1 00:00:07,560 --> 00:00:09,280 Good evening again. Would you open with me your 2 00:00:09,280 --> 00:00:11,880 Bible in the Old Testament book of Nehemiah? 3 00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:14,400 We've been studying through the book of Nehemiah. 4 00:00:14,400 --> 00:00:20,480 We find ourselves tonight in chapter 4 and just talking with 5 00:00:20,480 --> 00:00:24,640 somebody this morning, and each time that I study a book of the 6 00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:28,240 Bible, I find myself saying it's my favourite book. 7 00:00:28,240 --> 00:00:32,920 It's my favourite book and I'm definitely enjoying our study 8 00:00:32,920 --> 00:00:35,280 through Nehemiah. God's Word is so wonderful, so 9 00:00:35,280 --> 00:00:38,400 amazing, so pertinent and applicable and relevant to our 10 00:00:38,400 --> 00:00:40,560 lives today. It's the living, breathing Word 11 00:00:40,560 --> 00:00:42,160 of God. And that's why we honour God's 12 00:00:42,160 --> 00:00:44,440 Word. That's why we open it and have 13 00:00:44,440 --> 00:00:46,720 him teach and speak to us through His Holy Spirit. 14 00:00:47,480 --> 00:00:49,880 And so Nehemiah chapter 4 tonight, the title of the 15 00:00:49,880 --> 00:00:52,240 message is building through the battle. 16 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:56,480 So it's how you and I as God's people are able to overcome 17 00:00:56,880 --> 00:01:00,800 opposition and discouragement because here's what you've 18 00:01:00,800 --> 00:01:02,880 probably discovered just as much as I have. 19 00:01:02,880 --> 00:01:06,400 And that is that when you have commenced or begun something in 20 00:01:06,400 --> 00:01:09,680 your what with God, with a, with a real passionate and a real 21 00:01:09,680 --> 00:01:12,080 desire to serve him in and through it. 22 00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:14,160 Maybe it's a fresh start in your marriage. 23 00:01:14,920 --> 00:01:17,120 Perhaps it's a renewed commitment to prayer. 24 00:01:17,120 --> 00:01:19,680 And we're about to have a new year upon us and we'll make many 25 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:24,880 New Year's resolutions, a new ministry idea maybe, or even 26 00:01:24,880 --> 00:01:29,200 just a a personal resolve to, to break a sinful habit, to be free 27 00:01:29,200 --> 00:01:33,640 from that in your life. And no sooner does that desire 28 00:01:34,320 --> 00:01:38,720 birth within you, then it seems that there is opposition and 29 00:01:38,720 --> 00:01:42,200 resistance against that. No sooner do you seem to try to 30 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:46,280 rebuild some area where everything almost seems to push 31 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:48,800 back and work against that in your life. 32 00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:52,960 And you can guarantee that no sooner do you begin to become 33 00:01:52,960 --> 00:01:58,440 serious about something with God that the enemy desires to 34 00:01:58,880 --> 00:02:03,160 counteract that, to block that, to, to resist that, to bring an 35 00:02:03,160 --> 00:02:06,800 end to it. You may or may not know this in 36 00:02:06,800 --> 00:02:10,880 1937 during the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge in San 37 00:02:10,880 --> 00:02:15,000 Francisco. And I've been there personally. 38 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:17,640 It's just this massive engineering feat. 39 00:02:17,640 --> 00:02:20,720 And some of you have probably visualised it in person. 40 00:02:20,720 --> 00:02:24,480 Certainly you've seen it in movies or in pictures, but the 41 00:02:24,480 --> 00:02:28,480 first half of the project of this building was marred 42 00:02:28,480 --> 00:02:33,960 terribly by tragedy. 23 workers fell to their death during the 43 00:02:33,960 --> 00:02:35,520 beginning parts of the construction. 44 00:02:35,920 --> 00:02:40,000 And so you can understand as a consequence of that, that morale 45 00:02:40,040 --> 00:02:41,640 amongst the workers was pretty low. 46 00:02:42,520 --> 00:02:46,200 Fear dominated the site. Then halfway through the 47 00:02:46,200 --> 00:02:50,520 project, something changed. That attitude changed that work 48 00:02:50,520 --> 00:02:54,360 ethic and approach. Engineers built a large safety 49 00:02:54,360 --> 00:02:58,240 net, the largest ever made, and suspended it under the workers 50 00:02:58,240 --> 00:03:00,080 as they were completing their task. 51 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:04,640 And it saved 10 more lives. So 10 fellows fell and landed in 52 00:03:04,640 --> 00:03:07,480 that net, and they would have been so grateful and thankful 53 00:03:07,640 --> 00:03:11,200 for that, you can imagine. But the most remarkable outcome 54 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:14,520 of having that safety net in place now was that the project 55 00:03:14,520 --> 00:03:20,920 finished some 75% faster than they had anticipated because of 56 00:03:20,920 --> 00:03:22,720 the consequence of that net being there. 57 00:03:24,240 --> 00:03:27,680 Why is that, do you wonder? I would submit and it's 58 00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:30,320 something that we're going to lead into in our passage 59 00:03:30,320 --> 00:03:35,960 tonight, is that once the fear was removed for the workers that 60 00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:39,360 they now built with greater confidence as a consequence, 61 00:03:39,760 --> 00:03:43,360 desired to put their hand all the more to the task, knowing 62 00:03:43,360 --> 00:03:46,840 that they were safe from having fallen to their death as a 63 00:03:46,840 --> 00:03:48,920 consequence of the task before them. 64 00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:54,200 So Nehemiah chapter 4 Now moving to that is the story that will 65 00:03:54,200 --> 00:03:58,480 read of God installing what we could call his own safety net 66 00:03:58,480 --> 00:04:02,600 for the workers of the wall of the city of Jerusalem and his 67 00:04:02,600 --> 00:04:04,800 people here. They're going to encounter fear 68 00:04:05,080 --> 00:04:07,720 and opposition. We've already had hints of that, 69 00:04:07,720 --> 00:04:11,360 but it really intensifies in the chapter before us tonight. 70 00:04:11,920 --> 00:04:15,200 And it's not that God removes the opposition for them. 71 00:04:15,960 --> 00:04:19,160 It's not that that is eliminated and that they conduct the 72 00:04:19,160 --> 00:04:22,280 business of the rebuild of Jerusalem with without any 73 00:04:22,280 --> 00:04:24,240 opposition. No, that's not the case. 74 00:04:24,480 --> 00:04:28,360 But what is the case is that God strengthens them in the midst of 75 00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:32,000 their task and the work before them and the opposition that 76 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:34,800 they're experiencing. Again, the Jews, they're 77 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:37,200 rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. 78 00:04:37,960 --> 00:04:41,720 The goal is to restore security, to re establish the identity of 79 00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:44,480 God's people in the land. The the worship of God 80 00:04:44,680 --> 00:04:48,240 ultimately leading towards the temple being rebuilt and of 81 00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:51,440 reclaiming an identity as God's people representing him and 82 00:04:51,440 --> 00:04:54,400 loving him and being a point of attraction to the surrounding 83 00:04:54,400 --> 00:04:56,840 nations. But at this point in time in the 84 00:04:56,840 --> 00:04:59,840 history of the people of Israel, there are a land and a people of 85 00:04:59,840 --> 00:05:04,320 derision, and it flows on to the God that they purport to be of 86 00:05:04,320 --> 00:05:07,280 and to serve. But now as Nehemiah has come 87 00:05:07,280 --> 00:05:10,760 onto the scene and there's this sense of revival stirring up 88 00:05:10,760 --> 00:05:13,520 amongst the people, and they put their hand to the work of the 89 00:05:13,520 --> 00:05:16,000 task that we looked at last week in chapter 3. 90 00:05:16,360 --> 00:05:18,680 The work is moving forward beautifully. 91 00:05:18,680 --> 00:05:23,200 In verse 6, we see of chapter 4. And if we were to have it be 92 00:05:23,400 --> 00:05:26,120 etched in film, you could imagine the type of musical 93 00:05:26,120 --> 00:05:29,640 score that's at work here and just this sense of optimism and 94 00:05:29,640 --> 00:05:32,840 hope in their midst. But then suddenly conflict 95 00:05:32,840 --> 00:05:37,600 arises, opposition intensifies and discouragement starts to 96 00:05:37,600 --> 00:05:41,360 spread amongst the people and fear begins to take root in 97 00:05:41,360 --> 00:05:45,560 their hearts to the point that many are ready to abandon the 98 00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:47,600 task altogether. It's all too hard, it's all too 99 00:05:47,600 --> 00:05:49,000 difficult. Let's stop this. 100 00:05:50,840 --> 00:05:54,960 The enemy comes against them and seeks to frustrate the plans of 101 00:05:54,960 --> 00:05:56,640 the people of God at this point in time. 102 00:05:56,960 --> 00:06:00,680 But what we'll see by the end of the chapter when we get to it, 103 00:06:01,320 --> 00:06:06,080 is that the people somehow stand firm, somehow the work 104 00:06:06,080 --> 00:06:09,880 continues, and somehow the enemy's plans are frustrated. 105 00:06:10,440 --> 00:06:13,680 So we want to look at what that somehow is or who that somehow 106 00:06:13,680 --> 00:06:15,800 is. So here's the main idea of the 107 00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:17,600 passage before us and the message tonight. 108 00:06:18,240 --> 00:06:25,120 When God's people engage in God's work, they will face real 109 00:06:25,120 --> 00:06:30,960 opposition and deep discouragement, but by God's 110 00:06:30,960 --> 00:06:35,240 strength, God's truth, and God's help, they can persevere with 111 00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:38,320 courage and finish the work. So that's that's up on the 112 00:06:38,320 --> 00:06:39,720 screen for you if you're taking note. 113 00:06:39,720 --> 00:06:43,000 And here's how we're going to move through this chapter. 114 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:46,800 As we look at the verses ahead, we need to, if we have any kind 115 00:06:46,800 --> 00:06:49,680 of opposition, any kind of discouragement, take a hold of 116 00:06:49,680 --> 00:06:53,360 us when we're desirous of, of just moving ahead in the things 117 00:06:53,360 --> 00:06:55,760 of God in our lives and just living for him and honouring 118 00:06:55,760 --> 00:06:58,080 him. Then when that comes, we need to 119 00:06:58,080 --> 00:07:03,240 recognise the reality that there will be opposition and and not 120 00:07:03,240 --> 00:07:06,200 see it as altogether foreign or or weird that it's happening 121 00:07:06,920 --> 00:07:10,280 that secondly, we need to identify what those routes of 122 00:07:10,280 --> 00:07:13,640 discouragement are and we'll see them through and I think we'll 123 00:07:13,640 --> 00:07:16,560 relate with the common causes of discouragement that came upon 124 00:07:16,560 --> 00:07:19,880 them because they come upon us importantly. 125 00:07:19,880 --> 00:07:22,600 Lastly, we won't want to be able to apply the remedies for 126 00:07:22,600 --> 00:07:26,520 victory, to be able to overcome the opposition, to overcome the 127 00:07:26,520 --> 00:07:29,920 discouragement that sometimes takes root in our hearts, and to 128 00:07:29,920 --> 00:07:33,200 be able to to live for the Lord and honour him with our lives. 129 00:07:33,200 --> 00:07:34,920 So let's walk through these together. 130 00:07:34,920 --> 00:07:37,640 Let's consider the first in verses one through to 8 to 131 00:07:37,640 --> 00:07:40,680 recognise the reality of opposition in our lives. 132 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:45,520 It's so important, but it so happened. 133 00:07:45,520 --> 00:07:49,160 Verse one, I'm reading from the New King James Version when Sam 134 00:07:49,160 --> 00:07:53,040 Ballot, we've been introduced to to this fellow already, He's the 135 00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:55,960 head honcho of the opposition for the people of Israel. 136 00:07:55,960 --> 00:08:01,600 Now when Sam Ballot heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he 137 00:08:01,600 --> 00:08:06,160 was furious and very indignant and mocked the Jews. 138 00:08:06,880 --> 00:08:11,800 And he spoke, verse 2 before his brethren and the army of Samaria 139 00:08:12,320 --> 00:08:14,520 and said, what are these feeble Jews doing? 140 00:08:15,080 --> 00:08:19,360 Will they fortify themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? 141 00:08:19,720 --> 00:08:23,600 Will they complete it in a day? Will they revive the stones from 142 00:08:23,600 --> 00:08:25,640 the heaps of rubbish stones that are burned? 143 00:08:25,640 --> 00:08:29,080 And his words here, you can tell, are just dripping with 144 00:08:29,080 --> 00:08:34,400 mockery. And then verse 3, Tobiah is like 145 00:08:34,400 --> 00:08:38,320 that, that dorky sidekick that we so often see in the movies. 146 00:08:38,360 --> 00:08:40,760 Yeah. And you can imagine him popping 147 00:08:40,760 --> 00:08:43,320 up here after Sam, Sam Bell has said these things. 148 00:08:43,320 --> 00:08:45,560 And he's. Yeah, whatever they build, if 149 00:08:45,560 --> 00:08:48,440 even a fox goes up on a, he'll break down their Stonewall. 150 00:08:49,200 --> 00:08:54,200 That's how I picture this guy talking here. 151 00:08:54,200 --> 00:08:56,560 Oh, God. Now, Nehemiah responds, verse 4, 152 00:08:56,960 --> 00:09:00,080 For we are despised. Turn their reproach on their own 153 00:09:00,080 --> 00:09:03,320 heads and give them as plunder to a land of captivity. 154 00:09:03,800 --> 00:09:06,640 Do not cover their iniquity. Do not let their sin be blotted 155 00:09:06,640 --> 00:09:09,320 out from before you, for they have provoked you to anger 156 00:09:09,880 --> 00:09:13,120 before the builders. So we built the wall, verse 6, 157 00:09:13,880 --> 00:09:17,240 and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height. 158 00:09:17,240 --> 00:09:20,480 So that's some significant progress for the people had a 159 00:09:20,480 --> 00:09:24,360 mind to work. Now it happened, verse 7 when 160 00:09:24,360 --> 00:09:28,520 Sam Bellot Tobiah, and then it says now the Arabs, the 161 00:09:28,520 --> 00:09:32,160 Ammonites, the Astridites heard that the walls of Jerusalem were 162 00:09:32,160 --> 00:09:35,720 being restored and the gaps were beginning to be closed, that 163 00:09:35,720 --> 00:09:40,320 they became very angry. And all of them, verse 8, 164 00:09:40,640 --> 00:09:44,920 conspired together to come and attack Jerusalem and create 165 00:09:44,920 --> 00:09:47,480 confusion. So now it's escalated from words 166 00:09:47,920 --> 00:09:53,080 and mockery to to now physical expressions of we've got to 167 00:09:53,080 --> 00:09:55,320 attack them and defeat them to stop the work. 168 00:09:56,560 --> 00:09:59,120 So let's consider this and our point again. 169 00:09:59,160 --> 00:10:02,680 Recognise the reality that opposition, if you're a follower 170 00:10:02,680 --> 00:10:06,600 of Jesus Christ, if your desire is to live your life according 171 00:10:06,600 --> 00:10:10,640 to God's word and what he has outlined in it, you are to 172 00:10:10,640 --> 00:10:15,040 expect opposition. There will be resistance and 173 00:10:15,040 --> 00:10:18,880 challenge to that. To grow spiritually, to repair 174 00:10:18,880 --> 00:10:23,200 broken areas of your life, to again strengthen your marriage 175 00:10:23,200 --> 00:10:26,680 to to raise your children after the things of the Lord, or to 176 00:10:26,680 --> 00:10:30,520 allow faith to take hold in your life where you consider ministry 177 00:10:30,520 --> 00:10:32,800 seriously, you must expect resistance. 178 00:10:32,800 --> 00:10:35,520 In fact, Jesus told us that, didn't he? 179 00:10:36,280 --> 00:10:40,360 He said, look, to paraphrase, they were against me and they 180 00:10:40,360 --> 00:10:43,200 will be against you. He said to his disciples and the 181 00:10:43,200 --> 00:10:45,720 flow on is to you and I as his disciples today. 182 00:10:45,920 --> 00:10:50,520 In other words, Jesus says to you and I tonight opposition is 183 00:10:50,720 --> 00:10:53,920 a given. It's a guarantee expected. 184 00:10:54,280 --> 00:10:57,960 They had opposition here in Nehemiah 4 and there's this very 185 00:10:57,960 --> 00:11:01,240 predictable pattern all through the scriptures whenever God is 186 00:11:01,240 --> 00:11:05,520 at work, Satan just doesn't go Oh that's great God. 187 00:11:05,520 --> 00:11:09,960 I'll I'll give you a Barley's I'll allow you you to, you know, 188 00:11:09,960 --> 00:11:11,600 have your people work in and through this. 189 00:11:11,600 --> 00:11:15,920 You know, the enemy attacks seeks to stop it to stir up 190 00:11:15,920 --> 00:11:18,040 opposition. And it's very common what we 191 00:11:18,040 --> 00:11:19,640 experience as to what they experience. 192 00:11:19,640 --> 00:11:23,600 Often opposition comes through words, through mockery and 193 00:11:23,600 --> 00:11:27,280 through ridicule. San ballot here we read of him. 194 00:11:27,560 --> 00:11:30,720 It says that he effectively explodes with rage. 195 00:11:31,560 --> 00:11:33,200 That's the description, verse one. 196 00:11:33,400 --> 00:11:37,360 The Hebrew words indicate that this anger that he has is like 197 00:11:37,360 --> 00:11:41,800 this boiling, kind of snorting, fuming anger that's come on him. 198 00:11:42,800 --> 00:11:45,000 You ever had somebody do that when you've expressed the name 199 00:11:45,000 --> 00:11:47,440 of Jesus to them and there's just been this almost like 200 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:51,560 volatile physical reaction in the way that they've articulated 201 00:11:51,560 --> 00:11:53,960 the words. Don't say there's Jesus near me. 202 00:11:55,360 --> 00:11:58,040 This is Sam Bell. And then he stands before his 203 00:11:58,040 --> 00:12:00,440 army of Samaria and he mocks the Jews. 204 00:12:00,680 --> 00:12:02,320 What are these feeble Jews doing? 205 00:12:02,800 --> 00:12:06,000 Will they restore the wall? Will they offer sacrifices? 206 00:12:06,000 --> 00:12:08,440 He cries out. Will they finish in a day? 207 00:12:08,800 --> 00:12:11,480 Can they revive the burn stones? I mean, look at the building 208 00:12:11,480 --> 00:12:12,840 material that they're trying to use. 209 00:12:12,840 --> 00:12:15,960 It's just burnt out rubble. He's pointing out all of these 210 00:12:15,960 --> 00:12:19,520 things and using his voice and mock mockery and ridicule. 211 00:12:19,520 --> 00:12:22,960 And as I said to Bayer, that the sidekick just pipes up and 212 00:12:23,240 --> 00:12:25,920 throws out this line with reference to the Fox boxes. 213 00:12:26,720 --> 00:12:30,440 And so really what is in these words, in this ridicule is, is 214 00:12:30,720 --> 00:12:33,320 targeting the people of Jerusalem in these ways, their 215 00:12:33,320 --> 00:12:35,680 identity. They're feeble. 216 00:12:36,120 --> 00:12:39,120 Look at these feeble, weak Jews. Their skill. 217 00:12:39,240 --> 00:12:41,320 What do they know? Look at them trying to build the 218 00:12:41,320 --> 00:12:42,360 wall. They can't do it. 219 00:12:42,360 --> 00:12:44,920 They can't even tie their own shoelaces. 220 00:12:44,920 --> 00:12:47,120 You can imagine all of those sorts of things being thrown 221 00:12:47,120 --> 00:12:50,080 out. The words attack their faith. 222 00:12:50,080 --> 00:12:53,120 Will they offer sacrifices? Is that what they're trying to 223 00:12:53,120 --> 00:12:54,280 do? They're trying to restore 224 00:12:54,280 --> 00:12:57,840 worship in the land. He attacks with his words, their 225 00:12:57,840 --> 00:12:59,920 resources. Look at these burned stones that 226 00:12:59,920 --> 00:13:01,720 they're trying to build these walls up with. 227 00:13:02,480 --> 00:13:06,120 And then he attacks the future. They think that this wall is 228 00:13:06,120 --> 00:13:08,480 going to last. This won't even last a day. 229 00:13:09,440 --> 00:13:16,920 It's the idea behind it, ridicule in your, in my, in 230 00:13:16,920 --> 00:13:19,800 their lives. Haven't you found that's often 231 00:13:19,800 --> 00:13:24,760 Satan's first weapon against us? It's the language of the devil. 232 00:13:25,200 --> 00:13:27,200 It's what's coming through here in this opposition. 233 00:13:27,200 --> 00:13:31,000 I don't know about you, but I would hazard a guess that if I 234 00:13:31,000 --> 00:13:32,440 would ask, have you ever been mocked? 235 00:13:33,080 --> 00:13:36,440 Have you ever been ridiculed for being a follower of Jesus? 236 00:13:37,320 --> 00:13:39,600 You don't believe that Bible nonsense, do you? 237 00:13:40,120 --> 00:13:43,160 I mean, who can trust it anyway? I mean, it's just all inventions 238 00:13:43,160 --> 00:13:45,600 of man. And it's so antiquated and so 239 00:13:45,600 --> 00:13:48,240 outdated. And maybe if you've been 240 00:13:48,240 --> 00:13:51,560 desiring to honour God with some of the life choices that you're 241 00:13:51,560 --> 00:13:54,760 making as you read the Word and you want to be obedient to him 242 00:13:54,760 --> 00:13:59,360 and somebody points out and says, you, you, you're trying to 243 00:13:59,360 --> 00:14:02,960 change your life, that'll last a week. 244 00:14:04,600 --> 00:14:06,840 Now all of a sudden you think the Bible's real and you're 245 00:14:06,840 --> 00:14:09,040 going to live that out and be obedient to that. 246 00:14:10,000 --> 00:14:13,160 And it, and it hurts this, this ridicule, this scorn because it 247 00:14:13,160 --> 00:14:16,920 seeks to mock our insecurities and cause us the doubt and the 248 00:14:16,920 --> 00:14:19,600 question. But then if that doesn't work, 249 00:14:19,600 --> 00:14:24,200 what happens is what we see happen here is it escalates and 250 00:14:24,200 --> 00:14:26,880 opposition intensifies and can become physical. 251 00:14:26,880 --> 00:14:30,360 But certainly what will happen is that there's this thing where 252 00:14:30,600 --> 00:14:34,760 where if if an enemy in their goals to attack isn't 253 00:14:34,760 --> 00:14:37,240 successful, what do they do? They start to bring in others 254 00:14:38,040 --> 00:14:40,760 and find others who agree with them, and then all of a sudden 255 00:14:40,760 --> 00:14:43,680 these people who were at once enemies become united in their 256 00:14:43,680 --> 00:14:47,080 opposition against you because of your, your obedience to 257 00:14:47,080 --> 00:14:50,040 following Jesus Christ. And that happened here, verses 7 258 00:14:50,040 --> 00:14:52,040 and 8. The conflict, as I say, 259 00:14:52,040 --> 00:14:55,160 escalates. We have the Samaritans in the 260 00:14:55,160 --> 00:15:00,880 north, we have the Ammonites in the east, the Arabs in the 261 00:15:00,880 --> 00:15:04,240 South, and then the Astridites from the West. 262 00:15:04,240 --> 00:15:10,280 So Jerusalem is fully surrounded by those who are in opposition 263 00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:13,960 against them. Sounds eerily similar to today. 264 00:15:16,240 --> 00:15:19,880 You know, groups it's so common that are normally opposed to 265 00:15:19,880 --> 00:15:24,040 each other often unite to stop the work of God. 266 00:15:25,360 --> 00:15:29,320 Warren Wisby observes this. He says God's people sometimes 267 00:15:29,320 --> 00:15:33,400 struggle to work together, but the enemy never seems to 268 00:15:33,400 --> 00:15:35,840 struggle to unite against God's work. 269 00:15:37,080 --> 00:15:42,400 It's an interesting observation. So we will encounter opposition. 270 00:15:42,400 --> 00:15:46,120 It might be words at it, it may be physical, it might be a 271 00:15:46,120 --> 00:15:48,640 united front of opposition that comes against us. 272 00:15:48,640 --> 00:15:50,760 But what are we to do with that knowledge? 273 00:15:51,520 --> 00:15:56,440 I want you to tonight to to see it as a sign not that you're 274 00:15:56,440 --> 00:16:00,040 doing something wrong. It's often evidence that you're 275 00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:04,480 finally doing something right, that God is working in you and 276 00:16:04,480 --> 00:16:06,640 through you. You know when you decide to 277 00:16:06,640 --> 00:16:09,720 rebuild your faith, the enemy becomes furious. 278 00:16:10,640 --> 00:16:15,000 When you start wanting to repair your marriage, you can expect 279 00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:16,680 resistance and opposition in that. 280 00:16:17,360 --> 00:16:22,440 When you take holiness and desire to live a pure life in 281 00:16:22,440 --> 00:16:24,800 obedience under God, you take that seriously. 282 00:16:24,800 --> 00:16:28,200 Whispers of you'll never change. You're kidding yourself. 283 00:16:28,200 --> 00:16:31,680 They'll rise up. And when a church strengthens 284 00:16:31,680 --> 00:16:34,760 its ministry efforts in certain areas, you can you can 285 00:16:34,760 --> 00:16:37,840 understand and expect that new tensions will emerge. 286 00:16:39,200 --> 00:16:45,600 The devil is perfectly happy with a lukewarm Christian at the 287 00:16:45,600 --> 00:16:49,160 moment you decide to rebuild what sin has broken. 288 00:16:49,680 --> 00:16:53,560 Oh, his rage is ignited. And that's what's going on here. 289 00:16:53,560 --> 00:16:56,800 So what do we do? What we do is we imitate 290 00:16:56,800 --> 00:16:58,760 Nehemiah. What does Nehemiah do when this 291 00:16:58,760 --> 00:17:04,359 opposition arises and escalates again, verse 4 hear us, O God. 292 00:17:05,440 --> 00:17:07,359 He takes it to the Lord in prayer. 293 00:17:07,960 --> 00:17:10,520 He prays not argues against them. 294 00:17:11,119 --> 00:17:14,760 He doesn't get onto his social media and I'll show them and and 295 00:17:14,760 --> 00:17:18,119 retaliate to every every jibe and Barb that's been thrown at 296 00:17:18,119 --> 00:17:21,160 them. He talks to God, not to his 297 00:17:21,160 --> 00:17:23,599 critics. He talks to the Lord about it. 298 00:17:23,720 --> 00:17:26,359 Hear us. Oh God, I bring you this 299 00:17:26,359 --> 00:17:30,080 situation and what is going on. And he mentions, you know, what 300 00:17:30,080 --> 00:17:31,240 is taking place. No doubt. 301 00:17:31,240 --> 00:17:34,720 I, I imagine Sam Bellot's name pops up in Nehemiah's prayer and 302 00:17:34,720 --> 00:17:37,760 Tobiah and, and again, and, and that's what you and I need to 303 00:17:37,760 --> 00:17:39,880 do. When that opposition comes, we 304 00:17:39,880 --> 00:17:44,720 bring it to the Lord in prayer. So expect opposition and take 305 00:17:44,720 --> 00:17:50,320 that opposition to God and see what he does with it as we move 306 00:17:50,320 --> 00:17:52,680 ahead. I want us to be able to identify 307 00:17:52,680 --> 00:17:55,760 something that happened here because it happens in our lives. 308 00:17:55,760 --> 00:17:59,000 Because many times when opposition comes, we'd like to 309 00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:03,040 think that we're very stoic and brave and and admirable in our 310 00:18:03,040 --> 00:18:06,320 conduct against that. But you know what happens when 311 00:18:06,320 --> 00:18:10,040 conflict comes, when resistance comes against us, we take a hit, 312 00:18:10,040 --> 00:18:12,960 don't we? We get discouraged, we get 313 00:18:12,960 --> 00:18:15,200 deflated. And so I want us to be able to 314 00:18:15,200 --> 00:18:18,720 identify the roots of that discouragement in our lives 315 00:18:18,720 --> 00:18:22,040 because they're they're evident here in the people's response to 316 00:18:22,040 --> 00:18:24,840 this opposition. Verses 9 to 12. 317 00:18:26,880 --> 00:18:31,920 Nevertheless, we made our prayer to our God and because of them, 318 00:18:31,920 --> 00:18:33,760 we set a watch against them day and night. 319 00:18:34,920 --> 00:18:38,120 And then Judah, now Judah, anytime Judah is mentioned, this 320 00:18:38,120 --> 00:18:43,760 is the the tribe that is to be understood as kind of the the 321 00:18:43,760 --> 00:18:47,960 best of the best. And if Juda is impacted, if the 322 00:18:47,960 --> 00:18:50,920 leadership of Juda is starting to become discouraged or 323 00:18:50,920 --> 00:18:54,640 fearful, then it's indicative of of that having spread amongst 324 00:18:54,640 --> 00:18:56,840 the rest of the people. It's kind of like the captain of 325 00:18:56,840 --> 00:19:00,440 a team starting to doubt whether they can be a premiership 326 00:19:00,440 --> 00:19:01,880 contender. If we were to put it into 327 00:19:01,880 --> 00:19:04,760 sporting terms, you know, when those interviews happen and they 328 00:19:04,760 --> 00:19:07,000 asked, you know, So what do you think of your chances this year? 329 00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:10,040 And if the captain of the team said, yeah, I don't think we're 330 00:19:10,040 --> 00:19:13,400 going to to win very much. And that's going to be a thing 331 00:19:13,400 --> 00:19:16,600 where Right. So now if Judah pipes up and 332 00:19:16,600 --> 00:19:19,720 says, as they do here, the strength of the labourers is 333 00:19:19,720 --> 00:19:24,600 failing and there is so much rubbish that we're not able to 334 00:19:24,600 --> 00:19:26,600 rebuild the wall. Verse 10. 335 00:19:27,360 --> 00:19:31,200 And our adversary said they wouldn't either know nor see 336 00:19:31,200 --> 00:19:33,800 anything till we come into their midst and kill them and cause 337 00:19:33,800 --> 00:19:37,880 the work to cease. And so it was verse 12 when the 338 00:19:37,880 --> 00:19:42,840 Jews who dwelt near them came, that they told us 10 times from 339 00:19:42,840 --> 00:19:44,960 whatever place you turn there will be upon us. 340 00:19:47,440 --> 00:19:50,600 So the external opposition here, as we pause for a moment, 341 00:19:51,040 --> 00:19:54,680 triggers internal discouragement in the people. 342 00:19:55,280 --> 00:20:00,960 It's then verbalised from the tribe of Judah in particular. 343 00:20:01,480 --> 00:20:04,160 Just as it happens in our lives, you know, we get pressure from 344 00:20:04,160 --> 00:20:09,040 the outside. And often it produces despair on 345 00:20:09,040 --> 00:20:12,720 the inside. We might not express it and, 346 00:20:12,920 --> 00:20:15,600 and, and word it, but you know, people will look at us and go, 347 00:20:15,600 --> 00:20:18,120 what, what's wrong with you? And why are you sort of down 348 00:20:18,120 --> 00:20:20,600 and, and, and, and our visage takes a hit. 349 00:20:20,600 --> 00:20:24,240 Our body language expresses that something's going on with us as 350 00:20:24,240 --> 00:20:28,320 a consequence of the opposition. Verse 10, I think is one of the 351 00:20:28,320 --> 00:20:30,280 most honest statements in the whole book. 352 00:20:30,280 --> 00:20:33,120 Here it says the strength of the labourers is giving out. 353 00:20:34,200 --> 00:20:37,280 There's so much rubbish that we cannot build the wall, they say. 354 00:20:38,040 --> 00:20:42,000 So I want us to see four roots of discouragement that surface 355 00:20:42,120 --> 00:20:46,760 here in the text and for us to be aware of in our lives too. 356 00:20:47,520 --> 00:20:50,360 Because I think if we're, if we're honest, we would see that 357 00:20:50,360 --> 00:20:55,880 yes, that that happens to me and I and it annoys me that it does. 358 00:20:55,880 --> 00:20:59,120 And I want to change that. I want to be better able to to 359 00:20:59,120 --> 00:21:03,120 live my life for God without this taking a hold of me in such 360 00:21:03,120 --> 00:21:06,440 situations. So in verse 10, the first thing 361 00:21:06,440 --> 00:21:10,960 and again these notes are up on the slide, is that fatigue can 362 00:21:10,960 --> 00:21:13,080 often be a cause and a route of this. 363 00:21:13,080 --> 00:21:15,880 They're they're exhausted. Here it said that the strength 364 00:21:15,880 --> 00:21:21,200 of the labourers is giving out. You imagine having built the the 365 00:21:21,200 --> 00:21:24,600 way that they have up to verse 6 where it says that half of the 366 00:21:24,600 --> 00:21:28,160 wall is complete. And it's like this almost 24/7 367 00:21:28,360 --> 00:21:32,360 effort that's been going on the families and maybe eating on the 368 00:21:32,360 --> 00:21:35,440 run and just the the perspiration and the endeavour 369 00:21:35,440 --> 00:21:38,080 and the effort and, and it all started with this wonderful 370 00:21:38,080 --> 00:21:39,520 bang. And yeah, we can do it. 371 00:21:39,520 --> 00:21:42,840 Let's rebuild the wall and, and everybody's just chipping in 372 00:21:42,840 --> 00:21:45,760 and, and putting their hand. And this adrenaline of the new 373 00:21:45,760 --> 00:21:49,680 beginnings has now faded for them. 374 00:21:50,960 --> 00:21:53,240 And in our lives, I think this is where many of us as 375 00:21:53,240 --> 00:21:58,280 believers, we hit the halfway point of things and we quit as 376 00:21:58,280 --> 00:22:01,400 fatigue takes a hold halfway through a marriage repair, 377 00:22:02,600 --> 00:22:05,280 halfway through again, you know, New Year's resolution. 378 00:22:05,280 --> 00:22:09,800 I'm going to read the Bible every day and, and man, we get 379 00:22:09,960 --> 00:22:13,480 fatigued. You know, we, we restart work 380 00:22:13,480 --> 00:22:17,840 after the holidays and the grind of the 9:00 to 5:00 and I'm just 381 00:22:17,840 --> 00:22:22,840 so tired the halfway through a recovery or halfway through a 382 00:22:22,840 --> 00:22:24,880 ministry involvement. I'll sign up, sign me up for 383 00:22:24,880 --> 00:22:26,480 that. I'm I'm all about serving the 384 00:22:26,480 --> 00:22:31,840 Lord and then I'm just tired. I'm just worn out and or halfway 385 00:22:31,840 --> 00:22:34,680 through parenting challenges, Man, we just really need to just 386 00:22:34,680 --> 00:22:37,400 help our son or our daughter in this and this, this way. 387 00:22:37,400 --> 00:22:40,400 And, and things go good for a while and we build the wall to 388 00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:43,120 the halfway point. And then all of a sudden what 389 00:22:43,120 --> 00:22:47,840 was working is not and it's oh, it's all too hard and fatigue 390 00:22:48,040 --> 00:22:50,160 says I just can't do this anymore. 391 00:22:50,160 --> 00:22:53,840 You ever had that ever experienced that? 392 00:22:54,560 --> 00:22:57,200 And because they're fatigued, you know what they do instead of 393 00:22:57,200 --> 00:23:02,280 looking at the the wall halfway built and celebrating that they 394 00:23:02,280 --> 00:23:06,120 go, we can't go on. And they're discouraged. 395 00:23:06,920 --> 00:23:11,280 And that discouragement now that fatigue starts to lead to 396 00:23:11,280 --> 00:23:16,080 frustration. There's so much rubbish they say 397 00:23:16,080 --> 00:23:18,960 in verse 10. And now, instead of seeing the 398 00:23:18,960 --> 00:23:24,480 progress made, all that they see is the rubble that's left still, 399 00:23:25,720 --> 00:23:28,040 You know, before completing any of the building, they'd have to 400 00:23:28,040 --> 00:23:31,120 remove broken stones and the hardened mortar and all of the 401 00:23:31,120 --> 00:23:33,480 debris and everything that's lying around in these ruins. 402 00:23:33,480 --> 00:23:37,120 But now the debris looks far bigger than any progress that 403 00:23:37,120 --> 00:23:39,840 they've made up until this point. 404 00:23:39,840 --> 00:23:42,040 The debris was a challenge. And, yeah, we can do it. 405 00:23:42,040 --> 00:23:44,640 Let's move this out, and let's use that to rebuild this wall. 406 00:23:44,720 --> 00:23:46,400 And now they're looking at the rubble going. 407 00:23:46,560 --> 00:23:48,680 I quit. I'm done. 408 00:23:49,400 --> 00:23:51,040 I'm through. I'm finished. 409 00:23:51,800 --> 00:23:55,040 There's so much rubbish, you know, in the Christian life. 410 00:23:55,040 --> 00:23:58,400 What does rubbish look like? It looks like unresolved sin. 411 00:23:58,400 --> 00:24:02,280 You know, I just feel like I'm, I'm praying to God and I'm 412 00:24:02,280 --> 00:24:05,360 confessing this sin and I promise him I'll never do it 413 00:24:05,360 --> 00:24:06,720 again. I'll never do it again. 414 00:24:06,880 --> 00:24:09,760 And sure enough, I do it again. And, and the rubble of that is 415 00:24:09,760 --> 00:24:15,600 all that we see of unhealthy relationships or of cluttered 416 00:24:15,600 --> 00:24:18,600 schedules and the busyness of life, especially at this time of 417 00:24:18,600 --> 00:24:22,400 year and emotional baggage or, or past wounds that we carry. 418 00:24:22,400 --> 00:24:26,040 And you know, here's what happens in those circumstances. 419 00:24:26,040 --> 00:24:28,320 And, and when that discouragement is what's taken a 420 00:24:28,320 --> 00:24:33,600 hold of us is when we focus on the rubble, we lose sight of the 421 00:24:33,600 --> 00:24:38,960 Redeemer, we lose sight of God and we're discouraged through 422 00:24:38,960 --> 00:24:41,880 the frustration that's maybe come about as a consequence of 423 00:24:41,880 --> 00:24:44,400 fatigue. And and then it flows on into 424 00:24:44,400 --> 00:24:48,440 failure for us. We can't rebuild the wall, they 425 00:24:48,440 --> 00:24:51,840 say in verse 10. And these same people who in 426 00:24:51,840 --> 00:24:54,680 verse six said that they worked with all of their heart. 427 00:24:56,000 --> 00:25:01,680 Now they declare we're not able where one time they felt that 428 00:25:01,680 --> 00:25:03,800 they could do it and everybody was on board. 429 00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:06,920 Now the next day this this opposition, these challenges 430 00:25:06,920 --> 00:25:09,440 have come upon them and we can't do it anymore. 431 00:25:09,440 --> 00:25:14,800 And what they've done here is they've agreed with the lies of 432 00:25:14,800 --> 00:25:19,240 the enemy, they've internalised the mockery, and they've allowed 433 00:25:19,240 --> 00:25:22,760 that that wording to now become a part of their identity. 434 00:25:22,760 --> 00:25:25,480 Yeah, we're they're right. We, we can't build the war. 435 00:25:25,480 --> 00:25:28,120 And we're just kidding ourselves if we think we're going to be 436 00:25:28,120 --> 00:25:30,280 able to offer sacrifices and worship God. 437 00:25:30,280 --> 00:25:33,360 And we are just feeble Jews. And Sam Bellot's right. 438 00:25:33,360 --> 00:25:36,560 And we're just stupid for continuing this work and let's 439 00:25:36,560 --> 00:25:38,840 just stop all together. I knew we shouldn't have tried. 440 00:25:38,840 --> 00:25:42,120 And they believe all of these lies of impossibility. 441 00:25:43,760 --> 00:25:45,560 And this happens in our lives too, doesn't it? 442 00:25:46,600 --> 00:25:50,360 When we when we start to measure the task ahead by our own 443 00:25:50,360 --> 00:25:53,400 strength. And the reality is that we can't 444 00:25:53,400 --> 00:25:56,680 do it in and of ourselves. We need God's help. 445 00:25:57,280 --> 00:26:03,720 And we forget the calling and the promises of God and we start 446 00:26:03,720 --> 00:26:07,720 to compare ourselves to others and maybe we expect instant 447 00:26:07,720 --> 00:26:11,480 results. And so this failure thinking 448 00:26:11,480 --> 00:26:16,680 starts to paralyse any progress. And then lastly, fear takes a 449 00:26:16,680 --> 00:26:19,240 hold. Wherever you turn, wherever we 450 00:26:19,240 --> 00:26:23,680 go, they're going to attack us. Doesn't matter if I'm going down 451 00:26:23,680 --> 00:26:26,600 to the marketplace or down to the river to draw the water or 452 00:26:26,720 --> 00:26:28,640 or whatever. You know, they'll, they'll come 453 00:26:28,640 --> 00:26:31,120 upon us and we're, we're doomed and we're done for. 454 00:26:32,480 --> 00:26:36,840 Many times fear multiplies faster than faith in our lives. 455 00:26:38,080 --> 00:26:40,640 And it's said that the Jews living near the enemy repeated 456 00:26:40,640 --> 00:26:46,640 the rumour 10 times. This is what fear does often. 457 00:26:46,640 --> 00:26:50,520 It exaggerates threats, minimises who God is. 458 00:26:50,520 --> 00:26:55,280 It amplifies uncertainty. It freezes obedience in our 459 00:26:55,280 --> 00:26:59,480 lives. And so in reality here, with 460 00:26:59,480 --> 00:27:02,520 this fear gripping their hearts, here's here's what's true. 461 00:27:02,760 --> 00:27:07,960 Satan didn't need to attack them because fear was causing them to 462 00:27:07,960 --> 00:27:12,520 stop. So in your, in your life, in, in 463 00:27:12,520 --> 00:27:17,040 my life, ask as we think of this and opposition's come to us, you 464 00:27:17,040 --> 00:27:20,000 know, am I, am I tired, am I fatigued? 465 00:27:20,600 --> 00:27:22,960 Am I, am I physically just drained and worn out? 466 00:27:24,080 --> 00:27:28,760 Am I frustrated by the rubbish? Am I being governed by fear? 467 00:27:30,800 --> 00:27:32,800 And sometimes discouragement can be like that. 468 00:27:32,800 --> 00:27:35,600 And it's very common to us, and it's certainly the case here. 469 00:27:35,600 --> 00:27:38,760 And wasn't something that they just dealt with once only. 470 00:27:39,520 --> 00:27:42,560 Yeah, we can be discouraged and you can say, yeah, I was 471 00:27:42,560 --> 00:27:46,960 discouraged once. No, you'll be discouraged again 472 00:27:46,960 --> 00:27:48,680 and again. It's a it's a recurring thing 473 00:27:48,680 --> 00:27:50,320 that we constantly have to deal with. 474 00:27:51,320 --> 00:27:53,760 It can be contagious, too. Oh, you're discouraged. 475 00:27:53,760 --> 00:27:55,960 Yeah, I'm discouraged too. Let me tell you about what's 476 00:27:55,960 --> 00:27:58,200 going on in my life. Oh, that is bad. 477 00:27:58,400 --> 00:28:01,560 We start to just accelerate it all the more. 478 00:28:01,800 --> 00:28:03,400 And. And haven't you found others can 479 00:28:03,400 --> 00:28:05,400 buy into discouragement pretty easily? 480 00:28:06,680 --> 00:28:10,960 But here's the last thing for us, discouragement is also 481 00:28:11,160 --> 00:28:16,960 curable and and they they obtain victory through God's hand and 482 00:28:16,960 --> 00:28:18,720 help in this. We're going to read now from 483 00:28:18,720 --> 00:28:22,680 verse 13 through to the end of the chapter and finish on this 484 00:28:22,680 --> 00:28:27,920 last point. With that, therefore, Nehemiah 485 00:28:27,920 --> 00:28:33,080 speaking, I position men behind the lower parts of the wall at 486 00:28:33,080 --> 00:28:37,120 the openings, and I set the people according to their 487 00:28:37,120 --> 00:28:41,720 families with their swords, their Spears, and their bows. 488 00:28:42,680 --> 00:28:46,760 And I looked verse 14 and arose and said to the nobles, to the 489 00:28:46,760 --> 00:28:50,640 leaders, to the rest of the people, do not be afraid of 490 00:28:50,640 --> 00:28:54,440 them. Remember the Lord great and 491 00:28:54,440 --> 00:28:59,120 awesome and fight for your brethren, your sons, your 492 00:28:59,120 --> 00:29:02,360 daughters, your wives, and your houses. 493 00:29:03,800 --> 00:29:07,560 And it happened, verse 15, when our enemies heard that it was 494 00:29:07,560 --> 00:29:11,280 known to us and that I've underlined this, that God had 495 00:29:11,280 --> 00:29:14,760 brought their plot to nothing, that all of us returned to the 496 00:29:14,760 --> 00:29:19,520 wall, everyone to his work. And so it was from that time on 497 00:29:19,520 --> 00:29:23,040 that half of my servants worked at construction, or the other 498 00:29:23,040 --> 00:29:26,040 half held the Spears, the Shields, the bows, and wore 499 00:29:26,040 --> 00:29:28,640 armour. And the leaders were behind all 500 00:29:28,640 --> 00:29:32,400 the House of Judah, those who built on the wall and those who 501 00:29:32,400 --> 00:29:35,400 carried burdens loaded themselves so that with one hand 502 00:29:35,400 --> 00:29:38,680 they worked at construction and with the other held a weapon. 503 00:29:39,200 --> 00:29:42,160 That's pretty awesome. It's like the sword in one hand 504 00:29:42,160 --> 00:29:48,040 and the trowel in the other. Every one of the builders had 505 00:29:48,040 --> 00:29:50,960 his sword, verse 18, girded at his side as he built. 506 00:29:51,720 --> 00:29:54,040 And the one who surrounded the trumpet was beside me. 507 00:29:55,000 --> 00:29:57,840 Then I said to the nobles, verse 19, the rulers, the rest of the 508 00:29:57,840 --> 00:30:00,840 people, the work is great and extensive. 509 00:30:01,200 --> 00:30:03,520 We're separated far from one another on the wall. 510 00:30:04,000 --> 00:30:06,640 So whenever you hear the sound of the trumpet rally to us 511 00:30:06,640 --> 00:30:08,680 there, our God will fight for us. 512 00:30:08,680 --> 00:30:11,680 So in other words, if it happens that they attack us over here 513 00:30:11,680 --> 00:30:14,760 and you hear the trumpet come and let's all gather together 514 00:30:14,760 --> 00:30:17,240 and, and resist and fight over there and vice versa. 515 00:30:17,240 --> 00:30:20,240 So there's all these plans and processes put in place by 516 00:30:20,240 --> 00:30:24,040 Nehemiah here. And so, verse 21, we laboured in 517 00:30:24,040 --> 00:30:27,400 the work, and half of the men held the Spears from Daybreak 518 00:30:27,400 --> 00:30:32,400 until the stars appeared. At the same time I also said to 519 00:30:32,400 --> 00:30:35,640 the people, Let each man and his servant stay at night in 520 00:30:35,640 --> 00:30:38,640 Jerusalem, that they may be our guard by night, and a working 521 00:30:38,640 --> 00:30:42,880 party by day. So neither I, my brethren, my 522 00:30:42,880 --> 00:30:46,000 servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me, took off 523 00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:48,080 our clothes, except that everyone took them off for 524 00:30:48,080 --> 00:30:52,040 washing. In other words, they lived, ate, 525 00:30:52,320 --> 00:30:57,160 breathed with their boots on, constantly ready for the work 526 00:30:57,240 --> 00:30:59,960 and the possibility of attack should it come. 527 00:31:01,280 --> 00:31:03,480 So, Nehemiah, what's his response in this? 528 00:31:03,480 --> 00:31:06,360 And how is the victory won in this opposition that's 529 00:31:06,360 --> 00:31:10,040 encountered? No, Nehemiah, he's not panicked. 530 00:31:11,200 --> 00:31:13,520 He hasn't withdrawn from his responsibility. 531 00:31:13,520 --> 00:31:15,360 All right, see, everyone, I'm. I'm off. 532 00:31:15,360 --> 00:31:16,440 Back to Persia. That's me. 533 00:31:16,440 --> 00:31:18,880 Done. This cupbearer business sounds a 534 00:31:18,880 --> 00:31:20,800 whole lot better than what I'm dealing with here. 535 00:31:20,800 --> 00:31:23,280 No, there's none of that. And at this point in time, he 536 00:31:23,280 --> 00:31:28,640 doesn't rebuke the people. He leads with this God infused 537 00:31:28,640 --> 00:31:33,680 clarity, this conviction of the call that God has upon him and 538 00:31:33,680 --> 00:31:36,640 the remedies that are evident here that I want us to to focus 539 00:31:36,640 --> 00:31:40,960 on and highlight are I think a spirit filled pattern for all of 540 00:31:40,960 --> 00:31:44,240 us tonight. There's a reordering that 541 00:31:44,240 --> 00:31:47,720 happens. It says I position men verse 13 542 00:31:48,600 --> 00:31:52,640 and by the families. So he's reorganising the people 543 00:31:53,120 --> 00:31:54,720 having the families serve together. 544 00:31:54,720 --> 00:31:57,840 The the weapons are assigned and the vulnerable points in the 545 00:31:57,840 --> 00:32:01,240 wall are reinforced and and guard duty has established very 546 00:32:01,240 --> 00:32:03,200 practical things put in place here. 547 00:32:04,040 --> 00:32:07,880 But what I want us to understand in, in this, in what's going on 548 00:32:07,880 --> 00:32:10,520 in the application, the connection to our lives is this 549 00:32:10,960 --> 00:32:16,960 when discouraged, don't quit. If God's calling you to 550 00:32:16,960 --> 00:32:20,320 something to to focus in to press into the things of God 551 00:32:20,320 --> 00:32:23,320 more deeply and more more earnestly and more urgently in 552 00:32:23,320 --> 00:32:26,320 your life and, and discouragement's coming and, and 553 00:32:26,640 --> 00:32:29,040 you're tempted to go, well, see, I've tried all of this and it's 554 00:32:29,040 --> 00:32:31,200 not working. No, don't be discouraged, but 555 00:32:31,200 --> 00:32:34,600 instead take a, a lesson out of Nehemiah here. 556 00:32:34,880 --> 00:32:38,000 Reorganise your life around what matters. 557 00:32:38,840 --> 00:32:42,280 It may be practically that that you, as a consequence, need to 558 00:32:42,600 --> 00:32:47,200 rearrange your schedule in your week or in your day to protect 559 00:32:47,200 --> 00:32:50,560 spiritual disciplines. You know, instead of me doing 560 00:32:50,560 --> 00:32:54,160 this at this time, I'm going to set that time aside to be in 561 00:32:54,160 --> 00:32:56,960 church. I'm going to set that time aside 562 00:32:56,960 --> 00:33:01,040 to open up God's word or to to listen to those message podcasts 563 00:33:01,040 --> 00:33:04,920 or to turn on the worship music and and have that take my 564 00:33:04,920 --> 00:33:09,600 discouragement away and further can convict in my life the call 565 00:33:09,600 --> 00:33:13,560 that God has placed upon me. It might be the re establishment 566 00:33:13,560 --> 00:33:17,400 of family rhythms of worship and of devotion in the home or the 567 00:33:17,400 --> 00:33:20,840 removal of distractions in your life or the invitation of 568 00:33:20,840 --> 00:33:23,800 accountability. Hey, what would you, would you 569 00:33:23,800 --> 00:33:27,160 as a friend just sort of ring me every day and, and just call me 570 00:33:27,160 --> 00:33:29,240 and say, Hey, have you read your word today? 571 00:33:29,280 --> 00:33:32,720 Have you read God's word today? And would you be a, can I be 572 00:33:32,720 --> 00:33:36,280 accountable to you in that way? And, and these are ways that you 573 00:33:36,480 --> 00:33:40,920 reorder your life to be about the importance of living life 574 00:33:40,920 --> 00:33:44,440 for God and do not allow discouragement to take a hold 575 00:33:44,560 --> 00:33:47,800 again. Sometimes the issue is not the 576 00:33:47,800 --> 00:33:50,840 size of the task, but the structure of our lives. 577 00:33:51,320 --> 00:33:54,800 So Nehemiah, he reorders the people, sets them up practically 578 00:33:54,800 --> 00:33:58,840 in different parts and spots. And then I love this next one. 579 00:33:59,160 --> 00:34:01,400 He says, remember, remember what? 580 00:34:01,640 --> 00:34:05,800 Take your eyes off the rubble. Take your ears away from what 581 00:34:05,800 --> 00:34:07,920 the enemy is saying. And here's what I want you to 582 00:34:07,920 --> 00:34:11,719 do. Remember the Lord, remember God, 583 00:34:11,960 --> 00:34:16,360 who it is that that we're called to be a part of what he is 584 00:34:16,360 --> 00:34:18,120 doing. Remember the Lord who is great 585 00:34:18,120 --> 00:34:21,199 and awesome. Verse 14, and I think this verse 586 00:34:21,199 --> 00:34:25,639 is the heart of the chapter. He shifts their eyes again to 587 00:34:25,639 --> 00:34:29,400 focus not on the rubbish, not on the enemies, not on their 588 00:34:29,400 --> 00:34:33,679 threats, not on their lack of strength or the enemy's apparent 589 00:34:33,760 --> 00:34:36,080 strength. But here's what he says. 590 00:34:36,480 --> 00:34:41,320 Focus on God. Remember God, remember the Lord 591 00:34:41,320 --> 00:34:43,960 who is great and awesome, He says, and I think that echoes 592 00:34:43,960 --> 00:34:48,480 Deuteronomy 10, verse 17, a reminder of the mighty deliverer 593 00:34:50,280 --> 00:34:57,280 that woke you up, didn't it? And so for you and I and allies, 594 00:34:57,280 --> 00:35:03,600 we need to remember God's power, the God who spoke the earth into 595 00:35:03,600 --> 00:35:08,200 existence and the heavens were made and the earth was made. 596 00:35:08,640 --> 00:35:11,120 That's the God that we need to remember, the God who performed 597 00:35:11,120 --> 00:35:15,640 miracles in the Old Testament, of Jesus in the New Testament, 598 00:35:15,920 --> 00:35:19,760 who rose again three days later. Remember his promises. 599 00:35:19,760 --> 00:35:22,480 Think of all of the fulfilled prophecies throughout Scripture. 600 00:35:22,480 --> 00:35:24,160 We we learnt of some this morning. 601 00:35:24,960 --> 00:35:28,920 It's the same God that is alive and real today. 602 00:35:28,920 --> 00:35:33,920 Remember that God remember his past faithfulness specifically 603 00:35:33,920 --> 00:35:37,040 in your life where God has miraculously intervened in 604 00:35:37,040 --> 00:35:40,160 individual circumstances in your life and go, OK, if he's done 605 00:35:40,160 --> 00:35:42,800 that in the past, why won't he do that into the future. 606 00:35:44,440 --> 00:35:48,800 His covenant of love and that he is a God of his word. 607 00:35:50,120 --> 00:35:53,160 You know what happens is discouragement starts to shrink 608 00:35:53,160 --> 00:35:58,240 in your life when God begins to grow in your sight and becomes 609 00:35:58,240 --> 00:36:02,120 your focus and then he calls them to resist, fight for your 610 00:36:02,120 --> 00:36:04,480 brothers, your wives, your homes. 611 00:36:04,480 --> 00:36:08,520 Verse 14 and Nehemiah's call here is one of holy resistance. 612 00:36:09,720 --> 00:36:13,920 This isn't a passive waiting, not a a resignation or a thing 613 00:36:13,920 --> 00:36:16,800 of defeat here, but an engagement to courageous 614 00:36:16,800 --> 00:36:18,560 perseverance that he's calling them to. 615 00:36:18,560 --> 00:36:23,680 And you know similarly, we're encouraged to fight to contend 616 00:36:23,760 --> 00:36:25,840 as believers to contend for the faith. 617 00:36:26,320 --> 00:36:31,440 The scripture says to contend, to fight for our marriages, to 618 00:36:31,440 --> 00:36:35,760 fight for our children's faith, to fight for our purity, to to 619 00:36:35,760 --> 00:36:40,000 fight for our church unity, to fight for our gospel witness to 620 00:36:40,000 --> 00:36:44,000 have these been be things that we're we're firm on our 621 00:36:44,000 --> 00:36:50,160 conviction to be solid in and we do this, this this fight through 622 00:36:50,160 --> 00:36:52,600 what? Through scripture, through 623 00:36:52,600 --> 00:36:56,360 prayer, through holiness, through obedience, through 624 00:36:56,400 --> 00:36:59,440 humility, through community, through endurance and 625 00:36:59,440 --> 00:37:02,080 perseverance. James 4, verse 7 comes to mind 626 00:37:02,080 --> 00:37:05,920 on this point and it commands actually it says resist the 627 00:37:05,920 --> 00:37:12,400 devil, submit yourselves to God, resist the devil and what he 628 00:37:12,400 --> 00:37:18,400 will flee from you. And then lastly rely our God 629 00:37:18,400 --> 00:37:21,920 will fight for US. Verse 20, you know the trumpet 630 00:37:21,920 --> 00:37:27,640 system that Nehemiah set up, Yeah, that's going to unite them 631 00:37:27,640 --> 00:37:29,760 and bring them together. But it also expresses their 632 00:37:29,760 --> 00:37:32,880 faith that when we blow the trumpet, know this, God's going 633 00:37:32,880 --> 00:37:36,240 to fight for us. And this is the theology of 634 00:37:36,240 --> 00:37:39,720 Nehemiah 4. God doesn't remove the battle 635 00:37:39,960 --> 00:37:43,760 from them. God joins his people in the 636 00:37:43,760 --> 00:37:46,720 battle. The result we read it verse 15 637 00:37:46,720 --> 00:37:50,800 is that God frustrated the plans of the enemy, brought them to 638 00:37:50,800 --> 00:37:54,360 naughty the plot to nothing and God bless what they did. 639 00:37:54,360 --> 00:37:58,320 And we see that the builders, they held a trail in one hand, a 640 00:37:58,320 --> 00:38:00,720 sword in the other. They were constantly ready. 641 00:38:00,720 --> 00:38:03,680 They they slept with their clothing on in, in the case that 642 00:38:03,680 --> 00:38:06,400 the enemy might attack in verses 22 and 23. 643 00:38:06,640 --> 00:38:09,640 And the idea was that that building and battling were 644 00:38:09,640 --> 00:38:13,880 happening at the same time, that working and watching were taking 645 00:38:13,880 --> 00:38:17,360 place, that praying and persevering in what God had 646 00:38:17,360 --> 00:38:19,560 called them to was all a part of them. 647 00:38:19,640 --> 00:38:23,960 And so Nehemiah's people here in verse 9, they had a heart to 648 00:38:23,960 --> 00:38:31,840 pray in verse 6A, mind to work in verse 9, an eye to watch in 649 00:38:31,840 --> 00:38:35,520 verse 20, an ear to hear. Isn't that cool? 650 00:38:36,680 --> 00:38:40,000 And it's no wonder that the work succeeded when God was in it in 651 00:38:40,000 --> 00:38:43,960 this way. So Nehemiah 4, as we finish, 652 00:38:45,240 --> 00:38:48,840 calls us to recognise that opposition is a reality in our 653 00:38:48,840 --> 00:38:55,360 lives and not to be seeing that as foreign or weird that it's 654 00:38:55,360 --> 00:39:00,200 happening in our lives. But then to identify if 655 00:39:00,200 --> 00:39:02,440 discouragement comes as a consequence of that and the 656 00:39:02,440 --> 00:39:05,840 roots of that in our lives and and apply God's remedies out of 657 00:39:05,840 --> 00:39:07,880 his word here in Nehemiah 4 to that. 658 00:39:08,600 --> 00:39:11,400 Again, the chapter and all through this I'm going to take 659 00:39:11,400 --> 00:39:16,560 us back to Jesus. Nehemiah is not the hero, though 660 00:39:16,560 --> 00:39:19,240 as admirable and individual as he is, and we can certainly 661 00:39:19,240 --> 00:39:23,040 learn lessons. The greater rebuilder is Jesus 662 00:39:23,040 --> 00:39:26,480 the Christ. And so, like the people in 663 00:39:26,480 --> 00:39:29,640 Jerusalem, Jesus faced mockery, didn't he? 664 00:39:31,640 --> 00:39:37,320 Jesus was surrounded by enemies. Jesus was ridiculed by crowds. 665 00:39:39,280 --> 00:39:44,240 Jesus bore the weight of sins, rubble and the destruction of 666 00:39:44,240 --> 00:39:48,000 humanity. And Jesus entered the battle for 667 00:39:48,000 --> 00:39:51,880 our souls. But unlike them, unlike you and 668 00:39:51,880 --> 00:39:55,520 I, here's what Jesus didn't do. He didn't grow weary. 669 00:39:55,520 --> 00:40:00,360 He didn't lose focus. He didn't surrender confidence 670 00:40:00,600 --> 00:40:04,320 or bow to fear. And on the cross, Jesus bore the 671 00:40:04,320 --> 00:40:07,680 ultimate opposition and discouragement, not to rebuild a 672 00:40:07,680 --> 00:40:09,880 wall, but to rebuild broken people. 673 00:40:09,880 --> 00:40:13,120 That's you and I. And so through his resurrection, 674 00:40:13,120 --> 00:40:17,200 he now fights for his people. Through his spirit, he 675 00:40:17,200 --> 00:40:21,120 strengthens his people. For his promises, he steadies 676 00:40:21,400 --> 00:40:25,520 his people through his presence. He stands with his people. 677 00:40:26,040 --> 00:40:29,960 So if you belong to Jesus tonight, your life has a safety 678 00:40:29,960 --> 00:40:33,160 net far more secure than that of the Golden Gate Bridge. 679 00:40:34,160 --> 00:40:38,240 It's his everlasting arms that are beneath you and around you 680 00:40:38,240 --> 00:40:41,600 and will protect you forever. I'm going to give a final 681 00:40:41,600 --> 00:40:43,800 application for you this week before we pray. 682 00:40:45,320 --> 00:40:49,920 Maybe this week, identify one area of opposition that you're 683 00:40:49,920 --> 00:40:54,920 facing, be aware of it and bring it to God in prayer. 684 00:40:54,920 --> 00:41:01,520 And then secondly, spot the root of discouragement. 685 00:41:01,640 --> 00:41:04,880 Is it fatigue? Is it frustration? 686 00:41:06,320 --> 00:41:12,960 Fear of failure? I quit and then choose a remedy 687 00:41:12,960 --> 00:41:17,440 that we see in Nehemiah. Maybe it's the reordering of 688 00:41:17,440 --> 00:41:21,160 some things, setting up some structures in place that you 689 00:41:21,160 --> 00:41:27,120 certainly need to remember God, resist the enemy, rely upon the 690 00:41:27,120 --> 00:41:30,440 Lord's strength, and trust that God will frustrate the enemy's 691 00:41:30,440 --> 00:41:35,760 plans as you keep building that which God has called you to.