(If you have found this sermon helpful, please visit us at www.HeritageRestorationProject.org or www.ChristianWisdom.info)
In the year 587 BC, Jerusalem was sacked and totally destroyed by the Babylonian Empire. The elite of Judean society were carried off into exile. In 538 BC, Cyrus, the King of the Persian Empire, who had recently conquered the Babylonians, issued a decree allowing the Jews held in captivity to return to their homeland. Cyrus favored granting his subjects cultural autonomy, including the freedom to have their own religion. He issued a decree allowing the Jews held in captivity to return to their homeland, and supported efforts to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem.
The return to Jerusalem did not occur all at once; instead, groups of Jews continued to drift back to Palestine over a span of nearly a century in successive waves of dedicated rebuilders, their efforts supported financially by those who remained in the region of Babylon and Nippur (see Ezra 1:4). The early arrivals met with bitter disappointment. The early years were fraught with hardship and frustration. They were greatly hampered by the Samaritans.
Key leaders during the third and final wave of migration back to Jerusalem were Ezra, a zealous reform-minded Jewish priest, and, Nehemiah, the trusted “cup-bearer” of the Persian king. Nehemiah was dispatched in 444 BC by Artaxerxes, King of the Persian Empire, to serve as governor of the province. This appointment had come about because of Nehemiah’s desire to rebuild the defensive wall around Jerusalem (see Nehemiah 2:1-5). Both Ezra and Nehemiah were devoted to the task of restoring the Jewish religion among the people of Jerusalem, and both the goal of restoration of the defensive wall and the restoration of the Jewish religion enjoyed the strong support of Artaxerxes (see Ezra 7:12-26, and Nehemiah 2:6-9).
According to some estimates, there were only about 50,000 people in Judah when Nehemiah arrived. In addition to building the defensive wall, Nehemiah instituted a number of administrative reforms that ended usury and assisted the poor who had been dispossessed of their vineyards, olive groves and houses by land-grabbers (see Nehemiah, Chapter 5).
Nehemiah governed for twelve years. He then visited Babylon and the Persian court. When he returned to Jerusalem he found things had degenerated. Intermarriage, Sabbath-breaking, and all-round religious laxity were the order of the day. It was probably at about this time that Ezra arrived and raised concern about the state of spiritual affairs in Judah, though some scholars conclude that Ezra had arrived earlier. Through Ezra’s efforts and Nehemiah’s cooperation (see Nehemiah, Chapter 13 and Chapter 8), a great spiritual revival began in the land.
We also read in the book of Ezra of this spiritual revival: “While Ezra was praying and confessing, weeping and throwing himself down before the house of God, a large crowd of Israelites, men, women and children, gathered around him. They too wept bitterly. Then Shecaniah son of Jehiel, one of the descendants of Elam, said to Ezra, ‘We have been unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women from the peoples around us. But in spite of this, there is still hope for Israel. Now let us make a covenant before our God to send away all these women and their children, in accordance with the counsel of my lord and of those who fear the commands of God. Let it be done according to the Law. Rise up; this matter is in your hands. We will support you, so take courage and do it.’” (Ezra 10:1-4 NIV) And with this began the spiritual revival that would reshape Judaism from that time forward.
And in Nehemiah, Chapter 8, we read of how Nehemiah assembled the people and caused the Law of Moses to be read and interpreted by Ezra with the Levites also explaining the meaning of what was being read. “So on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand. He read it aloud from daybreak till noon…. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law. Ezra the scribe stood on a high wooden platform built for the occasion” (Nehemiah 8:1-4a). “Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them…’Do not mourn or weep’ for all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law. Nehemiah said… ‘Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.’” (Nehemiah 8:9-10a).
This may well have been the first time that many of the people had heard the Law of Moses and had it explained to them. Upon hearing God’s Word and the history of their people, they were filled with remorse on account of now knowing and being convinced of their own sin and the sin of their ancestors. When they became convinced of their sin, they grieved. The more they heard the more they realized just how far their ancestors had strayed from God’s covenant, and how little they themselves had known about the Law of Moses and their God. Their failure became evident to them. Their guilt was obvious, and they felt it deeply. They wept in sorrow and repented of their sins.
But in addition to remorse, the people also experienced great joy on account of hearing and recognizing the truth of the Law of Moses, and on account of the restoration of their covenant faith. Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people then dismissed the people saying to them, “Go your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine… and do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10) so that the burden of remembrance of their sins would be lifted and give way to a lasting joy that would both heal the sorrow caused by knowledge of their sin, and, strengthen them for spiritual challenges yet to be faced.
In our spiritual lives today, conviction of sin can be a wonderful thing. Convincing knowledge of our sins can lead us to seek the forgiveness of God. This, in turn, can lead us to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. And this, in turn can lead us to sheer joy, which becomes for us as Christians the basis of an unshakable strength. When the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, our first reaction is guilt and shame. This, and awareness of our “fallen nature”, is the first step toward reconciliation with God. “For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted” (2 Corinthians 7:10a). When we realize convincingly how we have fallen short of the righteousness and holiness of God, how we have offended Him, how we have spurned His will and rebelled against Him, this conviction will generate great remorse and sorrow within our hearts. Such remorse is beneficial when it causes us to humble ourselves, confess our sins, seek the forgiveness of God, and introduces us to the saving grace of our loving Creator God.
Excessive, debilitating sorrow, however, is not the will of God. There is a sorrow that can be counter-productive. “The sorrow of the world produces death” (2 Corinthians 7:10b). This is excessive sorrow or despair, the favorite weapon of Satan according to the excellent commentary by Martin Luther on Galatians. Such was the overwhelming sorrow that the people of Israel felt upon first hearing the reading of the Law of Moses, until they were instructed by Nehemiah, Ezra and the Levites urged the people to not be overcome with sorrow for the joy of the Lord would mend and strengthen their broken hearts (see Nehemiah 8:9-10).
Sorrow can become destructive when we continue to feel debilitating grief and sorrow long after we have become aware of our sin, long after we have confessed our sin, and long after we have turned to our Heavenly Father seeking His forgiveness. After confession and forgiveness, God wants to replace the grief and sorrow with confidence born of holy gladness and joy. (Again, I would refer the reader to Martin Luther’s Commentary on Galatians which is an excellent exposition on this subject.)
Elsewhere in the Old Testament, the prophet Isaiah foresaw the ministry of redemption. That ministry was foretold in Isaiah 61:1-3, "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to …proclaim the favorable year of the Lord, to comfort all who mourn… giving them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting."
Restoring joy to those who are sorrowful and penitent because of their sins is at the heart of God’s healing reconciliation. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus proclaimed, "Blessed are those who mourn, they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:4)."
Satan relishes and encourages our excessive despair over sin because this provides a means of driving a wedge between us and our redeemer. If we believe in our own despair more than in the forgiveness and reconciliation that the Lord offers, we in effect discount God’s forgiveness and our relationship with God is weakened, perhaps even destroyed, because of it. Remember the words of Nehemiah, “the joy of the Lord is your strength.” A despairing Christian is no threat to Satan.
In 2 Corinthians 2:7, 11, Paul instructs the congregation to accept back into fellowship a repentant man and comfort him before his sorrow becomes destructive. Paul writes, “forgive and comfort him, lest somehow such a one be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.... in order that no advantage be taken of us by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his schemes."
Satan uses accusation to make us doubt that God loves us, and doubt our salvation. Satan strives to snatch the fruit of the Spirit from our souls. He works hard to discourage us by whispering lies into our spiritual ears. Perhaps, you have heard him whisper to your soul, saying:
- You’re no good.
- God’s not pleased with you and He never will be.
- You are a spiritual failure.
- You have so many faults. You’ll never be able to please the Lord.
- You have messed-up so many times. God is not going to forgive you.
- You might as well give-up because you’ll never make it.
Discouragement is one of the chief goals of Satan because it is an effective tool for destroying the joy of the Lord, and when that joy is destroyed our faith is weakened. The joy of the Lord is your strength.
If you are wrestling with these feelings today, know that the Deceiver, Satan, is playing mind-games with you. The mind is the primary battleground where Satan attacks us. If Satan can get you to think how he wants you to think, and if he can get you to believe what he wants you to believe, your mind becomes his fortress under his control.
Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10:4-5, "the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty through God for the pulling down of strongholds. Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”
When the Deceiver, Satan, begins his demoralizing attack, we need to fight back with the teachings and the promises of Jesus Christ and His apostles. We need to bring our thought processes into submission to Holy Spirit. If we find that we ourselves are experiencing this kind of attack from Satan, remember the words of the Apostle Paul: "If God be for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies…. In all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him Who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:31b-33, 37-39)
Remember also Philippians 1:6, "(For I am) confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”
Remember also 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Elsewhere we read: “If anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins."
Remember also 2 John 4:4b, "…greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world."
And remember Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." Surely that includes resisting the lies of Satan who tries very hard to make us believe that God does not love us enough to forgive our sins.
When Satan tries to get you down, when you are feeling that your life is of no account, remember that your life is precious to the Lord. Remember God’s love for you (see John 3:16). Remember the Bible verses that are capable of restoring confidence. And if you don’t know it, learn the old hymn and sing it over and over, “The joy of the Lord is my strength”. And be thankful for your salvation. A thankful heart is a joyful heart.
The Psalmist writes in Psalm 51:12, "Restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me by your generous Spirit.” The Psalmist writes in Psalm 16:11 “You will show me the path of life; in your presence is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Proverbs 17:22 teaches, “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”
Joy can be found in the Word of the Lord, in the worship of the Lord, and in the saving knowledge of the Lord! Come to the sources that can produce joy in your soul so that too might finish well, able to say with the Apostle Paul, “I have fought a good fight. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me on that day” (2 Timothy 4:7-8a).
(If you have found this sermon helpful, please visit us at www.HeritageRestorationProject.org)
