Summary: Acts 4:1-4 What opposition have you encountered in your walk with with God? What was your response? God will bless your efforts!!!!

Satan’s #1 tool to oppose us and to defeat us is the various forms of opposition that come

at us in everyday life and especially when we are attempting something great for God. In

those times of ministry, outreach and evangelism - Satan will pull out all of the stops to

knock us off course, to discourage us and to defeat us. But I have great news for you this

morning, we have already obtained the victory. God has already won the battles that we

will face, if we only allow Him to work and to control our lives, if we are obedient to

Him and to His Son, Jesus Christ. God works all of the opposition, all of the harassment

and all of the trash that comes at us for good.

Now before we get started, I do want to say that at times, I think that we give way too

much credit to Satan, or Ole Scumbag, as I like to call him. You see we have a tendency

automatically to assume all opposition is from Satan and I don’t think that it is. I believe

that there are times that the opposition that we come against is simply either consequences

of our choices or may even be a character builder or a true obstacle put there by God.

Maybe we can talk about that in a future time tighter, so today, I would like to

concentrate on some focal passages from Acts 4 and also from Nehemiah 4 - 6.

Read Acts 4:1-4 and outline/explain.

To gain additional from God’s Word, I want to focus the rest of our time this morning on

Nehemiah, the great builder that we find in the book of the Bible with the same name.

Background to Nehemiah and the need to rebuild the wall.

We find ourselves starting at about the halfway point in the rebuilding of the wall. As a

matter of fact in 4:6, Nehemiah even recorded that it as “joined together up to half its

height”. As the work is being accomplished and the people are honoring God with their

efforts, we find that there were thundering voices of doubt all around Nehemiah. He was

getting reports of plans to kill him and was even starting to hear the rumblings of

grumbling from within his own ranks. I am sure that He began to have a few doubts as to

the ultimate success of the building project, was probably fearing for his own life and for

that of his workers and also was having to expend great amounts of time and energy to

“shore up” or to encourage those around him.

What about you? What will you do when you begin to doubt? What will you do when

others come against you and ask you to quit what you are doing for God? What will you

do when there are opponents in life? When you attempt to do something for God, when I

yearn to live for God, when you strive to serve God, when we long to honor God with

everything that we are and with everything that we do you had better expect opposition

along the way and I had better opposition along the way, we had better expect opposition

along the way.

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Any cause worth doing is also a cause that someone will feel they need to criticize! Any

cause worth doing is also a cause that someone will feel that they need to criticize! All

great causes have had great critics. It was Aristotle who said, “You can avoid opposition

by saying nothing, doing nothing, being nothing!”

Opposition will hit all of our lives. I saw a bumper sticker the other day that summed it up

fairly well, it said, “Some days you are the windshield and some days you are the bug”. I

think that is a kinder, gentler way of saying, “Some days you are the monument and some

days you are the pigeon”. When I view opposition through the lens of being effective for

God, it suddenly changes not only what I see but also how I actually view it, for with

God all things are possible! Especially when we are in line with His will and plan for our

lives.

Opposition is going to happen. There are accounts recorded throughout God’s word of

opposition that the greats of the faith faced. Moses faced 40 years of griping and

complaining. It of course started with Pharaoh and his army but probably even worse was

the constant griping and complaining from within his own ranks, the Israelites, the ones

whom he was leading. He faced continual conflict and continual criticism. Remember the

shepherd boy David as he came against Goliath and how Goliath “trash talked” him and

made fun of not only David but the entire nation of Israel. Jesus especially had critics and

he had them to the point of death! Opposition is going to happen!

Nehemiah’s two main opponents were Sanballet and Tobiah. Later on a guy by the name

of Geshem is added and even a fourth one named Shemaiah in chapter 6:10. This group

employed ten methods of opposition. We find ten different ways in which they came

against Nehemiah in attempting to stop work on the wall. When we face opposition

normally we face 2 or maybe three of these methods, however Nehemiah faced all ten. So

let’s get started mining the tactics that were used against Nehemiah and are still used

today against you and against me.

1. Ridicule, ridicule! We find way back in 2:19 that the mocking, the laughing and the

contempt had started. Ridicule comes from the word ridiculous and we find that it means

words or actions intended to bring forth laughter at a person or thing, or maybe absurd or

even preposterous. Ridicule is a cheap substitute for reason. When a person cannot

reason something out, they may attempt to ridicule it out.

2 Turn up The Heat! Turn up the heat. Very seldom will the opponents in our life

come at us with everything that they have from the outset. Most of the time they will start

small and as they meet resistance or do not experience the success that they are looking

for they go further into their bag of mocking, manipulation and rumor. Look again at

2:19, it says that Sanballet and Tobiah laughed at us and despised us, then when that did

not work they became furious and indignant we read in 4:1 and when that did not have the

desired effect they turned up the heat another notch and in 6:10 we find that they had

plotted to actually kill Nehemiah. So if at first you don’t succeed as an opposer to a great

act or work of God, I guess the moral of the story is that you must try and try and try

again. But the great thing about this is that God is bigger and God is greater and God is

more powerful than any amount of opposition, complaining and plotting!

3. Misrepresentations! Misrepresentations. In 4:2 we find Sanballat asking a mocking

sort of question and he essentially said, “will they restore their wall’? Did you catch that

little twist? “Will they restore their wall?” This wasn’t their wall, it wasn’t Nehemiah’s

wall. This wasn’t a project of man but rather of God. The wall that they found

themselves working belonged to God.

What about your life? Are there things in your life that you have been attempting to build

or maybe to rebuild and others are mocking you and taking potshots at you probably from

behind a safe wall somewhere? How do you view that project? Is it yours or maybe the

companies that you work for? Or do you view it as God’s property, God’s project and

maybe God’s plan? When you and when I change our focus as to how we look at things

in our lives, and begin to view all things as God’s property, God’s gifts, as God’s stuff,

we are freed from a great deal of bondage and are empowered to attack the project with a

fresh wind of the Holy Spirit and with a fresh fire burning from deep within us.

4. Personal Attacks! Personal Attacks! When those who are opposing us have little

success with some of the other methods they attack us personally. When this happens it is

a sign that the person is desperate for a win. For those of you familiar with debating you

remember that you can attack the persons idea, you can attack the persons method of

defending their idea, you can attack the defense itself and if all else fails you can attack the

person. This is kind of a “last ditch” effort to win at any cost. So if people begin to attack

you or maybe to attack me, they are desperate!

5. Exaggeration! Exaggeration! Look at verse 3 of chapter 4. “Tobiah the Ammorite

was beside Sanballat, and he said, “ Whatever they build, if even a tiny fox were to run

on it it would fall down.” Quite an exaggeration I am sure that you will agree, especially

since we learned last week that archeologists have uncovered portions of the wall around

Jerusalem and have found it to be as much as 9 feet thick in some places. Nine feet! that

would take a pretty big fox to break it down.

6. Manipulation and Intimidation! Manipulation and intimidation! This is the trash

talking that goes on regardless if it is on basketball court, in the office conference room or

even in the halls of a church. You have heard it, I am sure. “If you don’t, I ma taking my

ball and going home”, or maybe “if you do that I am telling the boss” or even “ if you

don’t you will never get promoted” and what bout in the halls here or maybe at some

other church, “people will leave the church if you do” or “if you don’t” and the one that

I like the best, “God told me that you should or maybe that you shouldn’t”. Look at 6:2

where it says, “but they thought to do me harm”. Nehemiah knew that Sanballat and

Tobiah and the rest were out to get him. Why or rather how did he know that, they had

started small and began to work up or rather to turn up the heat. But the great thing

about Nehemiah is that he not only knew and understood the attempts at manipulation but

that he kept on going. Nehemiah kept on praying, he kept on leading, he kept on working

to honor the calling that God had placed on his life. What about you? Do you shrink

from opposition or do you “keep on keeping on” for God?

7. Constant Nagging! Constant Nagging! 6:4 “but they sent me this message four

times”. And yet each time Nehemiah responded in the same manner, “I am doing a great

work so I cannot come down” Wow, Nehemiah knew his calling and he kept on going,

regardless of the nagging and the pot shots that were being leveled at him.

Satan is hard at work in our midst. He uses the exact same methods to discourage us and

to oppose us as they used against Nehemiah. Most people have somehow gotten a false

sense of security in that they believe that as long as Satan doesn’t win the war, that he

hasn’t been successful. Oh how wrong that is. For you see when someone nags you and

hounds you and rides you, your attention is distracted from your task, your productivity

is hampered. In those times, Satan has been successful. Nehemiah would not come

down, for he went on to say, “Why should the work cease while I leave it and come down

to you?” He understood that distractions, regardless of how big or how small can

seriously impact our work for God.

8. Ganging Up! Ganging Up! People that throw rocks, generally like to hang out with

other rock throwers. Another way that I have heard it said is,. “Birds of a feather, flock

together, but so do pigs and swine” Sanballat and Tobiah are the main opposers to

Nehemiah, but we also read about Gesham and also another crony by the name of

Shemaiah that we are introduced to in chapter 6. Weak people with weak minds must

surround themselves with like minded people and that is exactly what was happening here

in Nehemiah.

9. Run The Rumor Mill! Run the Rumor Mill! Look at chapter 6:5-7. This passage

starts out, “It is reported among the nations”. As I read that I have to ask myself, “What

is reported among the nations? Who is reporting it? and To what nations?” I am kind of

Joe Friday, “Give me the facts lady, nothing but the facts” If you are going to report

something have the facts to back it up, for if not, the “report” can probably be ignored.

You may have heard it around here. Today is takes the form of “a lot of people are

saying” or maybe “some have said”. Whenever something is brought to your attention

and it cannot be substantiated with where it came from and who is saying it, generally you

can forget it. Why? Because Satan would like nothing better than for you and for you

and for me to spend time worrying and fussing over what amounts to nothing. In poker it

is called calling the cards. This is where you think the other person is bluffing and they u

must show their cards or fold. Not that I play poker, but my wife has told me about that!

Just kidding!

10. Religious Disguise! Religious Disguise! In 6:10 we ,meet a fellow by the name of

Shemaiah and he says to Nehemiah, “Let us meet in the house of God...”. Even the name

of God or God’s house, was employed to attempt to get Nehemiah off of the wall.

“Let’s pray about it”, is a powerful, powerful weapon in the arsenal of our God as we

seek to do His will and to honor His plan for our lives. But friends, it can also be a

powerful, powerful weapon in the hands of Satan as he attempts to stop, slow down and

impede our work for God. Nehemiah knew that if he stopped work and left the wall to

meet with Sanballat, Tobiah or Gesham, he knew that if he left the wall for any reason

other than because God told him directly to do so, that the work would stop. The work

would stop. The priests, the politicians, the perfumers and the goldsmiths would all take a

break.

The enemies of Nehemiah used all ten tactics to get his attention and to divert him from

completing wall. As we learned earlier, we often have opposition that comes at us from 2

or possibly even three of these points of view. Nehemiah faced all ten. When he faced all

ten what did he do? When we face any of these points of opposition what should we do?

What should be our response when we face opposition to the great works that God has

called us to.

How Should I Respond To Opposition?

1. Remember to pray! Remember to pray! Look at 4:4, “Hear O our God, for we are

despised.......” Instead of taking it out on others, talk it out with God. Each step of the

way, Nehemiah prayed. He prayed when he heard of the condition of the city and of the

wall. He prayed just before he laid out his plan before King Artaxerxes. He prayed as He

did his initial inspection around the wall. Even though it is not recorded in scripture, I am

sure that he prayed constantly as the work progressed. And now we find him praying

when his back is up against the wall and he is facing opposition from every direction.

Please note that he prayed all through the process, each step of the way.

What about you? Do you pray every step of the way? Honestly, probably not! Some of

us pray before we get started and then our natural human instincts take over and we

manage, manipulate and maneuver every thing that comes our way, doing so without the

direct impact of prayer and of God’s leading. Or maybe you get started through prayer

and pray through the project, but when your back is up against the wall you shrivel from

panic and stress and forget that the God who began a good work in and through you is

faithful to finish it! Or maybe, you, as I have a tendency to do sometimes, begin a project

with little thought of God’s plan, move into the day to day tasks needed to complete it as

I see it and then when our backs are up against the wall and we have no way out, then and

only then, do we seek His face to “Save Us”! Which camp do you find yourself in most of

the time? We need to remain in prayer all of time even when the opposition hits.

2. Reinforce Your Weaknesses! Reinforce your weaknesses! We read in Nehemiah 4:9

that after Nehemiah prayed they set guards around the wall. Now that is an important

principle that I think some times we miss. We say, well, we have prayed and we have

prayed and we have prayed and we were still overrun. Or we have prayed and prayed and

we prayed and nothing happened, or we prayed and we were still hurt.

You see these people did the prayerful thing but next, they also did the practical thing.

There are things that God wants to do that only God can do. But there are things that

God wants us to do that only we are meant to do. Pray as if it all depends on God and

work as if it all depends on you! The prayerful thing and the practical thing. Colossians

4:2 says, “devote yourselves to prayer and to being watchful.”

3. Return To Your Vision! Return to Your Vision! What was it that God originally

called Nehemiah to do? To rebuild the wall around Jerusalem! What is it that God has

called you to do? Maybe you started great and had an extra special portion of vigor and

energy, but somewhere along the way, the fire has started to fade and distractions have

come your way. You need to return to what He called you to do. You need to return to

that vision, just as Nehemiah did. He reminded himself, his workers and even those in

opposition to him that God had called him to this work and that he was going to complete

it. And since that was the case, no talking or discussion about safety, management or even

the disguised request to go into the temple for safety was going to get him off of the wall.

Sometimes talk can help, but some things like your calling from God are not up for

discussion. Sometimes talk can help, but things like your calling from God are not up for

discussion!

Henry Blackaby from Canada developed a great Christian growth workbook called

Experiencing God. In that God inspired work, he said that there are times in life when we

simply have to go back to the last time and maybe even place that God spoke to us and to

keep going in that direction until God speaks to us again. As human beings we get

side-tracked as we run the race, we have a tendency to take unscheduled off ramps on the

highway of life and we get temporarily turned around for a period of time. Some even

remain in that condition for life, having experienced a call of God but not knowing for

sure which way to turn at the intersection of life. Return to your vision, return to God and

He will show you the way, He will show you the path!

4. Resolve To Move With Movers! Resolve To Move with Movers! Just as those who

throw rocks, surround themselves with other rock throwers, we must resolve to surround

ourselves with the other movers in God’s Kingdom! Momentum is contagious, and

excitement is contagious, but so is depression and self-doubt.

5. Refuse To Argue! Refuse To Argue! Have you noticed that an argument lasts only as

long as people agree to argue. I mean as soon as one person decides to stop arguing it is

over. Eccl: 6:11 says, “the longer you argue, the more useless it is” and Prov 26:4 goes

on to suggest, “Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him.”

Nehemiah could have stood on top of the wall and refused to come down to there level

and still argued and shouted back at them. And if he had done so, the enemy would have

been successful. How? His attention would have been diverted from his task and his

workers would have been in full ear shot of the two-sided argument. Nehemiah did not do

this, he simply responded, “No not now, I am busy!” End of discussion. Refuse to

argue!

6. When you have to respond, Respond in Private! Respond In Private! Matthew

18:15 says, “If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the

two of you”. This is the very basis of biblical conflict resolution and you have heard me

talk about this before. I am sure that Nehemiah would have gone off of the wall after its

completion and went to people like Shemaiah and sat down and had a frank but loving

conversation about what had transpired.

When you have a problem with someone in this church, you are to go to them one on one

and discuss it and pray together about it. Please note that it does not say that you are to

complain, gripe and fuss about it to the general. Here’s the principle, “Try to work it out

privately before you ever make it public!”

7. Refuse to Quit! Refuse to Quit!. Next week the entire message will be on the Power

of Determination, so refuse to quit. Opposition comes but that is no reason to quit. Jesus

said, “Anyone who starts to plow and then keeps looking back is of no use for the

kingdom of God.”

What was the one thing that Sanballet and Tobiah wanted from Nehemiah, what was the

one thing? They wanted Nehemiah to quit! They wanted the workers on the wall to

come down. What is the one thing that Satan wants from you in your journey with Jesus

Christ? What’s the one thing the devil wants from you? He wants you to quit! He wants

you to stop following Jesus Christ! He wants you to stop living your life for Jesus Christ!

Specifically, what would Satan want you to quit this morning? Would he want some of

you to quit building your marriage? Would he want some of you to stop building your

integrity and stop building your character? Does he want you to give up on your prayer

time? Does he want you to give up in your pursuit of being a student of the bible? Is

there a friendship that was once important to you and now you are tempted to give it up?

Friends even though opponents will come and go. Even though temptations to quit will be

plentiful let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus

who began to build and to form faith in us. Who will continue to build faith in us if we do

not quit!

Let’s pray!