I am Doing a Great Work | Nehemiah 6
Nehemiah 6
Today we are continuing in our series, Rise and rebuild. We see that God has given Nehemiah a great work to do. God’s people have been exiled for 70 years – and He is now bringing them back to their land – in other words he is bringing them home. Now that might not seem like a big deal to us because it very likely that none of us have ever been exiled from our home land – that includes me. My wife’s family is from Venezuela. Over the last 25-30 years due to the political and economic instability they have had to make the tough decision to leave a land they love. They had to leave it all behind – their land, their customs, their language, their career, their family, their food (Venezuelans love their food) and if you talk to them they long nothing more than to return home. To breathe the familiar air of their homeland.
That is what God is accomplishing through the good work he has commissioned Nehemiah to.
In his commentary on Nehemiah John MacAurther says, “When God’s people attempt to do God’s work in God’s way, there will always be opposition”. We have been walking through the book of Nehemiah and when we get to Nehemiah chapter 6, Nehemiah is almost finished.
The walls have been rebuilt. The gaps have been closed. The only thing remaining is to hang the gates.
They're almost there. And you would think that at this point the opposition would begin to die down. You would think Sanballat and Tobiah and the rest of Nehemiah's enemies would look at the wall and say, well, I guess we lost. There's no stopping them now.
But that's not what happens.
In fact, the opposition intensifies. And I think there's something important for us to recognize there. Sometimes the greatest opposition doesn't come when you begin something. Sometimes it comes when you're getting close to finishing it. Sometimes it's when you're making progress.
When your marriage is getting healthier.
When you're growing spiritually.
When you're finally addressing something in your life that you've ignored for years.
When you're stepping out and serving.
When you're trying to lead your family differently.
Middle or high school students maybe you start taking your faith seriously.
The truth is that regardless if you’re if married or single, young maybe a middle schooler or high schooler or you’re seasoned, whether you’re a follower of Jesus or you’re not sure if Jesus is who he said he is – you are going to face opposition.
For the follower of Jesus opposition should not surprise us. Think about it - If we are the conduit by which God has chosen to use to help redeem this world – if we are the primary way that “on earth as it is in heaven” happens – we should not be surprised when we face opposition. We must understand that we have a real enemy that scripture tells us comes to steal, kill and destroy.
In our passage today we are going to look at a few types of opposition Nehemiah faces and how he responds so that we might glean wisdom and honor God in the way we walk through opposition.
Today’s big idea is - God doesn’t always remove opposition – He strengthens us through it
1. Distractions Nehemiah 6:1–4
Now when Sanballat and Tobiah and Geshem the Arab and the rest of our enemies heard that I had built the wall and that there was no breach left in it (although up to that time I had not set up the doors in the gates), 2 Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, “Come and let us meet together at Hakkephirim in the plain of Ono.” But they intended to do me harm. 3 And I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?” 4 And they sent to me four times in this way, and I answered them in the same manner.
The first opposition we see is Distractions . Look at what happens beginning in verse 1. Sanballat and Geshem hear that the wall has been rebuilt and there are no gaps left in it. So, they send Nehemiah a message: Come, let us meet together. Now that sounds pretty reasonable. It sounds harmless. Nehemiah, let's talk. Let's get together. Let's have a meeting. We’ll even meet at a neutral place.
Isn’t that true about the distractions we face in our walk. They seem harmless.
(I don’t want to call anyone out but some of you are distracted right now. Maybe you opened your phone to look up the bible verse, something came to mind and you decided to open up another app and before you know you missed most of what’s been said.)
What I’ve experienced in my walk with Jesus is that if the enemy can’t stop you, he will try to keep you distracted.
AW Tozer "Distractions must be conquered or they will conquer us.”
Not everything that demands your attention deserves your attention.
That's hard for us, because everything feels urgent.
The phone rings, the text comes in the email arrives.
Another opportunity presents itself, someone wants something, someone needs something.
There's another meeting, another activity, another commitment, another thing we could add to the calendar. And here's what makes distraction especially dangerous:
Some of the most dangerous distractions aren't bad things. They're good things.
Personal story – “I’m getting tired just hearing of your day.”
Sanballat didn't say: “Nehemiah, abandon the wall.”
He just said: “Come meet with us.”
Just come down for a little while. And that's usually how distraction works.
Most of us aren't tempted to completely abandon the things that matter most to us.
Distractions cause us to neglect them a little at a time.
One more night working late. One more activity.
One more commitment.
One more hour on the phone scrolling
One more social media post
One more thing that gets our attention
And none of those things by themselves may be sinful.
But here's the question:
Is this pulling me away from the great thing God has called me to?
Because every time you say yes to something, you're also saying no to something else.
We only have so much time.
We only have so much energy.
We only have so much attention.
And if you say yes to everything, eventually you will say no to something that actually matters.
Nehemiah's enemies realize they can't stop the wall, so instead, they try to get Nehemiah off the wall. And Nehemiah gives them this incredible response in verse 3:
“I am doing a great work and cannot come down.”
That's the phrase I want us to keep coming back to today.
“I am doing a great work and cannot come down.”
So we need to define what we mean by a “great work.”
Because when I hear “great work,” I naturally think of something big.
Something impressive. Something that people notice. But a great work isn't necessarily something big or impressive. And it certainly isn't about making a name for ourselves.
A great work is something God has entrusted to us for His purposes and His glory. (Slide)
And for most of us, that great work may actually look pretty ordinary.
Your great work may be your marriage.
It may be raising and discipling your children.
It may be caring for an aging parent.
It may be serving faithfully in your church.
It may be investing in a relationship.
It may be sharing Jesus with a friend or neighbor.
It may simply be faithfully following Jesus in the place where God has put you.
So here's the question I want you to think about throughout this message:
What is the great work God has given you—and what is trying to get you to come down off the wall?
What is distracting you right now?
What's distracting you from your marriage?
What's distracting you from spending time with Jesus?
What's distracting you from serving? Using your gifts…
What's distracting you from God's mission?
What’s distracting you from sharing your faith?
And again, maybe it's not sinful. Maybe it's just not what matters most.
There are times when faithfulness requires us to say: I'm doing a great work. I cannot come down.
2. LIES Nehemiah 6:5–9
5 In the same way Sanballat for the fifth time sent his servant to me with an open letter in his hand. 6 In it was written, “It is reported among the nations, and Geshem also says it, that you and the Jews intend to rebel; that is why you are building the wall. And according to these reports you wish to become their king. 7 And you have also set up prophets to proclaim concerning you in Jerusalem, ‘There is a king in Judah.’ And now the king will hear of these reports. So now come and let us take counsel together.” 8 Then I sent to him, saying, “No such things as you say have been done, for you are inventing them out of your own mind.” 9 For they all wanted to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will drop from the work, and it will not be done.” But now, O God, strengthen my hands.
Now, distraction doesn't work. So Sanballat changes strategies and starts spreading Lies (Slide with Distraction) The fifth time he sends a message, he sends an open letter. And that's important because an open letter wasn't private.
Other people could see it. Other people could read it. And the letter basically says:
“Nehemiah, do you know what people are saying about you?”
“They're saying you're planning a rebellion.”
“They're saying the reason you're rebuilding Jerusalem is because you want to become king.”
In other words, Sanballat starts attacking Nehemiah's reputation. And he uses three weapons that are still pretty effective today:
Gossip – Slander - Lies
We’ve all experienced the pain of gossip, slander or lies. (we’ve all likely have also caused pain when we’ve gossiped, slandered someone or lied but that’s a sermon for another day).
Now think about how tempting this would have been for Nehemiah. Because when somebody says something about us that isn't true, what do we immediately want to do?
Defend ourselves.
We want to explain.
We want to make sure everyone knows the real story.
We want to correct every rumor.
We want to respond to every critic.
We want everybody to understand our intentions.
And Nehemiah could have stopped building the wall and spent the next week defending his reputation.
But listen to his response: “No such things as you say have been done, for you are inventing them out of your own mind.” Basically: “That's not true.”
And then, as been his response, he prays: “But now, O God, strengthen my hands.”
And that's it.
He doesn't launch a PR campaign.
He doesn't chase down every rumor.
He doesn't write a Facebook post
He doesn't try to make sure everybody likes him again.
He says:
That's not true.
God, strengthen me.
And then he gets back to work.
There is freedom when we realize that we don't have to try to control what everybody thinks about us.
You can't.
You can't control what people say about you.
You can't make everybody understand your decisions.
You can't make everybody understand your motives.
You can't answer every critic.
You can't correct every rumor.
And you definitely can't make everybody like you.
I feel like our most seasoned brothers and sisters know this well. That’s why are sr citizens say the funniest things – they are not worried about what others will say.
This is probably is the hardest in middle school and high school. Students if you can listen up for just a second. You don't have to try control what everybody thinks about you. You will be tempted to want to but true freedom is not found when everyone likes you, it’s found when you are firmly rooted in who He says you are.
1 John 3:1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!
Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!
Now, sometimes we do need to clarify things. Sometimes something needs to be addressed.
Sometimes defending yourself or someone else is appropriate. We can find a process for that in Matthew 18. But there is a difference between appropriately responding to criticism and being consumed by it. We can so easily spend so much of our life trying to defend our reputation... Or we can spend our life doing what God has called you to do.
So let me ask you:
Whose opinion has become too important to you?
What criticism are you allowing to consume you?
Are you spending more energy defending yourself than doing what God has called you to do?
Let’s respond like Nehemiah:
“That's not true.” “God, strengthen me.”
3. FEAR Nehemiah 6:10–14
10 Now when I went into the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was confined to his home, he said, “Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple. Let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you. They are coming to kill you by night.” 11 But I said, “Should such a man as I run away? And what man such as I could go into the temple and live? I will not go in.” 12 And I understood and saw that God had not sent him, but he had pronounced the prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. 13 For this purpose he was hired, that I should be afraid and act in this way and sin, and so they could give me a bad name in order to taunt me. 14 Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, O my God, according to these things that they did, and also the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who wanted to make me afraid.
When distraction doesn't work and criticism doesn't work, the opposition changes strategies again. This time they use Fear
A man named Shemaiah tells Nehemiah: They're coming to kill you. Run. Hide in the temple. And this one is different, because it sounds spiritual. This isn't an obvious enemy standing outside the wall threatening Nehemiah.
This is someone presenting himself as though he's giving Nehemiah a message from God.
And that makes this attack much more difficult to recognize.
Shemaiah is essentially saying:
Nehemiah, God wants you to protect yourself
Go hide - Run
But Nehemiah responds: Should such a man as I run away?
And eventually Nehemiah realizes:
God didn't send this man.
His enemies had hired him.
They were trying to frighten Nehemiah into doing something that would discredit him. Nehemiah knew that only priest could enter the temple and they would enter to perform priestly functions. For Nehemiah to lock himself in the Holy place, at minimum, would’ve been a desecration of the house of God and would’ve caused the people to question his reverence for God.
So, what protected Nehemiah? Discernment.
Nehemiah knew enough about God and God's Word to recognize:
Something about this doesn't line up. And that's an important lesson for us. Just because something sounds spiritual doesn't mean it comes from God. Just because someone says, “God told me...” doesn't automatically mean God said it.
We need discernment.
We need to know God's Word well enough that when something doesn't line up with what God has already said, we recognize it.
This is so important in our world today. There are a lot of people saying things that sound nice and sound good (sadly even in the church) but are not aligned with God’s word. Because we are so easily distracted we can be led astray and end up in a place where we die spiritually.
The whole plan depended on making Nehemiah afraid. Because fear is powerful.
We're all going to experience fear.
I feel like there are 2 types of people dog people and there are cat people. Where are my dog people? Now my cat people? There will be prayer for you after the service. I want to confess that I’m somewhat afraid of cats. I know I’m going to catch some heat from my cat people but cats don’t show their emotions and they’re stealthy so I feel like they are always plotting how they’re going to kill us.
We’re all going to experience fear
A number of years ago a came across a quote that rocked me. Francis Chan said
“Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter.”
Fear becomes dangerous when we allow it to make our decisions.
There's a difference between feeling fear and being led by fear.
So what has fear kept you from doing?
Is there a conversation you know you need to have?
Is there someone you need to forgive?
Is there somewhere you need to serve?
Is there someone you need to share your faith with?
Is there a step of obedience you know God has been calling you to take?
Maybe you're afraid - That's okay.
Because: Faith isn't the absence of fear.
Faith is refusing to let fear distract you from the good work God has called you to.
Nehemiah essentially says: I'm not running. I'm not hiding. I'm staying on the wall.
4. REMEMBER THE ONE WHO WOULD NOT COME DOWN Nehemiah 6:15
15 So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days.
Think about that. The walls had been down for over 70 years and they were able to rebuild it in 52 day!! This is where I think this story ultimately points us beyond Nehemiah. Because there's something about Nehemiah's story that reminds us of someone greater.
Think about it.
Nehemiah was offered a way out.
Nehemiah was falsely accused.
Nehemiah was threatened.
Nehemiah was told to come down.
Nehemiah remained faithful.
And Nehemiah finished his work.
Centuries later, Jesus would experience something remarkably similar.
Jesus was tempted to take another path.
Jesus was falsely accused.
Jesus was mocked.
Jesus was threatened.
And while Jesus was hanging on the cross, the crowd challenged him to Come down from the cross. Think about that.
Jesus could have. That's what's incredible. Jesus could have come down. But He didn't.
Why? Because Jesus knew the work the Father had given Him to do.
And the work Jesus was doing was infinitely greater than rebuilding the walls around Jerusalem.
Nehemiah was doing a great work. Jesus was doing the greatest work.
He stayed on that cross
for our sin.
For our forgiveness.
For our salvation.
To reconcile sinful people like you and me to a holy God.
He took upon Himself what we deserved.
And He stayed there until finally He could say: “It is finished.”
The work was done. The price had been paid.
And this is incredibly important because otherwise Nehemiah 6 could become nothing more than a motivational message.
Be like Nehemiah - Stay focused - Work harder - Don't quit - Don't get distracted
But the gospel gives us something much better than that.
We don't stay faithful because we're strong enough.
We stay faithful because Christ has already finished the work.
Our relationship with God isn't dependent on whether we perfectly finish everything we've been given to do.
Our hope rests in what Jesus has already finished for us.
And it's from that place of grace – from that place of rest that we get back on the wall and faithfully do what God has called us to do.
If you are here and you are tired of all the opposition this world has thrown your way. Jesus says come to me all who are burdened and heavy laden (all those that are tired/fed up) and I will give them rest. I can’t encourage you enough to place your trust in Jesus today. If you’re here and you’re not sure about all of this – here’s my invitation – 2 things
Identify what the hurdle – what is keeping you from taking a step of faith. Is it doubt, is it hurt, is it skepticism etc. What is it?
The second might be a little harder – tell one of the pastors after the service. Come see me talk to Louis or Zack. I promise we’re not going to lock you in a room and not let you out until you sign on the dotted line like a timeshare presentation. We would be honored to walk alongside you as you discover how good the good news is.
5. FINISH IN A WAY THAT GIVES GOD THE GLORY
Nehemiah 6:15-19
15 So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. 16 And when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem, for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God. 17 Moreover, in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah's letters came to them. 18 For many in Judah were bound by oath to him, because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah the son of Arah: and his son Jehohanan had taken the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah as his wife. 19 Also they spoke of his good deeds in my presence and reported my words to him. And Tobiah sent letters to make me afraid.
Note that even after the wall was finished they’re still trying to make Nehemiah afraid.
Look at verse 16 - When the surrounding nations and their enemies hear that the wall has been completed, Nehemiah says:
“They perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God.”
That's the real victory. Even their enemies had to acknowledge:
God did this.
This wasn't just Nehemiah. This wasn't just great leadership. This wasn't just hard work. This wasn't just good planning. God did this!!
And ultimately, that's the goal of every great work God gives us.
The goal isn't for people to see how great we are.
The goal is for people to see how great God is.
If your marriage flourishes: God gets the glory.
If your children grow up and follow Jesus: God gets the glory.
If your ministry succeeds: God gets the glory.
If this church impacts this community: God gets the glory.
If God uses your life to make a difference in someone else's: God gets the glory.
Students if you excel on the court or classroom – God gets the glory.
Next week we will celebrate 10 years as a church community – I can’t encourage you enough to be here and invite your family and friends. Since the beginning that goal has been to lift up one name and one name only – It’s been to lift up the name that is above all names – the name of Jesus. For those that have been here for the entire 10 years I want to say thank you. You have lived this out.
When it wasn’t convenient you said I’m doing a great work I cannot come down. When things got tough you said I cannot come down. I’m so excited to lock arms with you in this great work over the next 10 years.
When distractions comes: We cannot come down.
When Lies and criticism come: We cannot come down.
When fear comes: We cannot come down.
Big Idea: God doesn’t always remove opposition – He strengthens us through it
Remembering that the goal isn't for people to say: “Wow, look at everything they accomplished.” The goal is for people to look at our lives and say:
Look at what God has done!
Let’s pray