Facing Opposition: Nehemiah's Model of Faith and Action

Devotional

Sermon Summary

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips



Now that is something which we do not find simply in the pages of the Old Testament although we do from the very beginning of God's dealings with his people as they have been said in the context of enemies the work of God has always been opposed when you go into the New Testament you find that this self same as true. [00:01:36]

Nehemiah was a realist, and if we're going to make it through our days doing God's work we need to be as realistic as he was we need to have the underlying conviction he had in order to fuel our Zeal as his was fueled. What was that? Verse 20 of chapter 2 is the foundational element in his life. [00:08:03]

He understood the words of the psalmist that we read in Psalm 127 unless the Lord builds the house or builds the wall we labor in vain in our building of the wall, subjected to ridicule as in the first six verses of chapter four he stands firm like one who was to follow him Bunyan languishing in the Bedford jail. [00:08:50]

So instead of the opposition diminishing and we might have been tempted to suggest that now may have faced ridicule Nehemiah prayed after Nehemiah prayed it all died down and he had a wonderful time no after he prayed it all hearted up and they had an even worse time. [00:10:34]

Now here we are arriving at what is a standard principle in Nehemiah's faith. Nehemiah is a man of deep Trust. He is also a man of intense practicality. He functions well on the vertical plane and he functions on the horizontal plane. His underlying focus and his gaze is on the reality of the Lord first. [00:23:18]

Nehemiah is a genius. He has the people take up places down behind the wall where the place is clear of rubble. He encourages them to defend as families, good strategy still is, because the average man may not be prepared to defend just a piece of wall no matter how much you tell them the wall is important. [00:32:08]

Remember the Lord who is great and awesome and fight for your brothers your sisters your moms your dads your family if I was going to build a family ministry I'd build it right out of this text right here here it is late 20th century family ministry you've got it remember the Lord who is great and awesome. [00:40:24]

You prepare to go into that struggle I'll never forget as a boy and I've told you this before and it rebukes my own heart as a dad today but I'll never forget waking up thinking it was the middle of the night and I'd probably been in bed since nine o'clock and it was only 11 o'clock. [00:40:58]

I remember how she would storm around and slam her bedroom door and tell me to go take a run and jump. I remember coming round though and finding the roses in a waste paper basket or a thing head down. That was a big fight that day, but I was fighting for biblical principles. [00:43:59]

What do we need we need the mind of Christ to fill us and to guide us you'll find that hymn in your book will use it to conclude our worship as our response to the word May the mind of Christ my savior 300 and 93 or something like that 390 made a mind of Christ my savior May the love of the savior. [00:44:48]

To be humbly dependent upon God In Prayer does not take us into a theological Twilight Zone, there's not it does not take us into the realm of total sitting down doing nothing. Now let me try and illustrate this in a very practical way, you know these things they call the club you know that thing the big red thing. [00:25:36]

He comes up the side aisles sowing seeds of Discord, he comes in the quiet places he comes in the corridors and the Apparently inconsequential conversations to sow disharmony and to dispirit and to discourage he is expert in guerrilla warfare. He comes to the high streets of our towns and he doesn't open shops. [00:14:11]

Ask a question about this sermon