for nehemiah tonight all right let's look at nehemiah tonight we'll continue our journey through the book of nehemiah and um look at nehemiah chapter six nehemiah chapter six if you want to follow the outline there's an outline of there in the back Did you put the outline on the, oh you do, I'm sorry. I made it last night, right? Oh my goodness, what's wrong with me? It's not there? It should be, it's a small one. It might be in my office. It might be in my office, Gracie. I am so sorry. I know I had it in my hands. Did I give it to you, Eric? It's gotta be in my office. okay let's go to nehemiah chapter 6 okay i'll get the oh here it is nehemiah chapter 6 you found it thank you oh let's look at verse 1 Now it came to pass when Samballot and Tobiah and Gashen the Arabian and the rest of our enemies heard that I had built the walls and there was no breach left there and thought at the time that I had not set up the doors upon the gates. Verse 2 And then Samballot and Gashen said unto me, saying, Come, let us meet together in one of the villages in the plains of Ono. But they thought to do me mischief. And I send messengers unto them saying, I am doing a great work so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and come down to you? yet they sent unto me four times after this this sword and i answer them after the same manner then sam bella the servant is servant uh unto me in like manner the fifth time with an open ladder in his hands wherein it was written it is reported among the heathen and gash gash musad said that thou and the jews think of think to rebel for which cause thou buildest the wall that thou mayest be their king according to these words well let's pray heavenly father thank you lord for this passage of scripture Lord, we can see, Lord, when the enemy is always trying, if one way doesn't work, he comes another way. Help us, Lord, to be vigilant, to always see and look for the schemes of the enemy. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. So, I tell you this message, the enemy is a liar. All right, so since Sembalat and his friends had failed miserably in their attempt to stop Nehemiah and the people from working, they decided to concentrate their attacks on the leader. So it doesn't work one way. They try, you know, all the threats that they did, and they continue to work. They put the weapon in one hand, the tools in the other. They continue to work. The people that are supposed to leave the city, they stayed in the city. They didn't left the city. They stayed there to make sure that nothing, no damage was being done. So they build the walls, and they build the breaches. And now they did the gates and the enemy. So this was a colossal failure. Everything that they tried didn't work. Now what are they trying to do? Let's hit the leader. If we hit the leader, if we get him, then everything is going to collapse. If they would eliminate Nehemiah or even discredit him, they could mobilize their allies living in Israel, in Jerusalem, sorry, and take over the city. Now, let me tell you that Nehemiah was a very smart, good leader. In this chapter, we see a tremendous amount of great leadership. Now, the average person doesn't realize the tremendous pressure and tasking that people experience day after day in places of leadership. i mean i'll tell you what yesterday yesterday i had one of my supervisors he's a supervisor literally nobody did anything to him but the pressure of leadership he was screaming he was screaming he was rough he was like and today he didn't even show up to work and uh it was not nobody was doing anything to him he was just the pressure was getting to him and he didn't know how to deal with it So it was like so much pressure. Because right now, I was a manager in one place, besides being my own manager. But anyway, there was no computers. It was like the word of mouth. You do the thing. Today, it's like these guys, every little detail, the upper management wants. And these guys feel the pressure of putting everything. So they have to take care of the people. So they feel like a little hamburger, you know, the cover on the top and the hamburger in the middle. They feel sandwiched in there. And that guy yesterday, he didn't even show up for work. He was full of anxiety. So leadership can give you a tremendous amount of pressure. So leaders are often blamed for things that they didn't do and criticized for things they tried to do. They try to do something to criticize. Things they didn't do, they get blamed for it. So they are misquoted, misunderstood, and really given the opportunity to set the record straight. For example, I see this all happen. My job is like this. Something happens, this leadership stinks. You guys don't even know what you guys do. I mean, this is people working. And you know what? It might seem silly, but I've been in that position. It gets to you. You know, somebody, day after day, when they look at you the bad way, you know, look as a bad, and they're always criticizing, it gets to you. Eventually, you're just like, am I that bad? So. anyway uh if they are let me put it so if they are misquote or misunderstood and really given the opportunity to set the record straight if they act quick they are reckless if they buy their time they are they are cowardly cowardly and unconcerned so people in places of spiritual leadership not only have the pressures that all leaders face but they must also battle an infernal enemy who is a massive deceiver and a murderer I think I didn't know this but being a pastor I'll tell you what it is very hard the place of leadership I want to tell you why not only you have to guard yourself but protect the sheep of God so that satan doesn't come around and devour them you know I see some happening even in our church on which unfortunately and you try everything you can and let me tell you it hurts it hurts for the because you feel like a failure it hurts and it's not like you did anything wrong it's just you're like with it i fail why that happened so you know you begin to blame yourself so uh and he can even lose nights of sleep over this thing so so nehemiah so satan comes either as a serpent who deceives or a lion who devours You know, and Christian leaders must be alert and spiritually equipped to oppose him. I say this to the people here in our church, and you heard me say this many times, be careful with YouTube. I'm not saying that YouTube is bad. I'm saying be careful, this kind of people that talk about Jesus on YouTube, be careful with them. don't let them get to you if they say something put a bible in front of you and try to understand and read your bible within context so you understand that these people a lot of them are deceiving you i don't know why people use the word of god to deceive others but there's a lot of wickedness in our world anyway you know why in the world some people hack a facebook or hack some because they're evil i mean they know they're doing wrong fluently they know they're doing wrong but they do it Okay, so I say to people, be careful when you go to these social media sites, be careful when you get into these videos that suck you right in and make you think differently. Listen, have a free mind to think. Saturate your mind in the Word of God and you can tell when the enemy approaches you. so if satan can defeat a christian leader he can cripple a whole ministry and discredit the cause of christ the enemy's main purpose was to generate fear in the heart of nehemiah here and his workers knowing that fear destroys and faith paralyzes i'm sorry i'm sorry knowing that fear destroys and paralyzes people now nehemiah didn't listen to the enemies and praise the lord for that and the people complete the walls and hang the gates in only 52 days much to the shame of their adversaries satan used four strategies right here we're going to look at tonight he attacking nehemiah to see if they could get to him to get the leader if you have an outline you want to follow that we see debate to compromise of the enemy debate the compromise of the enemy After this point in the building program, Sen Balad, Tobiah, and Gashen opposed everything that the Jews or the Jewish people did, but now they offered to cooperate and help the Jewish people build a wall. Be careful working side by side with the enemy. They offered to meet Nehemiah in a village halfway between Jerusalem and Samaria, and quite a place where they could make plans on how to work together. you're gonna meet halfway the enemy hey just come let's have a little a little tea time you're gonna sit with the enemy for tea time and you know what you do you know listen do you you know they don't want the wall to be built you know you don't want to overtake the whole thing and they will not suddenly they want to work with you okay so they offered to meet with nehemiah we what we are willing to meet you halfway was their approach now don't be an unfriendly neighbor that's another way enemy approaches you know hey don't be unfriendly you know of course the enemy's tragedy was it was if you can whip him join him If you can get them done, then join the thing. Once the enemy gets a foothold in the ministry, he starts to weaken the work from within and ultimately the work will fail. While the cooperation in the Lord's work is a noble thing, leaders must take care that they cooperate with the right people at the right time for the right purpose. Otherwise, they may end up cooperating with the enemy. I'll tell you what, there were some enemies that walked here through the eight years we've been here. And praise the Lord that I was aware of them. You know, sometimes they do some harm. They do some harm and you have to overcome the harm. And you feel bad, you know, like sometimes they drag people with them, you know. But there have been some in here through the years. And it's been in every church. when there's a smaller church you notice even more you know but goodness us so satan is a massive deceiver and his servants ready to join hands with god's people so they they can weaken the hands of the uh the hands in the work so loving compromise and and cooperation can be good and useful thing if there be no moral spiritual issues involved okay Happy compromise can invigorate friendships, can invigorate and make friendships very strong, but we need to be careful whom we get friends with. Listen, there are people who want to be a friend just to take advantage of you. Some people are like that. And in the end, when they take what they want, they leave you hanging and broken and hurt. How many people are like that? I have some people that have used me through the years, literally. Literally, you be kind, you're loving, you try to help them, in the end you go like, oh, that hurts. That hurts. I had one time one that came here a couple of times and asked me, He called me actually and asked me, he's like, yeah, we brothers, you know, like, you know, he'd be going back and forth. I felt like him. And he said, I need, what he said, $800 to fix my boiler. And I don't have no heat in the house. I give you a thousand dollars by Saturday. I said, brother, I don't have that kind of money with me. I was honest. I don't have that kind of money with me. And he kept going down on the price. It kept going down on the price and I was like, you know, he was not gonna let it go You know, I could have just stopped that thing, but I I felt so bad because I feel the guy has no heat It came down to two hundred dollars and I said I can I can't let you have two on it goes good So I came here I meet with him give him two hundred dollars. This was about five years ago. I never seen the guy needed the money I Was like ouch that hurt Oh i tell you i tell you it's like oh yeah i mean it was actually better than giving me 200 you know but i i lost that 200 it hurts let me tell you i mean it it hurt more not give him the money it hurt more than he when i sat down and felt used i said listen if he needed the money he can just ask and say you know i need some money with but he really literally played with my goodness and he used me well that hurt okay so So Nehemiah here is invited to go have a tea party with these guys. And, you know, when you're invited to invite the devil to enjoy the tea, you've got to be careful. So let's look at that. Nehemiah knew that they were lying. verse 2 and sent Balaad and Gashen sent unto unto me saying come let us meet together uh someone someone of the villages in the plains of Ono uh but they thought do me mischief so you know sometimes when some some people talk to you and will open their mouth you already know they're lying you know like you go like with the smiling face you go like in your mind you go you're such a liar you ever been there i mean they open their mouth like you know i mean the lord give me a lot of grace because i catch that a lot of time like this person i can't believe you're lying in my face you know so nehemiah like looking at this guy nehemiah goes yeah right he said nehemiah the kind of spiritual discernment that leaders must possess if they are going to detect the enemy's strategy and defeat it okay on sunday this is i have a lot of examples tonight one sunday right after the morning service right and i i always go back there to greet people as they walk out and i like to do that and uh well i didn't got to greet anybody because those guys walking in there was like i think it was five of them all dressed up with ties in a suit and tie they look really nice you know i said oh this is good i mean i thought like you know it's a good thing you're looking for church so they want to have a meeting with me And they said, one of them said, you know who we are? I said, I have no clue, never see you guys before. And the one that asked me, he says, we come from Boston and the Lord spoke to us to start a church in East Providence. I said, oh, good. And the Lord said, that's when you have to have some discernment. The Lord said, this is the place right here for us to start the church. I said, really? Interesting, because the Lord didn't speak to me on this matter. and he goes no no it's right here and you know what and we're gonna use this facility right here free of charge you pay the bills and we come here and serve the lord i said man it's like i'm gonna wait see if the lord can speak to me on that because i didn't get no nothing from the lord on this matter i said i said by the way is that you can go up to the street and see if you can find another place in the meantime I mean the audacity you know like you know yeah of course. So we have to have some discernment. I mean you got some interesting adventures that come here from time to time. Let it be. Nehemiah was convinced of the greatness of the work God had given him to do. Look in verse three. And I sent messengers unto them saying I am doing a great job so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and come down to you? So I don't know what I'm going to meet with you. We're doing a work and we don't need you. if nehemiah allow himself to be distracted and detoured from the work God had called him to do where would as people uh go for the go uh what do with our leadership so a leaderless project is the aimless project eventually falls apart listen people need leadership simply as that do you guys miss me when i when i go away Like, I remember when my past is to go with like, goodness, we miss somebody out there. Yeah, you know, I miss you guys. You know, it happens, you know, you're used to your past, it happens, you know. So, so leaders, leaderless project is the aimless project that eventually falls apart. So leaders must be good examples and stay on the job. You know, this is not to say that Christian leaders must leave home to minister elsewhere. I do sometimes, for they are a gift to the whole church and not just to the work of the local church. Okay. Sometimes, you know, the Lord leads them somewhere else, not just for a time, just go preach somewhere else. Oswald Smith says this way, the light that shines the farthest will shine the brightest at home. Okay. Let us see, Nehemiah had nothing in common with the enemy. so so do we look what it says the jewish had nothing in common with sam ballot and his crowd so there being no basis for cooperation with them nehemiah had made it clear that the very outset of the project when he said that sam bell to buy and gas and look at verse 20 it says read it nehemiah 220 i'm sorry and he had no portion no right no memorial in jerusalem he said you guys don't have nothing with us God's people are different from the people of the world and must maintain this separate position. Let me tell you this thing. Here's one thing you need to understand here tonight. Okay, we are a church family. I like my church family. Okay, we meet together in this building as a church family. When we meet together, we meet together on Wednesdays, we meet together on Saturdays, we meet together on Sundays, right? Come and meet together that we have as a church family. We meet together as a family. We open the doors, the neighbors can come in. But when we worship the Lord, we worship as a family. They can join us if they want. So that's what doesn't bother me why I say, well, we have empty seats. Okay, they can join us and sit down. But primarily, we are a family, we will worship in the Lord together. That's what we need to need to understand. The outsiders can come in, the door is right open. But primarily, we worship in the Lord together. I worship the Lord together if no visitor is here, right? Let's do it together. So, where was I? Decision based upon opinion might be reconsidered, but decision based on conviction might stand unless those convictions are changed. Otherwise, decision becomes indecision. The leader you want to be, a guidepost, becomes a weaver vein. So number one, what we see right here, we see our first point, debate to compromise. Do not compromise with the enemy. Do not compromise with the enemy. Don't compromise with people who want to hurt you. You follow that? Please don't compromise with people that you know. Straight up, they want to hurt you. Why we should compromise when you know something? I mean, Nehemiah, you know, physically, look, I said, why in the world I'm going to have a tea party with you guys, and I know you guys just don't want to harm me. Oh, let's go halfway. Halfway, we're going to meet together, so it'll be nobody around. They want to hurt the man. you know sometimes we have to be wise you know and walk away from certain unnecessary situations we walk away from it so number two the slander of the enemy slander is an old English word so what is means to slander slander is a legal term that refers to the act of making a false statement about someone orally or with intent to harm their reputation it is a form of defamation which in the is the legal term of false statement that damaged someone's reputation the fifth time the fifth time the enemy approached nehemiah it was with an open letter right here accusing him of sedition they had hinted a jewish insurrection before the project had even begun chapter 2 verse 19 perhaps borrowing the idea from the people who had stopped the building of the temple years before in Ezra chapter 4. Even our Lord was accused by his enemies of promoting sedition in Luke chapter 23, verse 1 to 5. But here in verse 5 of our text, look what it says. Then sent Sam Ballard his servant unto me in like manner the fifth time with an open letter in his hands. wherein was was written it is reported among the heathen and gosh gosh him say it that thou and the jews think to rebel for which cause thou buildest the wall that thou mayest be their king according to these words let me tell you this okay they couldn't stop the building look look at these guys they couldn't stop the building of the walls when they know that they fail miserably with their threatens now they're trying to have a tea party with nehemiah i said tea party but anyway with nehemiah nehemiah refused four times they came to nehemiah nehemiah refused now they don't want to be buddy buddies anymore now they come with the open letter you see the enemy like you know i'm gonna be vengeful against you they come with the try to incriminate him It will be considered a serious charge in Nehemiah's day because Persian kings tolerate no resistance in those days from this subject. Any hint of rebellions were immediately and roughly put down. It is interesting to see how often the enemy uses ladders in their attacks against the world. We see this in Nehemiah chapter 6 verse 5, verse 17 and verse 19. An open letter to a royal governor would be both intimidating and insulting. Letters to officials were rolled up and secured with seals so that only those with authority could open and read them. Sam Ballard wanted the public to know the content of the letter because he hoped to undermine Nehemiah's reputation and authority. Listen, let me put it this way. If somebody tries to damage your reputation, Don't be friends with a person like that. How many people have a bad reputation, innocent people, because somebody decides to just... That's why I would never run for political office. I mean, these people dig as much as they can dig and put lies as much as they can, you know, just to make you look bad. They even cut portions of what you say just to make you say something you never said. Oh my goodness, I see that even with this president, this elected president right now. I'm like, hey, I watched that report. That's not what he said. I'm like, where in the world we make him say something and that guy never said. Oh my goodness. But you know how they do it. so statements like it's been reported or they said have caused trouble in many local churches and other ministries in every organization they are gossip mongers okay in every organization no matter where it is there are vultures there just waiting for tidbits of slander that they can chew swallow and then you know get people to get a bad name for example right now my job we had a meeting yesterday about some bomb threats we have been experiencing at work and one thing was said this is management it said we have a few bad apples among us i said yes you do yes you do and he said we need to get rid of these bad apples they're not with us you know you know you know but you know what did you hear hear what you know they have these people and you're like listen did you hear any other any other one goes here what stop it you know you know gossip stops when you stop somebody says something you go oh really oh very interesting and it goes like stops right there but when we say when I want the other one say did you hear and you go hear what and you go to the other one did you hear it keeps on going so you know we have to be careful with that so not only did the enemy falsely accuse Nehemiah of fermenting a rebellion but they also said he was planted to make himself king and now prophets prepared to announce the coronation look at verse 7 And thou hast also appointed prophets to preach of thee at Jerusalem, saying, There is a king in Judah, and thou shalt be reported to the king according to these words. Come now, therefore, and let us take counsel together." Interesting. This is the guys that want to have a tea party with Nehemiah. Now they want to just destroy him. Be careful who you make friends with, believe me. tragic thing about verse 7 is that it probably contained an element of truth they probably were religious leaders in jerusalem who interpret nehemiah's action in the light of messianic prophecies nehemiah had had come to jerusalem to build up the walls that had been thorn down by by nebuchadnezzar and of this smack with messianic over overtone right here so maybe some preachers were saying that nehemiah was the coming of the messiah and it was very well could be that there is an element of truth in the accusation and the devil is a master at this he knows how to quote just enough bible to get people in trouble remember how the day quote scripture to jesus about the angels bearing jesus and at least he dashed his foot against a stone remember that what devil did you know i give you all this and if you do this the devil many times get people to sin by quoting them the bible out of context that's why we need to be very good students of the bible so we know when the bible is quote to us out of context we say no i'm sorry but you're mistaking We see this, listen, we see this in love and kindness. We're not going to be rude to people, but you say, you know what? That's, you're mistaken in what you're saying. It's out of context. Listen, we preachers, we have to be careful. When we preach a message out of a verse, don't make the verse say something that the Bible doesn't say. Preach out of the verse, but in context with the chapter. Otherwise, it's your own idea, not God's message. You have to be careful with that. You know, yes, the Bible is a living book, is a living word of God, yes, but don't make the verse say something that is not what it's saying. All right? So Nehemiah didn't make a mistake, he simply denied the reports, prayed to God for strength and went back to work. He knew that his character was such that no honest person will believe the false report. Listen, when you know and you're sincere and somebody accuses you of something, don't worry about it, don't lose sleep over it. I was accused not long ago last year. I didn't lose sleep over because I know they were false accusations. You guys know what I'm talking about. I was literally false accused. I came to my ears. I said, let God be God in all this thing. I'm not going to say anything. I don't need to say anything. I know where I'm standing. I know what I've did. I know what I've spoken. Let God be God. You know what? trust the Lord. Nehemiah did the same thing right here, he trusted the Lord. If we take care of our character, listen to this, we can trust God to take care of our reputation, you believe that? If we take care of our character, we can trust God to take care of our reputation, we don't have to be afraid of somebody's going to say, well listen people are going to get an opinion about you as you like it or not, going to say oh that person like this that person like that that person like this they can say all kind of mean things to you but when you know who you are and where you stand it's like dogs that bark and then you know they never never bite you know my grandfather used to say a dog that barks don't really bite watch out for the quiet ones they don't want to go after you anyway i'm not saying people are dogs don't misunderstand me i'm not saying that i'm just using as an analogy so number three you see the threats of the enemy the threats of the enemy look at verse 10 after what I came into the house of Shammai Shammai and the son of the lion the son of Matt Matt had the bell who was shot up and and he said let me let us meet together in the house of God within the temple let us shut the doors of the temple for they will come to slay thee yea and in the night will they come and to slay thee and I said should such a man as I flee Who is there that being as I am would go into the temple to save his life? I would not go in smart man and Lo I perceived that God had not sent him But that he pronounced this prophecy against me for to buy and send ballot had hired him We can say the Nehemiah was a smart fellow Shema was a false prophet verse 12. He had a plan a a clever plan to trap Nehemiah. They wanted to get rid of the leader. He shut himself up in his house and gave the impression that like Nehemiah his life was in danger. when Nehemiah came to see Shemaiah suggest that they both take refuge in the temple where the enemy could reach them couldn't reach them I'm sorry his words were very threatened for they will come to slay thee yea in the night will they come to slay thee and and Amari words were like buddy and you told you that that they're going to slay me you told you they're going to slay you oh sometimes you have to you know Put those questions out. Since he had access to the temple, it's possible that Shemaiah was a priestly descent, but even this didn't influence Nehemiah's decision. He quickly detected the hawks in here, the hawks, and let it be known that he was not about to run away in the face of danger. In the first place, Nehemiah was not the kind of leader. Should such a man as I flee, he asked? Listen, the worst thing we can do is walk away from trouble. walk away from trouble face it you know listen we have to pick to pick our battles get pick up it sometimes some values are not necessary you just walk away but sometimes you need to stand up the lord did jesus did and we do too sometimes you just have to stand up and just you know don't run away from you know okay or it's the problem let's deal with it Nehemiah said you know what such a should such a man as I flee he said I'm not going to walk away yet previously said I cannot come down remember I cannot come down because you know what they were about to do and now he declared I will not go in Nehemiah was a true shepherd and not a false prophet like Shemaiah if he had run away and hidden in the temple you had ruined his reputation forever nehemiah rejected shemaiah's proposal because it was contrary to the law of moses know your bible okay it was forbidden for a layman to go beyond the altar to burn offering at the temple in norman chapter 18 verse 7 when we know our bible we know how to stand and nehemiah knew his bible and said you are lying and I'm not going there you see if Nehemiah didn't know God's words he would ruin the whole thing wow smart man okay so when king Uzziah tried to invade the holy uh presents God smote him with leprosy second chronicles chapter 26 16 to 21 nehemiah knew that shemaiah was a false prophet because the message he delivers was contradict to the word of god deuteronomy chapter 13 verse 1 and 5 chapter 18 verse 20 to 22 the bible put it this way was say the scripture roman chapter 4 verse 3 there must be be the task of any I'm sorry there must be the task of any message even if that message come from somebody who claims to be one of God's servant look what it says in Isaiah chapter 8 verse 20 to the law and to the testimony if they speak now according to this word it is because there there is no light in them not everybody that speaks about Jesus is from the Bible all right nehemiah 6 14 indicates that there was a conspiracy against him among the prophets including the prophetess named noah dyer right here look what says in verse 14 my god think that that upon to buy and and send ballot according to these their works and of the prophetess uh noah die i think his name and the rest of the prophets that would have put me in fear it was a conspiracy to get rid of the leader you know I was in a church on which there was a conspiracy to get rid of the pastor and when I heard of it I was disgusted and I approached one of the the the big cahoots the big leaders that wanted to I told him as you should be ashamed of yourself that's God's anointed man right there oh what do you know I said I know everything you don't have to tell me anything I know what you guys about to do So you just don't do that. That's God's anointed man right here. We vote this man in. What is he doing wrong for you guys? We want to get rid of it. Oh, he's not like the other one. No, he's a different person. He's a different person. John, you cannot be me. I cannot be you. God can use you a different way that he can use me, right? He disgusts me. Believe me. it is a conspiracy to get rid of the of a leader right here this created a great deal of pressure for nehemiah for the jews had great respect for their prophets nehemiah was outnumbered yet he stood his ground he was a layman opposed by a body of professionals yet he refused to give in you know what when you're right you're right when you're right you stand up if the crowd is against you okay let the crowd be against you when you know you have your mind is in the right place you did everything to the word of God you don't have no guilt in your heart you know you didn't harm anybody did anything wrong you know what stand your ground that's it and say by the grace of God that's nearby I'm standing here I do nothing wrong so Nehemiah was outnumbered, but he stood his ground. He prayed about them and laughed and managed with the Lord. What a good thing. Letter A, he prayed to God. Look at verse 9 of chapter 6. For they had made us afraid, saying their hands shall be weakened by the work, that it be not done, nor therefore, O God, strengthen my hands. My God, verse 14. My God, think thou upon Tobiah and Senballoth, according to these their works and all the Prophecies nor die and the rest of the of the prophets that it they would have put me in fear You see this guy even pray for the enemies And then lord tell us our foster pray for our enemies and pray for those who do us wrong Nehemiah and that had a problem that that he did not pray about we can know that nehemiah was a man was a man of the word and a man of prayer okay the first thing that he prays for is for God to strengthen his hands and when you are doing a work for God trying to help the people of God and the people accuse you of being on a ego trip right here it can be discouraging you can feel like quitting you know I'll tell you what one of the worst things okay I'm a pastor and I love you as you owe me I love to preach to you guys and but one of the worst things you can do to a leader is criticize criticize it can discourage them to the bone listen I'm not made out of steel I'm being honest with you listen My pastor, Pastor Sam Strickland, I noticed that, I saw that. Every morning and every night on Sunday night, every morning service and every night service, I saw that. I didn't know where it was until he told me. He had a group of men, right after the service, he went to his office after he greeted the people, and this group of 708 people walk right in his office, all guys, all men. Anyway, you know, I don't know what it was. I was young in the faith. I got saved. I didn't But you know, he took me aside to pray with me Uh because he wanted me to so I prayed he became he became my prayer partner We prayed every wednesday night everyone we prayed together Nobody wanted to pray with the pastor. I'll pray with the pastor, you know, so we prayed together and one one time one night he told me you see these men walking in my office i said yeah i see you guys have nice meetings over there he goes oh no every message that i preach they come in and critique me i said and you keep them in there i'll kick everybody out of the office He said, I said, Pastor, are you telling her everything? I said, Pastor, it was Wednesday night, Sunday morning, Sunday night, every single time. They were all the same group walking in and they'll be there for 15, 20 minutes. I said, they critique every message that I preach. I said, ouch, that hurts. I mean, he was a dynamic preacher. If you ever heard Sam Strickland preach, he was a very strong preacher. So remember his messages. See, he prayed to God. Nehemiah was a man of prayer. go to number four the intrigue over the enemy the completion of the walls in troubled times we see this Daniel chapter 9 verse 25 talks about this was an embarrassment to the enemy but they did not give up satan is not a quitter folks but stays in the field after he gets defeated and sometimes after the victory after our victory listen to this after our victory satan is in the field he's been defeated by us he's there and we know we've been victorious over him when we put the weapons down that's what happens he comes back at you don't turn your back on the enemy don't turn your back on the enemy he's not a quitter Many of careless Christians have won many wars but afterward lost the victory. Satan is always looking for an opportunity to attack. So the enemy threw everything he had at Nehemiah, but Nehemiah threw right at him, and he responded right back at them. Now when the man of God thinks right, and hence acts right, there is a fallout, okay? There are always results when you take the right course of action. Where are they? Letter A. The will of God is accomplished. So you know what? what says in verse 15 so the wall was finished in 20 and 50 of the month and 50 and two days throughout this entire chapter we have and had high emotions on both sides and this is is a plea is a and it can't continue attack to the leader here but you know what they kept going kept looking forward kept doing it on the end the enemy lost God's people won Listen, you know what the enemy wants to do to this place right here? He wants to close it down and send you home. Empty seats should not be a discouragement to any of us. It should be an excitement to pray for the Lord to fill them. Oh, Lord, we have such a little church. Okay. Oh, Lord, we have so many empty seats. All right, pray for that, you know, they get full. That's the way it should be. You know, it should motivate us to go and tell others to come. Remember the stuff I read to you about the survey, 86% of people come to church because somebody else invites them? I guess maybe we should do a little more inviting. You online too, if you listen, shouldn't we do a little more inviting? Okay? So get this. is possible for any of us to do the will of God if you think right and act right and the greatest thing that you can they can be said about about any of us is that that we um that we did the will of God the will of God is is when we did the will of God the will of God is accomplished God can work through me and through you he worked right through through the uh through Nehemiah here so let it be the enemy of God is amazed look what it says in verse 16 and it came to pass that when all our enemy heard thereof and all the heathen that that were about us saw these things they were much cast down in their eyes and their own eyes and they perceived that this work was wrought of our God you see they try everything listen when God is in it God is in it you follow that when God is in it let them try to discourage us we keep moving forward God is in it in this work and you know why God had his people working and they got accomplished it got done okay the surrounding people were amazed you know the enemy threw everything at him and they lost when Sam Bellator brought that big circle of opposition around the work of God the only thing that he was doing was providing an audience to witness God's power God's protection on his people. The same thing happened to Paul in the New Testament was Paul when Paul was placed in prison and persecuted the only thing that happened was that Paul was given a new audience to preach to them. He think he give up a soldier sitting next to him. Oh I'm gonna give you the gospel. Isn't that great? You know what you know one of the good the greatest place to give the gospel to somebody inviting them to go for a ride with you in your car. There's no way out. I had one time a guy that worked with me, I used to work at Artvac and he said if I could give him a right to work. I said sure, I'll give you a right to work. I have to work, his name was Manny. I don't have to work, he said with me. I mean, the thought didn't even hit me, right? And he goes, you're not going to play gospel music all the way to my job, are you? Yes, I am. You ask. and he goes oh i was like okay let's talk let's let him let's talk about jesus it was a you know there was a good audience all the way to work and he got out he's like i couldn't wait i couldn't wait to get to work how was that in the next the last day you know man he comes to work he tells the whole shop that i talked about jesus to him in the car i said man you can't do it again this afternoon that's right that's right goodness let us see you see the protection of God is a certain verse 17 says Moab in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters unto Tobiah and the letter of Tobiah came unto them for there was many in Judah sworn unto him because he was the son-in-law of Shammai and at the son of Aarif I think and his son Joanne Joanne I guess and had taken the daughter of whatever names in here and look at verse 19 and they reported his good deeds before me and not of my words to him and tobias and letters to put me in fear you see sometimes things are not as bad as you and i perceive they are they perceive i perceive they are worse nehemiah knew uh things were bad but he didn't know how bad sometimes and uh i'm glad that i know The people when people are against me, you know, I'm telling you Nehemiah knew that the by was against him But he didn't know that the buyer was in a league with his own noble people Many people in Jude himself had sworn allegiance to Tobiah. Can you imagine that this man comes from Babylon? this man comes to build the city walls to help the people of God and the people in that place is Making a league against the leader then try to help them. I know what that can be very discouraging isn't it and you can say you can say listen i did so much for you and you stabbed me right in my chest i in that sad i mean do you ever been there i mean after i mean sometimes we don't say it but it comes to mind we say like oh lord i did so much for this people and look what i got in return These people are so ungrateful. Many people in Judah itself had sworn allegiance to Tobiah because of his Jewish ties. People were trying to get rid of Nehemiah because of this man. And when Nehemiah would tell them that Tobiah was no good skunk, they would run back and tell Tobiah what Nehemiah had said about him. Every letter Nehemiah perceived from Tobiah was based on inside information that Tobiah was receiving. And during that whole time, listen, listen, listen, listen. You know, the sad thing is when, you know, the people outside of our church has no business what's going on inside the church. You follow that? They have no business. This is a family issue here, a family business. This is a local church. Why in the world we're going to tell what's going on in our local church, little details and private things to people outside the church? What business they have on this? I'm not saying this has happened in our church. I'm saying that's exactly what's going on here. Anything that he said, they wouldn't tell. They wouldn't tell. They're smiling in front of Nehemiah and backstab him right in the back. Wow, that hurts. No, I mean, people outside the church has no... Listen, people are very welcome to come in, but they don't need to know about the little things that is done in the local church. Oh, did you hear? This is what we're doing in the church. Oh, did you hear? So-and-so said this. Oh, do you hear? So-and-so did that. That's sad. That's very sad. May the Lord protects us. And keeps us going. One thing we can learn here tonight is that Persistence in trusting the Lord Got the job done for Nehemiah. Nehemiah did not back off. Nehemiah did not get afraid. Nehemiah did not allow the enemy to discourage him. He had, listen, he had a vision, he had a job to do, and he was, he was, and he did it. he did it same thing that's what we got to do we have something to do we do it by the grace of God we do it so we have to be of a positive mind trusting in our character in our integrity that we have in the Lord to overcome the attacks of those who try to falsely accuse us listen there are people they have no no regrets about or no breaks or no whatever word you want to use because I don't have the word right now to accuse you to put your name to shame. I'm telling you there are people that have no they don't think twice about putting your name to shame and you know what and they feast on it after all look what I did you deserve it. Wow they try everything they could to get rid of this guy. You know what? The Lord protect him. He stood up because he knew about his character and about his integrity before the Lord. And that's what we need to do. Listen, sometimes we don't need to go defend ourselves. We don't. When we get attacked, we know our character and integrity, and we just let God be God. You know what? I know where I am. I know where I stand. These people are accusing me. It will fall right in their faces. it happened right here okay let's pray heavenly father thank you lord so much for this message tonight what a good good example of leadership right here what a strong man of prayer and a man of integrity and character lord help us to be that way sometimes you know there's difficulties difficult situations that happens to us And Lord, help us to be people that stand up, trust you, and let you do the work, Lord. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.