WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:09.679 well hi everybody and welcome to our online message this week i'm delighted to welcome you 00:00:09.679 --> 00:00:17.199 and this week we'll be looking at nehemiah chapter 4 you might find it helpful if you have a bible 00:00:17.199 --> 00:00:25.480 handy to look up that chapter and before i begin let's just bow our heads and pray together father 00:00:25.480 --> 00:00:34.140 we ask that you would speak to us now from your word lord would you please encourage us where we 00:00:34.140 --> 00:00:42.219 need it lord please rebuke us and lord we pray that in the power of your holy spirit 00:00:42.219 --> 00:00:49.500 my words might be life transforming words and we pray these things in jesus name 00:00:49.500 --> 00:01:00.620 so in nehemiah chapter 4 of verse 1 and the chapter in the niv is headed opposition to the rebuilding 00:01:00.620 --> 00:01:05.200 and we read in verse 1 of one of the central culprits 00:01:05.200 --> 00:01:13.359 when scripture says when sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall he became angry 00:01:13.359 --> 00:01:16.939 and was greatly incensed 00:01:16.939 --> 00:01:29.180 and i guess one of the things that is mildly troubling about the mass marketing that we've 00:01:29.180 --> 00:01:36.700 been subject to in our culture is that quite a lot of that marketing is trying to persuade us that if 00:01:36.700 --> 00:01:45.840 we buy this implement or that implement uh we can make our lives somewhat easier in fact um it's not 00:01:45.840 --> 00:01:52.500 only us i read the other day there there's somebody running a yoga class for dogs and good luck with that 00:01:52.500 --> 00:02:01.719 i would think um but here's the thing um we'd love to believe wouldn't we that anything worth having 00:02:01.719 --> 00:02:14.139 can be gained easily and yet in just about every area of life in order to make any kind of positive gain 00:02:14.139 --> 00:02:26.680 uh there is usually a cost to that uh in malachi chapter 3 and verse 3 the um malachi tells us that god 00:02:26.680 --> 00:02:37.860 is like a refiner's fire and in those days um getting gold ore through to the finished product was a heck of a process 00:02:37.860 --> 00:02:47.159 had to be processed washed and then smelted and to get rid of all the impurities and finally ultimately 00:02:47.159 --> 00:02:53.460 from a good deal of ore you were lucky if you might get a small nugget of gold 00:02:53.460 --> 00:03:00.920 and why did malachi say that because i think malachi was trying to teach us and this is 00:03:00.920 --> 00:03:08.260 reinforced a little bit in the new testament that when it comes to discipleship there is a 00:03:08.260 --> 00:03:18.460 likelihood that to make a gain we might end up feeling some pain you remember nehemiah's task was to 00:03:18.460 --> 00:03:26.379 rebuild the wall around jerusalem we said a couple of weeks ago this was not just a physical task so it 00:03:26.379 --> 00:03:33.980 certainly was that but it's also a kind of symbolic task that rebuilding the walls protected 00:03:33.980 --> 00:03:43.020 the city physically but also symbolized the protection of jewish culture and in particular 00:03:43.020 --> 00:03:49.980 uh their religious culture which in exile of course had come under serious threat 00:03:49.980 --> 00:03:57.980 well before we can understand how nehemiah dealt with this opposition 00:03:57.980 --> 00:04:06.460 um just need to note one or two things that seem evident from nehemiah's character the first being 00:04:06.460 --> 00:04:15.819 that from verse five onwards we learned that nehemiah was a man of prayer that anything that he decided 00:04:15.819 --> 00:04:23.340 uh any plan that he had was always earthed uh in prayer to his father in heaven 00:04:23.340 --> 00:04:28.780 and that prayerfulness of course didn't just do nehemiah well it will do 00:04:28.779 --> 00:04:39.339 as well too as we battle in our discipleship in the 21st century secondly he was a man who understood his clear purpose 00:04:41.579 --> 00:04:49.579 um he knew and i guess you know reading the old testament today and we would guess that you know this is 00:04:49.579 --> 00:04:54.059 hardly rocket science that having heard that the wall of jerusalem was still 00:04:54.060 --> 00:05:06.220 uh in a demolished state it was pretty obvious that somebody needed to take on the task of rebuilding those walls and immediately that became nehemiah's purpose 00:05:07.579 --> 00:05:16.459 the third thing is he knew and in leadership terms he needed to get the situation in jerusalem from a to b 00:05:16.459 --> 00:05:25.899 and a lot of people are quite good at understanding a purpose but in our churches he seemed particularly bad at having a plan 00:05:26.699 --> 00:05:35.659 to get us from a to b but you will note in chapter two that nehemiah had a great plan to go before king artaxerxes 00:05:36.779 --> 00:05:43.740 ask his permission to go to jerusalem get protection from him get raw materials for the rebuilding of the wall 00:05:43.740 --> 00:05:55.180 the wall it was a very high risk but in the end a very good plan which meant that he could get on his way and ultimately fulfill his purpose 00:05:56.860 --> 00:06:08.379 so he's a man of um uh prayer a man with passion uh we're told in in verse four that when he heard news of the demolished wall 00:06:08.379 --> 00:06:14.139 he wept uh it was a man with a man with a man with a plan 00:06:15.259 --> 00:06:24.060 but to quote pete seager's old um protest song he as it were kept his eyes on the prize 00:06:25.819 --> 00:06:32.779 whatever came his way be that opposition from sambalat and tobias and geshem 00:06:32.779 --> 00:06:44.859 uh or be it um uh opposition from within nehemiah seemed unusually focused on the task of building 00:06:44.859 --> 00:06:53.339 this war and as clive told us three weeks ago uh this gargantuan task was fulfilled in just 52 days 00:06:53.339 --> 00:07:06.139 so nehemiah experienced opposition on two fronts first there was external opposition from sambalat and 00:07:06.139 --> 00:07:12.620 tobias and a man with a terrifying name geshem the arab who we read about in chapter two 00:07:12.620 --> 00:07:24.780 and from the very start of nehemiah's purpose there was a massive um anxiety on sambalat and tobias and 00:07:24.780 --> 00:07:34.939 geshem's part to try and stop this at any cost how do they do that well firstly we're told that they 00:07:34.939 --> 00:07:44.860 started by uh ridiculing the jews it says that at the end of verse one sambalat he ridiculed the jews 00:07:46.620 --> 00:07:58.860 and of course um you might think that um uh you know being ridiculed is something that you don't really 00:07:58.860 --> 00:08:07.500 like i mean none of us likes to be made to feel smaller but sambalat and his colleagues went in for this 00:08:07.500 --> 00:08:17.420 heavy duty it is interesting in the modern world how many stand-up comics um seem to start from a very 00:08:17.420 --> 00:08:25.580 strong atheist viewpoint and although they're wary about criticizing some religions they apparently have 00:08:25.579 --> 00:08:33.179 no issue in kind of going through the throat of christianity and mocking it uh absolutely mercifully 00:08:34.860 --> 00:08:40.620 and at some point you just have to kind of make a decision are you going to let this um pull you out 00:08:40.620 --> 00:08:48.139 of shape or are you going to withstand it and clearly nehemiah was not at all intimidated by this mockery 00:08:48.139 --> 00:08:55.419 he was just going to keep going and when sambalat and his colleagues discovered that mockery 00:08:55.419 --> 00:09:02.939 was not going to work was not going to put nehemiah off his stroke then there came the threat of 00:09:02.939 --> 00:09:10.699 something far more serious and far more scary and that was the threat of physical violence 00:09:13.259 --> 00:09:24.379 and this became a major issue and nehemiah had to withstand the threat of physical violence in verse 12 00:09:24.379 --> 00:09:31.740 were told the jews who lived near them came and told them ten times over wherever you turned they that is 00:09:31.740 --> 00:09:34.860 sambalat and his colleagues will attack us 00:09:37.179 --> 00:09:45.019 again i love the way that nehemiah deals with these threats in the first thing is improving the point i made 00:09:45.019 --> 00:09:53.340 earlier nehemiah is a man of prayer so in verse four we read these words nehemiah's prayer here is our god 00:09:53.340 --> 00:10:00.860 for we are despised turn their insults back on their own heads give them over as plunder in a land of 00:10:00.860 --> 00:10:06.460 captivity i mean that's pretty in your face kind of praying isn't it you know that your enemies 00:10:06.460 --> 00:10:11.900 enemies would be plundered uh would be plundered but nevertheless nehemiah went from that and prayed 00:10:13.019 --> 00:10:20.860 that his enemies would be overturned but also you will note nehemiah didn't just deploy a spiritual 00:10:20.860 --> 00:10:32.060 strategy here but he also deployed a practical strategy verse 9 we read in the face of the physical threat and the face of the mockery 00:10:32.059 --> 00:10:40.539 um nehemiah tells us we prayed to our god and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat 00:10:41.419 --> 00:10:46.939 physical threat and physical violence so we'll post a guard the spiritual threat 00:10:48.379 --> 00:10:56.139 that these people want to stop us fulfilling our symbolic task of rebuilding the wall and nehemiah and 00:10:56.139 --> 00:11:05.100 his colleagues get on their prayers get on their knees and pray together i mean this is amazing and of course 00:11:05.740 --> 00:11:12.620 underlying all this is a characteristic of nehemiah that again shines through the book and that was 00:11:12.620 --> 00:11:24.700 he was not lacking in the kind of courage department whether it was going to um king artax xerxes with a risky 00:11:24.700 --> 00:11:36.220 request to be able to leave the exile um in susa and go to jerusalem and ask for protection and ask for materials 00:11:37.900 --> 00:11:47.580 that took nerve and when the opposition came that took nerve as well and nehemiah was not found wanting 00:11:47.580 --> 00:11:55.340 but then there's another little piece in here that i just want to draw your attention to and it's this 00:11:55.340 --> 00:12:01.500 the people in judah this is verse 10 said the strength of the laborers is giving out 00:12:02.060 --> 00:12:05.580 and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the war 00:12:07.500 --> 00:12:13.420 here's a problem for nehemiah his workforce is basically coming to him and saying this task is just too much 00:12:13.419 --> 00:12:22.539 we're exhausted leave us alone nehemiah isn't going to be intimidated intimidated by that anyway 00:12:24.379 --> 00:12:33.099 how many times in churches have i heard the lack of effort from church councils or from people 00:12:33.099 --> 00:12:41.179 excused on the basis oh people are very tired of course we're tired we all get tired kind of life we lead 00:12:41.179 --> 00:12:50.620 uh makes us tired but if tiredness pulls us out of shape then we have a problem the other thing i would 00:12:50.620 --> 00:12:59.979 say about this is that when a kind of myth begins in a community like we're too tired and we can't do this 00:12:59.979 --> 00:13:08.219 it's highly infectious it quickly kind of catches fire amongst people and becomes a real issue 00:13:08.220 --> 00:13:21.580 nehemiah was not going to be intimidated by that because he knew that his purpose needed to triumph 00:13:21.580 --> 00:13:22.700 over the opposition 00:13:26.139 --> 00:13:36.300 let me close this message by saying that um in the new testament the one thing that is pretty clear although 00:13:36.299 --> 00:13:46.779 we choose to ignore it is that jesus approach to opposition was not if it happens no rather his 00:13:46.779 --> 00:13:57.740 approach was when it happens and friends we need to bear this in mind right now i think as the ties of 00:13:57.740 --> 00:14:05.740 secularism wash against the church as we try and work out how do we get into some kind of recovery 00:14:05.740 --> 00:14:17.019 following lockdown as we face the inevitable challenges of lockdown i think we need to heed nehemiah's 00:14:17.019 --> 00:14:27.899 strategy for dealing with opposition firstly we don't need to be intimidated intimidated secondly we don't need to fear 00:14:27.899 --> 00:14:40.059 and thirdly we need to put together spiritual strategy with physical strategy what did nehemiah do he prayed to his god 00:14:40.059 --> 00:14:50.779 and deployed guards to guard the work that was being completed i think that um on a personal level 00:14:50.779 --> 00:15:03.259 is that um on a personal level of addiction is that um on a personal level of addiction is that um 00:15:03.259 --> 00:15:06.459 you know it's important that you pray about your addiction pray that god would heal you it's important 00:15:06.459 --> 00:15:13.659 that your friends in church pray for you as well but then there's some practical things that it's useful to do 00:15:13.659 --> 00:15:23.899 one is if your addiction is alcohol stay away from supermarket and the alcohol section stay away from 00:15:25.339 --> 00:15:27.980 off licenses stay away from bars 00:15:30.219 --> 00:15:38.379 if prescription drugs are your problem tell your doctor that if non-prescription drugs are your 00:15:38.379 --> 00:15:42.620 drugs are your problem stay away from dealers and these kind of people 00:15:44.779 --> 00:15:48.059 oftentimes on a personal level putting together 00:15:49.019 --> 00:15:54.460 spiritual and practical strategy will help us claim victory 00:15:57.259 --> 00:16:06.539 nehemiah teaches us one very likely if a work is spiritual either individually or in our churches 00:16:06.539 --> 00:16:15.019 there will be opposition two we shouldn't shirk opposition or kind of go home with our bat 00:16:15.019 --> 00:16:26.059 ball and stumps but we should stand there stand against it the third thing is we should be spiritual in our approach the whole 00:16:27.019 --> 00:16:31.740 issue of ephesians chapter 6 remember that amazing chapter about the 00:16:31.740 --> 00:16:40.779 the weapons that god has given us to fight spiritual warfare with the implication of that chapter is 00:16:40.779 --> 00:16:54.379 don't fight um spiritual battles with worldly strategies no fight spiritual battles with the spiritual weaponry that god has provided you for 00:16:54.379 --> 00:17:02.939 the purpose of that we should be spiritual in ephesians chapter 6 so we will be praying against opposition 00:17:02.939 --> 00:17:08.299 we pray for bold plans in our church and in our lives 00:17:09.420 --> 00:17:15.900 in order that we might see the church in our time get into some kind of recovery 00:17:15.900 --> 00:17:25.019 on a personal level whatever your struggle is right now wherever the opposition is coming 00:17:26.220 --> 00:17:37.259 to you remember this that um god wants you to overcome and he will supply the resources for you to overcome 00:17:38.540 --> 00:17:43.180 but you need to show him that you are intentional about overcoming 00:17:43.180 --> 00:17:47.580 and the final thing is this 00:17:50.460 --> 00:17:58.940 opposition needs to be dealt with we just turn our backs on it then the strength of that opposition 00:17:59.580 --> 00:18:09.820 on a church front on a personal front will just increase in velocity and make it harder for you and me to claim the victory 00:18:09.819 --> 00:18:23.899 the amazing thing about the gospel is in the end it shows us that jesus triumphed over the most incredible evil the most terrible opposition 00:18:25.659 --> 00:18:34.539 on the cross of calvary and the great news for christians is that we're not fighting for victory 00:18:34.539 --> 00:18:37.980 but we're fighting from victory 00:18:40.220 --> 00:18:45.259 friends god bless you have a good week and amen 00:18:45.259 --> 00:18:47.259 you