Community Baptist Church - Bracknell
Sunday 22 March 2026

      • Psalm 100NKJV

      • Romans 8:1NKJV

  • And Can It Be
  • I'm not ashamed to own my Lord

      • Romans 14:1–13NKJV

  • What A Friend We Have In Jesus
  • Amazing Grace

      • Nehemiah 4:1–6NKJV

      • Nehemiah 4:1–6NKJV

      • Nehemiah 3:1–32NKJV

      • James 1:2–3NKJV

      • Nehemiah 4:1–6NKJV

      • Nehemiah 4:1–6NKJV

      • Nehemiah 4:1–6NKJV

      • Nehemiah 4:1NKJV

      • 2 Corinthians 2:11NKJV

      • Nehemiah 4:2NKJV

      • Nehemiah 4:3NKJV

      • 2 Corinthians 2:11NKJV

      • 2 Corinthians 2:11NKJV

      • Nehemiah 4:1–6NKJV

      • Nehemiah 4:1–6NKJV

      • Nehemiah 4:4–5NKJV

      • Nehemiah 4:4–5NKJV

      • Nehemiah 4:4–5NKJV

      • Matthew 5:44NKJV

      • Psalm 5:5–6NKJV

      • Romans 1:18NKJV

      • Ezekiel 18:23NKJV

      • Acts 3:19NKJV

      • Hebrews 10:31NKJV

      • Romans 12:18–21NKJV

      • Acts 26:28–29NKJV

      • Romans 11:26NKJV

      • Romans 13:1NKJV

      • Philippians 3:20NKJV

      • Acts 5:29NKJV

      • Romans 14:10–13NKJV

      • Nehemiah 4:1–6NKJV

      • Nehemiah 4:6NKJV

      • Nehemiah 4:1–6NKJV

      • 1 Thessalonians 5:15NKJV

  • Send Forth The Gospel (Ombersley)
  • Who Is On The Lord's Side

  • Introduction

    Today we return to the book of Nehemiah and the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem under the leadership of Nehemiah.
    The book begins with Nehemiah receiving a report of how the walls of Jerusalem continue to be broken down, even though it is now 140 years since Nebuchadnezar destroyed the city. In chapter 1, God moved Nehemiah’s heart to weep, pray, and act. In chapter 2, God moved the heart of Artaxerxes, the King of Persia, to enable Nehemiah to travel to Jerusalem and begin rebuilding the walls. And God moved in the hearts of the people of Jersualem to accept God’s call to rebuild.
    In chapter 3, we saw the teamwork of the people of Jerusalem as they joined together to do God’s work and repair the walls, one man Baruch being on fire for the Lord in the work. All seems to be going well.
    BUT … Chapter 4 begins with the word BUT. Things were going well, but …
    The but was that as the people worked, opposition to their work arose. God’s work seldom goes forward without opposition. The enemy doesn’t want to see the work of the Lord make progress.
    As long as the people in Jerusalem were content with the broken down walls as they were for many years, the enemy left them alone. But when they began to serve the Lord and rebuild, the enemy was not happy. Opposition comes when God’s people are actively doing God’s work.
    Nehemiah’s account of the opposition stretches over 3 chapters, each describing a different category of opposition:
    Chapter 4 - Attacks from outside the people of God
    Chapter 5 - Attacks from within the people of God
    Chapter 6 - Attacks against the leader of the people of God.
    Today we are just going to look at the first attack from outside in Nehemiah 4 - which took the form of ridicule.
    But before dig in, remember opposition is not just an enemy tactic against God’s work. It is an opportunity God uses for us to grow in our love and dependency on Him. As James wrote
    James 1:2–3 NKJV
    2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.
    Between 1715 and 1717, the artist Sir James Thornhill painted a series of 8 large scenes depicting the life of the apostle Paul on the dome of St PAul’s Cathedral in London. To reach the dome, he had to climb a tall scaffold. One day as he was painting, he stepped back to admire his work and came within one pace of falling to his death from the scaffolding. A quick-thinking colleague seized a brush and smeared paint across a section of the fresco — Thornhill rushed forward instinctively to protect his work, and his life was saved.
    When the picture of our life is not all we think it should be, perhaps God is rescuing us from something far worse and preparing us for something far better.

    The Attack

    The first act of opposition that came from the enemies of God’s people was ridicule.

    Reasons for ridicule

    The mocking began with Sanballat, governor of Samaria to the north of Jerusalem
    Nehemiah 4:1 NKJV
    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.
    What made him become furious and oppose the work?
    Humanly speaking, perhaps he felt threatened by the success of the Jews. Or perhaps he was jealous. The rebuilding was certainly against his own agenda. He was prosperous partly through exploiting the weakness of the Israelites for his own profit. Rebuilding the walls would protect the people in a safe place. Perhaps he felt excluded because Nehemiah would not let him as an unbeliever take part in God’s work.
    But the underlying reason was that the people were doing God’s work, and that is opposed by the great enemy of God - the devil or Satan. One of the ways Satan opposes God’s work is exploit human tensions such as jealousy, insecurity, exploitation, exclusion.
    To the church in Corinth, Paul encouraged the church to forgive one of their members who done wrong, but had turned back to Christ. Paul writes how they should take care …
    2 Corinthians 2:11 NKJV
    11 lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.
    Unforgiveness and bitterness between christians is one of the devices Satan uses to oppose God’s work.

    Words of ridicule

    Here in Nehemiah the device of the enemy was to use ridicule.
    Sanballat publicly gathered his army together and used five questions to mock the efforts of the Jews who were rebuilding the walls:
    Nehemiah 4:2 NKJV
    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?”
    What are these feeble Jews doing? Feeble is the word for a plant that is withering. He was saying it is pathetic what the jews were doing.
    Will they fortify themselves? That is, they did not have the skills to rebuild it.
    Will they offer sacrifices? The sacrifices were probably the thanksgiving that the people would give to God at the end of the project. He was ridiculing their faith in God.
    Will they finish it in a day? Ridiculing their hopes that they would ever get in finished.
    Will they revive the stones from the heaps of rubbish? They stood no hope.
    Tobiah, the governor of the Ammonites to the east of Jerusalem added his own taunt:
    Nehemiah 4:3 NKJV
    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.”
    Foxes are not heavy. THey weigh a bit less than dogs - averaging around 10kg. This taunt would have stung the builders because they knew that the wall was not of the same quality as the original. Archeaology has confirmed this.

    The power of ridicule

    Although just words, ridicule can be very effective. A famous scottish writer Thomas Carlyle called it the language of the devil. William Shakespeare called it paper bullets of the brain. The power of ridicule is that it strikes at real hidden insecurity.
    It is not unusal for the enemy to mock the servants of God. Goliath ridiculed David when he came to him with only a sling, but in the name of the Lord. Our Lord was mocked by the soldiers and the crowds as He hung on the cross in our place for our wrong doing.
    Humanly speaking Sanballat’s points were all valid. The workers were few, poor, unskilled, with a monumental task, and working with a pile of rubble.
    For us today, those who are doing God’s work - serving in a church, ,sharing their faith, standing up for what is right - will encounter similar mockery.
    But beyond our real human weakness, there is a great God who made heaven and earth at work in and through His people.

    The Response

    Something Nehemiah did not do was retaliate. The first thing we want to do when we are ridiculed is to snap back with corresponding insults. But Nehemiah didn’t lower himself to the level of his critics.

    Prayer

    What he did do was to pray.
    Nehemiah 4:4–5 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! 5 Do not cover their iniquity, and do not let their sin be blotted out from before You; for they have provoked You to anger before the builders.

    Imprecatory Prayer

    But it perhaps sounds to us a strange prayer. His prayer is what is called an imprecatory prayer - a call to God to bring judgment and calamity on his enemies. He asks that God would:
    Turn back their taunts on their own heads
    Cause them to be taken into captivity and be plundered.
    Not let their sin be covered or blotted out.
    This prayer seems unlike how the Christ in the New Testament calls us to pray for our enemies, such as
    Matthew 5:44 NKJV
    44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,
    How do we reconcile Jesus’s words with Nehemiah’s prayer and the other i,precatory prayers like it in the Psalms.
    First note that Nehemiah recognizes this opposition is simply against him or the Jews personally. In his prayer he says “They have provoked you to anger.” God is ultimately being ridiculed and mocked.
    Second, Nehemiah is praying in line with what is always true of God in the old testament and the new testament.
    God is holy and will judge people who do not repent of their sin.
    Psalm 5:5–6 NKJV
    5 The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; You hate all workers of iniquity. 6 You shall destroy those who speak falsehood; The Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.
    Romans 1:18–19 NKJV
    18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.
    God is eternal and does not change. His character is consistent in the old testament and the new testament.
    God also desires people to turn from sin to Him and escape His judgement.
    Ezekiel 18:23 NKJV
    23 Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?” says the Lord God, “and not that he should turn from his ways and live?
    Acts 3:19 NKJV
    19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,
    But those who refuse to turn, God will eventually judge.
    John 3:36 NKJV
    36 He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
    Nehemiah in his prayer recognized that Sanballat and Tobiah were set on their sinful way with no thought of repentance.
    Thirdly, the emphasis in the New testament church age is different when a Christian faces injustice and ridicule for their faith in Christ.
    In the Old Testament, the people of God was the nation of Israel. God’s reign was advanced at times nationally through holy war by military means. The prayers of the OT often reflect that national aspect. The prayers were not for personal vengeance, but for God’s honour in the nation.
    But in this New Testament age, things have changed. God is at present working through the church of Christ. The church is composed of people from every nation and tribe who have been born again by the Spirit of God. Christ’s kingdom not of this world. Christians today are not a nation state advancing God’s kingdom through military or political means. God’s kingdom today grows as believers proclaim the gospel. God works by His Spirit to bring new life in the hearts of people as they submit to the gospel through repentance and faith.
    As a result our prayers have a different emphasis. We know the terror of the Lord, how
    Hebrews 10:31 NKJV
    31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
    Following Christ’s example who prayed for His enemies on the cross, we pray for the good of our enemies and those who persecute us:
    Romans 12:17–21 NKJV
    17 Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. 18 If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. 19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
    When we face ridicule, we do not as Christians pray for God to destroy the mockers. We are right to bring our hurt and anger to God as Nehemiah did. But we know that God is able to shine the light of the glorious gospel of Christ into the heart of our opponents. And so, because the love of CHrist controls us, we pray that God would change the hearts of our enemies to turn to Christ and receive eternal life.
    When Paul was captive in chains for following Jesus, he did not pray that God would put Agrippa in chains instead.
    Acts 26:28–29 NKJV
    28 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.” 29 And Paul said, “I would to God that not only you, but also all who hear me today, might become both almost and altogether such as I am, except for these chains.”
    Before we see the result of Nehemiah’s prayer, I have noticed that some Jews and Christians are framing today’s conflict in the MIddle East in terms of a holy war or as a way of hastening Christ’s return. But take care here. God has indeed made specific promises to the physical nation of Israel that He will yet fulfill. Paul makes that clear in Romans 11.
    Romans 11:26 NKJV
    26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;
    God has not given up the nation of Israel, though they are far from Him. But the fulfillment of those promises comes through the people of Israel personally turning in repentance and faith to Jesus. And that comes from hearing the gospel of Christ and God opening up their hears, just as you and I have done, not by a sword.
    Christians are dual citizens - citizens of heaven and citizens of an earthly nation. The Bible encourages us as much as possible to be subject to our government because the powers that be are ordained by God.
    Romans 13:1 NKJV
    1 Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.
    But sometimes tension comes between our two citizenships. One example of that is when the leaders of a nation take their country into a war. God is always in control, and it may be through wars that He sometimes changes leadership of nations, perhaps even in answer to prayer for persecuted Christians.
    But godly Christians have chosen different responses to the call to war. Some support active participation, where they choose always support their nation by actively fighting because they are citizens. At the opposite extreme, there is pacifism where a Christian believes that the call to love their enemy trumps the call to war. Sometimes that is expressed as noncombatant participation where a Christian chooses to work perhaps as a medic on the battlefield, but not actively fighting.
    A common way of handling the tension is to say that a Christian can participate in a just war. This is something Augustine developed over 1600 years ago. He gave a list of things to check if a war to is just including:
    o Declared by a proper authority
    o Waged for a just cause as a last resort
    o Formally declared with clearly stated reasons
    o Having a reasonable hope of success
    o Proportionate in its means (not “without quarter” or “without mercy”)
    o Aimed at a genuine peace for all sides
    The important thing in all our decisions is that in our hearts we put God first. As Peter and the apostles said
    Acts 5:29 NKJV
    29 But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: “We ought to obey God rather than men.
    Other godly Christians may hold convictions in such doubtful matters when we do not agree with them. Paul says
    Romans 14:10–13 NKJV
    10 But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. 11 For it is written: “As I live, says the Lord, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God.” 12 So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. 13 Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.

    Result of Nehemiah’s Prayer

    Nehemiah 4:6 NKJV
    6 So we built the wall, and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.
    The ridicule failed. The people were committed to the work.

    Application

    Scoffing required no courage on the part of Sanballat and Tobiah. They were nothing but bullies. Not valiant, but childish. Not Christlike, but selfish. Certainly not a good example for us to imitate. Do not be a Sanballat or a Tobiah, even when you disagree with others.
    Perhaps you face ridicule that tempts you to be ashamed of following Christ. Bring it honestly to God in prayer.
    Ask God to protect His honour as you press on in the work Christ has called you to.
    Pray for those who mock you. Not an OT imprecatory prayer but with the NT revelation that God is able to bring them to repentance through faith in Christ.
    1 Thessalonians 5:15 NKJV
    15 See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all.
  • Enemies had fled in panic
  • Give Me A Heart
  • Restore O Lord
  • Fight the good fight

      • Galatians 2:20NKJV

  • Yet not I but Christ through me
Community Baptist Church - Bracknell
information@cbcb.co.uk
01344 641334
http://www.cbcb.co.uk
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