MUCH
RUBBISH
Pastor
David M. Green
05.04.2008
But
it came to pass, that when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall,
he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews. And
he spake before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, What
do these feeble Jews? will they fortify themselves? will they
sacrifice? will they make an end in a day? will they revive the
stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned? Now Tobiah
the Ammonite was
by him, and he said, Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he
shall even break down their stone wall. Hear, O our God; for we are
despised: and turn their reproach upon their own head, and give them
for a prey in the land of captivity: And cover not their iniquity,
and let not their sin be blotted out from before thee: for they have
provoked thee
to anger before the builders. So built we the wall; and all the
wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the people had a
mind to work. But it came to pass, that
when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and
the Ashdodites, heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up, and
that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth,
And conspired all of them together to come and
to fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it. Nevertheless we made
our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night,
because of them. And Judah said, The strength of the bearers of
burdens is decayed, and there
is
much rubbish; so that we are not able to build the wall. And our
adversaries said, They shall not know, neither see, till we come in
the midst among them, and slay them, and cause the work to cease.
(Nehemiah
4:1-11)
Here
we find a passage of scripture telling of a time when God's people
had a mind to work, but there was much rubbish. (Rubbish
waste, garbage...not useful at all. Something that needs to be
thrown away.) Is it not the same today? Everytime that God's
servants have a mind to work, Satan throws the
rubbish in our way! Let us notice some of the rubbish we have to
deal with today.
THE
WORLD'S RUBBISH
Do
thy diligence to come shortly unto me: For
Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is
departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto
Dalmatia. (II
Timothy 4:9-10)
Demas
was a man who could have been a great help to Paul the Apostle. Yet,
he enjoyed the world's rubbish too much. Does not this hinder the
Lord's work today? Far too much of the world's rubbish has entered
into the Lord's churches and it gets in the way of those who have a
mind to work!
Be
ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship
hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath
light with darkness?
And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that
believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of
God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath
said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them;
and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come
out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch
not the unclean thing;
and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall
be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
(I
Corinthians 6:14-18)
The
Bible teaches a life of separation for the child of God. I know, we
are in the world. Thats a fact, but we are not of the world!
Unfortunately, we live in a day and age when people will come to
church and sing Just As I Am only to go to live just as
they were! What
agreement do we have with the world? What fellowship can we enjoy?
On what grounds? We're as different as night and day!
I
beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye
present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God,
which
is
your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be
ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what
is
that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
(Romans
12:1-2)
We
are warned not to be conformed to the image of this world. To
conform to something means we are like them. When we learn to live
by these verses, the rubbish of the world will be greatly reduced and
we can concentrate on the Lord's work so much better!
INTERNAL
RUBBISH
And
the sons of Eliab; Nemuel, and Dathan, and Abiram. This is
that
Dathan and Abiram, which
were
famous in the congregation, who strove against Moses and against
Aaron in the company of Korah, when they strove against the LORD:
And
the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up together with
Korah, when that company died, what time the fire devoured two
hundred and fifty men: and they became a sign.
(Numbers
26:9-10)
Dathan
and Abiram were troublemakers against Moses and Aaron. They caused
much rubbish to come in. Yet, in this text it says when the
strove against the Lord. When you rise up against someone who
has a mind to work for the Lord, you had better be careful. You do
something against one of God's servants it is the same as if you are
doing it against the Lord!
I
wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the
preeminence among them, receiveth us not.
(III John 9)
Diotrophes
loved to have the preeminence. He was the type of man who wasn't the
pastor, but loved to make people think he was in charge. He
obviously did his best to undermine the church and the church's
stand. This is pure rubbish!
From
that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he
must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and
chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the
third day.
Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from
thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. But he turned, and said
unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me:
for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be
of men.
(Matthew
16:21-23)
Notice
the rubbish the Lord had to deal with here, coming from Peter. Satan
can so influence people that a servant of God can be, at least for a
time, the servant of the Devil. He still does this today. Oh, the
times when a church has been split because of internal rubbish! When
a member of the Lord's churches is influenced by Satan, very bad
things will happen and there is much rubbish!
Jesus
answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a
devil?
He spake of Judas Iscariot the
son
of Simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the
twelve.
(John
6:70-71)
Sometimes
a lost man will get into the church and even become a member.
Nothing good comes of that, and much rubbish can come as a result.
PERSONAL
RUBBISH
For
we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.
For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not;
but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I
consent unto the law that it
is
good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in
me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good
thing: for to will is present with me; but how
to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would
I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do
that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth
in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is
present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward
man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law
of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is
in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from
the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the
flesh the law of sin.
(Romans
7:14-25)
The
biggest pile of rubbish that Satan uses in our lives is right between
our two ears, for this is where he can hit us the hardest! In every
child of God there is a battle of two natures. Temptations and
memories from your old nature will come at those times you have a
desire to work for the Lord. Your mind is like a video camera
always recording and it will often bring up images from your past
that will cause harm to your work for God. We need to watch out for
this rubbish!
CONCLUSION
So
the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day
of the
month
Elul, in fifty and two days.
(Nehemiah6:15)
In
spite of all the rubbish we have to deal with, the Lord's work should
still be done! The work of God must continue!