"Facing Opposition"
Main Text: Nehemiah 4:1-3 NKJV
Points
1. Nehemiah understood the importance of the call
2. Nehemiah knew the necessity of prayer
3. Nehemiah received a personal word from God - "Build the wall"
Nehemiah 4:1-3 NKJV
The Wall Defended Against Enemies
1 But it so happened, when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, that he was furious and very indignant, and mocked the Jews.
2 And he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day? Will they revive the stones from the heaps of rubbish—stones that are burned?”
3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, “Whatever they build, if even a fox goes up on it, he will break down their stone wall.”
"Come let us build the wall that we will not be in reproach"
Ezekiel 38:5 NKJV
5 Persia, [a]Ethiopia, and [b]Libya are with them, all of them with shield and helmet;
"No matter what we face we have the power to make it because of the Holy Spirit living in us"
Nehemiah 4:4 NKJV
4 Hear, O our God, for we are despised; turn their reproach on their own heads, and give them as plunder to a land of captivity!
Nehemiah 4:7-9 NKJV
7 Now it happened, when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the walls of Jerusalem were being restored and the [a]gaps were beginning to be closed, that they became very angry,
8 and all of them conspired together to come and attack Jerusalem and create confusion.
9 Nevertheless we made our prayer to our God, and because of them we set a watch against them day and night.
"When things don't seem to be going the right way - pray"
Hebrews 10:38-39 NKJV
38 Now the[a] just shall live by faith;But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.”
39 But we are not of those who draw back to [b]perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.
Philippians 4:13 NKJV
13 I can do all things through [a]Christ who strengthens me.
Nehemiah 7:1-4 NKJV
List of Returning Exiles
1 Then it was, when the wall was built and I had hung the doors, when the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites had been appointed,
2 that I gave the charge of Jerusalem to my brother Hanani, and Hananiah the leader of the [a]citadel, for he was a faithful man and feared God more than many.
3 And I said to them, “Do not let the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot; and while they stand guard, let them shut and bar the doors; and appoint guards from among the inhabitants of Jerusalem, one at his watch station and another in front of his own house.”