Nehemiah 4

Intro: Israel captive 70 years 530 B.C. Cyrus King of Persia freed them 50,000 to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple;

became discouraged by opposition and only finished the foundation;

A few years later Haggai and Zechariah continued and took 20 years to finish; walls were in shambles for 90 years after the exiles returned; God called Nehemiah to be an agent of revival by re-building the walls.

Vs. 6 “So we rebuilt the wall until the entire wall was joined together up to half its height”

Vs. 7 “The repair to the walls of Jerusalem was progressing”

Signs of PROGRESS?

•Vs. 7 “The gaps were being closed”

--What are the GAPS?

I. EXPECT OPPOSITION (vs. 1-10)

A. From Without (vs.2,3,7) 1. Ridicule 2. Full force 3. Anger (Is Satan worried about us?)

B. From Within (vs. 10)… 1. Discouragement 2. Negativity/pessimism 3. Weariness Reasons for weariness? Reasons for negative talk?

Illus: first night on the streets

People are going to talk…People are going to have their say

Right or wrong…What is said is an indication of what is in the heart...For it is out of the “abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks” (Matt. 12:34)…

It behooves us to be sure of what we say in spite of what others say

In Nehemiah 4, People were talking on at least three occasions…a great deal is learned from the “way people talk.”

vs. 10…What “Judah said”…A Voice Of Doubt

“We cannot do it” “It’s too hard” “It’s too expensive” “It’s never been done before”

99% of the failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses.

--George Washington Carver

Vs. 11…What the “adversaries said”…A Voice Of Defiance

* Threats * Sarcasm * Antagonism Other? Gossip, Slander, Lies, etc.

Vs. 14…What “Nehemiah said” …Later…

C. They overcame because they had: * A mind to WORK

(verse 6) …

* A heart to PRAY (verse 9)…

* Eyes to WATCH (verse 9)…

II. ELIMINATE THE OBSTACLES (Verses 10-13)

A. Impossible Platform (rubbish--vs.10):

Rubbish must be removed before building…

”I want revival but I don’t want to give up the flesh”; “I want to be Spirit-filled but don’t want to make more room for His filling”; “I want to see God move but I also want to hold on to my idols”; “I want to have a strong team but only if everyone else does it my way”

Pride, gossip, envy, anger, selfishness, etc. must be cleared away

B. Improper Perspectives (too close to the enemy—vs. 12)

Enemy-conscious (or circumstance-conscious) more than God-conscious (Illus: radio vs. stereo)

Other improper perspectives: 1. Church members are my opponents/enemies;

2. “me” vs. “them” mentality; 3. “nobody works harder than

me/nobody cares more than me (about a successful church, unity, God’s glory, etc.)/nobody knows better how to do ministry than me/etc.

This is a little story about four people namedEverybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody.

There was an important job to be done andEverybody was sure that Somebody would do it.

Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.Somebody got angry about thatbecause it was Everybody's job.

Everybody thought that Anybody could do it,but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it.

It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody whenNobody did what Anybody could have done.

III. EMPHASIZE THE OFFENSIVE (vs. 14-23) A. Truth to Apply--Don’t leave the building for the battle (vs. 15)

* What “Nehemiah said” …A

Voice Of Determination (NOT why we can’t, but rather HOW we CAN!)

Many distractions, some “good”; keep FOCUSED; don’t let Satan divert attention; (“STAND”, not “Chase”); focus NOT on the problems but the problem-solver

Don’t let what others are doing wrong keep you from doing what is right; BE who God called YOU to be, and DO what God called YOU to do

As a CHURCH, God has called all of us to work TOGETHER and to SERVE one another

B. Triumph to Anticipate (vs. 18,20) God STARTED it, God will CONTINUE it, and

GOD will FINISH it God does NOT do anything ALONE (He

fellowships in community and He works in community; we are in RELATIONSHIP and in PARTNERSHIP (Is. 43:10…"You are my witnesses," declares the LORD, "and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am He…”)

Our God will fight for us! (vs. 20)