The Losing Winner

I was reading about the children of Israel wandering in the desert for a long period of time and can't help but felt sorry for them. Then when we come to Numbers 13, excitement built because finally, they are coming close. But, the result was disappointing because they were so close, yet so far. This led me into thinking about failed opportunities.. As a believers and followers of the living God who is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent, we are considered a winner because our God is great. Yet our behavior is far from being a winner.

We can find three examples in the Bible where we read about the failure to go in and be with God, the winning side. We can call it the three attitudes of losers.

1. Failure to accept God's promise.

Even with God on their side, the children of Israel let their fear and lack of faith prevent them from entering into the promised land. They would be winners by claiming the prize. As a result they wandered and suffered even more by staying out in the desert when they can be drinking fresh water and eating the fresh fruits and rest their weary souls.

How many of us can identify with this situation? I am not talking just about non-Christians. It is quite clear that non-Christian is an opponent of God and hence clearly not on the winning side. But what about you, Christians? God has many, many promises for Christians to live a victorious life and yet many of us are like the children of Israel. Full of fear and uncertainties. A weak perception and understanding of the promises left us outside on the losing side. Incapable of grabbing the promises fully, we remain outside wandering eating dry stale bread and drink dirty water.

Bill Bright has a good suggestion on claiming God’s promises. That is to use the word of God as a prayer. We can either pray God’s word directly or use it as a springboard for prayer. Because in Isaiah 55:11, it says so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

2. Failure to live above the level of our belief

The next story that came to mind is the parable as told by Jesus on the prodigal sons in Luke 15. All of us are familiar with the story. In the beginning, the father has two sons living with him but one decided to take his inheritance and left the house. In no time, he was living worst than his father's hired servants at home. Thank goodness, he came to his senses and decided to return home. He couldn't even make a full confession of his stupidity in sinning against his father and heaven. His father was already standing on the outside eager to bring him in to celebrate. Meanwhile, we have another son, the elder brother who is on the outside refused to enter inside. Not only did he fail to understand the goodness and grace of his father, he is unforgiving, jealous, angry, frustrated and feeling unappreciated. Again, how many of us as Christians, behave like the elder son, feeling insignificant and ended on the outside, on the losing side.

During the initial years of electricity distribution Thomas Edison's direct current was the standard for the United States. Direct current is fine if you are supplying electricity within 1 mile area. But due to resistance, the electric power is lost during transmission. When another inventor Nicola Tesla invented the Alternate current which allowed transmission of electricity to hundred of miles with little loss of power, the world took notice but not Edison. Nikola Tesla was actually a staff of Edison. The two of them have to be parted company and Tesla went and join force with Westinghouse. In fact the rivalry is so bad that Edison publicly executed animals just to show the world that AC is dangerous. The greatest inventor could have been a great winner but he ended losing to the Westinghouse who won the right to provide electricity to the Chicago trade fair. Since then, Alternating current was chosen as the North American standard because it presented fewer risks and promised higher reliability than competing DC systems of the day. Many of DC's deficiencies were later corrected, but not until a substantial North American infrastructure had already been developed.

This is what happen when we fail to live out our belief. We know but we refused to accept or live out our belief. As a result, we are the loser. God promised us power and victory over sin and our old nature. Many times, we failed to live up to the level of our belief and no wonder we behave like a bunch of losers. Instead of further God's kingdom, we tainted His name, we bicker over insignificant matters and we spent wasteful time and resources over mundane issues such as worship style, music selection and preaching standards. Instead of motivate and elevate each other, we tear each other down and gossip or destroy one another's faith. Instead of saving lost souls or fighting injustice, we are caught sulking and idling. This is the story of Christianity, we are a losing winner.

3. Failure to set our eyes on the goal set by God

We can only be winner if we want to win. To win means we must set our eyes on the goal. Paul urged us not to run without a goal but to aim towards the finishing line. This bring us to another parable told by Jesus. This is the parable of the 10 virgins in Matthew 25:1-13. There are 5 wise virgins and 5 foolish virgins. The wise virgins prepared and took the journey seriously. They left with conviction and they understand what lies ahead. They are going to see their groom. On the other hand, the foolish bride left carelessly, ill prepared and having to go back to the beginning to start look for more oil but time ran out and they lost. They missed the groom completely. We are loser if we do not prepare our journey and we took for granted that one day we will meet God and face judgment. We cannot afford to be ill prepared and be ignorant of our goal. We want to be with God in that celebration. If we don't, we are the losing winner.

This is why Paul tell young Timothy he must study to make himself acceptable, rightly understand and handle the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15 says “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” There is no excuse for us a follower but do not know our handbook well. You know all of us carry a hand phone now and most hand phone have a calendar feature which is for us to record things to do or event. Why don’t we key in a verse a day so we can memorize it. Many phone today has music recording purposes. Why not download some messages which is available free on the internet. Listen to it when you are driving, jogging. It is free and it is effective.

As believers, our claim to be winner with God is real only when we claim His promises, live out our beliefs and prepared well for the journey set to us by God.

Grumbling versus Gratitude

One of the best illustration of grumbling and gratitude is about a woman who was walking along the beach with her 3 year old son. Suddenly a big wave came and took the boy away, the woman fell on her knee and asked God to return the child to her. “Lord, he is still small and he is my only son, please bring him back to me.” Before she even finished her prayer, the next wave roll back and with it came the little child. The woman happily scoop up the child but instantly shouted toward the sky “Heh, where is the hat? He had a hat with him.”

When I saw the topic given to me to speak is Grumbling vs gratitude, my first reaction was this topic is so common and everyone knows what it is about grumbling and gratitude. Everyone should know that we should not grumble but to have an attitude of gratitude, there is really not much I can speak about. I was grumbling about grumble. You see it is so easy to begin grumbling before we even realize it.

Let’s turn to Philippians 2: 14Do everything without complaining or arguing, 15so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe. Here the passage is very clear what we are to do. But before we go on, we will look at a few example of grumbling and gratitude in the old testament and new testament.

First turn to the Old Testament and read about the grumbling of the children of Israel when they didn’t get what they wanted.
The children of Israel begin the murmuring when they are in the wilderness, halfway between Egypt and the Promised Land. Earlier they had been slaves in Egypt , and had found slavery unendurable. They had cried out in those days, and God had been moved by their outcry, since they had grounds for crying out. God had delivered them with his outstretched arm. Then he had forged them into a people after his own heart at Mount Sinai when he had given them the Ten Words, a way of living that would end forever the social chaos and the spiritual disintegration they had seen in the pagan nations. The only thing left them to do was to fall on their faces in gratitude; sheer, adoring gratitude. After all, they had been spared the misery and humiliation of slavery as well as the confusion and corruption of ungodliness. But what we read is that the Israelites grumbled at every turn. God cared for the Israelites by His own hand - providing water from a rock, manna from heaven, and quail from the sky, clothes that never wore out, a fire by night and a cloud by day. And yet…they grumbled.(See Exodus 15:24, 16:2,7,8,9,11, 17:2,3) As their gratitude evaporated, reasonableness evaporated too. Now they wanted to go back to Egypt . “At least we had lots to eat in Egypt ,” they whined, “even if we were slaves.”
So what is the problem here? In 1 Cor 10, Paul sum up the whole story clearly. He wrote that the story of the Israelites can teach us a lesson. Even though God provided all they needed for the journey, the children of Israel still desired things that the Lord had not provided. So when they did not get it, they grumbled and complained and were punished. In short they were discontent with what they didn’t have and ungrateful with what they did have. This is grumbling versus gratitude.

Two other scenarios of grumbling is in the new testament.
In Matthew 20:1-16, in the parable of the workers in the vineyard Jesus points out that ingratitude, grumbling, reveals resentment and reinforces it. In this parable some men are hired to work in the vineyard. At the end of their eight-hour shift they are paid the agreed-upon sum. Other workers, hired late in the day and therefore who have worked only four hours or two hours or perchance one hour; these other workers receive the same sum. This parable, we should note right here, has nothing to do with economics or labour relations. This parable has rather to do with God’s grace and mercy and help. You see, in ancient Palestine day-labourers, the bottom rung of the working class, were paid at the end of each day. They had to be. They lived so close to the line that they had no savings at all, nothing in reserve. With the money they were paid for that day’s work they fed their families the same evening and next morning. The men in the parable who had worked a full day were given one day’s pay – and immediately used it to sustain themselves and their dependents. The men who had worked less than a day were nonetheless given a full day’s pay. Why? Because anything less than a full day’s pay would have been useless. If they had received a quarter of a day’s pay for a quarter of a day’s work, they and their dependents would have starved. Because the owner of the vineyard was generous, all the men were given what they needed regardless of what they deserved. Even so, says Jesus, people with ungrateful hearts murmur and mutter and grumble at the vineyard owner inasmuch as they resent seeing others appear more fortunate than they. Had they been grateful themselves, they would also have rejoiced to see other needy people given as much as those people needed.

Mark 14:1-8. A woman fell at the feet of Jesus and poured out on his feet the costliest bottle of cologne as she wiped his feet with her hair. Why did she do this? She did it out gratitude to him for all that he done for her. Mark tells us that several bystanders, people who plainly were possessed of no gratitude at all, carped and complained, muttered and murmured, groused and grumbled, “This money could have been given to the poor.” Since when were these grumblers concerned with the poor? When have complainers ever been concerned with the poor? Every time Jesus had eaten with the poor the murmurers had murmured. They weren’t concerned with the poor. They were ungrateful people whose mean spirits found them relishing every opportunity to complain.

My work in the hotel involves a lot of listening to grumbling and complaining. Usually a customer will complain when something went wrong. Some are easy to forget while some are still fresh. I remember a case about the stolen swimming suit. The incident happened on the previous day evening and I was to meet this lady in the morning. When I met up with her, there were four other ladies with her. Naturally she was unhappy that how can a 5 star hotel allowed a thief to steal her swim suit that was hang on the balcony. What happened was that during that time, terminal 2 was being built and a lot of foreign workers were hired and these workers love to wander into the hotel and pose as tourist. As it happened, this worker went to the guest room balcony located on the ground floor and stole her swim suit. This was saw by the security on duty and he called for help through the walkie talkie. What happened was also witnessed by the lady. Our Security was probably over zealous. A few of them gave chase and pin the thief down and in the process also gave a few blows to the thief. I suspect they have seen too many movies also. The thief was sent to police station and the swim suit returned to the lady. So I apologized to her and agree that this incident should not have happened but I assured her that we have in place enough security but unfortunately because of he large area and the many access and entry point to the hotel, it can pose a challenge to us. I told her she may be interested to know that we managed to catch the culprit and recovered the swim suit. I understand that she may not want it back so she can go down to our shop and choose any swim suit she like for free. Now you have to understand that the swimsuit is not cheap and each one is at least RM200. She was not happy because number one, she was traumatised to see the thief being caught and didn’t feel the hotel is secure. Secondly the replacement of another swim suit is not enough. I told her, alright, then take 2 swim suits. She said not good enough. So I asked her, what will she be happy with, She asked for free stay for the entire group of 5 rooms. Any way, to cut the story short, ended up given her a voucher of 2 complimentary night stay and 2 most expensive swim suit which she happily chose. But this is not the end of the story. After returning home, she wrote a lengthy letter to our head quarter further complained that I was indifferent, insensitive and unhelpful to her.

The second case involved a pastor, yes, you hear me right, a pastor. He complained to me that while taking shower, suddenly the water became very hot and he was scalded. Again, I apologised to him and offered to take him to hospital but he declined. Since he declined , I assumed that it must not be very serious. I told him that I will have the shower checked and may be there was a faulty valve. What else could I do? Offer doctor assistance and have the shower check so that it will not happened again. But this pastor spend the next half hour complained and whined that this should not happened in a 5 star hotel. I apologised, offered him dinner to make up for the inconvenience. He was not satisfied. His reason was that he was taking a group of youth, 17 to be exact for a visit to KK. If I buy him dinner, I have to buy all or none. I told him I cannot and he asked to see my Boss. My Boss came and spoke to him with me as a translator, this lasted for almost 40 minutes, again with no outcome except to hear him grumbling again and again. At the end my Boss left it to me to close the case and I ended up giving him 18 hotel T-shirts.

My point of sharing the story is that as you can see, we can complain and grumble under any circumstances and it can happen to us, even the children of God. I give the benefit of doubt to the pastor as a child of God. I myself is a good example. I cannot tell you how many times my wife did something for me such as making me a cup of coffee, I will tell her it is too hot or too sweet and failed to appreciate the good intention and good act.

Enough on grumbling. Now let us look into thanksgiving. In the old testament, there are not as many incidents of thanks giving although we do read about the Lord asking the children of Israel to set aside a feast of thanks giving. Thanksgiving is more common in Psalms. About twenty psalms command or invite Israel to sing songs of thanksgiving.

Chronicles and Nehemiah often mention thanksgiving, as both take strong interest in the temple and the offerings and songs that rise from it to God. For example, when David brings the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem, the people sing psalms that call Israel to give thanks again and again (1 Chron 16:4,7,8,34,35,41). David also appointed Levites to thank God morning and evening in the temple (23:30), and he thanked God as his life ended, exhorting the people to join him in giving to the building of Solomon's temple (29:13-20).

In the new testament, the Lord Jesus show us example of giving thanks such as over a meal. Jesus also thanked the Father for hearing his prayer that God hide his secrets from the wise and reveal them to children (Matt 11:25; Luke 10:21) and to raise Lazarus (John 11:41).

Paul likewise show a life of thanks giving in his acts as well as in his writing. He thanked God for his final meal on the storm-battered boat (Acts27;35). Thanksgiving is also a central component of prayer for Paul. He prays that his churches will be thankful (Col 1:12), and gives thanks in turn for answered prayer, especially for the extension of the gospel and the strength of his churches (2 Cor 4:15). Paul begins most of his letters (Galatians, 1 Timothy, and Titus being the exceptions) with expressions of thanksgiving to God for the church or individual to which he writes.

Both the gospels and the epistles introduced and developed the concept of gratitude for God's deliverance. When a sinful woman interrupted a dinner party to anoint Jesus with precious perfume, Jesus told his shocked host that her action sprang from gratitude for forgiveness (Luke 7:40-47). When Jesus healed ten lepers as they walked to the temple, he marveled aloud that only one, a Samaritan, returned to thank him (Luke 7:11-19). Paul agrees that believers should be thankful for every individual provision, and that gratitude for God's saving grace envelops the entire Christian life. Those whom God has brought from death to life should offer their bodies to him as instruments of righteousness (Rom 6:13). In view of God's mercies, knowing they were bought at a price, they should offer their bodies to God as living sacrifices in general and honor him with purity in particular (Rom 12:1; 1 Cor 6:20). Those who have received an unshakeable kingdom from God should be thankful, worship God, and faithfully endure the hardships of persecution (Heb 12:28 and context ).

One good lesson we can learn is from Psalm 13. Here we read that David was feeling lonely and the enemy is pressing against him and he began to complain to his God. Bur half way through this short Pslam, we see that David has turned his grumbled heart into one that is dependent on his God and finally into a heart that trust and rejoice in his God.

Philippians 2:14 is very clear that we are to avoid complaining or arguing. We need to have an attitude of gratitude, but how do we do it? Max Lucardo sum it up: The heart of the problem is the problem of the heart: Sin. To sin is to disregard God, ignore his teaching and deny his blessings.
But God does leave us helpless. The clue is a few verses before. Phil 2:12 - ..continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.
It is God who works in us and not we work in God. We must involve God .

Let me elaborate here by first referring to the familiar verses in Ephesians 2:8-9. 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. But how often we forget about verse 10. As Woodrow Kroll said, the next time you quote Eph 2:8-9, please include verse 10.

You see, as a result of our salvation, which we obtain not through our effort but simply because of God’s grace and gift to us, we have a new nature and that God has created us to do good works. Good works must be the result of our conversion. The time when you received Christ, you become a Christian but you are not yet a disciple. You need to work on it in order to become his disciple and to be Christ like. A disciple is a follower who adhere to the teachings and belief of your master. The moment I enrol in a university, I am a student of the university but I am not a graduate yet and I need to work on it. So this bring us back to Philippians 2:12. Nobody tell you that to have a humble heart, a thankful heart, a grateful attitude, a healthy behaviour , all those goodness as a result of your conversion is going to be easy. These attitudes have to be cultivated with effort. Remember we were sinners and need conversion. It takes effort, we need to work it out with fear and trembling that we may fail, we may disappoint our Father. I remember my university day that I worked so hard because I don’t want to fail and disappoint my family, so I literally studied with a lot of fear and trembling. The next time, you grumble, or do any negative thing, remind your self to stop doing it and work on it hard.

But brothers and sisters, the good news for us is that our journey is not a lonely one. Firstly, God will help us as we read in Phil 2:13 it is God’s purpose for us since it is His will, he will help us. With that, He sends the Holy Spirit to help us. Secondly, Christians are asked to grow together as an organism and so there is a lot of interaction, support and help from and to one another. We see this form reading the bible about commenting one another, about rebuking one another all for the sake of building a strong church that is fill with imperfect yet striving to be Christ like people.

Devices of the Devil

In order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes. (2 Cor 2:11)

The devil has many names and symbols. All of them reveal his twisted, perverted nature and mode of operation. He is the enemy of God. We can be protected if we know the schemes used by him.

His devices
1. He manipulates our mind. Satan’s main device is deception.
a) Trick us into seeing something that is not there (eg Gen 3)
b) Trick us into seeing nothing out of a real thing (eg Matt 28)
c) Even strong believers fell prey (eg Peter in Matt 16)
d) Result in doubt, disbelief, disobedient, denials, delusions
e) Peter says “prepare your minds for action” (1 Pet 1:13)

2. Satan’s perverted nature tempt our old self and body.
a) Lust of the flesh, eyes and pride of life (1 John 2:15-17)
b) Wear us down through trials and persecutions. (1 Thes 3:1-3)
c) Result in discontentment, distraction, discouragement, disappointment
d) HALT – Don’t let yourself be Hungry, Angry, Lonely and Tired.
e) Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. (Col 3:2)

3. Satan has a destructive character.
a) Satan tries to destroy us through our mind and our body.
b) He destroys relationship and disrupt harmony.
c) He perfected selfishness, favoritism, narrow-mindedness, lack of fellowship
d) Result in disengagement, discord, disassociation, division
e) Paul urged unity (1 Cor 1 :10-11. 12:18-25, John 17:20)

The serious threat of Satan’s dangerous devices is real. We are not to be ignorant about his schemes and we need to be strong in the Lord and put on the armor of God. We are encourage because our God have overcome them, and the one who is in us is greater than the one who is in the world. (1 John 4:4)

The God whom we pray to (Nehemiah 1)

A pastor was concern that every time he preaches on Sunday, a particular member of the congregation would fall asleep. After several weeks, he decided he must confront this brother who is quite prominent in that he is also a member of the church committee or board. So one Sunday, sure enough when he begin to preach, the brothers immediately doze off. After the service, the pastor pulled the brother aside and confronted him. “Why do you fall asleep every time when I preach?” To this the brother answered, “My dear pastor, will I fall asleep if I don’t trust you?”

Well this morning, I thank you for trusting me but I don’t want you to go to sleep. I will do my best to keep you awake.

The topic for today message is the God to whom we pray to. The passage of reference is Nehemiah chapter 1. Let us start by reading this chapter.

Nehemiah's Prayer
1 The words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah: In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, 2 Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem.
3 They said to me, "Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire."
4 When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. 5 Then I said: "O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands, 6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father's house, have committed against you. 7 We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.
8 "Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, 'If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, 9 but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.'
10 "They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. 11 O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man." I was cupbearer to the king.
After realize the extend of the ruin of Jerusalem, Nehemiah was very upset and disappointed. He began to fast and pray. I think this prayer is especially relevant to all of us whenever we have a project to complete and we need to look to the Lord for guidance.

As Christian, we have the privilege to speak to God. G.K. Chesterton says, "The worst moment for an atheist is when he feels a profound sense of gratitude and has no one to thank.” On the other hand, imagine the despair and disappointment when you want to seek help and there is no one who has the power to change things to talk to. Fortunately, prayer is our partnership with God, our chance to join forces with God's power. In his book, Prayer, Philip Yancey writes that prayer is a window into knowing the mind of God, whose kingdom is entrusted to all of us frail, selfish people on earth.

When we come to God in prayer, first of all we must know to whom we are praying. We will pray in unhealthy fear if we believe that our God is quick to punish, authoritative and unforgiving. On the other hand, we can pray without acknowledging our sinful status and believe in an indulgent father who overlooks sins. We need to have a correct view of God.

This morning, by looking at Nehemiah’s prayer, we hope that we can learn two things together. By looking at how Nehemiah pray, we learn his attitude in prayer and from his prayer, we can take a glimpse at this God to whom he prayed to.

1) It was a prayer of contrition. This is an awesome yet loving God who is sovereign and above all.

4 When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. 5 Then I said: "O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands.

Nehemiah’s heart was so disturbed that he sat down and wept, and mourned for days over the condition of Jerusalem. He begin by acknowledging the great and awesome God who is also full of love to those who obeys Him.

Nehemiah realized the seriousness of our depraved condition and acknowledged that this God that we pray to is awesome yet loving. It was a prayer with contrition. A contrite person has a unique access to God. Because God listens to and delights in the prayers of the humble, those who come without ulterior motives or in violation of his explicit commands, are as children to a loving parent. It is better to have a God who is greater than humanity, a God who has the ability to take us beyond where we can go on our own?

The God described in the Bible is that God. He claims to be the Creator of the universe -- a transcendent, all-knowing, all-powerful being who has always existed and is the sustainer of all things. God deserves to be honored, revered and feared by all because of who he is.

In Ezra 10, we read that when the people realized their state of sin of their inter marriages. 1While 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.

Likewise in the new testament, we read in Matthew 26 after Peter denied the Lord 3 times: Immediately a rooster crowed. 75Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: "Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times." And he went outside and wept bitterly.

The problem is that we don’t see many bitter tears nowadays. Remember Job sitting naked in a pile of ashes. That’s a humble heart that submits to his creator. Today it is more of questioning God. From the first page of the bible until the last page in Revelation, God’s awesome characters are displayed. At times we may struggle with things that we cannot understand. At one extreme we read about God’s loving compassionate and mercy character and in another we read about His intolerant of sin. Take the 10th plague as an example. The 10th plague in Exodus recorded the death of the Egyptian children. We can’t help but think about the innocent children suffer under this plague. Pharaoh the evil man who is responsible for this plague lost his first born yet his own life was preserved. How are we to reconcile what we know about God’s goodness and justice with this plague. Adam and Eve dies for failing to obey God’s command. The whole generation of Noah was wiped out in the flood. Sodom and Gomorrah was obliterated completely. Why are the pages of scripture stained with blood? But dead is the reality of fallen humanity. We pay for the sin, even with stories of injustice that happen everyday. Who are we to question God’s sovereign plan and timing? We can and we must come to him with a contrite heart.


2) It was a prayer of confession. This is a God to whom we are accountable because He is Holy.

6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father's house, have committed against you 7 We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.

Nehemiah’s conviction on God’s greatness and his believe that God will respond to his prayer resulted in humility. He knew he did not deserve it so he confessed the sin of Israelites and himself and his father’s house. By confessing our sins to God, we are acknowledging to God that we are accountable to him. We are approaching a righteous and holy God.

Confession is acknowledging the gulf between a righteous God and a sinful people and that we are at His mercy. We confessed because we are grieved by sin. We hate sin because it is offensive to the God we love. Sin blasphemes God. Sin curses God. Sin seeks to destroy God’s work and His kingdom. In fact sin killed His Son.

Chuck Swindoll illustrated that confession is like a clinic at the bottom of a stiff highway. Although there are signs that tell the motorist to slow down because of the treacherous and dangerous road, many people do not pay attention and so they have accident at the bottom of the hill. But because there is a clinic there to help them, it relief them of their pain and they can get up and go again. Of course the better way is to pay attention to the sign and avoid any mishaps. So confession is like that, we humbly come to God, admit our guilt and mistake. Sorry, Father, I messed up. I was impatient today. Sorry Father, I lusted today. I sin today. And the good news is that, God is faithful and He will forgive us.

John is clear in his epistle (1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.) that if we confess, God will listen and ready to forgive and bring us closer and narrow the gap that is in between. As the saying goes, “It is better to keep short account with God.

But problem with us today is that we think we must do more in order to come to God. God’s forgiveness is purely his sovereignty and does not depend on us. We make the mistake that we must do something in order to gain God’s favour. The jailer asked Paul ?What must I do to be saved?” Paul answered him “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved”. There is no doing just believe in your heart.

Many years ago, a product was introduced in the market. Anyone can bake a cake easily and quickly. You just need to add water into the pre-mix cake ingredient and pop it into the oven. No need to hassle on measuring the right amount of the different ingredients, no need to spend time mixing and beating and still unsure if you have done it right. You would think this product will sell. Any amateur can bake a cake but surprise, surprise, sales didn’t go up. The manufacture was at a lost and could not understand why the products would not sell. It was not shortage of varieties or poor end products. After several months, the manufacturer decided to add a simple additional instruction. Instead of just add water, this time, it is just add water and an egg. Suddenly sales soars, people started to buy. The reason sales soar was attributed to the fact that people believe they play a role, an important role in baking the cake and that the cake is much enhanced with the addition of an egg . Such is the case of confession. We don’t buy in when God says that if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the death, you will be saved (Rom 10:9). We want to add in extra effort in order to believe that God will hear us.


3) It was a prayer of confidence. This is a God to whom we can trust and count on His promises.

8 "Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, 'If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, 9 but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.' 10 "They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand.

In this part of the prayer, Nehemiah recalls words of Moses and old Testament warnings and promises. First, if Israel disobeyed, they will be scatter and secondly when the captivity is over, God will send them back to Jerusalem, the promised land.

Nehemiah is aware of God’s provision and so he can pray boldly. He knows he can count on the words of God. He is very familiar with God's word and his promises. He quotes almost verbatim the word of God to Moses. God reveals his person and his will through his word. He was reminding God His promise to the Israelites. Real prayer is standing on the promise of God and claim it.

The God of the Bible claims that nothing on Earth happens without his say-so. He is completely sovereign over all things.
- Who can speak and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it? (Lam 3:37)
- I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please. (Isa 46:10)
- The plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations. (Psalm 33:11)
- It is the Lord's purpose that prevails. (pro 19:21).
- This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. (1 John 5:14,15)


4) It was a prayer of commitment. This is a God to whom we can have hope and who wants a relationship with us

11 O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man."

This is the whole purpose of Nehemiah’s prayer. He was asking God to grant him success as he embarked on this project. Nehemiah will be involved in the rebuilding of the wall. When we ask God in faith, we have to live out the faith with work.

When we pray the prayer of faith, we must believe that we have the answer before we see or feel it. Jesus said, “Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them” (Mark 11:24).

When we really believe that God has answered our prayer, we must show our faith by acting like we have the answer before we actually see it! James says that faith without corresponding actions is dead faith (see James 2:17). I show my faith by how I act! And to stand in faith I must act as though God has already sent the answer to my prayer.

To pray with commitment, is also to pray with hope and this has a lot to do with how much we know our God. It is because of the close relationship we have with God that give us the knowledge to pray with hope. We must know this God. Otherwise, it is no different from praying to an idol of whom we have no relation to.

God wants to have a partnership/relationship with us. When Moses was instructed to build the tabernacle for God to dwell in, we read about the people came forward with materials and skill. God raised up skillful craftmen that were filled with the Spirit. Bazalel and Ohalieb. They gave so much that Moses had to ask them to stop. EX 36.

A few generations later, when David was preparing the temple for Solomon to build, he asked the people to offer money, materials and everyone gladly did it. Although it was not God initiative, we read that at the completion of the temple, the holy presence of God was in the temple.

Fast forward again, just about 2000 years ago, the Lord Jesus Christ gave the great commission and he said: “I will build my church”. Yes, the church is growing, today we are an imperfect church, but the Lord added daily to the numbers those who were saved as we read in Acts. God could have change the hearts of sinners in an instant. Why are there thousand of missionary going through hardship after hardship just to advance the gospel. Read the biography of Hudson Taylor, John Huss. Have you read the story of Jim Elliot and 4 of his friends who went to South America. They were butchered while trying to reach the Ecuador Auca Indian. Read the book “through gates of splendor” and feel their commitment. More recently and closer to home, Abu Sayat captured and killed missionary, Martin Burnham and left his wife, Gracia wounded in the leg with a bullet. Read the book, “In the presence of my enemies” and feel the commitment. Why? Why? You asked. That’s because we must exercise our faith, be committed and do what we say and say what we do.

Before I conclude, let me share with you a story about a person who really understand who is this God that he prays to. He has a clear understanding of this God.
Horatio G. Spafford was an attorney in Chicago. He and his wife Anna were pretty well known in Chicago as a legal counsel and businessman. They were also prominent supporters and close friends of DL Moody. He and his family were members of the Fullerton Avenue Presbyterian Church. But during the great Chicago fire in 1871, he lost every one of his real estate holdings that he has invested heavily. Spafford and his wife had learned what it meant to completely trust God in every situation. But their greatest testing came in 1874. Aware of the toll that these disasters had taken on the family, Horatio decided to take his wife and daughters on a vacation to England. Yet just before they set sail, a last-minute business development forced Horatio to delay. Not wanting to ruin the family holiday, Spafford persuaded his family to go as planned. He would follow on later. Mrs. Spafford and their four daughters boarded the French ship "Villa de Havre" on their way to England. But just off the coast of Ireland the ship collided with another ship and sank. All four of the Spafford daughters – Tanetta, Maggie, Annie and Bessie were among the 226 who drowned. But Anna Spafford was among the 47 who were miraculously saved. 9 days later, Horatio finally received a cable sent by his wife which contained the now famous phrase that read "saved alone." As he traveled to England to comfort his wife, he was able again to gain his strength from God with the verse, "All things work together for good to them that love the Lord" (Rom 8:28) He then penned the words to our hymn "It Is Well with My Soul." (The tune was written by Phillip Bliss.) The words which Spafford wrote that day come from 2 Kings 4:26. They echo the response of the Shunammite woman to the sudden death of her only child. Though we are told "her soul is vexed within her", she still maintains that 'It is well." And Spafford's song reveals a man whose trust in the Lord is as unwavering as hers was.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,When sorrows like sea-billows roll;Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,"It is well, it is well with my soul."
Though Satan should buffet, tho' trials should come,Let this blest assurance control,That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
My sin - oh, the bliss of this glorious thought,My sin - not in part, but the whole,Is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more,Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul.
And, Lord haste the day when the faith shall be sight,The clouds be rolled back as a scroll,The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend,"Even so" - it is well with my soul.
It is well with my soul,It is well, it is well with my soul.
This is from a man who knows his God so well that he has the confidence and hope in Him.


Conclusions:

Nehemiah's prayer shows that the God to whom we pray to is sovereign, loving, awesome and also holy. He is faithful to his promises and generous in his provision who wants to have a close relationship with us. We must pray to him with the right attitude.

People who missed Christmas

It is exam time. Everyone come into the classroom with fear and trepidation. Then come the professor and he starts to distribute the paper. Everyone is wondering what questions are there and if they are going to do well in the exam. The professor said “Do not turn the paper yet. You are not to start the exam until I tell you so.” That adds on to the suspense and everyone is anxious. When he said start, everyone quickly turn the paper. Suddenly they was a long silence and everyone look at each other in puzzle. They realize that the paper is full of answers. The professor had filled up the questions in his own hand writing. Everyone look at each other wondering what is going on. After awhile, the professor announced that the examination is over. All the answers in the script are correct. All of you got an A+. Everyone is in a shock. The professor then went around and asked, “Did your study get you an A+?”. No. “Did all your attendance get you an A+? “No. The reason all of you get an A+ is because the creator of this exam has decided to take it on your behalf.

All of us also have to sit for this exam given by our creator, God. We are all sinner by God’s standard. We would have failed miserably except that more than two thousand years ago, the Creator himself decided to take the exam on our behalf. On that cross Jesus provided all the answers to all the questions and passed with flying colors. Jesus died on that cross to take away our sins. Because of what He did, today all of us are A+ student in God’s eyes. That’s what he has done. Not by the work we have done but by the grace of God. This is the story of Christmas, What a Savior!

But we can only be an A+ student in the eyes of God if we allow God to sit the exam on our behalf. Bible teacher, John MacArthur had preached a wonderful sermon on people who missed Christmas. This morning I want to share with you four of his characters from the bible who missed this opportunity. Let’s see if you can identify with them

Christmas is notably one of the most important occasion in a yearly calendar. It is the most important and wonderful time of the year in many part of the world, including our country, which is pre-dominantly Muslim. And through out the world, especially in the commercial sphere, its importance cannot be undermined because it is the most profitable time. From shopping centers to airline to hotel and to entertainment outlets, this is business opportunities. But even with all these media attention, advertisement and public relation, there are still many people who missed Christmas. Unfortunately the simplicity of the birth of Christ is buried in the sea of business, busyness and paganism. This happened today, but it also happened during the time recorded in the Bible.

Let me read from Luke 2 to tell you about the first Christmas.

1In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3And everyone went to his own town to register. 4So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Hotel overbooked is nothing new to me. Years after years, in Kota Kinabalu, in particular, it is difficult to get rooms in the hotel. While it is unpleasant to deal with this problem, I remind myself that this problem is not new. Now, Who do you think missed the first Christmas? The first person who missed Christmas was the innkeeper. It was right in front of him but he missed it. He had to deal with Joseph and Mary and he had no room for them.

The innkeeper missed Christmas because to him, it was just another birth. Not only that, he was indifferent in that he didn’t even call for help because verse 7 said that it was a lonely birth. You see, the innkeeper was pre-occupied because the city was bursting with people. He was busy caring for his business. He was not hostile or uncaring. For him, it was all about business. He was just real busy.

A lot of people are like that. All they care about is filling their empty soul with stuff that really does not matter and so they missed the Christ of God. Look at your own life, did you spend more time shopping then you did adoring Christ? Did you spend more money on stuff then you invest in His kingdom? Then may be you are trapped like the innkeeper too.

Let’s meet another man who missed the first Christmas. This man really missed it. He was not like the innkeeper who was ignorant. In fact, he was very well informed. He was Herod. Turn to Matthew chapter 2:1. 1After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him." 3When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.

7Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him."

Did Herod really want to worship the child Jesus? Verse 1 and verse 3 address Herod as king and why would him be disturbed as we read in verse 3. That’s because verse 2 says there is another king coming. Herod felt threatened and insecure. He was afraid of another king. Go on and read verse 16.

16When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.

When Herod realized that the wise men did not get back to him, he was furious and he gave order to get rid of all children who were two years old and under in order to wipe out the child who is going to be the king of the Jews. Herod missed Christmas because of fear and jealousy. There are many people who missed Christmas because of the same basic kind of fear that Herod had. Herod fear was that somebody else would take his throne. A lot of people are like that. Herod was not going to let this little child interfere with his career, with his position, with his power, with his ambition, with his plan and with his life style. He was not about to let someone else be the king. Are you like Herod who missed Christmas because you don’t want Jesus to occupy the throne in your life? You want to be the Lord of your own life, master of your fate and afraid to crown Him Lord. That’s tragic because his kingdom is so much more glorious.


There is a third group of people who missed Christmas.
Matt 2:4When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. 5"In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written: 6" 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.

The Chief priests and the teachers of the laws knew about the coming of Christ. But nowhere do we read about them flocking and responding to him. They are the knowledgeable one. They are the theologians, the brainy one. They are the Sanhedrin who ruled the Jewish courts. They can even quote scripture, ie. Micah where the Messiah will be born. Yet they did not even bother to go find out about the birth of the Messiah. They were in Jerusalem, only 2 miles north of Bethlehem. Why did they missed Christmas? They are indifference and they are complacent. They are so proud in their position that they did not even realize the state that they are in. There are many people in the world today ignore Christ because they don’t know they are sinful. They don’t care about the saviour because they don’t know they have to be saved.

The innkeeper missed Christmas because of ignorant preoccupation. Herod missed Christmas because of jealous fear. The chief priests and Sanhedrin missed Christmas because of indifferent pride. But there is another group of people who missed Christmas.

Turn with me to Luke 4.
14Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. 15He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.
16He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. 17The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: 18"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, 19to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." 20Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, 21and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."
22All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. "Isn't this Joseph's son?" they asked.
24"I tell you the truth," he continued, "no prophet is accepted in his hometown.

28All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. 29They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff. 30But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.

This is probably the saddest part of all. Nazareth Missed Christmas. Jesus was their own son and they rejected Him. They even wanted to killed him as we read in verse 29. Why do you think Nazareth missed Christmas. Familiarity. They know Jesus so well that He was not special to them. Are you one of them? The getting used to attending church, raise in a Christian home. You know Him so well that you took Him for granted. You have heard so many Christmas stories, heard so many sermons, attended so many Sunday school and bible lessons that your convictions waned. As John MacArthur said, Familiarity breeds contempt and the deadly familiarity with Christmas truth breed a stony heart. You better respond while your heart is still soft or your heart will become hard and you will not have the opportunity to respond.

There are many reasons why people miss Christmas. They miss it because of ignorant preoccupation, they miss it because of jealous fear, they miss it because of prideful indifference, and they even miss it because of being so familiar with it. But behind all these reasons is one reason: unbelief. They will not believe. They refuse to believe. What ever the excuse, whatever the reasons you have been missing Christmas, if you receive Christ and believe in Him, Christmas will become a reality in your life. It can happen today. That’s between you and God. So Let Christ sit for you for the exam and be an A+ student in the eyes of God.