Transcript:

One of the most famous and greatest presidents in American history is Abraham Lincoln. His greatest accomplishment was the role he played in the abolition of slavery and because of his stand for righteousness, 159 years ago today, a man by the name of John Wilkes Booth assassinated Lincoln. It was on April 14, 1865. And what you may not know is that the assassination of Lincoln had been planned for several months. He was a hated man. John Wilkes Booth and his little posse really hated Lincoln because, really because Booth was obviously a racist and he was a bigot and he was a supporter of the southern cause and he was outspoken for slavery. He was an advocate for slavery. He actually, you might not know, he volunteered in the Richmond Militia and he was one of the guys that hung the abolitionist John Brown. But throughout the fall of 1864 and the winter of 1865, he and several co-conspirators frequented Washington DC and basically they were stalking Lincoln and they were looking for opportunities where they might abduct him. And after several failed attempts he was really getting nowhere. But on the morning of April 14th 1865, he heard that that evening Lincoln was going to be in the Ford’s Theater and he was going to be attending a play. And so he made it his plot to individually assassinate Abraham Lincoln. And so that evening he sneaks into the presidential box where Lincoln was viewing the play and in the third act of the play he shoots President Lincoln in the back of the head.

Why am I sharing that story with you? It’s not because 159 years ago today Lincoln was assassinated. I’m sharing this story because it illustrates the very same tactic that the enemy in Nehemiah chapter 6 uses. Just as Booth thought, if he killed Lincoln it would create fear in all of Lincoln’s followers and that it would ultimately stall the progress of abolition, ultimately resulting in a reverse course or a demise of progress. Satan, the enemy, thinks the same thing in Nehemiah chapter 6. Nehemiah’s opposition is thinking really the same way. They believe that if they could eliminate Nehemiah, they would create chaos and confusion and disruption and fear.

And where we are in Nehemiah chapter 6, although the walls? Yeah, they’re figuring. Yeah, you know the walls might still be built, but they’re thinking, if we knock off the leader, the worship’s going to cease and ultimately, that’s the end goal. The end goal and please hear this, this is not about a wall the end goal of Satan in your life and in my life is that what we just did a minute ago corporately, that we’ll stop doing it corporately and we’ll stop doing it personally. That’s the end goal. Satan doesn’t want you to be a good worshiper. Satan doesn’t want you to wake up tomorrow morning and practice what we’re doing this morning on a personal level. He doesn’t want you listening to worship music. He doesn’t want you reading your Bible. He doesn’t want you having spiritual conversations. He wants your worship to cease, wants your worship to cease. That’s Satan’s plan. That’s the end goal. So, in effort to ruin God’s work of remember the walls were going to be a protection for worship and in effort to ruin that work, the enemy now is going after the leader.

And here’s the big idea of our sermon this morning when God is using you powerfully, when God is using you powerfully and he can use you powerfully. Did you know that? I think we forget that I think. Sometimes we look at us and we read these stories in the Bible and we hear these stories about people like Abraham Lincoln. We think, man, god can’t use me in a powerful way. Well, let me just say this it’s often the common people where the gospel progresses the furthest. You don’t need a big platform, you just need a passion for Jesus Christ and a passion for lost souls, and God will use you powerfully. And it’s when God is using you powerfully the enemy will attack you spiritually. If this is your first time here, let me kind of catch you up to speed. What’s going on.

Nehemiah is working for well, before he starts building the wall, he was working for a king by the name of Artaxerxes. He was actually a cupbearer, he was working a government job. He’s in the king’s palace on a daily basis. And this king Artaxerxes we’ll talk about him in a few minutes he was not a good king, he was a bad king Think mobster, bad king.

And Nehemiah, as he’s 900 miles away working for King Adaxerxes, he hears that the walls of Jerusalem were never built. The walls were supposed to be built, but there was a stall in the progress. They stopped building the walls. And so now, because the walls aren’t built, enemies are coming in. Walls were barriers of protection in this day and time and so, because there’s no wall, enemies of Israel are coming in. They’re making attacks, threats. So God’s people aren’t worshiping.

So Nehemiah, he’s grieved. Listen, isn’t this interesting? It should grieve each one of us when people aren’t worshipers. I hope you’re seeing a theme here. It should grieve us. Our hearts should be grieved for the people in our city and in our communities who aren’t worshipers of the true and living God. We should be grieved by that. Nehemiah is grieved. He wept, chapter 1 says, when he heard this news, and he gains enough courage to go to King Artaxerxes and he asks permission to go 900 miles away and to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. And right out of the gate, surprisingly, first the king says yes, nehemiah shows up, right out of the gate. Day one he shows up and he experiences opposition from three guys. We’re going to call them the three stooges, all right Sanballat, tobias and Geshem. They’re in the whole story all along the way, the three stooges.

And in chapter two, when Nehemiah shows up on the scene, immediately they try to discourage Nehemiah, like no one’s going to go for this, you’re not going to be able to do it. And that’s what the enemy wants to do with you. He wants to discourage you from doing great things for God. And then in chapter four because chapter three was all about them building the wall and who came to help build the wall. But then in chapter four, what he tries to do is he tries to distract through threats. It is he tries to distract through threats. It’s another tactic of the enemy. And then chapter five, which was last week. He tries to divide the people all to prevent God from being worshiped. And none of that worked and the wall is now built. In chapter six, the wall’s built, we got a wall. The only thing left is they gotta hang the doors.

And in chapter six, as the wall’s coming to completion, nehemiah encounters some serious opposition. And the same is true of your life. I hope you know that. And the goal of this whole series is for each of us to fortify the walls of faith in our lives so that we can accomplish God’s work of faith that he wants to do through us in our lifetime.

And the tactic of the enemy is, when he can’t get division within the people, he goes after the leader. Okay, that’s the tactic. So when God is using you powerfully, the enemy attacks spiritually. Notice this morning five tactics of the enemy so he can take you out spiritually. Number one the enemy wants to destroy you. Beware of deceptions and distractions. I’m going to just say this. Some of you are like I’m not a leader. I’m not a leader, I’m not a leader. This is for you, matt, ultimately. Yeah, it is kind of for corporate leaders, but I would say this Some of you are leading small groups, some of you are leading students, some of you are leading kids, some of you are leaders in the workplace. What we say around here at City Light Church is every disciple is a leader. When Jesus says, follow after me, he’s saying you need to lead like I did, you need to pour into people and you need to make disciples. So all y’all are leaders. We’re all leaders. Some of us have more responsibilities of leadership, some of us have less, but we all should be leaders. And the first tactic of the enemy to take you out spiritually, if God is using powerfully, is he wants to destroy you. Beware of deceptions and distractions.

In chapter six, the enemy is seeking to literally put an end to Nehemiah’s existence. He’s trying to kill Nehemiah. Look at verse one. It says 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 the wall’s complete although up to that time I had not set the doors and the gates, sanballat and Geshem sent to me saying Come and let us meet together at Hekaferim in the plain of Ano.

Now, so here’s what’s going on. The three stooges are making a last-ditch effort to distract Nehemiah so they can destroy him. They’re playing it off like hey man, hey, let’s get together. We want to celebrate all the accomplishments that you have made as a leader. We want to make a truce. But they really have no intention of taking pictures and making a truce. And I don’t know what do they do with those like state gatherings, tea and crumpets. None of that’s in their game plan, okay. What they’re really trying to do was lure him away from Jerusalem. They’re trying to get him outside of the city, where he has way less protection, and ultimately they’re going to kidnap him and they’re going to kill him. That’s the intention of the enemy, and that’s the intention of the enemy when it comes to people who crush it for the kingdom of God. It reminds me of the story of a. That’s the intention of the enemy when it comes to people who crush it for the kingdom of God. It reminds me of the story of a guy by the name of John Huss Maybe you’ve heard the name, john Huss, john Huss he was very influential to a guy by the name of Martin Luther.

Martin Luther was the one who basically started the Reformation, the Protestant Reformation, the Protestant Reformation. Haas realized that the sole authority for the church was the word of God, and this went against Catholicism. The Roman Catholic Church was ruling the world at this time. The church said hey, we’re in charge, we make the rules you got to abide by. Whatever we say, the Pope is above the word of God. The Pope can change the rules whatever he wants. And so, hus, you know, he’s just studying God’s word and he makes this discovery and he realizes that Christ alone is the head of the church. This is Christ’s church.

And so this guy, this holy emperor by the name of Sigsman, urged Huss. He says, hey, why don’t you come to the Council of Constance? They had these councils, and the councils were the places where they would hash out theology and they would make adjustments a little bit. People would gather together and people who felt like they were enlightened, they’d have an opportunity to kind of speak into the church. And so they’re like hey, why don’t you come to the Council of Constance? This is 1414. And why don’t you talk to us about this newfound doctrine? We want to have a conversation.

So he pitched it like the church wanted reform and ultimately he agrees, he’s harassed, he’s then arrested and then he ends up being burned at the stake. They deceived, they distracted and they ultimately destroyed him. That’s what’s going on here with Nehemiah. Same intention, nehemiah, though he doesn’t give in to the deception and the distraction. And and and listen, it’s a real thing sometimes when we accomplish some big things for the kingdom of god, just so you know, he doesn’t buy into the deception and the distraction like, hey, let’s celebrate you Like.

I think, if we were all honest, all of us like to be recognized, we do. And if you’re saying you don’t, I don’t believe you, we do. And if you’re saying you don’t, I don’t believe you, we do. We like recognition, we like applause. We even like to give people recognition. We like to give people applause, don’t we? Isn’t that fun. I like to applause people, encourage people. And so here are these guys like hey, why don’t you come?

And the temptation for Nehemiah is like yeah, I’ve arrived, I’m a somebody, I’m going to be recognized. But look at his response. Look at verse two. It says but they intended to do me harm 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? And they sent to me four times in this way, and that’s really important, four times. Because what it tells me is the enemy will not stop, the enemy will wear you down.

Christian, I think most of us are really good when it comes to temptation, saying no the first time, but it’s the second time and the third time and the fourth time. The first time we’re on the computer screen and we’re alone at night. We say no, the temptation the first time, but then then we put ourselves in a position the second time and then the third time, and the temptation gets stronger and stronger and stronger. This is what’s happening to Nehemiah. Notice his answer. I love this. He sends a messenger, he doesn’t engage. It’s kind of like a two-sentence email in this day and age. And the reason he doesn’t engage is because here’s why you might want to write this down Unrepentant people are unsafe people.

Remember that these guys haven’t repented of anything. They’ve been trying to take this guy out from day one and we’ve got to be aware of something Like unrepentant people. They’re unsafe people and Nehemiah, he realizes that. He realizes that they’re unsafe and that they want to do him harm and he understands that the end goal is to take him out. He’s tired of the threats and the thwarts and the tricks and so he just leaves things alone.

And just a little side note if you want to accomplish great things for the kingdom, you’ve got to live with a laser focus. That’s what we’re seeing right here. Nehemiah is just like you know, that person that’s wanting to like maybe you’re a musician, or maybe you’re trying to climb the corporate ladder, or maybe you’re trying to like maybe you’re a musician or maybe you’re trying to climb the corporate ladder, or maybe you’re trying to like get the 4.0 at school. Like maybe you’re trying to be a great athlete. Like there’s got to be focus If you’re going to do some big things like there’s got to be focus. Nehemiah, he is living with laser focus. He doesn’t fall into the deception and the distraction.

Notice the second tactic of the enemy, and the enemy’s not going to quit. This is a second tactic. The enemy wants to derail you. These guys figure out all right, we can’t destroy him, we can’t lure him away. So if we can’t destroy him, let’s at least derail him. This is like this progression. It’s for the good of Nehemiah. But they’re not going to stop. So they’re like all right, let’s derail them. And the enemy wants to derail you. So you got to ignore the accusations.

Let me say this you know I go to these pastor events and pastors. We get together, we talk about our church, we talk about what God’s doing, and it’s really fun sometimes. It’s fun for me to talk about you and like here’s what God’s doing and here’s where I’m encouraged. And let me just say this I probably don’t say this enough Some of you in our local church here you are just crushing it for the kingdom of God. I need to tell you more. I need to individually tell you more and recognize you more.

You are what could be described as like a locomotive Christian, and by that I mean you are self-propelled Like. You are just, man, I am on it. I mean you are chugging along. Nothing is going to stop you. You’re pulling the weight. You’re pushing the weight. You’re delivering the gospel product. You’re inviting. You know, on Easter we had 274 people here. That’s big for us, it’s a big number. You’re inviting people to church. You’re sharing your faith. You’re doing the gospel work. You’re serving, you’re giving. I mean, look what we’re making these changes because you’re giving, you’re displaying evidences of grace.

You’re a locomotive Christian, and what that means is you’re the type of Christian that the enemy wants to derail, like if you’re getting afterotive Christian. And what that means is you’re the type of Christian that the enemy wants to derail, like if you’re getting after it for the kingdom. Like the enemy wants to derail. You Remember that Like, the enemy doesn’t really try to take out Christians that are doing nothing for the kingdom of God. If you don’t face much temptation, all right, if you’re not struggling from time to time in your daily walk and we all do struggle but if you’re not experiencing trials and temptations, that’s probably because you’re really not doing much for the kingdom. But when you’re getting after it, man, the enemy is on you, he’s after you, he’s wanting to derail you so he can destroy you.

And let me just say this just a little people often ask me hey, what can I do for you? How can I encourage you? Here’s how you can encourage me. Here’s one of the things that you can do to encourage me. I guess I should say Pray for your leaders, pray for me. Here’s another thing that pastors don’t often say, and I’m giving you the liberty to do this Lovingly correct leaders. When leaders go awry, lovingly, correct them Lovingly. I’m Irish and I will fight. Okay, I got my flesh still, but then how about this? But support your leaders. I’ll tell you this If I know someone loves me and supports me, I will receive just about anything from them. I really will Pray, love, support, hold their arms up, ask how you can help Be a part of the family.

Here’s the thing. When the locomotive derails, is it ever pretty? Is it ever pretty when the locomotive derails? No, no, no. There is massive destruction, massive destruction. And guess what? There’s got to be a lot of reconstruction as well, isn’t there Like we’ve seen it before. We’ve seen it in churches. I’ve been a part of a ministry like that. I mean, the thing was crushing it for the kingdom of God and now it’s a shell of its original self Massive reconstruction efforts.

Well, in verses five through nine, the enemy here’s what the enemy’s trying to do with Nehemiah he’s trying to derail Nehemiah. Here’s what the enemy’s trying to do with Nehemiah he’s trying to derail Nehemiah. And when the enemy wants to derail you and go, he’s going to keep coming. Look at verse five. In the same way, sanballat, say it with me for the what time? Fifth time, guys, this whole book is about spiritual warfare. I hope you understand that. I hope you’re getting a greater glimpse and a greater understanding of why you deal with what you deal with. Because, as I said at the very beginning, the enemy doesn’t want you to be a worshiper and he doesn’t want you to create more worshipers. So he’s coming hard. He wants to derail. He can’t kill you, so he’s going to derail you. He wants to derail. He can’t kill you, so he’s going to derail you. And so what does he do? For the fifth time, he sent his servant to me, this time with an open letter in his hand. So if you write notes in your Bible, just put fake news. Finally got a chuckle out of you, guys that I didn’t even have to ask.

So in this day and age, sealed documents were typically used whenever there was a political controversy. They would seal it, they would stamp it, put a little mark on it. It’d be delivered individually. It’d be a personal letter. These guys are sending an open letter.

Why are they sending an open letter? Well, hey, they’re unrepentant. They’re really not trying to reconcile and they’re just trying to create conflict, and I would say we see examples of this. We got to be really careful, church. The enemy is always trying to create division. They’re always trying to undermine leadership. Nehemiah was like hitting home runs every at bat, right, and so what we got to be careful of sometimes is like, when there’s these open letters through podcasts or through blogs, we better have a really good filter yeah, a really good filter before we just start making accusations toward leadership. But these guys, they send this open letter. They’re trying to create conflict and the goal is to create division and derail Nehemiah.

And what enemies will do in order to derail you is what they do is they twist the words into weapons. Ever see that with people where they use words as a weapon? That’s what the enemy does, and he will twist someone’s words, use it as a weapon in order to attack them Happens all the time in leadership. The things that maybe should stay private, they go public. And, with that being said, nehemiah’s inward radar at this point, like he’s in this whole thing, it’s starting to go off. You know what I’m talking about the inward radar, enemy approaching, prepare for spiritual warfare. Enemy approaching, prepare for spiritual warfare. Like that, prepare for spiritual warfare. Like that’s what he’s hearing in his mind. And notice what the letter says, notice what they say, and it was written. I love this because I’ve been a part of this. It’s so real life. Some things never change.

It is reported. A number of people, you know, like zero’s a number, just so you know. I think Maybe it’s not. I shouldn’t have said that Is zero a number. I counted a number, thank you. The smart people in the room, there’s like three of them in our church and they all just nodded at me Danner, melanie Wyatt, I mean golly, she went to Emory, you know, I mean so. Oh, hey, the provost at HBU. The smart people said zero’s a number, so I’m safe, okay. A number of people, like nothing ever changes.

It’s reported among the nations and Geshem also says it that you and the Jews intend to rebel and that’s why you’re building the wall and, according to these reports, you wish to become their king, and you have also set up prophets to proclaim, concerning you, in Jerusalem, that there’s a king in Judah. And now the king will hear of these reports. So now come and let us take counsel together. They’re like we know what you’re up to, there’s an open letter and they know it’s not true. They’re just trying to rile Nehemiah up. You want to be a prophet, you want to be a king, you want to take over Persia.

All this is lies, and the irony is that these enemies are using a term that I would say modern day psychologists. They call it projection. All right, you know when people accuse you of something that they are actually doing against you projection. You know what I’m saying and you’re going to see in a moment in chapter three, the three stooges. They hired a false prophet in an effort to dupe Nehemiah. So the very thing that they’re saying Nehemiah is doing you’re a false prophet and you’re trying to be king. They end up doing later on in the chapter here you see in a second and they’re stating publicly that Nehemiah is a false prophet, that he wants to be king, and this is a big deal because of who the king, the real king, is Artaxerxes.

Artaxerxes, as I said before, this isn’t Prince Charming that we’re dealing with. Like, artaxerxes is going to hear this news. He could potentially hear about this open letter and he is not going to be happy. And if you haven’t been with us, king Artaxerxes killed his older brother so he could get the throne. Okay, good guy, bad guy. Good guy, bad guy. What do you guys think? He’s all right, some of you want to kill people. Sometimes You’re like I don’t think he’s that bad, bad dude, bad dude. And not only did he kill his older brother, but he killed his younger brother and he’s treated his enemies in a very hard way. I mean, he was just a ruthless ruler. I’ll just leave it at that. I got to move on Long sermon.

So this false accusation is serious and that’s a common tactic of the enemy, just so you know. False accusations, because here’s what false accusations do. False accusations about me. Here’s what they do about me. Because I’m prone to defend myself Like, honest, honest, be honest. How many of you struggle? Sometimes when there’s a false accusation about you? You’re like, yeah, I’m going to defend myself, raise your hand, okay. So that’s probably like 70% of us. That’s normal. That’s normal. You’re not a bad Christian. The bad Christians are the people who didn’t raise their hand because they’re lying. Okay, we want to defend ourself. I want to defend myself.

It’s hard, when people are lying about me, not to stick up for stuff. It’s like who’s going to stick up for me if I don’t right? But here’s the thing If I’m doing kingdom work and I’m just going I’m a locomotive man, remember locomotive, getting it done, pulling the weight, pushing, pulling, going through things, plowing through what it’s going to do it’s going to derail my attention onto something else, because whenever I’m having to defend myself, that takes a lot of time and sometimes it hurts my spirit, does it not? False accusations, common tactic of the enemy. Think about the life of Jesus. Remember what the Pharisees said about Jesus. Remember what they said about Jesus. They said this man is trying to be king. You can’t trust him. Rome. It’s a common tactic, joseph Daniel, I mean you just go through the great leaders in the Bible. This is common stuff.

And so notice the way Nehemiah like, the way he responds. He sends a messenger. He’s not even going to deal with it and he’s like. Then I sent to him saying no such thing as you have been done, no such thing as you say, no such things as you say have been done. Sorry, I’m getting old. My, my optometrist has put me through these transitional lenses. It’s not working out. So in probably in a few weeks, I’m going to have like these little nerdy reading glasses, okay, and I’m like let me put on my glasses and see what the text is. So that’s coming, stay tuned. Um, so that’s coming, stay tuned. My computer is in 20-point font right now.

Then I sent to him saying no such thing as you, no such man, no such things as you say have been done, for you are inventing them out of your mind. Again, like I said before, this is like a one-line email, basically saying go pound sand. I have a mission to fulfill. Leave me alone. Nothing’s going to derail me from doing what God has called me to do, even defending myself, even defending myself oh, that’s a tough one for me to say, even defending myself, because I want to defend myself so badly. And when I’m defending myself, I’m losing sight of the mission and I’m getting derailed.

And one of the tactics of the enemy is to work your pride and make you think that you have to defend yourself. And all it does is it derails and you get off track. And now we’ve stopped, and it has the potential to create division and discouragement. And so, nehemiah, he refuses to engage. The only thing he does is draw attention to their true intentions. He says look at verse 9. Here it is, he says, for they all wanted to frighten us, thinking their hands will drop from the work and it will not be done. Are you getting it? Are you getting it? And it will not be done. Are you getting it? Are you getting it?

He’s like they make the false accusations so that we don’t do the kingdom work, so we lose sight of what’s most important. And I’m telling you right now, like this is a great time to be learning this stuff, but I’m telling you it happens in every local church, and I’m not, you know, and I’m not worried about anything, just so you know. Like I’m telling you, it happens in every local church and I’m not, you know, and I’m not worried about anything, just so you know, like I’m not defending myself right now. There’s no hidden sin, things are in a great spot. But I’m just telling you, I know the way. The enemy attacks when God’s working powerfully. And I believe we’re on the brink of something really big here at City Light Church and I think God’s going to use us in a great way, and so we have to be on guard. We really have to be on guard. So, really quickly, let me talk to you practically about how Christians should handle accusations with the goal of protection. Okay, this is super practical.

These questions that I want you to ask yourself, they’re going to be on the screen. They’re from a guy by the name of Alan Redpath. He pastored the Great Moody Church in Chicago, illinois, and I would frame it this way I’m calling it my formula for speaking. This is how we have to speak to each other. This is how we ought to conduct our communication within the body of Christ. Okay, and I would say take this to your workplace, take this to your school, take this to your dorm, take this to your ball team. First question is this Six questions to ask or five questions to ask? I think it’s five. Actually, I think it’s five letters. I told you I wasn’t good with the number thing, but zero is a number. I learned that today, thank you. Thank you, number one T, is it true?

Is it true? Listen, great protection question right there. Listen, great protection question right there. And if you don’t know it’s true, you shut it down. Is it true? You better figure out if it’s true or not.

And Proverbs 18 says we don’t cast judgment without going. And Proverbs 18 too, proverbs 18, 16, proverbs 18, 22, and 23,. Like, you’re always going to a second party because, like, if I talk to this person over here and they convince me that’s true, oh, it sounds true, and I heard their version of the story. Great story, annie. But it’s now my responsibility to go over to George and get his side of the story. Okay, is it true? Number two H is it helpful? Like, should I even be a part of this conversation? It’s a great question to ask. It’s a great question to ask. Great question to ask If you’re trying to guard unity when it comes to conversations.

I, is it inspirational? Is it inspirational? Is this conversation fostering growth? And is it necessary? Like, why are they coming to me? Am I a part of the problem or a part of the solution? Is this conversation that we’re having right now even necessary? Why are you talking to me? And then, okay, is it kind? Is it kind. There’s a way that we can confront sin and we can do it in a gracious manner and speak truth in love. That formula will serve as a protection from erosion. Guarantee you implement that formula into your family, into your church family, into your work relationships, into your parenting, into your teams, into your clubs, into your dorms. That will serve as a protection.

Proverbs 12.18 says this is a really important verse that we have to be familiar with. Proverbs 12.18,. This is one worth memorizing or at least being familiar with. It talks about the power of words, and Proverbs 12, 18 says there is one who speaks rashly like sword thrusts or sorry, csb is or a piercing sword, if you’re using the CSB, I put up sword thrusts Meaning like your words can be like a dagger, your words, it’s like a cutting sword that can dismember and dismantle. That’s your words, that’s the power of the tongue. But the tongue of the wise brings healing. It can also bring great healing. So wise people think and they ask is it true, is it helpful, is it inspirational, is it necessary, is it kind?

Notice, as we progress through this text, there’s this third tactic. And we can’t destroy him, he can’t derail him, and so now he wants to discredit Nehemiah. He’s like he will not stop. And so number three, the enemy wants to discredit you. Pursue sanctification.

At this point in the story, the three stooges are beginning to realize that taking down Nehemiah is going to be more difficult than originally anticipated. So, after failing to destroy him and derail him, they make an effort to discredit him. They figure if they could harm his good reputation it would cause the people to stop following his leadership. So they send this prophet to Nehemiah. Look at the text it says.

Now, when I went into the house of Shemaiah, the son of Deliah, son of Mehedabel, who’s confined to his home we don’t know why he was confined to his home, but he’s confined to his home he said so Nehemiah is like doing a house call. 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. So this guy by the name of Shemaiah I was preparing this week I’m like sounds like a Power Ranger name, not a prophet’s name, shemaiah. But what we have to understand he’s a false prophet. And what’s going on here is he lies and says Nehemiah’s enemies are going to come. Do you see, at the end of the verse, at the very end of verse 10? They’re going to come at night and they’re going to kill you that very night.

So for like like, this is a real story. This is like a real life story of somebody. So imagine you being that somebody. If someone comes to you who appears to be a godly person, a prophet, they appear to be godly and they say, hey, you’re going to die tonight. Got my attention, you know, godly person. He’s in tune with the Lord. He’s a prophet. Did you see who his parents were? This is a big deal. Like he was of the priestly lineage. He might have even been a priest. Commentators kind of disagree with each other. I don’t know. Maybe he was, maybe he wasn’t, but he’s at least a prophet.

But he talks about going to the temple, which tells me he is a priest. He’s going into because we’re going to see in a minute that Nehemiah doesn’t go in. He explains why he doesn’t go in, but this guy had access to the temple, the Holy of Holies, and so Nehemiah is hearing this guy, he’s probably trusting this guy and he’s saying hey, the two of us we’re going to go into the temple for your protection. Notice Nehemiah’s response, verse 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 run away. And what man such as I could go into the temple and live, I will not go in.

So Nehemiah is listening to the guy’s words and he’s realizing hey, I’m not qualified to be in the temple. I would be guilty of committing a potential capital offense. He probably would have been potentially executed had that happened. If they really followed the Jewish law, at minimum he would have been discredited as a spiritual leader in the eyes of the people. And Nehemiah, though, here’s the point, like again, you’re running for your life. And this trusted man, prophet, priest, guy, says and he was hired we’re going to see in a moment by the three stooges, he doesn’t know this. This trusted man says come on in Safety. Here’s the point.

Nehemiah knew the word of God, he knew the law of God, he had a sensitivity to sin and he feared God more than he feared for his own life. That’s the point. That’s what we’re seeing here. My life’s pretty important. I’ve got a family to lead. I’ve got a church to lead. Your life’s pretty important. You have a family to lead. You have a family that you’re part of. You have responsibilities. Nehemiah’s like hey, god Yahweh is way more important to me than my life, even if it cost me my life. So he doesn’t sin.

So little side note. You want to stay clear of sin. Know the Bible, know the Bible. Know what the Bible says about sin. Know what the Bible says about sin. Call out sin in your life. Understand, understand sin. Understand this about sin.

Sin starts in your mind. Hey, can we walk through sin for a second? Because I don’t think we’re very serious about sin sometimes. I’m not, I’m not. Let’s do a little exercise.

Sin starts with the mind. It starts with things like coveting, lust, vengeance, anger. It affects our eyes what we look at. It affects our ears what we listen to. It affects our lips what we say. It affects our hands and the things we do. It affects our eyes what we look at. It affects our ears what we listen to. It affects our lips what we say. It affects our hands and the things we do. It affects our feet and the places we go, like sin will consume every part of your being if you’re not careful. Do you understand that. You got to be sensitive to sin. I got to be sensitive to sin.

But here’s the thing about sin that Nehemiah is realizing in this moment. He understands. Here’s what sin does in the life of a leader. You know what sin does in the life of a leader it discredits the leader. Agreed, yeah, if you have a leader, you see a pattern in their life where they fear man more than they fear God. Does it discredit that person? Oh yeah, 100%. And all of us are leaders. So all of us as a church family, we have to be really careful when it comes to sin.

Notice what Nehemiah says in verse 12. He says and I understood and I saw that God had not sent him, but he had pronounced the prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him, all right. So we’ll do that. Verse 13, Verse 13. Like they just the whole time, they just wanted to discredit him as a leader. Because if you discredit the leader, the mission stops Right, the work stops.

Fourth, the enemy wants to discourage you First. He first tries to kill you Death. Then they tried to derail, then they tried to discredit. Not working, not working, not working. Let’s just discourage them. The enemy wants to discourage you. Don’t follow a person. Many of us have been hurt by spiritual leaders right, I have been. Many of the people I have read, I’ve looked up to, I’ve had personal relationships with, they’ve fallen and it can really rock you sometimes.

Shemaliah was a prophet, potentially a priest. He’s accompanied by Noah Diah. She’s a prophetess. Look at verse 14. It says remember Tobiah and Sanballat. Oh 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. Here’s what’s going on. These were supposed to be godly people, prophets and prophetesses. They’re setting up Nehemiah to discredit him and potentially kill him.

At this point, if I’m Nehemiah, it would have been a strong temptation not to just quit doing kingdom work but to stop trusting the people of God. You know you’re with me. Does this make sense to you? But Nehemiah what he doesn’t do and listen. I love you. I love you. I love you, but I think it’s a crutch when people say I’ve been hurt by the church so I’m not going to church. Your feelings are real, but it’s a crutch because we don’t go here and we don’t gather here for Matt McCarthy or for Jake France or for Zach Thompson. Maybe, abby, she’s the rose amongst the thorns.

Listen, it’s not about us guys. My intention it’s never hurt anybody in our church, but I will fail you as a leader. I promise Not trying to. I’ll disappoint you. There’ll be a time when you needed me and I wasn’t aware of it. I didn’t know about it. That’s why communication is helpful, and I’ll do my best to help, but I will fail you. Just so you know. You’ve got an imperfect person leading this church and we’re here to worship the perfect one though.

And so the temptation, though, when the pain’s real and when we’re hurt by leaders, the temptation is discouragement. It’s to pull back, it’s to pull away. I’m no longer going to be a part of it. I’ve been hurt. That would have been temptation for Nehemiah, but he doesn’t waver in his faith or his commitment. Write this down leaders will fail, but my lord will not really practical. We know it, but do we believe it? My leader will fail, but my lord will not. Don’t put your trust in a person. Don’t do ministry for a person. Don’t serve for a person. Don’t be surprised, disheartened or cynical about christ church when your leaders fail.

Notice the fifth and final tactic of the enemy. Number five the enemy wants to defeat you. Minimize celebration. The enemy wants to defeat you. Minimize celebration. Like Nehemiah is getting a win right here. The wall is built and the crowd goes. And the crowd goes. Well, I don’t need you to start clapping and cheering, but wild. Sure you guys got to be sharper on Sunday morning. No offense, no offense, I’m prepared. Are you Now listen? The enemy wants to defeat you. Minimize celebration. So the wall was finished on the 25th day of the month Elul, 52 days. They’ve been trying to do this thing for 117 years, 52 days, and the crowd goes. Thank you, you guys are quick.

The second time around, verse 16,. And when all our enemies heard of it and all the nations around us were afraid and felt greatly in their own esteem, they’re like, oh man, the Lord is doing something here, for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God. They’re like, wow, these guys are for real, verse 17,. Moreover, in those days, the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah’s letters came to them. You see what’s happening all again. You see it. Did you catch it? Remember who Tobiah is? He’s one of the three. You see it. Did you catch it. Remember who Tobiah is. He’s one of the three. Come on, say it like you mean it. He’s one of the three. Yeah, he’s one of the guys going after Nehemiah and they’re like, yeah, god’s at work and God’s doing this powerful thing. But immediately right after it happens, tobiah is starting to send more letters.

Huge victory. Listen, we’re going to have some wins for the kingdom at City Light Church. I’m all about wins. I like to win, man, I like to win. I like to win, I’m a winner. Just so you know. I’m a winner. I want to win. But, man, you got to minimize the celebration because guess what’s coming after you right after your win? They’re coming right back after you. They want to take you down.

The ultimate when we celebrate, the ultimate when we celebrate, is christ’s death on the cross and the resurrection that we proclaim this morning. When you celebrate that, when that’s the focal point of our celebration, not bigger buildings, more ministry platforms and all those things are good. I want those wins. I want those wins. I love those wins. Love the dusty little floor over there that you’re not spilling coffee on right now. Love that. But the ultimate win that we celebrate each and every week is Christ’s resurrection. The enemy wants to defeat you. Minimize those wins and maximize Christ on the cross.

Andrew Bonar says this. It’s a great quote. Let us be as watchful after the victory as before the battle. Isn’t that good Church? We need to be watchful. We’ve had a lot of victories lately. Be watchful, be watchful. Let’s watch out for the enemy.

Let me give you five key takeaways. I’ll be quick. Number one, and you’re just going to have to meditate on these on your own. Number one see the ministry God has given you as a great work. You know, every one of you is in ministry. Every one of you is in ministry.

And I love what Nehemiah says. I think it’s in verse three. He calls his ministry a great work of God. He doesn’t talk about his accomplishments and what a great leader he was. He says this is a great work. It’s a great work. Ministry is a great work. It doesn’t matter if you’re on the parking team, if you’re on the setup team, if you’re sweeping dusty floors.

Everything goes back to our mission here at City Light Church. Yes, we need worship leaders. Yes, we need pastors preaching, but listen, we’re all in ministry together. I want every person in this church family to view their ministry, the way I view my ministry. All right, and maybe you do, maybe you don’t, but I take it seriously and I know I’m going to answer to God for it and I know that if I do this thing right, lives are going to be changed. We want that mentality. See the ministry God has given you as a great work. It is a great work and it’s a privilege to serve him.

Number two believe the best about others. Believe the best about others. The reason why I have that in there is because of the false accusations that were being made about Nehemiah and it’s so easy to get sucked into those things and it kills the kingdom. Listen, if we want to build this kingdom together, we always have to believe the best about others. Number three number three fear God, not men. I love that. I love that part in Nehemiah where he’s so consumed with the fear of God and not what men might think and listen.

I think sometimes, when it comes to kingdom building, we’re so focused on what are people are going to think of me if I try to be a part of that thing? Well, are they going to think I’m good enough? Are they going to think I’m really effective in this role and we fear what men may think of us, and so we shrink back a little bit. We’re not qualified. We’re more focused on what people are going to say. Man, they’re just not a great communicator or they’re just not a great leader. We fear people sometimes. Hey, eliminate that stuff. Eliminate that stuff. Let’s fear God. Let’s walk in adoration of God. We get one shot at this thing. Let’s live for him.

Number four don’t allow emotion to impact your adoration. That goes back to how Nehemiah could have quit. He could have quit when he figured out that all these prophetesses and these prophets are coming after him. You know and yes, I don’t want to minimize any church hurt that maybe you’ve experienced, but we can’t allow the emotion to impact who we are as worshipers of the true and living God. And last but not least and I love this right here if God is in it, nothing will stop it. If God is in it, nothing will stop it. If God is in it, nothing will stop it. God was in this wall building thing and in 52 days this wall was erected. What was trying to take place for 117 years, accomplished in 52 days. Why? Because God was in it.

Church family, I believe God’s at work here in our church. He has done so many things. I don’t have time to talk to you about them right now, but to just get us to this place in this moment, in this strategic location in our city. God is in it. My question is this do you really want to be a part of it? Do you want to be a part of it? Do you want to be used by God to make his name greater in our city of High Point? That’s my prayer for me, that’s my prayer for you, because if God’s in it, nothing will stop it. Let’s stand together, let’s sing together. Let’s stand and sing this Nehemiah song and what we’re standing on and how faithful our God is.