Wesley persecution

One day John Wesley was riding his horse along a road when he realized that three whole days had passed in which he had suffered no persecution. Not a brick or an egg had been thrown at him for three days. Alarmed, he stopped his horse, and exclaimed, "Can it be that I have sinned and am backslidden?" Getting off his horse, Wesley went down on his knees and began interceding with God to show him, where, if any, there had been a fault. A rough fellow, on the other side of the hedge, hearing the prayer, looked across and recognized the preacher. "I'll fix that Methodist preacher," he said, picking up a brick and tossing it over at him. It missed its mark and fell harmlessly beside John. Whereupon Wesley leaped to his feet joyfully exclaiming, "Thank God, it's all right. I still have His presence." In seeking to please God, Wesley rightly expected some opposition. Where do so many Christians today get the idea that they will not have opposition in seeking to do what God calls them to do?

This morning I want us to turn our attention to Nehemiah who faced opposition as he carried out the work God had given him. We have already looked at difficulties he had, but now we see Nehemiah in the midst of enemy plots. He faced them with Determination, Discernment, and Declaration

I. Determination

Recall Nehemiah's determination as he faced the previous opposition when Sanballat and Tobiah became furious and mocked and belittled the Jews and their work of rebuilding the wall. With Nehemiah's determination that was based on his trust in God, he encouraged his fellow Jews to continue. After praying about the threats of their enemies to war against them, the Jews decided to have half of their workers standing watch as armed guards while the other half continued to rebuild the wall.

With Godly determination the wall had been rebuilt, except that the doors had not yet been put in place. These enemies of God's people were apparently very discouraged to see the work progressing so well, and thought that they must do something quickly or it would be too late. Ounce the doors in the walls had been put into place it would be more difficult to successfully attack Jerusalem. They may have thought, "It's now or never."

New Bible Commentary Revised says, "The progress on the wall having advanced so swiftly that the danger of armed attack was considerably lessened, Sanballat and his accomplices now attacked the leader himself. Their aim was to lure him away from his supporters in Jerusalem, to make his assassination easier, or to facilitate an attack upon Jerusalem in his absence." If you are wondering, the plain of Ono was 19-20 miles north of Jerusalem, supposedly a more neutral meeting place.

Listen to the fantastic answer of Nehemiah. "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?" Nehemiah certainly knew that the task he was engaged in was of God, and he had the determination to preserve when others tried to distract him from his great work. Do you and I have such a resolve and such a conviction that we are doing what God wants us to do so that we will not let detractors keep us from our task?

Foe Nehemiah, his enemies were persistent too, giving rise to greater determination. Four times they sent such a message to him and each time he answered in a similar way. Since these plots failed they tried another that we might describe as blackmail, an attempt to intimidate Nehemiah and place him in suspicion with the Persian authorities who controlled the Holy Land at that time. This public, open letter, with the support of Geshem (same as Geshmu) accused Nehemiah of aspiring to be king of Judah and rebelling against Persia. Here we find not only determination, but another way Nehemiah faced opposition.

II. Discernment

At this point, as earlier, Nehemiah used Godly discernment. When the previous four messages came, Nehemiah knew they were planning to harm him.

Regarding this open letter, Matthew Henry wrote: "Now Sanballat pretends to inform Nehemiah of this as a friend. "Let us counsel together how to quell the report." Like Judas, he hoped to kiss and kill. Nehemiah not only denied that such things were true, but that they were reported: He was better known than to be thus suspected. He exercised discernment with a prayer to the one who gives discernment.

But the plots of the enemy are not over. We have another through a prophet, Shemaiah, whom we do not know except through this passage. Nehemiah visited with Shemaiah at Shemaiah's house and he told Nehemiah of a plot against his life. He suggested a second meeting in the temple and that he seek refuge there against those coming to kill him at night. The discernment Nehemiah received was that this was not from God. Nehemiah knew that God would not lead him to break Mosaic Law which forbid him from entering the holy place in the temple, if that is what Shemaiah was suggesting, which v.13 seems to indicate ... that I might become frightened ... and sin ... evil report.

Such a cowardly sin could discredit Nehemiah and destroy his testimony.

According to verse 14, in a prayer, Nehemiah has apparently discerned the works of other false prophets against him, including a female prophetess, Nordiah. How much we need to pray for discernment in who and what to believe.

Finally, Nehemiah faced opposition with

III. Declaration of God's Victory.

Recall what Nehemiah said about his work in verse 3. In saying this, I do not think that Nehemiah was boasting, but he was thoroughly convinced, as he had been before the project began, that it was God's. After Nehemiah has spent time praying and risked his life with the king, we read, "And the king granted them to me because the good hand of my God was upon me." 2:8

As Nehemiah encouraged the Israelites to get involved in this project he told them how God had been favorable to him. Then when the ugly opposition raised its ugly head before the rebuilding even began. Nehemiah clearly said, "The God of heaven will give us success.." 2:20

When opposition brought fear and discouragement to the Jews, Nehemiah said, "Do not be afraid of them; remember the Lord who is great and awesome. 4:14 Of the enemies we read, God had frustrated their plan. 4:15.

In spite of the opposition, including enemy plots read 6:15,16. "So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. And it came about when all our enemies heard of it, and all the nations surrounding us saw it, they lost their confidence; for they recognized that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God." ...with the help of our God. No other way!

Conclusion:

How do you face opposition? With Determination? With Discernment? With Declaration?

Pastor George Hervey asked this question of Professor Morse, the inventor of the telegraph. "Professor Morse, when you were making your experiments yonder in your room in the university, did you ever come to a stand, not knowing what to do next?"

"Oh, yes, more than once."

"And at such times what did you do next?"

"I may answer you in confidence, sir," said the professor, "but it is a matter of which the public knows nothing. I prayed for more light."

"And the light generally came?"

"Yes, and may I tell you that when flattering honors come to me from America and Europe on account of the invention that bears my name, I never felt I deserved them. I had made a valuable application of electricity, not because I was superior to other men, but solely because God, who meant it for mankind, must reveal it to someone, and was pleased to reveal it to me."

In view of these facts, it is not surprising the inventor's first message was, "What hath God wrought!"

Return