How to handle opposition?

Amen. So, as we open up another chapter in Nehemiah's prayer diary, we're discovering from him that opposition is real.

And we're also going to find clues as to how we can handle opposition. Because opposition is normal for Christianity and for the Christian church.

Let's begin with Jesus' honesty. He said to his disciples, if they hated me, they will hate you as well.

Or think about shortly before his arrest when he said, in this life you will have trouble, but take heart, I've overcome the world.

And while we sit here today in peace and security, between 600 and 700 million of our brothers and sisters in Christ are part of what's known as the suffering or the persecuted church.

And they know this all too well. But it's not hidden in the small print. Opposition is not to be a surprise for the church.

And in fact, the honesty of Jesus in the Bible sets right expectations for us.

So, if we find ourselves in school or uni, the only one in our class who's a follower of Jesus and we get a hard time from our friends.

Or we come to new faith in the Lord Jesus and we share it with our family and that news is not welcomed.

Or we work among colleagues who don't share our faith and our values and they make things uncomfortable.

Or as we are part of a church which is sometimes mocked within wider society, Jesus would say, don't be surprised.

This is normal.

And it's here in Nehemiah's story and I think we can learn from the story and from him.

Three things that I hope we can learn and you can follow these in your bulletin.

First, what does opposition look like?

Secondly, how should we respond to opposition?

And thirdly and importantly, why choose to live this kind of life that involves opposition?

So, first of all, what does opposition look like?

Just by way of a quick recap.

So, here we are, 5th century BC.

We're with Nehemiah.

He was cupbearer to the king of Persia.

But God calls him to go and rebuild the city walls of Jerusalem.

So, he prays and he plans and he is sent and he's been acting and he's pulled the people of the city together

and they've started the rebuilding work and they've been making good progress.

And probably as we were listening to the Bible reading, we heard some of that progress.

So, in chapter 4, verse 1, we hear that they're rebuilding.

By chapter 4, verse 6, the wall's now at half its height.

By chapter 6 and verse 1, it's all but secured.

It just needs the gate so that by the end of our reading, the wall is done.

So, the building is happening but also lurking in the shadows and we've met them every week.

There are enemies of God and His people and His great building project.

And so, they bring opposition.

And maybe there's a principle there.

When God is at work, we can expect opposition and trouble.

There are three basic strategies in this opposition.

You may recognize them.

You may have experienced them.

The first is mockery.

Look at verses 1 to 3 of chapter 4.

It begins with Samballot and he's angry.

Why is he angry?

Because he wants to exploit these people.

But here is Nehemiah and he's eager to do good and he's not happy.

And listen to the words of ridicule.

What are those feeble Jews doing?

Will they finish in a day?

Can they bring stones back to life?

Even if a fox climbs on the wall, it's going to tumble it down.

So, they mock God's people and they mock their efforts.

Sometimes you might have had this experience.

If you are someone eager to do good, sometimes you'll become a target.

Because you make other people look bad or feel bad.

If you're the person that doesn't cut corners.

If you're the person that doesn't share gossip.

If you practice honesty and integrity, God honors it.

But the people around us might not.

And there may well be mockery that we experience.

You don't seriously believe that, do you?

That ancient book, those primitive beliefs.

So, there's mockery that we can expect.

Secondly, in Nehemiah's story, it moves towards intimidation.

Look at chapter 4 and verse 7.

When they hear that the repairs are still going, they've failed with their mockery.

They're very angry.

And they plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble.

And notice in verse 7 that we get a whole cluster of people.

And these people represent the four points of the compass.

So, Jerusalem is surrounded by trouble north, south, east, and west.

There is trouble from every side.

There is threat.

There is violence.

There is an armed mob beginning to move on the city.

And we sense the effect on the people within the city.

Verse 10, the strength of the laborers is giving out.

So much rubble we cannot rebuild.

Verse 11, they hear what the enemies are about.

Before they know it or see us, we'll be among them.

We'll kill them and put an end to the work.

People in Jerusalem, many of them are fatigued.

Many of them are fearful.

Intimidation is no joke.

I wonder if you've ever felt pressure to keep your faith private.

I wonder if you've ever had the experience of holding Christian values with integrity and causing great offense to people.

Coming under attack as a bigot perhaps.

And then think about our brothers and sisters in the suffering church.

They experience an intimidation far greater.

Sometimes from the government or from local government.

Sometimes it's being expelled by their family or their community.

Sometimes it's in the form of kidnapping or forced marriages.

The suffering church knows intimidation as they seek to follow Jesus.

And then there's the slander.

And that's there in chapter 6.

The building work, as we see, is going along well.

And so this becomes, as it were, a last roll of the dice for Samballot and the other enemies.

And the strategy they now take up is this one.

Well, let's try and target Nehemiah because if we take down the leader, then perhaps the rest will give up.

You know, it's a good battle strategy.

You know, history would say if you could take out the king or take out the general, then there's a good chance of confusion and maybe the troops will surrender.

So at the beginning of chapter 6, they begin by trying to distract Nehemiah.

Hey, Nehemiah, come over here and have an important meeting with us, us important people over here.

Four times they bring it.

And what's Nehemiah's response?

I am carrying on a great project.

I'm doing God's work.

I'm not going to be distracted.

And so they need to shift.

So the fifth time, this is persistent opposition.

The fifth time, the plan is let's misrepresent Nehemiah and what he's trying to do.

Let's misinterpret what's going on.

And so there's this open letter.

That means it's going to be heard publicly.

Nehemiah, we know you're plotting against the king of Persia.

Of course, he's not.

He's come with the king's permission.

Nehemiah, we know you're plotting to make yourself king.

And we know he's not because he's a very humble servant leader.

But as this word is getting out around the city, how does Nehemiah reply?

He simply says, listen, you're just making this stuff up.

It doesn't seem to warrant any of his attention.

He just tells them to be quiet and he moves on.

And so they move on.

Verse 10 to verse 13, we see this attempt to tempt him, to trap him, so that they can discredit him.

And so this guy is saying, oh, Nehemiah, I've got your best interest at heart.

And I know the enemies are coming.

And I know where there's a really safe place.

Let's go at night to the temple and let's hide there.

Nehemiah sees right through it.

Nehemiah knows that's the place only the priest is supposed to go.

And so he's not going to disobey God's law.

And he's not going to destroy his reputation.

And so he says to them in verse 11, should a man like me run away or should someone like me go into the temple to save his life?

I will not go.

I will not do it.

And anyway, it's wrong.

And so they have these persistent attempts to oppose Nehemiah and the building work.

Now, we are very used to, I think, hearing about leaders facing pressure and attack.

You know, think about the news coverage and the pressure on the leaders of political parties.

Every policy, every speech, every mistake, every failure at a polling station comes under the microscope.

And we see something of that with Nehemiah.

But there's this added dimension for Nehemiah because he is a spiritual leader appointed by God.

And so there are forces of darkness that come against him that are out to destroy God's work by destroying God's man.

Now, we need to see this is not a new tactic that the devil and dark forces are applying here.

This has been a tactic since the beginning, since the Garden of Eden.

The devil who hates God began a rebellion against God couldn't bring God down.

So when God creates man as image bearers, he sets out to destroy.

The climax of this comes when Jesus comes, the Son of God who becomes one of us.

He comes to do the great kingdom building work to establish the kingdom of God in this world and in hearts and lives.

And the devil absolutely has him in his crosshairs.

And we see it all through the Gospels.

We see it in the fact that Jesus is tempted in the wilderness.

But that's not the only time Jesus is tempted.

All through his life he's tempted, but he's always faithful.

We hear so often Jesus being mocked and slandered and ridiculed because of where he came from or questions about his parentage or questions about his claims or his beliefs.

To read the Gospels is to read of Jesus being hated and attacked by a people who wanted him dead.

He was doing the ultimate good, exposing darkness and people hated him for it.

He was betrayed by someone from within his inner circle and he was killed by a conspiracy of evil of Jews and Romans coming together.

And yet wonderfully, as the Bible tells us, what the devil and wicked people intended for evil, God intended for good.

The cross is God's means of saving many lives.

Jesus come to forgive our sin, to deliver us and give us eternal life.

As we face opposition, as Christians, as a church, let's remember that Jesus told us we would.

Let's not be shocked and let's not give up.

Let's also remember the Gospel.

Jesus faced opposition to the point of death.

That you and I might be saved.

Let's remember that Jesus walked that path before us and now he walks it with us.

He understands, he is present and he has power to help us.

Often, when we're honest, we can feel a lot like those wall builders.

Discouraged and weak.

Surrounded by opposition.

We can be tempted to fight with what we face personally or in society.

What we need to do is to take heart.

Remember Jesus.

The one who said,

You will have trouble, but remember I've overcome the world.

Now, before we leave this idea of opposition,

it's important to recognize that today you may be here in a position of being opposed to Jesus

because you're not trusting him as Lord and Savior.

You haven't asked him to forgive your sin.

You're not worshiping him as God and Savior.

And the message of the Bible and the message even from within Nehemiah is to be so careful.

To recognize and to consider the danger of that position.

And then consider Christ who came that you might be saved.

Trust him.

So, that's what opposition looks like.

Secondly, let's think about what we can learn about how do we respond to opposition.

Because as I'm sure we all feel, it's really hard to face opposition.

It's hard to be a minority.

It's hard to feel like a small person in a small church.

And it's really easy to let fear or weakness turn us inwards.

We want to pull up the drawbridge and just, it's fine, it's nice and comfortable in here perhaps,

not think about how to live outside.

You know, Jesus says, you know, you are the light of the world.

But when we're honest, sometimes it feels easier to switch the light off.

There's a lot less trouble that way.

What can Nehemiah teach us about a good response to opposition?

Three things that we see from Nehemiah's story.

First of all, and it should be no surprise, we have the call to pray always.

Nehemiah lives a praying life.

And we see the power of a praying life.

So, in verse 4 and 5, we hear him pray, hear us, our God.

Verse 9, we prayed to our God and posted a guard.

Chapter 6, verse 9, when everyone's getting frightened and weakened, I prayed, now strengthen my hands.

For everything that Nehemiah experiences, he faces it with prayer.

He hears the sad story of what's happening in Jerusalem and he laments and he prays.

He needs to present a plan before the king and before that he prays.

Now as he's faced with enemies, he prays.

In the building work, in the heat of spiritual battle, he prays.

For strength to lead in God's kingdom, he prays.

And in this, we understand the importance of living a praying life.

Jesus' wisdom, watch and pray so you do not fall into temptation.

Ephesians 6, end of the armor of God section.

Pray in the Spirit on all occasions.

When we are aware of opposition, are we praying?

Now there's one prayer in here that I think we need to give a minute or two of our attention.

Verses 4 and 5 of chapter 4.

Hear us, our God, for we are despised.

Turn their insults back on their own heads.

Give them over as plunder in a land of captivity.

Do not cover up their guilt or blot out their sins from your sight,

for they've thrown insults in the face of the builders.

What do you make of that prayer?

Does it seem shocking, surprising, brutal?

Can we pray this kind of prayer?

One thing that's always so important when it comes to these kind of psalms

is to remember our context.

So again, here we are.

Comfortable, leafy Edinburgh.

Perfectly secure.

I don't think it's possible for us,

but imagine if we could place ourselves in the position of being a Christian

when you're sitting in a church that's been torn down in rubble,

where members of your congregation have been falsely accused

and been dragged away, beaten and tortured, stripped from their families.

Then our approach to the prayer becomes very different.

And it's so important, I think, for us to think widely as we come to sections like this.

But a few observations to help us when we come to prayers like this,

to recognize what Nehemiah is doing here is really praying the psalms.

And he's praying the psalms because he desires God's justice.

He desires for God's honor.

He desires that in the end there be judgment of enemies

so that salvation for God's people can come.

That's all the hope of God's people.

Notice, too, that Nehemiah prays for God to act.

There is no sense of personal vengeance here.

Rather, he's leaving justice in God's hands.

Recognize, too, what he prays against.

The building project is God's project.

It's for God's kingdom and God's glory.

So when these men stand against that,

this isn't Nehemiah holding a personal grudge against a neighbor he's fallen out with.

He is opposing someone who is steadfastly opposed to the work of God.

They've made themselves enemies to God's kingdom.

And recognize, too, and we've been hearing it, we're in chapter 6 and we've heard it in every chapter,

there is no sign of repentance from these enemies.

This is a picture of consistent, stubborn hatred and hostility towards God, His people, and His kingdom.

Some of us were here on Wednesday when our friend Adam was asked,

how should we pray for the suffering church?

And his answer was very clear and came very quickly.

Pray that God would bring down an evil regime.

The suffering church needs us to pray prayers like this with them and for them.

But Nehemiah helps us to be realistic that the Christian life is spiritual battle,

therefore prayer is vital.

I remember from church history lessons of Martin Luther,

who began the Reformation,

when he felt the weight of opposition and the weight of responsibility,

the challenges facing him would often say,

friends, to the 124th.

And he was talking about the 124th Psalm,

and he translated that Psalm personally with the opening line,

were God not with us at this time,

we would surely be defeated.

The church needs prayer to strengthen faith.

So we are called to pray.

We're also called to prepare prudently.

That's there in chapter 4, really from verse 9 onwards.

And remember we're seeing two things in the story of Nehemiah.

Nehemiah rebuilding is both God's at work for his people

and God's people are doing what they can for his kingdom.

So Nehemiah's wisdom helps us to avoid,

well, I'm just going to let go and let God.

You know, I'm just going to be passive and sit back.

But it also helps us to avoid,

well, let's just crack on with the work

and let's, you know, just forget about God.

We pray and we work,

we trust God,

and we do what we can.

Some of the examples of the prudent preparation of Nehemiah,

you can see in verse 9 of chapter 4,

we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night.

So there's 24-hour guards.

They're not daft.

They know there are enemies around them.

Verse 13,

when the people are beginning to get discouraged,

I stationed some of the people

behind the lowest points of the wall

at the exposed places,

posting them by families with swords, spears, and bows.

So they're stationing,

he's stationing families at key points

and they've got the right weapons.

Verse 16,

there's this lovely picture, isn't there?

From that day on,

half my men did the work,

while the other half were equipped

with spears, shields, bows, and arrows.

So there is people who are ready for building

and they're ready for battle,

and they're going to do both at the same time.

Verse 23,

neither I nor my brothers nor my men

nor the guards with me

took off our clothes,

each had his weapon,

even when we went for water.

Constant vigilance,

constant readiness,

because this is spiritual battle.

Nehemiah is called to a great cause,

rebuilding the city

that represents the presence of God,

the glory of God,

the worship of God,

and he shows careful commitment

and planning

so he's not going to be caught off guard.

And that says to us,

remember we are always called to pray,

to pray for the work of God's church,

and to be prepared,

to be prepared for the reality of opposition,

and to be prepared

because we have a concern

for God's kingdom

and for God's glory in this world.

And then the last tactic,

responding to opposition,

is simply to press on.

And don't we see that in Nehemiah's story?

Nehemiah is one of those leaders,

you know,

there are leaders who give wonderful speeches

from time to time

that really stiffen the spines of their people.

Churchill was one of those leaders,

I think,

in wartime.

We will fight them on the beaches.

If you've ever read or heard that speech,

we will never surrender.

Nehemiah has one of those speeches.

Look at chapter 4, verse 14.

Don't be afraid of them.

Remember the Lord who's great and awesome

and fight for your families.

Don't fear men,

but fear God.

Remember His covenant commitment.

Remember He is great and awesome.

Trust Him.

His project,

His promise,

His power

all belong to us.

So we fight.

There are also,

I think,

examples of leaders

whose bold action

restores hope

in the hearts

of their followers.

And thinking about this

made me think of

Tolkien's

Lord of the Rings.

If you've seen the movies,

it really brings out vividly

the Battle of Pelennor Fields.

The men of Gondor

are under attack

and the tide is beginning

to go against them.

And then at the crucial moment,

you have King Theoden

and the riders of Rohan.

And then you have Aragorn

coming over the hill,

riding in to rescue the men

at just the right time.

And instantly,

the mood

and the battle

changes.

Nehemiah

is an inspirational

servant leader.

When everybody

seems to have him

in their sights,

for example,

chapter 6,

verse 3,

the scheming of his enemies,

listen to his words.

I am carrying on

a great project

and I cannot go down.

Or verse 9

of chapter 6,

when they were trying

to frighten us,

thinking their hands

will get too weak

for the work.

Nehemiah prays,

now strengthen my hands,

a servant leader

who's going to lead

by example.

He's not distracted.

He's right there

with his people

and he's setting

the example of,

here's what it looks like

to have a concern

for the peace

and prosperity

of Zion,

of God's kingdom.

Now that was

the 5th century Jerusalem.

We're really far away

from that.

We're in 21st century Edinburgh.

How can Nehemiah

help us today?

Well, think about

our context.

If you're here

and you live in Scotland,

you'll probably be aware

that maybe

somewhere between

2 to 4%

of the population

are Christian.

That means

96 to 98%

of the population

are not.

We absolutely

live in the margins

in terms of power

and,

it didn't used

to always be that way,

but absolutely

it now is.

The church

is on the margins.

When we get

to the personal level,

you and I

will absolutely

experience what it is

to be isolated

as a Christian

in our community,

in our classroom,

maybe even

in our own home.

we follow a faith

that is often

opposed.

Sometimes,

you know,

Christian faith

is seen as not

being reasonable.

Other times,

it's seen as not

being relevant.

Other times,

it's seen as being

intolerant.

we are locked

in spiritual

battle.

And we look

at ourselves

and it's really

easy,

I think,

to see our own

personal weakness,

to feel our

shared weakness.

But for God's

kingdom

and for God's

glory,

we must not

give up.

Rather,

we must do

what Nehemiah

and the people

in his day did.

We must pray

always.

Pray for the

glory of God.

Pray for his

kingdom and for

his will

in our life,

in our community,

and in our nation.

Pray for his

help and his

strength to live

for his glory.

Pray for wisdom

and for our

witnessing.

Pray that he

would rebuild

and he would

revive and he

would start

with us.

Pray for the

work of this

church and for

gospel churches

in Edinburgh

and Scotland.

Pray for your

brothers and

sisters.

Pray for the

south side

community in

which we're

a part.

We need to

pray always.

Pray together.

We also need

to prepare.

If you have

time,

at some point

today,

perhaps you

can remind

yourself of

Ephesians 6

and the

armor of

God.

And why

does Paul

talk about,

use the

image of

the armor

of God?

He says,

because our

opposition,

it's not

flesh and

blood,

it's spiritual.

It's the

forces of

darkness.

Therefore,

we need to

be strong in

the Lord and

His mighty

power.

We need to

be serious

about our

faith,

to be seriously

in God's

word in order

to face

opposition.

Or think

about 1 Peter

3.

Peter was

writing at a

time when the

church was just

beginning to

feel the first

strains of

opposition,

and he

cautioned the

church then,

in your hearts,

revere Christ as

Lord.

Don't live with

fear of man,

revere Christ as

Lord, and

then always be

prepared to

give a reason

for the hope

that you have.

How do we

prepare to give

a reason for

hope?

We dwell on

our hope,

we think about

the gospel,

we spend time

in worship to

strengthen our

hearts, and we

press on,

thirdly.

We press on

with our eyes

fixed on

Jesus, our

eyes fixed on

our eternal

reward, our

eyes fixed on

the one who

says, I

will build

my church, and

the powers of

darkness will

not win in

the end.

We set our

hearts towards

giving him

glory, giving

glory to our

great and

awesome God

and Savior.

And then,

thirdly and

briefly, how

can we face

opposition?

Think about

words of

Bonhoeffer,

Dietrich Bonhoeffer,

who was a

Christian who

was killed by

the Nazis and

World War II.

He understood

what it was to

be opposed.

And he said

famously, when

Jesus bids

someone come

follow me, he

bids them come

and die.

It's back to

what Jesus

said, if they

hated me, they

will hate you

too.

Now, if you're

here today and

you're not a

Christian, this is

obviously not a

great sales pitch

for the Christian

faith.

Why don't we

just hide this in

the small print?

Can I emphasize

all the good

stuff?

Because this is

what Jesus

teaches, really

loudly and

clearly and

honestly.

It is the

reality of

following Jesus.

There is

opposition and

trial and

trouble.

But we can

say that and

still we can

proclaim good

news because

despite that, we

know that Jesus

is so good, he

is so powerful, he

is so loving, his

saving work is so

complete that he

still has power to

capture our hearts

and make us

willing even

knowing opposition

might come.

And so Jesus

says, trust and

follow me.

Even though it

will bring

opposition, maybe

rejection.

Why?

Why count the

cost?

Why count the

cost today?

Because the one

who calls you is

none less than the

Son of God.

He is worthy of

your worship.

He is the

Savior.

who paid the

ultimate price,

dying in your

place to forgive

your sin, to

give you eternal

life, to bring you

into the love of

God.

Trust him because he

is the one who's

come to call us

into the great

project that you

and I were made

for, to know

him, to enjoy

him, and to live

for him.

And so this call

to faith is the

same as the call

that Nehemiah

gave back in

chapter 4, verse

14.

Remember the

Lord who is

great and

awesome.

It's because Jesus

is great and

awesome.

The cross and

resurrection shows

it to us.

He's great and

awesome in that he

loved us and gave

himself for us.

He rose again so

that eternal life and

glory would be

ours.

Come to him.

And for those of us

who are Christians,

why keep on going?

You've tried sharing

with your family and

you've been shut

down.

Why keep going?

You've talked with a

friend about Jesus and

you've been met with

apathy and awkwardness.

Why would you do it

again?

Your workplace is your

spiritual war zone.

The values that you

face are totally

different.

Mockery, opposition

is your norm.

Why persevere?

You know the value of

the church and you

love to come and you

invite others.

But they seem so

disinterested.

Why keep going?

Let's let Nehemiah give

us two encouragements

this morning.

First, we must keep

going because the

world needs the

church.

Our denomination, the

free church, has that

vision of a healthy

gospel church for every

community in Scotland.

The world, Scotland,

needs the church.

Nehemiah cared about

Jerusalem not just

because it was a city,

because it was a city,

the city of God.

The place of God's

presence and glory and

worship and others would

be drawn to the light to

see the beauty and

goodness of God.

So, we keep going for the

glory of our God because

people in darkness need

Jesus, God's great light.

And because he's called us

to be the light of the

world to make his love

known.

So, we keep going because

the world needs the

church and we keep going

because Jesus is king and

head of his church building

project.

And he's still working.

He's pleased to work in

people like us.

So, let's let his covenant

love and his sacrificial

service and his prayerful

commitment and his powerful

presence help you and me to

live by faith, to seek the

glory of Jesus, the one who

willingly faced opposition to

save us.

Let's pray together.