Nehemiah 4:1-6, Keep on working

Psalm 16:8 “I have set the Lord always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.”

Introduction..

over in Romans chapter 7, the writer makes a statement, and if i can paraphrase it, when i choose to do good, evil is present....

there is always opposition when we are trying to be about our Father’s business.

sometimes people just do not want to see you prosper.

and that includes the church

but i encourage you to keep your eye and your mind stayed on the Lord and keep on working

Because only what you do for Christ will last....TALK, PREACH....

but it amazes me how people want to critize the church...

on what the church is not doing or they may have opinion on how the church can do it better…but they never come to the meetings...

and I willing to bet that in 129 years that has been some hell raisers come thru here..

but I heard what Jesus said, and the gates of hell shall not prevail...

and thru it all those faithful ones stayed focused on Jesus and had a mind to work, and they kept on working...

and if you look around you can see the results…TALK, PREACH.....

History...

the book of Nehemiah is consider part of the history of the Israelites, God’s chosen people.

the book was written from the perspective of a leader.

it is inspiring account of the Jews’ great determination to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, to reestablish worship of the one true God and to rebuild their nation.

the book has 3 distinct purposes in mind...

to show the steadfast faithfulness of the returned exiles in the face of severe opposition..TALK

to show the right path to purity of worship, the worship of one true God..TALK

to encourage God’s people of every generation to be faithful in their commitment and service to the Lord as they face difficult tasks that confront them…TALK, PREACH...

the book teaches us that as believers we must be united to serve God

it teaches that God is a God of restoration

and for believers to stay fully committed God and know that he is fully committed to us

and knowing this, we should have a mind to work and keep on working for the Lord

what we know that both kingdoms, northern and southern had been defeated and were in exile.

Assyria had defeated the northern kingdom and the babylonians had defeated the southern kingdom

eventually Assyria, defeated the babylonians and were in complete control.

now nehemiah had become a trusted servant to King Artaxerxes, he was his cupbearer…TALK....

the king had noticed nehemiah looking depressed and asked what was wrong..

nehemiah told the king was on God had put on his mind and on his heart and the king granted..

a mighty poor leader wont support his people...

and you never know who God will use to bless you...

the king gave him letters and funded the project.

Nehemiah took some workers with him back to Jerusalem to begin the work

and here we are now in our chapter for today...

let’s go deeper into the text...

Points..

this text shows 3 things for todays purpose,

we see the haters, we see prayer and we the people staying focused.....

THE HATERS

let’s walk...

Nehemiah 4:1–3 “But it so happened, when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, that he was furious and very indignant, and mocked the Jews. And he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day? Will they revive the stones from the heaps of rubbish—stones that are burned?” Now Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, “Whatever they build, if even a fox goes up on it, he will break down their stone wall.””

Sanballat and Tobiah were first deeply disturbed when they heard a man wanted to help the people of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2:10). Then they used scorn and intimidation to prevent the work from starting (Nehemiah 2:19). Now that the work had begun, they were furious and very indignant.

doing good, the work of the Lord and evil shows up…TALK,PREACH.

Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the Old Testament Chapters 4–7

God’s people always have enemies

Jesus himself said, “They will persecute and put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name, but not a hair on your head will be destroyed, by your perseverance you will secure your lives.” – Luke 21:12-19

but they made a mistake with that last statement...

look at verse 3, Nehemiah 4:3 “Now Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, “Whatever they build, if even a fox goes up on it, he will break down their stone wall.””

Tobiah made a huge mistake. He called the wall their stone wall; it wasn’t their wall at all, but God’s — he was criticizing God’s wall, God’s work.

in 129 years someone doubted Little Zion but this is a church that God has ordained and kept his hand upon…no weapon formed against it…TALK,PREACH.....

when the haters show up there is only one thing to do…PRAY...

Nehemiah 4:4–5 “Hear, O our God, for we are despised; turn their reproach on their own heads, and give them as plunder to a land of captivity! Do not cover their iniquity, and do not let their sin be blotted out from before You; for they have provoked You to anger before the builders.”

Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary on the Bible Chapter 4

Nehemiah did not answer these fools according to their folly, but looked up to God by prayer.

When times of opposition come, God wants us to rely on Him — and the purest way of expressing our reliance on God is through prayer.

i guarantee you in 129, there has been some praying going on at Little Zion..

TALK, PREACH......

Lastly, when you know God is on your side you can keep on working...

Nehemiah 4:6 “So we built the wall, and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.”

God answered the prayer by giving them all a mind to work. A mind to work is a gift from God, and no significant job will ever be accomplished until people come together with a mind to work.

Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary on the Bible (Chapter 4)

Good work goes on well, when people have a mind to it.

The immediate answer to the prayer made no difference in the enemies. The prayer was answered in the people of God doing the work. Nehemiah’s prayer asked God to take care of his enemies, and God answered by taking care of His people.

TALK,PREACH......

Conclusion..

the work of the church must always continue until Jesus returns..

the devil will try his best to discourages us but let’s stay faithful and know that God has our back

Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the Old Testament Chapters 4–7

Satan would have loved to see Nehemiah leave the wall and get involved in a dispute with Sanballat, but Nehemiah did not fall into Satan’s trap.

satan would love to the local church fall apart because that would effect the universal church...

but little zion i am here to encourage you to Never allow ridicule to stop your ministry; “take it to the Lord in prayer” and keep on working.

what if Jesus would have stopped, where we would be...

be He had a mind to work..

He kept his eye on the father and kept on working...

TALK,PREACH, CLOSE...