Skip to content Built to Last: Internal Conflict Apr 21 · 50 min ...more
Built to Last: Internal Conflict
April 21, 2024 · 50 min
The sermon highlighted Jesus as the ultimate example of living out God's truth, love, and service to others. It emphasized the importance of reflecting on Jesus' teachings to resolve conflicts within ourselves. Believers were encouraged to be champions of God's word, contagious in their witness, and conscientious in their work. The sermon guided listeners to seek reconciliation through the sacrificial love of Jesus and to actively involve God in resolving conflicts in their lives. Speaker: Jeff Schwarzentraub
Series BRAVE Church April 21, 2024 · 50 min · BRAVE Church
The sermon highlighted Jesus as the ultimate example of living out God's truth, love, and service to others. It emphasized the importance of reflecting on Jesus' teachings to resolve conflicts within ourselves. Believers were encouraged to be champions of God's word, contagious in their witness, and conscientious in their work. The sermon guided listeners to seek reconciliation through the sacrificial love of Jesus and to actively involve God in resolving conflicts in their lives. Speaker: Jeff Schwarzentraub ...more Show the full description Show less The sermon highlighted Jesus as the ultimate example of living out God's truth, love, and service to others. It emphasized the importance of reflecting on Jesus' teachings to resolve conflicts within ourselves. Believers were encouraged to be champions of God's word, contagious in their witness, and conscientious in their work. The sermon guided listeners to seek reconciliation through the sacrificial love of Jesus and to actively involve God in resolving conflicts in their lives. Speaker: Jeff Schwarzentraub
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Pastor Jeff Schwarzentraub serves as president of Pastor Jeff Ministries, a national and global ministry designed to equip believers and challenge them to take
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0:00 Our father in heaven, we give you praise and thanks for the gift of your son, Jesus Christ, and for your holy spirit who indwells all of us who believe. Father, we thank you today that we could gather before you and0:11 with you and praise you and your name because you and you alone are the God of the universe and you and you alone are worthy of all of our honor and praise. And Lord, as we get ready to proclaim your word and0:23 hear your word, we ask for your help because we as a people believe, Lord, that every time your word is faithfully and accurately proclaimed that you are speaking. So our prayer this morning is speak, Lord, for we are0:35 ready to hear what you have to say. And so now for all those who have gathered who desire to hear the Lord Jesus Christ speak directly to your heart, who will believe what he is saying, and who will by faith put into0:46 practice what he shows you, will you agree with me very loudly this morning by saying the word amen. Amen. As we've been in this series of Nehemiah, we're talking about building something that is0:58 lasting, we've taken a look at how God speaks to our heart and shows us the steps of faith that we need to take. We've talked about vision. We've talked about how if we follow in God's path, that God will give us the1:09 resources necessary to accomplish what we need to do. And as we left off this series last time, we said we're not surprised that there will be increased opposition to what God calls1:21 us to do. The Bible says that anyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. Now it can come as a surprise when it happens personally to us even though we believe1:33 God's word and say, yeah, I know that's true, that when we're walking in his ways, it can be shocking. But what I find is even more shocking to believers is not what happens from the outside, but it's when that
1:45 conflict is internal conflict. When you expect that I'm I'm walking with Jesus, yeah, nonbelievers are gonna give me a hard time, but I'm walking with Jesus, and it's believers that are giving me a hard time.
1:56 It's difficult when it comes from within. Just ask anybody that's dating and talk to them about what it's gonna be like when they get married, especially if they're engaged and they're really in love. Ask
2:08 them. Tell them there's gonna be some conflict someday and see what they say. Oh, I know. We've talked about all that. We we're perfect for each other. We come from similar backgrounds, similar families. We both love the
2:20 Lord. It's all great. We even know each other's personality. We appreciate all of our differences, and so we're ready. We're the 1 couple in history that won't have any conflict in our marriage. And that's how every
2:32 premarital person talks until the day they get married. Right? But we find it surprising when we're with people that love the Lord that those conflicts arise. We're surprised when they arise in the
2:43 church. We're surprised when they arise in our neighborhood. We're surprised when they arise in our workplace in our schools. We're surprised when we're around other Christians. Like, we're both Christians here. Why
2:53 can't we just get along? Why why is this so hard? We have to understand that God is sovereign and that when circumstances happen, including conflict, that God is the 1 authoring or
3:05 allowing those things to happen, that he's sovereign over everything. Listen to Psalm 1 0 3 verse 19. It says, the Lord has established his throne in the heavens. His sovereignty rules over all.
3:17 Friends, conflict, internal conflict is inevitable. The question is not, can I avoid it? The question is, how can I use it to my advantage? Because how you respond
3:29 to the conflict that happens will either build you or it will break you. Your response to conflict, whether you run away or whether you engage it and how you do
3:41 it, will determine how God uses that for your betterment or for challenge. I wanna tell you something. Some of you today are in the middle of a challenge, and you're surprised
3:53 that you're in it. Some of you just came out of 1, and some of you, whether you realize it or not, you're getting ready to enter 1 very soon. Because we live in a broken world, and so there's always gonna be conflict
4:04 until we meet Jesus. So when conflict arises, how do we best handle internal conflict? And if you're looking for an answer, I believe God has a word for you today. So I wanna encourage you to open up your Bibles to
4:15 Nehemiah chapter 5. Nehemiah chapter 5. And we're gonna be looking at this chapter today highlighting 4 truths as to how we can respond to internal conflict when it happens.
4:28 And we realize this book has been going great. This book has been so fun to read because God calls Nehemiah. Nehemiah is obedient to the call. God resources Nehemiah. Nehemiah comes and takes a look at the
4:40 landscape. Nehemiah then tells the leaders and the people, here's what God's called me to do. God's been working behind the scenes. Everybody comes together. They start building the wall. They start having great success.
4:52 Even when others are opposing the building of the wall, their success improves all the more. And so they're even more excited. And our text left off at the end of chapter 4 with the fact that
5:04 even though those on the outside are saying, I can't believe you're doing this. It's not gonna work. They continue to be ready for all the conflict. And we're thinking, this is great. This is exactly what I came to read
5:16 until we get to chapter 5. And that's where the challenges begin to pick up. Let me put the setting in place for us in the first few verses here. It says, now there was a great outcry of the people
5:28 and of their wives against their Jewish brothers for there were those who said, we, our sons and our daughters are many. Therefore, let us get grain that we may eat and live. There were others who said, we are mortgaging
5:40 our fields, our vineyards, and our houses that we might get grain because of the famine. Also, were those who said, we have borrowed money for the king's tax on our fields and our vineyards.
5:52 Now our flesh is like the flesh of our brothers, our children like their children, Yet behold, we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves and some of our daughters are
6:04 forced into bondage already. And we are helpless because of our fields and vineyards that belong to others. So here's what's going on. Chaos has ensued.
6:16 The wall's getting built. The mission is on point. Everybody's working hard. They're defending the wall. They're protecting the wall. They're building the wall. They're being obedient to God, and yet internally,
6:28 there's crisis. Internally, there's chaos. Let me just highlight, like, what the chaos is. First is the people building the wall are busy. They're busy. They say our works
6:40 kept us from maintaining our crops so we have no food. We've been doing the work of the Lord, but we can't eat. We're so busy doing God's work, we don't even have enough
6:51 time to tend to our fields to get the food we need to feed our families. So, yeah, it's good that we're doing God's mission, but my family's suffering. And notice that first verse of chapter 5. I love this.
7:03 It says, there was an outcry of the people and their wives. Isn't it interesting when the families get involved? You know, the husband's like, we're doing this. We're going like, our family's getting killed
7:15 here. Do something about it. Everybody's crying out. And the reason is we can't eat. Glad you're doing God's work. We can't even eat. So you're too busy. And then they were too burdened.
7:27 Notice some were saying, we eat, but in order to eat, we have to mortgage our fields. So we're being burdened because we have to sell our land in order to get the food that we need in order to feed our families.
7:39 Then there were some that were saying, we are borrowing money at a high interest rate so we can pay taxes. So, you know, it's not just that we're busy and burdened, we're broke. We have we have no money. And then the
7:51 final group was saying this, Well, to repay our creditors, we have to sell our children into slavery, and we have nothing to buy them back with. So we're in bondage. So, yeah, on the outside, it's looking good. Walls
8:02 being built. God's being honored. He's fending off the attack. They're protecting. They're doing all this stuff. But people on the inside, they're overworked. They're busy. They're burdened. They're broken. They're in
8:14 bondage. And that's the community that Nehemiah went back to build. So notice how he feels in verse 6. Then I was very angry when I heard their
8:25 outcry in these words. He was very what? He was very what? Angry. Was very what? Angry. Say it like you mean it. He was very what? Angry. Is it okay to be
8:37 angry? The bible says in Ephesians 4 26, be angry and do not sin. Anger is okay. It's what are you gonna do with your anger? Like, do you do when you see a situation
8:49 and everything coming out of you is anger? What do you do when you see a situation? Everything coming out of you is sadness or it's frustration or it's hurt or it's bitterness. You see something and you know in your gut
9:00 fundamentally is wrong. Like, I'm mad. I'm angry. This is what we wanna talk about today because here's what the bible teaches. The anger of man does not bring about
9:12 the righteousness of God. If you act in your anger, it will not produce what you want. By show of hands, anybody here ever acted in anger before and wish they had it
9:23 back? Everybody. Right? I mean, this is why we need to hear this. Because from our lens, when we're angry, everything is so clear, but we may not be seeing everything that
9:35 God wants us to see. So when we're angry, what do we do? It's okay to be angry. Bible says, okay to be angry. That's a genuine emotion. Admit it. You don't have to suppress it. You don't have to grit your teeth. You
9:46 don't have to say, I'm not angry. I promise you, I'm not angry. You can be angry. Just don't sin. So what do you do when you see injustice? What do you do when you see something's wrong internally?
9:58 What do you do when you're angry and you're in your marriage or with your child or with your mom and dad or with your teacher or with your coach or with your boss or with your employee? What do you do? 4 truths we wanna
10:10 talk about today that you can do and it 4 4 truths that internal commit internal conflict demands. And the first is this, internal conflict demands you become
10:21 champions of the word. Internal conflict demands that you become champions of the word. You see the situation. You hear the outcry. Nehemiah's furious. And notice verse
10:33 7. I consulted with myself. You know what that means? He took a time out. Stop. Pause.
10:45 Catch your breath. Let me say it another way. Avoid carnality at every cost. When you are angry and you act in anger,
10:57 your flesh will rise. Your spirit will be depleted. You won't handle it God's way. It's okay to be angry. Just don't act on your anger. Pause. Take your time out. How long do I have to
11:08 pause until you're not asking the question? Sometimes it's 10 minutes. Sometimes it's an hour. Sometimes it's a day. Sometimes it's a week. Sometimes it's a couple of weeks. Sometimes it's a month. You
11:20 pause and you reflect and you take a time out and you relax and you take a deep breath and you let that come out while you're doing what? While you're seeing the word, While you're engaging in
11:32 the word. While you're consulting it with the word. Because notice, he says he consulted with himself first. Stop with you first. And then he contended with nobles and the rulers and said to them, here's what he's
11:44 gonna say, you were exacting usury each from his brother. Therefore, I held a great assembly against them. I said to them, we, according to our ability, have redeemed our
11:56 Jewish brothers who were sold to the nations. Now would you even sell your brothers that they may be sold to us? Then they were silent and could not find a word to say. Now why does Nehemiah call this
12:07 assembly? Why why don't we why does he get everybody together? Because he's taken time out till his anger's gone and he's consulted the word. How do you know? Because that's what he's gonna speak about when he gets
12:17 together. Now notice this. I won't exhaust the list, but I'll read you 3 scriptures that I'm sure Nehemiah saw with his own eyes before he held this assembly. The first is in exodus 22
12:29 verse 25. It says, if you lend money to my people, to the poor among you, you are not to act as a creditor to him. You shall not charge him interest. So what does God's word
12:41 say? If you're lending money, lend it, but don't charge any interest on it. Pretty clear. Right? How about Leviticus chapter 25 and verse 36? Do not take usurious interest
12:53 from him, but revere your God that your countrymen may live with you. Don't charge interest to the money that you lend to your own brother. To make it even clearer, Deuteronomy
13:05 chapter 23 verses 19 and 20 says, you shall not charge interest to your countrymen, interest on money, food, or anything that may be loaned at
13:17 interest. You may charge interest to a foreigner, but to your countrymen, you shall not charge interest so that the Lord your God may bless you and all that you undertake in the land
13:29 which you are about to enter to possess. So what does he do? He goes to the word. He makes sure that what he sees is not like a a proof text.
13:41 He sees it all over. Those are just 3 verses. Can God be any more clear to the Jewish nation? From what 3 verses you just heard did God want them charging interest to
13:52 their brothers or sisters? No. For what? For anything. Lend money, help them, but don't profit off of them. It couldn't be more clear. And here's what I wanna
14:04 tell you. When you're in a conflict, and I don't care where it comes from because you're gonna be in them in a variety and myriad of ways. It can come in your marriage. It can come in a dating relationship. It can come
14:15 with your employer, your employee. It can come in the church. It can come in your neighborhood. It can come anywhere. And when you do and you're taking your time to stop, pause, and catch your breath, number 1 is this,
14:27 reflect on the word. Like, read the word. Meditate on the word. Like, know the word. Why? Isaiah 40 verse 8 says, the grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our lord stands forever.
14:39 Second Timothy chapter 3 in verse 16 says that all scripture is God breathed and used for teaching, rebuking, and training in righteousness so that the man of
14:51 God may be thoroughly equipped, adequate for every good work. You wanna know what God says? Read the word. Study the word. Meditate on the word. Yeah. But that's just a bunch of men that wrote the book. No. Here's what
15:00 the bible says in second Peter 1 20 and 21. But know this, first of all, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation. For no prophecy would was ever made by an act of human will,
15:12 but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. This is God's word. It will be with us forever. It's really not even an it, it's a he. The scripture
15:24 represents the eternal son of God in all of his glory and who he is. So when you take time to pause, don't just pause to get more mad. Don't pause to get more ammo for your argument. Pause to
15:36 get in the word and say, God, what do you think about this situation? And then when you're doing that, let me give you a secondary clue what you can do. Let the word of God read you. Let
15:48 the word of God read you. Sometimes when we read this, we open it up. I'm gonna argue. I'm gonna I'm gonna right now, you you're just submit to me as to Christ. You're to love me like Christ loved the church. Don't do
15:59 that. Let the word read you first. Let the word of Christ dwell richly in you. Colossians 3 16 says. Psalm 1 39 23 and 24 says, search me and try me, oh lord. See if there's
16:11 any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting. Jesus, the greatest communicator of all time and the greatest sermon of all time, the sermon on the mount said it this way, and
16:23 you'll be familiar with it. In Matthew chapter 7 verses 3, 4, and 5, here's what he said. Why do you look at the speck that's in your brother's eye but do not notice the log that is in your own?
16:35 Or how can you say to your brother, let me take the speck out of your eye and behold, the log is in your own eye, you hypocrite? First, take the log out of your own eye, then you will see clearly to take the speck out of
16:45 your brother's. What does he say? He says this, when you're in a conflict and you see the other person's stuff and it's huge and it's big, what you're neglecting to see is what's in you. What you've neglected to
16:57 see is what God wants to show you. He said take the log or the beam out of your own eyes like this. Here's what Jesus is saying. When you're really mad at someone else, here's what you look like. And you're
17:09 walking around like this saying you got a particle of dust in your eye, and I hate it, and it's hurting me. And I'm really, really mad at you because of that speck. And you don't even see it, and boy,
17:21 are you a moron. I mean, that's what we look like to the Lord. So he's not saying the speck's not there. He's not saying that what you see is wrong. He's saying first, get before the Lord and let him talk to
17:33 you about you. I mean, think about this. It doesn't matter whether we're talking about your marriage relationship or a parenting relationship or a coach relationship or a church relationship. I mean, think about the
17:44 things that go off in your heart sometimes where you would say something like this. I don't feel like I'm getting the respect I deserve around here. Maybe that's true. But by the way, take the beam out of your eye and
17:56 and ask this question. Lord, has there ever been a time you feel I have not given you the respect that you deserve? Then have your journal out with a pen and get ready to write. I've heard people
18:07 in marriage counseling say, you're just not spending enough time with me. That may be true. But how about this? Lord, has there ever been a time where you feel I have not spent enough time with you? Hey, you're just
18:19 being careless. You're being totally careless with what you're doing. How about this? Lord, has there ever been a time where you feel that I've been careless with the things that you've entrusted to me? You made the
18:30 wrong decision. That was a horrible decision, stupid decision, hurt a lot of people. Hey, Lord. Has there ever been a time where I've made a wrong decision, where I haven't acted according to you that I've hurt some
18:40 people? You sinned against me. Lord, is there a time in my life that I'm unaware of that I've sinned against you? Hey, I I don't I don't feel appreciated. Lord, has there ever been
18:52 a time I have really forgotten to appreciate you? Do you do you see what happens here when you let the word of God read you? All of a sudden, this big beam in your eye becomes softer to a point that if God's doing all
19:02 this work on your beam, you really can neglect having to go take the speck out. And if you have to, do you know how you're gonna take it out? You're gonna take it out as a careful ophthalmologist that's coming in and
19:12 saying, I wanna help you, versus coming in with a beam saying, I'm coming to get you. See the difference? Sometimes we as Christians fail because we let anger win the day, we let frustration
19:24 win the day, we let fear win the day, we let sadness win the day, we let our emotions win the day, we let our flesh win the day. And instead of pausing and taking the time out and a deep breath and a good night's sleep
19:35 and a good meal and just pausing and like, okay. The emotion's out. And I've read the word and I see what God says, and now I'm letting the word read me. God, what am I missing in this situation? What am I not seeing
19:45 about me? Show me about me. I wanna hear what you have to say. And then we get ready to go, then we can do what Nehemiah did. Because you know what Nehemiah was doing when he called an assembly? He wasn't calling an
19:54 assembly to say, hey. Let's bring everybody together that's really mad and talk about it. He said, here's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna call you together. I'm gonna share with you what God said that we should do because I
20:05 know the word and here's what the word says. And that's why when he calls them together, the first words out of his mouth says, you are exacting usury. It means you're charging interest each from his brother. You are
20:15 doing the exact opposite of what God would have us do. You are acting in a way that God is not pleased with. And he's basically telling them, hey. You were bought out of slavery. You were bought
20:27 out of bondage, and now you're putting your own brothers in bondage. Like, what in the world is going on here? See, once you're measured, once you know, once you've been in the presence of
20:39 the Lord, once you're confessing your own sins, once you are letting God build you, then you can speak clearly to others about what God is actually saying. Notice
20:51 how you respond privately first before going public. I won't even ask because this is a rhetorical question. You don't have to show hands, but how many wish they would have known
21:02 this truth this week just a little couple days ago? Right? I mean, sometimes when things come up, we act. We know. We've been here before. I've done I know. No. No. When these happen, I'm I'm
21:14 pausing to get with myself, and I'm pausing to get with God, and I'm pausing to see what God says. And then as I'm doing that, I'm letting his word read me. And then I'm making sure that God and I are good, and that he's
21:24 sawing that beam down, and he's removing that from my own eye. So then I can see clearly, oh, that's the speck. And, oh, by the way, I love them. And, oh, by the way, how can I help pull that out? And, oh, by the way,
21:33 how can we restore that? And it's a whole different animal than when you just wanna be right. And by the way, can I just tell you this? Both inside the church and outside the church, our culture absolutely stinks at
21:44 this. We're horrible at this. Our culture teaches us when you don't get your way, just get louder and just get more boisterous and just get more argumentative and just have more points. And it doesn't
21:56 help. It doesn't build what God is trying to build. It doesn't do what God is trying to do. It doesn't accomplish what God is trying to accomplish. If you go to a marriage counselor or therapist and you both come
22:07 in guns a blazing with all of your points, it doesn't help. It's not solving because what both of you are saying is, I don't want God to speak to me, and I don't wanna change, and I don't wanna do this, but I'm
22:19 uncomfortable with how they were, so change them for me. And it just doesn't work that way. I can tell you from my own experience how God continues to use this in my life. I remember when Kim and I got married. I mean,
22:31 I'm telling you, there is no couple that ever had it all together like us. We both came from good families. We both love the Lord. Even as singles, we both counseled married couples. We knew
22:42 everything. When we were in premarital counseling and our person was telling us biblical truths, we were helping them. 6 weeks after we got married, we sat in the exact same chair just exhausted with each
22:54 other. And he opened up his bible to Matthew chapter 7 verses 2, 3, and 4, 3, 4, and 5, and showed us about the planki and said, quit blaming each other. Start working on yourself. And by God's grace, we
23:06 did. I stopped trying to coach her, and she stopped trying to correct me. And I just was like, Lord, I gotta I gotta change because I'm screwing this whole thing up. And simultaneously, she was doing the same. And she'll
23:15 tell you stories sometimes about how she had gotten a book called The The Power of a Praying Wife that she was reading. And she said there were several times when she was so mad at me and wanted to throw the book across
23:25 the room that she had to write a love letter of all the reasons she loved me. I love that book, by the way. And you know what I'm saying? But then things begin to cement and come together, and a lot of married
23:37 couples, they don't work on their stuff. They think there's something wrong that they're fighting together. But if you can use conflict to let God change you, you can cement and bond. If you use conflict in the church to
23:46 let God change you, we can cement and bond. If you use conflict to let God change you in your workplace, you can cement and bond all good teams, all good organizations, every there's conflict is inevitable. It's how do
23:56 you deal with it? And this is what Nehemiah was doing. Nehemiah was getting before the Lord. He was understanding the word. He was letting the word read him so that when he got people together, he's like, is what God is
24:05 saying. And everybody knew it. Everybody knew it. So be champions of the word. Don't just be hearers, be doers. Let the word of God richly dwell in your heart. Number
24:17 2 is this, internal conflict demands you become contagious in your witness. Contagious in your witness. Notice this in verse 9. Again, I said, the thing which you are doing is
24:29 not good. By the way, when you once you've spent the time with the Lord and once you've let the Lord speak to your heart, if you are gonna confront somebody, it's okay to tell the truth. It's okay to tell the truth. Hey.
24:40 What you're doing, it's not good. What what you're doing goes against God's word. I'm telling you but I'm telling you from a place not of anger. I'm telling you because I I love you. What you're doing is not good. Should
24:49 you not walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the nations, our enemies? Here's what he's saying. Everybody's watching how you're dealing with this conflict. They've seen our God bring us
25:01 back in. They've seen our God build this wall. Now they're watching us to see how are we gonna relate to each other. Some of the reasons why your friends are not in church today is because of the way that they've seen
25:12 Christians relate to each other, and they say, I don't wanna be any part of that. Christians are mean. Christians are hateful. I've heard you gossip about all your Christian friends at church. I've heard you say terrible
25:22 things about your pastor. I've heard you say bad things about this. I just don't wanna be around people like that, and we're not contagious in our witness. See, it's not just that you do the right thing. It's how you do
25:31 the right thing. It's not just navigating your marriage. It's how your kids see you navigate your marriage. It's how they see you say you're sorry to 1 another. It's how they see you then preference 1 another. It's how
25:42 they see you change over time. It's not just why I do the right thing. It's no. Here's what we're doing for the sake of our marriage. Here's what we're doing for the sake of the church. Here's what we're doing for the
25:53 sake of our organization. We have to lay down our lives so that we can work together. Your witness is important because the world's watching. People inside the church and outside the church, they're watching. Like, how
26:04 you dealing with conflict? Are you dealing with it in a way that honors the Lord? Are you doing it in a way that God would say, I am so pleased with the way they're talking to 1 another. I am so pleased with the way
26:15 they're praying for 1 another. I'm so pleased with the way that they are encouraging 1 another and building 1 another up. And I, God, look down at this conflict. I'm so thrilled with what's being built here. When I look
26:27 at this marriage, I'm so thrilled with how they're dealing with the conflict. When I look at how these parents are dealing with their children, I'm so thrilled with how they're dealing with this conflict. When I look at
26:34 how this employee isn't dealing with their employer or this employer is dealing with their I'm so thrilled with how it's being done and what it looks like to the to the world. Notice verse 10. He says, and
26:46 likewise, I, my brothers and my servants, are lending them money and grain. Please leave us off this usury. In other words, Nehemiah is saying, I'm leading by example. I'm lending grain. I'm I'm lending
26:58 money. I'm I'm doing this, but I'm not charging interest. Do what do what I'm doing, he says. And then he says, please give back to them when? This very day, what? Their
27:10 fields, their vineyards, their olive groves, their houses, also the hundredth part of the money, which was really 1 percent a month, like 12 percent a year, in the grain, in the new wine, and the oil that you were
27:21 extracting from them. Okay. So they've been doing all this stuff for a while. The people are suffering. They're busy. They're burdened. They're in bondage. All these things are going on. They're completely broke. And
27:32 Nehemiah brings them the word and they realize, yeah, we're wrong and you've been doing it right and this is what God wants us to do. So Nehemiah says, so get it right when? This very day.
27:43 Anyone who knows the good he ought to do and does not do it sins. Well, I'll I'll get it right. As soon as my spouse comes and says they were wrong, we'll have a really good conversation.
27:55 No. No. No. No. Soon as you know what you need to do, soon as your anger levels tap down, as soon as you know how to make it right, go make it right. Soon as you know how to hand go do it right
28:07 now. But when? Right now. That's why the bible says if you're offering your gift at the altar and realize your brother has something against you, first go be reconciled to your brother, then come give the gift.
28:16 Worshiping God's great, but unity in the body is just as great. So when you're aware and sometimes it takes you a while to become aware, but when you're aware, go act on it. If you're always the person sitting
28:28 around, well, soon as they see the air other way, they can come to me. No. That that's arrogance. That's of the enemy. Sometimes people get comfort in lashing out, and sometimes people get comfort in withdrawal.
28:40 Usually, when the spirit of God is at work in that personality, it's usually the opposite. If you naturally in your flesh are the lash out kind of person, you probably need to pause a little bit longer. If you're
28:50 naturally the withdraw person, you probably need to engage just a little bit faster because it's gonna take the Holy Spirit's power in your life to do that. You see, your trust in the word and obedience to the word
29:02 are everything. Trust and obey, there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey. In the context of conflict, when conflict's going on and you realize, okay, I know the word, and I know what the Lord's
29:13 speaking to me, and I know how I can make this better, I know what I can do, then you're ready to act. Now in the context of conflict, if the other person's not ready, then you may need to give them some more time too.
29:23 Totally get that. But Nehemiah acted, and when they understood what it was, he said, this very day, do it. Notice how they respond in verse 12. They said, we will give it back and will require nothing from them. We will
29:34 do exactly as you say. So what does he do? He doesn't just make them say, okay, I'll do it. He calls the priests and they took an oath or a vow from them that they would do according to the promise. And then he says
29:46 this, I also shook out the front of my garment and said, thus may God shake out every man from his house and from his possession who does not fulfill this promise, even thus may he
29:58 be shaken out and emptied. And all the assembly said, amen. Yes. Let it be that way. And what do they do? They praise the Lord. They praise the Lord. Then they did everything they got a promise. Who's praising
30:10 the Lord? The whole nation. The people that were charging interest, praising the Lord, were giving it back. The people that were being extorted, what are they doing? They're praising the Lord. Why? Because when you do it
30:20 God's way, it results in praise because you know there's no way this could have ever been worked out if it weren't for our God. There's no way God could have ever worked this out in our marriage if it weren't for God.
30:31 There's no way God could have ever worked this out in our church if it wasn't for our God. There's no way God could have ever worked this out in the workplace if it wasn't for our God. And when you get to the place where
30:39 now you're praising God together, there's a unity and a bond that's forged that's even stronger. I've been married to my wife almost 20 years, and, you know, we were talking just the other day. We've we've had several
30:51 conflicts. They continue to come, and we navigate them. And we're way better at them now than we were at first, but I never wanna start over. We've been through too much. We've forged a bond that's too strong.
31:03 I wouldn't wanna start over with anybody else. We have something that's deeper and special than even the day we got married where God declared us 1. Because why? Because we've been through the fires together, and we'll
31:14 be through more. Because I'm mature enough to know they never stop. So don't reject conflict. Lean into it, but do it God's way. Be be champions of the word.
31:26 Be contagious in your witness. Why? Because other people are watching. It's foundational to God when you realize that other people are watching. That's why Jesus said in Matthew 5 19, let your light so shine before
31:38 men that they may see your good works and give praise to your father who's in heaven. Like, when you're a Christian and you go through something, you're gonna handle it different. You're gonna handle it different.
31:50 I remember when I played football at the University of Illinois, I was gonna quit, and God spoke to my heart. He's like, no. I'm not asking you to quit. I'm just asking you be my servant on the team. And I remember
31:57 saying, fifth year, I'll be a senior. I'll be on scout team. It'll be so embarrassing. I'll be humiliated. And the Lord was like, yeah. I know exactly how that feels to be humiliated and embarrassed. I'm just wondering
32:06 if you'd be my servant and do that. So I went back to the team, and I don't know how many people came up to me that year. I'm like, if I were you, I woulda quit. If I were you, I'd give them the finger. If I were you,
32:14 I'd be out of here. I'm like, why are you still here? And I would say, because I listened to Jesus and he's my God and he told me to stay. And I wanna be a witness for him. I led more people to the Lord that fall than I
32:24 had led in all my other years in college combined because they saw how I dealt with conflict. Conflict can be used for the glory of the Lord when we see that it's coming and you're mature enough. And
32:36 sometimes when we see conflict and they're like, oh, that person's a burden. That person's a pain. How come they're in my life? Because you need it. And God's the 1 that authored it or allowed it, and he's doing it for
32:47 you. And if in the moment you can be like, thank you, Jesus, for giving me this because I would've never wanted it. What are you doing? How am I growing? How do you wanna change me? And you'll lean into it. God will
32:59 continue to sanctify you and grow you in holiness and grace and joy like you didn't even know was possible. That's why second Corinthians 8 21 says, do what is good in the sight of God and of men.
33:11 You see, when a man of God or a woman of God acts and speaks the will of God, then the purposes of God are accomplished. When you see conflict, that's okay. That's normal. We all have different
33:22 personalities, backgrounds, beliefs, and system. There's no way we can all get along on everything. But when we have conflict at a deep level in our heart, when it brings out the emotion at the highest level, we pause,
33:33 we we we relax, we seek the word, we let the word read us, we are ready to hear what God has to say. And then we get ready to speak out. Then we become contagious in our witness because we care about not only
33:45 what we're gonna do, but how other people see what we're gonna do, which is just as important. Then number 3, we do this. Internal conflict demands that you become conscientious in your
33:57 work, that you become conscientious in your work. We notice this. They praise the Lord, then the people did everything according to the promise. They're like, we vow before the priest. I swear to God, I'm I'm doing this
34:09 thing. And then Nehemiah gives us an example in verses 14 to 18 about how he led for the 12 years that he was governor. It's almost as if he's reflecting on this time as he's writing this scripture under
34:21 the power of the holy spirit. And he says, moreover, from the day that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year to the 30 second year of king Artaxerxes, for 12 years neither I
34:32 nor my kinsmen have eaten the governor's food allowance. But the former governors who were before me laid burdens on the people and took from them bread and wine besides 40 shekels of silver. Even their
34:44 servants domineered the people, but I did not do so. Why? Because of the fear of the Lord. Here's what he says. In the 12 years I was governor, I didn't extort anybody. I didn't use my leadership as an opportunity to
34:56 extort the people. The governors before me did. As a matter of fact, not only did they do it, but all their servants did it. They collected food and money from all the people. They used their leadership as an example to
35:06 profit off everybody. He said, I didn't do that. Let me tell you why. Because I feared the Lord. Proverbs 9 10 says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Wisdom is skilled living. The only way you can
35:17 live the way God wants you to live is if you have fear of God. Fear is more than just reverence and awe. Fear means this, fear. You need to realize that when you stand before God someday, you're
35:29 gonna stand before the God of the universe and give an account for every thought, word, deed, action, behavior for everything you've ever done in your whole life. And if that doesn't scare you, it's because you haven't
35:41 reflected enough on it. I mean, why do you do the things you do? Because sometimes the reason we act wrong in conflict is because we forget what God's thinking. Who cares what he's thinking? I'm mad. I'm gonna act really
35:52 quick. But when you start thinking about God's watching and he cares, and I'm gonna stand before him, and I'm gonna give an account for the way in which I live and what I say and what I do. And I wanna stand before him
36:04 in a way that when he sees me 20, 30, 40, 50 years from now, 2 weeks from now, whenever my time is, he's gonna say, yeah. I was watching everything you did. You did it my way. Good job. Like, do you think that way?
36:16 Because in the middle of it, it's tough to be conscientious about that. It's tough to realize that everything that you have in this life is a gift from God. Your job, even if you hate it, is a gift from
36:27 God. Your marriage is a gift from God, even if it's challenging. Your kids are a gift from God, even if they're challenging. Everything's a gift. And how you steward those gifts and how you steward your
36:39 responsibilities, you will give an account for the Lord. Had 1 of our coaches in college used to say this all the time. He used to quote Colossians 3 23. He led
36:50 led our fellowship a Christian athletes group and he used to say this, whatever you do, do your work heartily as for the Lord rather than for men. I used be like, what's heartily mean? Means with your whole heart. Like
37:02 if you're gonna do something, go all in for who? For the Lord. And in the context is when we used to play football, he would say, don't play so that you get more playing time. Don't go to practice so you can get better
37:12 and please the coach. Don't play for him, and don't play for the crowd, and don't play for you're going out there today, everything you say and do, you're doing for Jesus. Everything you're doing in your life, he's the 1
37:23 you're doing it to please. And as our context shift and context change and all that stuff, everything you do in your life, you're doing for Jesus. When you're at school, you're studying as heartily unto the Lord because
37:35 he's given you a gift to go to school. Even if you say, I'll never use math, and I would be a living testimony, you could be right. Even if how you study forShow more
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