Victory Through Opposition | Nehemiah 3-4 | May 10, 2026 | Aaron T. Colyer

In this message from Nehemiah 3-4 we see God's people rebuild the wall while facing mockery, threats, discouragement, and exhaustion. Nehemiah shows that opposition drives God's people to prayer, wise preparation, obedience, unity, and trust that the Lord will fight for them. The sermon points us to Christ, who faced the greatest opposition on our behalf, and calls the Church to serve together as living stones in the eternal city God is building.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Well, good morning. And happy Mother's Day again to all you ladies. If you didn't catch it, our women's ministry has a gift ready for you on the way in, on the way out. If you didn't grab it, make sure you grab it. Maybe this time next year there'll be wonderful wildflowers in your garden or wherever you decide to plant these. And so uh just a small gift to celebrate you. Ladies, I do want to let you know we're praying uniquely this morning. Sometimes, in fact, most times, we pray for a pastor that's preaching, maybe a prayer request, a church that's walking through suffering, or a church that's celebrating something. Today we're going to be praying for a ministry called DR that stands for disaster relief. And some of our very own church members have been deployed last week. I know White, a former minister here on staff, White and his wife, Pat Warren, they were in North Texas last week. Miss Pat, a couple years ago, actually stayed at my old home church in Roswell, New Mexico, as they hosted a team, a DR team. And these DR teams can work chainsaws and mud outs, but also there's mobile shower units and kitchen crews. Uh, there's evangelism and people that pray over homes, present Bibles to homes that are worked on. And so, in that effort, our own Dan Stevens is being deployed this week as a chaplain with a project up in North Texas, and another church member is going to be with him, Scott George. So we're praying for DR today, specifically thanking those that have gone and those that are going, and ask that the Lord would bless their ministry. Let's pray, and we'll be in Nehemiah chapters three and four. God, you have already been so good this morning to remind us of your presence, to remind us of your promises, uh, that we would sing battle cries of victory, that we understand what we see here in the scripture today, that God, you are fighting for us. We don't fight alone, that you carry us through the battle. I thank you for that, God. And even now, um, I thank you for the ministry that's going on all over Texas, really all over our country, uh, with disaster relief. We've had uh others deploy up to Alaska, outside the continental United States. I just thank you, God, that you are working. I thank you that people are being ministered to. I ask God uh that the gospel would go forward. And so for Scott and Dan, as they go up this next week, I pray, Lord, you would give them beautiful feet and they would be ready and willing to speak up about Jesus and speak about the love of Christ. And I pray for Dan specifically as he's functioning in the chaplain role, and people might be crying on his shoulder, discussing their burdens. Would you put scripture just ready on his heart and mind to minister to these people? God, I thank you for a ministry like this. I thank you that we have church members that are involved in a ministry like this, and we just ask your blessing on all of it. Of course, in this time, as we come to your word, would you help us to lean in, to really get a sense of God, you're speaking directly to us. And so, Holy Spirit, I ask that you would be the wonderful counselor, and as we seek your word, show us the things that might need to look different in our life moving forward. Ask that in Jesus' name. Amen. Nehemiah 3 and 4. In chapter 3, you're gonna see a lot of Hebrew names that can be difficult to pronounce. We're working backwards today, so we're actually gonna start in chapter 4 and move into chapter 3. But I want to tell you, it's really cool that you can read things like this in a historical book like this, where the Israelites came back to Jerusalem in waves and they built walls and they built gates. And what we see referenced in this scripture today are things that you could still see ruins of even now. I don't know if you have a study Bible, but in my study Bible, I've got this diagram, and it's a picture of Jerusalem. It's a picture of the Temple Mount, it's a picture of the walls, and I know it's really small, so I hope you have the same diagram. And if you don't, you're just gonna have to trust me. At the top there, you've got uh the fish gate and the sheep gate, kind of top center to the right. Well, we see that here in this text. In chapter 3, verses 1 and 2, people are working on the sheep gate. In chapter 3, verses 3 and 5, they're working on the fish gate. And I don't know if you want to use your imagination, but in chapter 3, verse 14, you've got the dung gate. And in our diagram, that's on the lower left side here, kind of on the exterior of the city walls. And so it's just really cool to me that the Bible can come alive when you study the text. I've got another picture of a time in 2019 when my wife and I were able to visit Israel and we were in Jerusalem. I'm not sure if you can tell, you'd have to know what you're looking at. The very center of the shadow there, uh, you've got the Dome of the Rock, uh, which was built on on top of the where the Temple Mount should be. And then you've got these walls, you've got some newer walls. We got to tour down into the depths of the old city and see cornerstone bricks, huge stone slabs of the walls. What you see in the foreground there is all of the Jewish people that have lots of lots of money that had the ability to make sure that their burial remains were right out there outside of the city. That is, they're placing all their hope that Messiah is still coming, Messiah's still on the way, and when he comes, we will be redeemed. Well, I have good news for them. Messiah has come, his name is Jesus, and I pray, I pray with all of my heart that they would put their faith and trust in Christ alone. Pretty cool, pretty cool to see that. Let me give you a review from last week. Nehemiah's, or really two weeks ago, chapter one and chapter two. We are remembering the promises of God together. We're reading this Old Testament book to remember God's promises. And without a land, without these waves of Israelites coming back into Jerusalem, without a land, you don't have a kingdom. Without a kingdom, you don't have the line of David, and without the line of David, you don't have a Messiah. So without a city, you don't have a temple, and without a temple, you don't have God's presence. That is what they are fighting for. So you can read Ezra and Nehemiah together in waves. The temple is rebuilt, the law is found and read, the walls are built up to fortify the city. Let's read starting in Nehemiah chapter 4, and we'll walk through this text this morning. Nehemiah 4. Now when Samelot 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 receive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish and burn the ones at that? Tobiah the Amorite was beside him, and he said, Yes. What they are building, if a fox goes up on it, he will break down the stone wall. Nehemiah's response, here, O our God, for we are despised. Turn back their taunt on their own heads, and give them up to be plundered in the land where they are captives. Do not cover their guilt, and let not their sin be blotted out from your sight, for they have provoked you to anger in the presence of the builders. So we built the wall. And all of the wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work. You can underline that in your Bible. We need some God-honoring word ethics sometime, for the people had a mind to work. But when Samelot and Tobiah and the Arabs and the Amorites and the Ashadites heard that their repairing of the walls of Jerusalem was going forward and that breaches were beginning to be closed, they were very angry. And they all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it. And we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night. In Judah it was said, the strength of those who bear the burdens is failing. There's too much rubble by ourselves, we will not be able to rebuild the wall. And our enemies said, They will not know or see till we come among them and kill them and stop the work. At that time the Jews who lived near them came from all directions and said to us ten times, You must return to us. So in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in open places, I stationed the people by their clans, and their swords with 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. 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 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 his work with one hand and held his weapon with the other. And each of the builders had his sword strapped to his side while he built. The man who sounded the trumpet was beside me, and I said to the nobles and to the officials of 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 stars came out, and 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. I know there is a lot there. I'm always encouraged by this picture that they're working with the one hand and defending with the other. And God is fighting their battle for them. I think we can walk through this text with six scenes of this story where Nehemiah rebuilds the wall. And as we do this, if you can, use your imagination and picture yourself in their shoes. Man, they were longing for Messiah to return. They wanted God's presence. They wanted to be in God's place with God's presence. We know as New Testament Christians that Messiah has come. They trusted the Lord to fight for them, but we know that God always answers his promises. How can he fight for us in these days? What things are you putting in front of the Lord that his glory might motivate a victory? And then just ask this question as we meditate this morning. What what truths from this passage or in these six scenes, what what truths would change our day-to-day walk with Jesus? So let's start with number one. Enemies arise. The conflict is building. These bad guys in the scene, they were mad. Why were they mad? Because if the Jews came back and the Jews had their land, then they weren't going to be able to collect tax anymore. They were going to lose some of the funding that they had already expected to get from these Jewish people. And they made fun of them. They mocked them. I don't know if you saw that. They were enraged and angered and jeered. They're mocking. They tell jokes like your mama? No, it actually wasn't that one. It wasn't that one. I I wasn't around in this time, but I I assume that this was a pretty nasty joke, right? If you build a wall, a fox is gonna go on top of it and it's gonna fall. Why is that such a big deal? Because a stone wall should be sturdy, and a little fox should not be able to tear it down. But they're jeering and they're mocking and they're laughing. If you're Nehemiah, you can look at Ezra chapter 4. You can look at some of the hardship, you can look at some of the frustration. Maybe this isn't gonna work. This is a really big project. I'm not sure. We need more funds, we need more timber, we need more stone. I'm not sure all these gates are gonna hold. How are we gonna do this? Our enemies are coming against us, and we have to work with one hand and defend it with the other. Can you get a sense of angst? And then as a Christian, even though you trust Jesus, have you ever had angst in your life? What'd you do with it? Did you sit and stew? Did you worry? Did you take your eyes off the ball for days or weeks or months? That's not what Nehemiah does. He immediately goes to the Lord in prayer. Verse 4 and verse 5. Hear, oh our God. Hear our prayer. And I would say he actually gives some pretty firm vengeance in his prayer. You see that a lot. David does it in the Psalms sometimes. It's called the imprecatory Psalms. New Testament Christians have a little bit different perspective, right? Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount, you should love your enemies, Matthew 5. I think there's a place for being happy about the justice of God. I think those that really understand the love of Jesus, that the forgiven forgive, might be a little less vengeful than Nehemiah here. Alright? They know that God's steadfast love never ceases. They know that his mercies are new every morning, but he's asking for vengeance. Don't even cover their shame. Don't blot their sins away. Make them pay for this enemy action that they're taking against us. Maybe the question for you is when you face opposition, someone that you might call an enemy, maybe someone at work that's always trying to get the best of you, maybe true persecution. And we see some of it in this country, we see a lot of it in other places. Where people are afraid to meet and read the word and have a Christian service because there are those that literally want to drag them out of their homes and put them to death. When you face that kind of opposition, what do you do? Do you give it back to the Lord? And one scholar writes this about Jesus' perspective of opposition or suffering or persecution. There's a sense in which Jesus is saying something like this look, if you take a little hit to your reputation, if you get persecuted a little bit, knowing what I did for you, you can take it. I got the ultimate shame. I was rejected even by my father. I got the shame and rejection you deserved, so that now you know your name is written in heaven. You're a citizen of the ultimate city, you're surrounded by the ultimate walls of salvation. You can't lose because you're mine. So you can handle this. Take encouragement when enemies arise. Number two, prayer takes the priority. Yes, hear, oh Lord, our prayer. But look at verse 9. I love this. So people are getting angry, they're saying there might be breaches, you're not gonna win the battle. And verse 9, and we prayed. And we prayed. That moment of response where you realize, I think we should trust the Lord here. I think we should go to the Lord in prayer here, similar to what we saw in chapters 1 and 2. Nehemiah immediately prays. I think there's a balance, and this is probably a longer conversation. I'll introduce, and if you have other questions, I'd be happy to answer those questions. There's a balance between trusting the sovereignty of God. Lord, if you said it, you're gonna do it, and you're gonna do it whether I'm involved or not. And then taking the responsibility that God has given us. In this case, they pray. That's their immediate action. It's a trust in the Lord. Prayer is not a passive activity, it's an active voice. God, we are trusting you. But you see, they also prepared for battle. They also strapped their weapons to their side. They also kept the guard all night long. So there's a balance here that we see in Nehemiah, the balance between, yes, God, we trust in your sovereignty, and oh Lord, you're calling us to action. And so we're responsible to act. If you want to know more about that, write down Acts chapter 2, verse 23. In Peter's sermon, he says, God foreknew Jesus was going to the cross. This was my plan, and so that's what I did. And then he says, But I'm gonna hold uh the Jews and the Romans responsible. You, you men made the decision. There's that balance between the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man. I think the greatest application of that for us as New Testament believers is I I believe. I believe every single person that repents and trusts in Jesus, it's because God is doing a work on their heart. The Holy Spirit does a work and opens their eyes. And so some might say, well, let's be passive. If God's gonna do it, he can do whatever he wants. But everywhere in the New Testament we have the marching orders of our King. Go share the gospel. So we're not passive. We act and say, God, we trust you with the result, but we're gonna act. We're gonna walk in that responsibility. Number three, God's glory motivates the people. I love this verse. Look at it in your Bible. I've got it highlighted in mind. The second part of verse 14. Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight your battles, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes. Later on in verse 20, we see something similar. God's gonna fight for us. This idea of the reason that they stay up all night and show up and they work hard for the day and they're ready for the battle, and they're trying to honor the Lord, and they're trying to work hard as unto the Lord. The reason for being motivated to work that hard is because God's glory is better. Because God is great, because God is the great creator, because he is majestic and he is glorious. And Nehemiah is saying, Hey, when you get tired, and it's gonna happen, because this is a hard deal, just remember the Lord. What motivates your service of God? When you serve the Lord, how how are you motivated to continue to serve Him? It's a passion that should grow in us. Say, God, you're so awesome. This feels like a small task just to make you look good. You know, this phrase, remember your sons and daughters, it reminds me of a movie. Uh, maybe you've seen it, maybe you haven't. This is such a passionate scene. I am William Wall. I want you to see it.

SPEAKER_00 18:59

And I see a whole army of my countrymen here in defiance of tyranny. You've come to fight a free man. A free man you are. What will you do with that freedom? Will you fight? Yes, that's we will run. And we will live. Fight and you may die. Run. And you'll live. At least the while. I'm dying in your bed. Would you be one? Oh, very fine, shot. For what is it?

SPEAKER_01 20:34

That movie is thirty-one years old. But if you've watched it and you're in the middle of that emotional moment, your heart just swells a little bit, right? No, they'll never take our freedom. I've I've been there. That's why I showed that clip. Here's the question, though. Shouldn't considering the glory of God and his majesty make our hearts swell even more. Lord, I fight for you. I want your name to be famous. That's what's motivating these Israelites. Number four, God will fight for us. And I love that verse 20, that reminder. Yes, you've got your strap, your weapon strapped. Yes, sound the trumpet and meet us there, and we will fight the battle. But don't forget, it's not in your effort or your strength. God will fight our battles. I hesitate to share this story. It wasn't this church, okay? Is it another church? And I'm not going to use any names, but there are times in ministry that you feel like you're in a battle. And I remember this just very vividly. Uh, there was a church member that was accusing me and criticizing me of things that were not true. It was getting out of hand. This church member was going to people's homes and saying, What do you think about Pastor Aaron? You know, I think he's wrong. I think, I think uh he's making this decision. I don't agree with. I didn't know he was going to those homes. He was taking phone calls. And it resulted in this person no longer being a church member. They moved on and they went to a different church. And as things were heating up, my wife was hearing some of the stories about, can you believe that? He's going behind your back. And I would call some other friends in ministry and say, what am I supposed to do about this? And even godly people were saying, You've got to just confront it head on. And I've got a rule that I try to live by. Self-vindication is a miserable act. And if I was confronting this person head on because I was standing up for my wife's reputation, or I was standing up for an innocent person, or my kids were involved, but really it was just me. And I decided I'm not going to confront him head on. I'm going to live by Nehemiah chapter 4, verse 20, the Lord will fight for us. Or Exodus 14, 14, another case where the Israelites said, God is going to fight our battles. I'm going to live by that. And you know what happened in the next year? Slowly but surely, one by one, all of those families that had been turned against me were in our home and said, Could you please forgive me? Went to my office with tears of repentance. Said, one in particular, again, I'm not going to use names. This woman said, You know, for like nine months, every time you've preached, I've not listened. Every time you've preached, I've shut my ears because I was certain that you were a liar. And so I just couldn't listen to you. And God has shown me recently that you weren't the liar. The other person was. And I'm asking for your forgiveness. Isn't it amazing just to know that God, if it's his name and his glory and his justice, I don't have to fight that battle. God can fight it for me. I wonder if there's things in your life. Maybe you're in a conflict at work, like I said. Maybe you're burdened this morning by sufferings. And rather than assuming that you have to fight on your own, can you just give it to the Lord? Say, God, I need you to fight this one for me. I need you to take this one for me. Lord, if you would be honored to stand by me through this, if it's good for you and your namesake and your kingdom, God, just take it and release me from thinking that I've got to win this battle. Man, I think we can learn so much from Nehemiah in that principle. Number five, everyone has a job to do. And so you can look at verse 21 through 23 and chapter 4, but I'm going to take you now to chapter 3. I'm not ignoring chapter 3. What's going on in verse 1? Then Elishib, the high priest, rose up with the brothers and the priests, and they built the sheep gate. They consecrated it and set its doors. They consecrated it as far as the tower of the hundred and as far as the tower of Hanano. And next to him the men of Jericho built, and then next to them Zakur, the son of Imri, built, and it goes on and on and on and on. Everyone has a job to do. It's shared work, it's shared labor. Some were goldsmiths, some were perfumers, some were ready to fight, some were ready to work, but everybody had a job to do. Can you see the application in the New Testament church? Everybody has a job to do. If you're a new creation in Christ, the Holy Spirit has given you gifts. Maybe it's gifts of teaching. Maybe it's gifts of encouragement. Maybe it's gifts of administration. Maybe it's gifts of faith. And you're praying, you're prayer warriors here. Maybe you're working in the nursery or hospitality in the coffee bar. Maybe it's events during the week. Maybe it's women's ministry. Maybe it's hosting a women's Bible study this summer. Maybe it's working with our teenagers and you're gonna go to camp and sit on a bus overnight to Glorieta in outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico, just so that you could point these teenagers to Jesus and teach the Bible and experience that our worship music isn't really that loud because if you go to summer camp, it is five times louder. I wear earplugs at summer camp. I love the worship, man. I want to feel it in my chest pounding. But I also need to wear earplugs because I played drums my whole life and I've got hearing loss already. A lot of times my wife will talk to me across the room and there'll be another noise, and I'll say, What'd you say? I can't, I can't even understand what you're saying. Everyone has a job to do. How are you using your gifts? How are you using your gift? We talk about this in our membership process. Everyone should be serving. Find your sweet spot. You've seen in the bulletin, we've posted a few opportunities, and we'll be posting more. Everyone has a job to do. And then let me also bring it in context that there's a bigger picture. It wasn't just building walls, it wasn't just building the gates, it wasn't just being excited about the line of David and Messiah coming. There's scripture all over the Old Testament that God's chosen race was supposed to be a light to the nations. That what they're rebuilding should be an opportunity when gates would open and nations, plural, would come in. Isaiah 26, verse 1 and 2. I'll let you read that on your own. I'm running short of time already. Verse 2, it says, Open up the gates that all the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in. You see, it was always supposed to be about God redeeming a people for himself from many nations, every tribe, every tongue. How then does the New Testament church seek to see the nations come into a holy city, into new heavens and new earth, to be in the kingdom with their Savior forever? Well, we do it by obeying the Great Commission. We have a vision here at our church to magnify Christ and share the gospel. How then will we as a family make sure everyone has a job to do to share the gospel? I was reading one scholar, and you know, it's interesting. Oftentimes we think, well, we'll just invite people to church. Come to my church, and that's great. Please, please keep inviting people to this church. But did you know that that in the first century context, Christians couldn't just say, hey, come to church? In the first century context, maybe they would invite a Roman spy into the church, and then people would die and be persecuted. Paul, before he was a Christian, was dragging people out of their homes. There are places in our world where you can't just invite people to church. You don't know them well enough for that. And so the only way that you can evangelize them is to say, hey, what do you think about Jesus? Do you have any questions about Jesus? We read a verse, 1 Peter 3. That we always honor Christ in our hearts, being ready to give it events for the hope that we have. We do it with gentleness and respect. You can't just invite people to church. You gotta ask them, can I tell you about Jesus? Can I tell you about his love for you? Can I tell you how he changed my life? I wonder if that zeal for the glory of God is motivating the way you speak up about Jesus. Here's the last one. We see in Nehemiah, unity in diversity. Unity in diversity. And here towards the end of the chapter, there's all kinds of different people working. In chapter 3, verse 1, it's the high priest building the sheep gate. In verses 3 through 5, it's commoners that build the fish gate. Nobles would not stoop to be among these people. Chapter 3, verse 8, goldsmiths and perfumers. Chapter 3, verse 12, the ruler of Jerusalem and his daughters. You see, there's all kinds of diversity among society, but they're all working together because they're unified in this shared goal. Did you know the churches like that? We got different languages spoken in this church. We got different ethnicities in this church. We have different backgrounds, different socioeconomic statuses, different political views. And yet, you know what unifies us? The blood of Jesus. We are covered by the blood of Jesus. And so we can celebrate the unity that we have even amidst the diversity that we find. In fact, that should be something that the world finds attractive. How in the world? How in the world do you gather together for worship when that person comes from that family and that person comes from that family, and they're supposed to hate each other? Well, no, in Christ, we have a brotherly love. And so the world says there's something different about that church. There's all kinds of diversity celebrated in that church. There's a unity in Jesus, even through diversity. Write down 1 Corinthians 12, wonderful study on the body of Christ, and there's all different parts of the body. When was the last time you considered the beauty of being a part of a diverse church? We love one another because we have a common savior and a common mission. Let's focus on Christ together and go fulfill the mission. Amen?

unknown 31:23

Amen.

SPEAKER_01 31:24

Now I asked you at the beginning, how do these truths change your life? Let me just summarize. When enemies arise, what's your response? Is it prayer? Is it angst? How can prayer take a greater priority in your life? What ways is God's glory motivating you? God, this is for your name, not mine. When will you realize that everyone has a job to do in the church? And how are you using your gifts? And what ways can we celebrate the unity that we have even in the midst of diversity? I want to encourage you. We see the city of God being built, the walls being fortified. An eternal city has been promised to us, a new heavens and a new earth. And do you know how it started? It started by our Savior dwelling among his people. John chapter 1. The word became flesh. And he dwelt among us. Jesus lived a perfect life and died on the cross to pay for sin. But he didn't stay dead, he rose. That all who had trust in him, all who had placed their faith in him, even what you saw, the celebration of baptism, would be forgiven, would be made new, and would be put on a mission. It started by Jesus dwelling among us, but do you know how it ends? It ends by his people becoming a dwelling place for him. First Peter chapter 2, that we are a dwelling for him. We are the spiritual house. We are the living stones. Jesus is the cornerstone. And our job, verse 9, is to be a chosen race and a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness and into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people. And once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Are you a part of his people? And if you're not, how can that change today? Let's pray. Lord, thank you for these truths that we learned from Nehemiah. And I ask God that in this response time, so often, I think because of busyness or because of embarrassment, we don't use this time. But today, God, would you would you do something unique and different? Would we search our hearts and say what needs to change? Then we would be bold enough to pray with those around us or come to these steps and say, God, here's all of my life. Help me to continue to trust you in this thing that you've showed me today. Or maybe come speak with a pastor or minister, God. Would you use this response time to do business with us? We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.