Episode Transcript
[00:00:02] Welcome to the Crema Chaj podcast.
[00:00:09] Thank you. Grab a seat. I was just thinking as I was watching that video. It's funny how people have different plans. I was thinking it'd be a great pad for me and Juliet, you know, nice garden out the front. We could, you know, after church, just go and rest there.
[00:00:26] But maybe it needs to be a studio.
[00:00:31] Oh, dear. And I love the faith. We own it.
[00:00:37] And of course we do, because everything is the Lord's.
[00:00:41] Everything is the Lord's.
[00:00:42] Yeah. So here we go.
[00:00:45] Okay. Did you have fun last weekend? Presence and promise. Yes.
[00:00:49] Did the Lord touch some of you? Did you have some encounters with the Lord?
[00:00:54] Yeah.
[00:00:55] Yeah. I know it might seem a long while ago, a whole week, but, yes. So many wonderful encounters, so much joy.
[00:01:05] And I really believe that as we encounter the Lord, it brings us into closer relationship with Him. Sometimes he frees us from the things that are holding us back.
[00:01:19] But I also think these encounters with God when we. When. When it's like we're apprehended by. By Jesus, are markers to launch us into new seasons. You know, in the Bible, you know, Moses has this incredible encounter at the burning bush and then leads the children of Israel out of Egypt. Jesus, even Jesus at his baptism, the spirit of God descended upon. This is my son. I am well pleased. And he's launched into the ministry that leads right to the cross and the resurrection. Paul on the Damascus road.
[00:02:00] Saul. Saul, why are you persecuting me?
[00:02:04] Bang on the floor. Now that's how you get saved. Okay. And he comes around blind. They lead him away, and Ananias goes and prays and. And heals him. And, you know, I guess the temptation is to sometimes want to stay in the encounter.
[00:02:22] And hear me, I want us to have lots of encounters with the Lord.
[00:02:27] I believe that's part of the deal of him coming and making his home in us. You know, if somebody is with you and has made their home in your life, there should be lots of encounters and engagements.
[00:02:42] But I also believe that these encounters with the Holy Spirit are unto something.
[00:02:50] That the reason he comes upon us, the reason he stirs us up from within is unto something.
[00:02:59] See, he says, come, follow me.
[00:03:04] Leave that sin behind.
[00:03:06] Get your marriage straight.
[00:03:08] Prepare for the calling that is on your life. And he moves you from this encounter with him into the journey and sometimes the battle to get to the victory.
[00:03:23] So the reason I love presence and promise is that we immerse ourselves in the presence of God.
[00:03:30] And as we do that, as we give four days of Worship. He often moves us as a church into new seasons. And, you know, often you're in the business of church, you know, digging foundations and I think, you know, presence, salvation, getting there, thinking about money. Money, right. But this is a new season for us. It's a time to build and a time to send. To build his house and to send men and women out into his harvest. And the Psalmist says, unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it.
[00:04:07] So anything we build, we must make sure it's the Lord's building, not our building. And Jesus says, I will build my church.
[00:04:18] And the word build here literally is build a house.
[00:04:25] And when we have this encounter with Jesus, he invites us into the building business.
[00:04:33] So when Jesus says, I will build my church, the picture is that all of us become builders.
[00:04:44] We have a new job description. And it doesn't matter what your background, what your leanings are, we all become builders. So the question is, why doesn't every Christian build and every church expands? Well, find your Bibles. Have you got them with you? Phones do count, but you are only half. No, I'm kidding. Why don't you stand again? We're going to read Find Nehemiah, chapter four.
[00:05:13] And you know, I was thinking just for service as we read this. We are one of the first nations to be post Christian, okay? One of the first nations on the planet to have been moved by the kingdom of God, but to have moved away.
[00:05:34] All our laws have been defined by, you know, pretty much the Sermon on the Mount and what has gone before. But we're a nation that's moved away from Christianity and they're looking in other places. And so we are, along with a lot of Europe, post Christian Christian. And that's the situation that Nehemiah finds himself in. They've been in exile for. Well, they were in exile for 70 years. But by the time Nehemiah is leading, it's probably another 70 years.
[00:06:06] And still the walls haven't been built, and still the temple is being constructed. So here we are. This is chapter four, verse one.
[00:06:15] But it so happened, when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he was furious and very indign, mocked the Jews. And he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria and said, what are these feeble Jews doing?
[00:06:31] Will they fortify themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete in a day? Will they revive the stones from the heaps of rubbish, stones that are burned?
[00:06:44] You know, I am going to read the Bible. Honestly, some often people say to me, revival Isn't in the Bible. Yes, it is.
[00:06:55] Both Nehemiah and Ezra call what is happening the Return from Exile revival.
[00:07:04] They use the exact word. Nehemiah just uses it here. And Ezra uses. He calls the people to revival. Okay, let's keep. Keep going.
[00:07:16] Now, Tobiah, the Amorite was beside him, and he said, whatever they build, if even a fox goes on it, he will break down their stone wall.
[00:07:25] And then Nehemiah prays, hear, O our God, for we are despised.
[00:07:32] Turn their reproach on their own heads and give them as plunder to a land of captivity.
[00:07:40] Do not cover their iniquity and do not let their sin be blotted out from before you, for they provoked you to anger before the builders. Now, that's a prayer.
[00:07:52] And sometimes we're a bit scared about praying strong prayers. You know, I really think one of the reasons that men don't always like prayer meetings is because they think they're not allowed to pray like this. Get them, God.
[00:08:04] You know, they've defied you. Get them. And, you know, often, you know, when I'm cross and praying, cross prayers, church, just be nice. Just be nice. And there is a time for nice prayers.
[00:08:16] But sometimes we need to pray Bible prayers.
[00:08:20] And just as Juliet, she said, you know, Aaron, sometimes she leads us like a lion.
[00:08:24] And, you know, but Gillian, men and women are made differently. And Gillian, she just leads us nicely into the presence of the Lord. And Aaron's like.
[00:08:36] And suddenly we go, I'm coming. I'm coming.
[00:08:40] We're made different.
[00:08:42] Anyway, nothing to do with this. But where were we?
[00:08:47] Don't you love the Bible?
[00:08:49] So we. Yeah.
[00:08:51] So verse six. So we built the wall, and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height. For the people had a mind to work. The Holy Spirit had done this in their hearts. Now it happened when some ballot Tobiah, the Arabs, the Amorites, and the Ashdodites heard that all the walls of Jerusalem were being restored and the G gaps were beginning to be closed, they became very angry. And all of them conspired together to come and attack Jerusalem and create confusion.
[00:09:25] Nevertheless, we made our prayer to God. And because of them, we set a watch against them day and night. Prayer is the key. And prayer brings clarity when there's confusion.
[00:09:37] Then Judah said, the strength of the laborers is failing. And there is so much rubbish that we were not able to build the wall. And our adversary, they will never know nor see anything till we come into their midst and kill them and cause the work to cease.
[00:09:54] So it was when the Jews who dwelt near them came and told us 10 times, from whatever place you turn, they will be upon us. Therefore, I positioned men behind the lower parts of the wall, the openings. And I set people according to their families with their swords, their spears and their bows. And I looked, arose, and said to the nobles, to the leaders, unto the rest of the people, do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives and your houses. And we'll stop there. Amen. Take a seat there. Okay.
[00:10:35] What if God calls you to do something only you can do?
[00:10:43] What if God calls us to something only we can do?
[00:10:51] And if he was to do that, there might well be a battle over his call, right? And I know you have your calls. I think calls come upon us. We say it in the offering sometimes, lord, would you place calls upon our lives?
[00:11:06] But there is also a corporate call, the call on Cromer Church. You know, we talk a lot about individual calls, but what about the corporate call? And the story of Nehemiah is about a corporate call, a people's call. And you see, often the building starts with excitement, but as we get into it and having to roll our sleeves up and it's hard work, there is a battle to keep going.
[00:11:35] And alongside the battle to keep going, our enemy, the devil, does not want us to prevail.
[00:11:41] And even here in the New Testament, we're told we're living stones being built into a spiritual house by the precious blood of Jesus. But we still find ourselves in this battle.
[00:11:57] As we start to build in this post Christian nation, there is an opposition that comes, comes against us because the last thing the enemy wants to see is the walls built up, the temple established, worship happening, the praises of God happening in this land again. The last thing he wants is that to happen. So we find ourselves in a battle.
[00:12:19] And you know what? Even when we've had an encounter with Jesus, there is a battle. And I believe the encounter is part of the faith builder to help us overcome the battle ahead, the one we're going into.
[00:12:34] So in this part of the story of Nehemiah, there are two characters. You've got Sanballat and you got Tobiah. They are real people.
[00:12:43] Now hear me, your brother is never your enemy, even when he looks like it.
[00:12:50] And Paul says our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against rulers, authorities, powers, against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
[00:13:01] However, the attack or discouragement often comes through real life people. Anyone ever have you Experienced some of this, you're really going for it. You've had an encounter with Jesus and somebody just says something and it's like, pin, and you go.
[00:13:21] Sanballat is a real political figure of importance. His name actually means sinners given life.
[00:13:30] Look, if you're going to go into politics, change your name. Don't have that name, okay? That's not going to work.
[00:13:38] He is a symbol. He is a person of political opposition.
[00:13:45] The people in power do not want God's church established.
[00:13:53] He's a politician. His regional power is threatened by revival.
[00:14:01] If Yahweh becomes the dominant God who is worshipped, he will lose his influence amongst all the other religions. Does that feel a little bit like today?
[00:14:15] You know, if these walls get built, I could lose political influence. You know, even for figures today, if I blow my cover for Jesus, I could lose influence. What would people think? Let me tell you, Real influence comes from the favor of God. If the favor of God is upon your life, anything can be accomplished. And that's what the story of Nehemiah is about. When God's favor comes on a man and on a people, anything can be accomplished. And then we have Tobiah.
[00:14:48] Tobiah is an Amorite. He's probably married a Hebrew woman. And you're gonna. You read in Ezra and later on in Nehemiah that that was a problem.
[00:15:01] And because he's married a Hebrew woman, probably of some notoriety, he has connections with the Jewish nobles.
[00:15:12] And remember, they didn't want to work. They're very happy for the common people who don't do the work, but they're just keeping their way back. They're watching what's. What's happening. And his name. So this guy should be a good guy because his name means Yahweh is God.
[00:15:30] So we've got one whose name is, you know, sin is alive, but this one's. Yahweh is God. But what Tobiah brings is compromise from within.
[00:15:41] You know, look, I'm married to a Jew.
[00:15:44] I know what's best.
[00:15:46] You know, just keep things under the radar. Don't make waves, and everything will be all right. Don't stand up. Don't build the walls. The last thing you want to do is raise your. Your head up, because this is. This is going to cause a problem in the country, in the nation. So from within, it's the sin of the elite. Just settle down. Don't rock the boat.
[00:16:10] But look how they. They attack. Two unlikely forces joined together. And this is what they say to the people the first one is. And I'm going to move really quick. What are these feeble Jews doing?
[00:16:23] Ever heard that one? What do you think you're doing? Who do you think you are?
[00:16:28] You're a perfumer. You're meant to be making perfumes. You're not meant to be building walls. You're not meant to be out here like that. You know, you're just a drama student.
[00:16:38] I mean, act, don't do anything.
[00:16:43] You think you can teach and equip leaders?
[00:16:46] Yes, That's Juliet. She was a drama student for the last 30 years. Been teaching and releasing leaders.
[00:16:53] Or how about this one? You're just a HNC engineer, you don't even have a real degree and you think you can lead thousands of people.
[00:17:02] Yeah, that's me.
[00:17:06] Look at you feeble barbers.
[00:17:09] And the accusations and the attacks come, but they're completely true, except for one thing.
[00:17:14] We've had an encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:17:18] He's come and made his home in our lives. And he said, come, follow me and I'll make you fishers of men.
[00:17:24] How about you?
[00:17:26] You've had an encounter with Jesus.
[00:17:28] He's come into your life. Everything changes.
[00:17:33] The power that raised Jesus from the dead now has made his home in your life. How could Moses lead the Israelites out of Egypt? He'd been at the burning bush, that's how.
[00:17:46] But in order to lead them out, he's going to have to stand before Pharaoh and these feeble Jews get behind Nehemiah and they get the walls to half height.
[00:18:00] But the enemy does not want them to finish the job. The second thing, whatever they build, even if a fox goes on it, he will break down their stone wall. What they're saying, this is pathetic. The people are weak. They're broken sinners. If even a fox barked at them, they'd run away.
[00:18:23] You don't know the Bible enough. You're just baby Christians. How can you build anything that means anything?
[00:18:30] I know, I know. What we really need is really strong Christians.
[00:18:36] No, that's not what you need.
[00:18:38] You need simple people whose hearts are captivated by the Spirit of God.
[00:18:47] These are the people, these feeble Jews. These are the people who'd left everything to come and rebuild.
[00:18:55] These are the disciples that said, whatever, Jesus, I'll follow you. I'll give my life to you. I'll pick up my cross and I'll walk with you. Normal everyday bankers, fishermen, who said, I'll walk with you, Jesus.
[00:19:07] They laid down their lives because first the Lord Jesus had laid his Down.
[00:19:13] Do you know, one of the constant attacks I've had all my life that I've dealt with is that right from when I started leading my first church when I was 28, and that the attack would come, people would say to me, the problem with you, Steve, is you're just not deep enough.
[00:19:31] What do you mean?
[00:19:32] Well, you're just simple, you know, you need to delve into the depths of God, the meat of the Word.
[00:19:43] I've often said I thought the meat was doing it.
[00:19:46] I thought the meat of the Word was actually doing what the Bible said. Now you're just not deep enough.
[00:19:54] And you know, bang, bang, bang, bang.
[00:19:57] I'm just a simple guy who fell in love with the Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:20:02] He took my sin away and he turned my life around.
[00:20:08] And you know what? For the last 50 years, I'll do whatever he says and I'll go wherever he leads.
[00:20:17] I walk in his ways and I love his commands.
[00:20:22] How much deeper do you want me to be?
[00:20:27] You know, I'm sorry I'm not a great intellect, but week in, week out, I'm here teaching the Bible, praying for the sick, calling people to salvation. How much deeper?
[00:20:41] You see, all Jesus is asking for is not super people, but willing people whose hearts are captivated by his spirit.
[00:20:53] The next thing they say, will they fortify themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete in the day? Will they revive the stones from heaps of rubbish, stones that are burned? What do they do? They attack the vision.
[00:21:09] A church that goes after presents, sees thousands, saves and sends music around the world. In the uk, the never going to happen. Why not?
[00:21:20] Isn't it time to stop going to the US to find revival?
[00:21:25] Why not here in the uk?
[00:21:27] Why not through you? Why couldn't some of you be the preachers, the evangelists, the apostles, the prophets? And people say, oh, Steve, you don't understand.
[00:21:36] This stuff doesn't happen in the uk.
[00:21:39] What?
[00:21:41] Wesley Whitfield, Evan Roberts, Smith Wigglesworth, Duncan Campbell. Why not here and now?
[00:21:49] That's our history.
[00:21:50] They're the men and many more that have changed Christianity in the Western world.
[00:21:57] All from here, you see. What does Nehemiah do when the attack comes? Instead of arguing, he prays. And I tell you, prayer is the key.
[00:22:10] Hear, O my God, we are despised. Turn their reproach on their own heads and give them as plunder.
[00:22:19] Do not cover their iniquity. Do not let their sin be blotted out before you, for they have provoked you to anger before the builders.
[00:22:28] Real prayers, passionate prayers, calling out to God.
[00:22:36] Yeah.
[00:22:39] You know, whatever the attack prayer is, the answer, it really is. Your identity is in whom you know, not who you are.
[00:22:50] And you go, but, Steve, hold it. I'm a child of God. I'm this, I'm this and that.
[00:22:54] I understand all those things.
[00:22:58] But your identity is in the one you know and whom you speak to.
[00:23:03] That's right.
[00:23:05] What do I mean? Well, you see, I know who I am. I know my failings. I know my weaknesses. But my strength is in Him.
[00:23:15] You see, you're not doing your work. You're doing his work.
[00:23:19] Because I have laid down my life into his service. That's what Jesus meant. Pick up your cross and follow me. That when you come to Jesus in a minute, we're going to give a chance for you to meet Jesus. You. You pick up your cross. And by that we mean lay your life down. It's going to cost you everything. Lay it down into his service and you follow Him. That means you can now pray with conviction, because it's not about you. It's about him. And it's about his cause. It's about his church. It's about his people. You know, haven't I been telling you for the last 10 years, every morning, walking with the Lord, if you walk with him in prayer, what do you think's going to happen?
[00:23:57] His favor's going to come upon you. His hand is going to come upon you.
[00:24:03] And you know what? I know what it's like when the strength of the laborers is failing. And this feels like there's so much rubbish. We don't have enough musicians, leaders, workers.
[00:24:12] You know, it feels like we're all standing in rubble.
[00:24:16] Unless Jesus steps in, it's doomed to fail.
[00:24:21] But it's in just those situations he loves to walk in.
[00:24:26] It's those lives that he turns around.
[00:24:31] It's those times when we're in that hole and we cry out to him and he picks us up, out, and he says, now walk with me, Lord. I want to get back in the hole. No, you're going to stay out of this hole. And you're going to walk with me. And you'll walk close with me. And as you walk with me, and as you lay down your life and walk with me, my favor will come upon you.
[00:24:51] And I'm going to make you fishers of men. I'm going to make you a kingdom person.
[00:24:58] But this is the best bit. And we're going to finish on this verse 19. I don't think I actually got this far reading the Work is great and extensive and we're separated far from one another on the wall. Whenever you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us, you see.
[00:25:21] Why do you think God has given us a song?
[00:25:24] It's the trumpet, the song that God places in us. I give you a new song, you'll sing a new song. The song that the Lord places within our heart is like this trumpet. Whenever we feel separated, or the work is too much, or the rubble is piling up, we sound the trumpet. We worship undignified.
[00:25:44] We sing washed in the blood. Whatever it is, our praise is the trumpet. And what happens is that you're finding this part of the battle difficult, or you're struggling here, or you're in that hole there. And the trumpet sounds, praise goes up, and the people rally, and we rally together in our praise. God will fight for us.
[00:26:11] And that's how it works.
[00:26:13] You know, we've rolled our sleeves up. We've given everything into the service of the Lord. But we're in the battle and the accusations are coming and people are mocking and laughing and saying, never going to do this, and this is never going to work. And now never come to anything. And at the moment you start going, I'm starting to believe it.
[00:26:32] Blow the trumpet, praise the Lord, and we all rally together and we praise and everything becomes possible again.
[00:26:40] That's how it works.
[00:26:43] That's what Nia. So prayer is the key because we're in relationship with the One whom we know.
[00:26:49] But praise is the cry. It is the battle cry. The Lord inhabits the praises of his people. That's why we must never stop.
[00:27:00] Give yourself to the praise. Because as we praise this rally, cry goes up. Okay, what am I trying to say? If you want to build anything, it will be contested.
[00:27:11] We are in a spiritual battle.
[00:27:14] But I want you to understand it often comes through real people.
[00:27:18] The encounters with the Holy Spirit that you have week in, week out, that you should have and I want you to have, bring faith for the battle because, you know, he's with you and he's in you.
[00:27:32] We cannot do this alone. So we work together, sleeves rolled up, in the service of our Jesus.
[00:27:39] We defend each other. And I skipped. I didn't talk much about that. We cheer each other on, we pray, and we have our weapon in one hand and we work with the other.
[00:27:51] You know, we cry out to God. This book is a weapon.
[00:27:55] It is a manual for everything, whether it's your marriage, whether it is your career, whether it is your relationship. With God, whether it's how you raise your children, it is a manual, it is a weapon, and that's why it's called a sword.
[00:28:16] And so we pray and we have a weapon in our hands as we work.
[00:28:23] And whenever you hear the trumpet, we rally because God is fighting for us. And so you hear the trumpet blow. I think they're praising over there. Let's get there, let's get there. Let's lift our hands and praise the Lord. Because it's at that point that his presence comes again and he empowers us again for the next part of the journey.
[00:28:47] So his house and his kingdom will be established in this nation through his power and his people.
[00:28:56] You and I. And what Nehemiah is describing here is how a post Christian nation becomes Christian again.
[00:29:06] How the house of God is rebuilt in the United Kingdom with a praising people and a praying people and a people who love his ways. Because as we get in the rest of Nehemiah and Ezra, you'll see re establishing the ways of the Lord.
[00:29:23] Amen. Stand up. I'm done.
[00:29:26] Thanks for listening to the Chroma Charge podcast. If you enjoyed this message, you can like and subscribe. You can also join us in person or online every Sunday at Cromer Church. For more information about us, including our ministries, events, worship and how to donate, visit our website at Cromer Church.
