10000 BRICKS: Opposition to the Work
Nehemiah 4:1-23
#10000Bricks
READ NEHEMIAH 4:1-23 (MSG)
1-2 When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall he exploded in anger, vilifying the Jews. In the company of his Samaritan cronies and military he let loose: “What are these miserable Jews doing? Do they think they can get everything back to normal overnight? Make building stones out of make-believe?” 3 At his side, Tobiah the Ammonite jumped in and said, “That’s right! What do they think they’re building? Why, if a fox climbed that wall, it would fall to pieces under his weight.” 4-5 Nehemiah prayed, “Oh listen to us, dear God. We’re so despised: Boomerang their ridicule on their heads; have their enemies cart them off as war trophies to a land of no return; don’t forgive their iniquity, don’t wipe away their sin—they’ve insulted the builders!” 6 We kept at it, repairing and rebuilding the wall. The whole wall was soon joined together and halfway to its intended height because the people had a heart for the work. 7-9 When Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the repairs of the walls of Jerusalem were going so well—that the breaks in the wall were being fixed—they were absolutely furious. They put their heads together and decided to fight against Jerusalem and create as much trouble as they could. We countered with prayer to our God and set a round-the-clock guard against them. 10 But soon word was going around in Judah, The builders are pooped, the rubbish piles up; We’re in over our heads, we can’t build this wall.
11-12 And all this time our enemies were saying, “They won’t know what hit them. Before they know it we’ll be at their throats, killing them right and left. That will put a stop to the work!” The Jews who were their neighbors kept reporting, “They have us surrounded; they’re going to attack!” If we heard it once, we heard it ten times. 13-14 So I stationed armed guards at the most vulnerable places of the wall and assigned people by families with their swords, lances, and bows. After looking things over I stood up and spoke to the nobles, officials, and everyone else: “Don’t be afraid of them. Put your minds on the Master, great and awesome, and then fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.”
15-18 Our enemies learned that we knew all about their plan and that God had frustrated it. And we went back to the wall and went to work. From then on half of my young men worked while the other half stood guard with lances, shields, bows, and mail armor. Military officers served as backup for everyone in Judah who was at work rebuilding the wall. The common laborers held a tool in one hand and a spear in the other. Each of the builders had a sword strapped to his side as he worked. I kept the trumpeter at my side to sound the alert. 19-20 Then I spoke to the nobles and officials and everyone else: “There’s a lot of work going on and we are spread out all along the wall, separated from each other. When you hear the trumpet call, join us there; our God will fight for us.”
21 And so we kept working, from first light until the stars came out, half of us holding lances. 22 I also instructed the people, “Each person and his helper is to stay inside Jerusalem—guards by night and workmen by day.” 23 We all slept in our clothes—I, my brothers, my workmen, and the guards backing me up. And each one kept his spear in his hand, even when getting water.
THREAD STATEMENT
Every good work faces resistance. God’s people must build and battle; pray and work. Courage and perseverance are needed for the expected spiritual warfare, not based on us, but based in trust in Jesus Christ.
READ ACTS 13:42-50 (ESV)
As they went out, the people begged that these things might be told them the next Sabbath. 43 And after the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who, as they spoke with them, urged them to continue in the grace of God. 44 The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. 45 But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him. 46 And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. 47 For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, “‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’” 48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. 49 And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region. 50 But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district.”
READ ACTS 14:1-7 (ESV)
Now at Iconium they entered together into the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed. 2 But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. 3 So they remained for a long time, speaking boldly for the Lord, who bore witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands. 4 But the people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews and some with the apostles. 5 When an attempt was made by both Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to mistreat them and to stone them, 6 they learned of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding country, 7 and there they continued to preach the gospel.
READ ACTS 14:19-23 (ESV)
“But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. 20 But when the disciples gathered about him, he rose up and entered the city, and on the next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe. 21 When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, 22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. 23 And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in Whom they had believed.”
READ ACTS 16:16-24 (ESV)
“As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. 17 She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” 18 And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the Name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour. 19 But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers. 20 And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city. 21 They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice.” 22 The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods. 23 And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. 24 Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.”
READ ACTS 17:1-9 (ESV)
“Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 2 And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, Whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” 4 And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. 5 But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd. 6 And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, 7 and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.” 8 And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things. 9 And when they had taken money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.”
READ ACTS 19:23-41 (ESV)
“About that time there arose no little disturbance concerning the Way. 24 For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen. 25 These he gathered together, with the workmen in similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. 26 And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods. 27 And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship.” 28 When they heard this they were enraged and were crying out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 29 So the city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed together into the theater, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul's companions in travel. 30 But when Paul wished to go in among the crowd, the disciples would not let him. 31 And even some of the Asiarchs, who were friends of his, sent to him and were urging him not to venture into the theater. 32 Now some cried out one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together. 33 Some of the crowd prompted Alexander, whom the Jews had put forward. And Alexander, motioning with his hand, wanted to make a defense to the crowd. 34 But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours they all cried out with one voice, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 35 And when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, “Men of Ephesus, who is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great Artemis, and of the sacred stone that fell from the sky? 36 Seeing then that these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash. 37 For you have brought these men here who are neither sacrilegious nor blasphemers of our goddess. 38 If therefore Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open, and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another. 39 But if you seek anything further, it shall be settled in the regular assembly. 40 For we really are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause that we can give to justify this commotion.” 41 And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly.
THREAD STATEMENT
Every good work faces resistance. God’s people must build and battle; pray and work. Courage and perseverance are needed for the expected spiritual warfare, not based on us, but based in trust in Jesus Christ.
READ MARK 3:1-6 (ESV)
Again He entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. 2 And they watched Jesus, to see whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. 3 And He said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” 4 And He said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. 5 And He looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6 The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against Him, how to destroy Him.
READ JOHN 7:1 (ESV)
After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill Him.
READ JOHN 8:45-49, 57-59 (ESV)
“But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. 46 Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? 47 Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”
…
“So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” 59 So they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple.
THREAD STATEMENT
Every good work faces resistance. God’s people must build and battle; pray and work. Courage and perseverance are needed for the expected spiritual warfare, not based on us, but based in trust in Jesus Christ.
SUMMARY
I know we read a whole lot of Scripture this morning. I did that on purpose. I did that on purpose because when it comes to this topic of God’s will, God’s work, and opposition our head and our hearts are not often united. We tend to operate from the notion that when we are in the will of God, that it is easier, good, and blessed bliss all around. God is good therefore the path that God will place us on is one that is happy happy no problems. The Bible does not share that truth with us.
BOOK OF NEHEMIAH
In Nehemiah, where we have been the past few weeks, the people of God have been tasked by Him to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. God gave Nehemiah a vision and he arrived in Jerusalem to carry it out. The people in Jerusalem caught the vision and felt the holy burden as Nehemiah did. Whole families and groups from around Jerusalem banded together to do the work of God. Last week (chapter 3), we saw how Nehemiah tasked many of them to build the portion of the wall that was closest to their home.
In chapter 4, they are building, but there is great opposition. There is a lot of opposition even though they have permission from the King of Kings Who burdened Nehemiah and the King of Persia to do the work. Ridicule happens. Threats happen. Nehemiah describes needing to have guards posted while people worked with one hand and defended themselves with the other. Each worker had a sword strapped to him. This wasn’t just for show. There was a round-the-clock-guard because those who walked in darkness did not want the work of God to continue.
Nehemiah and the people of Jerusalem are doing God’s will!
They are doing God’s will and yet there is opposition to the work.
BOOK OF ACTS
In the Book of Acts, the church is moving and growing. Jesus Christ sparked His church in Jerusalem (chapters 1-2) and from the obedience of the apostles the good news about Jesus went out from Jerusalem. Faith in Christ began to spread all over the world. That was and is the will of God. God called people like the Apostle Paul to go and share the Gospel. That was the will of God. This is still the work of God. The Apostle Paul was helping people find and follow Jesus. Paul traveled and talked. Paul traveled and did miracles. Paul traveled and persuaded. It did not go easy for him. We would think that because Paul was squarely in the will of God that all the doors would be open for him, but working for God is not always easy or smooth.
There were jealousy and contradiction and arguments and shouts of anger.
Paul, Barnabas, and his companions were driven out of towns multiple times.
Paul was hit with stones until they thought he was dead.
Disturbances and lies followed them from those who disagreed.
There was even a riot instigated to oppose the Gospel and to discredit Paul, Silas, Luke, and others.
Paul and his companions are doing God’s will!
They are doing God’s will and yet there is opposition to the work.
MINISTRY OF JESUS IN THE GOSPELS
We even see in the ministry of Jesus Christ Himself that being in the center of the will of God did not always mean easy-peasy. There was name calling, slander, doubt, shouting, and attempts at public humiliation. As Jesus progressed in His three-year ministry, there were whole groups of people plotting to kill Him. People who hated each other worked together to get rid of Jesus because they wanted Him out of the way permanently. There were whole areas of His homeland that Jesus could not go because they wanted Him dead. I find it interesting that Jesus even had to hide Himself once to slip away in order to be safe!
Without a doubt… Jesus Christ was doing God’s will!
He was doing God’s will and yet there is opposition to the work.
Do you see the pattern presented in the Bible? Do you see that when you and I are in the will of God that it is not smooth sailing, but icy waters and storms? Do you see that when you and I live for God that sometimes that rubs people the wrong way? Do you see that when you and I walk in the light that those in darkness hate it?
The Book of Nehemiah, the Book of Acts, the ministry of Jesus in the Gospels and countless other passages in the Old Testament and the New Testament present to us the truth that…
THREAD STATEMENT
Every good work faces resistance. God’s people must build and battle; pray and work. Courage and perseverance are needed for the expected spiritual warfare, not based on us, but based in trust in Jesus Christ.
APPLICATION / THE WHY
I thought about ending the sermon here. To understand that when you and I are in the will of God, it may not always go easy or smooth, this is a good solid belief to pack away. Our faith will be stronger when we understand that God’s will leads us through easy waters and stormy waters, but He always leads us through. Amen! That is a solid reshaping of our faith and worldview. But I could not shake the one lingering question: Why?
* Why would Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites oppose the work?
* Why would the people of Antioch, Iconium, Ephesus, and others oppose the work?
* Why would the Pharisees and Sadducees oppose the work of Jesus?
I cannot not shake this one lingering question: Why?
The answer is one Truth for all these different situations in which the work of God is opposed. And the answer is both simple and unsettling: Because whenever God starts to truly change things, someone always stands to lose. People opposed the work of God advancing His will because God’s work always threatens something we depend on that isn’t Him.
* A rebuilt Jerusalem means Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites lose leverage, political power, and comfort that they are in charge and the top of the pile.
* In Philippi, the gospel threatened a money-making fortune-telling business.
* In Ephesus, the gospel threatened the idol-crafting economy.
* In Thessalonica, the gospel threatened civic and political stability.
Yes. The Gospel turns our world upside down. That is exactly the problem!
The Pharisees felt like they were losing moral authority over the people
The Sadducees saw the whole system of religious power and status going away
Yes. The Gospel turns our world upside down. That is why they killed Jesus!
We don’t usually resist small, private, unimportant, harmless religion. We don’t oppose it because we can accept it and go on our merry way just as we have always been. That is not the will of God. The will of God requires us to surrender. To change. To follow. We often resist the God Who rebuilds cities, demands lordship, and reorders our lives. God’s will for you and for us is not small, private, unimportant, or harmless. God’s will for each of us in Christ Jesus places us firmly in His hands… which is an unsettling out-of-OUR-control state of being. And yet, it is the best possible place you and I can be. It is the best place for our church to be.
CONCLUSION
PRAYER
INVITATION
