Keeping on Track

Nehemiah: Building Something Together

Nehemiah 6:1-14

Staying on Track Despite...

In the past weeks we have been going through the book of Nehemiah which is primarily a man’s journal over a period of months about a project of rebuilding the walls around the city of Jerusalem. He loved God, God’s people, and loved the city so he took on a big project. And trust me -- as we have seen -- this was no small project. For decades, people have risen up and tried to rebuild the wall, but its never been done. So here we find Nehemiah raising funds and awareness from the king, checking out the city and getting a plan, dealing with enemies and their ever-increasing threats, motivating and organizing the troops, and actually overseeing the rebuilding of the wall. This is what God had called him to.  

What has God called you to? If you seek God and trust him and have your eyes fixed on him, what does God want you to do that no one else is called to do? Maybe its to start or lead something or learn and then teach something. Maybe it will be to marry someone and love them or maybe its to love and lead the people God has entrusted to you already. Maybe God wants you to share the Gospel or to think and live like a missionary to those around you. God is begging us to live for him with laser-beam intensity and focus not just on our happiness but on our holiness and his glory. 

And the thing is: Nehemiah was the one, the chosen one. This was God’s unique call on his life. This is not just what he was able to do or a job he took on; this is what he was made to do. And God made you, likewise, to do some things, to be someone for his glory and fame in our city. So today we are going to talk about ways that we can get sidetracked if we aren’t careful to keep our eyes on Jesus as we go. Today -- time change Sunday in spring -- is the least attended day of worship in America. So thank you for being here, for worshiping Jesus more than comfort and sleep.  

If you’ve got a Bible, let’s read Nehemiah 6 and look at verses 1-14:

1 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 (although up to that time I had not set up the doors in the gates) (The wall is done now and the gates are soon to be set and the first major hurdle to rebuild Jerusalem will be completed), 2 Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, “Come and let us meet together at Hakkephirim in the plain of Ono.” But they intended to do me harm. 3 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?” (This is their last efforts at stopping Nehemiah and the rebuilding. Nehemiah basically blows them off. They want two of them to one of him; never a good idea if you’re meeting with your enemies to let there be more of them and less of you. Nehemiah sees that and won’t even reply himself) 4 And they sent to me four times in this way, and I answered them in the same manner (We call this the tyranny of the urgent. The more something or someone presses us, the more we think we have to respond. Sometimes just keep looking down and working, no matter how persistent the invite may be). 5 In the same way Sanballat for the fifth time sent his servant to me with an open letter in his hand. 6 In it was written, “It is reported among the nations, and Geshem also says it, that you and the Jews intend to rebel; that is why you are building the wall. And according to these reports you wish to become their king. 7 And you have also set up prophets to proclaim concerning you in Jerusalem, ‘There is a king in Judah.’ And now the king will hear of these reports. So now come and let us take counsel together” (Different tactic but same desired outcome: They want to stop Nehemiah. Again, he doesn’t lose focus) 8 Then I sent to him, saying, “No such things as you say have been done, for you are inventing them out of your own mind.” 9 For they all wanted to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will drop from the work, and it will not be done.” But now, O God, strengthen my hands (Nehemiah seems to have no where to turn, so he just prays to God. Maybe on this day he has no encouragers. Maybe he knows only God can help. But when he is in a crisis spot, he turns to God).

10 Now when I went into the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was confined to his home, he said, “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” (This man is confined to the house, yet he wants to meet Nehemiah at the temple. We have to wonder why he is confined. Apparently he is recognized in the city as a prophet of God, but we will see today that this man is a false prophet). 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 will not go in.” 12 And I understood and saw that God had not sent him, but he had pronounced the prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. 13 For this purpose he was hired, that I should be afraid and act in this way and sin, and so they could give me a bad name in order to taunt me. 14 Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, O 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 (Another honest prayer: “God remember these people.” He’s not meeting with them or fighting against them; he’s just entrusting himself and them to God).    

 Nehemiah’s enemies try 5 ways to get him off course, and I am confident that our Enemy -- the Devil -- often used by our personal enemies use the same tactics with us. And when I say “enemies,” I don’t just mean people. We all have those. I also mean temptations, circumstances not from God, personal limitations, dreams and hopes at times, and a hundred other things that conspire to sidetrack us. 

• Distract. The first thing these guys do is just try to distract Nehemiah. Look at verse 2. He’s working, and they try to set up a meeting with him. They know a nice, long, drawn-out meeting will just slow the rebuilding and buy them time to thwart the plan. In your life, watch for distractions. Sometimes distractions will be bad or sinful stuff. Sometimes they might be great things. A distraction is anything that asks you -- whether by lie or truth -- to exchange the good for the best, for what is from God. How does Nehemiah deal with the distraction? He doesn’t even go deal with it. When you are distracted, don’t go deal with the distraction. That is Mission Accomplished for your enemies. Personal example: There are all these networks that Origins is asked to be part of and all these meetings that I am asked to attend. And I have spent a lot of time in them lately. And recently it hit me that Jesus has clearly called me to do just three things: follow and trust him; love and lead my wife and sons; plant Origins and push back darkness in Downtown Greenville. And to tell the truth, when these meetings come up, realizing that provides me a nice framework to know to accept or reject an invitation. Clarify what you’re about and what God has called you to and avoid distractions. One last thing about distractions. They sent the invite four times. Just because enemies distract you once and you stand strong, don’t think you’re out of the woods. Character is built by standing strong time after time. Listen, I would rather you be hammered by temptation over and over and learn to stand strong in time than for you to never be tempted or tried or distracted but never build your spiritual muscles. We block out distractions by looking to Jesus; we learn to better gaze at Jesus by practicing ignoring distractions. Listen, no temptation leaves you untested. Repeated temptation will strengthen your character. Learn to fight through. Every time they invite, Nehemiah must say to himself, “This wall, God, is what you’ve called me to.” Don’t get distracted.  

• Disgrace. Second tactic these guys use is to try to disgrace Nehemiah. In ancient times, if you sent a letter you would write it, close it up, seal it with hot wax and a personal signet ring or stamp, and then send it. In verse 5, Sanballat sends an open letter. Culturally, this is very insulting to Nehemiah. If an enemy can’t distract you, he will try to disgrace you. He will either accuse your character or ability or motive to your face (or in the case of Satan, he will accuse you in your spirit and say, “You are such a...” or, “You will never so and so...” or, “You always...”) or before others. Its just an effort to disgrace you. This works often because it kills our morale and we quit, we lose focus. If you feel like a disgrace and you’re a follower of Jesus, believe what the Bible says about you. You are God’s child, the temple of the Holy Spirit, given a hope and a future, God’s masterpiece, able to do great things for God, gifted with the mind of Christ. When the enemy comes and attacks who you are, remember what God says about you: You are no disgrace. You are his. You are his child and he gave his Son for you and has great things ahead for you. 

• Discredit. In verses 6-8, the contents of the open letter, Sanballat basically says that Nehemiah is trying to build a kingdom for himself to lead a revolt. Your enemies will try to discredit you. Sometimes, again, this will be internal and sometimes external. But when the attempt is made to discredit you, go back to what you know to be true. One thing I am learning is that I’m never as great as my cheerleaders think I am, but neither am I as bad as my enemies accuse me of being. Here, Nehemiah replies by letter and basically just calls them liars, puts his head down to keep working, and asks God for strength. Nehemiah knows who he is, who he serves, what he’s called to do, and how he has to get the job done. God’s reputation is on the line with your life and my life. Don’t let foolish, lying enemies discredit you and God if they falsely attack your character. Know who you are, who you serve, what you are called to do, and how to get from here to there. If you can work with that understanding, an enemy’s effort to discredit you loses much power. This happened to me this week at a one-day conference at Newspring. I’m walking around that beautiful campus with all these amazing pastors and am hearing a voice inside me say, “You can’t do this. You can’t plant Origins. Its going to fail and you’re going to lose everything.” Effort to discredit. Then the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart and said this: “Of course you can’t do it, but I can. My reputation, not yours, is on the line. Keep your eyes on me. Trust me.” Effort to discredit. Here’s what Nehemiah does: Confront it. Trust God. Keep working. You and I must do the same.

• Deceive. A most interesting part of this story. So there is a recognized prophet in town that calls for Nehemiah and basically gives a word that he and Nehemiah should meet in the Temple, lock the door, and beware of the coming enemies. Nehemiah realizes that he’s a false prophet who is lying because Sanballat and Tobiah have hired him to say this and to set a trap for Nehemiah to catch and kill him. How does he know he is a false prophet? Look at verse 10, Shemaiah wants to meet in the Temple; but only a priest could meet in the Temple. Nehemiah was a leader, a good man, a godly man, but he was not officially a priest. To go into the Temple, for Nehemiah, would have been sin. This was clearly deceit by a false prophet. Watch out for deceit. Watch out for those who call the truth lies and the lies truth. Who has Satan sent into your life to deceive you? Maybe its someone or something tempting you. Maybe its a lying co-worker or friend or family member who is constantly tempting you and trying to get you to do evil things against Jesus. Maybe the deceiver is yourself and that voice inside you. Maybe you have been deceiving others. Repent. Stop deceiving and stop being deceived. Be discerning rather than deceived. I love what William Shakespeare wrote, “All that glitters is not gold.” I love what J.R.R. Tolkien wrote, “All that is gold does not glitter.” The key is discernment. Also, my mom always said to me, “Every open door is not from God, and every closed door is not God’s no.” Again, the key is discernment. When I was a child, older and wiser people told me where to go, what to buy, how to dress, what to say, how to live. When I became a man, I became responsible for living and for trusting in Jesus. I have to be discerning and stop being deceived; no more excuses. We have to know what is gold and what is just glitter. We have to learn which doors God’s opening and which one’s he is closing. When you are being tempted or being deceived, obey what you know to be true from God’s Word. Trust scripture. Don’t go off what you think, what others’ think, what common sense or a daytime talk show host says, or even what I say or a Community Group leader says explicitly. Always go back to scripture. Trust it. Always, always, always check what you hear against scripture. For Nehemiah to go into the Temple, even though this word came from a so-called “man of God,” it would have been sin. He obeyed the Word of God, the scriptures. When you are being deceived, even when it sounds logical or good or comfortable, check it against scripture. Trust scripture. Trust scripture. Trust the Bible, trust scripture. You and I don’t have to be deceived. We are not victims; we are overcomers, “more than conquerors” the Bible says. We can know God’s plan for our lives as we walk with him according to his Word, the Bible. Nehemiah knew that this guy Shemaiah was a false prophet deceiver, and he would not take the bait. There are places in our lives where we have to refuse to take the bait going forward. And we do so first by trusting scripture. 

• Discourage. Finally, in verse 13, Nehemiah realizes that the false prophet was hired to give Nehemiah a bad name so that he could be taunted. If enemies can’t distract, disgrace, discredit, or deceive you, the last effort will just be to discourage you. If you can’t be stopped, at least you can be slowed by discouragement. Today, where are your enemies discouraging you? Where are you discouraged? In your life, there are a couple of things I want to share with you about discouragement (and Chad Prashad, you will love this):

1. We can’t worry about what we can’t control. In Matthew 6:31-34, Jesus said, “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” There’s some stuff in life you just can’t control. To a point, I can’t control whether or not I will get cancer, whether the economy will get better or worse, if my house will be safe, if you will love Jesus and our church or a million other things. What about you? Where do you expend mental energy on stuff you have no control over? We can find ourselves consumed by stuff we have no control over, and its discouraging and paralyzing. Nehemiah could have done the same. He could’ve gotten discouraged because these men didn’t like him, because some are lying to him, because the people have wanted to quit, and many complained. He has little control over an awful lot of that. But here’s the key...
2. We must take care of what we do have control over. Remember that passage. What does Jesus say do? Seek first the kingdom and God’s righteousness. God will take care of the rest. Listen, the Lord is in control of the universe and he will bring good where it is undeserved and even where there was evil intent among our enemies. Seek him. Where you do have control, get to work to care for it. You’re not a victim; victims believe that someone else controls their fate. Jesus controls my fate. I am a winner because I am a child of God. So let me get specific with a couple of examples.

• I can’t control whether Natalie will ever be tempted to cheat on me, but I can control loving her, praying for her, being a great husband and father, paying the bills, assuring her heart and filling her heart and hearing her and loving her. If I am filling up her emotional “love tank,” a predator will be less likely to find it on empty
• I can’t control whether Noah and Owen will one day accept Jesus and follow him, but I can control modeling the Gospel and love of God, prayer, reading the Bible, talking about things of God, loving his church, and living on mission with him. I can’t control if they accept Christ, but I can show them that following him is the greatest adventure they can ever embark on
• I can’t control whether or not I will get sick one day, but I can eat well, exercise, rest, take care of my body and mind, and have good health insurance in case something does
• I can’t control the price of gasoline, food, or anything else, but I can steward my money and use it to pay my bills, enjoy, share, and also save and prepare for the future 
• I can’t control whether Origins grows and lostness in Downtown is changed, but I can seek Jesus and model it, preach the Bible, pastor you as the Bible commands me to, make sure we have good leaders, put events on the calendar that allow us to corporately and individually love God, one another, and the city without cluttering up our already busy lives. I can’t keep a wolf from wandering in here, but I can shoot him or run him off if he does. I can’t control people criticizing our church, but I can control who gets a bullhorn to do so. If this is your church, you should do the same for the glory of Jesus 

While it is true that we can’t predict the future, we can prepare for it. So don’t fret over what you can’t control. If you’ve been fretting and worrying, confess that unbelief to God, search the scriptures, pray and tell God of your unbelief, get in a Community Group that will encourage you, and -- this is huge -- work on what you can control for the glory of God. This will prepare you not to be blindsided and discouraged by an enemy’s attacks when they come. 

I love Jesus. I love the Bible because all the little stories point to the Big Story of Jesus and his love for us. Look at what happens to Nehemiah. Three enemies try to distract, disgrace, discredit, deceive, and discourage him. Look at Jesus. People want him to be king and chef and healer and everything else, to distract him; he came to die for you and me. The religious establishment, Pilate, Roman soldiers, even one of the men crucified beside him try to disgrace him; he focuses his energy and love on dying for you and me. Critics and arrogant, self-righteous idiots try to discredit him and undermine his authority; he points to God, confronts the true Enemy and stays resolute in his mission to die for you and me. Satan tries to deceive him and seduce him with power, influence, and even physical comfort; he won’t take the easy road and path of least resistance but does naked and alone and bloody and in agony to die for you and me. And in all of it, for 33 years, his enemies and even his disciples by their misunderstanding and ignorance and unbelief, bombarded his resistance and begged for him to become discouraged, but he would not waver in his resolve; he came to die for you and me. 

Nehemiah’s story isn’t just our story. Its Jesus’ story. Surrender your life to Jesus today. Fix your eyes on him and give him control and ask him to save you. Because the reality is, had we been there in Jesus’ day, we would’ve been his enemies as well. Surrender today. 

Or if you’re here today and Jesus is your Savior and Lord, examine your heart and life and find those places where you are distracted, disgraced, discredited, deceived, or discouraged. Learn to fight and grow through temptation rather than just celebrating the absence of it or giving in when you are tempted because God loves you and you’d rather abuse his grace than fight like a child of God. Don’t worry about what you can’t control, but lay down your life for the things you can control. You are not a victim; you are an overcomer, more than a conqueror. Come to know and believe what the Bible says about you. Live with discernment. Trust scripture. Let ir be your ultimate and final authority in all matters of faith and life. Fight the good fight for the name and fame of Jesus Christ.