Standing Strong in Adversity.
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In 1935, Bill Wallace went to China as a medical missionary during a time of great political instability. During WWII, he performed operations while bombs continued to land around him. Eventually, his hospital was destroyed. Even while others urged him to leave, he insisted, “I will stay as long as I am able to serve.”
So he stayed, but during the war, he was arrested as a spy and tortured. One night, the guards had enough of his talk about Jesus, and they beat him to death. Bill wasn’t even afforded a proper burial, but instead thrown into an unmarked grave. Some of his friends risked exposure and death themselves and snuck into the graveyard and erected a monument inscribed with 7 words , “For to me to live is Christ.”
You may never encounter the kind of persecution and difficulty that Bill Wallace endured, but you can be sure that opposition isn’t far away.
For some of us it just doesn’t seem fair. Why doesn’t God silence all of our critics and squash everyone that opposes us?
For some of us it just doesn’t seem fair. Why doesn’t God silence all of our critics and squash everyone that opposes us?
Few things derail people more than opposition.
Few things derail people more than opposition.
It’s easy to give up.
It’s easy to get mad.
It’s tempting to get even.
It’s difficult to stay focused!
But Scripture teaches us that when opposition (and it will!) to keep going!
The internalizer. - accepts on the surface, but beats themselves to a pulp on the inside.
The shifter. - deflects the blame or the criticisms onto others.
We become resentful and act out of spite.
I’ve heard it said that the only way to get out of a storm is to go through it. If you are following Jesus and if you are moving in the direction he has called you to move, the storm of opposition is coming!
The defender. - does just that. They react defensively and often aggressively (actively or passively) back at the critic.
The good news for the Christian is we don’t have to scrape and claw and complain and thrash our way through a storm we get to trust our way through!
How you respond to opposition is the difference between stalling out and moving forward.
Don’t get distracted by the opposition!
Anger of others against you.
When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became furious. He mocked the Jews before his colleagues and the powerful men of Samaria, and said, “What are these pathetic Jews doing? Can they restore it by themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they ever finish it? Can they bring these burnt stones back to life from the mounds of rubble?” Then Tobiah the Ammonite, who was beside him, said, “Indeed, even if a fox climbed up what they are building, he would break down their stone wall!”
Opposition from the enemy is intended to distract you from what you should be focused on!
Opposition from the enemy is intended to distract you from what you should be focused on!
When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became furious. He mocked the Jews before his colleagues and the powerful men of Samaria, and said, “What are these pathetic Jews doing? Can they restore it by themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they ever finish it? Can they bring these burnt stones back to life from the mounds of rubble?” Then Tobiah the Ammonite, who was beside him, said, “Indeed, even if a fox climbed up what they are building, he would break down their stone wall!”
When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became furious. He mocked the Jews
When Sanballat, Tobiah, and the Arabs, Ammonites, and Ashdodites heard that the repair to the walls of Jerusalem was progressing and that the gaps were being closed, they became furious.
Nehemiah’s focus was supposed to be on rebuliding the wall, restoring order to the city of Jerusalem, and renewing the people’s devotion to God.
They did not love God.
They did not love God’s work.
They did not love Nehemiah.
Not all criticism is bad, but if I’m going to listen to somebody criticize me 3 things have to be generally true.
They have to love Jesus.
They have to love his church.
They have to love me.
There are a whole lot of people in this world and it is not God’s desire for the people who know me the least to influence me the most!
what we have seen and heard we also declare to you, so that you may also have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.
The word complete means mature or full. God wants us in close fellowship with people who love Him and who love us. That’s where our maturity/growth comes from.
If someone doesn’t love God and they don’t love the church that Jesus died for and if they don’t love me their criticism and opposition is nothing but a weapon formed against me that will not prosper.
The jewish people began to rebuild Jerusalem’s walls according to God’s will, yet their work ignited opposition and criticism.
Sanballat and Tobiah did not love God, they did not love God’s work and they had no love for Nehemiah! They wanted to distract him from the work he was doing which in turn would lead to his disgrace which would have suited them just fine. If Nehemiah was disgraced, the King would have no choice but to remove him as Governor of Jerusalem and send him back to Susa.
6 types of opposition:
If you’re following Jesus, you will experience opposition! You’ve got to be prepared to handle it when it comes.
When others are angry with you.
When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became furious. He mocked the Jews
When Sanballat, Tobiah, and the Arabs, Ammonites, and Ashdodites heard that the repair to the walls of Jerusalem was progressing and that the gaps were being closed, they became furious.
When others belittle you.
before his colleagues and the powerful men of Samaria, and said, “What are these pathetic Jews doing? Can they restore it by themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they ever finish it? Can they bring these burnt stones back to life from the mounds of rubble?” Then Tobiah the Ammonite, who was beside him, said, “Indeed, even if a fox climbed up what they are building, he would break down their stone wall!”
Nehemiah 4:2
When others threaten & intimidate you.
They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and throw it into confusion.
And our enemies said, “They won’t realize it until we’re among them and can kill them and stop the work.”
Nehemiah 4:8
When life gets overwhelming & discouraging.
beating yourself up is not the answer.
In Judah, it was said:
The strength of the laborer fails,
since there is so much rubble.
We will never be able
to rebuild the wall.
believing every lie of the enemy is not the answer.
Nehemiah 4:
When others are negative.
blaming others for your suffering isn’t the route you need to take.
In Judah, it was said:
The strength of the laborer fails,
since there is so much rubble.
We will never be able
to rebuild the wall.
When the Jews who lived nearby arrived, they said to us time and again, “Everywhere you turn, they attack us.”
When your situation is scary.
After I made an inspection, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, “Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the great and awe-inspiring Lord, and fight for your countrymen, your sons and daughters, your wives and homes.”
What kind of opposition is distracting you from who God wants you to be and what God wants you to do?
*scoffing at others requires no courage at all, especially if the crowd is on your side.
Sanballat had initially questioned the motives of Nehemiah, accusing them of rebellling against the king, but now the potential of strong walls threatened Sanballats power in the region. God was behind this work that NEhemiah was doing, but the work wasn’t in Sanballot’s favor. So he ridiculed and mocked it and set his heart & mind against it.
Critics have their own agenda!
Critics have little courage.
Is it the anger of someone towards you?
Is someone belittling you or putting you down?
Is someone or something threatening or intimidating you?
Are you overwhelmed or discouraged?
Are the people around you negative and cynical?
Is your current situation frightening?
I want you to see something!
So we rebuilt the wall until the entire wall was joined together up to half its height, for the people had the will to keep working.
Opposition came and it hit them from all sorts of angles.
Anger & hostitlity
Mockery & Sarcasm
Threats & Intimidation
Discouragement & Exhaustion
Negativity & Fear
Nehemiah didn’t stall out! He kept going! The opposition didn’t go away! In fact, it got worse! And Nehemiah kept going!
There are too many Christians stalled out in their spiritual journey because some kind of opposition distracted them and because they didn’t regain focus and remain on the path of righteousness the opposition derailed them.
We’ve all experienced this. Some of us are experiencing opposition right now. What do we do? We do what Nehemiah did?
We keep going!
We refuse to
How do we stay focused when opposition comes?
Keep your emotions in check through prayer!
If
If we take a look at verses 1-5 again, I want you to notice something that is conspicuously absent.
A REACTION. Nehemiah doesn’t react emotionally. He responds wisely. He takes his emotions to God in prayer!
Listen, our God, for we are despised. Make their insults return on their own heads and let them be taken as plunder to a land of captivity. Do not cover their guilt or let their sin be erased from your sight, because they have angered the builders.
He first releases the criticisms to God.
He then releases his feelings to God!
Is this a model prayer for us today? No, not at all. Jesus tells us how to pray for our enemies...
“
But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
So was Nehemiah wrong to pray this way? Not at all. Let me explain.
First, in opposing Israel, Sanballat was actually opposing God.
Second, God had already pronounced judgment on Israel’s enemies.
No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. I will be with you, just as I was with Moses. I will not leave you or abandon you.
Third, Nehemiah was simply relaying to God his understanding of God’s promise to Abraham concerning Israel.
I will bless those who bless you,
I will curse anyone who treats you with contempt,
and all the peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.
Finally, Nehemiah didn’t take it upon himself to put Sanballat in his place but rightly left his enemies in God’s hands.
So what do we learn from this? When opposition comes, rather than taking matters into our own hands, we take them to God with everything that that entails and we trust Him to be our defense!
2. Put your heart into the work God has called you to do!
So we rebuilt the wall until the entire wall was joined together up to half its height, for the people had the will to keep working.
Nehemiah prayed, but he didn’t sit on his butt and do nothing!
You know why some of us are discouraged and depleted? Because we’ve gotten distracted from the work God has called us to do. Because instead of using gifts and talents God has given for the work he wants to do, we use them for our own personal gain. Or we use them at our convenience or when it suits us.
3. Be on the lookout for the opposition!
When Sanballat, Tobiah, and the Arabs, Ammonites, and Ashdodites heard that the repair to the walls of Jerusalem was progressing and that the gaps were being closed, they became furious. They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and throw it into confusion. So we prayed to our God and stationed a guard because of them day and night.
When Sanballat, Tobiah, and the Arabs, Ammonites, and Ashdodites heard that the repair to the walls of Jerusalem was progressing and that the gaps were being closed, they became furious. They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and throw it into confusion. So we prayed to our God and stationed a guard because of them day and night.
In Judah, it was said:
The strength of the laborer fails,
since there is so much rubble.
We will never be able
to rebuild the wall.
Nehemiah 4:
Notice that their prayers didn’t make the opposition go away. It strengthened their resolve to stay focused on the task at hand!
Also notice that even while they prayed, they still acted wisely and set up a guard. That’s part of our problem, isn’t it?
We beleive in the Supernatural on Sunday but act like the enemy isn’t real on Monday. There is opposition and if you are following Jesus, it is coming for you! You must be ready!
4. Finally, focus your mind on the resurrection power of Jesus!
After I made an inspection, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, “Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the great and awe-inspiring Lord, and fight for your countrymen, your sons and daughters, your wives and homes.”
Here’s our declaration this morning:
We won’t lose heart or become proud at heart but we’ll stay focused on Jesus and what he has called us to do!
We won’t lose heart or become proud at heart but we’ll stay focused on Jesus and what he has called us to do!
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