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This is the audio from the May 5, 2024 sermon, “Building For Revival: Watch OUT!”, shared by Tom Lemler at the Deer Run Church of Christ.

Text: Nehemiah 4

This morning’s message continued a series from the book of Nehemiah about Building For Revival.  As with any construction project, building for revival takes a lot of work.  As God began to prepare His people for revival, a man named Nehemiah sat with God for the purpose of knowing, and getting on board with, God’s plan.  So much work, in fact, that we can’t do it alone so Nehemiah first asked for help from God and then from the King before making it clear that there was a task for everyone.  As we build for revival, the enemy will do everything he can to stir up opposition, unrest, and trouble.  The good news is that the One who is for us is greater than the one who is against us and He combats the enemy with opportunity, understanding, and trust.  When we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, we are able to God at work as we watch . . .

• Opposition versus Opportunity: — Nehemiah 4:1-3 & 4-6

  • Experiencing revival in our personal life, the life of a church congregation, and within a nation will always face opposition from the one who seeks to “kill, steal, and destroy”.  It is important that we watch opposition in order to be aware and not caught off guard.  Knowing how the enemy attacks us personally can help us be prepared for his deception.  Rather than focusing solely on the opposition, it is also important that we watch for opportunity.  The greater the darkness, the more brightly even the smallest amount of light will shine.  We live as those building for revival when we watch our opposition and find the opportunity to make Jesus known.

• Unrest versus Understanding: — Nehemiah 4:7-12 & 13-15

  • When blatant opposition fails to derail the work of revival God is doing, the enemy will often engage in creating unrest.  Unrest has the ability to creep in and destroy relationships and spiritual growth as it plants the seeds of doubt everywhere it goes.  Excitement and dissatisfaction are both contagious and whichever one you choose to feed will soon choke out the other.  The Spirit combats unrest in our life by helping our understanding of God and of one another to grow.  When we learn to listen to others, we often discover that the barriers which were constructed between us soon give way through genuine understanding.  We live as those building for revival when we keep watch on the source of unrest so that we would pursue a heart of understanding.

• Trouble versus Trust: — Nehemiah 4:16-19 & 20-23

  • Sometimes it’s difficult to identify any specific opposition or unrest, yet we find ourselves face to face with trouble.  While this has a tendency to catch us off guard, Jesus made it clear that we should expect trouble in this world because it is certain to come our way.  Trouble can show when we least expect it and will often tempt us to give up.  It can be difficult to identify a solution because we’re not really sure what the problem is, we just know there is trouble.  It is in these times that watching trouble ought to lead us to a greater trust as we experience a God who calls us to a faithfulness through the midst of the trouble.  When we lift our eyes from the troubles of this world and fix them firmly on Jesus, we find the One we can trust regardless of the nature of our current difficulty.  We live as those building for revival when we watch the trouble of this world and learn to trust God in greater ways..

Today, how will you watch OUT in ways that help you overcome?