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00:28 Amen. Thank you for joining me. Welcome to the cafe.
00:32 Welcome to the program. Hopefully you’re having a great day, a great week. Pastor Clark Covington here from Heartland Community Baptist Church, and we are in Kings Mountain, North Carolina.
00:39 Amen. And I’m just so thankful to be here today. I am in the third part of a three-part series on strengthening our hands for Christ out of Nehemiah chapter two.
00:54 And don’t worry if you miss the first two parts, because I’m going to do a recap here. Nehemiah 2:17-18, we’ll just start there. Then said I unto them.
01:03 Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire. 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 upon me, as also the king’s words that he had spoken unto me.
01:20 And they said, let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work. And so we see here in Nehemiah 2:17-18, that Nehemiah was in distress because Jerusalem was lying in waste.
01:37 It was messed up. Amen. The walls were down.
01:40 You know, think about this. In Bible times, why did a city have walls? Right? Why? I saw a picture from the 1600s, an artist, a very detailed rendering of Babylon. And you saw the Tower of Babel there and you see the trees and stuff.
01:57 But really what you see is a pronounced wall around Babylon, right? Which I believe is in modern day Iraq, I think. And so that wall is around Babylon. Any city would have a wall.
02:06 In the Bible, it talks about fenced cities or walled cities. Amen. The wall was incredibly important.
02:11 Why? Because it kept the enemy out and it showed sovereignty, right? It was like a literal physical border, okay? You know, we think today in terms of, I live in North Carolina and so-and-so lives in South Carolina.
02:24 We think of these sovereign states. And if we see a road sign somewhere that says, welcome to Tennessee or welcome to South Carolina or wherever, then we’re like, oh, okay, we’re in this state.
02:33 But back in Bible times, you had kings and monarchies and so forth, and they were walled off, literally walled off. And so that wall symbolized a territory. And the walls of God’s city had fallen in disrepair.
02:46 The walls of God’s city were a reproach. The gates had been burned with fire. And of course, now let’s be straight about this.
03:00 God isn’t weak, okay? God allowed this to happen. Why did this happen? It happened because of the Babylonian captivity. Babylon, a wicked people, was allowed to take the Israelites because the Israelites were rebellious against God’s ways.
03:12 They weren’t following God. They weren’t seeking God. And so God’s punishment upon them was to allow them to be invaded, basically a stranger.
03:21 And it’s a special kind of punishment because, you know, if I saw a stranger in my house taking my things, telling me what to do, making me a slave, you know, that would be a special kind of punishment.
03:30 And that’s what the Lord had done to his people for being so rebellious. And that goes back throughout the whole Old Testament.
03:39 You see, they say, okay, God will serve you, and then they fall away and, okay, God will serve you and they fall away. And so it’s not that God couldn’t have stopped this. It’s that God allowed it.
03:46 But just because God allowed it doesn’t mean that God wants his people to be okay with it. And Nehemiah wasn’t okay with it. And so Nehemiah is the cup bearer of king of, of the king Artaxerxes, my pronunciation isn’t great, but you can look it up.
04:04 It looks like Art-ax-er-ex, okay? He’s the king of Persia. Amen. And so Nehemiah is the cup bearer.
04:13 The cup bearer was very important. The cup bearer had to guard that cup so that the king wasn’t poisoned. Again, we’re talking about walled cities.
04:24 We’re talking about kingdoms. How do kingdoms change power? Typically, you take out the king and his family. And so the cup bearer was a very high-ranking official that’s guarding the cup.
04:29 He had to be trustworthy and loyal. And Nehemiah was visibly sad due to the degradation of Jerusalem. The king asks, hey, what do you want to do about this?
04:35 Now, see, the reason why this is so important is it’s God’s providence that the king asked, because, and again, in Bible times with the king, you didn’t just go speak casually to the king, okay?
04:46 If you speak, you’re going to say, hey, let the king live forever.
04:52 You’re incredible king, all power and majesty to you, king. It was totally different. But beyond that, you really had to have a certain time to speak.
04:58 I mentioned in the previous episode, the book of Esther, she was going to go approach the king, this would be her husband, right? On a day that she wasn’t supposed to approach him.
05:06 And they were talking about her. She was talking about the idea that that could lead to death.
05:12 Amen. That that could lead to death that if she’s going to approach him on a day, she wasn’t supposed to speak. And so Nehemiah can’t speak.
05:18 So by the king asking Nehemiah what was wrong, it opened the door for God’s providence. The king saying, how can I help you? And, and, and Nehemiah saying, let me go cause he prayed to God and God gave him the words and the, and the king said, how long they set a time period. And the king said, go ahead.
05:37 And then Nehemiah said, by the way, I’m going to need some wood for this, you know, for this gate, you know, some stone for these walls, whatever it be. And the king said, okay, I’ll write you an order. I’ll set you up.
05:45 Amen. And so it’s all God’s providence. And the reason why this is important today is outwardly, how are the ways and things of Christ to be held today?
05:53 You know, a preacher told me a story at one point that many years ago that people when they drove by a church house would turn their radios down, just in reverence.
06:06 Amen. Uh, I know many years ago, the preacher was upheld in a high regard. And now we see today, the preacher is mocked and ridiculed.
06:12 The church is left oftentimes in disrepair, but not just the physical building of the church. I think what concerns the Lord more is the hearts and minds of those that call themselves believers.
06:22 The fact that the biblical doctrine that God gave us has completely gone out the window.
06:28 Amen. That the church is in disrepair because we have forsaken the ways of God for a carnal worldly approach that is not of God.
06:37 And I’ll pick on the modern church and say, you know, Hey, it’s not a light show and you don’t need to turn the lights down, you need to turn them up.
06:43 And you know where the altar call go. You can pick on the modern church a lot, but it’s not just the modern church. There are many very traditional, um, religious churches with all kinds of rituals that have also completely abandoned biblical doctrine.
06:54 So that is the reproach we’re dealing with today. I believe that that is the thing that is absolutely disgusting in God’s sight that we should be disgusted by.
07:06 And inwardly, are we not feeling that way? Are we just totally fine with the way things are? Because that’s the way they are.
07:12 You know, I’ve talked about this all the time on the program. Are we okay with the way the church is because someone else is, or because it’s not illegal or whatever it is. Like, look, we need to not be okay.
07:22 Even if the group is okay, if the group is okay, that means nothing. Amen. The Bible talks about, even though they go, they join hand in hand, they will not go without punishment.
07:30 Amen. The idea is there could be a big group of people and they all drop off into hell. Amen.
07:34 We need to love the Lord so much that we stand up for biblical doctrine, amen, and not let it become, uh, something that is absolutely fallen away. Amen.
07:42 Now you’re saying, well, brother Clark, why are you so fired up about this? Well, think about it as a fundamental, uh, independent Baptist preacher.
07:58 If I get up and say, thus sayeth the word of God, people roll their eyes. If I get up and say, well, in the Bible, it’s called a sin. People say, well, I don’t believe it.
08:06 Uh, if I get up and tell people that, uh, Hey, don’t, don’t, don’t go near each other and fornication is bad and all these things I’m old, I’m old and past due. Amen. If I say, oh, I don’t drink.
08:11 I’m mocked and ridiculed. Amen. Hey, I’ve been through all of it.
08:15 I’ve been, and honestly, it’s a, it’s a joy to do it for my Lord. Amen. But you don’t think that I’ve been mocked and ridiculed for taking a stand on the Bible.
08:19 And I’m not perfect. And there are times that I grieve myself because I fall short and I say, Lord, forgive me because I fall short. We all get caught up in the trappings of this world.
08:26 And how much more so does that mean that we should be on fire for God and asking God to strengthen our hands as we rebuild that biblical foundation that is so important for the church to thrive in America today, I believe we’re in the last days, the age of grace. Amen. We need to stand up for what’s right.
08:42 Amen. We need to stand up before God comes back. And we wish that we stood up a little taller, that we shouted a little louder, that we were a little bit more salt and light and a little less, you know, just hidden, amen, hidden.
08:57 Oh, I didn’t know they were Christian. Oh, I didn’t know they, they believe that way. I didn’t know the path to salvation.
09:04 They never told me we need to be about our father’s business in these last days. And here in the book of Nehemiah, uh, they did, they rebuilt that wall against all odds and against opposition.
09:14 And as we get into part three here, I’m picking up, uh, in the end of, uh, the building of the wall and, and, and I believe that’s Nehemiah four, uh, and how they constructed the wall against great opposition and how the opposition was so angry when they constructed the wall.
09:28 And again, the things that I’m urging and compelling you to do. And then I’m, that I each day pray the Lord will help me to do are things that will make God’s enemies very, very mad.
09:41 And you’ll face opposition and affliction and almost punishment for standing up for the ways and things of God, but he is worthy.
09:51 And that’s what Christ did. And Christ is our example and we are to be Christ like. And so how dare we say, Lord, give us comfort.
09:56 No, well, the servant is not better than the master. The Bible says the servant’s not greater than the master.
10:02 So we should look at how the master lived and we should live likewise in humility and faith and love and standing up for the principles of God and the ways of God in these last days, as Nehemiah did in his time.
10:15 So let’s pick it up here. Uh, looking at how Nehemiah rebuilt the wall. So against all odds, the wall was rebuilt.
10:20 Nehemiah 4:6-8. So built we the wall and all the wall was joined together under the half thereof for the people had a mind to work that’ll preach, but it came to pass that when sand ballot and Tobiah and the Arabians and the Ammonites and the Ashtonite Ashdod ites heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very Roth or they were mad and conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem and to hinder it, that killed, that could preach about today. Amen.
10:53 Don’t let a Christian get on fire for God. You know, look at when they built the Ark, a brother Ken Ham out there, built the Ark, people went nuts and they’re still going nuts over it. Why are they so mad? It’s just a life-size Ark.
11:04 Amen. What, what us Christians can’t have us an Ark. It’s really fascinating how the more things change, more they stay the same.
11:11 Amen. Amen. The enemies of God in Nehemiah’s time are no different than the enemies of God today.
11:18 So some parting thoughts, the people had a mind to work. People were mad. Unbelievers will hate this and the devil will fight every step.
11:23 But godly victory is so sweet because it brings God glory. Think about what was done here. The work was done.
11:32 The hands were strengthened. The work was done. It brought God’s glory.
11:35 The wall and the gates were assembled again. It told people a story that God is powerful and true and that, and it was a testimony too, wasn’t it? And this is why we are to be the salt and the light.
11:45 Matthew 5, uh, starting in verse 13, you’re the salt of the earth, but if the salt has lost his savior, wherewith shall it be salted, it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and to be trodden underfoot.
11:57 Look, if we cannot live for God and be seasoned and do something for God and ask God to strengthen our hands. If we cannot do these things, then why on earth are we here? We are to be a light. Amen.
12:10 We are to shine for God. We are to serve God. We are to look at the things that have fallen apart as a reproach and say, God, let us rebuild, strengthen our hands so that we can rebuild.
12:22 We’re not done yet. We’re ready to go. God, we are ready to go.
12:26 You’ve given us another day. We are ready to go. Amen.
12:30 So what does this all mean to you? I mean, you’re listening to this. You’re you’ve heard about how Nehemiah and those brave folks there in Judea, in Jerusalem rebuilt the wall and the gates.
12:42 What does it mean to you? Is it something that’s just biblical history or, or is it something more, you know, again, the men from craftsman for Christ, they said, well, we’ll put this scripture on our homepage.
12:55 We’re going to let people know what we’re about. And surely they make that prayer. They asked the Lord to strengthen their hands as they build without charging the ministries.
13:03 Think about that. They’re building something. They’re building a children’s home.
13:09 They’re building a, uh, a, a chapel. They’re building a church. Their hands are being involved in something that then will lead to souls saved and lives changed.
13:17 Amen. They’re part of that. And that’s a beautiful thing.
13:22 Amen. I believe they will have heavenly reward for that work. Amen.
13:27 And yet another thing about their website, there’s not that many people on their full-time. They list the full-time workers there, and it’s just a few, you know, half dozen, if that. There’s not a lot.
13:37 And I just said, how about that? You know, how many construction workers are there in America? And there’s only a couple that are doing this. Isn’t it time to stop playing around and to start living for God wholeheartedly to live for God in the difficult times, especially in the different, you think it was easy for Nehemiah? These people wanted to kill him. Amen.
14:00 They wanted to battle him. They didn’t like him. They hated what he was doing.
14:03 Isn’t it time in these last days, as we face great opposition to stand up and to step up and to do what God’s called us to do, and that most importantly pray that that by the work of the Holy spirit, that he will strengthen our hands for the work that he has us to do.
14:19 Let’s do that today. Let’s ask God to strengthen our hands for the work that he has for us to do.
14:24 I thank you so much for listening today. Tune in next time. Take care, God bless and amen.