Sermon Tone Analysis

!!! Arise And Build!

All Things Are Possible With God’s Help

!!! How To Face Opposition

Nehemiah 4:7-23

 

 

*No One Said It Would Be Easy*

 

       */William Carey had to overcome great odds to obey the call of God./*

In /The Challenge of Life/, Oswald J. Smith noted that “even the Directors of the East India Company opposed {Carey’s} work.

Following is the idiotic resolution they presented to Parliament:  ‘The sending out of missionaries into one Eastern possession is the maddest, most extravagant, most costly, most indefensible project which has ever been suggested by a moonstruck fanatic.’”

Smith added, “In 1796, the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland passed the following infamous resolution:  ‘To spread the knowledge of the gospel amongst barbarians and heathens seems to be highly preposterous.’

One speaker in the House of Commons said that he would rather see a band of devils let loose in India than a band of missionaries.

Such was the opposition to missions when Carey set forth.

And yet, he was able to write, ‘Why is my soul disquieted within me?  Things may turn out better than I expect.

Everything is known to God, and God cares.’”

*/William Carey stood the test, and became the father of modern missions./*

*/William Carey knew how to face opposition./*

If you want to see another biblical character who also knew how to face opposition, please notice Nehemiah.

We have already studied the first six verses of the fourth chapter of the book of Nehemiah.

In those verses, we have seen Nehemiah and the workers under attack through criticism, mocking, and ridicule.

Their response was outstanding!

They kept working and praying.

*/When the devil cannot discourage you through ridicule, he will make an all out attack through fear./*

Now Nehemiah faces the threats of conspiracy and attack.

Let’s see how Nehemiah responds this time.

*/An important principle to keep in mind is that Satan operates through fear.

Seldom will God allow him to do what he is threatening./*

/(Notice with me please Nehemiah 4:7-18.

In these verse we can see:)/

 

I.

The Attack.

\\ /(The attack against the Jews and Nehemiah was carried out:)/

 

A.

Through Conspiracy (vv.

7-8).

The enemies of Nehemiah were angry with the fact that the walls were being repaired.

They could see the capital city and the spirit of the Jews being fortified.

*/What Nehemiah had thought would probably be a simple project, had become a complicated situation./*

It seems sometimes that the more we do for God, the angrier our enemies become.

*/New levels—new devils!!!/*  All of Nehemiah’s enemies got together and planned to fight against Jerusalem.

*/But if God be for us, who can be against us?/*

 

/(The attack was carried out through conspiracy and:)/

 

B.

Through Rumor (vv.

10-12).

When a group of people face stiff opposition, at first the opposition is outward, but slowly it begins to creep inward.

Neighboring Jews in Judah began to become discouraged and began to complain.

*/Eventually the criticism and complaining came from within./*

Think about Moses!

At first his opposition was from the greedy rabble, but soon it came from Miriam and Aaron.

Beware of inner opposition and complaining!

*/Hanging with those who are sour will make you sour./*

 

       */Then we see more vicious threats and rumors./*

The Jews who lived near the enemies came to Nehemiah and his workers ten times with these rumors.

People love to spread rumors.

The writer of the Proverbs wrote twice in

 

Proverbs 18:8 (NASB-U) and Proverbs 26:22, “The words of a whisperer are like dainty morsels, And they go down into the innermost parts of the body.”

*/The writer is saying that rumors and gossip get down into a person’s heart, i.e. the inner recesses of his~/her emotion-fused thought!!!/*

 

/(What is Nehemiah’s answer to this attack by conspiracy and rumor?)/

II.

The Answer.

\\ /(Nehemiah’s first answer to his attack is:)/

 

A.

Prayer (vs.

9).

*/I love Nehemiah’s response.

The first thing he did was pray./*

*/We should be certain, by now, that/* */Nehemiah was a man of prayer./*

Prayer was *no* mere tassel upon his suit of armor; it was the helmet that protected one of the most important parts of his spiritual body.

*/When we face opposition let us first go to God in prayer, then we will know how to answer and what to do./*

But that’s *not* all, Nehemiah also set up a guard day and night.

*/Someone has said, “Prayer without prevention is presumption!”/*

Many of us are guilty of that.

Prayer alone is *not* enough.

Pray, but do what */you can/* while you are praying.

Do what you can and */God will do what you can’t/*.

Nehemiah didn’t say, “Don’t worry, I’ll pray and God will protect us.”

He is likely to have said, “Set up a watch and pray that God will help us.”

How many times do we

 

·        Pray for a job, but refuse to go out and look;

·        Pray that God deliver us from alcohol, but still go to bars;

·        Pray that God help us with our eating habits, but still keep buying potato chips and pop;

·        Pray for increased knowledge, but refuse to study;

·        Pray for God to get us out of debt, but keep on charging?

*/This is presumption!/*

Prayer is *not* to take the place of what we can do.

*/Prayer is to invoke divine help from God!!!/*

 

/(So, Nehemiah did *not* merely pray, He set up:)/

 

B.

Precautions.

/(I see seven major precautions which included:)/

 

1.

24 hour guard (vs.

9).

Remember, the words of Jesus to the disciples in

 

Matthew 26:41 (NASB-U), “Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

We have been studying the contrast between the principle of sin that is in the flesh and the human spirit that is indwelt and empowered by the Holy Spirit.

2.

Men to guard the exposed places (vs.

13).

Nehemiah fortified the exposed places on the wall.

Remember Satan knows our weaknesses and he goes for the kill, so let’s fortify our weaknesses.

If you know you are strongly attracted to the opposite sex, set a watch there.

If you know you like to talk, pray the prayer that David prayed,

 

“Lord set a watch over the doors of my lips,”

 

*/and stay off of the telephone with gossiping people/*.

*/Here, at The House of the Lord, we must find our weakest points and fortify them./*

Our weakest points, in my humble opinion are

 

1)                Religion instead of the power of the Holy Spirit;