Sermon Tone Analysis

Welcome

Good Morning!

I’m Pastor Wayne and I’d like to welcome you all to the gathering of Ephesus Baptist Church.

Why did you choose to gather today?

We believe we are a called people!

Called to worship and exalt our God among the nations in order that His glory may be spread over all the earth!

If you are visiting with us this morning, we want you to know that ...

We are all one family of faith: “giving our all to love God, love people, proclaim Jesus, and make disciples in our generation.”

We have a connect card in the pew in front of you.

I invite you to take one and fill it out!

If you have prayer needs, you can let us know about those as well.

I promise, our prayer team will lift you up soon.

You can place those cards in the offering plate when it comes around.

Scripture Memory

Opening Scripture Reading

Opening Prayer

Introduction

For the last several weeks, we have watched as Nehemiah and his Jewish brethren are discovering the painful, yet spiritually beneficial truth that there is no such thing as opportunity without opposition.

There is no opportunity from heaven without opposition from hell.

Satan will place obstacle after obstacle in our path to hinder the work of God in our lives and in the lives of others.

In the process of rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem, Nehemiah faced a number of opposing obstacles from the enemy.

How do you view obstacles and opposition when you are trying to accomplish something in life?

Have you ever heard someone say, “God opened a door,” or “God closed a door of ministry for me.”

Do you think Nehemiah would have concluded that God was opening a door of ministry for him based on the size and scope of the rebuilding project, the ridicule, the opposition, and the obstacles that he would have to overcome?

What would you have thought if you were in his sandals?

I am convinced that if we had been in Nehemiah's shoes, we would have concluded that God had "closed the door," because the obstacles and opposition were so great.

There is just not an easy, free flowing path to move forward and keep life comfortable.

Yes, I believe many of us would have thrown in our towels in the face of the obstacles and opposition in front of Nehemiah.

But Nehemiah did not throw in his towel, he did not quit, and he did not see this as a closed door.

He, rightly saw the obstacles and opposition as hurdles that had to be overcome in order to bring his heavenly Father great Glory by accomplishing work God had called him to.

Ephesus, as we become involved in serving the Lord and "building the walls" of our personal or corporate Christian witness we will surely face many obstacles and much opposition.

If we pay close attention, Nehemiah will demonstrate how to appropriately utilize our shield of faith that we discussed last week.

Obstacles to God’s work are inevitable.

We have to expect them and be spiritually prepared to overcome them when they raise their ugly head!

Today, Nehemiah provides us a great example to follow as we learn how to overcome obstacles to God’s work together as we trust God and determine in our hearts to continue His work together, no matter what the obstacle.

This morning we are going to look at two great principles of the Christian faith that will help us to fight the good fight of faith as we seek to overcome obstacles to God’s work together.

Truths to help you overcome obstacles to God’s work!

Join me in Nehemiah chapter 4, as we read from verse 6 through verse 23 together.

Please stand in honor of the reading of God’s magnificent word!

Prayer

So the wall is built to half its height.

Do you see how God is continually favoring the faith and determination of His people as they pray and work to complete the restoration of Jerusalem?

Yes God’s favor is surely on display here.

Nehemiah’s wisdom is also on display as it was wiser to finish all the parts of the wall to half the intended height than it would have been to build some sections to full height while others remained open.

Great opportunity lay ahead of God’s people as they trust in Him and have a mind to work.

They have been faithful and in roughly a month have completed the walls to half their intended height.

It is at this precise moment that believers need to be on guard against the enemy.

Opportunity leads to opposition.

That is the case here as well as we encounter our first principle.

Most of you have already encountered this principle in you life.

1.

Initial success is often followed by increased opposition.

Satan’s three stooges have been busy laughing at the Jews.

They had engaged them with a war of words, by mocking and insulting them.

I am sure that when they left Jerusalem they felt victorious.

After a couple of weeks, when Sanballat and his friends realized that their ridicule was not successful in stopping the work on the wall, their anger greatly increased, and their diabolic plans escalated.

Just like most bullies, they had to find a few friends to stand with them against the smaller, weaker object of their bullying.

Sanballat had succeeded in enlisting others in his evil alliance.

Jerusalem was now surrounded on all sides by enemies: the Samaritans on the north, the Ammonites on the east, the Arabians on the south, and the men of Ashdod on the west.

We aren’t clear about how serious this alliance was about actually fighting and killing the men of Israel.

The fact that this impressive group didn’t even strike a single blow suggests that ‘the king’s letters’ mentioned in (2:9) prevented them from putting a bite to their bark because of their fear of Persian reprisals.

But their plotting, whether serious or not, clearly included the threat of impending raids, and had to be taken seriously.

The thing is: Nehemiah didn’t know how serious they were when the threat got back to him.

Do you know how he responded?

A. He had the people pray.

Nehemiah trusted God to fight for His people.

B. He took precautions.

Prayer was never a last resort for Nehemiah.

He set a guard as a precautionary protection day and night to help warn of a surprise attack.

C.

He kept working.

The people continued to work on the walls.

2. Discouragement and fear are two obstacles to God’s work that must be countered by determined action and faith.

The continued threats of opponents combined with the bone-wearying work was wearing down the enthusiasm of the workers.

They had been working for about a month, and the wall was only about half the height intended.

Talk about glass half empty folks.

Their glass was half full but to them it seemed half empty because discouragement and fear were creeping into their lives.

Internal issues can be more problematic than threats from those outside.

Enthusiasm may be contagious, but discouragement tends to be destructive.

To add to the growing malaise about the work, their enemies continued their psychological warfare, sowing rumors of a surprise attack with the intent to kill them and put an end to the work.

Nehemiah was facing a crisis among his people.

Apparently concerned relatives and friends were coming to Jerusalem to encourage their husbands and sons to leave the wall and return home where they would be safe.

Nehemiah faced the work ending before it was finished if he didn’t act quickly and wisely.

“You’ll never make it.

You won’t survive.

They have you surrounded and outnumbered.”

Talk about a fine group of people full of heartwarming encouragement.

What has brought on these feelings of discouragement?

Satan’s old ways of sowing doubt in our minds are by pointing out to us.

The overwhelming size of our task.

The amount of physical and emotional exhaustion.

The results are not as desired.

The ridicule from those who don’t understand.

The many attempts by others to stop God’s work.

The distraction from our own problems.

The lack of support we have from others.

The sense of being disconnected.

The fear of death.

Nehemiah’s response in this rough situation was helpful and inspiring.

Nehemiah’s response was strategic and involved definite action.

He slowed the pace of the work as he positioned some for defense.