Good morning.
My name is Matthew Capone, and I'm the pastor here at Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian Church,
and it's my joy to bring God's word to you today.
Special welcome if you are new or visiting with us.
We are glad you're here, and we're glad you're here not because we are trying to fill seats,
but we are glad you're here because we are following after Jesus together as one community.
And as we follow after Jesus, we are convinced that there is no one so good that they don't need God's grace,
and no one so bad that they can't have it.
And that means that God has something to say to everyone in his word,
and everyone needs to hear what God has to say.
And so that's what we do at this portion of our worship service.
We look at God's word so that we can hear from him.
If you've been with us, you know we're in the book of Nehemiah.
The book of Nehemiah is about a man named Nehemiah.
It takes place in the Old Testament.
So it's about God's people before Jesus' first coming.
And in this portion of the Old Testament, we're in the 5th century B.C.
It's around 446, 445.
God's people have been in exile, and now they've returned.
But even though they're returning to the city of Jerusalem,
the city that God had given them with the purpose of being a light to the nations,
they've neglected God's city and God's ways.
As we saw in chapter 1, the wall around Jerusalem had fallen down,
and so Nehemiah, so discouraged in seeing the sin of God's people,
repented with tears and fasting and prayer.
And so he turned away from sin.
Then we saw in chapter 2 that Nehemiah did not just turn away from sin,
but he turned back to God and his mission.
He returned to Jerusalem and began leadership in rebuilding the wall.
And then last week in chapter 3, we saw the tremendous impact that happened
when it was not just Nehemiah working,
but also all of God's people coming together,
each contributing whatever they could,
putting aside their preferences and their differences
to work together towards one mission.
And so we saw that we can have different people with different missions
or different people with one mission,
and the impact that happened in chapter 3
when there was different people with one mission was tremendous.
Now, if I were to ask any one of you,
or you were to go to any church
that is seeking to be active and vibrant,
you would hear people say that they want to have an impact.
In fact, I would be surprised if there was someone
who told me they were uninterested in having an impact.
They did not want to have any impact.
But there's a problem with impact.
As one man has said, impact and opposition go together.
Impact and opposition go together.
You cannot change something without overcoming a force.
Even if this is something destructive, right,
you can't change a wall or a building without moving things,
without taking things that would oppose you.
You cannot rebuild a wall like they're doing here
without opposition as well.
And so as we see the excitement from chapter 3,
the excitement of God's people going out on God's mission,
trying to have an impact and rebuild,
we should expect nothing less
than for them to experience opposition.
And that's what we're going to see here in chapter 4.
And so the question that we have is,
what happens when opposition comes?
We know that it's going to happen
if we have an impact.
We know that we're going to face it
if we want an impact.
And so how do we prepare?
What do we know and do when opposition comes?
It's with that that we are in Nehemiah chapter 4.
You can turn there with me in your Bibles.
It's also printed in the very end of your worship guide.
As we come to this chapter,
remember that this is God's word.
And God tells us in Jeremiah
that his word is a hammer
that breaks a rock into pieces.
In other words,
there is no opposition
that can stand up against the impact of God's word.
And so that's why we turn to it now,
starting in Nehemiah chapter 4 in verse 1.
Now when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall,
he was angry and greatly enraged,
and he jeered at the Jews.
And he said in the presence of his brothers
and of the army of Samaria,
what are these feeble Jews doing?
Will they restore it for themselves?
Will they sacrifice?
Will they finish up in a day?
Will they revive the stones
out of the heaps of rubbish
and burned ones at that?
Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him,
and he said,
Yes.
What are they building?
If a fox goes up on it,
he will break down their stone wall.
Verse 4.
Hear, O our God,
for we are despised.
Turn back their taunt on their own heads
and give them up to be plundered
in a land where they are captives.
Do not cover their guilt
and let not their sin
be blotted out from your sight,
for they have provoked you to anger
in the presence of the builders.
So we built the wall,
and all the wall was joined together
to half its height,
for the people had a mind to work.
Verse 7.
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.
And we prayed to our God
and set a guard as protection
against them day and night.
In Judah it was said,
the strength of those
who bear the burdens is failing.
There is too much rubble.
By ourselves we will not be able
to rebuild the wall.
Verse 11.
And our enemies said,
they will not know or see
till we come among them
and kill them and stop the work.
At that time the Jews
who lived near them
came from all directions
and said to us ten times,
you must return to us.
So in all the lowest parts
of the space behind the wall,
in open places,
I stationed the people
by their clans
with their swords,
their spears,
and their bows.
And I looked and arose
and said to the nobles
and to the officials
and to the rest of the people,
do not be afraid of them.
Remember the Lord
who is great and awesome
and fight for your brothers,
your sons,
your daughters,
your wives,
and your homes.
Verse 15.
When our enemies heard
that it was known to us
and that God had frustrated
their plan,
we all returned to the wall,
each to his work.
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
the whole house of Judah
who were building on the wall.
Those who carried burdens
were loaded in such a way
that each labored on the work
with one hand
and held his weapon
with the other.
Verse 18.
And each of the builders
had his sword strapped
at his side
which he built
while he built.
The man who sounded
the trumpet
was beside me.
And I said to the nobles
and to the officials
and to the rest of the people,
the work is great
and widely spread
and we are separated
on the wall
far from one another.
In the place
where you hear
the sound of the trumpet
rally to us there,
our God will fight for us.
Verse 21.
So he labored at the work
and half of them
held the spears
from the break of dawn
until the stars came out.
I also said to the people
at that time,
Let every man
and his servants
pass the night
within Jerusalem
that they may be a guard
for us by night
and may labor by day.
So neither I
nor my brothers
nor my servants
nor the men of the guard
who followed me,
none of us
took off our clothes.
Each kept his weapon
at his right hand.
Please pray with me
as we come to this portion
of God's word.
Dear Father in heaven,
we thank you
that your word
is a hammer
that breaks a rock
into pieces.
We thank you
that it's powerful,
brought things to life
at the beginning
of your creation.
It brings us
to life now.
And so we ask
that you would do that
by your spirit
this morning.
That you would send
your spirit
to help us
as we hear from you.
That you would
speak to us
things that we can
understand
and apply
and know
and love about you.
Most of all,
we ask that you would
cast a spotlight
on Jesus
so that we could
see him as
more beautiful
than anything else.
We ask all these things
in the name of your son.
Amen.
If you remember
from chapter 2,
that was the first time
that we met
these opponents
of Nehemiah
and I mentioned
that we were going
to talk more
about them later.
Because in chapter 2,
all they had to do
was question Nehemiah.
They were confident
that he was not
going to succeed.
And then if you remember
at the very end
of the chapter,
they asked him
if he was trying
to rebel against the king.
And he had his
famous answer
in which he did not
actually tell them
what they wanted to hear.
He did not talk
about the king at all
but instead said
that God was going
to fight for them.
Now after chapter 3,
with the tremendous
building that happened
with God's people,
we see that as the
impact that they're having
increases, so does
the opposition.
It was small opposition
in chapter 2
because Nehemiah
had small impact.
And now that he's
had big impact,
large impact,
it is big and large
opposition.
We start out here
with essentially
an ancient Near Eastern
Twitter thread
with the mocking
from these leaders.
First of all,
in verse 1,
they're enraged
and jeering.
we can imagine
them posting
quick,
small character
posts about
the ridiculousness
of these Israelites
who are trying
to rebuild the wall.
He calls them
feeble in verse 2
and then he mocks
them for their
spirituality.
He says,
will they sacrifice?
In other words,
are they going to use
a spiritual solution
to a physical problem?
Don't they understand
that this is a wall?
These silly Jews.
The resources
that they have,
the tools that they have,
have nothing to do
with the problem
that's in front of them.
In fact,
if you look at
chapter 3,
they know that
they're having
priests build the wall.
So what are these
priests doing?
They're just sacrificing,
trying to rebuild.
And then the mocking
gets even worse
with Tobiah the Ammonite.
We can imagine him
posting an animated
picture of a fox.
He says,
if a fox goes up on it,
he will break down
their stone wall.
And so what starts
out with mocking,
however,
continues to become
even worse than that.
Because in verse 11,
we find out
that these enemies
are not just making fun
of God's people.
They're not just
mocking their methods.
They're not just
talking about how foolish
they are.
They actually have
a real plan.
And our enemy said,
verse 11,
they will not know
or see till we come
among them and kill them
and stop the work.
We saw before that
in verse 7 and 8
that there was
a real plan.
They're plotting
in verse 8
to come together
and fight against Jerusalem
and cause confusion in it.
And if this sounds
like an idle threat,
this is one of the places
where what the Bible
tells us is also
attested to
in other ancient documents.
And so we know
that these leaders
were very powerful.
This Arab leader
is not just the leader
of one group.
He's actually the leader
of multiple tribes.
The Ammonites
would have been
a powerful Jewish family
with great political influence.
And Sambalot,
who we've met
a couple times before,
was the governor
of Samaria.
Geographically,
they would have represented
an area that would have
surrounded all of Jerusalem.
And so these are
not just idle,
mocking threats,
but these are
very powerful
political figures
who are coming up
against God's people.
It would be
completely understandable
for them to be afraid
and confused
and worried
about what was going
to happen.
And so what we see first
is that God
has real enemies.
Deciding it as it is
to talk about
returning to God's ways
and His mission,
if we return
to God's ways
and His mission,
we are going to get
to meet His enemies.
God has real enemies
that hate His ways.
They want to destroy
His people
and His mission.
That's why 1 Peter
tells us to be
sober-minded
because the devil
prowls around
like a roaring lion
seeking someone
to devour.
Now in this chapter here,
we see actual death threats.
If you are a Christian
in certain parts
of the world,
you'll face that.
So this is not unknown
from what Christians
today are facing.
That's not what we face
here in the United States.
So the last time
I checked,
I don't think
necessarily killing.
We don't see people
put in prison.
But we do see
an awful lot
of lies
and we see
an awful lot
of lawsuits.
We see lies
and lawsuits
in the U.S.
We see people
on both ends
of the political spectrum
who are opposed
to God and His ways,
who are enemies
of God.
We see people
who oppress the poor.
which is a group
that God loves.
We see groups
that are fighting
to devalue human life,
which God says
was made in His image.
We see groups
that are seeking
to divide people
along racial lines
when it was God
who made the nations.
Christians.
We see groups
that are looking
to distort
and destroy marriage,
which God gave
as one of His greatest
gifts to humanity.
And then we just see
people who are
spreading lies
about God
and His people.
Not speaking
what is true,
but instead
making up stories
about what's
actually going on.
And so I said
at the beginning
as I say every Sunday
that there is
no one so good
they don't need
God's grace
and no one so bad
they can't have it.
But the harsh reality
is that while there is
no one so bad
they can't have
God's grace.
There are many people
who are not open to it.
Martin Luther
had a friend of his,
his barber asked him
for advice about prayer.
This man wasn't sure
where to start
and so he knew
Martin Luther was a theologian
and he said
I really want some help.
I need some help
praying to God.
And so Martin Luther
wrote something
that's become
very famous now
called A Simple Way
to Pray
which was something
he wrote.
He prays that God
would convert people
who are open
to His grace
but he would also
restrain
and it might be
divisive or destructive.
And so as we offer
God's grace to everyone
we're fighting against
God and His ways.
And so what happens
when God's enemies
show up?
First of all
we see what's
completely natural
among God's people
that there's great
discouragement and fear.
In verse 10
they decide
that they're actually
not going to be able
to do this.
They say by ourselves
we will not be able
to rebuild the wall.
And in a sense
they're right.
By themselves
they're not going
to be able to.
But then they don't
just face discouragement
they face criticism
from their own people.
There are other Jews
who are watching
what's going on
and they believe
that this is too dangerous
to continue.
And so in verse 12
the Jews who lived
near them
came from all directions
and said to us
not just once
how many times?
They said ten times
you must return to us.
And so when we face
God's enemies
when we meet
God's enemies
discouragement is real.
We'll be tempted
to believe
that we are not
powerful enough
to face
what's been brought
against us.
We will believe
and be tempted
to believe that
the best thing
we can do
is retreat
and give up.
The devil has
different strategies.
C.S. Lewis
is famous
for talking about
these
in his Mere Christianity.
One of his strategies
is to do
what we talked
about last week
to convince people
that there is
nothing more important
than their comforts
and their convenience.
That's one of
our enemy's
most effective strategies
in North America.
But when that strategy
doesn't work
the other strategy
is to resort
to all out war.
And so when God's
people had overcome
the temptation
to go after
their own ways
and comforts
and preferences
in chapter 3
the enemy
is left
with only one option
and that's this
to come at them
with tremendous
opposition.
In the mini-series
Band of Brothers
which follows
a company
of paratroopers
involved in D-Day
there's a scene
near the end
where Lieutenant
Dick Winters
is with his people
it's the Battle
of the Bulge
and as they show up
they meet
all these soldiers
who are coming back
from the front lines.
They know that
they need ammunition
so if you know
this scene
this is the one
where they're
trying to
easy companies
trying to take
the ammunition
that these
retreating soldiers
have
because they need
as much as they can.
And as they
go back
and they're passed
by all these men
one man stops
to talk to
Dick Winters
and he says this
it looks like
you guys are going
to be surrounded
and without
missing a beat
and with a
straight face
and a monotone
Dick simply says
we're paratroopers
Lieutenant
we are supposed
to be surrounded
as we follow
God
and return
from sin
to everything
that he's called
us to
we are supposed
to be surrounded
if we are not
facing opposition
then we are not
having any impact
and so rather
than being
discouraged
we should not
be surprised
it's naive
to believe
that we can go
on God's mission
with him
and not face
great opposition
it's naive
to believe
that we can go
on God's mission
and not face
discouragement
and so as we
know that we're
going to be
surrounded
as we know
that we're going
to face
God's enemies
coming up
against us
what can we
do
to have the
strength
and courage
to keep
moving
we see two
things that
Nehemiah leads
his people in
first
they pray
this is the
same thing we
saw in chapter
two that prayer
and action
go together
and so in
verse four
after this
mocking happens
the very first
thing they do
is cry out
to God
hear oh our
God for we
are despised
turn back
their taunt
on their own
heads and
give them up
to be plundered
in a land
where they are
captives
if this sounds
harsh
remember two
things
first
Nehemiah is
not taking
justice into
his own
hands
he's not
attacking these
people
he's not
taking a role
that belongs
to God
and giving
it to himself
instead he's
calling out
for God
to do what
God always
does to be
a great
and good
judge
and second
of all he
is asking
here for
God to do
to these
people what
he has
already done
to his
own people
remember that
Israel is
returning now
from exile
and being
in exile
meant that
they had
been plundered
and been in
a land where
they were
captives
and so
Nehemiah and
his people
are crying
out to God
for justice
saying when
we turned
away from
your ways
you took
us into
exile and
you let
us be
plundered
will you
not at
least do
as much
for your
enemies
it's like
a child
coming to
a parent
saying
you punished
me in such
a way
when I
did this
why won't
you punish
my sibling
why do
I not
get away
with this
but they
do
of course
the answer
is you're
the oldest
they're
the youngest
so it's
different
just kidding
but first
of all
they pray
they cry
out to
God
for his
help
but they
don't just
pray
they work
just as we
saw before
prayer and
action go
together
and so on
the one
hand they
don't just
work they
don't just
put swords
in their
hands and
station guards
but they
also pray
and on
the other
hand they
don't just
pray but
they also
work in
station guards
and so
before we
saw that
prayer and
action go
together in
general when
we return to
God's ways
and here we
see not just
in general that
they go
together but
that they go
together specifically
when we face
opposition
that rather than
give in to
discouragement
and fear
we can cry
out to God
for justice
as they do
here
and then we
can turn back
to the work
he's given
us
we don't
turn back
as an act
simply of
blind faith
because not
only do we
pray and we
act
but we also
know what
we've seen
before in
this book
that when we
follow God
when we are
pursuing him
and his
kingdom
when we are
looking to
bring God's
kingdom here
on earth
just as it
is in heaven
God's very
presence is
with us
Nehemiah
does not
just pray
but he
reminds people
in verse 14
that as they
face God's
enemies
God and his
character are
much much
greater
and I
looked and
arose and
said to the
nobles and
to the officials
and to the
rest of the
people do
not be afraid
of them
remember the
Lord who
is great
and awesome
we're not
just praying
and acting
but as we
face
vicious dogs
coming after
us
we know that
God has
them on a
leash
and as we
face opposition
we know that
we don't do
it alone
but God's
power and
his presence
are with us
because that
is what he's
promised
and so
that's the
same thing
we see
in verse 20
in the place
where you hear
the sound of
the trumpet
rally to us
there
our God
will fight
for us
this is not
blind faith
that he says
because he's
already seen
it in verse 15
when our enemies
heard that it
was known to
us and that
God had
frustrated
their plan
God's
presence
with his
people is
not just a
pie in the
sky presence
it's not
just a
hallmark card
encouragement
but it is
real intervention
God does
not take
away opposition
from his
people
but he is
there with
them as
we go
through it
and when we
know that he
is great and
powerful
it puts
everything else
in perspective
if you are
a Star Wars
fan you're
familiar with
the first
scene of a
new hope
Luke is
in the
Death Star
trench
and he's
trying to
save the
rebellion
he's being
chased by
Darth Vader
however
and it
seems that
all hope
is going
to be
quickly
lost
Darth Vader
is flying
behind him
he's already
taken out
many of the
rebel fighters
there's not
much hope
left
and then
out of
nowhere
Han Solo
shows up
in the
Millennium Falcon
Han Solo
takes out
everyone who
is helping
Darth Vader
and sends
Darth Vader
and his
ships
careening
off
into space
and so
as Luke
pulls out
Han Solo
tells him
you're all
clear kid
let's blow
this thing
and go
home
when we
face God's
enemies
we are
facing real
evil
but God
is great
and awesome
and so
his power
is more
devastating
it is more
secure
it is more
reliable
than anything
that our
enemies have
to offer
now we've
talked about
God and
his enemies
the fact
that we
will meet
them
that they
oppose us
but the
hard truth
is that
we
if we
are in
Christ
if we
are following
after Jesus
we're once
God's
enemies
and if we
are not
a Christian
if we have
questions or
doubts or
objections to
Christianity
we are
still
enemies
of God
and so
the story
and the
hope that
we hold
out is
not that
we are
the good
guys
fighting
against
the bad
guys
it is
not that
we are
somehow
better
than everyone
else around
us
it's not
that we're
smarter
that we
understand
God's
ways
we're
able to
face
God's
enemies
we're
able to
know his
greatness
and his
power
enemies
because God
is the
one who
has taken
his enemies
and made
them his
friends
it's because
of Jesus
death
that he
took the
punishment
that we
deserve
that he
justified
us as we
talked about
earlier in
this service
his presence
is with us
not because
we are good
people but
because Jesus
was willing
to let his
enemies crush
him
and so
when we
face God's
enemies
we do
it
because God
wins against
his enemies
for us
because he
was willing
to let
God's
enemy
crush
him
and so
as we
talk about
the gospel
as good
news
it's not
good news
that we
are asking
other people
to be good
like we're
good
but it's
the good
news that
no one is
good
only Jesus
is good
and so
God's
presence
and his
power
are with
us
because
not because
we are
better than
others
but because
God chose
through Christ
to make
his enemies
his people
and so
that's why
Paul tells
us in
Romans chapter
5 that
it was
while we
were enemies
that Christ
died for us
and so
that's our
hope
and our
encouragement
it's what
we cling
to
as we
go out
on God's
mission
because we
know that
as we
seek to
have impact
as we
follow after
Jesus
it's because
of him
and his
death
that we
are able
to face
the opposition
that comes
against us
and so
that's our
great hope
and our
prayer
and our
dream
please pray
with me
dear father
in heaven
we
just thank
you for
the opportunity
to belong
to you
thank you
that you
allow us
to be
a part
of your
work
and your
mission
in this
world
we know
we don't
deserve it
we haven't
earned it
but you
give us
the privilege
of doing
it
so we
thank you
we ask
that you
would use
that to
encourage
us
even as
we face
obstacles
and enemies
as we
pursue
your will
and your
ways
we ask
all these
things in
the name
of your
son
amen
you
and
you