Overcoming Apathy| Week 4 | Overcomer Series

“People do not drift toward Holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated.” – D.A. Carson

Nehemiah’s Strategy For Overcoming Apathy – Ask the question 

1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it happened in the month Chislev, in the twentieth year, while I was in Susa the capitol, ² that Hanani, one of my brothers, and some men from Judah came; and I asked them about the Jews who had escaped and had survived the captivity, and about Jerusalem. ~ Nehemiah 1:1-2 NASB

Nehemiah’s Strategy For Overcoming Apathy –Allow the stirring

³ And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who survived the captivity are in great distress and disgrace, and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates have been burned with fire.” ⁴ Now when I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven. ~ Nehemiah 1:3-4 NASB

Nehemiah’s Strategy For Overcoming Apathy –Embrace the discomfort

⁴ Now when I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven. ~ Nehemiah 1:4 NASB

Nehemiah’s Strategy For Overcoming Apathy –Draw close to God

⁵ I said, “Please, Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps the covenant and faithfulness for those who love Him and keep His commandments: ~ Nehemiah 1:5 NASB

Nehemiah’s Strategy For Overcoming Apathy –Take ownership of the problem

⁶ let Your ear now be attentive and Your eyes open, to hear the prayer of Your servant which I am praying before You now, day and night, on behalf of the sons of Israel Your servants, confessing the sins of the sons of Israel which we have committed against You; I and my father’s house have sinned. ⁷ We have acted very corruptly against You and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses. ~ Nehemiah 1:6-7 NASB

Nehemiah’s Strategy For Overcoming Apathy – Return To His Promises

⁸ Remember, please, the word which You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples; ~ Nehemiah 1:8 NASB

Nehemiah’s Strategy For Overcoming Apathy – Partner with others

⁹ but if you return to Me and keep My commandments and do them, though those of you who have been scattered were in the most remote part of the heavens, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place where I have chosen to have My name dwell.’ ¹⁰ They are Your servants and Your people whom You redeemed by Your great power and by Your strong hand. Nehemiah 1:9-10 NASB

Nehemiah’s Strategy For Overcoming Apathy – Wait with expectation

 ¹¹ Please, Lord, may Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant and the prayer of Your servants who delight to revere Your name, and please make Your servant successful today and grant him mercy before this man.” Now I was the cupbearer to the king. 2 And it came about in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, that wine was before him, and I picked up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. ~ Nehemiah 1:11-2:1 NASB

Two types of apathy:

• Apathy born of religious duty – Revelation 2:1-7 – Ephesus

 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this: ² ‘I know your deeds and your labor and ^]perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil people, and you have put those who call themselves apostles to the test, and they are not, and you found them to be false; ³ and you have perseverance and have endured on account of My name, and have not become weary. ⁴ But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. ⁵ Therefore, remember from where you have fallen, and repent, and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and I will remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent. ⁶ But you have this, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. ⁷ The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will grant to eat from the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.’ ~ Revelation 2:1-7 NASB

• Apathy born of personal success/comfort – Revelation 3:14-22 – Laodicea

¹⁴ “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Origin of the creation of God, says this: ¹⁵ ‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. ¹⁶ So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of My mouth. ¹⁷ Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have no need of anything,” and you do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked, ¹⁸ I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to apply to your eyes so that you may see. ¹⁹ Those whom I love, I rebuke and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. ²⁰ Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. ²¹ The one who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat with My Father on His throne. ²² The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’” ~ Revelation 3:14-22 NASB

Words of Knowledge

• We believe the Lord wants to heal someone who is suffering with a bacterial infection in their nose.
• We believe the Lord wants to heal someone who is struggling with arthritis in their feet.
• We believe the Lord wants to heal people suffering with bunions on their foot.
• We believe there is someone dealing with heaviness and the Lord wants to heal you and set you free today.