Brick by Brick - Part 4 - OPPOSITION

Life. How do you overcome it? I got to show you some opposition that I experienced.

This happened this past week at my house. It's a little pixelated, but that's my mailbox.

Somebody knocked over my brick

mailbox. It was the DoorDash driver who was delivering to my neighbor.

And so all week I've been getting quotes and estimates from different people.

Yesterday, we were able to get it back up, situated.

And here's the deal. He didn't actually do it brick by brick.

He was able to pick most of it up and put it back together. That's kind of a

bummer for this sermon series. I'm not going to lie.

It would have been a great application, but I got a good deal on it.

So I guess, but I did not have that on my to-do list this past week though.

Right? Like, like I didn't wake up last Saturday. It happened last Saturday

night, early in the morning, I guess early in the morning, Saturday at 2 a.m.

I, when I woke up last Saturday, I was not expecting for getting the mailbox fixed on my list.

Like it was not one of those things that was, I'm going to I'll throw that down in there.

I think that is a lot like we're going to see in Nehemiah 4 today.

Nehemiah has a plan of what they're going to do and how they're going to do

it. And people are going to keep trying to make him change his plan.

They're going to try to make him do something that he was not planning on doing,

fighting a battle that he was not planning on fighting.

And I think that's something that we can get some wisdom on how to handle those

curveballs, those obstacles, those things that oppose us in life that,

you know what, we weren't planning on that, but we still have to move forward.

So a bit of context before we hop in, if you've missed any of the past few weeks

previously on Brick by Brick.

Nehemiah shares, he hears about his homeland. He's working for the king.

He hears about his homeland, that the walls are in ruins. that the gates have

been burned, and he has a burden to go back and to build the walls.

The first thing he does, it says he weeps, he mourns, he fastens his day and

night, he prays to the Lord.

And then after his burden that he has, Nehemiah is bold. He asks the king for

permission to go and build the wall.

He asks the king for the resources to rebuild the gates and the wall.

And this is the same king that he asked. It's the same king that told him to stop building.

And when he told him to stop, he sent the troops as if to say,

stop, I'm going to stop you. That's pretty bold to ask that same guy.

It was bold. And in the boldness, God was in it.

The king gives Nehemiah everything that he asked for, and even some extra protection

that he didn't even ask was, hey, I'm going to send some guys with you to make

sure that nobody messes with you when you get there on the travels there.

So once Nehemiah gets to Jerusalem, he examines the walls. He takes in the scope of the work.

And then after he's taken it all, he really rallies the people to join the mission.

And I want to make an emphasis here to say that they joined the mission,

not that they started the mission.

When it's God's mission, we don't start anything. We join what he's already doing.

That's true of Nehemiah and that's true of us. So Nehemiah rallies the people

to join the mission and his game plan to rebuild the wall. It's really pretty simple.

Everybody repair the section of wall that is directly in front of your house.

And so they are working together to rebuild the wall.

They're shoulder to shoulder, side by side, and they're rebuilding the wall brick by brick.

That's an exciting thing to get started on a new work. They're joining in the

mission of God. They're taking that first step for them.

Ecclesiastes 7, 8 says this, finishing is better than starting.

Patience is better than pride.

In Nehemiah 4, we're going to see God's people face some opposition,

but they are going to persevere.

They are not going to let the opposition stop them from continuing to keep their

hand at the plow and moving forward.

They're not going to stop. They just joined the mission, but they're not going

to give up on the mission.

They're going to finish what God has started. They're going to see it through the end.

If you are in a trying season of life today, if it feels like you are facing

a lot of opposition, do not let that stop you from the mission God has called you to.

Finishing is better than starting. Stay with it.

God's going to stick with you. He's not going anywhere. Philippians 1.6,

we looked at this almost every week.

I think it's so important. and I am certain that God who began the good work

within you, he started the good work within you. You didn't do it.

He will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.

You're going to face opposition, stick with it. So Nehemiah and the people,

they are all working on the walls, but the people that are in Jerusalem weren't really having it.

Remember, there's people that were exiled there that had just gotten back.

There's people who had kind of, I kind of described them almost as squatters.

Like they weren't from there, but they were sitting there and they knew it wasn't

there. So they were just kind of hanging out.

And here's kind of an example of what it would look like.

They weren't really excited about them to come back.

They were afraid of this. So last night I took Kinley to her our first daddy-daughter

dance, sneakers themed.

Thank you. All right. I didn't even throw a picture up. I still got the op. All right.

It was sneakers themed. We had matching shoes. It was great.

We went out to eat before.

Asked her where she wanted to go. It's just the two of us, right?

The sky's the limit, right? I've got a family of five when it's just two people

I'm like we can swing whatever you want. There's not there's only two of us.

It's great I asked her where she wanted to go someplace fancy.

She said taco bell I politely declined And said we're going somewhere with the waiter.

If the point of the daddy-daughter dance is to set the standard so that no chump

can take my daughter on a date without her realizing what the standard is,

she needs to know what it looks like to be taken care of. We're going to set

the standard high. That ain't T-Bell.

So I took Little Miss, went to Charleston for a fancy dinner,

even ordered an appetizer. So we get there. We have our fancy dinner.

And she's all done up. As soon as the food comes, she has like two chips.

I have like one bite in my salad. And she's like, I got to go to the restroom.

All done up, dressed. Like this is going to be a deal. she's too little.

I go with her, take her to the restroom.

I tell the waitress before we go, hey, we're going to run to the restroom.

I got to take her to the restroom. I'll be right back.

Go to the restroom, take care of business, come back. We return to the table.

Everything has been cleared.

No food, no drinks, no silverware. They reset the table. They were ready for

the next group. We were forgotten, right?

They thought we were gone.

That's what Sam Ballett thinks is going to happen. He says, when they rebuild

the wall, they're going to remove all that I have here.

He says, I'm going to lose all of my power. I'm going to lose my position.

That's why he doesn't want Jerusalem to rebuild the wall. He doesn't want it

reset to how it was before he was there.

He doesn't want to be forgotten. He doesn't want to lose his power.

So in chapter three, they're all working together to rebuild the wall.

And in chapter four, we're really going to see this group of people.

We're just going to kind of spearhead it with Sam who's going to oppose the wall.

Let's hop into Nehemiah 4, verse 14.

Nehemiah 4:14

I'm going to read this first three verses. Sam Ballack was very angry when he

learned that we were rebuilding the wall.

He flew into a rage and mocked the Jews, saying this in front of his friends

and the Sumerian army officers.

How does this bunch of poor, feeble Jews, what does this bunch of poor,

feeble Jews think they're doing?

Do they think they can build a wall in a single day by offering a few sacrifices?

Do they actually think they can make something of stones from a rubbish heap

and charred ones at that?

But Tobiah the Ammonite, who was standing beside him, remarked,

that stone wall would collapse if even a fox walked along the top of it.

That's the guy who doesn't want to lose his power. He doesn't want to lose his

position because he has a position of authority in Jerusalem.

People of God are getting to work, and the people who are living in Jerusalem,

are scoffing at it, mocking them, saying they don't have the resources,

the wall is poorly constructed, even a fox. could knock it down.

Now, remember what their motives are.

They live in the city. Sam out, he's a leader. He's afraid if they rebuild it,

they're going to kick him out. He doesn't want to lose it.

That is why he is going out of his way to ridicule and mock God's people.

That's his motive in this. Remember that. Verse four,

that he's mocking God's people. And here's Nehemiah's response.

Then I prayed, hear us, O God, for we are being mocked. May their scoffing fall back on their own heads.

May they find themselves, may they themselves become captives in a foreign land.

Do not ignore their guilt. Do not blot out their sins for they have provoked

you to anger here in front of the builders.

Verse six, at last the wall was completed to half its height around the entire

city for the people had worked with enthusiasm.

I got to be honest, Nehemiah's response here is a strong one.

He goes to the Lord in prayer.

We're not even going to get into what he prayed. I don't know if you've ever

prayed for God to not forgive somebody. He's like, do not blot out their sin.

Give them what they had coming to him. That's harsh, right? That's a whole nother

sermon. But here's the deal.

He is facing opposition. What is his first step?

He runs. His reflex is to pray and to take it to God.

Remember it says day and night, he was on his knees praying before the Lord.

Church, when was the last time you knelt down?

I mean, literally you got on your knees and you prayed to God.

Nehemiah has been a faithful picture to show us how to respond in times of urgency or emergency.

Every single time his response is to go to the Lord in prayer.

First response, go to the Lord in prayer. I want us to be a people that have

the same reflex, that when opposition strikes, when prosperity strikes,

we fall to our knees and we pray, pray.

The first step is going to God in prayer.

It's always going to go back to that. And I think sometimes we differentiate

these things. That's the tension we're wrestling with here in Nehemiah.

He goes in prayer, but what does it say at the last part of that?

That verse says, they worked with enthusiasm.

Worked with enthusiasm. Have you ever encountered someone who does not possess

a single ounce of enthusiasm for their work? It's a tough gig.

Young people in the room, if there's any here, when you get a job and you're

working and you see, I'm going to sound like a grumpy old man right now and I'm okay with it.

And somebody enters the room that you're working in, greet them.

I know I'm sounding like a grumpy old man. I'm cool with it.

My wife would agree with you if you think I sound like this.

All right. But I've gotten to the point where if we go to a fast food place

and I walk to the counter, there's only one reason I'm walking to the counter.

It's to order something or to get something.

I walk to the counter. There's somebody behind the counter who their job is to what?

To wait the counter to say, hello, sir, how can I help you? I've gotten to the

bar. I'll just walk up and I will wait for that person to say something to me.

Sometimes that is a very long time of somebody just staring at you like,

brother, you got to say something. It's your job.

But it's their job. They don't say hello or what can I give for your day or

anything. They just stare back at you blankly.

Have you ever had that one?

A lack of enthusiasm for your job.

It's draining, right? It's draining.

It says that they had an enthusiasm for their work. But when you see someone

who is enthusiastic about their work, it can make all the difference.

They're excited to be there. It makes the work enjoyable.

It's still work, but when you approach it with enthusiasm, it changes your perspective on it.

Nehemiah says that God's people worked with enthusiasm. They were getting after it.

It says the wall was completed to half of its height. That's probably around 20 feet.

Let's hop back into chapter 4, verse 7.

They've been getting after it. That's halfway up, all the way around.

It says, but when Samballot heard that the work was going ahead,

and that the gaps in the wall of Jerusalem were being repaired,

they were furious. Him and his group of buddies would have some power now.

And they made plans to come and fight against Jerusalem and throw us into confusion.

But we prayed to our God. First step, they go to God in prayer.

And guarded the city day and night to protect ourselves.

Again, Nehemiah's reflex is to get on his knees in prayer.

God, I need you. And it keeps going. Verse 10 says, then the people of Judah began to complain.

The workers are getting tired. There is so much rubble to be moved.

We will never be able to build the walls by ourselves.

Meanwhile, our enemies were saying, before they know what's happened,

we'll swoop down on them and kill them and end their work.

The Jews who lived near the enemy came and told us again and again,

they will come from all directions and attack us.

Nehemiah catches wind of the plan of his enemies.

He hears what those who oppose him are going to do, and he takes precaution.

I think this is huge. He doesn't just carry on with business as usual.

He changes course and adjusts according to what he knows.

That's wisdom. Proverbs 22, 3 says, a prudent man foresees danger and takes precautions.

The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.

Nehemiah, he knows what they're going to do, so he prepares for that.

He is ready for what they will bring.

We're going to keep going to Nehemiah 4. Look at how Nehemiah prepares.

Verse 13 says, so I placed armed guards behind the lowest parts of the wall in the exposed areas.

I stationed people to stand guard by families, armed with swords, spears, and bows.

Then I looked over the situation. I called together the nobles and the rest

of the people and said to them, don't be afraid of the enemy.

Remember the Lord who is great and glorious. Fight for your brothers,

your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.

If you keep going there, it gives a little more detail. He gives them weapons.

He rallies the people. He says, don't be afraid. Remember God.

He goes on to say he actually cuts the workforce in half because half of the

people are just going to be standing guard.

They're going to be ready for the fight.

And then the other half of people that are still working, it says they're going

to have one hand working and they're going to have another hand with a weapon ready to go.

And then it says he has a trumpeter with him who is ready to sound the alarm.

Verse 19 says, then I explained to the nobles and the officials and all the

people, the work is very spread out.

Remember, the circumference of the wall is about two and a half miles.

We're very spread out. We're separated from each other along the wall.

When you hear the blast of the trumpet rush to wherever it is sounding,

then our God will fight for us.

Verse 21 says, we worked early and late from sunrise to sunset.

Half the men were always on guard.

I also told everybody living outside the walls to stay inside Jerusalem.

That way they and their servants could help with guard duty at night and work during the day.

During this time, none of us, not I, nor my relatives, nor my servants,

nor the guards who were with me ever took off our clothes.

We carried our weapons with us at all times, even when we went for water.

So much there. I want us to zoom out for just a second before we zoom back in.

If you look at this chapter as a whole, you just look at it through the lens of opposition.

There's three truths I want to glean from this passage. Opposition speaks lies.

Opposition should be expected. And opposition is a distraction.

It speaks lies. It's to be expected. And it's a distraction.

Opposition speaks lies. What did the opposed men say?

They mocked and ridiculed, saying, hey, this is a poor job. Even a fox could knock this over.

It's feeble. If it's so feeble and weak, why are they worried about stopping the wall?

Don't make sense, right? It doesn't make sense to be so angry over something

that you can easily overcome.

They're just spreading lies. But they are furious about the wall.

They slander. Lying is often the first tactic of the enemy, the devil.

That's because the devil is a slander. He is a liar. Think about how the devil

tempted Adam and Eve in the garden. He asked them.

God really say? He makes them question God. He is a liar.

John 8, 44 says, and this is talking about the enemy says, when he lies,

it is consistent with his character, for he is a liar and the father of all lies.

It's from the enemy, not the people. I mean, it's literally from the devil himself.

He's the father of lies. Church, when you face opposition, you will have people

who slander you and your work. They will mock you. They will ridicule you.

Do not let that stop you.

In the midst of the mocking and the slander, what do the people of God.

No. Verse six says, at last the wall was completed to have a tithe around the

city for the people had worked with enthusiasm.

They are being slandered. They are being mocked. They are being ridiculed.

What did they do? They kept at the work brick by brick.

They didn't spend all this time trying to convince their enemies that they were

doing the right thing. They didn't do that. They weren't trying to correct their lies.

They just did the right thing for them. They put the next brick up on the wall.

They kept on the mission that God had called them to.

When the opposition speaks lies. Don't fight with the lies. Don't do that.

Keep doing the right thing.

Keep working. Keep moving forward.

Opposition is expected. You should expect to face obstacles in life.

Sometimes the obstacles will be people. Can I get an amen? No.

Sometimes it'll just be resources. Sometimes it'll just be a challenging thing.

You should expect there to be opposition when you join the mission of God.

Think about this. That crew that is working on building the walls,

they've been there different amounts of times, but they have been there at a

minimum like over a decade.

They have not had any beef with Sanballat and his crew the whole time they've been back in Jerusalem.

Why didn't they face any opposition from him? They weren't doing anything.

You don't have to stop someone who's not moving.

They already weren't going anywhere.

Church, when you are living on the mission of God, when you're living on mission

for God, you should experience.

Opposition. John 10.10 says the thief's purpose is to steal, kill, and destroy.

This is Jesus talking. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. Two competing goals.

If you pursue one, you will be at ends with the other. You have to expect opposition.

There are so many people in our world that have been sold a version of Christianity

that says as soon as you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior,

all of the problems in your life are going to fade away. That's just not true.

The problems you would have faced for eternity, they are gone forever.

Your sins are forgiven and Jesus will give you a rich and satisfying life.

But here's this side of heaven, that is going to require work.

There's going to be some effort required.

And as much as Jesus wants you to have the rich and satisfying life,

you have a real enemy in the devil who wants to steal, kill, and destroy.

Knowing that that's going to happen, you are going to face opposition,

makes it so much easier when it does happen.

I think maybe a good way to evaluate a life is what opposition are you facing?

I mean, if you aren't facing any opposition whatsoever, then maybe,

and I mean this with all kindness possible, if you're not facing any opposition,

maybe the enemy has you right where he wants you.

He doesn't need to stop someone who's not on the mission of God. He doesn't.

He's already got you where he wants you. Look what Jesus said in Matthew 16.

It says, Then Jesus said to his disciples, If any of you wants to be my follower,

you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.

Jesus doesn't call us to pick up our easy and smooth life to follow him.

He calls us to pick up our cross and follow him. The cross is a picture of pain and suffering.

That's what it was an execution. It was pain. It was suffering.

But for those who believe in Jesus, those who Jesus is your savior,

the cross is a picture of salvation, that God can take any amount of pain and

suffering and opposition and he can bring good out of it. He can.

Opposition will speak lies. They will slander. They will ridicule.

They will mock you because that's what Satan does.

Opposition is to be expected. If you are living on mission for God,

you're going to have to pick up your cross and follow him. There are going to be hard times.

Opposition is a distraction.

If you go forward to Nehemiah 6, Sambal and his crew, they just continue to

oppose the work that Nehemiah is doing.

They told Nehemiah of some terrible rumors. some things that they are hearing,

they're the ones saying it.

They're the ones spreading the rumors. They're the ones saying,

hey, when you build the walls, the king is gonna think you're gonna try to make

your own kingdom and he's gonna come and he's gonna get you.

And their intent is nefarious when they're sharing this with Nehemiah.

They keep sharing it over and over and over again with them.

And look at how Nehemiah responds. And Nehemiah 6, verse 8, I replied,

Nehemiah 6:8

there's no truth in any part of your story. for you are making up the whole thing.

They're just trying to intimidate us, imagining that they could discourage us and stop the work.

So I continued with the work with even greater determination.

Opposition is a distraction. Their goal was to keep Nehemiah away from the work

to slow him down and to harm him.

Nehemiah doesn't even really engage with it. He keeps on working,

it says, with even greater determination.

I think sometimes in life we can flip that. The more opposition we face,

the less determined we are.

Nehemiah knows he's on a mission from God.

If it's God's mission, and he's not going to get distracted fighting the opposition,

if it's the mission of God, he is just going to keep on working.

The devil will give you rabbits to chase if you'll let him. He will.

God's going to hand you bricks. build them one at a time at a time stay on mission

don't get distracted remember who sent you uh Nehemiah 420 if you help me out

this is just the last part of that verse,

help me out that word in yellow says then our God will fight for us.

Then our God will fight for us.

God will fight for us. They believed they were living on mission for God.

They said, God will fight for us.

They believed that, that God would fight for them. And they each kept a weapon

on them and ready at all times.

God didn't have a single sword in his hand, but they said, God will fight for us.

It is God's work, our hands. Victory comes from God. And here's the deal.

In Nehemiah, you see victory comes from God. They fully believe that,

but they were willing to fight for it.

Church, it is God's work in our hands. God will fight for us,

but he puts the weapons in our hands.

And I want you to know the greatest weapon that you have in your hands as a

believer is the one thing that Nehemiah goes to often.

In trying times, what does Nehemiah do each and every time? When things are

going well, we're gonna see him continue to do it. He seeks the Lord in prayer.

He goes to God, says, I need help, God. I need you, I need you. I'm facing opposition.

I'm gonna go before the king. whatever problems he's facing, he goes to the Lord.

I'm gonna ask you again, when was the last time you got on your knees and prayed to God?

I don't know what kind of opposition you're facing right now.

I'm sure there are all kinds of battles happening in this room. God will fight for you.

He's put the weapons in your hand. The greatest weapon we have, church, is prayer.

My asking this morning is just to take a moment and pray.

To literally spin out of your chair, get on your knees and pray to God.

There's nothing magical about kneeling. I just know this. When we take one simple

step of obedience, it leads to another.

It does. So here's, I'm going to pray for us and then we're going to sing together.

And as we are singing, as the band is playing, would you just take a moment

to seek God to move in your life?

Maybe to seek Him to move in some opposition, maybe to give you clarity about

what mission He has called you to specifically. But I want you to get on your knees and pray.

You can kneel at your seat. You can come up front if you'd like and go to the side.

Wherever you need to be, it really doesn't matter. If you are physically able,

I want you to get on your knees and to pray.

Because church, the opposition we face, we cannot fight on our own.

God has to do that. We need God to move, but here's the deal.

The weapon's in your hands.

And when you get on your knees, that's when we ask God to move.

Let me pray for us. God, I thank you for everybody that's here.

I thank you for how you're moving.

God, I thank you for how you've been faithful in opposition to move and to be faithful.

God, that we are not on our own. God, that you have given us weapons to fight

the battles you have put in our way.

God, that the obstacles and the opposition we face is nothing for you.

God, and you will fight for us.

God, you put the weapons in our hand.

Help us to be faithful in seeking you.

God, I pray that you would just find this moment of prayer and worship.

God, it would just be a pleasant and a pleasing aroma to you,

God, that we know we have nothing to offer you, God, but we seek you to move in our lives.

To move mountains,

got to work in the midst of the opposition we face.

We ask all these things in Jesus' name. Amen.