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For this morning, I found myself to be equal parts excited and challenged. As most of you know, I'm still relatively new to the role of pastor. I've been involved in ministry for a number of years, and I've taught the Bible in a number of different contexts, but preaching is still a comparatively new discipline for me. And although I'm no stranger to the Old Testament or teaching through it, I am very new to preaching through it. So as I approached this morning's text, I'll admit that it was not without a fair amount of trepidation as I pondered my own ability to even preach through an Old Testament text. But perhaps as a bit of personal foreshadowing for the text to come, I experienced opposition of my own. But as I continued to read this passage and read commentaries by many faithful brothers who came before and listened to sermons by the same and wrestled with this text, I became more and more excited for what this text means to the Lord's people and to his church. And my prayer as we approach this text this morning is simply that you would allow the Lord by his Holy Spirit to challenge you. So with that, let's go to his word. And we will be in Nehemiah 4 this morning, continuing through. Stephen preached through uh chapters two and three last week. Um I was quite fortunate that he did so because our calendar was wrong, and he had me preaching uh chapter three, which uh, as you may imagine, uh in a vacuum is a nearly impossible text to preach by itself. So I was relieved when we sorted through that and realized that we had uh dates wrong and that this would actually be chapter four. So um, if you need a Bible, as always, there are plenty in the Pewacts. If you don't have a Bible of your own, uh feel free to hang on to one of those. But please do follow along with me as we read. I will be reading the entire uh chapter. Nehemiah 4. When Samalet heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became furious. He mocked the Jews before his colleague and the powerful man 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. 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. 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. When Sambalat, 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. And our enemies said, They won't realize until we're among them and can kill them and stop the work. When the Jews who lived nearby arrived, they said to us time and again, Everywhere you turn, they attack us. So I stationed people behind the lowest sections of the wall at the vulnerable areas. I stationed them by families with their swords, spears, and bows. 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. When our enemies heard that we knew their scheme, and that God had frustrated it, every one of us returned to his own work on the wall. From that day on, half of my men did the work, while the other half held spears, shields, bows, and armor. The officers supported all the people of Judah who were rebuilding the wall. The laborers who carried the loads worked with one hand and held a weapon with the other. Each of the builders had his sword strapped around his waist while he was building, and the one who sounded the trumpet was beside me. Then I said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, The work is enormous and spread out, and we are separated far from one another along the wall. Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us. So we continued the work while half of the men were holding spears from daybreak until the stars came out. At that time I also said to the people, Let everyone and his servant spend the night inside Jerusalem, so that they can stand guard by night and work by day. And I, my brothers, my servants, and the men of the guard with me never took off our clothes, each carried his weapon, even when washing. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I ask this morning that you would speak to your church through your word, by your spirit, and for your glory. And it's in Christ's name that I pray. Amen. For about as long as I can remember, I have loved learning about U.S. history. This is probably mostly because of my mom. And I'm I mostly enjoy post-Civil War history, but all U.S. history has always gripped me. I'm not quite in my World War II dad era yet that all men get to. But I have started noticing a lot more gray in my beard, so I think we're we're getting close. But as a result of my fascination with U.S. history, it's always been a pretty easy subject for me in school. And I especially remember my junior year of high school, uh, uh U.S. history, post uh Civil War, maybe. That part doesn't matter. Uh but with a combination of a great teacher, an easy workload, and a subject that I really enjoyed, I really excelled at this class. And as we drew near to our finals that year, or whatever they're called in high school, there was a moment that I realized that I had done so well in the class that I didn't need to actually complete the final exam. I just needed to score well enough to not drop my grade. So I did the math and realized that I could answer something like 40% of the questions and then just turn it in. What was the point of answering more questions than I needed to? And it's at this point that I need to speak to all of the kids and youth in the room. This is not advice. Please do not do this. I was not a good student. But looking back on this story, as I thought through this text, what stood out to me is that as I did the math, as I as I thought through this uh brilliant strategy that high school junior Preston had, I wasn't calculating how many questions I needed to get right, or even what percentage I was likely to get right, just simply how many questions I needed to answer, because I was so absolutely assured in my knowledge of the subject that I wasn't worried about missing a question. I just needed to know how many I needed to answer. And I was reminded of this story as I thought about the nature of confidence. And we see that in our passage this morning and more broadly in the book as a whole, a powerful confidence displayed by Nehemiah. A confidence in his God and in his calling from God. And so our main idea this morning, if you take away nothing else, is just very simply walk confidently in your calling. In those moments when Nehemiah faced fear and opposition, he doesn't lose confidence in what the Lord has called him to. He is firmly planted, he's deeply confident in the calling that God has called him to, and we see this confidence on full display in our text this morning. But even with that assuredness of faith, the opposition which Nehemiah and the Jewish people faced was not without its challenges, and it still has much to teach us today. And there are three things in our text this morning that I want us to pay careful attention to. Firstly, that as believers, we should expect opposition. And we see this a couple places in our text this morning. We see it in verses one through three, and again in verses seven and eight, and I'll reread those for us. Verses one through three, when Sambalat 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 with him, said, Indeed, even if a fox climbed up what they are building, he would break down their stone wall. Verse 7. When Sambalat, Tobiah, and the Arabs, the Ammonites, the 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. By this point in their history, the Jewish people are truly no strangers to opposition. Virtually their entire existence has been plagued by oppressors. And not only oppressors, but at times, in fact, even by the Lord himself. As the Jewish people walked in obedience to the Lord, they suffered aggression at the hands of their neighbors. And when they found themselves straying from the will of the Lord, they incurred his wrath. And without a clear understanding of the nature and the character of God, you've got to admit that this sounds like a kind of hopeless scenario. It's not as if their situation is some delicate tightrope walk in which they can please both sides if they really work at it. The reality is that they can please either God or they can please man. And again, if you're not a believer, this is just such a foreign concept. And this is where you'll find that with many atheists, you will struggle to gain any ground. Because without a right understanding of the character of God, it's easy to arrive at a picture of God as a vindictive, cosmic shot caller. But we must remember what has led us to this point. Recall that most of the hate for the Jewish people throughout their history came simply as a result of who they are. They are a people set apart. And we can certainly point to instances throughout history of pure jealousy that they are God's people, right? But more often than not, the hate that they received was out of fear. The opposing nations had a way of life that they were accustomed to. And the holiness of the Jewish people threatened that way of life. But this holiness is the very thing that made them who they were. Recall the moment in which the Lord established his covenant with them. We see this in Exodus chapter 20, verses 1 through 6. Uh, do I I do have it on the screen? Hey, hey, hey, I came prepared. Then God spoke all these words. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery. Do not have any other gods beside me. Do not make an idol for yourself, whether in the shape of anything in the heavens, above, or on the earth below, or in the waters under the earth. Do not bow and worship to them, and do not serve them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, bringing the consequences of the Father's iniquity on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me, but showing faithful love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commands. The Lord begins his covenant with Israel with a very simple reminder of who they are and who he is. He is the is the one that has chosen them as his people. He is the one who has rescued them out of the land of Egypt, and now he is the one who will set them apart by his commandments. He could have chosen any people as his own, but he chose them. In just the same way, those of us who have placed our faith in Christ are likewise chosen by him, and believers under the new covenant are just like the Jewish people, in that we have also been called to live holy lives. And like the Jewish people, we too should expect that holiness to collide with the world around us. Remember what Jesus says in John 15, verses 18 and 19. He says, If the world hates you, understand that it hated me before it hated you. Excuse me. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. However, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of it, the world hates you. The world hates you. It's not a quippy little thing that we say as believers. Sometimes maybe it is, but it's a reality, right? It's it's something that Jesus told us himself. He's literally living through this moment as he speaks these words. And two thousand years later, believe it or not, we still live in a fallen world. But we're still called to live holy lives in that fallen world. I spent a lot of time going back and forth trying to decide if I was going to mention this or not, but I think it provides a kind of a helpful reality check. Now I have no interest or intention of bringing politics into the pulpit, so I have redacted a few keywords from this reading so that there's no perception of that. But there was very recently a bill introduced for consideration into our state legislature here in Oklahoma that I think speaks quite well to the issue at hand. If you want to do some additional reading on your own time, uh this is Senate Bill 1554. Uh I am way up here, so if you pull out your phone to search it right now, I'll see it. So later. But it states in part that no NGO, that is non-governmental organization, shall knowingly or recklessly provide material support for the benefit of redacted within this state. Now, material support mentioned earlier in this document is defined as food, shelter, housing, transportation, legal services, medical care, financial assistance, or any other tangible aid or resource, directly or indirectly, that facilitates the presence, resettlement, or integration of individuals. An NGO is defined as any nonprofit corporation, association, or organization organized under the laws of this state or any other state, including, but not limited to, charitable organizations, faith-based organizations, and advocacy groups. This bill goes on further to indicate that any officer, employee, or agent of these organizations, so basically any volunteer, anyone representing the organization in any way, can be subject to felony imprisonment and fine for violation of this law. Now, I only bring this up because I think that often, and I'm guilty of this myself, many of us have been so desensitized to the reality of opposition to our faith by sensationalized media pieces, that often when we hear something about how the Christian ethic is under attack, we kind of sigh and roll our eyes and move on about our day. But this represents a very clear, very real opposition to the work which Jesus has called us to. And it unambiguously sets the church in its crosshairs. As believers, we are opposed. Make no mistake about it. But since we expect opposition, what should our response be? As believers, our response to opposition should be prayer and perseverance. When the work begins with opposition, Nehemiah doesn't even acknowledge the jeering of Sanbalat and Tobiah. Instead, how does he respond? Look back at verses four through six. He says, Listen, our God, for we are despised. Make their insults return to their own heads, and let them be taken as plunder to a land of captivity. Do not cover their guilt or let sin be erased from your sight, because they have aven uh sorry angered the builders. 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. As we've seen several times already, Nehemiah's first response is to go to the Lord in prayer. Before anything else, he begins with prayer. But what I love so much about this particular moment is the complete lack of response by Nehemiah to his enemies. It's as if they didn't even say anything to him the way that they respond. How hard is that to do? I know for me it's next to impossible. I have a tendency to be so motivated by a sense of justice that I have to have the last word. I always have to explain why my way is the right way. But Nehemiah prays and then just carries on about the work. And as I mentioned at the top of the passage, this comes back to the settled nature of Nehemiah's calling. He is so secure in what the Lord has called him to that there's no need explaining himself repeatedly to his enemies. Recall that he has already once provided this defense back in chapter 2. This is in verses 18 through 20. I don't think I have it on the screen, but I don't. Morgan is saying I don't. All right, thank you. It says this They said, Let's start rebuilding, and their hands were strengthened to do this good work. When Sambalat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Gishem the Arab heard about this. They mocked and despised us and said, What is this that you're doing? Are you rebelling against the king? I gave them this reply The God of the heavens is the one who will grant success. We, his servants, will start building, but you have no share, right, or historic claim in Jerusalem. So when he is again confronted by his enemies, he simply gives it up to the Lord. But also not in a passive sort of, well, God, here we are again, help us out if you got them in it, kind of way. Look at the content of his prayer. He's again praying a bold, impregatory prayer. He is assured of what the Lord has called him to, and he is assured of what the Lord can do, and as such, he is in faith calling on the Lord to deal his justice upon those who would oppose his calling. But then what happens? They just start building. There's no interlude, there's nothing to suggest that they waited for God to deal with their enemies or make the circumstances more favorable. Nehemiah prays a bold prayer and then boldly resumes the work. And this is where many of us often get stuck, I think, somewhere in between the two. We recognize the importance of prayer and we recognize the importance of work, of specifically the work that the Lord has called us to. But oftentimes, as believers, we get caught waiting on a response to prayer or get too focused on the work to pray. I myself am a very task-driven person. I hate meetings. I don't like planning things. I get a picture in my head of the end result, and then I just start charging. Sometimes it works out great. Other times it makes me a nightmare for people to work with, like Justin or Sabrina, who are planners. And then I know plenty of people who are the complete opposite. They will conceptualize everything. They will spend hours, days, even weeks sometimes in prayer over something, and never make a move until they feel like the Lord has told them exactly which steps to take. Or 1 Thessalonians 5.17, pray without ceasing. Or even more pointedly to our passage this morning, Matthew 5.44. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. And Luke 23, 34, Jesus said, Father, forgive them, because they don't know what they're doing. But likewise, we have ample scripture calling us to act on what we have been called to. For instance, 1 Corinthians 15 58 says, Therefore, my brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord's work, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. And Hebrews 12 1, therefore, since we have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us. Now, to be clear, I am not advocating that we focus solely on prayer or solely on action. I fully believe that the Lord has called us to both. We are designed to be a praying people. We are designed to seek the Lord in everything. But we are also designed to be a people of action, pursuing what is right and good and holy and glorifying to God. And in the face of opposition, assured of our calling, we will find no greater comfort than seeking the Lord in prayer and continuing the work that He has called us to. But, importantly, we were not designed to do this work alone. And that brings us to our final point this morning: that as believers, we must recognize the importance of unity in the face of opposition. And we see this in verses 14 through 23. It says this 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, your daughters, your wives, and homes. When our enemies heard that we knew their scheme and that God had frustrated it, each one of us returned to his own work on the wall. From that day on, half of my men did the work, while the other half held spears, shields, bows, and armor. The officers supported all the people of Judah who were rebuilding the wall. The laborers who carried the loads worked with one hand and held a weapon with the other. Each of the builders had his sword strapped around his waist while he was building, and the one who sounded the trumpet was beside me. Then I said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, The work is enormous and spread out, and we are separated far from one another along the wall. Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us. So we continued the work while half of the men were holding spears from daybreak until the stars came out. At that time I also said to the people, Let every one and his servant spend the night inside Jerusalem, so that they can stand guard by night and work by day. And I, my brothers, my servants, and the men of the guard with me never took off our clothes. Each carried his weapon even when washing. The community of Israel was a crucial element in the success of rebuilding Jerusalem. Were it not for a strong, unified goal amongst all of the people, they may well have been destroyed. It was the collective effort to both build and defend, even at the same time, which saw them through to success. Without men standing in the gaps to defend while others built, or without holding a sword in one hand and a trowel in the other, the wall could not have been completed. And just as the people of Israel were called collectively to a unified purpose, so too is the church. I want you to just picture the logistics for a moment. If you've ever built anything or pursued any kind of creative endeavor, you can appreciate the difficulty inherent in building with one hand and defending with another. Even if we don't take it strictly literally, the complexity of the operation remains. And it stands to reason that some of the men would get tired or hungry or whatever the case may be, but because they were a united body, they could withstand. There's almost no chance I'm going to make it through this next part with dry eyes, so just bear with me. I might not even start this next part. By God's great grace, in just a little over a month, uh we will welcome a new addition to our family, Miss Lydia Jane. But some of you may not be aware of the journey that Caitlin and I have been on over the last couple of years. And uh while this is this is this is certainly not unique to us, but it is unique for us, over the last 20 months we experienced numerous losses. And excuse me, as I watched my wife suffer in ways that I couldn't understand and couldn't fix. And as we mourned together, the fight slowly drained from each of us. And while it was the single darkest season of our lives together, I can confidently say that it was the love and the prayers of the church which held us together and which brought us through. I told you, I warned you guys. It is because of each of you who carried the sword when we couldn't and stood beside us in those dark moments that I can stand here this morning. So, while we may not be fending off the literal physical attacks of enemy armies, we are each constantly fending off our own attacks from the enemy, just like this one. And just as the Israelites found their success in their combined efforts and their unity, we also fight best when we fight together. As we conclude our time this morning, I just simply want to challenge you to spend a few moments considering your response to opposition. When you're faced with these moments of struggle, do you respond in faithful pursuit of the Lord? Do you seek comfort and support in the body of Christ? Or do you withdraw? Just take a few moments. I know typically we have a practical uh application here. Um I don't I don't really have anything like that. Uh just a call to uh consider in this moment how you fight these battles and who you fight these battles with. In just a moment, as we always do, we'll have a time of prayer and response and the partaking of the Lord's Supper. We simply ask that you be a believer baptized in the local church, though not strictly this church. And once you receive your elements, please hang on to them, and then Daryl will come up in just a few moments and lead us in that together. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you so much for this time together. God, thank you for your church. Thank you for the calling which you have called each of us to, and for your holy word to guide us in that calling. Lord, I pray this morning that each of us here would be inspired and emboldened by your word to pursue your will. And I pray all of this in Christ's name. Amen.