#5 “Book of Nehemiah”
Series
"THE ENEMY WITHIN!"
TEXT: Neh.
5:1-19
INTRO: Nehemiah
and the people were half way to their goal, the outside enemies were already
fading as a threat, they had successfully fought off the outside enemies and
their attempts to destroy the goal God had given them to
build.
But, now without the threat of outside
sources a new and potentially worse enemy was rising to threaten them ... this
enemy really could destroy the work of God in their midst: Who Was this great
enemy?
The new enemy was TIREDNESS &
SELFISHNESS ... INSIDE THE CAMP!
While outside enemies tend to cause the
saints of God to rally together against a mutual threat these inside enemies
tend to do just the opposite; they tend to divide the people of God and turn
brother against brother!
ILLUS: Jay E.
Adams writes that under the roof in his back yard hangs a hummingbird feeder
that he keeps filled with sugar water. There are four openings in it from which
birds may suck the nectar. Yet, day
after day, from early morning until after dusk, the feeder is the source of
their own private version of star wars. One bird chases all the others
away.
"As I
said," Adams writes, "there is room for four birds at a time, and fully that
number attempt to feed. But the top
dog (excuse my use of this metaphor for a hummingbird!), who now 'owns' the
feeder, will not let them. All day
long he sits on the branch of a nearby apricot tree guarding 'his' feeder and
defying others to transgress on what he has established as 'his'
territory.
"This
ongoing slice of life confronts us throughout the day as green and red Annas
hummers streak across the yard, the king hummer in hot pursuit of an intruder.
While the chase is on, others sneak
a sip or two, only to be driven off when he returns.
"The whole
business has become a sort of parable for our family. Here is an example of grace: I bought the
feeder; I supply the sugar water. The birds do not earn it; they receive it
all gratis. Yet, day after day,
they fight over who may enjoy it.
"How like
the people of God! All we have or
are that is worthwhile is the gift of God's pure grace. And yet we are proud, self-centered,
envious, and quarrelsome. Often we
fight over God's good gifts rather than expressing our gratitude in humility and
sharing what we have been given with others. Just as I am confronted daily with
rivalry in my yard, even so God is confronted daily with rivalry in His."
– Source
Unknown
The end result of tiredness and
selfishness is division among the people of God ... and the work of God is left
unfinished! Selfishness robs the
saints of their joy ... and thus their motivation and drive diminishes. This lower drive increases the sense of
tiredness ... which causes loss of vision and laziness to settle
in.
THE SOLUTION: True repentance and
everyone working for the shared goal!
PROP.SENT: The Word of God teaches us that WE
ALL are called to minister in the Kingdom of God ... that our mission is one
that is shared by ALL, and that Satan's most effective weapon against the church
is turning brother against brother.
I. PROFITS OF MISERY!
5:1-5
A. Exceptions
5:1-5a
1. “Now the men and their wives raised a great outcry against
their Jewish brothers.”
(Caps mine for
emphasis)
a. The interesting statement here
reflects just how much the majority had sacrificed thus far for this
project.
b. Their time had been greatly given
to the project.
c. They had mortgaged their land to
give financial support to their families while building, instead of raising
crops!
d. They had determined the greater
need FOR NOW was the walls ... normal concerns would return later and they would
return back to a balanced lifestyle.
e. Each was involved so all could
finish sooner and return to a normal life.
f. The wives joining in at this
point reflect the degree of sacrifice involved by the vast majority so
far!
(1. They had run out of groceries
... and had no more money or borrowing power to purchase necessities any
longer!
(2. Between taxes, buying food,
and sacrificially giving towards the “wall project” they had exhausted all their
supplies!
2. Here was the foundation to a very
serious problem ... a the few of the Jews who had not participated in building
now brought up the mortgages of the people, they had lent money to their own but
at high interest rates ... and they had even taken in some cases people's
children as pledges for further loans!
3. These few rich nobles and brothers
decided profiting from the sacrifices of others was a great opportunity to get
rich while everyone else got poor!
a. They felt they were the exceptions
to the work rule ... though they would benefit from the wall
also!
b. They felt they were too powerful to
get down on hands and knees and work like the rest of Israel on the wall, and
they saw a way of getting rich off the sacrifices of the others during the
process.
c. Instead of giving they had found ways of taking ... TAKING
EVERYTHING from those who willing gave them
sacrificially!
4. THESE WERE PROFITS OF
MISERY!
ILLUS: Over
coffee: "All I'm trying to say is that certain people might think that 12:15 is
a little late to be getting out of church, that a pastor doesn't need three
weeks of vacation, that your office is offensive, that a guy my age doesn't need
a guy your age telling me how to raise my kids, and that if it weren't for your
crazy Third World projects we could have repaved our parking lot by now. I'm not saying those are MY opinions, or
course. I just thought you should
know what others might be thinking." -- Cartoonists David B. McGinnis and Scott Becker in
Leadership, Vol. 12, no. 3.
5. Their attitudes of "I don't have to
help unless there is something in it for me" demonstrated their
selfishness, it wasn't just a matter of laziness; they robbed their own people
unfairly!
6. There is no excuse for this kind of
behavior in the kingdom of God ... selfishness is highly destructive to the body
of Christ ... for it goes against the very nature of God and is in fact the very
nature of SIN!
7. These few had the attitude of "I don't want to
help, but I do want to benefit from the sacrifice of others" was about to undermine the entire project and
society of Israel!
8. While Sanballat and the army of
Samaria and the other leaders in the area against Israel couldn't stop the
project or the joy of the people this inside selfishness and ungodly behavior by
a few poised a very serious threat to the entire success of the
community!
B. Exhaustion! 5:5b
1. "WE ARE
POWERLESS" ... note the sense of
helplessness!
a. This is the cry of the victims of
selfishness or for that matter the cry of all sinners!
b. Sin holds one in a grip that cannot
be broken without Jesus Christ!
2. They had no way of helping
themselves, all was lost because of a few selfish and uncooperative
brethren!
3. Hopelessness settles in when
selfishness takes over ... there is nothing more draining than trying to deal
with a selfish person ... no matter what you say they turn it around to their
advantage!
a. It is a heart problem ... a SIN
PROBLEM!
b. The actual concept of sin IS
SELFISHNESS!
ILLUS: The cuckoo
is a common bird in England. The
first sign of spring is that bird's call.
The cuckoo never builds its own nest. When it feels an egg coming on, it finds
another nest with eggs and no parent bird. The cuckoo lands, hurriedly lays its egg,
and takes off again. That's all the
cuckoo does in terms of parenting. (We have a lot of cuckoos in our society
today!)
The thrush, whose nest has now
been invaded, comes back, circles, and comes into the wind to land. Not being very good at arithmetic, it
can't imagine why it immediately begins to list to starboard. It gets to work hatching the eggs. Four little thrushes and one large cuckoo
eventually hatch. The cuckoo is two
or three times the size of the thrushes.
Mrs. Thrush, having hatched the
five little birds, goes off early in the morning to get the worm. She comes back, circles the nest to see
four petite thrush mouths and one cavernous cuckoo mouth. Who gets the worm? The cuckoo.
Guess what happens. The cuckoo gets bigger and bigger; the
little thrushes get smaller and smaller.
To find a baby cuckoo in a nest,
simply walk along a hedge row until you find little dead thrushes. The cuckoo throws them out one at a time.
Here's an adult thrush feeding a
baby cuckoo that is three times as big as the thrush.
And the moral of the story is
this: you have two natures in one nest and the nature you go on feeding will
grow, and the nature you go on starving will diminish. If there's going to be anything
resembling that which God has in mind for us, it is going to come not through an
annual attempt at the spirit of Christmas but a perpetual recognition of the
Spirit of Christ. -- Stuart Briscoe, "Christmas 365 Days a Year," Preaching
Today, Tape 135.
4. There is a sense of powerlessness
when trying to deal with a selfish person!
5. What could they do... they had
nothing left to bargain with or to buy food with!
6. A few held the entire community
hostage to their own selfishness and cold hearts!
7. While the majority had given of
themselves so freely these other few had taken so much, it was so obvious that
they had no way to provide otherwise!
II. PHOPHET OF MOTIVES!
5:6-11
A. Example
5:6-7a
1. Nehemiah steps into the scene once
he discovers the reason for the people's crying ... and the actual charges
against the few corrupt brothers.
2. A holy anger grips Nehemiah's heart
when he discovers the whole rotten situation, but then he sets an example on how
to deal with such selfish individuals!
a. "I was
angry" 5:6b
b. "I pondered them
in my mind and then accused the nobles and officials." NOTE: The NEB translates this line: "I MASTERED MY
FEELINGS AND REASONED WITH THE NOBLES."
(1. It is important that in
dealing with this kind of person you don't just act like them by having your own
feelings dictate your actions and responses; selfish people are already ruled by
their passions. Another example
is needed!
(2. Nehemiah must have examined
his own heart before responding, it was important that he looked at himself
before accusing them ... and also so that he was sure of the
evidence!
ILLUS: You cannot
pray the Lord's Prayer and even once say "I."
You cannot
pray the Lord's Prayer and even once say "My."
Nor can
you pray the Lord's Prayer and not pray for one
another.
And when
you ask for daily bread, you must include your
brother.
For others
are included ... in each and every plea,
From the
beginning to the end of it, it doesn't once say "
3. Mastering our emotions is a sign of
genuine maturity, a quality that is absolutely necessary in
leaders!
4. Nehemiah was able to separate his
own feelings or master them from the actual evidence ... and so could be as
objective as possible in dealing with them.
a. He wanted to be sure they were
confronted with REAL details of guilt.
b. He didn't want them to use the
excuse of Nehemiah’s own emotions out of control to dismiss their
guilt!
5. His example is one for us to follow
still!
B. Exhortation!
5:7b-8
1. It became necessary to call off the
work and get the whole community together!
2. Some issues cannot be ignored or
they can poison the whole group!
3. God's work, these walls, were in
jeopardy of not being completed because of a few lazy, selfish individuals whose
motives were only to get rich at the expense of the whole
group!
4. It was time for a Word from
God! ... So Nehemiah steps in the shoes of a PROPHET and proclaims the error
of the profiteers!
a. He is clearly in control as he
presents the evidence, and those being accused will have a chance to speak in
response to the charges!
b. When he is finished the evidence is
SO CLEAR that they choose not to try and defend themselves ... their guilt was
obvious!
ILLUS: Lloyd H.
Steffen wrote in The Christian Century how when King Frederick II, an
eighteenth-century King of Prussia, was visiting a prison in Berlin, the inmates
tried to prove to him how they had been unjustly imprisoned. All except
one.
That one sat quietly in a corner,
while all the rest protested their innocence. Seeing him sitting there oblivious to
the commotion, the king asked him what he was there for. "Armed robbery, Your Honor." The king asked, "Were you guilty?" "Yes, Sir," he answered. "I entirely
deserve my punishment." The king
then gave an order to the guard: "Release this guilty man. I don't want him corrupting all these
innocent people." -- Donal W. Brenneman APO, Miami, Florida. Leadership, Vol. 12, no. 2.
c. Their selfishness and lack of help
was an OPEN AND SHUT CASE!
5. This exhortation from Nehemiah was
WHAT WAS NEEDED or the community of the saints would have dissolved into a
divided failing body of people!
C. Explanation! 5:9-11
1. With no word of response from those
accused Nehemiah continues the explanation and definition of just how damaging
circumstances these few selfish individuals had
created!
2. He explains how their selfish needs
and wants would impact the witness of the whole community before the ungodly
nations around them!
a. They would become a laughing stock
to the other Gentile nations!
b. Their enemies would mock their God
... by seeing that they destroyed themselves without outside
help!
c. Nehemiah explains how being fair in
business was ok, but to take advantage of their own brothers while they worked
hard to benefit the whole nation was the worst of
motives!
ILLUS: The quest
for freedom is becoming personal rather than political. It is a quest of self-hood, and its
outcome is no better. When
self-denial goes out of fashion, self-fulfillment takes its place. -- Kitty
Muggeridge in Gazing on Truth. Christianity Today, Vol. 32, no. 9.
3. Nehemiah explains that the only
solution for this problem was IMMEDIATE repentance! TO BE FAIR AND NOT SELFISH ... to
confess their selfishness and poor motives and return the unfair
appropriations!
a. Nehemiah could ask them to do this
since he himself had practiced IT!
b. This is an important aspect to his
being able to minister this correction; he was practicing what he was
preaching!
III. PLACE OF MATURITY 5:12-19
A. Earnest
5:12a
1. The response seemed genuine and
earnest: "We
will give it back," they said. "And we will not demand anything more from them.
We will do as you say."
ILLUS: Repentance
has a double aspect; it looks upon things past with a weeping eye, and upon the
future with a watchful eye.
-- Robert
South -- James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House
Publishers, Inc, 1988), p. 440.
2. Genuine repentance is reflected
here … which means they acknowledged their guilt and restored what they had
taken wrongfully!
a. There can be no forgiveness for
sins if they are not acknowledged as sin!
b. Repentance occurs only when we
admit our guilt before God!
c. True repentance leads to
restoration whenever possible.
B. Evidence
5:12b-13
1. Nehemiah understood that confession
with the mouth is good ... but that there must be action or evidence to back up
genuine repentance!
2. So the priests were called in to
create an oath that they would accept as PROOF of what they said was genuine
sorrow!
3. Action must follow confession of
the mouth ... evidence of change is necessary when real forgiveness is
accepted!
ILLUS: Cheap
grace is the deadly enemy of our church.
Cheap grace means grace sold on the market like cheapjack's wares. Cheap grace is the preaching of
forgiveness without requiring repentance, without church discipline, communion
without confession, absolution without personal confession. -- Dietrich Bonhoeffer in The Cost of Discipleship. Christianity Today, Vol. 36, no.
3.
4. The evidence included entering into
a spiritual contract with God that would demonstrate itself by change of
actions!
5. The forgiven sinner is a changed
saint! Your actions demonstrate
your heart!
C. Expectations
5:14-19
1. Nehemiah therefore sets the tone of
the moral high ground expected of leaders and God's
people.
a. These included
fairness.
b. Leading by example ... and not by lording over
them.
c. Demonstrating an unselfish
lifestyle by not taking even what he could have as
governor.
d. In fact, instead of receiving what
was rightfully his he gave it back by sharing it with others; he was not a
taker but a giver!
2. Nehemiah's closing words in this
chapter reveal the 2 reasons he was involved with the people in the first
place!
a. Reverence for God #1 -- 5:15b
b. Love
for God's people #2 -- 5:16a,
18b-19
ILLUS: There is a
story from the Middle Ages about a young woman who was expelled from heaven and
told that she would be readmitted if she would bring back the one gift God
valued the most. She brought back
drops of blood from a dying patriot. She collected coins given by a destitute
widow for the poor. She brought
back a remnant of a Bible used by an eminent preacher. She even brought back the dust from the
shoes of missionaries who served many years in a distant land. Although she brought back these things
and more, she was turned back repeatedly.
One day as she watched a small boy
playing by a fountain, she saw a man ride up on horseback and dismount to take a
drink. When he saw the boy playing,
he thought of his own childhood innocence. But he looked into the water of the
fountain and saw a reflection of his hardened face. He was overcome by the sin in his life,
and in that moment, he wept tears of repentance. The young woman took one of those tears
back to heaven, where she was received with joy.
-- Don
McCullough, "Jesus the Judge," Preaching Today, Tape No. 129.
3. In this way Nehemiah really
fulfilled the Law of Christ; “to love the Lord with all your heart, and your neighbor as
yourself!”
a. Selfishness is not becoming as a
saint of God, it is more the characteristic of our worst
enemy!
b. Nehemiah understood well how a
little sin in the camp can affect the greater group and rob God's people of the
joy we are suppose to have in serving our God while being used by Him to build
His kingdom!
c. All were needed to minister if the
walls were going to get finished on time ... their greatest threat wasn't from
the outside ... but from within!
4. Nehemiah's overall GOAL: 5:19 “Remember me
with favor, O my God, for all I have done for these
people.”
a. The favor of
God!
b. Not the earthly rewards! He asks nothing from the people except
the opportunity to serve.
CONCLUSION:
As the Jews discovered;
when our enemies are beaten there is still an even greater danger to the body of
Christ ... division within! While
most sacrificially worked, a few took advantage of the majority, motivated by
selfish gain; they robbed the joy from the hearts of the workers. Only genuine repentance restored the joy
and fellowship of God's people. The
surrounding enemies hadn't stopped the people of God, but the enemy within
could! Churches are rarely
destroyed from outside forces ... they are more likely to succumb to poor
motives, selfishness, and disunity! Let's keep
building!