Awakened to Grace

Chad Roberts: Welcome to Awakened to Grace. I’m Chad Roberts and I’m so glad you’re joining us today. I believe God has connected us for a great purpose. Today you’re going to hear a powerful sermon. But before we get to the sermon, I want to encourage you to check out my new book. It’s called Blind Faith: Seeing God Through Darkness. It’s published by our partners at Lifeway.

And the reason I wrote this book is because I am 100% blind. And as I’ve walked this path of blindness, this path of suffering, well, I want to teach you how Christians can suffer well. I say that today my job as a blind pastor is to help people trust a God they cannot see. You can order the book right now anywhere that books are sold in any format.

Even if you’re not much of a book reader, you can even get it in audio where you can listen to it. Well, I hope you’ll go right now to the official website which is blindfaith.life. Again, that’s blindfaith.life and I hope you’ll not only get a copy for you, I hope you’ll pick one up for someone who needs encouragement in their faith today.

People let you down. People don’t follow through. People say they’re going to do things and they don’t. A promise doesn’t mean very much if you don’t know the person’s character. But as you get to know a person’s character, then the promise means something, right? Many of you know we’re buying an entire new section of chairs, which is very expensive.

These chairs are outrageous auditorium chairs. And we’re purchasing an entire new section and there’s a family that doesn’t go to our church but they really support our vision and many of you know the story. They called me up about four or six weeks ago and said, "Pastor Chad, we’re so excited, we see what God’s doing at your church." They don’t even attend our church. And they said God has put in our heart a certain amount of money and we’re going to send it to your church.

Well, when I go to the finance team and most of the finance team have never met this family and like most natural thinking, many on the finance team go, "Well, we better not bank on that money because people promise things, but what if it doesn't come through? What if it doesn't show up?" I mean, that's not being rude, right? That's being cautious. That's being...

But see, I was able to tell the finance team, "I get it. I get it and I don't fully disagree. Anything could happen, right? But let me tell you something: I know this family. I know their character. I know that when they make a promise, they're going to do what they said. I know this family extremely well and I'm not worried an inch. I know this family."

And see, when you know the person and you know the character, then you can bank on the promise. Amen? And the Bible reveals the names, it reveals the titles of God so that we would know the character of God, so that when you and I go to God in prayer, we understand we're not praying to a mere mortal. We're not praying to a man who can let us down the way you and I can let each other down, but we're praying to God Almighty and His character is true.

And if His character is true, then that means His promises are true. Hallelujah! And that's who we're praying to. And the Bible says we would do well to remember our Lord God and His commandments and His statutes and His laws and His covenant and His promises. So my question today as we go forward, as we break down Nehemiah 4: how well do we often remember God's faithfulness?

How well do we remember His laws? How well do we remember these things? If you're like me, I have a hard time remembering what I ate yesterday. Anybody else getting that way? John Maxwell said so wonderful. He said he and his wife are to the age, he said anytime we leave the house, we split the responsibilities. He said, "My job is to remember where we're going. Her job is to remember what we're getting." And he said, "We just divide it, divide and conquer, right?"

We forget often, don't we? It's human. And the Bible says to us, remember well, remember well what God has said, remember well what God has promised. But today, in Nehemiah chapter 4, I'm going to take just a few moments and I want to explain this title, this great name of God: Adonai. Adon in Hebrew in these days, in this ancient language of the Old Testament text, Adon means owner. It means Lord. It means master. It means superior.

Now, the word Adonai is different than the word Yahweh, which also means Lord. Adon would have been a human term for owner or master or Lord. But Adonai refers to deity. It's not speaking of humanity. It's not speaking of people because people will let you down. We're not as God is. God is not a man that he should lie, the scripture says. Praise God for that.

So Adonai means owner, master, Lord. Particularly, I believe it's the NIV translation that whenever they would translate Yahweh and Adonai together, which means Lord Master or Lord Lord or Lord Owner, when they would translate Yahweh and Adonai together, they would translate it as Sovereign Lord. Oh, I like that. Sovereign Lord. He is sovereign over all things. He's sovereign over everyone. He's sovereign over every situation.

He's sovereign over even Satan himself. God is absolutely sovereign. So when you and I consider, when we contemplate, when we ponder, when we meditate, when we pray through the name Adonai, we have to understand who we're thinking about, who we're talking to, who we're petitioning, who we're praying to. We're praying to the sovereign Almighty God. We're praying to God who owns everything, God who is Master of everything.

And as we see in Nehemiah chapter 4, even when you and I face powerful enemies, God is far more powerful than they are. Why? Because He's Adonai. So notice what Nehemiah tells his people. Nehemiah tells his people, "Do not be afraid. Remember Adonai. Remember the sovereign one. Remember the Master. Remember the Lord. Remember the supreme, the sovereign, the superior. Remember the Lord and fight."

Praise God. Fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, your homes. I believe this is a message in season for our church right now because I believe that where we are is very similar to where they were in the book of Nehemiah. I believe that where we are right now, this place, this beautiful, this wonderful place that God has led us to, these new pastures that he has opened up by His grace and by His goodness, I believe we're in a similar place that they were in Nehemiah chapter 4.

If you'll look in verse number one, now notice what's going on. Israel has many enemies. Israel has always had many enemies. Why? Because they're the people of God. Israel has always had multiple enemies, but namely the kingdom of darkness. You and I face the same enemy today. As we've said in most of the sermons of this series, whether it was David fighting a Goliath or whether it was Israel fighting the Amalekites, let me tell you, you and I today face a far more dangerous, a far more lethal enemy than any battle in any portion of the Old Testament. You and I face the kingdom of darkness today.

And these promises apply to us. These scriptures apply to us. Israel had an enemy in the name of Sanballat and Tobiah. Now notice what these enemies said about Israel. Nehemiah writes and says that when Sanballat heard that we were going forward with the wall, when he heard that we're building the wall, he became angry and greatly enraged and he jeered the Jews.

Tobiah in the next verse, when he hears about it, he begins to mock. He says, "Well, what are they doing? What are they building?" He said, "Even if a fox ran up the walls, the stone walls, the fox would knock it down." Listen to the mockery. Sanballat in verse one and two says, "What are these feeble Jews think they are doing? What are these feeble Jews up to?"

See, when Nehemiah got the burden of the Lord to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, here's what you and I have to understand. Here's the context. Jerusalem had laid desolate for over a hundred years. The walls had been torn down. They had no defense. They weren't a strong people. And God put the burden in the heart of Nehemiah, who was hundreds of miles away, and said, "I want you to go to Jerusalem and I want you to rebuild the walls for my glory. I want you to rebuild my city, rebuild my people for my glory."

And when Nehemiah showed up and he began casting the vision, he began to say, "Here's what we're going to do." You realize Nehemiah spent four months in prayer before he ever did anything. I want you to think about this. You read the book of Nehemiah in its entirety. They built the walls in a stunning, in a remarkable, in an unbelievable 52 days. They built the walls in 52 days, but he spent four months in prayer.

Do you see how we have it reversed in today's church? We spend four months working and 52 minutes trying to pray. Do you see how we have it reversed? Nehemiah spent four months in prayer and only worked for 52 days. So many people have it backward. They think that they are to do the work of the Lord, but let me tell you, friends, your prayer life is the work of the Lord.

Do not think that you're going to do some greater work above and beyond prayer. Prayer is the greater work. How many of us can say amen? Prayer is the greater work. It's not about doing the greater work. Prayer is the greater work and prayer is the labor that we are to be doing. Nehemiah spent four months praying and only 52 days engaged in the work. Now, the enemy is angry. He's mad.

He says, "What are these feeble Jews doing? Are they going to sacrifice? Are they going to build this wall by themselves? Are they going to sacrifice? Are they going to do it in a day?" Listen to the mockery. "Are they going to take the ruined stones?" The Bible even says "the burnt ones" at that. This wall was decimated. Think how large the city of Jerusalem is. Think how large of a wall the people would have had to have built over such a vast area.

"What do these feeble Jews think they're up to?" But it doesn't take long before their mockery turns to anger. I believe it's verse number 8. As most of you know, I'm unable to see with my eyesight, so forgive me as I go from memory. I believe it's verse number 8. Notice what, well, even before that, notice what Nehemiah does once they find out about Sanballat and Tobiah. Once they find out about the Amorites and Syria and all these enemies that they have and they find out what they're saying, notice what Nehemiah does.

I believe it's verse three. Notice what he does: he prays. He says, "Oh God, see that we are despised. See that they're mocking us, they're shaming us." And then he says something remarkable: "Turn it, turn it against them. Amen?" Oh boy, I'm praying that for our church right now, that all of the opposition Satan's tried to cause, all of the battle that he's tried to cause, all the harm that he's tried to cause, God turn it against him in Jesus' name.

Turn it against him in Jesus' name. What a great Old Testament prayer. Amen? Now don't pray that against your boss or your wife, don't do that now. But you understand what I'm saying. Against the enemy. Turn it against them in Jesus' name. Turn it against them in Jesus' name. And then notice what he says: "So we built the wall." I love that. If Nehemiah had been worried about what his critics were saying, if he'd been fearful about what his enemies were up to, they would have stopped building the wall.

How many of you know you cannot pay attention to people, you cannot pay attention to the enemy. You have to do exactly what God has told you to do. You understand what I'm saying? There's a phrase in the church that I really dislike. It's a cute phrase. Unfortunately, some people think it's a Bible verse and it's not a Bible verse. Have you ever heard the phrase, "new levels, new devils"?

I hate that phrase. I don't like that phrase. "New levels, new devils." Most people think that's a verse out of the Old Testament, and it's not even in the Bible. It's not a biblical phrase. You know why I don't like that phrase? It's because if we're not careful, it almost puts some fear in our hearts. What if God grows me to the next level? No.

Listen. We know based on Ephesians 6 that there are various ranks of the kingdom of darkness, we know that. Principalities and rulers and authorities and spiritual wickedness in high places and cosmic forces. When Paul writes Ephesians chapter 6, that portion of the armor of God, in the original Greek, it literally refers to a military rank. We know that, we understand that.

But listen, we're not to fear our enemy. Do you understand that? We're not to fear the enemy in any way, shape, or form. Not when we're doing what God has called us to do. We are to go forward in faith. And this is what the Bible says very specifically in the book of Nehemiah, when Sanballat and when Tobiah learned that we were going forward with the building of the wall, then they became angry.

The mocking turned to anger. The jeering turned to plotting. And now Israel finds themselves in a different situation. But notice verse 8: "So we built the wall." And listen to what it said. And I just, again, I feel like this is such a word to our church right now. Listen to what it said: "And the people had a mind to work." Praise God.

The people had a mind to work. I just want to thank this body. I want to thank this house for being a people who have a mind to work. As we get ready for our big outreach season and here we're going to have this great Hop To It event that my main focus is the prayer tents. As we get ready for Easter and the flood of people who's going to come through our doors, as we get ready for Rise Together at the Farmers Market and however many people that God brings out to this, you don't host this many sets of crowds of people without having a mind to work.

But see, here's what I see different in our church. We've always done those things. Always. I mean, this is our sixth year consecutive doing Hop To It. Yesterday, many of us gathered, and do you know how many eggs you guys stuffed? 21,000. One person who had never done it before, they said, "Chad, have you ever done this?" I said, "Yeah, it's on my resume: egg stuffing."

We stuffed 20,000 eggs for six consecutive years. It's a life skill at this point. I can stuff an egg. You ought to see me stuff an egg. But see, that's not the real work. Glory to God. Let me tell you: the real work is the 40-day fasting that we just came through. The real work is the growth in prayer meeting that we're seeing. The real work is that we'll say out of all of the busyness, we'll create a weekly prayer gathering.

Out of all of the busyness, we'll add a 9:00 AM service. Out of all of the busyness, we're going to grow the people serving in teams exponentially. Out of all of our busy lives, we're going to put our hand to the plow and we're going to watch God change life after life after life. That's the work. Amen? And you have a mind to work.

Let me tell you very briefly just a couple of things that happened this week. I sat down with a family yesterday, as a matter of fact, we were stuffing eggs together. That's why we were sitting down. And this brother, oh, I love this brother. I love him. I love his wife, his family is so precious to me. And they came to our church, from what I understand, they were unchurched, weren't going anywhere else, and now their parents are coming to our church who are in their 80s.

And I was asking him yesterday, "Have you guys ever went to church as a family?" And he said, "No, my entire life this is the first time we've went to church as a family." Praise God. Amen? I think that's massive. I think it's huge. I had a man come see me early in the week and he said, he walked into this church some time ago and he said, the first time I walked in, he said, "I was out there in that where the lobby is," and he said, "I felt a hand on my back, and I turned around and nobody was there." He said, "I knew it was God. I knew it."

And that man, to God's glory, walked down here Sunday morning and Pastor Bob led him in a prayer to give his life to Jesus Christ. Amen? And he's going to be baptized next Sunday. Praise God! It's life after life after life after life after life that we're seeing people change to God's glory. That's the work! And those things only come by prayer and fasting. It's the only way it comes.

And as we go in this labor of prayer and as we're working for God's glory, we're seeing what God is doing and it's remarkable. So the people had a mind to work. But listen, this is the word for our church. Things got serious. You read on down in the chapter. Things got serious when the enemies of Israel saw that the wall was going forward and there's a phrase in here I want you to know: "and when the breaches were being repaired."

When the gaps were being filled in. That's when the enemy began to go, "Uh-oh, they're a lot more serious than what we realize." Do you understand? I think today that the kingdom of darkness is looking at the church as a whole. I think the kingdom of darkness is looking at our church today, and I think that they are jeering us, they are mocking us, they are saying, "What do these feeble believers think they're going to be able to do? What do these feeble Christians think? They're fasting, they're doing these silly... listen, what do they think is really going to happen?"

But guess what the enemy's beginning to see: the breaches are being repaired. The walls are being built. He has no idea how serious we really are about prayer and fasting. Amen? Would you agree with that? And as the enemy sees how serious we are, I believe he's growing more angry toward us. But that's all right. And I think the Bible has a word, specifically in season right now for this house, for this body.

Verse 14: "Do not be afraid. But remember Adonai." Remember who you serve. Remember who you're the servants to. Remember who your Master is. Remember who the sovereign one is. Remember who the Lord is. He's Adonai. Do not be afraid because He's Adonai. Fight! Fight for your homes, fight for your wives, fight for your children, fight for your brothers, fight for your son and daughter, fight for them, the Lord says.

And I believe this is where we are right now. How many people are we standing in the gap for right now, this very moment? How many people on Tuesday nights were crying out to God? Were crying out for their salvation? Were crying out for life change? Were crying out for deliverance? How many people are we bringing before the throne of God right now, saying, "God, move in their life"?

And I'm telling you, the enemy is taking notice. Why? Because the walls are being repaired. The breaches are being repaired. The gaps are coming together. And it's happening because the people have a mind to work. So what's the word of the Lord for us? Well, don't be afraid. Fight. Fight this warfare. Ephesians 6, put on the whole armor of God. Don't step backward. Go forward.

Don't step back. Take your stand. Dig in your heels. Put on the shoes of the gospel of peace that has those spikes in them and take your ground and do not back up. That's what the Lord's saying to us. Thank you for listening to Awakened to Grace.