-Transcript-
00:30 Amen. Glory to God. Welcome to the program.
00:35 Welcome to the cafe. Pastor Clark Covington here with another episode of KJV Cafe. I’m so glad you’re here to join me.
00:41 Hopefully you’re having a wonderful day, a wonderful week. Here today on the cafe, we are looking at an incredibly important topic, and that is strengthening our hands for the cause of Christ. Strengthening our hands for the cause of Christ.
00:58 Recently, one of our partner stations, WHPY, was having a share-a-thon, and I was up there on Friday. I typically come on Fridays, and I had a good old time. Always have fun at the share-a-thon.
01:12 Being a radio preacher and a pastor of a small congregation, I love getting around other men of God because, frankly, I don’t go to a lot of conferences or anything like that, and so I was just so thankful to be there.
01:24 I heard the brother I was working with, Pastor David Vernell, out of Crosspoint Baptist Church, was talking about Craftsmen for Christ. Honestly, he was bragging about Craftsmen for Christ at a rural hall.
01:39 Look them up if you haven’t. Craftsmen for Christ is an incredible organization. They do free, for lack of a better word, building of independent Baptist churches and fellowship halls and children’s homes and all other manner of great things.
01:57 They bring the labor, you just have the materials, I suppose. So he was bragging on them, and the last time I was up there at WHPY, another brother was bragging on them as well, and that was in the spring. And so two times, just good, positive, endearing words were said about this organization.
02:17 And on their website, when you go to their website, they have this scripture here from Nehemiah 2. And now they have the latter part of the scripture, which is Nehemiah 2:18.
02:23 And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work. But we’re going to look at a broader part of this, and that’s Nehemiah 2:17-18.
02:38 Then said I unto them, You see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.
02:49 Come, let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach. Then I told them of the hand of my God, which was good upon me, as also the king’s words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build.
03:03 So they strengthened their hands for this good work.
03:06 So let’s dive deeper here. Let’s go into Nehemiah 2, and let’s just read Nehemiah 2. And it came to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxes, the king, that wine was before him.
03:21 And I took up the wine, and I gave it unto the king. And now I had not been before time sad in his presence. Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? This is nothing else but sorrow of heart.
03:36 Then I was very sore afraid. And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever. Why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my father’s sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?
03:49 Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.
03:58 And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favor in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my father’s sepulchres, that I may build it.
04:12 And the king said unto me, The queen also sitting by him, For how long shall thy journey be? And when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me, and I sent him a time.
04:21 Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah.
04:31 And a letter unto Asaph, the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertain to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into.
04:42 And the king granted me, according to the good of my hand of my God, upon me. Then I came to the governors beyond the river, and gave them the king’s letters.
04:54 Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me. When Sanballat the horned knight, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly, that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel. So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days.
05:13 And I rose in the night, I and some few men with me, neither told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem, neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon.
05:22 And I went out by night, by the gate of the valley, even before the dragon well, into the dung port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire.
05:35 Then I went on the gate of the fountain into the king’s pool, but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass.
05:40 Then went I up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall, and turned back, and entered by the gate of the valley, and so returned.
05:51 And the rulers knew not whether I went, or what I did, neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work.
05:58 Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.
06:05 Come and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach. Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me, as also the king’s words that he had spoken unto me, and they said, Let us rise up and build.
06:20 So they strengthened their hands for this good work.
06:24 But when Sanballat the Horn of Night, and Tobiah the Servant, the Ammonite, and Gershom the Arabian heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do? Will ye rebel against the king?
06:36 Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us, therefore we his servants will arise and build. But ye have no portion, nor rite, nor memorial in Jerusalem.
06:47 All right, let’s get into the context of the scripture here.
06:53 Nehemiah, he’s the cupbearer for the king. And King Artaxerxes, I’m sure I’m mispronouncing it. I’ve heard it Artaxerxes, but you know who I mean.
07:06 Hopefully, if not, get into Nehemiah 2, you’ll find out. Nehemiah’s the cupbearer. That’s a very important position.
07:13 This is the king of Persia. This is part of the Persian Empire is the one that allowed the Jews to go back to their homeland. Amen.
07:19 Remember they were taken captive by Babylon and Persia takes over. So Nehemiah is this high ranking official. He’s guarding the cup.
07:27 If you’re guarding the cup of the king, you have to be very trustworthy because the king could be poisoned. A lot of people wanted the king to be poisoned at any given time so that they could take over for whatever reason.
07:40 Back in these times, that’s how kingdoms were set up and brought down was taking out the royal family.
07:51 So the cupbearer was like a guard and it was a servant, also I’m sure a confidant, someone that would even give counsel and they were required to be happy.
07:55 And Nehemiah was very sad due to the degradation of Jerusalem. Judah is mentioned early on in the scripture.
08:02 That’s the Southern kingdom and Jerusalem there is right smack dab in the middle of Judah. This is when the two parts of Israel were broken apart and it was in tatters.
08:13 And so the king asks for his request and he prays to God for the answer.
08:18 I’m sure you’ve heard many good sermons on that idea of seeking the Lord in these critical times. Oh, how we have to seek the God for the God of Israel, the God of Abraham, the God of Jacob, that God, the God, our God, Jesus Christ, our Lord and savior,
08:35 how we have to seek him in difficult times and get answers from him before we give an answer. And he gets approval from the king to go and repair the wall, even gets, um, uh, materials that he needs from the forest.
08:48 Uh, and he goes there at night, nobody really sees him, right? Three days that number three is so significant.
08:56 He’s surveying the area, he’s checking out the damage and he then approaches the people and he tells them, look, God’s hand is upon me. I’ve got the king’s favor.
09:04 Let’s build this wall. And what they say here, let us rise up and build. So they strengthen their hands for this good work.
09:12 Let us rise up and build. You know, they, they didn’t see a big homecoming parade. They didn’t have a big, uh, motivational seminar.
09:21 They just heard a man on God, a man on fire for God in front of them, tell them it was time to do it. And they said, let us do it. And they strengthen their hands for this good work.
09:31 And our message here is about strengthening our hands for the causes of Christ. And why was this going on? I mean, think about it. It’d been a hundred years or more and that wall had not been re uh, rebuilt, you know, what was going on?
09:46 The idea of, uh, Nehemiah uses the word reproach that the wall and the gate being burned with fire and the wall being torn down was a reproach, which means disapproval or disappointment.
09:59 And so there was a need to do this and it grieved Nehemiah that God’s holy city, God’s chosen people, amen, uh, were living with this wall just in tatters. Right.
10:11 And, uh, you can tell the culture a little bit from Nehemiah two, because here Nehemiah encounters in verse 10 of Nehemiah two, Sanballat the Horned Knight and Tobiah the Ammonite.
10:26 And it grieved them exceedingly, exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel. So obviously at that time, there was a group of people that did not like the children of Israel and did not want anyone to check on the children of Israel thinking, you know, just kind of taking this forward, uh, maybe the children of Israel were struggling. We don’t know.
10:47 Uh, we weren’t there, amen, but certainly whatever was going on, they had not built up that wall. Amen. So outwardly, how are the ways and things of Christ be held today?
10:57 You know, what has fallen apart that God wants us to build back up? Could it be biblical doctrine? Think about that.
11:04 It should grieve us when we see biblical doctrine cast aside for cultural acceptance. It should grieve us to see biblical doctrine looked at as old and ineffective and not important and things that are replacing it as carnal and worldly and, uh, like that, that thing that attracts you, that’ll make you sick. Amen.
11:28 And I don’t know what that is. It could be too much honey as the Bible says, whatever it may be. It looks good on the outside, but boy, it’s rotten on the inside.
11:37 Amen. It is rotten. It’s kind of like you took an apple and you left it outside for three years, right? And it’s just disgusting.
11:44 And you take that apple back and there’s ants and all this nasty stuff in it and you coat it with the most beautiful layer of caramel and you put it on a stick and you say, here, try this.
11:55 And that outside layer looks so appetizing, but inside it’s rotten to the core. That is what grieves the Lord today.
12:01 I believe it. The way that the church has just completely gone astray from him. Not just a modern church, quote unquote, but many of the different denominations, all of them, you know, none.
12:12 I heard a preacher one time get up and say, no denominations. Perfect. I agree with that.
12:16 And we’ve all fallen short, but some more than others have just completely thrown biblical doctrine out the window and they are leading the sheep to the slaughter. Amen. So outwardly we see a great need.
12:28 We see a wall in disrepair. We see gates burned down inwardly. How are we living today? Are we a reproach? If not, are we fed up with the things of God being such a reproach?
12:38 You know, inwardly, if we are right with God, we’re going to have all kinds of conflict in this world because the little G God of this world, the devil is moving like a roaring lion seeking who he can devour.
12:48 Amen. He is everywhere. The Prince, the power of the air is causing confusion and problems here, there, and everywhere.
12:55 And when you stand on the ways of God and the things of God, you’re going to have problems in this world. So inwardly, either you’re at peace with God and have problems with the world, or you’re at peace with the world and you’ve got problems with God. Now that’ll preach.
13:08 Amen. But for time’s sake, we’re going to move right along. God prepared them to strengthen their hands.
13:12 How did these individuals strengthen their hands? God prepared them to strengthen their hands. God’s given approval by the King, right? So excuse me, God gave a Nehemiah approval by the King.
13:23 So Nehemiah was given approval by the King, right? And it’s God’s providence or Nehemiah would have never asked because he was terrified.
13:32 He was very afraid when the King asked him what was wrong with you. You have to understand in these times, you didn’t speak to the King unless you were spoken to.
13:46 Around these times is the book of Esther, and you read about Esther, and there was a time that she had to go talk to the King and it wasn’t exactly her day to go talk to him.
13:53 And she was going back and forth about whether she’d be killed if she went and spoke to him. Killed for just speaking to the King. And this is Esther, who the King loved.
14:01 And so you can imagine Nehemiah being just terrified when the King asks, but it was God’s providence, right? God had given Nehemiah what he needed. And that was a way to speak to the King candidly about what was going on.
14:16 And God’s hand was upon him in getting all the requested supplies that he needed.
14:24 Amen. That is all the time we have, but tune in next time as we get to part two of strengthening our hands for Christ. Thank you for listening.
14:30 Take care. God bless. Amen.