Sermon(Neh 6:5-9): Overcoming the hindrances

The original Korean text: https://blog.naver.com/stevision/50025286903

 

 

>> 5 In the same way Sanballat for the fifth time sent his servant to me with an open letter in his hand. 6 In it was written, “It is reported among the nations, and Geshem also says it, that you and the Jews intend to rebel; that is why you are building the wall; and you wish to become their king, according to this report. 7 And you have also set up Jerusalem, ‘There is a king in Judah.’ And now it will be reported to the king according to these words. So now come, and let us take counsel together.” 8 Then I sent to him, saying, “No such things as you say have been done, for you are inventing them out of your own mind.” 9 For they all wanted to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will drop from the work, and it will not be done,” But now, O God, strengthen thou my hands. (Neh 6:5-9) <<

 

There seems to be 'sexual minority human rights committee' or something in the Democratic Labor Party, an opposition party in Korea. The committee works for the human rights of homosexual psychopaths. The homosexuals, mad human beings, without shame, are trying to bring themselves together into a political power and to defile this country. >May those Christians working for the party be excluded from God's blessings of heaven and earth. May the sons and daughters of those who work there for the (false) human rights of the accursed homosexuals be servants of all servants.< Now, our spiritual warfare is at a turning point. A man who had cut off his sexual organs was acknowledged as a woman by the court and married a man, in fact a same sex person. This crippled man and his perverted male lover made a fuss, seeking to adopt a child. And these homosexual psychotics are joining forces to launch a formidable plot these days. They are pressuring the Ministry of Justice to enact the 'anti-discrimination act'. It seems that the government without sense has already submitted it to the National Assembly. >May a lot of homosexual psychotic descendants be born forever in the houses of officials, judges, and lawmakers who tolerate homosexuality!< The anti-discrimination law is a wicked law that allows accusing of defamation even those who say that homosexuality is a mental disease. The wicked psychotics are trying to prevent people from teaching others the harm of homosexuality.

 

Those psychotics are poised to accuse normal people of defamation if they call them 'abnormal humans'. I'm not sure, but I wonder if there are, in America, a dirty country full of homosexuals, any people who were accused of defamation when they say homosex is a mental disease. I am deeply concerned that the government's anti-discrimination law would be a bad law that stops legitimate claims of ordinary people. All of us Christians must oppose the enactment of the evil law that will serve as trumpet of such wicked perverted humans having mental illness.

 

But my brethren, don't worry too much, for we have a good helper. There is freedom of conscience in the constitution. And we have freedom also to express what we think. We have the freedom of conscience, so we may think that homosex is a wicked mental disorder for it destroys individuals, homes, societies, and nations. We have the freedom and the right to inform people of the harm of homosexuality and to teach them so that they and their descendants may live with right view of life. We may, in a good conscience, think that homosexuals are abnormal, and may say freely to others, especially to teenagers, that homosex is abnormal. Such statements are not for the purpose of defaming the homosexuals, but for the healthy development and happiness of our family, society, and country. Therefore homosexuals don't have the right to accuse us of defamation over those statements. There is freedom of conscience in Korea, so homosexuals, too, have the right to think and say that they are normal. In fact, how strongly (and brazenly) do they publicly claim that they are normal? They can freely say what they believe, but we can't say the rebuttal argument? (How unfair!) We normal people do not file a law suit against the homosexuals when they think and say that homosexuality is normal. Why should they make a protest with us when we think and say that homosexuality is not normal? Rather, if they hinder us in expressing our thought that homosexuality is abnormal and is an evil culture, on the Internet, we have the right to ask them for compensation for the hindrance because they infringed on the normal people's freedom of conscience and freedom of speech and publication.

 

I said this, because dirty homosexuals, or dirty psychotics, try to pollute this beautiful precious country and to scatter their filthy dung all over the country. If we believe that God gave us this beautiful land as precious blessing for us, we must expel these fox-like homosexuals from this land Korea. I've prayed to God for a long time, "My God, remove idolatry and homosexuality from this land!" And God led me to the Internet and made me fight against homosexuality. My brethren, have you prayed for this country for a long time? If so, take concrete action according to your prayer. It is not good for you to keep only praying without practice when you are able to do something, thinking that maybe others will do it. God rebukes you, "You an idle coward man! Do you do the work of the kingdom of God only with your mouth?"

 

Ezra, Zerubbabel, and Nehemiah were the important leaders of Israel when Israel's captivity was over and the Israelites tried to restore the temple of God and the walls of Jerusalem. At this time, there appeared those who interfered with the reconstruction of the temple of God and the walls of Jerusalem. Ezra, Zerubbabel, and Nehemiah showed outstanding leadership then and accomplished the task successfully. We must keep it in mind that hindering people will appear when we do God's work. Sometimes by temptation and conciliation, sometimes by threat and by showing sharp teeth, our enemies intend to thwart our work of God.

 

How did the adversaries, the enemies, engage in their maneuver? First, some adversaries approach us with a common interest. >Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the Lord, the God of Israel, they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers' houses and said to them, "Let us build with you; for we worship your God as you do, and we have been sacrificing to him ever since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria who brought us here." (Ezra 4:1-2)< Let me explain the passage in more detail. When the (North) Israel was destroyed by Assyria, the king of Assyria banished the people of Israel to other places in his kingdom, and brought some people living in other places into Israel. The people who immigrated into Israel served their gods and the God of Israel as well. Years had passed, and some people of Judah returned to Jerusalem after the destruction of the Judah, the South Kingdom, and the period of deportation, and began to reconstruct the temple. And some inhabitants, who had been living around for a long time, who were the descendants of the immigrants, came to them, and proposed to build the temple together. The returned Israelites regarded them (the descendants of the immigrants) as religiously unclean, so they were reluctant to build the temple and serve the God with them. Therefore the Israelites flatly rejected their proposal. >But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers' houses in Israel said to them, "You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God; but we alone will build to the Lord, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us." (Ezra 4:3)< I don't know if this is done still now, but sadly indeed, some members of feminist theology in Korea cooperated with homosexuals for the human rights of the weak and the minorities. Actually some Korean feminist theologians claimed the human rights of homosexuals. It's a devilish theology! Like this, wicked homosexuals are trying to engage in social movements in solidarity with Christianity. Christianity shouldn't fall into such a trap. Do you need the power of homosexuals in order to carry out human rights movements because God's power is insufficient? What an unbelief! When it comes to human rights, how are the homosexuals trampling down the human rights of their parents and brothers? (They are being put to great shame because of the homosexuals.) Their other filthy deeds are too dirty to mention. Great believers struggled to keep their clean faith. Look at Abraham. When Abraham brought to the king of Sodom what had been taken away by the enemies of the king, the king said Abraham might keep it to himself. But Abraham refused to take it, saying, "I have sworn to the Lord God Most High, maker of heaven and earth, that I would not take a thread or a sandal-thong or anything that is yours, lest you should say, 'I have made Abram rich.' (Gen 14:22-23)" Purity is the strength of Christianity. Holiness is the power. God's infinite power is in the pure and holy church. Therefore the enemies of the church are trying to defile the purity of the church so that God's power may depart. Church leaders must be careful of this.

 

Next, the enemies use violence to hinder God's work. As Nehemiah's fellow workers began to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, the enemies threatened them with death. "But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem was going forward and that the breaches were beginning to be closed, they were very angry; and they all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it. (Neh 4:7-8)" And the Israelites built walls and also defended themselves. "From that day on, half of my servants worked on construction, and half held the spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail; and the leaders stood behind all the house of Judah, who were building on the wall. Those who carried burdens were laden in such a way that each with one hand labored on the work and with the other held his weapon. And each of the builders had his sword girded at his side while he built. The man who sounded the trumpet was beside me. (Neh 4:16-18)" God says to the leaders, "Be strong and of good courage (Josh 1:9)," for he will be with them. Nehemiah also said to those who were depressed by the threats of the enemies, "Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and terrible. (Neh 4:14)" Of course, once in a while Christians can die by the sword of the enemies while doing God's work. But it would be ridiculous if other Christians are discouraged when the Devil kills one of God's workers. The Devil will sing for joy then. My brethren, if you lose courage by the persecution of the enemies and go back, God's glory will fall to the ground and the power of Devil will soar to the sky. Do you want to see it? Don't you think you bring shame on the blood of your fellow soldiers if you retreat when you are scared to see them dying by a gunshot wound? The foundation of the kingdom of Devil is shaken when we are determined to accept even death in the war with Devil. My brethren, do you think the Devil can hurt God's children because God has no power? Dying in God itself is a victory over the threat of death. Sometimes God gives us that kind of victory, however in general God protects his workers like the apple of his eye and grants them the final victory. Nehemiah and his associates defended themselves and completed the wall while depending on God. The fear of the enemy can be overcome by our faith. Ahab and Jezebel had great power, but God protected Elijah safe. When you boldly do God's works, praying to God for protection, the enemy can never hurt you.

 

Finally, enemies use the public power to interfere with God's work. When their proposal to build the temple together was rejected, the enemies wrote to Artaxerxes, king of Persia who was the ruler of the world then. In the letter they said that the king should stop the reconstruction because those who returned to Jerusalem would betray the king when they had rebuilt the temple and the wall. The king believed them and forbade the reconstruction (Ezra, chap. 4). Later Darius ascended the throne. Israelites besought Darius that he should allow them to restore the temple and the wall because King Cyrus had already ordered them to do it before. They got the king's permission and accomplished their mission (Ezra, chap. 6). These days also, the enemies frequently file lawsuits against the church and Christians in order to interfere God's works. Wicked homosexuals, mentioning defamation, strive to stop the mouths of those who speak the fact and the truth. But everyone knows the church is good. Anyone, without exception, who hates church and is an obstacle to the work of the church, is a wicked one. Therefore our argument is the truth and the good while the enemies' argument is lie, shallow sophistry, and evil. We are ones who live according to the commandments of God. When we launch a mission at God's command, neither Devil nor any powerful nations can stop us. Actually, God ordered Nebuchadnezzar to destroy Judah and to take Israelites captive to his kingdom, and later he ordered Cyrus, king of Persia, to set them free and to allow them to return to Jerusalem for the reconstruction of the temple and the wall. The reconstruction was stopped for a while due to interference, but God moved the heart of the king again so that the work could restart and be completed. Therefore, if we work in God according to his command, the power of the nation can't be a decisive obstacle at all. Rather, when necessary, God helps us do God's work under the protection of the governmental power. "Moreover I make a decree regarding what you shall do for these elders of the Jews for the rebuilding of this house of God; the cost is to be paid to these men in full and without delay from the royal revenue, the tribute of the province from Beyond the River. And whatever is needed ㅡ young bulls, rams, or sheep for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, or oil, as the priests at Jerusalem require ㅡ let that be given to them day by day without fail, that they may offer pleasing sacrifices to the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king and his sons. Also I make a decree that if any one alters this edict, a beam shall be pulled out of his house, and he shall be impaled upon it, and his house shall be made a dunghill. (Ezra 6:8-11)" If we persuade the government in good faith, the government can't be our opponent, because the power of the government comes from God, and a nation is an instrument of the rule of God. The government can misunderstand and interfere with the work of Christianity for a while, but after all it becomes a partner of Christianity. (The Roman Empire eventually helped Christianity.) To make situations so, we Christians must be good people. If Christians are criticized by all, it can never make the government a good partner. When we ourselves become good citizens, the government can exercise public power to suppress the enemies of Christianity. We must completely eradicate the evil homosexual group from this beautiful blessed land by the power of the government.

 

May God give all of you strong and bold faith and wisdom to overcome hindrances of the enemies so that you can accomplish the work of God.

 

Chong Tack Kim

                               - Dongtoma Sunshine Church -