Perseverance Under Pressure
Notes
Transcript
Persevere Against Enemies
Persevere Against Enemies
Now when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and greatly enraged, and he jeered at the Jews. And he said in the presence of his brothers and of the army of Samaria, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore it for themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish up in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, and burned ones at that?” Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, “Yes, what they are building—if a fox goes up on it he will break down their stone wall!”
When we look at chapter four, Nehemiah and the people have already begun the work of rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem.
A man named Sanballat takes offense to this and decides to make it his priority to ruin the building of the walls.
Now, something that’s of note here that will help you understand the divide between Jews and Samaritans in the New Testament. Sanballat was a leader of Samaria. Other texts say that he was a governor of Samaria. So this is a lot of the bad blood between the Jews and the Samaritans right here. They are not having the rebuilding of Jerusalem. This further exacerbated a deep wound and it stayed open even up through the time of Jesus. The Jewish people had been further fragmented. Samaria had formerly been known as “The Northern Kingdom of Israel.” Now, they’re merely “one of the nations.”
The Samaritans had sold out their Jewish identity to the nations around them and to Babylon. The Bible’s characterization of them as simply one of the nations is a stark call to their identity in God’s eyes.
Because Nehemiah stood for the people of Israel, and their purity in worship, Sanballat made it his goal to destroy them. “Oh, they think they’re the true people of God? We’ll show them!”
Similarly, today, when we take a stand, we will attract enemies. Especially if you take a stand for your conscience. Many today take conscientious stands and are lambasted, even by their own people!
See what Sanballat is doing here? By lineage, he has Jewish roots, but instead of joining in with the Jews and returning to God, he’d rather tear them down. Sometimes our enemies can be the people who we would otherwise consider friends. Maybe even family.
Are your enemies worldly? Or are they supernatural? Do they impede *your* progress, or the progress of the Kingdom of God?
When we look at the example of Nehemiah, we see clearly a man who gave himself up for his people and the Kingdom of God. Nehemiah wasn’t in it for himself. He was in it so that God would receive the glory. Therefore, he knew that his enemies were God’s enemies. They opposed the work of God, not the person of Nehemiah. They may have thought that they opposed Nehemiah and Jerusalem, but truthfully these three enemies had one enemy whom they could not defeat nor hinder. That enemy was God.
Truthfully, we are all at enmity with God if we do not have the forgiveness and righteousness of Jesus Christ. And it’s not that we have no choice in the matter. We choose, over and over again to side against God. But by His grace, we are freely forgiven and brought over to God’s side.
And they all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it.
In Judah it was said, “The strength of those who bear the burdens is failing. There is too much rubble. By ourselves we will not be able to rebuild the wall.”
You may very well have enemies in the people you are called to reach, but your response to them is not the way the world treats an enemy. It’s the way Christ treated His enemies. Some He called out. Some He escaped from. None that He did not love in spite of their treatment of Him.
Persevering Against Enemies looks like carrying on, ready, but unmoving from the purpose to which God has called you. It’s an unflappable demeanor toward the task at hand, not letting go of your morals, your ideals, your character.
Maybe it’s a boss, a coworker, a kid at school. Will you continue to take your stand for doing the right thing? Take a stand for Christ? Or will you acquiesce to their demands?
Persevere in Community
Persevere in Community
Nehemiah led the charge in facing his enemies and their persecution… But he wasn’t alone. No doubt the people he built with were a huge part of his ability to keep pressing on. It was for God and God’s people that Nehemiah kept the pace he did, and it was God and God’s people that worked to keep him going as well. Such should be the case for all believers.
Notice the “we” in Nehemiah 4:6. “We” built the wall. “The people” had a mind to work.”
It’s important that we don’t go it alone. We are so apt to think that we are alone in our struggles, but we are not. We have support all around us.
Today, we go back to Sunday School. It’s the best ministry we have to build togetherness in the church. Here’s my question for you: Do you have people in your corner?
Further than simply receiving encouragement, think to about the speed and productivity in which togetherness brings about progress. A couple months ago, we banded together for a church work day. I think about 2 hours into it, Benny and I realized we needed to create a few more projects because the people had a mind to work.
Then I walked over and Dave Stephens was pulling up my Nandina bushes. (I didn’t even know what a Nandina was)
When we persevere in community, it extends and multiplies our ability to achieve… Our ability to resist temptation… Our ability to fight against the pressure our enemy and our enemies put on us.
So find people with whom you can band together. If you’re facing difficulty or trial or temptation, don’t go it alone. Satan wants you alone, because it is then that his voice is loudest in your life. We need the voices of our brothers and sisters in Christ to drown out the lies of the Enemy.
So in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in open places, I stationed the people by their clans, with their swords, their spears, and their bows. And I looked and arose and said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.”
Notice who Nehemiah says to fight for:
Brothers, those whom they were fighting with
Families and homes, those who could not defend themselves in battle.
So in community we are both to battle with our brothers and sisters, as well as for those who are defenseless.
Persevere in Your Purpose
Persevere in Your Purpose
When our enemies heard that it was known to us and that God had frustrated their plan, we all returned to the wall, each to his work. From that day on, half of my servants worked on construction, and half held the spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail. And the leaders stood behind the whole house of Judah, who were building on the wall. Those who carried burdens were loaded in such a way that each labored on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other. And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built. The man who sounded the trumpet was beside me. And I said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “The work is great and widely spread, and we are separated on the wall, far from one another. In the place where you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.” So we labored at the work, and half of them held the spears from the break of dawn until the stars came out. I also said to the people at that time, “Let every man and his servant pass the night within Jerusalem, that they may be a guard for us by night and may labor by day.” So neither I nor my brothers nor my servants nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us took off our clothes; each kept his weapon at his right hand.
Many worthy causes to stand for. Each one of them will attract opposition for you. What cause will you stand for? What will you believe in? Don’t let the nihilism of our culture seep into your soul. That abyss of everything-is-true-nothing-is-true balance that is pushed so hard. Or even the nihilism that states “might makes right.” Neither of these foundational beliefs are found in the Gospel.
Let’s bring it down to the everyday level for a moment, shall we? We can throw around a word like nihilism and completely miss the point.
Some of us have been stuck in isolation far too long. We’ve lost meaningful contact with the outside world. Perhaps the outside world has even become a scary place because we’ve lost touch with it. We’ve come to believe that the outside world is nothing but misery and conspiracy. And in this mindset, we are clawing in desperation for purpose, for some kind of meaning in it all. And we should be finding meaning!
But instead of finding meaning in God’s Word, we attach our meaning and purpose where we ought not to: Politics. Media outlets. Hobbies. All of these things a Christian should be involved in, but there comes a threshold that crosses into idolatry and wrests God off of the throne of our hearts.
In our current political climate, I have found myself there, and I’m sure you’re finding yourself there a lot too. It’s too easy to make an idol out of politics. Do what must be done, and trust God to fill in the rest.
And He certainly will. Look at Nehemiah 4:20
God always cares for those whom He has called.
And He’s got a calling on everyone’s life. For Nehemiah it was to be faithful in rebuilding the wall. To lead his people to rally around this cause. For Ezra it was to help the people of God see the importance of their holiness. For me it’s being faithful and preaching the Word of God here at Cassville Baptist Church. Each one of us is given by God for a purpose to our communities, our churches and this world.
One of my heroes in the faith is a man named Joe Schmidt. Joe’s probably 60 years old now. Joe’s life work was to work among college students as a Baptist Student Ministries director. Shaped and changed my life for the better. Shaped and changed many lives for the better.
Another friend who’s a little closer to home, so I won’t share the name, but he’s just really gifted at business. And he builds all of his businesses to the glory of God. “How can I give more to God’s Kingdom?” Question he asks all the time. He takes what he’s good at and surrenders it to God’s Kingdom.
And so much of that fits in with purpose. Taking what we love and are skilled at, and bringing it under the throne of God. That’s one really great way (not the only way) to find the specific purpose God has placed on your life.
Others, He may do so more spiritually or supernaturally…
But truthfully, if you don’t have Christ, God’s calling on your life is simply to believe in Him and trust His sacrifice done in your stead.