MESSAGE
How are you doing at facing your personal demons? Are your inner demons difficult to defeat? Some of us have inner demons that plague us, drag us down and defeat us regularly. We have lived an uncomfortable existence with our personal demons for as long as we can remember. And one of the reasons we struggle so mightily with our problems is because of excessive pride. We are afraid to let our guard down. We are afraid to be vulnerable. But Jesus Christ wants to be Lord of our lives. And the Bible says that the solution to our problems is not pride and defensiveness, but humility and brokenness over our sin.
Creeping Secularism 15-22
The Sabbath was given to the Jews as a sign of the Covenant. Eze 20:12
Sabbath breakers were to be stoned to death. Exodus 31:12-17
The Sabbath as a shadow of Christ is no longer binding. Col 2:16-17
The early church fathers taught that Sunday is the day of worship.
Creeping secularism found its way into religious life.
Instead of pausing to worship, the people worked on the Sabbath.
The secular Jew looked no different than the pagans!
Nehemiah was relentless in his quest to drive secularism out!
What should we do to stop compromise in the church?
Nehemiah started with the leaders of Judah.
Next h He shut the gates!
In our world we celebrate people who are living in sin!
Churches are going woke because they don’t want to appear unloving.
Compromise never leads to God; it always leads away from Him.
Mixed Marriages 23-30
We must beware of the compromise of misplaced love.
There is no happily ever after for bad relationships.
The Bible has no prohibition against interracial marriage.
There is only race, and that is the human race.
This is talking about is separating from Mixed Marriages.
Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. 2 Cor 6:14-15.
Christians they may only marry, “in the Lord.” 1 Cor 7:39
Nehemiah used the power of his office to penalize law breakers.
Nehemiah’s reforms cleansed them of everything pagan.
Mixed marriage is one of the ultimate results of creeping compromise.
You shall love the Lord your God more than anything else!
The only way to overcome compromise in your faith and compromise in your relationships is to humbly bow before God and put Jesus first. As long as you are putting your safety, or your desires, or your wants ahead of God, you are opening yourself to the twin demons of creeping compromise and failed relationships. These two demons will shred your life, your family and your church. We need the same determination to be obedient that Nehemiah had if we are to please Jesus.
SERMON
How are you doing at facing your personal demons? Are your inner demons difficult to defeat?
There is nothing more troubling than the sin, confess, sin, confess, sin, confess cycle. Some of us have inner demons that plague us, drag us down and defeat us regularly. We have lived an uncomfortable existence with our personal demons for as long as we can remember.
And one of the reasons we struggle so mightily with our problems is because of excessive pride. We are afraid to let our guard down. We are afraid to be vulnerable. We are afraid to let anyone see our faults. When someone does challenge us, we bite back. We justify ourselves. We convince ourselves that we are right. We have constructed a high castle wall to keep anyone from assailing our faults.
And honestly, one of the reasons we defend our excessive pride is because change is so difficult and painful. We have tried to change and we just couldn’t kick those old habits. So we try to hide them, shift the blame, and defend ourselves. Our internal demons poison us with worry and fear, stunting our growth and vitality. Every day we have plenty of opportunities to get angry, stressed or offended. Every day we have opportunities to stray and go to the dark side.
But Jesus Christ wants to be Lord of our lives. And the Bible says that the solution to our problems is not pride and defensiveness, but humility and brokenness over our sin. “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble! Humble yourselves therefore before the mighty hand of God, and in due time he will exalt you.”
It takes guts to face off against your demons. But dancing with those demons is the only way to overcome them. If you keep trying to bury or ignore your problems you will never overcome them. You must confront your problems. You must take life by the throat! …and that takes courage. Your willingness to wrestle with your demons will set you free.
And may I say that the only hope of real change is God’s Word! In order to lift people out of spiritual bondage we must give them God’s Word so the truth sets them free! You have to confront your problems head on. If you do, you will transform your darkness into a gateway into joy.
We find Nehemiah facing some of the most thorny issues of his life. So let’s get right into it and look at a few of the demons that Nehemiah and his people faced, so that we can avoid those nasty problems.
Last week cast out three of those demons: Compromising Companions, Ungodly Influences, and God Forsaking Priorities. This week we will cast out two more of them. The first one I will call creeping secularism.
Creeping Secularism 15-22
15 In those days I saw people in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and loading donkeys with wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And I warned them about the day on which they were selling provisions. 16 Men of Tyre dwelt there also, who brought in fish and all kinds of goods, and sold them on the Sabbath to the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem.
In the Old Testament the Sabbath was given to the Jewish people as a sign of the covenant between God and Israel that He was their God and they were His people. Exodus 31:12-17
12 And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying, 13 Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Truly my Sabbaths YOU shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that you may know that I am the LORD that sanctifies you. 14 You shall keep the Sabbath; for it is holy unto you: every one that defiles it shall surely be put to death:
Eze 20:12 Moreover also I gave Israel my Sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them.
Colossians 2:16-17, Paul explicitly refers to the Sabbath as a shadow of Christ, which is no longer binding. The New Testament never commands Christians to observe the Sabbath. The early church fathers, from Ignatius to Augustine, taught that the Old Testament Sabbath had been abolished and that the first day of the week (Sunday) was the day when Christians should meet for worship.
But for the Jews, the Sabbath was a big issue. Stoning was the penalty for breaking the Sabbath. But according to verse 6, Nehemiah had returned to his post as cupbearer for the king for a period of time, and then came back to Jerusalem. And while he was gone, creeping secularism had slowly found its way into the religious life of the Jew.
The people of Judah were working on the Sabbath, which was expressly forbidden. There were businessmen among them who saw an opportunity to make an extra buck, so they brought their wares to market on the Sabbath, which was expressly forbidden. Instead of pausing to worship God on the Sabbath, and thus being a witness to the nations around them, the foreigners among them jumped right in and got in on the action themselves! The secular Jew looked no different than the pagans! How could they ever be a light to the nations? How can we ever be a light to the people around us if we adopt their behaviors.
And I’ve got to tell you, Nehemiah was relentless in his quest to drive it out!
17 Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said to them, “What evil thing is this that you do, by which you profane the Sabbath day? 18 Did not your fathers do this, and did not our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city? Yet you bring added wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath.”
What are you going to do to stop compromise in the church? What are we going to do to keep from going woke, weak kneed and inclusive of all things evil? How are we going to keep ourselves from creeping paganism?
The first stop Nehemiah made was with the leaders of Judah. Purity and separation from sin must start at the top. “Judgment must begin in the house of God.” But he didn’t stop there.
19 So it was, at the gates of Jerusalem, as it began to be dark before the Sabbath, that I commanded the gates to be shut, and charged that they must not be opened till after the Sabbath. Then I posted some of my servants at the gates, so that no burdens would be brought in on the Sabbath day. 20 Now the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice. 21 Then I warned them, and said to them, “Why do you spend the night around the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you!” From that time on they came no more on the Sabbath. 22 And I commanded the Levites that they should cleanse themselves, and that they should go and guard the gates, to sanctify the Sabbath day.
Nehemiah took life by the throat. He shut the gates! He locked them out! He warned them that he was going to take action if they didn’t cease and desist! He drew a line in the sand and said, you may come this far and no further.
This kind of behavior is looked down upon today as bigoted, close minded and intolerant. In our world, the powers that be, now impose penalties on people who speak the truth, and celebrate those who are living in sin! Churches and pastors around the nation are going woke and inclusive at an alarming rate because they don’t want to appear unloving.
Brothers and sisters, we must guard ourselves against the demons of creeping compromise. Creeping compromise never leads to God, it always leads away from him.
Nehemiah ended this segment on compromise with these words from verse 22: Remember me, O my God, concerning this also, and spare me according to the greatness of Your mercy!
There is one more great big ugly demon in the house that must cast out. It is misplaced love. It is infatuation that is mistaken for true love. It is the lust for strange flesh and the mistaken notion that falling head over heels in love is all you need for a happily ever after. And some, having sought relationships with those of different faiths or no faith at all have shipwrecked their future. This is the mess of mixed marriages.
Mixed Marriages
23 In those days I also saw Jews who had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. 24 And half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod, and could not speak the language of Judah, but spoke according to the language of one or the other people.
This is not talking about interracial marriage. The Bible has no such prohibition against that. We Christians believe that there is only race, and that is the human race. Therefore it is quite acceptable to marry people of different ethnicities, should God lead.
What this is talking about is separating from Mixed Marriages. The Bible clearly states that we should not marry people of different faiths. 2 Corinthians 6:14-15 warn.
Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? 15 And what accord has Christ with Satan? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever?
And 1 Cor 7:39 tells Christians they may marry, “but only in the Lord.”
Nehemiah took this very seriously. It was of such utmost importance, that he used the power of his office to penalize and punish the law breakers. It is almost inconceivable when you listen to it:
25 So I contended with them and cursed them, struck some of them and pulled out their hair, and made them swear by God, saying, “You shall not give your daughters as wives to their sons, nor take their daughters for your sons or yourselves. 26 Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? Yet among many nations there was no king like him, who was beloved of his God; and God made him king over all Israel. Nevertheless pagan women caused even him to sin. 27 Should we then hear of your doing all this great evil, transgressing against our God by marrying pagan women?”
On particular case stood out. A priest:
28 And one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was a son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite; therefore I drove him from me.
30 Thus I cleansed them of everything pagan. I also assigned duties to the priests and the Levites, each to his service, 31 and to bringing the wood offering and the firstfruits at appointed times.
Mixed marriage may be one of the ultimate results of creeping compromise. If you have fallen in love with someone more than you love the Lord Jesus Christ, that’s a problem. And if you don’t love the Lord more than anything else, that indeed is a problem.
You shall love the Lord your God, with all your heart, and all your soul and all your strength. And you shall seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.
The only way to overcome compromise in your faith, and compromise in your relationships is to humbly bow before God, and put Jesus first. As long as you are putting your safety, or your desires, or your wants ahead of God, you are opening yourself to the twin demons of creeping compromise and failed relationships. These two demons will shred your life, your family and your church. We need the same determination to be obedient that Nehemiah had if we are to please Jesus.
Nehemiah ends this book with these words from verse 29 and 30:
29 Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites… 30 Remember me, O my God, for good!
Our destiny is decided by how well we know our demons, how well we defend against them each day. Confront the dark parts of yourself, and work to banish them with illumination and forgiveness. If something in your life is the cause of your struggles, attend to it. Transform Your Demons Into A Gateway Towards Joy. Allow Your Light To Shine On Your Demons. Light Overpowers The Darkness.
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