God's Enemies

Good morning.

My name is Matthew Capone, and I'm the pastor here at Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian Church,

and it's my joy to bring God's word to you today.

Special welcome if you are new or visiting with us.

We are glad you're here, and we're glad you're here not because we are trying to fill seats,

but we are glad you're here because we are following after Jesus together as one community.

And as we follow after Jesus, we are convinced that there is no one so good that they don't need God's grace,

and no one so bad that they can't have it.

And that means that God has something to say to everyone in his word,

and everyone needs to hear what God has to say.

And so that's what we do at this portion of our worship service.

We look at God's word so that we can hear from him.

If you've been with us, you know we're in the book of Nehemiah.

The book of Nehemiah is about a man named Nehemiah.

It takes place in the Old Testament.

So it's about God's people before Jesus' first coming.

And in this portion of the Old Testament, we're in the 5th century B.C.

It's around 446, 445.

God's people have been in exile, and now they've returned.

But even though they're returning to the city of Jerusalem,

the city that God had given them with the purpose of being a light to the nations,

they've neglected God's city and God's ways.

As we saw in chapter 1, the wall around Jerusalem had fallen down,

and so Nehemiah, so discouraged in seeing the sin of God's people,

repented with tears and fasting and prayer.

And so he turned away from sin.

Then we saw in chapter 2 that Nehemiah did not just turn away from sin,

but he turned back to God and his mission.

He returned to Jerusalem and began leadership in rebuilding the wall.

And then last week in chapter 3, we saw the tremendous impact that happened

when it was not just Nehemiah working,

but also all of God's people coming together,

each contributing whatever they could,

putting aside their preferences and their differences

to work together towards one mission.

And so we saw that we can have different people with different missions

or different people with one mission,

and the impact that happened in chapter 3

when there was different people with one mission was tremendous.

Now, if I were to ask any one of you,

or you were to go to any church

that is seeking to be active and vibrant,

you would hear people say that they want to have an impact.

In fact, I would be surprised if there was someone

who told me they were uninterested in having an impact.

They did not want to have any impact.

But there's a problem with impact.

As one man has said, impact and opposition go together.

Impact and opposition go together.

You cannot change something without overcoming a force.

Even if this is something destructive, right,

you can't change a wall or a building without moving things,

without taking things that would oppose you.

You cannot rebuild a wall like they're doing here

without opposition as well.

And so as we see the excitement from chapter 3,

the excitement of God's people going out on God's mission,

trying to have an impact and rebuild,

we should expect nothing less

than for them to experience opposition.

And that's what we're going to see here in chapter 4.

And so the question that we have is,

what happens when opposition comes?

We know that it's going to happen

if we have an impact.

We know that we're going to face it

if we want an impact.

And so how do we prepare?

What do we know and do when opposition comes?

It's with that that we are in Nehemiah chapter 4.

Nehemiah 4 · chapter mention

You can turn there with me in your Bibles.

It's also printed in the very end of your worship guide.

As we come to this chapter,

remember that this is God's word.

And God tells us in Jeremiah

that his word is a hammer

that breaks a rock into pieces.

In other words,

there is no opposition

that can stand up against the impact of God's word.

And so that's why we turn to it now,

starting in Nehemiah chapter 4 in verse 1.

Nehemiah 4 · chapter mention

Now when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall,

he was angry and greatly enraged,

and he jeered at the Jews.

And he said in the presence of his brothers

and of the army of Samaria,

what are these feeble Jews doing?

Will they restore it for themselves?

Will they sacrifice?

Will they finish up in a day?

Will they revive the stones

out of the heaps of rubbish

and burned ones at that?

Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him,

and he said,

Yes.

What are they building?

If a fox goes up on it,

he will break down their stone wall.

Verse 4.

Hear, O our God,

for we are despised.

Turn back their taunt on their own heads

and give them up to be plundered

in a land where they are captives.

Do not cover their guilt

and let not their sin

be blotted out from your sight,

for they have provoked you to anger

in the presence of the builders.

So we built the wall,

and all the wall was joined together

to half its height,

for the people had a mind to work.

Verse 7.

But when Sanballat and Tobiah

and the Arabs and the Ammonites

and the Ashdodites

heard that the repairing of the walls

of Jerusalem was going forward

and that the breaches were beginning

to be closed,

they were very angry.

And they all plotted together

to come and fight against Jerusalem

and to cause confusion in it.

And we prayed to our God

and set a guard as protection

against them day and night.

In Judah it was said,

the strength of those

who bear the burdens is failing.

There is too much rubble.

By ourselves we will not be able

to rebuild the wall.

Verse 11.

And our enemies said,

they will not know or see

till we come among them

and kill them and stop the work.

At that time the Jews

who lived near them

came from all directions

and said to us ten times,

you must return to us.

So in all the lowest parts

of the space behind the wall,

in open places,

I stationed the people

by their clans

with their swords,

their spears,

and their bows.

And I looked and arose

and said to the nobles

and to the officials

and to the rest of the people,

do not be afraid of them.

Remember the Lord

who is great and awesome

and fight for your brothers,

your sons,

your daughters,

your wives,

and your homes.

Verse 15.

When our enemies heard

that it was known to us

and that God had frustrated

their plan,

we all returned to the wall,

each to his work.

From that day on,

half of my servants

worked on construction

and half held the spears,

shields, bows,

and coats of mail.

And the leaders stood behind

the whole house of Judah

who were building on the wall.

Those who carried burdens

were loaded in such a way

that each labored on the work

with one hand

and held his weapon

with the other.

Verse 18.

And each of the builders

had his sword strapped

at his side

which he built

while he built.

The man who sounded

the trumpet

was beside me.

And I said to the nobles

and to the officials

and to the rest of the people,

the work is great

and widely spread

and we are separated

on the wall

far from one another.

In the place

where you hear

the sound of the trumpet

rally to us there,

our God will fight for us.

Verse 21.

So he labored at the work

and half of them

held the spears

from the break of dawn

until the stars came out.

I also said to the people

at that time,

Let every man

and his servants

pass the night

within Jerusalem

that they may be a guard

for us by night

and may labor by day.

So neither I

nor my brothers

nor my servants

nor the men of the guard

who followed me,

none of us

took off our clothes.

Each kept his weapon

at his right hand.

Please pray with me

as we come to this portion

of God's word.

Dear Father in heaven,

we thank you

that your word

is a hammer

that breaks a rock

into pieces.

We thank you

that it's powerful,

brought things to life

at the beginning

of your creation.

It brings us

to life now.

And so we ask

that you would do that

by your spirit

this morning.

That you would send

your spirit

to help us

as we hear from you.

That you would

speak to us

things that we can

understand

and apply

and know

and love about you.

Most of all,

we ask that you would

cast a spotlight

on Jesus

so that we could

see him as

more beautiful

than anything else.

We ask all these things

in the name of your son.

Amen.

If you remember

from chapter 2,

that was the first time

that we met

these opponents

of Nehemiah

and I mentioned

that we were going

to talk more

about them later.

Because in chapter 2,

all they had to do

was question Nehemiah.

They were confident

that he was not

going to succeed.

And then if you remember

at the very end

of the chapter,

they asked him

if he was trying

to rebel against the king.

And he had his

famous answer

in which he did not

actually tell them

what they wanted to hear.

He did not talk

about the king at all

but instead said

that God was going

to fight for them.

Now after chapter 3,

with the tremendous

building that happened

with God's people,

we see that as the

impact that they're having

increases, so does

the opposition.

It was small opposition

in chapter 2

because Nehemiah

had small impact.

And now that he's

had big impact,

large impact,

it is big and large

opposition.

We start out here

with essentially

an ancient Near Eastern

Twitter thread

with the mocking

from these leaders.

First of all,

in verse 1,

they're enraged

and jeering.

we can imagine

them posting

quick,

small character

posts about

the ridiculousness

of these Israelites

who are trying

to rebuild the wall.

He calls them

feeble in verse 2

and then he mocks

them for their

spirituality.

He says,

will they sacrifice?

In other words,

are they going to use

a spiritual solution

to a physical problem?

Don't they understand

that this is a wall?

These silly Jews.

The resources

that they have,

the tools that they have,

have nothing to do

with the problem

that's in front of them.

In fact,

if you look at

chapter 3,

they know that

they're having

priests build the wall.

So what are these

priests doing?

They're just sacrificing,

trying to rebuild.

And then the mocking

gets even worse

with Tobiah the Ammonite.

We can imagine him

posting an animated

picture of a fox.

He says,

if a fox goes up on it,

he will break down

their stone wall.

And so what starts

out with mocking,

however,

continues to become

even worse than that.

Because in verse 11,

we find out

that these enemies

are not just making fun

of God's people.

They're not just

mocking their methods.

They're not just

talking about how foolish

they are.

They actually have

a real plan.

And our enemy said,

verse 11,

they will not know

or see till we come

among them and kill them

and stop the work.

We saw before that

in verse 7 and 8

that there was

a real plan.

They're plotting

in verse 8

to come together

and fight against Jerusalem

and cause confusion in it.

And if this sounds

like an idle threat,

this is one of the places

where what the Bible

tells us is also

attested to

in other ancient documents.

And so we know

that these leaders

were very powerful.

This Arab leader

is not just the leader

of one group.

He's actually the leader

of multiple tribes.

The Ammonites

would have been

a powerful Jewish family

with great political influence.

And Sambalot,

who we've met

a couple times before,

was the governor

of Samaria.

Geographically,

they would have represented

an area that would have

surrounded all of Jerusalem.

And so these are

not just idle,

mocking threats,

but these are

very powerful

political figures

who are coming up

against God's people.

It would be

completely understandable

for them to be afraid

and confused

and worried

about what was going

to happen.

And so what we see first

is that God

has real enemies.

Deciding it as it is

to talk about

returning to God's ways

and His mission,

if we return

to God's ways

and His mission,

we are going to get

to meet His enemies.

God has real enemies

that hate His ways.

They want to destroy

His people

and His mission.

That's why 1 Peter

tells us to be

sober-minded

because the devil

prowls around

like a roaring lion

seeking someone

to devour.

Now in this chapter here,

we see actual death threats.

If you are a Christian

in certain parts

of the world,

you'll face that.

So this is not unknown

from what Christians

today are facing.

That's not what we face

here in the United States.

So the last time

I checked,

I don't think

necessarily killing.

We don't see people

put in prison.

But we do see

an awful lot

of lies

and we see

an awful lot

of lawsuits.

We see lies

and lawsuits

in the U.S.

We see people

on both ends

of the political spectrum

who are opposed

to God and His ways,

who are enemies

of God.

We see people

who oppress the poor.

which is a group

that God loves.

We see groups

that are fighting

to devalue human life,

which God says

was made in His image.

We see groups

that are seeking

to divide people

along racial lines

when it was God

who made the nations.

Christians.

We see groups

that are looking

to distort

and destroy marriage,

which God gave

as one of His greatest

gifts to humanity.

And then we just see

people who are

spreading lies

about God

and His people.

Not speaking

what is true,

but instead

making up stories

about what's

actually going on.

And so I said

at the beginning

as I say every Sunday

that there is

no one so good

they don't need

God's grace

and no one so bad

they can't have it.

But the harsh reality

is that while there is

no one so bad

they can't have

God's grace.

There are many people

who are not open to it.

Martin Luther

had a friend of his,

his barber asked him

for advice about prayer.

This man wasn't sure

where to start

and so he knew

Martin Luther was a theologian

and he said

I really want some help.

I need some help

praying to God.

And so Martin Luther

wrote something

that's become

very famous now

called A Simple Way

to Pray

which was something

he wrote.

He prays that God

would convert people

who are open

to His grace

but he would also

restrain

and it might be

divisive or destructive.

And so as we offer

God's grace to everyone

we're fighting against

God and His ways.

And so what happens

when God's enemies

show up?

First of all

we see what's

completely natural

among God's people

that there's great

discouragement and fear.

In verse 10

they decide

that they're actually

not going to be able

to do this.

They say by ourselves

we will not be able

to rebuild the wall.

And in a sense

they're right.

By themselves

they're not going

to be able to.

But then they don't

just face discouragement

they face criticism

from their own people.

There are other Jews

who are watching

what's going on

and they believe

that this is too dangerous

to continue.

And so in verse 12

the Jews who lived

near them

came from all directions

and said to us

not just once

how many times?

They said ten times

you must return to us.

And so when we face

God's enemies

when we meet

God's enemies

discouragement is real.

We'll be tempted

to believe

that we are not

powerful enough

to face

what's been brought

against us.

We will believe

and be tempted

to believe that

the best thing

we can do

is retreat

and give up.

The devil has

different strategies.

C.S. Lewis

is famous

for talking about

these

in his Mere Christianity.

One of his strategies

is to do

what we talked

about last week

to convince people

that there is

nothing more important

than their comforts

and their convenience.

That's one of

our enemy's

most effective strategies

in North America.

But when that strategy

doesn't work

the other strategy

is to resort

to all out war.

And so when God's

people had overcome

the temptation

to go after

their own ways

and comforts

and preferences

in chapter 3

the enemy

is left

with only one option

and that's this

to come at them

with tremendous

opposition.

In the mini-series

Band of Brothers

which follows

a company

of paratroopers

involved in D-Day

there's a scene

near the end

where Lieutenant

Dick Winters

is with his people

it's the Battle

of the Bulge

and as they show up

they meet

all these soldiers

who are coming back

from the front lines.

They know that

they need ammunition

so if you know

this scene

this is the one

where they're

trying to

easy companies

trying to take

the ammunition

that these

retreating soldiers

have

because they need

as much as they can.

And as they

go back

and they're passed

by all these men

one man stops

to talk to

Dick Winters

and he says this

it looks like

you guys are going

to be surrounded

and without

missing a beat

and with a

straight face

and a monotone

Dick simply says

we're paratroopers

Lieutenant

we are supposed

to be surrounded

as we follow

God

and return

from sin

to everything

that he's called

us to

we are supposed

to be surrounded

if we are not

facing opposition

then we are not

having any impact

and so rather

than being

discouraged

we should not

be surprised

it's naive

to believe

that we can go

on God's mission

with him

and not face

great opposition

it's naive

to believe

that we can go

on God's mission

and not face

discouragement

and so as we

know that we're

going to be

surrounded

as we know

that we're going

to face

God's enemies

coming up

against us

what can we

do

to have the

strength

and courage

to keep

moving

we see two

things that

Nehemiah leads

his people in

first

they pray

this is the

same thing we

saw in chapter

two that prayer

and action

go together

and so in

verse four

after this

mocking happens

the very first

thing they do

is cry out

to God

hear oh our

God for we

are despised

turn back

their taunt

on their own

heads and

give them up

to be plundered

in a land

where they are

captives

if this sounds

harsh

remember two

things

first

Nehemiah is

not taking

justice into

his own

hands

he's not

attacking these

people

he's not

taking a role

that belongs

to God

and giving

it to himself

instead he's

calling out

for God

to do what

God always

does to be

a great

and good

judge

and second

of all he

is asking

here for

God to do

to these

people what

he has

already done

to his

own people

remember that

Israel is

returning now

from exile

and being

in exile

meant that

they had

been plundered

and been in

a land where

they were

captives

and so

Nehemiah and

his people

are crying

out to God

for justice

saying when

we turned

away from

your ways

you took

us into

exile and

you let

us be

plundered

will you

not at

least do

as much

for your

enemies

it's like

a child

coming to

a parent

saying

you punished

me in such

a way

when I

did this

why won't

you punish

my sibling

why do

I not

get away

with this

but they

do

of course

the answer

is you're

the oldest

they're

the youngest

so it's

different

just kidding

but first

of all

they pray

they cry

out to

God

for his

help

but they

don't just

pray

they work

just as we

saw before

prayer and

action go

together

and so on

the one

hand they

don't just

work they

don't just

put swords

in their

hands and

station guards

but they

also pray

and on

the other

hand they

don't just

pray but

they also

work in

station guards

and so

before we

saw that

prayer and

action go

together in

general when

we return to

God's ways

and here we

see not just

in general that

they go

together but

that they go

together specifically

when we face

opposition

that rather than

give in to

discouragement

and fear

we can cry

out to God

for justice

as they do

here

and then we

can turn back

to the work

he's given

us

we don't

turn back

as an act

simply of

blind faith

because not

only do we

pray and we

act

but we also

know what

we've seen

before in

this book

that when we

follow God

when we are

pursuing him

and his

kingdom

when we are

looking to

bring God's

kingdom here

on earth

just as it

is in heaven

God's very

presence is

with us

Nehemiah

does not

just pray

but he

reminds people

in verse 14

that as they

face God's

enemies

God and his

character are

much much

greater

and I

looked and

arose and

said to the

nobles and

to the officials

and to the

rest of the

people do

not be afraid

of them

remember the

Lord who

is great

and awesome

we're not

just praying

and acting

but as we

face

vicious dogs

coming after

us

we know that

God has

them on a

leash

and as we

face opposition

we know that

we don't do

it alone

but God's

power and

his presence

are with us

because that

is what he's

promised

and so

that's the

same thing

we see

in verse 20

in the place

where you hear

the sound of

the trumpet

rally to us

there

our God

will fight

for us

this is not

blind faith

that he says

because he's

already seen

it in verse 15

when our enemies

heard that it

was known to

us and that

God had

frustrated

their plan

God's

presence

with his

people is

not just a

pie in the

sky presence

it's not

just a

hallmark card

encouragement

but it is

real intervention

God does

not take

away opposition

from his

people

but he is

there with

them as

we go

through it

and when we

know that he

is great and

powerful

it puts

everything else

in perspective

if you are

a Star Wars

fan you're

familiar with

the first

scene of a

new hope

Luke is

in the

Death Star

trench

and he's

trying to

save the

rebellion

he's being

chased by

Darth Vader

however

and it

seems that

all hope

is going

to be

quickly

lost

Darth Vader

is flying

behind him

he's already

taken out

many of the

rebel fighters

there's not

much hope

left

and then

out of

nowhere

Han Solo

shows up

in the

Millennium Falcon

Han Solo

takes out

everyone who

is helping

Darth Vader

and sends

Darth Vader

and his

ships

careening

off

into space

and so

as Luke

pulls out

Han Solo

tells him

you're all

clear kid

let's blow

this thing

and go

home

when we

face God's

enemies

we are

facing real

evil

but God

is great

and awesome

and so

his power

is more

devastating

it is more

secure

it is more

reliable

than anything

that our

enemies have

to offer

now we've

talked about

God and

his enemies

the fact

that we

will meet

them

that they

oppose us

but the

hard truth

is that

we

if we

are in

Christ

if we

are following

after Jesus

we're once

God's

enemies

and if we

are not

a Christian

if we have

questions or

doubts or

objections to

Christianity

we are

still

enemies

of God

and so

the story

and the

hope that

we hold

out is

not that

we are

the good

guys

fighting

against

the bad

guys

it is

not that

we are

somehow

better

than everyone

else around

us

it's not

that we're

smarter

that we

understand

God's

ways

we're

able to

face

God's

enemies

we're

able to

know his

greatness

and his

power

enemies

because God

is the

one who

has taken

his enemies

and made

them his

friends

it's because

of Jesus

death

that he

took the

punishment

that we

deserve

that he

justified

us as we

talked about

earlier in

this service

his presence

is with us

not because

we are good

people but

because Jesus

was willing

to let his

enemies crush

him

and so

when we

face God's

enemies

we do

it

because God

wins against

his enemies

for us

because he

was willing

to let

God's

enemy

crush

him

and so

as we

talk about

the gospel

as good

news

it's not

good news

that we

are asking

other people

to be good

like we're

good

but it's

the good

news that

no one is

good

only Jesus

is good

and so

God's

presence

and his

power

are with

us

because

not because

we are

better than

others

but because

God chose

through Christ

to make

his enemies

his people

and so

that's why

Paul tells

us in

Romans chapter

Romans 5 · chapter mention

5 that

it was

while we

were enemies

that Christ

died for us

and so

that's our

hope

and our

encouragement

it's what

we cling

to

as we

go out

on God's

mission

because we

know that

as we

seek to

have impact

as we

follow after

Jesus

it's because

of him

and his

death

that we

are able

to face

the opposition

that comes

against us

and so

that's our

great hope

and our

prayer

and our

dream

please pray

with me

dear father

in heaven

we

just thank

you for

the opportunity

to belong

to you

thank you

that you

allow us

to be

a part

of your

work

and your

mission

in this

world

we know

we don't

deserve it

we haven't

earned it

but you

give us

the privilege

of doing

it

so we

thank you

we ask

that you

would use

that to

encourage

us

even as

we face

obstacles

and enemies

as we

pursue

your will

and your

ways

we ask

all these

things in

the name

of your

son

amen

you

and

you

you

you

you

you