Faith in the Face of Fear
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Introduction:
Fear of losing position
Neh. 2:2 There was a good reason for Nehemiah to be very afraid, Breaks Persian king etiquette for sadness
2 And the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of the heart.” Then I was very much afraid.
He was also afraid because he was asking to leave
But leaving was also against the ways of the Persians
Fear of opposition
Neh. 2:9-10 Nehemiah, as a person with close ties to the king, and being sent with an order from the king, Nehemiah is traveling with an armed escort
9 Then I came to the governors of the province Beyond the River and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent with me officers of the army and horsemen. 10 But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant heard this, it displeased them greatly that someone had come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel.
But he has some serious opposition Sanballat is governor of Samaria to the north; Tobiah is From Ammon to the East, and Geshum spoken of later is from Arabia to the south.
1 Peter 4:12-14
12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.
Fear of doubt and push back
Neh. 2:12a, 16
12 Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me. And I told no one what my God had put into my heart to do for Jerusalem. There was no animal with me but the one on which I rode.
16 And the officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, and I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, and the rest who were to do the work.
There is something that can strike fear in us when we are about to go against the flow of things
James 4:17
17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
Conclusion: But Nehemiah’s faith prevailed verse 8 “For the good hand of my God was upon me”