The Wounds Of A Friend Are A Grace Of God

Church Family: 
If a brother or sister in Christ called you one day and asked to come over to your house to rebuke you, would you be excited about the meeting? That would definitely be an awkward way of asking for a meeting and would most likely produce some anxiety and loss of sleep but a rebuke really is a grace of God. God is very clear that a loving rebuke of a brother and sister in the family of God is an essential part of God’s plan for the church. Why? So that none of us would embrace a sinful, unbelieving heart that becomes hardened by deceitfulness of sin that then turns away from the living God (Heb. 3:12-14).

Nehemiah found himself in a dismal situation with God’s people. The future of the kingdom of God was at stake. Jerusalem was a divided city from within. The problem was not coming from the outside any longer. The problem was coming from among the people of God. Brothers and sisters were oppressing each other financially. The poor were complaining that all the wall-building was not putting food on the table. There was a famine so the cost of food had increased significantly. God’s people could not buy grain so they borrowed money from the more wealthy of God’s people, the nobles and the officials. This resulted in great financial problems because of the exorbitant interest that God's people put on the loans. Many had to give their children to be slaves to their lenders to pay off the debt. This created great anxiety, fear, division, hatred, disunity and so the work of the Lord quickly halted in Nehemiah 5. Nehemiah had to quickly exhort/rebuke his people in the fear of God to bring them back into unity, love, and trust for the glory of God. If this did not happen quickly the enemy nations would see their weakness and attack them physically (Neh. 5:1-13).

The same thing can quickly happen in the church. As believers we can give in to subtle patterns of sin that cause a gradual hardening of the heart. Sin deceives us into spiritual blindness, so that we cannot see the truth about our own condition. The only way that we can come to see our spiritual condition is through fellow believers holding up the mirror of God’s Word to our lives.

Nehemiah gives us a great example of how to lovingly confront the sin of a brother or sister in Christ.
He did not go in anger. He went in a kindness, gentleness, humility, unity, peace.
He did not go on the basis of assumptions. He went with facts and truth.
He did not go with condemning words. He went with words of gentle loving rebuke.
He did not go standing against them in opposition. He went standing beside them in love.
He did not go asking to them to submit to his will. He went asking them to submit to God’s will.
He did not go desiring them to fear him. He went desiring them to fear God.
He did not go as an enemy. He went as a loving friend.

What was the result of Nehemiah’s rebuke of his people? Restoration of relationships, repayment of interest, confession of sin, repentance of usury, unity and peace within God’s people and a return to the work of the Lord. Being a Christian does not mean that we will never experience spiritual blindness. We need each other to be willing to give and take a level of rebuke/exhortation that brings a spiritual clarity that we would never get alone, away form loving Christian community.

Proverbs 27:5-6 Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.
 
See you Sunday, united in Christ: Steve