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Responding to Ridicule
Nehemiah 4:1-3
Sanballat has always lived
in every time, and taken form in every church.
He and others like him believe if God's kingdom is built up it will
hurt their cause. They don't
want to see it happen. They want
to hurt that cause. One of the
chief weapons they use is ridicule.
Any time the people of God
say, Let us rise up and build, there will be a Sanballat and his crowd that
will rise up and blast. Let's
not be surprised by this. But
it's not easy to stand up to ridicule.
Many Christians will stand bravely when being shot at, but collapse
when being laughed at.
Peer pressure in young
people is powerful, and we all are young at heart in this matter.
But the largest cult today is the cult of conformity.
We want to fit in. And if
we try to stand out at all we end up the butt of the joke.
The world doesn't understand Jesus,
His church, and His people. We
want to fit in on both sides, but we must choose sides and accept that many
will laugh at our standards and beliefs.
Ultimately we must choose who we are trying to please-God or man.
What's more important, my Christian testimony, or my public persona
or reputation.
Elijah said, "How long halt
ye between two opinions? If the
Lord be God, follow Him."
Joshua said, "Choose you
this day whom ye will serve."
Jesus said, "I wish you
were cold or hot"...not trying to ride the fence.
If you are not facing
ridicule as a believer, you must not be taking your stand for the right.
"All who live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution."
It's a privilege to be persecuted.
It is with pride that I
take my stand where God tells me to.
I wear as a badge of honor the shame some try to inflict upon me.
God is my defender and my rewarder.
Some who are looking for a church that takes a stand may find it thru
the criticisms some place upon those stands.
John 15:20
20
...If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you;
The nature of ridicule:
-They
ridiculed God's people as being feeble.
v. 1-2a
The world measures things by size, by numbers, by finances and power.
But God delights in using feeble things.
1 Corinthians 1:26-28
26 For ye see your calling, brethren,
how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble,
are called:
27 But
God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and
God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which
are mighty;
28 And base
things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea,
and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
God gets great glory by
doing big things thru small people.
-They
ridiculed the task as being futile.
v. 2 "It can't be done!
No need to even try!" he said.
According to v. 1-2 there's
a big crowd gathered. And
there's a small group of Jews working.
He's mocking the workers and the crowd roars w/ laughter!
Let's reenact -- I'll read
each mocking question in v. 2 and you respond w/ the heartiest laughter you
can fake [like you do w/ my jokes!]
ill.--imagine you are back
in school and an assembly is called and you all go to the gym.
The principal calls YOU to the stage, and you go up, thinking you are
going to be honored in some way, but then he starts making fun of you, and
everyone laughs, he insults you, and the crowd roars...someone sneaks up
behind you and pulls your pants down, and everyone is rolling on the floor
and pointing.
This is how it was for
Nehemiah and his crew. But what
Sanballat failed to recognize was that God was standing behind His people.
And though it sometimes looks like the world is winning and we are
such a minority that we are having no effect, or we're just a bunch of
weirdoes...remember, we are on the winning side...read the back of the book!
President Woodrow Wilson,
"I would rather temporarily fail with a cause that will ultimately win than
to temporarily win with a cause that must ultimately fail."
-They
ridiculed their faith as being foolish.
v. 2b "Will they sacrifice?"
He's making fun of their religion.
This is blasphemy, they are calling their beliefs foolish.
And it continues today.
1 Corinthians 1:18
18 For the preaching of the cross is
to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power
of God.
"Virgins don't give birth,
and angels don't sing, and no one can rise from the dead, and I've never
seen anyone riding on a white horse!"
1 Corinthians 4:10
10 We are fools for Christ's
sake,
But there's a bigger
fool...
Psalm 53:1
1
The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.
Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none
that doeth good.
Yes, I'm a fool for
Christ...whose fool are you? I
feel sorry for those who choose to be the fool of the devil!
-They
ridiculed their work as being frail.
v. 3 Tobiah jumps on
the bandwagon and said, "It won't last," and everyone laughed.
Maybe people said that
about you when you got saved. It
won't last! They said it about
this church more than once in the past...and about me 9 years ago when I got
here, and on several occasions since.
Today they say, you won't last preaching standards.
You won't last w/ those old fashioned values.
Hey, we're still here!
It wasn't man building
those walls, it was God using man.
And we aren't trying to build a church here on our own, we're letting
God do it in us and thru us. The
church isn't frail, we've got a Godly glue holding us together.
We're fastened by the Father!
We're built on the Rock and held together by a duct tape of deity you
can't pull apart and can't knock down.
Matthew 16:18
18
...upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it.
How to respond to ridicule:
-Remember the cause of ridicule.
Ridicule is a substitute for reason [laughter is a
substitute for logic].
It is very reasonable, when you look at the evidence, to believe the
Bible is the Word of God.
The Bible is a miracle in
its origination, its preservation, its circulation, and its application.
There's the testimony of its scientific accuracy, its prophetic
accuracy, the archaeological proofs.
It's a very reasonable faith.
But when the world cannot reason you out of believing the Bible they
will try to ridicule you out of believing.
When they can't logic you out of believing they will try to laugh you
out of believing.
The world's thinking--When
you don't have a good case based on the facts, just make fun of them -- look
for something dirty, something personal, use smear tactics, insults, and
call names. Tell lies and try to
rally people to your side.
Incidentally, if ever you hear something which sounds unbelievable--consider
checking it out before you believe it!
-Remember the character of those doing the ridiculing.
We are known not only by
the friends that we make but by the enemies that we make.
There's something wrong w/ the Christian that no one is laughing at.
Acts 5:41
41
And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing
that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.
You say, "I'm never laughed
at." Don't brag about that.
And don't be too hurt when stabbed in the back.
Often it will be those you do the most for, so I suggest that you
shouldn't really do it for them, rather, do it for Jesus, who will never
spit in your face, but rather will reward you and defend you to the end.
And follow Jesus' admonition,
Matthew 5:44
44
But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse
you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use
you, and persecute you;
Pray for them, remembering
their character, and don't respond in kind, becoming like them.
-Remember the company you are in when ridiculed.
When Jesus was about to
perform a great miracle...
Mark 5:40
40
And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all
out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were
with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying.
Luke 22:63
63
And the men that held Jesus mocked him, and smote him.
Which was worse, the
mocking or the smiting? I
believe it was the mocking.
Luke 23:35
35
And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them
derided him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be
Christ, the chosen of God.
This was on the cross.
A big portion of the pain!
-Remember the compensation you will receive for being ridiculed.
Matthew 5:11-12
11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and
persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely,
for my sake.
12 Rejoice, and
be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so
persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
Each time you are ridiculed
for Christ's sake, a deposit is made in heaven!
-Remember the conclusion of the matter.
"He who laughs last, laughs
best."
Proverbs 1:24-29
24 Because I have called, and ye
refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;
25 But ye have set at nought all my
counsel, and would none of my reproof:
26
I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear
cometh;
27 When your fear
cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when
distress and anguish cometh upon you.
28
Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall
seek me early, but they shall not find me:
29 For that they hated knowledge, and
did not choose the fear of the LORD:
God who spoke the world
into existence will get the last word.
Whose side are you on?
Jesus said you are for me or against me, you are scattering or
gathering. It's time to take our
stand for the right. "I have
decided to follow Jesus!"
"Though none go with me, still I will follow!"
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