hope of the joy we have in Him!