Nehemiah chapter 4 and I told you that we're looking at the opposition and how to deal with it, how to deal with criticism, how to deal with, how to identify when the enemy's attacking you and how to expect it and so that's, we're going to try and confine ourselves to those particular things and let's face it if there's anything that is relevant in our day and age, then this is relevant for us. Whether you're in leadership or whether you're in membership or whether you're an associate or an affiliate, whether you're a parent or whether you're a child or whatever, these are all relevant for us today because we're living in an ever-increasing anti-God society. and will always be provoked or mocked in some way. All right? And after the subject of last Tuesday night, if you've sought to try and do something about some of the subjects that we brought up last Tuesday, then you know there's lots of opposition into you initiating, beginning the rebuilding of those walls that we sought to uncover. Nehemiah chapter 4, the first nine verses, and this is God's Word, so let's give it the respect that it's due. But it came to pass that when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall, he was mad, or wroth, and took great indignation and he mocked the Jews. And he spake before his brethren and the army of Samaria and said, what do these feeble, weak Jews? Will they fortify themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they make an end in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish which are burned? Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall. Hear, O our God, for we are despised, and turn their reproach upon their own head, and give them for a prey in the land of captivity. and cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from before thee, for they have provoked thee to anger before the builders. So built we the wall, and all the wall was joined together onto half the half thereof, for the people had a mind to work. But it came to pass that when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabians, hey, we've even got a nation against them, and the Ammonites and the Asterites heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wrath and conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem and to hinder it. Nevertheless, We made our prayer unto our God and set a watch against them day and night because of them. Amen. And it's all very plain and simple as we read it in his word here this evening. If you are going to do a work for God, and as I said earlier on, if you're going to seek to do something about what you heard last week, you are going to face opposition. You're going to, that's the lesson of chapter four, that if you seek to do anything for God, there's going to be any amount of opposition and obstacles to prevent you from accomplishing and achieving that which you set your heart on. Now, it's interesting when we look at the opposition, there was external opposition, but there was also internal opposition, as we see later on. If you're going to be a spiritual leader in your home, in your community, in your church, in the country, or in your workplace, it's inevitable that hand in hand, that work will come face opposition. If you don't want to ever face opposition, don't try to rebuild the walls. Don't try to be a firm and a spiritual leader in your house. In fact, don't even bother. Just go with the flow and you not face any opposition because the devil leaves his own alone. But that will make you merely a passenger. No use to God, woman, or beast. You'll just be another pew filler. people end up putting the the trowel and the sword down and they decided I can't be putting in with this opposition. And so that's often is the case. Oswald Chambers wrote a little book. My utmost for his highest. Hands up those of you who have read it. Great wee book. Could be quiet time book as well. My utmost for his highest. He also wrote a One of the chapters in that book is called The Cost of Leadership. It's interesting how many people want to be in leadership. They think that it's all glamorous. I remember whenever Alistair Patterson and I were working down in Cork. I think I've told you this story before when we were in the faith mission. and I can remember whenever we were putting in the sewers and the sewer pipes and there we were to the clobbers and muck and dirt and filth and for I don't know why we did it out of a joke but we had to go and do some messages into the town and you want to see the pair of us walking through the town and we looked like I was going to say gypsies, but that might not be politically correct. But we were absolutely muck into it. And I can remember Alistair saying to me, he says, do you think, Trevor, whenever you're responding to the Lord, had you this kind of idea in your head? I says, no. He says, that's right. He says, because most people think that the Lord's work is lovely and glamorous. Lovely and glamorous. Well, so in that book, and by the way, there's a lot of people who goes into it because they like the position of it. They think that they command respect or position. Well, Oswald Chambers wrote The Cost of Discipleship, and here's one of the quotes that I took from that little book. He makes this statement, no leader is exempt from criticism, and his humility will be seen no more clearly than in the manner in which he accepts and reacts to that criticism. No leader is exempt from criticism and humility will no more be clearly seen than in the manner in which he accepts and or rejects criticism. I believe that Nehemiah is one of the greatest characters in the Bible. The way that he accepted criticism but also the way he dealt with criticism is something to behold and something for us to mark. Here's what Alan Redpath says about Nehemiah. He says, Nehemiah's leadership in this little book says, Nehemiah's courage and determination in the face of the fiercest opposition, his complete faith in God, his great passion for the service of the Lord, and all these things point him out as a man in a million. A man whose life is worth emulating and whose character is worth our close scrutiny and examination. Nehemiah is a man to be marked then. Mark how he reacted when he faced the opposition, and that's what we're going to look at. His spiritual maturity shone brightly in this few verses that we've read together. Much like Paul when he said, we have this treasure in earth and vessels, 2 Corinthians 4 and verse 7, that the excellency of the power of God may be of God and not of us. The reason he says that I am so weak, says Paul, that I may not glory in what God does through me. but what through these cracks in this old earthen vessel, the glory of God would be seen. Because he goes on to say in 2 Corinthians chapter 4 and verses 11 and following, we are troubled in every side, yet not distressed. We are perplexed, but not in despair. We are persecuted, but not forsaken, cast down, but not destroyed, always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus Christ might be manifested in our body. There's a cause. is a cost. If we're going to be leaders, we're going to be battered, bruised, and beaten. And you think, is that acceptable in the church of Jesus Christ? Absolutely not. But it happens. The reality is that as we faced it, Paul faced it, he was accused by those within the church, even some that he'd led to the Lord. And that is not unique only to Saul. J.B. Phillips says, we are hard-pressed on all sides, but we are never frustrated. We are puzzled, but never in despair. We are persecuted, but never deserted. We are knocked down, but we don't stay down. That's the key. There's a cost to any spiritual work. The problem is a lot of people got discouraged and then they threw in the towel. And maybe you have been persecuted and maybe you've faced mocking and maybe you have come to the point and you've already thrown in the towel in your heart. Well, I would like you to take courage tonight because you're going to be encouraged from this wee story that we're going to look at just now. So notice with me first of all verse 1, the strategy of the enemy. The strategy of the enemy. By the way, Paul says in 2 Corinthians 2 and verse 11, we are not ignorant of the devil's devices. Well, we ought not to be ignorant of the devil's devices. Notice the three things, some of the things. Paul didn't want the Corinthian believers to have the evil and get advantage over them. He tried to make them aware of how the devil works. And we know that Jesus says in John chapter 10, the thief cometh not but for to steal, to kill, and to destroy. Here's the first strategy, the internal opposition. Notice. that there are three things in verse 1 that Sam Ballett revealed. He was angry, he was indignant, and he ridiculed. Does that sound familiar? Anger, indignation, and ridicule? When you're doing your very best for the Lord, just because you're not doing it the way others think you should be doing it, that they get angry, or they ridicule, or they become indignant. Notice in chapter 2 and verse 9, we notice that they were angry, but their anger is increasing. When we get to chapter 4 and verse 1, their grieving intensifies to it boils over in their lives. So there's an increasing intensity in the anger since the day Nehemiah came into Jerusalem. until this very point, whenever they begin to see the work beginning to happen. St. Ballard was not pleased that the building had started, and it irritated even more when the people weren't listening to him, but they were observing what Nehemiah was doing. One of the chief characteristics of the enemy, the devil, is that he is a mocker. He mocks us in our work and the world will mock us. People who don't understand the spiritual desires and appetite in the heart, they will mock us. They will mock you and they'll mock me because at the end of the day, the devil has a monopoly on those who are not obedient to the Lord and he causes them. And it's been an awful thing to be a tool of the devil to discourage any saint of God. Mockery. Remember they mocked the Lord Jesus. He saved himself, but he couldn't save others. Have you ever felt that you're mocked, belittled, made fun of because you wanted to hold a strong standard for God? Or whenever you talk to other people, you don't insist in chaperoning your children, do you? I mean, I heard back from last Tuesday that one or two maybe thought that I was a wee bit old-fashioned, that you don't allow two young Christians to go on holidays un-chaperoned together. And it's becoming now the norm that you just fly off and there's no accountability. And you might want to hold those standards. And believe me, I believe the Evangelical Church, not only Abbot's Cross, I believe the Evangelical Church should hold those standards, by the way. I would not let my children watch Harry Potter. But nowadays, what will happen with my grandchildren, I wouldn't want them watching Harry Potter. But here's what I tell you, but if you try to pass that on to other parents, you'll think you're a wee bit legalistic. You know, you think you're a wee bit outdated. Is that not a form of persecution and mockery? Isn't it? And so, parents, if you, and I'm not asking you to be legalistic, but I'm asking you to be realistic. Because what happens is you're led astray with your own lusts. That's what James says. And the Word of God says, the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. Who can know it? So you can't even trust you, and that's why you need a chaperone. Does anybody agree with this? I don't care what you do or not. And if you think I'm a bit old-fashioned, then you need to read God's Word. So if you're gonna hold these standards, and you try to pass them on, You're gonna be ridiculed. If you're going to, because listen, the devil's building his kingdom. He is building a false kingdom. He began that in the Garden of Eden in Genesis chapter three. And it's a kingdom of ridicule and darkness and despair and misery. And as he builds his kingdom, he doesn't like his kingdom to be threatened. Here's what it says. One writer has said that ridicule is a device used by ignorant people who are filled with jealousy. Often all that motivates people is criticism. In criticism is the fact that they are jealous of someone who's doing something greater for God than they are or that they've ever done. or one who is motivated within themselves to do. I say to you, if you ever come across someone that mock what others are trying to do for God, or if you're ever someone who mocks what others are trying to do for God, remember you're in league with the devil. The devil. The external opposition. Verse two, they mocked. They mocked the people. Not only did they mock the people, but they mocked the plan. Not only did they mock the plan, but they mocked the very materials. Now listen, do you need me to draw the spiritual parallels here? Why would you bother knocking 11,000 doors around Newton Abbey? Why would you even try to bring the gospel to the heathen that surround this area? So what advantage? Just have your own little holy cocoon in Abbots Cross and forget about the thousands that's going to hell outside because you're not going to make any difference anyway. That's what the enemy would rage in your head, in your head, in your heart. Or when you're out knocking the doors and was I happy with the mission? Ish. I'm glad to see those that come in. But I had a greater aspiration for much more. But then when the enemy comes at the fallout of the recent mission, I know that we were happy, we enjoyed the meetings, and the people spoke well, and different testimonies, and there was a young fellow who came from a Catholic background here on Sunday evening, he got saved as a consequence of the mission, and we thank God for that. But here's the thing, I believe in the God of much more. And I want us to make a difference in our community. And I was saying to someone, you know, if everyone in this church, if we all want one soul for Christ, there'll be twice as many here next Tuesday. That's the reality. But whenever you've got an aspiration, a heart to see that happen, it's not hard to get deflated. And the enemy there comes and says, well, what did you do wrong? What was wrong? What did you not do right? I don't know if you ever suffer these recriminations and accusations from the enemy, but he's a mocker and he knows the right time to seek to take advantage of you. And I'm only using that as an illustration, but even you in your home, whenever you're trying to raise a standard and build a wall and to reestablish the gates, the enemy will hate that. and there'll be ridicule, and there'll be mockery, and there'll be accusation, will come not even from without, but it'll be from within. But I want you to remember one thing. Always remember, criticism and condemnation comes from the pit of hell itself. It matters not the lips that's saying it to you. It's coming from hell itself. From hell itself. It's initiated, it's inspired, it's manipulated from the devil. And I was talking to someone today about this kind of subject, and they said, there used to be a time when I wanted to take a baseball bat, and many times I've said that, I want to take a baseball bat and alter somebody's personality now and again, if you know what I mean. But I don't really mean it. And they said, you'll catch that one when you listen to the CD. But here's what they said, I used to want to take that person by the throat, but now they've discovered, they're beginning to realize what's motivating it, what's initiating it from, and that's where we need to pray, that's where we need to work. It's like whenever we used to try and win the Roman Catholics, it used to be that we put over to the Roman Catholics, they were going to hell because of Roman Catholics. They're not going to hell because of Roman Catholics. They're going to hell because they're lost. We need to make these clear definitions, and it's because of the devilish doctrine that they're following. Initiated and spawned in hell itself. Oh, they mock the very materials. Can God turn an alcoholic, drug-addicted, suicidal individual into a saint of God? Of course he can. Of course he can. He's able to do exceeding abundantly. Can God take that little house of yours that's an absolute disarray and turn it into a godly house? Of course he can. Can God take that ruined, wrecked life of a father, or a son, or a wife, or a daughter, and turn it into a godly son, wife, or father? Can He? Of course He can. Can God take that broken marriage and reestablish it again? Of course He can. They ridiculed and mocked the materials. Notice, as we go through this, There was a confederation started to rise, verse 7. You know, coming out of the... You know what? Nehemiah has a character which was infectious, because Jerusalem, people who were complacent and different, as soon as he plants his feet in Jerusalem, there's an army of people who wants to build the wall. His kind of spirit was infectious. I want to tell you, so was Zambales. It started with two, then it was three. And now there's Arabians, and then there's a whole host wanting to join. Isn't that an awful thing that the people who were arch enemies were united against Nehemiah? That's what happens. People run around and they get a wee posse. And they may not have been friends before they found something to unite over. And people may unite against you for what you're trying to do. That's the way the enemy works. They said that whenever, they went all out to get Saddam Hussein, you remember that? And some people wondered at the wisdom of it, and as soon as they took Saddam Hussein out, the whole thing went mad. because he was the, I'm not advocating for Saddam Hussein, I'm not saying it was right or wrong, but there was all these little families and little people groupings, and there was nobody now to coheed. There's no cohesive character to hold them together. That's what the enemy does. He brings a crowd of people that are opposed and agencies that are opposed to the kingdom of God and he uses them against the church. It just teaches us that criticism rubs off. It's contagious. Critics usually rub off on other critics and form an army that criticize and reinforce each other's views. So they get friends alongside so as to buy up their excuse and they form a confederation against God's people. Does this sound familiar, doesn't it? You want to hear what she said to me. Oh, it's not terrible. Do you hear what so-and-so told me today about what she said to him? And before you know it, you've half the church split up the middle. All because your wee ego got hurt. That's how the devil, always remember, I was thinking this today, always remember anything that wants to bring criticism or division, it's spawned in hell. No matter how hard or how cruel you feel that you've been treated, always remember anything and everything that wants to commit hurt or wants to criticize others, remember that came from hell. You cannot gain an army to be on your side and leave that group untouched. You can't. These men started off in chapter two, they were angry. Nehemiah forged ahead and the work was forging ahead because as Nehemiah said, the hand of God was on me. And if you want to know why the Jerusalem was being rebuilt at such a pace, it was because the hand of God was on a man. And he had an infectious spirit. And because the hand of God was on Nehemiah, it seemed to spread amongst an army of people who had a mind to work, says the scriptures. devil. And I'd only made the devil madder. Listen, does that not sound familiar? The devil gets madder and madder whenever he sees a workman done. In fact, someone once said to me, if the devil's leaving you alone, you're not doing something right. But when he's at your back all the time, you must be doing something right. Mutual enemies at a time can become mutual friends in the effort to stamp out the work of God. We've already said that. Notice what it says in Luke chapter 23 in verse 12. On the same day, Pilate and Herod were made friends together for before there were enmity between themselves. Who did they unite against? Jesus. Oh, folks. It matters not whether they're there or not. The issue is how to handle them. That's not it. How to handle it. How did Nehemiah respond? What did he do? Our natural reaction would be to strike out in defense, to defend ourselves. Maybe another natural reaction would be to run to someone else and talk to them about it. We'd gather a posse. But what did Nehemiah do? He sought an audience with the one who's always available. the Lord himself. Don't we sing, what a friend we have in Jesus, all our, and Greece? But we don't. That's not the first place we run to. Nehemiah, at every stage, you'd see how often he went to prayer on this. And someone said that if somebody's praying for you, they'll not cause you any trouble. Not a good statement. You will not, listen, you will not find trouble from anyone who's praying for you. I think that's a good statement. I have to say that on occasion I've practiced that. People who have been really causing me grief. And I think I've shared this with you, but I'm gonna share it with you again. I'm not gonna mention any names, because it could be you. No, it's not. I can remember getting grief, and I said, Lord, I made a specific focus. I'm going to pray for these individuals. Every morning, lift them before the Lord. Lord, if there's one thing I want, I want those individuals blessed. And it worked. You see, whenever a blessing's rejected, it rebounds back to you again. So it was getting selfish. but it gives you victory in your heart. Pray for those who despitefully use you and abuse you, says Jesus. Nehemiah prayed for his enemies. He prayed to the Lord. Now listen, in verse four and five and six, it doesn't seem he wants the Lord to come and bring in judgment on them. But when he sought the Lord, listen, when you seek the Lord, it's a great way of letting off steam. Isn't that right? Let him know how you feel. You know, some people, they want to get all religious. Lord, I feel badly hurt. I wish that the fleas of a thousand camels would infest their armpits. You know, God knows already how you feel. And it's not that he's offended by you going and being honest with him, but let him minister into your heart to deal with the frustration and the anger because he prayed several times. In fact, Nehemiah is peppered all over with prayer from chapter one to the last chapter of Nehemiah. Prayer for Nehemiah was a mechanism where the valve just blew off and allowed all the steam out before God. The enemy's strategy is to discourage, to obstruct, to ridicule, and provoke an ungodly reaction. And there's the crux of the matter. All that ridicule, all that criticism, no matter who's the medium, no matter where it's coming from, whether it's coming from the pulpit or the pew, the strategy of the enemy is what we need to be aware of, is to provoke an ungodly reaction in me. Am I getting through with this? And I was saying to myself as I thought and prepared during the week, that means in every situation that I face or that you face, whether it's somebody sitting at the green light and you know they should be moving, or whether it's somebody and they're talking to the shop assistant and you're in a hurry and you've been in that queue for half an hour and they're still sorting out the family problems from 10 years ago. And you're wondering to yourself, would you ever move on and come back later on when there's nobody else in the shop to egg it on with my business? You know what I'm talking about. Trying to provoke, and this is what Paul said in Corinthians, we are not ignorant of the devil's devices. Because the result that the enemy wants is to provoke an ungodly reaction in you. Because what happens when ungodly reactions come from us? And I trust that you identify when an ungodly reaction comes from your heart, whether it's anger, whether it's frustration, or whether it's gossip or slander, or whether it's telling the story over and over again to someone else and having a pretty old, a dear old pity party. Please come and feel sorry for me. Those are all ungodly reactions. And if we throw, if we, if those are the results, if that's how we react, what happens then is I'm filled with guilt for the way I responded and I lost my temper. or whether I went and told someone in anger, and then I wish I'd never told them that in anger. You know what I'm saying here? And I was saying to myself, and I talk a lot to myself these days, I was saying, I wish we could all be a wee bit more aware when the enemy's trying to provoke an ungodly reaction from me. And there's nowhere more vulnerable or volatile than in a marriage relationship. Is that true? And do you know why that is? Because we're very familiar with each other. And we almost think that we've got the God-given right to say whatever we like to each other because we are spontaneous. And it's at those times that we need to guard against an ungodly reaction. An ungodly reaction. Because that's what the enemy's looking for. So that you can be filled with guilt and a sense of defeat and a sense of remorse and a sense of failure and The devil does not leave you alone until you just go and pour your heart out to God again and say, Lord, I'm sorry. Will you help me build up the walls, the Benjamin, the self defenses, set a guard over my lips? One of the lovely things I was preparing today for when I come back from a week away, we're not going away, we're going to see somebody for two days or three days. Somebody said, where are you going? And they wanted me to say I was going to Tenerife. I'm not going to Tenerife. We're not going to Tenerife. We're not going to the sun. I thought, all right, that is sorted now. I was thinking, I don't know what I'm going to say now. This old senile dementia is hitting me too. Anyway, it doesn't matter. But one of the things is we want to react, and we want to respond, and we want to get our own pizzy party so we can feel sorry for ourselves. And the enemy will put us down. And when he puts us down, he makes sure he keeps us down. So I want you to notice very quickly in the last seven minutes of this gathering, I want you to notice the strategy of the overcomer. I love Nehemiah because he's the epitome of what a balanced Christian is. You hear that old saying where it says that some people are too heavenly minded to be any earthly good. There's very few of them around. But Nehemiah is the kind of man that kept his powder dry. You ever hear that old, there used to be an old song. I forget what it was. Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition. You ever hear that one? Huh? When he did it, he praised the Lord and he passed the ammunition. It's the idea that there's not just something to be done in prayer in the spiritual realm, but there's also a practical aspect to it as well. He had a prayerful heart. He had a prayerful heart. He had a heart to pray. And that's how he fought his battles. Did he run to the solicitor? Did he get a, seek to get a petition? Did he get a wee click around him? On a Sunday night at home after the service? Talk about the grievances over supper? No. He just prayed. He had a prayerful heart. You see, you have to remember what David did when he was facing Goliath. David was facing Goliath and he said this, the battle is the Lord's and he will give you into our hands. battle. Make it the lord's battle. See that criticism? Ridicule. A sense of inadequacy. Self discrimination. Self incrimination. Whatever. Make it the lord's battle. Lord, here's here's what's happening here. Now, the only way that this can be resolved is if you take your control of it. Oh, what about Daniel? He was commanded to bow And what did he do? He went up to his room, prayed three times. Paul says we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness in high places. We need to remember that the source of all our battles is from the devil himself. Satan trembles when the weakest saint gets on his knees. He had a mind to pray, but he also had a mind to work. Look at verse 6 of chapter 4. He had a mind to work. He says, Critics pull down. They don't encourage. They demoralize and they sap the strength and energy and vitality out of the servant of God. But the servant of God runs to the one who encourages, and so Nehemiah runs to God and gives him that inspiration and courage, and so built we the wall, for the people had a mind to work. Imagine facing all those jibes, criticism, destructive words that were hurled at him. No threats of physical violence. In the midst of all of that, he says, come on boys, let's mix the cement and keep the building going. You have to have stickability in this world where the enemy doesn't want God's work to succeed. Practical stickability. Any old fool can go with the flow. It's only the strong that swim against the tide. Anyone can emulate next door neighbor. It's only those who have a mind to build and to work that succeed. Chuck Swindle says in that little book that Grace found for me, hand me another brick. He says, hand me another brick, that way we'll get the wall built quicker. That's a simple little statement. Hand me another brick. That way we'll get the wall built a little quicker. William Carey said, God loves a plotter. Someone who is able to call, to roll with the punches. You know all about that, Glenn. Roll with the punches. Don't just stand there and just take them, just roll with them, move with them. I think that's what it means anyway. He was able to keep sticking at all the abuse and all the criticism and all the dejection of people who are doing nothing. And from people who are doing nothing. It's great to be a praying Christian, but alongside the praying Christian, we need to be practical Christians. And look at what happens in verses seven to nine. As the opposition intensifies, so they intensified in their work. And not only did they work, but they watched and they worked. Three times in the Bible, we're encouraged to watch and pray. Once regarding the world, once regarding the flesh and once regarding the devil and his activities. So I think we've learned tonight that you will face opposition. Expect it, but it's how you handle it is the key, how you handle it. In Nehemiah, he kept his mind on the job, his eye on the Lord, his hand on the tools of the trade, and let God deal with the critics. I wish we could all learn that lesson. Let's pray together in prayer. Father, we thank you that you do give us tools. You do give us the ability, you've this recorded for us so we would learn how to deal with those that make fun and mock at us, the standards we keep for the lane we take, for the desire we have to see God work in our community. And we pray, dear God, that we'll learn from Nehemiah. We'll learn from his life. We'll learn from the way he battled against the enemy. You're gonna play these truths to our hearts, we pray. Help us not to be unaware, but to be aware of the devil's devices, that we may indeed, Lord, be successful in the building that you have set us to. We ask for your blessing upon everyone here, and pray that you'll meet every need. Again, remembering, Lord, those who are in hospital, and we pray for the families concerned, and we ask, Lord, that you will grant to each one of them your favor and your presence at this time. In Christ's name we pray, amen.