Recently, I read an interesting article. The title was “Christianity is Not the Issue, But the Bible Is.” The author said Christianity would not be a problem if Christians accepted the Bible as a historical book. He also suggested that Christians need to teach free grace and its charity but nothing else. The author tries to say that traditional Christian beliefs do not fit into modern culture and life because the Bible seems outdated.
My answer is no. The Bible will never become outdated because God says, “I am the Lord God, who is, and who was, and who is to come.” And God still speaks to us through the Bible because the Word of God never dies and still works among us. “The word of God is living and active and suitable for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
Restriction is a Protection
Another misconception some younger generations have is believing Christian truths and their teachings limit and restrict their freedom. However, that is also not true because Jesus said in John 8:31-32, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
I have a story to tell you about what true freedom looks like. It is the story of a deer who was protected and cared for by people inside a petting zoo. One day, the deer was walking along the fence. At that time, a wild deer that passed by saw the deer in the zoo, and the wild deer laughed and said to the deer inside of the zoo, “Friend, I feel so sorry for you being locked up in a fence without freedom. I am free to go anywhere, anytime, but you can’t, so I feel sorry for you.” While the deer was talking, a lion appeared and chased the deer. The wild deer ran away with all its might, but the deer in the zoo was not afraid of the lion and watched it quietly. Which deer enjoyed true freedom? In the same way, Christians can have true freedom when we stay within God’s protection.
Lost the Holy City
In the story of Nehemiah, the holy city, the dwelling place of God, was destroyed, and the enemy plundered all the treasures the Jews had proudly inherited from generation to generation. Even more heartbreaking was that young and promising children living in Jerusalem were taken captive to Babylon.
They became homeless people in a foreign land. Their captivity was not a few years but 50 to 100 years long. Because of that, their children learned the language and culture of Babylon and died there. There were many clever young men who were once the sons of respectable families and lived in Jerusalem, but when their parents lost their homeland, the Babylonians treated them like refugees or as if they were homeless. When the Jews lost their homeland, their children suffered the most.
In America today, both the number of Christians and church membership are declining. According to a 2014 Wikipedia survey, 87.6% of Americans said they had grown up as Christians. And according to telephone surveys by Pew Research in 2018 and 2019, only 65% of American adults say they are Christian. These statistics show that Americans are less religious than they used to be. Most studies agree that the Christian faith has declined in the United States.
However, when parents lose the foundation of Biblical truth and faith and do not pass on their faith to their children, the ones who suffer the most are their children who have lost the opportunity to hear the gospel when they were young. This is spiritual suffering. When the Jews lost their faith and did not listen to God’s guidance, they lost God’s protection. After that, enemies invaded the country and took their children prisoners. Likewise, if parents do not keep their faith in Christ, their children have no opportunity to hear the gospel. They will be separated from the Christian faith.
Lessons in Nehemiah
God promised Jews that they would return to the Holy City in Jeremiah 29:10 saying, “This is what the LORD says: ‘When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place.’” After that, Nehemiah finally returned to Jerusalem from captivity in Babylon and rebuilt Jerusalem, the city of God’s people.
Opposition arose when Nehemiah and others rebuilt the wall and repopulated the city. Their enemies tried to stop their rebuilding efforts with their words, but the people were willing to work. When their enemies could not stop them from rebuilding the walls, they tried to fight the Jews to stop the construction. When the Jews heard the news, they were all terrified. At that time, Nehemiah advised that they were not to become discouraged because of the enemy but to believe in God, take up arms, and fight. In verse 14, he says, “Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your families, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.” When Christians try to rebuild trust in God, there are visible and invisible oppositions that arise. This is what Nehemiah tells us.
This story gives us three spiritual lessons today. The first lesson is about why Christians must fight spiritual enemies who try to destroy our faith in God. The reason is clear. We must fight for our children and our families. Because when Christians lose faith in God, our families and children suffer the most.
Another lesson is that Christians should hold their weapons when fighting their spiritual enemies. The first weapon should be an offensive weapon like spears and swords, and the other weapon should be a defensive weapon like shields. However, in the New Testament, the sword is the Word of God and the shield is faith in God. In Ephesian 6:16-17, it says that “in all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
When you try to fight the enemies with the Word of God, one powerful Bible verse would be enough to defeat them as David did. One smooth stone is good enough to kill Goliath, the enemy, but a single shield is not big enough to cover your entire body when the enemy is shooting flaming darts from the left side, right side, back, front, and from overhead.
When the Roman soldiers went to war, they always carried a sword and shield and moved in groups of 100 to 10 men, and when they were attacked by the enemy, they always gathered together and used their shields in defensive formations to defend against the enemy’s attacks from the front and left and right. When you are being attacked, one person’s faith is not strong enough. That’s why Jesus Christ built the Church as a community of salvation to protect each other, help each other up, and worship God through Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit in harmony. Scripture calls this a life of holy communion.
Nehemiah proclaimed the truth “our god will fight for us” in verse twenty. This is the same proclamation that David made when he was fighting Goliath. David said “the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands” in Samuel 17:47.
“I will fight for you” is a promise from God, and God has fulfilled that promise for us through Jesus Christ even now. Jesus Christ is our shield, and he stopped every attack of Satan with His body for us. Jesus Christ is our salvation. Whoever believes it is living in Jesus Christ, and the glory of God and His protection will descend among us like a tent.
2021.10.03. Pastor Cloud Poy
@ Photo on Unsplash
