God Will Prosper the Work

Chapter three: God will prosper the work

(a) POOR YET PROSPERROUS

We have already seen that when the children of Israel started rebuilding the walls and the burnet gates of Jerusalem, they had to face much opposition from their enemies. Now we find here that they had to face problems that hinder God’s work and their obedience to Him. Because of lack of love among themselves they had to face many problems. At that time there was a famine in the land. Because of resulting poverty they had to mortgage their vineyards, houses and lands (5: 3,4). There were some Jews who started taking usury or interest. As believers it is our duty to help those who are in need. If we fail to do this will be hindering God’s work. As God’s children we cannot beg for money or food. (Psalm 34:10; 37:25). Believers who cannot trust God and are in the habit of begging for help and money remain beggars throughout their lives. Those who are in need must learn how to pray for their needs. Those who have more than they actually need have a duty to pray and trace out those who are in need of their help. If this is complied according to God’s guidance, many needs can be met and no loss can be incurred.

Some years ago, I happened to stay with a poor family who were good believers. At that time the man of the house had lost his job. One day there was no food at all in the house, not even a piece of bread. But all of them including the small children began to pray without the lest murmur. They believed that God would supply their need and therefore they would have no need to beg. While we were still praying we heard a loud noise at the door. We thought that someone had struck with big stone. But when the door was opened, they found a large gunny bag containing bread, vegetables and other foodstuffs sufficient for the whole family. If we as believers start begging, God will not be pleased at us and we will continue to remain as beggars.

The first lesson the Lord taught me during the early years of my Christian life was that I should not tell anyone about my needs either by words or by hints but only the lord. There was a time when I had no food for many days, and to add to my difficulty, I had to walk long distance.

One day I was very hungry, then I thought within myself “I am very hungry”. I cannot beg or ask anyone for food. If I go to my friend’s house at food time, he is sure to ask me to have food with him. Then I will say, “No thank you”. If he ask me once more I will once more say, “No thank you.” but he ask me for the third time I will then agree to have food with him. With such thoughts I went to his house and it happened exactly as I had thought and I was able to have food in his house. After a few weeks I had a same temptation again. I was feeling very hungry and so I thought of going to my friend’s house once again with the hope of repeating my last experience. As I was on my way at about 1:30 p.m. the Lord rebuked me saying, “Where is your faith?” I replied “Lord I do not intend to ask or beg for the food. Only if he insists until I refuse him two times I will take it.” To this the Lord questions me saying, “What is your motive in going to your friends house.” I was put to shame. I immediately asked the Lord to forgive me. I promised Him that I would not go any person for any need of my own because He is my living sufficiency (Psalm 23:1). That is how the Lord gave me a strong faith.

There was another occasion when I had to go without food for s whole day. At midnight a man came and knocked at my door and woke me up. Then he said to me, “Brother! Please forgive me for coming to you at this late hour of the night. I was asleep and had a dream. In my dream I saw someone asking me to go and call you over for food. So I woke up, went to the kitchen and found that a plate of cooked rice was left over, please tell me did you have food to day?”. I could not reply him with a lie. So I told him that I had no food that day. He immediately took me to his house at that midnight hour and gave me food. These things do not happen by chance Do not say “Your case is different”: if we trust God fully we can prove His faithfulness.

On yet another occasion twenty-five of us went on a Gospel campaign. At that time we were doing our own cooking. When Sunday came those of us who were responsible for the cooking wanted to say back and attend to the cooking for all of us. I told them that the Lord wanted all of us to go for the worship service. They said, “What shall we do about our midday meals?”. I told them that the Lord would provide. So we all went to the worship meeting, after the meeting we were all standing at the bus stop. I saw one man who was known to me coming towards us carrying a very big basket. I asked him what was he doing. He told me that he had been to a wedding feast. Where much food was left over. The hosts said that anybody could take away the left over food. He thought since he had no family of himself, he could take the food for his neighbors and friends. But when he saw us, he felt that he felt that he should give it to us, so he left that basket full of food with us. There was good food sufficient for all of us. So God will supply all our needs as long as we do our part of trusting Him.

Early one morning when I was praying the Lord told me to visit a widow who was in great need of Rs. 5/- to her. So I got up, searching my pockets and found nothing. The Lord kept saying to me “Go and give.” So I put on my coat, took my Bible and walked out with out any money with me. Strangely enough while I was going, I noticed a five-rupee note lying on the road. Picking it up I loudly announcing three times, and no one claimed it. I took the note and went to the widow’s house and gave her the money. She began to weep and told me how that same night she saw her husband in her dream telling her not to worry and that Brother Bakht Singh would come and give her five rupees. She also said that the Lord had sent me just when she was thinking of me. These things do not happen by chance.

We must help the needy just as the Lord helps and guides us. We have to pray asking the Lord to show us those who are in need of food or clothes or money. That is how we can help and encourage our poor fellow believers, widows and orphans. There are many believers who have enough and more than enough money to spare for the needy, but they have no mind to share it with others. This type of self-centeredness causes their hearts to be full of murmurings, hatred and jealousy. In Acts 6:16 we read how the early church solved their problems by appointing men of honest report, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom. These days we find some people who are ambitious for power and authority desiring to become deacons and elders. Such people have no love or spiritual concerns for the poor believers. All they want is only prominence. Only those who are spiritual and are prepared by God can become shepherds. In Acts chapter 11, we see how there was famine in the whole of Judea and how the believers at Antioch sent them help through Paul and Barnabas.

When Paul and Barnabas reached Jerusalem they found the believers praying. At that time they were undergoing severe famine and persecution. Paul land Barnabas were surprised to see them praying with faith instead of worrying over their troubles (Acts 12:5). They had taken along with them money and provisions as a relief to the needy saints at Jerusalem, but they also received something in return from them, and that was a new burden of prayer. Thus they brought great blessings to Antioch from Jerusalem (Acts 13: 1-3). It is by helping others and sharing what we have with others that we receive a heavenly vision. As believers we should learn to pray daily and specifically to find out those in need. All elders and shepherds also should learn the same spiritual secret.

In Neh. 5:14-15, Nehemiah says that he did not accept any gifts from the people for all the 12 years. He accepted no food or money even though he was a governor. From a worldly point of view it would have been perfectly alright for him to accept gifts, as others in his palace for their supply of food and wine. They worked for the sake of money, name and fame while Nehemiah worked in the fear of God.

Among God’s servants also we find some who are governed by money and desires for comforts. They have a burden to visit only those homes from which they can receive gifts. If they find that their assembly is not looking after their needs they go on reducing the people in their messages saying that they do not know how to honor the Lord with their substances. Such servants of God have not learnt to trust God for their needs, and as a result they remain spiritually barren. If we serve God faithfully and depend upon Him for all our needs, without the least murmur or questioning, only then will our ministry be abundantly fruitful. Many servants of God say that they are living on faith. Many servants of God say that they are living on faith. But actually they live on the faith of others. So God’s servants must receive a warning that they abstain from serving God for the sake of food, money and comfort. They should do everything only as unto Him. If we learn to depend upon Him, in course of time we will find Him supplying all our needs. God never fails to link after us in a wonderful way, but He has his methods of instruction and increasing our faith. If God’s servants cannot live and demonstrate a life of faith, they cannot be examples to other believers. When God’s servants become beggars. God’s work suffers much. If they cannot live a life of faith, it is far better for them to quit, for they are doing more harm than good to God’s work, such people do not deserve to be God’s servants, because they only bring reproach to His name. Our God is a loving and faithful God. Through our ministry and life of faith we should be in a position to bring joy and satisfaction to His heart.

(b) TRIALS YET TRIUMPHANT

When Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem heard that Nehemiah had eventually succeeded in building the wall of Jerusalem, they wanted to inflict some harm to Nehemiah himself. When the enemy fails to hinder the work of God and when he sees that God’s work is progressing, his next weapon is to bring trouble upon His servants. Throughout our service to the Lord we have had to face battles very often. We who are in His service should be prepared for all kinds of battles, which we have to face day by day.

In Neh.6: 2,3 to start with Sanballat and Tobiah tried to draw Nehemiah away from his responsibility of completing the wall. In the same way we as God’s children are engaged in His work, worldly people invite us for worldly functions with the bad motive of keeping us away from His work. At times they will even offer the believers positions of honor so that they may be attracted by self-glory. In some place we have seen that when a newly born-again person takes much interest in the things of God, the leaders of the denominational churches invite them to take up some responsible position such as a chairman or as an elder. It is quite unscriptural to make a newly born again person an elder in the Church. According to 1 Tim.3: 1-10, and Titus 1:6-9, no one should be made an elder unless he is proved and tested. This is another way in which devil deceives the newly born-again people and hinders them from growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. When a newly born-again person shows zeal for the Word of God and desires spiritual growth the pastors of the denominational churches invite him to go and give some speeches in their church. Gradually other people also get the desire to become popular and thus many good people are deceived and misled and become ambitious for high positions. Generally those who are ambitious are the ones who cause much trouble. People can see that their own family life is not exemplary. Their children are rebellious. Such people have no burden for prayer. But they want to be elders and if they are not given a chance they begin to create trouble by false propaganda.

In Neh.6: 5-6 we read how these men Sanballat and Tobiah continued to trouble Nehemiah. When all the schemes and procedures of harassing Nehemiah proved quite unsuccessful, in a subtle way they sent an open letter to him with all kinds of false charges against him. These days also we find some people writing filthy letters against God’s servants and people. With guilty conscience they resort to falsehood and magnifying matters which have no basis. But our most effective weapon is to pray and commit the matter in the hands of our never failing Lord.

(a) PRAYER THE POWERFUL WEAPON

In Neh.6: 8-9 because of the false and wicked charges of the enemies there came a fear in the heart of the servant of God, but immediately he called upon God beseeching Him to strengthen his hand. We have had similar experiences, but have seen the enemy’s devices fade away when we rush to the Lord in prayer at the time of his severe attack. When people accuse us falsely we need not waste our time in arguing with them to defend ourselves. Only persevering prayer can defeat all the skill and cleverness of the enemy in all his attempts to harm us. The enemy becomes completely powerless when at the time of his attack we escape into the sanctuary of prayer time.

From vs.10-12, we see that when Sanballat and Tobiah failed in all their former plans and attempts they thought of yet another scheme. They hired Shemaiah one of Nehemiah’s co-workers to give him a harmful advice by misleading him. In vs.10, we read that this Shemaiah advises Nehemiah to hide himself in the temple in order to save his life. If Nehemiah had accepted his advice and had hidden himself in the temple, he would have given room for an evil report and reproach against himself.

The enemy uses the same weapon against the believers these days also. He often uses our friends and close relatives who are worldly minded to give us wrong advice to hinder us in our working for the Lord. That is how many believers have lost their faith in God. As believers we should not consider the advise of worldly friends and relatives. When God’s heavenly will and advice are available to us through prayer, then the advice of our worldly friends and relatives should be immediately put into the waster paper basket or the dustbin. According to Matt 12:46:50 only those believers who the will of God are the Lord’s brothers and sisters. In the work of God we should not be governed by the advice of our worldly friends and relatives. We have seen many servants of God, failing in such matters. When they are in need of money for the work of God, such as purchasing of land or constructing a pandal, instead of trusting God, they use worldly friends for financial help. They think that there is nothing wrong in borrowing money as long it can be returned since it is only for the work of the lord. Quite unknown to them such worldly methods of getting money invariably result in barrenness.

However Nehemiah could discern that Shemaiah gave him a wrong advice. Many times people who profess to be God’s servants create unnecessary fear in the hearts of other believers. They say that God has spoken to them to warn others concerning certain matters, and thus bring unhappiness and doubts in the hearts and homes of many. We should take a warning from God’s Word that we should be never be deceived by subtle people. God’s Word is given to us for our daily instruction and guidance.