WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:00.959 Amen. 00:00:02.000 --> 00:00:03.919 Well, grab your Bibles if you have them. 00:00:04.080 --> 00:00:08.480 And let's open to Nehemiah chapter six, is where we are. 00:00:08.640 --> 00:00:09.759 Nehemiah chapter six. 00:00:09.839 --> 00:00:14.240 If you don't have a Bible, listen, we give them away for free out at the Connection Center. 00:00:14.320 --> 00:00:16.960 I think they probably are all still dry out there. 00:00:17.120 --> 00:00:20.320 And the sun is out and working and drying things up quickly. 00:00:20.480 --> 00:00:22.160 Before you know it, it will be a desert again. 00:00:22.239 --> 00:00:22.719 No problem. 00:00:22.800 --> 00:00:23.519 So don't worry. 00:00:23.679 --> 00:00:24.800 It's going to be fine. 00:00:24.960 --> 00:00:27.920 And uh, but if you don't have a Bible, we give them for free out there. 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:29.039 And we want you to have one. 00:00:29.120 --> 00:00:30.559 Just let somebody know you need one. 00:00:30.640 --> 00:00:34.320 And uh for sure we want you to get one in front of your eyes. 00:00:34.479 --> 00:00:40.799 We want you to see for yourself God's word and what it what it says to us and what it speaks to us about. 00:00:41.280 --> 00:00:42.399 My job is simple. 00:00:42.560 --> 00:00:47.359 It's to present God's word to you, and we're doing that through a study of the book of Nehemiah. 00:00:47.520 --> 00:01:08.079 Uh, there are physical and spiritual applications to this, there are wisdom principles, there are so many truths about God and about us, his people, that we can learn from an Old Testament book like Nehemiah, that I've been quite encouraged and excited to get every week here to share the things that uh the text is revealing to us. 00:01:08.239 --> 00:01:20.159 And so we're in Nehemiah 6 again, and uh we are uh again, week six, so we're moving quickly through this, even gonna pick up pace a little bit more over the course of the next uh several several weeks. 00:01:20.319 --> 00:01:31.200 We're gonna cover the first four verses all the way to the first four verses of chapter seven, actually, today, but I'm not gonna read all of those yet, but just have it open to chapter six, and we'll unpack it here this morning. 00:01:31.519 --> 00:01:35.840 Well, since it's NFL season, I guess my mind is going to the NFL. 00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:43.920 And uh, since I cast a little shade on Cowboys fans a couple weeks ago, last week, uh let me just give you a nod of credit. 00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:52.719 Uh, one of the reasons why the Cowboys fans were so excited about the Cowboys is because they had one of the greatest running backs of all time, Emmett Smith. 00:01:52.959 --> 00:01:58.640 And uh we know that one of the things that made Emmett Smith great uh was obviously his total yards. 00:01:58.799 --> 00:02:05.840 Uh but one of the things that makes him in any NFL running back great is one of my favorite stats. 00:02:06.159 --> 00:02:08.080 It's the yak stat. 00:02:09.199 --> 00:02:17.039 I don't know if that's the the way that everybody says it, but I call it the yak stat because it stands for the yards after contact. 00:02:17.360 --> 00:02:19.599 The yards after contact. 00:02:20.240 --> 00:02:25.759 Derrick Henry actually leads uh in career rush yards after contact. 00:02:25.840 --> 00:02:31.520 So it's how many yards a running back is able to gain after he has been initially contacted. 00:02:31.599 --> 00:02:38.080 And in pro football focuses, uh, since they've tracked the data, uh, Derrick Henry has led that. 00:02:38.400 --> 00:02:46.960 The PFF reports or the pro football focus reports that 10,391 yards after contact entering the 2026 season. 00:02:47.120 --> 00:02:51.360 That is yards gained after a defender makes contact with him. 00:02:52.000 --> 00:03:01.039 So one of the fun things about watching football is just that kind of hard old school lower your shoulder, plow each other over, kind of a thing. 00:03:01.120 --> 00:03:16.800 And a running back's most important skill, some have said, in fact, that's what John Madden said, his most important skill is his yak, his yards after contact, the number of yards that he can keep going after he's been hit. 00:03:17.360 --> 00:03:25.439 So we would say a running back's most effective uh or his effectiveness includes how far he keeps moving after resistance begins. 00:03:26.159 --> 00:03:30.319 I think you can begin to see the connection, what we're trying to talk about. 00:03:30.400 --> 00:03:36.400 And I would argue that one of the most important traits of a Christian is his or her yak. 00:03:37.199 --> 00:03:40.560 His or her yards after contact. 00:03:40.879 --> 00:03:49.680 Your success in the Christian life is based on your yak, what you do after contact. 00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:58.080 Now, every work of God in the world, every work of God, whether great or small, faces contact. 00:03:58.240 --> 00:04:00.159 It faces opposition. 00:04:00.879 --> 00:04:12.240 In fact, we learned from Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, we studied that not too long ago, that the presence of opposition doesn't prove that God isn't behind something. 00:04:12.800 --> 00:04:15.039 Contact does not mean you're going the wrong way. 00:04:15.199 --> 00:04:16.480 Think about it in football. 00:04:16.560 --> 00:04:25.920 If you are a running back and you think I just ran into contact, I must be going the wrong way, and you turn around and run the other way, you are fired quickly, right? 00:04:26.480 --> 00:04:35.279 And in 1 Corinthians, we learn that God can be opening a door of ministry and opportunity while adversaries are standing on the other side of it. 00:04:35.519 --> 00:04:43.040 Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 16 9, for a wide door of effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries. 00:04:43.279 --> 00:04:49.519 Notice the connection: a wide door for effective ministry has been opened, and there are many adversaries. 00:04:49.759 --> 00:04:57.600 Paul does not say, Well, I thought God had opened a door of ministry, but then it got hard, so I concluded that God wasn't in it, and the door wasn't open. 00:04:58.560 --> 00:05:02.079 Opposition by itself does not prove that we are right. 00:05:02.160 --> 00:05:02.639 We know that. 00:05:02.800 --> 00:05:08.399 Sometimes we encounter resistance because we've act foolishly or we've treated somebody in sin. 00:05:09.199 --> 00:05:16.000 But we must also understand that difficulty is not a reliable indication that God has called us to stop. 00:05:16.879 --> 00:05:19.600 Yards after contact are important. 00:05:19.839 --> 00:05:22.319 You must determine to gain some yards after contact. 00:05:22.399 --> 00:05:34.000 So that means if we're going to remain faithful in the Christian life, if we're going to remain faithful and see through what God has called us to do and given us the responsibility to do, we must learn to press through opposition. 00:05:34.560 --> 00:05:40.800 And in the opening chapters of Nehemiah, we read about his burden and his prayers and his planning. 00:05:40.879 --> 00:05:52.079 In fact, think about it this way: in Nehemiah, there are two verses exclusively devoted to cultivating passion and vision in ministry. 00:05:52.240 --> 00:05:53.360 Only two verses. 00:05:54.000 --> 00:06:08.319 There are five verses devoted to planning, there are ten verses devoted to prayer, and there are four chapters devoted to persisting in the face of opposition. 00:06:09.600 --> 00:06:18.560 There are enemies outside the city, sin and division within the community, and there were attempts, as we'll see, to frighten and to compromise its leaders. 00:06:18.720 --> 00:06:21.199 And so that emphasis tells us something. 00:06:21.360 --> 00:06:31.120 We spend a great deal of time thinking about how to get started, how to develop a vision, how to make and execute a plan, how to keep people excited, and those are good questions. 00:06:31.279 --> 00:06:37.040 But we also need to know how will we remain faithful when obedience becomes costly? 00:06:37.519 --> 00:07:00.000 When being a faithful father is costly, when being faithful to the Lord in my marriage is costly, when being an honest business owner is costly, when volunteering to serve until uh and it costs me something and then it interferes with my convenience, how do I just stay faithful to what God has clearly led me to? 00:07:00.480 --> 00:07:06.800 The work we are eager to begin is often the work we must learn to persevere in. 00:07:07.600 --> 00:07:12.879 And by Nehemiah 6, what we're about to read, the wall is nearly complete. 00:07:13.199 --> 00:07:20.800 The gaps have been closed, the doors have not yet been installed in the gates, and the people have made remarkable progress. 00:07:21.199 --> 00:07:24.399 Yet opposition continues. 00:07:25.439 --> 00:07:30.240 So let's read a few verses to start us off this morning from Nehemiah chapter six. 00:07:30.480 --> 00:07:40.000 We're gonna reference most uh the entirety, the entirety of the chapter and some of chapter seven, but let's start just by reading the first nine verses of chapter six. 00:07:40.319 --> 00:07:42.240 These are God's words for us. 00:07:42.879 --> 00:07:46.639 Preserved, and may they come to bear on us as he intends for them to. 00:07:46.879 --> 00:07:47.439 Verse 1. 00:07:47.600 --> 00:08:02.720 Now, when Sembalad 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 the doors, up the doors and the gates. 00:08:14.639 --> 00:08:17.839 But they intended to do me harm. 00:08:18.399 --> 00:08:23.920 So I sent messengers to them saying, I am doing a great work, and I cannot come down. 00:08:24.240 --> 00:08:28.079 Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you? 00:08:28.560 --> 00:08:33.679 And they sent to me four times in this way, and I answered them in the same manner. 00:08:34.080 --> 00:08:39.519 And in the same way, San Balad for the fifth time sent his servant to me with an open letter in his hand. 00:08:39.759 --> 00:08:47.360 In it was written, It is reported among the nations, and Geshem also says it, that you and the Jews intended to rebel. 00:08:47.840 --> 00:08:52.399 That is why you are building the wall, and according to these reports you wish to become their king. 00:08:52.639 --> 00:08:58.399 And you have also set up the prophets to proclaim concerning you in Jerusalem, there is a king in Judah. 00:08:58.559 --> 00:09:04.159 And now the king will hear of these reports, so now come, let us take counsel together. 00:09:04.799 --> 00:09:11.919 And I sent to him, saying, No such thing as you say have been done, for you are inventing them out of your own mind. 00:09:12.320 --> 00:09:19.039 For they all wanted to frighten us, thinking, their hands will drop from the work, and it will not be done. 00:09:19.279 --> 00:09:24.000 But now, O God, strengthen my hands. 00:09:24.960 --> 00:09:40.720 As we walk through this passage, as we walk through what we're gonna see, the opposition rises, we're gonna begin to see how Nehemiah and his leadership and the people that he is leading resist the opposition. 00:09:40.799 --> 00:09:42.000 Again, we've already dealt with this. 00:09:42.080 --> 00:09:47.840 In fact, a lot of times uh when people are preaching through Nehemiah, they just package chapter four and chapter six together. 00:09:48.000 --> 00:09:51.679 But I didn't think you wanted to sit that long through a sermon, so we separated those. 00:09:51.840 --> 00:09:57.679 And now we're gonna consider the opposition that he faces, a little bit nuanced and a little bit different in chapter six. 00:09:57.840 --> 00:10:03.120 And over the top of this sits a big idea that I want you to get and jot down this morning. 00:10:03.200 --> 00:10:12.879 It's this God calls his people to remain faithful through every stage of his work. 00:10:14.080 --> 00:10:16.000 Let me give you a little bit of explanation here what I mean. 00:10:16.080 --> 00:10:22.480 But God calls his people to remain faithful, to remain faithful to the work that they have been called to. 00:10:22.720 --> 00:10:35.360 And we've all been called to a work, a specific, respective work, each of our lives, whether it's young or old, whether we are students or or business owners or adults or parents or kids or whatever, God has called you to be faithful through every stage of his work. 00:10:35.440 --> 00:10:42.559 So what I mean by that is that God calls us to be faithful through both pressure as well as progress. 00:10:43.600 --> 00:10:49.360 When things are going against us and when things are going for us. 00:10:51.440 --> 00:10:54.240 Let me go back to the running back illustration just for a second. 00:10:54.480 --> 00:10:59.840 One of the funniest things I have ever seen is when a running back gets a breakaway. 00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:01.120 You know what I'm talking about? 00:11:01.200 --> 00:11:14.799 Like they they they they pressed through contact, opposition, they lowered their shoulder and they ran with all of their might, and then all of a sudden progress was being gained, and they let their guard down, and then right before they crossed the end zone, what do they do? 00:11:15.039 --> 00:11:17.279 They dropped the ball in celebration. 00:11:17.519 --> 00:11:18.559 Well, what was the difference? 00:11:18.720 --> 00:11:22.480 Well, the difference was is they lost attention when progress began to happen. 00:11:22.639 --> 00:11:28.240 They pushed through, they pushed through opposition and pressure, but when progress began to happen, they lost focus. 00:11:28.320 --> 00:11:35.759 And so, what we're gonna learn today from chapter six is that for all of us, when things are really going great, there's a way to respond to that so we don't lose focus. 00:11:35.919 --> 00:11:41.440 But when things are really coming against us, there's a way to persevere in that so that we don't lose heart. 00:11:42.080 --> 00:11:51.279 So, how do we remain faithful when pressure threatens to turn us aside or progress threatens to bring us into a lax mindset? 00:11:51.840 --> 00:11:55.120 Try to give them to you today in in packaged forms in these ways. 00:11:55.200 --> 00:11:56.159 There's four of them. 00:11:56.639 --> 00:11:59.600 Four points, four principles of how to remain faithful in these seasons. 00:11:59.679 --> 00:12:00.399 I want you to get. 00:12:00.639 --> 00:12:04.960 And I'll just they're they're abundantly practical from the life of Nehemiah. 00:12:05.120 --> 00:12:08.159 So let's make application where we see fit today through the help of the Spirit. 00:12:08.240 --> 00:12:11.039 So here's how we'll do it in pressure and progress. 00:12:12.240 --> 00:12:20.320 In pressure and in progress, we must, number one, stay focused when distractions come. 00:12:21.519 --> 00:12:27.519 So verse 2, we already read it, tells us that Sambalat and Geshem send an invitation to Nehemiah. 00:12:27.759 --> 00:12:31.919 They want Nehemiah to leave Jerusalem and meet them in the plain of Ono. 00:12:33.039 --> 00:12:38.799 Fincham, uh commentator on this, places Ono about 27 miles northwest of Jerusalem. 00:12:38.960 --> 00:12:42.320 So this wasn't just like uh, hey, come outside the gates, let's hang out for a little bit. 00:12:42.559 --> 00:12:43.919 This was 27 miles. 00:12:44.000 --> 00:12:49.360 This was a substantial journey when you didn't have cars and and and trains and any of that. 00:12:49.519 --> 00:12:56.639 So this would be a significant journey away from the work and the people Nehemiah was leading. 00:12:56.720 --> 00:13:00.080 And on the surface, the meeting might sound reasonable. 00:13:00.399 --> 00:13:02.399 Perhaps it could settle the tension. 00:13:02.480 --> 00:13:04.480 We'll just we're just gonna go ahead and bury the hatchet. 00:13:04.559 --> 00:13:08.240 We're gonna just uh come to a peace treaty, come meet us in this neutral location. 00:13:08.480 --> 00:13:10.559 Perhaps they could finally talk things through. 00:13:10.720 --> 00:13:16.240 But Nehemiah, probably led by the Spirit of God, in some way indicates what they intended to do. 00:13:16.320 --> 00:13:20.240 And it says there in verse 3, uh verse 2, they intended to do me harm. 00:13:20.879 --> 00:13:25.679 It's a dangerous invitation disguised as an opportunity for discussion. 00:13:25.919 --> 00:13:36.000 It seems neutral, it seems uh harmless, but Nehemiah recognizes both the threat that it that it had as well as the interruption that it would cause. 00:13:36.240 --> 00:13:37.679 So his answer is awesome. 00:13:37.840 --> 00:13:40.080 It shows his clarity of calling. 00:13:40.159 --> 00:13:41.440 Notice it in verse 3. 00:13:41.600 --> 00:13:43.759 And I sent messengers to them. 00:13:44.240 --> 00:13:48.080 I am doing a great work, and I cannot come down. 00:13:48.799 --> 00:13:59.840 In my Bible, I another old Bible of mine I put when he was invited to the plains of Ono, he said, Oh no, oh no, I'm staying, I'm doing a good work. 00:14:00.000 --> 00:14:01.120 Why should the work stop? 00:14:01.200 --> 00:14:04.639 Listen, he understands the importance of what he has been entrusted with. 00:14:04.960 --> 00:14:07.279 He is saying that not he is important. 00:14:07.360 --> 00:14:09.759 He's not like I am somebody important around here. 00:14:09.919 --> 00:14:17.200 He is saying that the work I am doing is important, and leaving it would carry a cost to the responsibility already in front of me. 00:14:17.279 --> 00:14:24.720 I'm not called to be a diplomat, I'm not called to try to be a political figure, I'm called to do a work, and I'm not losing my sight of that. 00:14:25.440 --> 00:14:27.600 Brings us to a principle I want you to think about. 00:14:27.759 --> 00:14:37.519 Clarity about our God-given responsibilities helps us recognize that which would pull us away from them. 00:14:38.399 --> 00:14:51.279 What I mean by that is that when I know what I'm called to do, when I know what I'm called to be, and I have clarity on that calling, that helps me identify the things that are not part of that calling. 00:14:51.600 --> 00:15:00.799 This is important for leaders and anybody in some form of leadership because clarity of calling matters because other people will always have ideas about how we should spend our time. 00:15:01.440 --> 00:15:05.679 There's always an invitation or an urgent concern or an argument they want us to hear. 00:15:05.759 --> 00:15:13.840 And if every request determines our direction, then our God-given responsibilities will receive whatever attention is left. 00:15:14.159 --> 00:15:20.240 Every invitation deserves some discernment, but not every invitation deserves a yes. 00:15:21.039 --> 00:15:24.240 This particular invitation conceals malicious intent. 00:15:24.399 --> 00:15:26.799 We know that they intended to do him harm. 00:15:27.279 --> 00:15:29.519 Our distractions will not always look like that. 00:15:29.679 --> 00:15:41.440 Sometimes our distractions are sinful, but other distractions will be ordinary pleasures or legitimate opportunities that take our attention away from something that we already know is our responsibility to do. 00:15:42.320 --> 00:15:50.000 The question is whether accepting this invitation would pull us away from faithfulness to our calling. 00:15:50.639 --> 00:15:56.240 For instance, you parents may receive an opportunity to receive more income. 00:15:57.519 --> 00:16:04.240 That opportunity deserves consideration, but it also deserves questions about what it will require of the family. 00:16:04.480 --> 00:16:11.759 Because your primary role as dad is to lead a family, not just make sure they have a really nice boat to go out in on Saturday. 00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:15.279 Not to just make sure that we have a really successful job. 00:16:15.519 --> 00:16:22.720 My calling as dad, my calling in my life is not just a pastor, it is to be a husband and a father. 00:16:22.879 --> 00:16:30.639 And when certain things, though may not be immoral things, distract me from that thing, then I am skirting my responsibility. 00:16:30.879 --> 00:16:37.679 A believer, Christian, may be asked to serve in another ministry, and maybe the request deserves prayerful thought about existing commitments. 00:16:39.360 --> 00:16:45.679 Am I avoiding or or or or failing to accomplish a work that I know I'm called to do in order to accomplish this? 00:16:45.919 --> 00:16:51.840 We cannot make a wise decision by considering only what a new opportunity offers. 00:16:52.000 --> 00:16:56.080 We also must consider what it costs, and that's what Nehemiah does. 00:16:56.559 --> 00:17:06.880 Another principle I just want you to think about is this is that you cannot faithfully give yourself to what God has entrusted to you if you give yourself to everything that asks of you. 00:17:07.200 --> 00:17:09.119 That's what Nehemiah is recognizing here. 00:17:09.200 --> 00:17:14.720 Before he even knew that this was an intent to harm him, he said, I can't come down. 00:17:14.880 --> 00:17:18.960 I know what my calling is, and I'm staying faithful to it. 00:17:20.160 --> 00:17:25.839 John Piper wrote on this idea in a book called A Hunger for God. 00:17:26.000 --> 00:17:31.680 He said, The greatest enemy of hunger for God is not poison, but apple pie. 00:17:32.480 --> 00:17:39.440 It is not the banquet of the wicked that dulls our appetite for heaven, but endless nibbling at the table of the world. 00:17:39.920 --> 00:17:45.359 It's not the X-rated video, but the primetime dribble of triviality we drink in every night. 00:17:46.000 --> 00:17:47.200 Thanks, Piper. 00:17:47.839 --> 00:17:51.599 Don't you hate when somebody says something, you're like, man, that was right, and that was not good. 00:17:53.519 --> 00:17:58.559 He's describing how ordinary appetites can crowd out an appetite for God. 00:17:59.279 --> 00:18:04.960 So what that helps us to do is examine the quieter distractions in our own lives. 00:18:05.839 --> 00:18:14.400 Something can be enjoyable and still occupy a place that it should not have been given, because it is not the calling on our lives. 00:18:14.559 --> 00:18:20.720 No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. 00:18:20.960 --> 00:18:23.359 That's 2 Timothy chapter 2, verse 3 and 4. 00:18:23.519 --> 00:18:35.119 So what the writer of Hebrews tells us to do is let us lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely and hinders us from accomplishing the work and the calling on our life. 00:18:35.359 --> 00:18:39.599 Something doesn't have to be sinful to become a distraction and a weight from obedience. 00:18:39.839 --> 00:18:40.640 May we be careful. 00:18:40.799 --> 00:18:42.480 May we as a church be careful, amen? 00:18:42.640 --> 00:18:49.200 To just use discernment, to not allow every controversy or every competing preference to determine our direction. 00:18:49.359 --> 00:18:50.640 We know what our mission is. 00:18:50.799 --> 00:18:54.880 Our mission is to make disciples who know Christ and make him known. 00:18:55.200 --> 00:19:02.160 This mission requires then us to stay, stay focused in scripture, to worship and prayer and community and the making of disciples. 00:19:02.319 --> 00:19:06.720 Our decisions about programs and opportunities should serve those responsibilities. 00:19:06.880 --> 00:19:10.480 And verse 4 says they sent to him four times in this way. 00:19:10.720 --> 00:19:12.240 It was like spamming him. 00:19:12.480 --> 00:19:15.519 Just go bug him again, go bug him again, go bug them again. 00:19:15.599 --> 00:19:22.400 And here's the reality: repeated pressure does not turn a wrong invitation into a right responsibility. 00:19:22.640 --> 00:19:27.359 Just because somebody is persistent doesn't make it where it finally becomes right. 00:19:27.680 --> 00:19:28.960 That's what we're getting at here. 00:19:29.039 --> 00:19:30.960 So Nehemiah does something well here. 00:19:31.359 --> 00:19:35.920 He says this, what I think all of us need to do is say, I want to have clarity on what God has called me to do. 00:19:36.000 --> 00:19:37.200 What are my roles? 00:19:37.920 --> 00:19:39.039 What is my responsibility? 00:19:39.119 --> 00:19:40.880 I I define my roles pretty clearly. 00:19:40.960 --> 00:19:42.319 I'm a follower of Jesus Christ. 00:19:42.400 --> 00:19:52.640 I am a Christian, and then I am a husband, and then I am a father, and then I am a friend and a son and a brother, and then I'm a pastor. 00:19:52.960 --> 00:19:58.240 And then I'm whatever else I make up in my life, like a wannabe golfer or something like that, right? 00:19:58.400 --> 00:20:06.400 And the problem is so many times the thing that is way down on the order becomes the thing that demands my greatest and most attention. 00:20:06.559 --> 00:20:09.359 And may we be careful to stay focused on what our calling is. 00:20:09.519 --> 00:20:19.599 May we get clear on what God has called us to do, what God has equipped us to do, what my responsibility is as a man of God or a woman of God, and then have such clarity that I stay focused when distractions come. 00:20:19.759 --> 00:20:20.319 Amen? 00:20:20.880 --> 00:20:21.200 Okay. 00:20:22.079 --> 00:20:23.680 Practical in so many ways. 00:20:23.839 --> 00:20:34.160 Number two, in pressure and progress, not only must we stay focused when distractions come, number two, we must seek God's strength when accusations come. 00:20:35.119 --> 00:20:36.720 Now look at look at verse 5. 00:20:36.880 --> 00:20:38.319 This is something interesting happens. 00:20:38.400 --> 00:20:39.519 There's a fifth approach. 00:20:39.680 --> 00:20:44.400 So remember, they they invited him to the plane of Ono four times, and four times he said Ono. 00:20:44.960 --> 00:20:47.759 Now the fifth time comes in a different form. 00:20:47.920 --> 00:20:50.160 It comes with an open letter. 00:20:51.279 --> 00:20:56.240 That means that it was a letter that was not sealed, it was open for anybody to read. 00:20:56.640 --> 00:21:03.519 And in the letter, Sambalat accuses Nehemiah and the Jews of planning a rebellion. 00:21:04.160 --> 00:21:14.640 He claims in this open letter for everybody to read that Nehemiah intends to become king, and he has even arranged prophets to promote this ambition. 00:21:15.279 --> 00:21:17.359 Now, these were serious accusations. 00:21:17.599 --> 00:21:21.200 Nehemiah serves under the authority of the Persian king. 00:21:21.440 --> 00:21:33.039 So a report of rebellion could threaten Nehemiah's position or the king's position by Nehemiah, and it would uh compromise the rebuilding effort and the life of Nehemiah. 00:21:33.759 --> 00:21:36.480 One man drew attention to the fact that the letter's open. 00:21:36.640 --> 00:21:37.200 That's important. 00:21:37.279 --> 00:21:40.079 Its contents are available to be read and circulated. 00:21:40.240 --> 00:21:46.480 So Sam Balad is increasing the pressure by putting a damaging accusation into circulation. 00:21:47.039 --> 00:21:51.680 And this accusation attacks Nehemiah's motives. 00:21:52.880 --> 00:21:59.519 What really was an attempt to do something for God, for the glory of God and the security of God's people, became portrayed as self. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:01.039 Promotion. 00:22:02.240 --> 00:22:10.000 The wall becomes evidence of rebellion, and the work is recast as a campaign for personal power. 00:22:10.480 --> 00:22:11.680 That's what we're getting at here. 00:22:11.839 --> 00:22:14.960 And what this was is this was none other than slander. 00:22:15.440 --> 00:22:16.640 This was slander. 00:22:17.200 --> 00:22:22.079 Slander is a false spoken statement damaging to a person's reputation. 00:22:22.799 --> 00:22:26.559 And it was the spreading of it, which is the form of gossip. 00:22:26.799 --> 00:22:28.000 That's literally what's going on. 00:22:28.079 --> 00:22:31.279 This is an old-fashioned, uh, old testament form of gossip. 00:22:31.440 --> 00:22:37.039 This is an open email or Facebook post about somebody, but it was just in the form of an open letter. 00:22:37.119 --> 00:22:38.160 They didn't have Facebook back then. 00:22:38.240 --> 00:22:39.920 I don't know if you know that, but they didn't. 00:22:40.240 --> 00:22:44.799 This was lies and it was gossip and it was false accusations. 00:22:44.880 --> 00:22:46.240 And just know this, we feel this. 00:22:46.480 --> 00:22:50.960 Lies, gossip, and false accusations hurt deeply and move quickly, don't they? 00:22:51.519 --> 00:22:56.480 Somebody said a lie will travel halfway around the world before the truth can get its boots on. 00:22:58.079 --> 00:23:02.640 Lies and untruthful accusations can be hurtful and they can be so dangerous. 00:23:02.799 --> 00:23:07.279 And this is why Scripture always considers them as an extremely serious sin. 00:23:07.440 --> 00:23:26.799 In fact, in Romans chapter 1, verse 29 through verse 31, when he is describing the judgment and the brokenness and the depravity of man, he lists things like envy and murder and strife and maliciousness and haters of God and boastful and inventors of evil. 00:23:26.880 --> 00:23:32.640 And in that list, he lists these two things: gossips and slanderers. 00:23:34.319 --> 00:23:40.400 Someone can take an action meant to serve others and assign a motive that turns it into something ugly. 00:23:41.279 --> 00:23:47.519 You can be accused of something that's not true, even though what started out to be right and honest. 00:23:47.920 --> 00:23:52.240 We should be willing to examine whether our conduct contributed to someone's concern. 00:23:52.400 --> 00:23:53.599 For sure, we should do that. 00:23:53.759 --> 00:24:00.880 But we also need to recognize that living faithfully will not guarantee that everyone interprets us fairly. 00:24:08.000 --> 00:24:12.559 At the end of the letter, Sand Ballad again proposes a meeting. 00:24:12.880 --> 00:24:19.039 He creates pressure through the accusation and then offers his preferred response as the solution. 00:24:19.279 --> 00:24:28.240 And here's what happens often the people who spread the slander and gossip to a made-up problem are the solution to the problem. 00:24:28.799 --> 00:24:29.359 Right? 00:24:29.519 --> 00:24:30.960 They're the solution to the problem. 00:24:31.119 --> 00:24:32.160 We made up this problem. 00:24:32.319 --> 00:24:35.759 We're accusing people of misleading and misrepresenting them. 00:24:35.839 --> 00:24:36.799 And you know what they need? 00:24:36.880 --> 00:24:37.599 They need me. 00:24:37.759 --> 00:24:40.480 They need my help, they need my wisdom, they need my contribution. 00:24:40.559 --> 00:24:45.680 And here's exactly what's happening thousands of years ago, with Sam Ballad saying, This is a problem. 00:24:45.759 --> 00:24:48.319 What you need to do is you need to meet with me, I'll help you. 00:24:48.960 --> 00:24:52.640 Nehemiah is supposed to feel that he must come down to protect his reputation. 00:24:52.799 --> 00:24:55.039 Verse 9 exposes what they wanted to do. 00:24:55.200 --> 00:25:00.960 They all wanted to frighten us, thinking their hands will drop from the work and it will not be done. 00:25:01.119 --> 00:25:13.119 So what was happening was after this slander, after this malicious spread, after this slander and gossip takes root, the people will lose heart and their hands will drop and they will be discouraged and afraid to keep working, and we'll get them. 00:25:14.240 --> 00:25:17.279 They want the people frightened so that their hands grow weak. 00:25:17.599 --> 00:25:21.119 This is where uh accusations can become consuming. 00:25:22.640 --> 00:25:28.880 When accusations come our way, we often can begin devoting all our attention to something that somebody has said. 00:25:29.599 --> 00:25:30.720 Who might believe it? 00:25:30.880 --> 00:25:32.559 How can I get out in front of it? 00:25:32.720 --> 00:25:34.960 How can I change every person's mind about it? 00:25:35.039 --> 00:25:43.200 We we replay conversations, we draft replies, we become distracted from the very responsibilities that the accusation threatens. 00:25:43.279 --> 00:25:44.160 Isn't that funny? 00:25:44.319 --> 00:25:55.359 The very thing that they were called to do was misrepresented in hopes that they would be distracted from the very thing that they were called to do to deal with the lies and slanders and gossips that were spread around. 00:25:55.519 --> 00:25:57.039 And so what does Nehemiah do? 00:25:57.119 --> 00:25:57.359 I love it. 00:25:57.519 --> 00:25:57.920 Verse 8. 00:25:58.000 --> 00:26:02.240 Then I sent to him saying, No such thing as you say has been done. 00:26:02.640 --> 00:26:03.279 Lies. 00:26:03.599 --> 00:26:04.319 That's not true. 00:26:04.480 --> 00:26:08.880 That's not true, for you are inventing them out of your own mind. 00:26:09.759 --> 00:26:17.359 Verse 8, he denies that the alleged events have happened, and he identifies the accusation as inventions. 00:26:18.240 --> 00:26:20.960 He spoke truth, clear and confident. 00:26:21.680 --> 00:26:28.319 Here's the thing is that sometimes when a person just stands up and clarifies the air, everything is put uh to hush. 00:26:28.720 --> 00:26:38.160 Rather than him try to do damage control by making sure that it's kept and spread, and he starts casting mud at them and accusing them and all of those things, and he's just saying, Nope, that's not true. 00:26:38.240 --> 00:26:39.119 This is my intentions. 00:26:39.279 --> 00:26:39.680 But you know what? 00:26:39.759 --> 00:26:46.160 The best thing he does is in verse 9 when he says at the very end, but now, oh God, strengthen my hands. 00:26:47.279 --> 00:26:48.000 Think about that. 00:26:48.160 --> 00:26:50.960 His enemies want the workers' hands to weaken. 00:26:51.200 --> 00:26:54.400 Nehemiah asks God to strengthen their hands. 00:26:54.720 --> 00:26:58.559 He brings the threatened, the threats to the Lord. 00:26:58.880 --> 00:27:03.119 He needs the strength to continue doing what is right while the pressure remains. 00:27:03.279 --> 00:27:17.680 And so he's being accused, he's being slandered, he's being falsely uh packaged, his his uh motives are being questioned, and so he a composed response he brings to the Lord and says, Okay, Lord, this is affecting me. 00:27:17.759 --> 00:27:22.799 I don't want to be distracted, I don't want to be discouraged, so I'm gonna rely upon you to strengthen me in this moment. 00:27:24.319 --> 00:27:27.279 This prayer teaches us what to do with our need. 00:27:27.440 --> 00:27:30.319 Bring it to God and ask for help to remain faithful. 00:27:31.599 --> 00:27:33.359 Perhaps that's the prayer some of us need today. 00:27:33.519 --> 00:27:34.400 Maybe the prayer is that. 00:27:34.480 --> 00:27:41.920 Maybe that's the best thing you can get from today's sermon is there's a time in your life where you just need to say, Lord, strengthen my hands to keep loving my family. 00:27:42.400 --> 00:27:44.559 Lord, strengthen my hands to keep serving. 00:27:44.799 --> 00:27:47.599 Lord, help me to speak truth without becoming cruel. 00:27:47.759 --> 00:27:50.640 Help me to receive correction without becoming defensive. 00:27:50.799 --> 00:27:53.759 Help me to continue obeying you when someone misunderstands me. 00:27:53.839 --> 00:28:16.480 Listen, as a follower of Jesus, you will be lied about, you will be slandered, you will be slandered by the people who call you family, you will be misrepresented, your motives will be altered, and what you need to do is not get into a wrestling match and an insult throwing match and some kind of a weird damage control, but you need to say, this is what's true, and then we bring it to the Lord and say, Lord, would you just help me be strong in the midst of this pressure? 00:28:16.720 --> 00:28:18.400 I'm gonna give this to you. 00:28:19.279 --> 00:28:26.640 Listen, we are responsible for our faithfulness, but we cannot control everyone's interpretation of it. 00:28:26.880 --> 00:28:28.880 And that's what Nehemiah shows us here. 00:28:29.119 --> 00:28:34.400 So he denies the claims, they're fabricated, he says, That's not true. 00:28:34.720 --> 00:28:38.240 I'm gonna answer truthfully, and that's what he goes for. 00:28:38.799 --> 00:28:40.480 Jesus modeled this for us, by the way. 00:28:40.559 --> 00:28:40.960 Did you know that? 00:28:41.119 --> 00:28:42.960 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 23. 00:28:43.279 --> 00:28:46.000 When he was reviled, he didn't revile again. 00:28:46.319 --> 00:28:49.200 When he was lied about, he did not do what he could have done. 00:28:49.359 --> 00:28:55.279 He knew he knew not only the things about them that were obvious, he knew the things about the people accusing him that weren't obvious. 00:28:55.359 --> 00:28:58.640 He could have listed them out, he could have definitely defended himself. 00:28:58.799 --> 00:29:01.279 But instead of defending himself, what did Jesus do? 00:29:01.440 --> 00:29:05.440 He continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. 00:29:06.000 --> 00:29:08.160 Nehemiah did the same thing. 00:29:08.960 --> 00:29:12.400 Now, listen, let me just pull over for a second and say this. 00:29:12.880 --> 00:29:20.960 We may not be the person, or you may not be the person who is starting the slanderous rumor, but you can become the person who carries it. 00:29:22.160 --> 00:29:27.599 In fact, Proverbs 2019 warns us that whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets. 00:29:27.759 --> 00:29:31.680 Therefore, do not associate with a simple babbler. 00:29:32.960 --> 00:29:36.319 Proverbs 2019 warns us that there are people who reveal secrets. 00:29:36.400 --> 00:29:43.839 So before we repeat something that was said, before we take an open letter that's posted on Facebook and begin to spread, did you hear? 00:29:44.000 --> 00:29:47.359 I want to pray for somebody because I heard and we start spreading it. 00:29:47.519 --> 00:29:57.839 Before we repeat something, we should ask whether we know it's true, whether it's ours to share, and whether sharing it actually serves the faithful purpose and promotes the glory of God and the good of his people. 00:29:58.160 --> 00:30:02.319 If a concern needs attention, bring it to somebody responsible enough to can address it. 00:30:02.559 --> 00:30:05.920 Serious wrongdoing should be dealt with and it should be reported. 00:30:06.160 --> 00:30:10.640 Passing accusations through a circle of interested listeners, though, is a different matter. 00:30:10.880 --> 00:30:17.519 A healthy church must be willing to investigate real concerns and unwilling to be a culture where gossip and slander spreads. 00:30:17.599 --> 00:30:18.160 Amen? 00:30:18.400 --> 00:30:22.480 Every family, every gathering, this is what Nehemiah is modeling for us. 00:30:22.559 --> 00:30:24.319 He's like, listen, and we're gonna stop that right here. 00:30:24.480 --> 00:30:29.039 I'm gonna tell you what the truth is, and then I'm gonna go back, give this to the Lord, and then I'm gonna get back to work. 00:30:30.000 --> 00:30:34.880 So in our homes, we can teach our children that an unkind word does not justify an unkind response. 00:30:35.039 --> 00:30:36.720 These are things that can apply in so many ways. 00:30:36.799 --> 00:30:41.279 In a church, we can help another pursue truthful answers and patient obedience. 00:30:42.559 --> 00:30:49.200 There's a thing that I like to do that when people want to include me, I'm not included much anymore in the spread of gossip and slander. 00:30:49.359 --> 00:30:54.400 Uh, probably for this reason, because I've done this on multiple occasions when somebody comes to me and says, Hey, did you hear? 00:30:54.640 --> 00:30:58.720 I just want to tell you something about this person or they're harboring a bitterness or a resentment. 00:30:58.799 --> 00:31:05.839 I've said this multiple times when I just say to them, hey, listen, uh, I appreciate you trusting me with this, but I want you to know I'm not a good source. 00:31:06.000 --> 00:31:10.079 In fact, I'm gonna give you about 24 hours to call that person and talk to them about this. 00:31:10.319 --> 00:31:13.359 And then in 24 hours, I'm calling them to check on how that went. 00:31:13.599 --> 00:31:14.640 Guess what they do? 00:31:14.880 --> 00:31:16.400 They stop coming to me. 00:31:16.640 --> 00:31:18.880 They stop coming to me and saying, Hey, did you hear? 00:31:18.960 --> 00:31:19.839 I want to share with you something. 00:31:19.920 --> 00:31:29.119 Listen, I just say that what I think needs to happen is that open letters like sand ballots passing around just needs to stop to protect the purity and the integrity of a group of people. 00:31:29.200 --> 00:31:35.599 A family, a household, a workplace, a church should be protected from this being devastating to the work. 00:31:35.759 --> 00:31:36.400 Amen. 00:31:37.279 --> 00:31:37.839 Amen. 00:31:38.160 --> 00:31:40.880 Four of you agree, so I'm concerned about the rest of you. 00:31:41.200 --> 00:31:43.279 I feel like uh there might be some issues there. 00:31:43.359 --> 00:31:44.079 No, I'm kidding. 00:31:44.160 --> 00:31:46.319 But let's let's make a point to do that. 00:31:46.559 --> 00:31:47.839 That's number two. 00:31:48.079 --> 00:31:56.319 In pressure and progress, we must not only, we must not only uh stay focused when distraction comes, and we must not only seek God's strength when accusations come. 00:31:56.559 --> 00:31:58.160 Notice number three with me. 00:31:58.559 --> 00:32:02.160 We must refuse compromise when fear comes. 00:32:02.799 --> 00:32:06.079 Now, let me show you what's going on here in verse 10. 00:32:06.240 --> 00:32:07.839 I think it's important for us to get this. 00:32:08.000 --> 00:32:20.559 When I went into the house of uh Shemiah, so Nehemiah talking, I went into the house of Shemiah, the son of Deliah, son of Mehetabel, who was confined to his house. 00:32:20.880 --> 00:32:29.039 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. 00:32:29.759 --> 00:32:31.279 So I want you to think what happened. 00:32:31.359 --> 00:32:32.400 Here's what I think is going on here. 00:32:32.640 --> 00:32:40.960 Doesn't give us all the details, but I think what's happening is that Shemiah, a prophet and and a religious man, is hiding in his house. 00:32:41.200 --> 00:32:43.359 He's like, Nehemiah, come here. 00:32:43.519 --> 00:32:43.920 Come here. 00:32:44.160 --> 00:32:45.519 And he's acting as if he's hiding. 00:32:45.599 --> 00:32:48.079 And he's hiding there, and he's like, Nehemiah, they're coming to kill you. 00:32:48.240 --> 00:32:49.359 They're coming to kill us. 00:32:49.519 --> 00:32:50.480 The enemy's coming. 00:32:50.640 --> 00:32:51.920 Hey, let's get out of here. 00:32:52.079 --> 00:32:53.920 Let's go hide in the temple. 00:32:54.640 --> 00:32:54.960 Okay? 00:32:55.680 --> 00:32:56.240 Track that. 00:32:56.400 --> 00:32:59.279 Let us close the doors of the temple, for they're coming to kill you. 00:32:59.440 --> 00:33:01.440 They're coming to kill you by night. 00:33:01.920 --> 00:33:02.960 Let's let's run. 00:33:03.039 --> 00:33:04.480 Let's be afraid. 00:33:05.440 --> 00:33:10.640 But I said, should such a man as I run away? 00:33:12.240 --> 00:33:16.880 And what man such as I could go into the temple and live? 00:33:17.359 --> 00:33:19.599 I will not go in. 00:33:20.480 --> 00:33:21.599 What's going on there? 00:33:21.839 --> 00:33:25.839 Well, Shemiah packages danger as immediate. 00:33:26.079 --> 00:33:27.839 His advice appears concerned. 00:33:28.079 --> 00:33:29.440 Nehemiah is listening to him. 00:33:29.519 --> 00:33:33.680 Enough respect is given to him that's like this guy has a at least a spiritual element to his life. 00:33:33.759 --> 00:33:36.720 There's a prophet, a prophet speaking to me. 00:33:36.960 --> 00:33:43.039