Transcription downloaded from https://sermon-library.fbcmustang.org/sermons/103421/nothing-to-fear/.

Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions.
Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt.


[0:00] Let me invite you to turn with me to Nehemiah chapter 6.

[0:14] In the handout for tonight, I encourage you to get that each week and look through it.! There are some implications at the end of each chapter, and it's not every week that I get to those.

[0:27] Some weeks, just because of time, I don't get to that in the message, and so I put them in the handout the next week. And so there would be some things on that handout, particularly the implication part of that, that may be something I didn't voice the previous week that I hope will help you as we think about how to live out the things that we are learning in Nehemiah.

[0:52] As you're aware, in Nehemiah, what we have seen the last couple of weeks, are there are some threats that come against him. When you come to chapter 6, those threats aren't just simply against the people.

[1:05] They're very specifically against Nehemiah himself. Look with me here in chapter 6 now. Look at verse 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.

[1:22] Look at verse 13. For this purpose he was hired, that I should be afraid, and act in this way, and sin. Verse 14.

[1:34] Remember Tobiah and Sinballat, 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.

[1:46] And then you see in verse 19, Also they spoke of his good deeds in my presence, and reported my words to him, and Tobiah sent letters to make me afraid.

[2:01] So what is the primary tactic that we know is going to be a part of chapter 6? It's fear. It's threats. Trying to get Nehemiah to be afraid of their threats so that he would stop the work.

[2:17] Why would fear be a tactic the enemy would use? Well, because fear can cause people to cower quickly, and fear can cause people to disobey without hesitation.

[2:29] And so what we learn here, even just from a cursory glance through chapter 6, is that we know the threats are going to come, not just to Nehemiah, but to all those who seek to follow the Lord, then we must remain faithful and obedient to the truth, regardless of the tactics of the enemy.

[2:51] So let's look at these 19 verses here in Nehemiah 6, and we'll look at how they attempt to use fear to cause him to stop the work the Lord had called him to do.

[3:04] First, verses 1 to 4, we see attempts to distract. All of these are in some way an attempt to use fear or threats against him.

[3:15] They're going to package it a little bit differently as you go through the chapter. It's not just the exact same tactic. It varies just a bit. First, we see this attempt to distract.

[3:28] 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 and the gates, Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, Come and let us meet together.

[3:47] They come against him and they're going to say, We're going to go meet in this place called the Plain of Ono. What we see here in verse 1 is there's good progress that's been made in the project.

[4:02] He says in verse 1 specifically that the wall there has been done, there's no breach in it, but there's still doors that need to be set up. Let me just pause for a minute and just recognize the obvious here, that anytime you're involved in doing important work, it's always good to recognize the progress that you've made while also understanding that there's more work to be done, just on a very practical level.

[4:29] It points out for us that much of the work, most of the work has been completed, but there are still parts of the project that need to be finished. This really is a very important role for anyone who has any kind of spiritual leadership at all.

[4:45] You've got to be able to recognize the progress and to be encouraged and encourage those that you're leading in the progress that's been made while also recognizing things that still need to be done.

[4:58] If you are, as a parent, if you never see the progress your children are making, if you never see that they are learning to obey, they are learning to share, they are learning to take responsibility, they're improving their study habits, they are doing the chores they were asked, they're doing it with more obedience and less complaining, if you never take time to see that and recognize and encourage them with that, then they're only going to have you catching them when they're wrong.

[5:28] That's discouraging to a child. That's discouraging to a teenager. That's discouraging to a spouse. If the only time you speak of what they do is just when they haven't done something right, that gets discouraging.

[5:41] Instead, learn as a leader to recognize the good that's been done. At the same time, if you see progress that's been made and are encouraged by it, but don't have the tenacity to say, but there's still more to do, then the project and the people you're leading will never finish the task.

[6:00] This really is at the heart of all Christian ministry. Recognize what God is doing. Recognize where you see spiritual growth. Recognize where you see the ministry growing and people advancing in their obedience, while at the same time having this sense of tenacity that says, we're not going to quit.

[6:20] We're encouraged, but we're not quitting. We're excited what's going on, but we're not satisfied. We've got to be able to recognize the Lord is at work among us, and the Lord is working in our family, and the Lord is working in the lives of your children, and the people that you're teaching, and the people you're discipling, and to be encouraged at every place where you see spiritual growth and spiritual progress, while also saying there's still more work to do.

[6:48] And leaders have to have the vision and the backbone to see both sides of that. If you don't encourage the people you're leading, they're going to feel crushed.

[7:02] They're going to feel like there's never anything that is satisfactory. If your children only hear you criticize them, they'll feel like, what's the point of trying?

[7:14] It's just never enough. At the same time, if as the leader you stop short of what that goal is, then you don't lead your people or lead your family to do all that God has called us to do, and we don't want to do most of what God has called us to do.

[7:30] We want to do all of what God has called us to do. We live with this as a church. One of the things we're going to do next week in our members' meeting is take time to highlight good things that God is doing among us.

[7:42] We want to be clear. We want to be specific about areas we see God at work, and we want to give voice to the things that we're excited about and give honor to the Lord for the good things that He's doing.

[7:54] And yet, when would the work of the church ever be fully completed? There's always more people to train and disciple. There's always more people to teach and equip.

[8:06] There's always people that we need to get plugged in. There's always people around us that need to hear the gospel. There's always missionaries that need to be supported and prayed for. The work never stops. And yet, while we're a part of an endeavor that never stops until the Lord calls us home, let's also take time to recognize the good things that have happened.

[8:27] And I think this is not just some throwaway observation that we see in the text. I think this is important because part of what Nehemiah does in this chapter is He's resilient against the threats against Him.

[8:39] And one of the ways to stand up against the threats against you is to have your eyes focused both on what has gone well and what still needs to be done. It keeps you grounded. If you only see what's going well, you get prideful.

[8:52] If you only see what needs to be done, you despair. We need to have eyes to see in ministry, in our church, in our homes, in our personal lives. We need to have that balance of seeing here are the things that have been built and constructed, and here are the doors that still need to be hung.

[9:11] That's what keeps us grounded. It's what keeps us from being susceptible to the attacks of the enemy. And so we once again meet these three men in verse 1.

[9:23] Sanballat, his daughter who is married to the son of the high priest. Tobiah, whose son is married to the daughter of a high-ranking Jewish official. And Geshem, who many historians feel is actually the most powerful of the three.

[9:38] And they come to Nehemiah and say, hey, let's go meet in the plain of Ono. Verse 2 says, but they intended to do me harm. It's about 27 miles northwest of Jerusalem.

[9:52] If you've been to Israel, where today modern-day Tel Aviv is roughly the location of where they said, hey, let's go away and meet.

[10:04] They come to him and say, hey, why don't you come down from the wall? Come down from your work. Let's go meet in this area, kind of this neutral territory area. But Nehemiah says, they intended just to do me harm.

[10:17] This wasn't about a meeting or working something out. This was about his demise. Verse 3, And I sent messengers to them saying, I am doing a great work, and I cannot come down.

[10:30] Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you? There's something pretty powerful there. Remember a couple of weeks ago where he was building the wall, and they come to him, and they try to discourage him and offer these threats, and all these other outside forces coming, and it says, these threats were against me.

[10:50] So, what did he do? I went to build the wall. He just refused to be distracted from what he was doing. Here you see the exact same tenacity. I'm doing a great work, and I cannot come down.

[11:03] Why would I stop and leave it and come down to you? He says, I refuse to be distracted by your threats. And it's interesting because he calls it a great work.

[11:19] And to many, it may have seemed an insignificant work. What made it a great work is it's what God had called him to do.

[11:31] What gave the work value and meaning is this was the will of the Lord. You don't measure the significance of the task by what the world says about it.

[11:43] If God has called us to do it, that makes it a great work and worthy of our greatest effort. I want you to think about that in the ministry that you do in the church, in the ministry you do in your home, in the ministry you have in the community.

[11:59] What makes it a great work isn't how many people recognize it, isn't how many people affirm you for it. It's not even so much the fruit that comes from it.

[12:09] You've got to worry about being faithful. Let God take care of you being fruitful. What makes it significant is that you're doing what God has called you to do. And this world may look at what you're doing and think very little of it.

[12:24] And to you, it's a great work because you're teaching your children to know about God. And to you, it's a great work because you are discipling men and women. And to you, it's a great work because you're praying for missionaries.

[12:37] And to you, it's a great work because you're teaching Awana. And the rest of the world may look at you and say, this is such a small thing. It's okay to let this go. You don't need to be so focused on this.

[12:47] You can be distracted by this. This is not that big of a thing. And you say, no, this is what God has called me to do. And that alone makes it a significant task. So stay encouraged.

[13:01] Verse 4, And they sent to me four times in this manner. And I answered them in the same manner. This is worth noting.

[13:15] Rarely does the enemy stop at once. The enemy comes back. The naysayers come back. The skeptics and the cynics, they come back.

[13:26] You and I have to be steadfast and vigilant, not just one time, but over and over and over. And I would just say to you, let anyone in your life, whether it be a family member, whether it be a co-worker, whether it be a neighbor, whether it be someone you go to school with, whatever it may be, let people in your life who oppose the things of God know that you predictably refuse to be distracted.

[13:56] Just let them know how predictable it will be that you refuse to be distracted from what God has called you to do.

[14:08] That's the first thing, is the attempt to distract. When that doesn't work, verses 5 to 9, there then are efforts to dishearten. You'll see this played out, efforts to dishearten him.

[14:21] Verse 5, Here are the efforts they have to dishearten Nehemiah.

[14:52] They're threatening him, trying to make him fearful, getting him involved in this alleged plot, accusing Nehemiah of being in his plan to rebel against Persia, putting Nehemiah in this place of attempting to elevate himself as the king.

[15:08] In other words, what they're saying to Nehemiah is this, if you don't want the king to hear you are trying to overthrow him, then you better do what we demand and meet with us.

[15:20] Now he knows that the meeting they want to have with him is just to destroy him. He says, why would I come down off the wall to do that?

[15:33] Why would I lower myself to worry about your lies and your false accusations? They write down these charges against him and let him know we're going to spread to slander against you.

[15:50] Here's their thought process. If they can diminish his reputation through lies and slander, then they can lessen his influence among the people.

[16:06] That's the strategy. We've threatened you, we've opposed you, we've come against you once and then twice and a third time and a fourth time and now a fifth time in this letter and we're going to pass this letter around and we have made up these accusations and made up these charges against you and we're going to destroy your reputation and if we destroy your reputation, your influence is going to be lost and they're trying to dishearten him.

[16:39] Their thought is, if we can make up enough lies about you, slander you, write it down, spread it around, then surely out of fear you will become disheartened, come down off the wall, take your eyes off the task at hand and entertain us.

[16:57] Verse 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.

[17:16] We're going to let it be known that you're trying to make yourself a king. We're going to let it be known that you have set up these prophets claiming you to be the king and notice that the threat says the king will hear of these reports.

[17:30] How do they know the king will hear of these reports? They will make sure that he hears it. This is the way threats and slander and gossip and lies work.

[17:43] We'll make up the threats. If you're not afraid, we'll do it again. If that doesn't work, we'll do it again. If that doesn't work, we'll do it again. If it didn't work the fourth time, then we'll sit down and write it in a letter and we will let you know that we're going to spread the stories of these lies and slander against you all the way up to the king.

[18:04] Verse 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. Doesn't panic.

[18:17] Not a long, lengthy argument. Just direct honesty. Says these allegations are false. The rumors are lies.

[18:29] Yes, and I will not be disheartened from what God has called me to do. Verse 9, For they all wanted to frighten us thinking their hands will drop from the work and it will not be done.

[18:44] But now, oh God, strengthen my hands. He just refuses to give up. He refuses to give up for two reasons.

[18:56] One, he's doing God's work and two, he knows his heart is pure. What else do you need? You have a task from God in the integrity of your heart.

[19:13] Why would you be threatened? Well, because these people are saying things about me but people can always say things about you. Yeah, but these people over here may believe it. You can't do anything about that.

[19:23] You can't control that. You can't stop that. What you can make sure of is you're doing what God's called you to do and what you can make sure of is that any charge against you would be proven to be a lie.

[19:34] If that's the case, keep working. Keep working. My take from this would be you've got to focus on your character not your reputation.

[19:48] Reputation's what people think about you. Reputation's what people say about you. Character is what is true about you.

[20:00] Too many people worry about their reputation. They run around trying to make sure this person likes me and this person's okay with me and this person's saying good things about me and this person kind of looked at me strange and I'm going to make sure everything's okay here and I heard somebody over there question me let me run and make sure it's okay and I heard somebody may have heard this or said this or thought this they run over here trying to make sure it's okay and they spend their whole life just running in circles trying to protect their reputation and what I would say to you is don't worry about your reputation worry about your character.

[20:30] If somebody believes something about you that's not true and they don't investigate it and make sure that they believe the truth or not that's on them. You can't stop that anyway. What you can do is make sure that you live in such a way accountable to the right amount of people living your life in front of people to where if anyone investigated the charge or investigated the accusation or investigated the threat people would see that's not true.

[20:56] So what Nehemiah does is he doesn't focus on his reputation because he is convinced that his character is pure of heart and what a sweet place to live in.

[21:10] Just be faithful. They thought if they threaten him and make up lies against him and put it in writing and threaten to tell the king that their hands I mean back in verse 9 will drop from the work and the work won't be done but Nehemiah says no God here's my prayer just keep my hands strong.

[21:33] Keep my hands strong. I might just point out to you as an obvious observation here that when the threats come his response is faithful it is true it is accurate and it is brief.

[21:46] you don't need to get in the mud with people who would seek your demise. What he does do is praise to the Lord.

[22:04] Now oh God strengthen my hands. I need your help. I need your help. For some temptation is very powerful and it quickly overtakes you it quickly overthrows you it quickly distracts you and disheartens you for others you've got a pretty firm ability to stand up against peer pressure.

[22:29] I would just say this to you no matter how strong you are against temptation never fight the fight of temptation in a prayerless way. stay humble stay prayerful stay aware of your need for the Lord's help.

[22:48] So they attempt to distract him that doesn't work they have efforts to dishearten him then we're going to crank it up another notch verse 10 to 14 there's a plot to disgrace him there's a plot to disgrace him they come to him they say hey let's meet together in the house of God within the temple if it didn't work for these guys to come against if it didn't work for them to put in a letter now they're going to go get someone and say let's go meet in the house of God let's go meet within the temple let us close the doors of the temple verse 10 for they are coming to kill you they are coming to kill you by night and this sounds innocent it actually sounds obedient let's go to the temple 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 will not go in why because Nehemiah is a layman not a priest they say we're not just going to spread lies and innuendo against you now they say there's people coming about against you there's people going to come try to kill you you better run into the temple to find safety and all they're trying to get him to do is go against the commands and the word of

[24:06] God he says I'm not going to be intimidated by your threats and I'm not going to be disobedient to my God verse 12 and I understood and saw that God had not sent him but had pronounced the prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him there are people who are more than willing to use the name of God and the church in their threats to try to get you to go against the will of God and Nehemiah says I will not be distracted by your threats I will not come down off my work to have some kind of debate or argument with you I've got work to do for the king I'm doing the Lord's work I'm not coming down from that and they threaten him and he says threaten me all you want your charges aren't true anyone who investigates will know they're not true why would I spend my time trying to worry about these things so then they pay someone bribe someone to go and pronounce this word of threat and prophecy against him and try to get him to disobey the

[25:11] Lord and he says I see through this I'm not going to do this this was all a plot to try to discredit him to disgrace him and to try to get Nehemiah to act out of fear which tells Nehemiah that now the corruption has infiltrated even into those who serve as prophets which is why the people of God have to always be on guard to recognize truth from error pray for godly insight pray for the Holy Spirit to lead you in truth and to guide you and to protect you from error verse 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 they wanted Nehemiah to sin so the way it works is they've made these threats against him and now they've made up this plot that he's in danger and try to get him to disobey the will of

[26:13] God and their thought being if he out of fear only if he was more afraid of man than God and he says I see through it I'm not afraid of you because I have a proper view of God I don't have to worry about coming down from the wall to argue with you because I'm doing God's work and if you keep trying to get me to be fearful I'm not going to be fearful because I'm not afraid of and as I trust the Lord I will continue he says to be prayerful and pray for God to keep me strong I'm not being strong in myself I'm just living daily dependent upon the power that only comes from the Lord and so in verse 14 it says remember to buy and send ballot oh my

[27:15] God according to these things that they did gets us to a fourth attempt and now we're going to have letters to disrespect him verses 15 to 19 there's letters to disrespect him verse 16 says when all of our enemies heard about what was happening all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem for they perceived that this work had been accomplished by the with the help of our God but wait a minute what happened what happened what was tucked away in verse 15 that in 52 days they finished the project all these threats came against him these lies came against him they were trying to get him to act out of fear instead of faith trying to get him to protect himself argue for himself defend himself disobey the

[28:25] Lord and verse 15 tells us that what had happened was God had been so faithful to them that they were able to do what no one expected they could ever do so much so verse 16 that when our enemies heard of it all the nations around us were afraid now you got to stop and notice that what was the tactic of the enemy against fear but because of his trust in God and obedience to his word he refused to give in to fear and now those who don't trust the Lord and don't recognize the things of God how are they left afraid this is the way the spiritual world works the unbelieving world will try to convince you to be afraid of everything but when you come to the place where you say I don't need to have any fear of the world or any fear of what man can do to me because I trust in the Lord you go through your life with a calm and blessed assurance that you belong to him and in the end those who try to discredit you and dissuade you from obedience in the end they stand before the

[29:39] Lord with their knees trembling in fear meanwhile you are welcomed home into your eternal reward because you have trusted in the promise of God Nehemiah had planned he had labored the people were dedicated and with the help of God they had finished the task look at verse 16 again which is a bit interesting because how did the wall get finished so quickly well you might say because Nehemiah was a good planner and he was a good organizer and he was a motivator and the people were united and that would all be true yet the text makes crystal clear this could not have happened without the help of who

[30:55] God it was because of God they finished the work well why then did Nehemiah ride around at night to inspect the walls why then did he get a plan why did he organize the people why did he have to motivate them he had to stand strong against threats and all kinds of accusations and all this kind of nonsense why was he working so hard they put a watchman on the wall he described to us that even they were working on rebuilding the wall they had a tool in one hand and a weapon in the other it sure seems like the people did a lot of work don't you think and yet it says this is what God has done I love the way Derek Thomas referred to this he said of that verse this is the grammar of providence I like that this is the grammar of providence this is the way a believer speaks

[32:00] I worked I labored I stood strong I finished the task look what God did that's the grammar of providence I met Marcy she told me we were going to get married and we did I asked her she said yes I bought a ring I gave it to her we planned a wedding we stayed faithful to each other this is what God has done it's the grammar of providence you teach your Sunday school class and you work hard and you minister and you make phone calls and you send emails and you study and you labor in the text and you invite people to come!

[33:05] And you try to teach it and you try to care for each other and then you look back and you say our people have grown our people have learned there are deep friendships and deep relationships here and you say this is what God has done and somebody says don't you study every week for hours yes don't you pray every week yes aren't you the one inviting people to hope they don't sit through the cracks and invite them back aren't you the one who is laboring to organize meals for people aren't you the one who is working to organize ministry to people yes and this is what God has done this is the grammar of providence this is how believers talk because this is how believers think we'll plant we'll water but God will bring the increase their enemies have lost heart it says they fell greatly in their own esteem this is quite the reversal here they went to

[34:14] Nehemiah to distract and disheart and disgrace him but now his enemies themselves are losing heart verse 17 moreover in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah and Tobiah's letters came to them now we've got a new problem we thought we were out of this the nobles have aligned themselves with Tobiah and Tobiah is trying to discourage and discredit!

[34:44] Tobiah and now we've got letters going back and forth between Tobiah and the nobles but Tobiah is an enemy of the Jews why are we tolerating that?

[34:59] we find out in verse 18 it's because of these marital ties because of these marital ties he had influence and the text here in chapter 6 indicates to us that there are some forms of business dealings and trade agreements between Tobiah and the elites verse 19 also they spoke of his good deeds in my presence and reported my words to him and Tobiah sent letters to make me afraid it never stops he stood strong once says it four times said a fifth time a letter came now there's just back and forth letters this is what we call the whisper campaign the people have made these agreements with

[36:03] Tobiah and so they have some kind of an alliance some kind of allegiance to him and so there's correspondence back and forth and he's writing letters to them and they're writing letters back and Nehemiah's got a choice he can live his life obsessed with what lying people say about him or he can go up on the wall and finish what God has given him to do don't come down from the wall when you're doing God's work don't be discouraged don't be distracted don't be disheartened and don't worry even if people try to disrespect you if you're doing what God has called you to do with a heart that is pure and can stand up against the threats and against the accusation then you just do what

[37:04] God has called you to do they threatened him they mocked him they about him now they're writing letters about him and Nehemiah just refused and what's the purpose of it all it's the last sentence of verse 19 last sentence of chapter 6 Tobias sent letters to make me afraid it's what the world does threats accusation lies mocking it's what the world does what do God's people do the task they've been given by the Lord for most in our church I trust for most your family would likely be believers or even the ones who aren't probably don't have a problem with you following the

[38:10] Lord but for some of you you've got family that hate that you walk with the Lord some of you the holidays are stressful because you're around people who want to dishearten you and want to distract you and some of you may even be in a situation where you go to work tomorrow with people who are very hostile to the things of God and it really angers them that you would love the Lord and serve the Lord don't come down from the wall be faithful don't fight to defend your reputation just worry about your character somebody wants to inspect your life let them inspect it don't be discouraged don't be distracted somebody in your job tomorrow in your office says to you I don't know why you teach that

[39:11] Sunday school class that's such a waste of time I don't know why you read your Bible and try to teach your kids don't you know that kids are just a mess anyway I don't know why you go to that church and sing and worship and serve you could do something else I don't know why you spend your time doing these things in the church you can make more money doing something else whatever it may be don't let the distractions and the discouragement from the world get you off the wall stay faithful teach your children love your family share the gospel pray for our missionaries serve people in our church take the sick a meal share a word of encouragement with the grieving study your Bible and teach pass on to others what you've learned find ways to be the hands and feet of

[40:14] Jesus and it's one thing if your ministry and service is unappreciated it's something else if it's threatened but either way don't come down off the wall you've got children to raise in the ways of God don't be distracted by worldly junk teach your kids about Jesus when people try to question you and talk about well your Sunday school class is small your wanted class is small the people you disciple is small how big of a deal is that here's what makes it a great work you're doing what God's called you to do that's what makes it a great work so keep doing that and when whispers of self doubt start to creep in and get you to question what you're doing or is it really worth following the Lord are you doing the Lord's work should somebody else be doing that just understand if you're doing what he's called you to do and you're doing it with a pure heart keep building the wall brick by brick but by all means don't think that just because you stay faithful that the threats stop the whole chapter is one threat and it doesn't even get resolved at the end the very last thing we read is they're trying to make me afraid so keep building the wall when you get up the next day get back to building again very quickly implications for us number one churches are too often too easily distracted from the main things they are to focus on churches are too often too easily distracted from the main things they are to focus on number two

[42:16] God doesn't counsel you to go against his word we saw that in the episode in chapter six God doesn't counsel you to go against his word people come up to you and tell you hey God told me something tell them I would love to know chapter and verse otherwise conversation is pretty brief number three recognize when people are trying to fight against God's purposes for you and give no room for them into your heart and mind now let me be clear in no way in chapter six are we talking about totally different idea of gathering good godly counsel of course we should do that you know if there are people who know you and love you and care for you and they've got cautions or concerns of course you should listen to that that's a different sermon for a different day we're talking in emi 6 about the outside world who wants your demise not your good and wants to threaten and insult you so that you stop obeying god this is not at all saying that you don't listen to the wise concerns of people who love

[43:34] Jesus and love you of course you should do that but when you've got people who are just trying to get you to stop obeying and honoring the lord recognize that and leave no room there number five don't let fear lead you to disobedience just stay faithful and keep working don't let fear lead you to disobedience stay faithful and keep working Dale Ralph Davis a great Old Testament commentator summed up Nehemiah 6 this way he said in verses 1-9 God gives strength in what would alarm us verses 10-14 God gives clarity in what would deceive us in verses 15-19 God gives tenacity in what would exhaust us the world wants to alarm you deceive you and exhaust you stay on your wall keep praying keep discipling keep teaching if you teach adults keep putting a vision of a great and glorious

[45:01] God in front of your people if you're teaching little children keep teaching them how to fold their little hands when they pray so they learn with their posture that I'm talking to God and this is different than any other conversation I have today and if you're sharing the gospel with somebody keep putting the glory of Christ and his cross in front of them and if they mock you for it keep praying for them and if they hate you for it keep praying for them and if they desert you for it keep praying for them and refuse to come down from the wall when you're doing what God has called you to do Lord we give you praise tonight for your word for the lessons that we learn for the truth that it contains

[46:08]  Lord I pray that we would be encouraged tonight keep us strong keep us faithful keep us holy keep us wise protect our hearts from discouragement or fear or exhaustion and may we live knowing that everything you have called us to do through your word is a great work not because of what the world says about it but because of what you have called us to do in the name of your son we pray amen