Lord, we stand or sit right now and we bless you.
! We praise you for you are worthy.
!
The Lamb that was slain for us.
The Lamb who shed His blood.
The spotless Lamb of God who purchased redemption for us.
Who made a way into the very throne room, into the very presence of God.
Through your mercy and compassion, by overcoming the oppression of sin,
by liberating us from the bondage and slavery of our own wickedness,
and leading us into freedom.
Making a way for us to have fellowship with God.
You've broken down the wall that has separated us from you and from your people,
by making a way through Jesus, by faith in you,
because of the work of your Son, Jesus Christ, on the cross.
Lord, it is my prayer this morning that through our time in Nehemiah chapter 5,
and through looking into the scriptures, that you would help to call us into a greater appreciation of your worthiness.
God, in God, in expression and understanding, in reverence of your worthiness,
make us faithful and worthy vessels.
Help us to know your heart today.
May we echo the heart of Christ.
The heart of Christ to remove oppression.
First of sin, and then of every other oppression that we see in front of us.
As an evidence of the portrait of Jesus in the work of your ministry here on this earth.
So help us, Lord, to emulate your heart and your ultimate purpose for all nations
to be redeemed and ransomed and purchased back to you.
Lead us in our study this morning in your word.
Allow your Holy Spirit to have your way in us, we pray.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Amen.
Well, it is very special to have all of you here, instead of just preaching to a camera.
It's nice to actually have some smiling faces.
It's good to be with you this morning.
That song expresses the pathway, the end point, really, of where we're going to go.
We're starting in Nehemiah chapter 5.
But the culmination of what we see in Nehemiah chapter 5 is to help us see a foreshadowing.
A foreshadowing of the ministry of Jesus and the work that Jesus intends to accomplish.
The work of redemption.
The work of ransom.
The work to get us all back to that original purpose.
The purpose that he established at the beginning of creation in allowing us to have fellowship with him
in holiness and perfection.
We broke that.
Adam and Eve broke that in the garden.
We continue to break that every single day of our existence through our sin.
Through our rebellion against God.
But God, by his mercy, is made a way.
And his heart is to ransom all of creation to reset it back to its original design.
As John writes in Revelation chapter 5, 9 and 10,
they sang a new song saying,
Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals.
For you were slain and by your blood you ransomed people.
And here it is.
For God from every tribe and language and people and nation.
And you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God.
And they shall reign on the earth.
Now that should sound really familiar because that's what God had established with Abraham
and with Moses and with the people when he built this covenant relationship with them at Mount Sinai.
Abraham, of course, was much earlier.
But they were the covenant people pulled and made distinct because of Abraham.
They were sons of Abraham.
But this covenant relationship, this contract that God wrote up for the people
that was to establish how this relationship was supposed to work,
was signed and sealed at Mount Sinai.
And at that time, God made his people a kingdom of priests.
That was the goal.
That was the plan.
But his people throughout history had broken that contract,
had violated God's purpose in their life.
And instead of saying,
what a privilege of welcoming the world,
welcoming the nations into this same relationship that we enjoy,
of featuring and being an illustration of the welcoming relationship of God,
the presence of God among his people,
they said, ha, we're distinct people.
We're set apart people.
We are God's people.
And you have nothing to do with him.
That was not God's plan.
That was not God's purpose.
God's purpose was to establish in Israel a welcoming cry,
a kingdom of priests that would call the nations to himself.
He will establish that purpose once and for all when the end has finally come.
That's his purpose, to welcome the nations before him.
And this morning, if you are a Gentile like me,
you are an individual who has experienced that mercy and compassion of God,
a part that has come through his son, Jesus Christ,
who is a part of Israel and a light to the Gentiles like God intended him to be.
That's what Israel was supposed to do.
That was their purpose.
Because God had in mind to set all things new,
to redeem all of creation,
to bring them back to himself.
We find in our passage this morning in Nehemiah chapter 5,
another breaking, another fracture,
oppression that is taking place among God's people.
That Nehemiah, who is a foreshadowing of the Christ figure,
who echoes the heart of God,
recognizes the oppression that is taking place
and demonstrates a righteous indignation and hatred for what he sees.
We don't have any points this morning.
I don't have any notes to share.
I don't have any three simple truths to convey to you today.
I just want to talk through this narrative.
I want us to look at the history
and to see the relevance of what is happening here in Nehemiah chapter 5.
And I don't think there's a better time for us to see this.
You know, by God's providence,
back in late October, early November of last year,
I started putting together the preaching schedule for 2020.
I had no idea what was going to happen on June 7th
in the couple of weeks leading up to this,
but God did.
He knew the fracture and the divide
and the racial tension that is happening across our country.
He knew that was going to happen.
He is not surprised.
And so he put us here in Nehemiah chapter 5
so we can understand that God has a hatred for oppression
and God has a remedy for oppression.
It comes through Jesus Christ
and it is a catalyst through his people.
We are representatives of God
to help remedy the oppression
that we see in the world around us.
God has called us to be agents of mercy and compassion,
kingdom of priests,
called by God to be a light to the nations,
to bring in the harvest of worshipers
who will sit before the throne
and say worthy is the Lamb.
What a privilege.
What an awesome privilege.
But what a tremendous responsibility.
It's not going to happen
unless we begin to recognize
the significance of this issue.
This is not a tangential issue.
This is not a superficial issue.
This is a gospel issue.
And we must understand
and have a heart for this issue
just the way that Nehemiah had a heart for this issue
and just the way that Jesus had a heart for this issue.
Nehemiah chapter 5.
We're going to begin our time in verse 6.
Nehemiah chapter 5, verse 6.
It says this,
I was very angry
when I heard their outcry in these words.
Now if you're wondering what words we're talking about,
it's the words of the people
who have come to present the problem
of their oppression
that they're experiencing.
Now I don't know if any of you
have ever experienced oppression
or some degree of being taken advantage of.
I was trying to think in my own life
how I've experienced some oppression
and it's very mild in comparison
with maybe some of the things
that you've experienced.
I thought about
how do authorities
or people who are put in positions
of honor,
how do they maybe abuse
their privilege?
And how have I experienced that for myself?
And I thought,
well, you know,
many, many years ago
when I went to buy a used car.
Anyone ever buy a used car?
Okay.
All right.
I think used car dealers,
you know, they kind of have,
there's a little title
that goes along with them.
They're kind of known as slippery,
kind of known as those
who want to take advantage.
And so if you're a used car,
Salmon, please forgive me.
It's not against you.
Just recognize that there's some
who are out there
who make a bad name for you.
Okay.
Well, so I went to buy
my first used car,
the first car I'd ever bought
before in my life.
And I walked onto the lot
and I'm sure
they could smell fresh blood.
Okay.
They know,
ha ha,
this guy is a novice.
He has never bought a car before.
Look at him.
And the sharks were swirling.
I could see them.
They could smell blood.
They came all after me
at the same time.
So I'm looking around
and this was the age
before the internet.
So I couldn't do some pre-shopping
and kind of look around.
So I showed up at the lot.
I expected,
you know,
kind of like the grocery store.
You go to the grocery.
I'm kind of a guy.
You go to the grocery store.
Shopping is you find something
you like and you take it home.
Not that you go to this lot
and then the next lot
and you find the best deal in town.
I didn't know how to do that yet.
So look at the sticker.
It was about the price I could afford.
Looked at the car.
Yeah,
that's about the car
that I want to have.
And so I went into the contract place
where you sign the forms
and the contract that they gave me
was $5,000 more
than the sticker I saw on the car.
I'm thinking,
what is happening here?
And, you know,
when they have costs like stereo system
and hubcaps and wheels
and like,
that's not included in the car?
A pole street.
You know, the back seat.
I'm kidding.
Those weren't on there.
But just the inflation of these prices
and then on top of it all,
because I didn't have credit yet,
the interest rate was like astronomical.
I said,
well, I guess this is what you do
when you buy a used car.
So I signed the dotted line.
I drove away out of the parking lot
with my brand new car
and immediately,
buyer's remorse.
Huh.
What was I thinking?
What an idiot.
Instead of having an advocate,
instead of having somebody
come alongside me
and put their hand on my shoulder
and say,
let me just tell you
how things are supposed to work
on a used car lot.
They inflate the prices on purpose
about 50%
so that they can negotiate a little bit.
That's what you're supposed to do
when you go to a used car lot.
You're supposed to negotiate.
Well, I didn't know about negotiating
and I didn't have an advocate.
So I walked out of that place
and they absolutely took me for a ride.
Taken advantage of.
Well, about a week and a half later,
I totaled the car.
Which made matters worse.
Fortunately, God allowed my insurance company
to cover the entire cost
of a car that the price was already inflated.
So God was kind
even though the dealer was not.
And so I never made that mistake again
because I understood
what oppression was like
and I recognized what to look for
in the midst of that issue.
And here we come
to Nehemiah chapter 5
and here is a group of people
who should know better.
They should know better.
They have experienced oppression firsthand.
It went all the way back to Egypt.
It went all the way back
to their captivity
for hundreds of years
in Egypt.
So much so that Nehemiah prefaces
this chapter,
chapter 5, verse 1,
by talking about
an outcry of the people
which was reminiscent
of the outcry,
same word,
of the people
who were under oppression
in Egypt.
Egypt.
They should have known better.
And God,
by His mercy,
led them out of Egypt.
God,
by His mercy,
led them through
the Red Sea.
God,
by His mercy,
allowed them
to be preserved
in the midst of
40 years of wilderness wandering.
And by His mercy,
established a covenant
with them,
a kingdom of priests
to our God.
By His mercy,
He established
a relationship
with them.
He gave them access
to His very self
through the tabernacle
at the time
and through the ordinances
that they celebrated,
the rituals of sacrifice
through the Lamb.
The Passover Lamb,
which was the very first thing
that they did
to demonstrate
that they'd been
ransomed as a people,
which was a foreshadowing
of what Christ
would inevitably do
for them
in ransoming a people.
That was the pathway
of freedom.
And their wilderness wandering,
the exile out of Egypt
and their entrance
back into the promised land
was marked
by the bookends
of Passover.
It was supposed to be
this clarion call.
You have been redeemed.
You are a set-apart people.
And you are intended
to be the kinds of people
who will showcase
the wonder of your God
in calling the nations
to me.
My presence will mark you.
Be the kind of people
who will welcome others
into a relationship
with me.
You've given them
plenty of opportunities
to do that.
Rahab being the first
in Jericho,
by the way,
who was in the lineage
of Jesus.
Another hallmark
of the redemptive work
of God
in drawing the nations
to himself.
Nehemiah, of course,
understood the challenges
that this people faced.
His heart in Nehemiah chapter 1
breaks for the people.
We find him in Nehemiah chapter 1,
verse 4.
There is a weeping
and a mourning
of fasting
and a praying.
His heart is absolutely
broken and shattered
over the oppression
that he sees
of this people.
He bleeds for them.
His heart is burdened
for them.
He is interested
in their advancement
and helping to remove
the oppression
that they feel.
So Nehemiah begins
to pray
and God says,
Nehemiah,
you're the guy.
You want to see
the oppression
of this people
being removed?
Well, I'm going to use you
as a catalyst
to make it happen.
So I'm sending you
back to Jerusalem.
So Nehemiah goes
and he helps the people
begin to build the wall.
The wall which would be
an extension
of the temple.
The wall in Jerusalem
which was supposed
to showcase
the presence of God
among his people.
This was God's city.
This was Zion.
This is where God dwelt.
This is where you could enjoy
the presence of God
as a people.
So as Nehemiah
begins to build
these walls
with the people,
they encounter
oppression
from the enemies.
It begins
with a small
set of
tidal waves
and opposition
and mounts
into this
great tidal wave
of oppression
by the entire
region
surrounding them.
So they're
totally encompassed
by opposition
all around them.
I'm sure Nehemiah
expected this kind
of opposition
but he wasn't prepared
for what he was going
to hear
in chapter 5.
He wasn't prepared
for the fact
that the people
would oppress
themselves.
Of course
the enemies
would oppress them
but their own brothers?
How could it be?
Nearly takes
his breath away.
You can see that
in Nehemiah
chapter 6
excuse me
5 verse 6
I was very angry
he says
when I heard
their outcry
in these words.
There were three
groups of people
that came
to Nehemiah
to express
the kind of opposition
that they were experiencing.
The first group
of individuals
is those
they didn't have
any property
so they didn't have
anything to barter with
but they did have
large families.
They were merchants
they were tradesmen
they may have been
shepherds
they were trying
to do business
in Jerusalem
but their
trade was shut down
because there wasn't
anyone coming
through Jerusalem anymore.
All of the tradesmen
from the surrounding regions
avoided that place
because they knew
it was a hotbed
of controversy
a hotbed of conflict
not to mention
the fact that
there was
a lot of work
going on
for the last month
and a half.
So
their merchandise
and their ability
to buy
and to sell
was shut down.
They had no
access to money.
To make matters worse
their families
were large
and so
trying to
make a way
for their family
to survive
was difficult
if not impossible.
Certainly
they would have
gone to the nobles
and to the wealthy
to say
can you please
spare us a little
funds
can you just
loan us a little
cash
but because
there was nothing
in it
for the nobles
they were unwilling
to share
they were unwilling
to help.
They had not
been gripped
by the reality
of God's mercy
in their own life.
They had not
really come to terms
with how
God had called
them to be
a kingdom of priests.
They had not
really understood
the image
bearing testimony
they were supposed
to have
among the nations.
They didn't really
care about that
anyway.
The second group
involves those
who did own
some property.
vineyards
and fields
and homes
we find
them in
verse 3.
They used
this as collateral
these vineyards
and farms
as a collateral
in order
to get some
money in their
pockets
to buy some
food
to buy some
grain.
They figured
that as long
as the harvest
came
and it was
just a month
away
they knew
that as soon
as the harvest
would come
they'd be able
to pay off
those debts.
the challenge
again was
compounded
by two factors.
The first factor
was a famine
that you see
there in
verse 3.
Now the famine
isn't a famine
as you and I
would think
where there's
no access
to water
and everything
is parched
and dry.
The famine
that is talked
about here
in Nehemiah
chapter 5
verse 3
is the kind
of famine
that the crops
just don't
produce the way
they would
in a healthy
year.
famine has
come
the crops
are not
producing
the kind
of yield
they need
to pay
off the debts
and to make
matters worse
there is interest
put on top
of everything
they could
never undo
or turn
this thing
around
without a
banner
bumper crop.
So now
they're looking
at a mortgage
that is upside
down.
They're looking
at property
that they're
going to be
handing over
to these
wealthy nobles.
who are going
to now take
it from them
because of
the exchange
that they made
in this mortgage
deal.
As a result
they have no
hope of inheritance
to pass on
to their children.
They have no
hope of future
income.
They're looking
at a life
of poverty
from this point
on.
They were stuck.
The third
group is the
group that
also had
vineyards
and farms
and property
and because
of the heavy
taxation
of about
40%.
Now
we just
went through
tax season.
Were your
taxes
something that
you really
look forward
to?
Yippee!
I get to
pay my
taxes this
year!
Alright!
It's about
15%.
I love
saying goodbye
to that money
and I don't
think there's
anybody in
this room
that would
raise their
hand on that
one.
Imagine
we think
15%
is bad.
Imagine
40%
and 50%
half of
your income
gone!
This is a
dire time.
This is a
strained time.
And so in
order to pay
their debts
their solution
is we
understand we
need this
property.
We want to
hand it down
as an inheritance
to our
children.
Maybe we
can just
exercise the
option built
into the
law that
says our
kids can
be indentured
servants for
the next
several years
until we pay
off our debt
or until the
year of
jubilee.
Every seven
years things
would reset
back to the
beginning and
regardless of
what that debt
might be the
servants would
be returned
back to their
original position.
That might not
be so bad at
least in
seven years
from now
we'll all
be free.
There was a
problem though.
Again interest
rates were too
high.
And again
the children
that were
given to
these nobles
were then
sold as
property to
the nations.
There was no
opportunity now
for them to
be redeemed
for them to
be reclaimed.
The year of
jubilee didn't
matter anymore.
They were
exercising these
nobles, were
exercising the
option of, which
wasn't really an
option allowed in
the law, they
were exercising
their option of
selling these
kids now into
slavery and
making good on
this exchange.
sons and
daughters sold into
slavery.
Notice what it
says in verse
five.
Yet we are
forcing, this is in
the middle of the
verse, our sons and
daughters to be
slaves and some of
our daughters have
already been
enslaved.
The repetition
that you see there
is intentional
because Nehemiah is
describing an
enslavement that
is in addition to
the enslavement
that is happening
to sons.
Which means that
these daughters
also have been
sold into slavery
in the sense that
they've been given
as wives to
these nobles.
You can almost see
them around the
table.
And I almost
hate to, maybe I
shouldn't.
It's too late now.
I guess I will.
They could have
written the book
The Art of the
Deal.
They could have
written that book
because they're
sitting around
talking to one
another, hey
have you seen
the deal that I
did yesterday?
Doggy, it was
amazing.
I saw this mom
and dad walk up
to me, they were
asking for access
to some money and
I said, I'm sorry,
just don't have
anything to give to
you right now.
I could tell it
had been at least
a week since
they'd eaten last,
kind of an emaciated
bunch and so I
knew they were
desperate.
Because if they
were looking sick
and thin, then I
can only imagine
how thin their
children are.
So I told them,
tell you what,
you know, you
mortgage your
property and maybe
I can find some
cash.
And now the
interest rate is
going to be 20%
but it's better to
have some food in
your tummy than
to all starve,
right?
Or I got another
option for you.
Your sons and your
daughters, they look
pretty strong.
I can put them to
work in my fields and
they can make me
some money.
I understand that
you have your own
harvest to do but
your crops aren't
that good anyway.
And again, if you
want your kids to
survive, then at
least they'll be
getting a good meal
every single day if
they're working for
me.
Or, you know, your
daughter's pretty
attractive and my
wife's kind of sick.
She's not been able
to do her normal
wifely duties for the
last several months.
I could use a good
looking young girl.
why don't you give
her to me as a
second wife?
That's the kind of
abuse we're talking
about in this
passage.
And there's no
wonder why
Nehemiah is so
enraged.
They should have
known better.
They should have
understood and
thought about the
oppression that they
had personally
experienced and the
oppression of their
ancestors.
They should have
known about the
160 years of
slavery that they
have been experiencing
up to this point.
For 160 years,
they've either been
under Babylonian rule
or Persian rule or
underneath the mob
rule there in Judah.
Their parents and
grandparents breathed
and lived the
adversity and
opposition, the
prejudice that was
built in to that
region.
They should have
known it best.
It should have
created in them a
heart of mercy and
compassion for their
fellow brothers, but
it didn't.
They were too
interested in their
own profit.
Injustice was a
means to an end for
them.
They had their own
families to think
about.
They had their own
future to secure.
They had their own
portfolio to advance.
So taking advantage of
their brothers was
just natural.
Adding to their
distress was just a
necessity.
Profiting off of
their misfortune was
a necessary commodity.
But Nehemiah presses
in in verse 7.
He says, I took
counsel with myself
and I brought
charges against the
nobles and the
officials.
I said to them,
you are exacting
interests, each from
his brother.
And I held a great
assembly against
them.
You see, Nehemiah
was familiar with
the Mosaic law.
Nehemiah understood
it and probably had
much of it memorized.
In his prayer in
chapter 1, much of
that is lifted
directly out of
Deuteronomy.
It's clear that he
has a great
appreciation and
understanding of the
law.
And he applies it
here.
He understands that
interest on your
fellow brother is
forbidden from the
law.
Deuteronomy chapter
23, 19 to 20 would
have guided him.
You shall not charge
interest on loans to
your brothers.
Interest on money,
interest on food,
interest on anything
that is lent for
interest.
You may charge a
foreigner interest,
but you may not
charge your brother
interest.
that the Lord your
God may bless you
in all that you
undertake, in the
land that you are
entering to take
possession of it.
Charging interest was
forbidden by the law.
In understanding the
law would be to
understand the heart
of God.
because at the
nature of it,
at the very core of
this issue was not
just checking a
punch list of doing
things that God has
asked them to do.
Because the Mosaic
law was not just a
list of good
suggestions in order
to be a happy
people.
The law was a
living illustration
of God among the
nations.
The law was a
portrait of his
holiness, his
righteousness, his
character in his
heart.
To follow the law
was to worship
God and to recognize
the pathway to
fellowship with him.
To enter in and to
express their
relationship with him
as a covenant
people.
And thus, to break
the covenant was
to misrepresent
God's divine
order.
To break the
covenant was to
misunderstand God's
heart.
To break the
covenant was to
pervert God's image
in the world.
And from an Old
Testament perspective,
it was a gospel
issue because it was
a covenant issue.
It was a Godward
issue.
Nehemiah understood
this.
He understood the
significance of the
law.
He understood that
it echoed the
heart of a
compassionate,
merciful,
oppressive,
removing,
powerful God.
That is God's
heart.
It was a portrait
of his personhood.
It was a window
into his holiness.
And through the
law, God
describes how the
people should relate
to him and how
they must relate
to one another.
Both were a
reflection of the
God that they
served, the God
that they worshipped.
Both were a
welcoming invitation
to the nations to
say, here's how
God's people look
because here is how
their God looks.
Here's what their
God does, what their
God values, who their
God is.
Will you be one of
them and represent
their God the same
way?
And it is God's
heart as creator
and sustainer, as the
originator of life, who
imparted his image into
us as his people.
We are image bearers of
God.
We have the
responsibility then to
preserve the dignity
of the image that God
has set upon every
person, wherever they
might be on this
earth.
It's God's intention to
preserve the people,
the image, as image
bearers of him, and to
protect them rather
than to injure them.
Now Nehemiah
understands that heart
and seeks to preserve
that dignity.
We see that in verse
eight.
I said to them, we as
far as we are able have
brought back our Jewish
brothers who have been
sold to the nations.
But you even sell your
brothers that they may be
sold to us.
They were silent and
could not find a word to
say.
Nehemiah committed
himself personally to
ransom.
He echoed the heart of
his future Messiah.
He was a future picture
of what Christ would
accomplish.
He personally redeemed
those who were sold
into slavery in the
nations, redeemed them
back so that they
could be free.
But you can almost see
the cycle happening.
Poverty, it leads to
indentured service to
the nobles who then
sell them to slavery to
the nations.
Nehemiah sees it, rescues
them, and the cycle
continues all over again.
And Nehemiah, who's now
made aware of this issue,
he says, enough is
enough.
Don't you understand the
significance of this
issue?
Don't you see how this is
a perverted picture of
the gospel, a perverted
picture of how God called
you to be his covenant
people?
But his initial
confrontation is met with
silence in verse 7.
Met with silence again in
verse 8.
And in verse 9, Nehemiah
brings it to the
preeminent place.
He wants to bring the
real issue to the
forefront.
He wants them to
understand the real
reason why this is
significant.
In verse 9, he says
this, the thing that you
are doing is not good.
Ought you not to walk in
the fear of our God to
prevent the taunts of the
nations, of our enemies?
You see what's taking
place there?
You see what Nehemiah
understands as the
foundation for this
issue?
You are disrupting the
image of God among the
peoples.
You are making a mockery of
God by your oppression of
the poor class.
Instead of removing
oppression, you are
compounding it and thus
perverting the gospel, thus
perverting the image of
God among the peoples.
Don't you have any fear
in you at all?
Don't you know what God
did to the Egyptians?
Don't you know how he
crushed them?
You put yourself in the
same path of discipline
when you refuse to follow
the pathway of God to
remove oppression.
He is the God of mercy, not
of selfishness.
He is the God who
redeems, not sells into
slavery.
He is the God who removes
oppression, not compounds
it.
Nehemiah understood the
heart of God.
He elevates the primary
purpose for obedience in
the midst of their
attention.
You have been called the
kingdom of priests.
You have been called a
light to the Gentiles.
But all they are doing
now is laughing at you.
They see a God that looks
just like their God.
They see a people that
looks just like them.
There is no distinctiveness
at all.
You are called to draw
attention to the wonder of
a compassionate,
merciful God.
You have been called to
remove oppression, not to
compound it.
We would expect that if
this is God's standard in
the past, that this would
be a feature of the
ministry of Jesus when he
steps foot on this
planet, and certainly it
is.
Let me just draw your
attention briefly to the
person and the description
of Jesus' ministry when he
first steps into the
public view.
It is found for us in
Luke chapter 4, verses
18 and 19.
How does Jesus describe
his ministry?
How does Jesus help to
set forth the purpose of
what he came to
accomplish?
How do we understand from
Jesus what he intends to
do through his ministry?
Well, we see it right at
the beginning.
The first stepping into,
the spotlight of Jesus
here in Luke chapter 4,
we find in verse 18,
the spirit of the Lord is
upon me because he has
anointed me to proclaim
good news to the poor.
He has sent me to
proclaim liberty to the
captives and recovering of
sight to the blind, to set at
liberty those who are
oppressed, to proclaim the
year of the Lord's favor.
You see Nehemiah?
The reminiscence of that
Christ-like figure in the
Old Testament now showing up
in the real deal, the real
image of God.
God made flesh and dwelling
among his people and brings
his purpose to bear in his
ministry through his son,
Jesus Christ, to set at
liberty those who are
oppressed.
That's the heart of our
Savior.
But what is the greatest
oppression?
What's the greatest means by
which we need to be
delivered from?
What's the thing that
enslaves us all, all of
mankind, for all of
history has enslaved us?
Sin.
We need God to liberate us
from sin.
He did that through his
son, Jesus Christ.
Jesus who was sent to
proclaim good news and to
liberate mankind by allowing
us to enjoy the freedom that
comes through relationship
with himself.
That is the first and foremost
oppression that must be
resolved.
And Jesus came to resolve that
oppression.
Have you experienced freedom
from that oppression?
Liberation from that slavery?
But in order for Jesus to
demonstrate a commitment to
that eternal reality, Jesus
wanted to showcase or
illustrate that through a
physical reality.
He did that through his
ministry on earth.
To set at liberty those who
are oppressed in a physical
way.
To set at liberty those who
are oppressed by blindness,
by leprosy, and by demonic
activity.
Jesus illustrated his ability
to set people free.
He did that physically to help
to feature and point to that
spiritual reality he intends to
do for us through his son,
Jesus Christ, through faith in
Jesus.
But notice how this happens.
It must happen through a
relationship with God.
You cannot be a catalyst for
removing oppression if you have
not personally experienced that
freedom.
Do you know Jesus this morning?
Have you asked Jesus for
forgiveness for your sins?
Have you come to the place
where you recognize the
bondage that sin has brought
to your life and you've said,
Jesus, please be my Savior.
Please forgive me for sin and
to free me into slavery to you
because your yoke is easy.
Your burden is light.
And notice, secondly, that it
must happen through the power of
the indwelling Holy Spirit.
It was the Holy Spirit that
empowered Jesus to speak this
text.
It was the power of the Holy
Spirit working through Jesus
to provide that freedom.
That same power dwells in every
person who has a relationship
with God through faith in Jesus
Christ.
You can only be a catalyst for
removing oppression if God is
indwelling you with his Holy
Spirit.
But as those who follow in the
footsteps of God, we have been
given this great privilege and
great responsibility.
The privilege and responsibility of
recognizing oppression and
seeking to remove oppression
wherever it may show up.
especially in this day and age as it
relates to racism.
I don't know how that looks, but it
begins with a heart.
A heart like Nehemiah that desires
to be used of God to change the world
around them.
Empowered by the Spirit, armed with the
gospel so that we can be used of God
to remove the greatest oppression, but
that God works in our heart to create a
sensitivity to remove oppression
wherever it may be.
May God help us to do that.
Let me pray.
Father, I feel so inadequate to be used
of you in this way, but I know that you
have given your Holy Spirit to us to
accomplish the impossible.
Paul is praying for the church of
Ephesus in Ephesians chapter 1, and he's
praying that that church would come to
understand the riches of your power
towards those who are in Christ.
God, may we come to really appreciate the
great wealth of your power that's
accessible to us through your Holy Spirit.
Give us a heart of Jesus to address the
oppression that we see all around us.
May we be useful.
May we be a portrait of our beautiful
Savior, we pray in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Thanks for coming this morning.
Good to see all of you.
Hope you have a great week.
Blessings as you go.
Thank you.