Sermons

Well, good morning. Tell you what, I'm just glad to be here. I had two mysterious illnesses the last two weekends. And one I got on Saturday or Friday, I guess, and the other one I got Saturday. So, I haven't been here the last two weeks. And it's like the Puritans said: When you're healthy, you worry about a thousand things. When you're sick, you worry about one.

And that's true. So, our title, our subject this morning, my assignment is Nehemiah chapter six. So, if you could turn to Nehemiah six, we're going to look at the whole chapter.

It's funny. Last night we were watching the soccer game a little bit about nine o'clock and I had a little bit of ginger ale and Leslie and Allie both turned and looked at me in horror and said (you know, they're a little gun-shy) and said: are you feeling, OK? I said, yes, I think I'm feeling fine. I just felt like a little ginger ale. So hopefully we'll be OK till 12:15, or whatever it takes.

Nehemiah chapter 6. And as I said, we're going to look at the whole chapter. Somehow, I got sandwiched in between Andrew, but that's OK. He's going to do chapter 7 next week. So, if you look at Nehemiah chapter 6, I'll begin reading in verse one. Nehemiah chapter six, starting in verse one.

(Scripture reading) “Now it came about, when it was reported to Sanballat and Tobiah and to Geshem the Arab, and to the rest of our enemies that I had rebuilt the wall and that no breach remained in it—although at that time I had not set the doors in the gates—that Sanballat and Geshem sent a message to me, saying, “Come, let us meet together at Chephirim in one of the villages in the plain of Ono.” But they were planning to harm me.

So, 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?” They sent messengers to me four times in this manner, and I answered them in the same way. Then Sanballat sent his servant to me in the same manner a fifth time with an open letter in his hand. In it was written: “It is reported among the nations, and Gashmu (that is, Geshem) says that you and the Jews are planning to rebel; therefore, you are rebuilding the wall. You are to be their king, according to these reports. You have also appointed prophets to proclaim concerning you in Jerusalem, there is a king in Judah. And now it will be reported to the king according to these reports.

So come now, let us take counsel together,” and then I sent a message to him saying, “such things as you are saying have not been done. You are inventing them in your own mind. For all of them were trying to frighten us, thinking that they could come discourage us with the work, and it would not be done. But now, O God, strengthen my hands.”

And when I entered the house of Shimei, the son of Deliah, son of Mehebel, who was confined at home, he said, "let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us close the doors of the temple, for they're coming to kill you, and they're coming to kill you at night." But I said, “should a man like me flee? And could one such as I go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in.” And then I perceived that surely God had not sent him.

But he uttered his prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. For he was hired for this reason, that I might become frightened and accordingly I would sin that they might have an evil report in order that they could reproach me. “Remember, O God, Tobiah and Sanballat, according to these words of theirs, and also Noadiah, the prophetess, and the rest of the prophets who were trying to frighten me.”

So, the wall was completed on the 25th month of Elul in 52 days. And it came about when all our enemies heard of it, and all the nations surrounding us saw it, they lost their confidence, for they recognized that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God. Also, in those days, many letters went from the nobles of Judah to Tobiah, and Tobiah's letters came to them. For many in Judah were bound by oath to him, because he was the son-in-law of Shekiniah, the son of Arah, and the son of Johanan, had married the daughter of Meshulam, the son of Berechiah. Moreover, they were speaking about his good deeds in my presence and reported my words to him. Then Tobiah sent letters to frighten me." (End)

May the Lord bless the reading of His word, let's pray.

(Prayer) Dear Heavenly Father, we come to You on holy ground this morning and we thank You that we have access in the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ to do so. We thank You that this is the very word of God written through Your Spirit, by your Spirit, for Your people. And we thank You for the privileges we have this morning to hold this book in our hand and to study Nehemiah chapter six and mine the rich truths that are found herein. We pray, Father, that You would teach us from your Word that Your Spirit would go forth and that the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart might be pleasing in Your sight. We pray in Christ's name, amen. (End)

Between 1940 and 1941, London was being bombed night and day by the German Luftwaffe, the fierce air force that they had. Entire neighborhoods in London were being destroyed, thousands of civilians were being killed on a daily basis, and morale was collapsing extremely fast. But during this time, Sir Winston Churchill, went on constant visits of the bombed areas. He encouraged the citizens. He refused to let fear dictate Britain's future. All of his speeches consistently emphasized one objective, endure and keep fighting. His unwavering focus helped inspire a nation to persevere.

And in the case of Churchill, we learn that leaders maintain focus not because circumstances are easy, but because others depend on their determination. Those same leadership qualities are what we've been witnessing as we walk through the book of Nehemiah. I'm sure like me, you've enjoyed walking through these chapters and seeing the leadership qualities of Nehemiah and how incredibly diligent he's been in leading the people in this project. And as has been said with the previous men that have been up here, this project is not primarily a physical project, although it certainly is.

The more important battle is the spiritual battle that's taking place here in this book. And this battle that we see here in Nehemiah 6 is the same battle that takes place today in our world. Against spiritual forces that are invisible. And this battle has been raging since way before Nehemiah 6.

If you're a student of the Bible, you know that this battle goes all the way back to Genesis 3.15, when the seed of the serpent seeks to destroy the seed of the woman. In fact, 100 years before Winston Churchill walked those same streets in London, Charles Spurgeon was born in 1834. And he would later publish a famous magazine that he entitled, “The Sword and the Trowel,” taken obviously from Nehemiah 4, verse 17 and 18. You remember Nehemiah 4, verse 17 and 18?

It says this: “The laborers who carried materials worked with one hand and held a weapon with the other. And each of the builders worked with his sword strapped at his side.”

I can think of no better picture of the Christian life than those two verses; that we work and we fight, and we fight and we work. We have our sword strapped to our side and we have our trowel as we work in our hand.

Charles Spurgeon said this about this verse, these two verses, "we would ply the trowel with untiring hand for the building up of Jerusalem's dilapidated walls and yet wield the sword with vigor and valor against the enemies of truth."

And I think as I've gone through this study myself, and I think for each of you, the danger is that we read the book of Nehemiah, as we may do in other parts of the Bible, as a historical Old Testament account that is about the people of Jerusalem back in this day building a wall. But this book and every book in the Scriptures is inspired for our learning, for our edification. And so, this book is very much about you and me today in 2026. Our King here at Trinity Bible Church and all over the world is engaged in a great work and He's using every believer to build His church brick by brick as Jesus said that He will build His church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.

And while the enemies of God still mock and still threaten today, the work continues with vigilance and trust in God. You remember last week when Andrew Curry taught in Nehemiah chapter five, we saw that this conflict, which we saw in the beginning of the book of Nehemiah, is not just from without, as we'll see this morning again. But the conflict was also, in chapter five, shown to be within, from among the very people of Israel, inside the camp, those who would be traitors of Nehemiah and their work. And this morning in chapter six, we move back to the outside influences, the evil that assails Nehemiah and those building the wall. As he navigates these evil schemes, you'll see his tremendous perseverance as he oversees the completion of the wall.

And so, the title this morning I've chosen is "Do Not Lose Focus." "Do not lose focus."

So easy in the world that we live in today, whether it's the phone to distract, work to distract, circumstances to distract, it's so easy for us to lose focus. And the enemy has a multitude of schemes to help take us off course, to move us away from the main thing, which is the Word of God and the souls of men. And so don't lose focus.

And I've broken this into four parts. I want you to see four things as we go through this chapter. The first is, number one, a plan to distract. Number one, a plan to distract. Look at the first four verses in this chapter. A plan to distract.

Look at verse one: "Now, when it was reported to Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem the Arab, and to the rest of our, notice this, enemies, that I had rebuilt the wall and that no breach remained in it although at that time I had not set up the doors in the gates."

I want you to notice first that this report, this progress report that we're gonna get from Nehemiah sets the table and sets the context for the entire chapter. And we see very quickly here in verse one that enemies are again on site with the two ringleaders, Sanballat and Tobiah.

Satan always will oppose the work of God. Wherever the work of God is going best, Satan is working most. You can count on it. He will be there before, he will be there during, and he will be thereafter. You see in verse two, it says: "Then Sanballat and Geshem sent a message to me saying, come, let us meet together in Chephirim, the plain of Ono. but they were planning to harm me. So, I sent messengers to them saying, “I'm doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should I stop the work while I leave it and come down to you?"”

Notice the message that's being sent here. It's extremely subtle, isn't it? It's extremely subtle. All of the tactics that they had used in the first five chapters of the book, now they're switching tactics and going to more of a subtle plan here. It's a plan to distract.

Notice the deception and the distraction and the means that they want to use to destroy, which is implicit here in this message. Now, the Plain of Ono, there's a number of commentaries that debate what this Plain of Ono means in terms of its interpretation. Why does he reference this? Well, some think it's because he's being asked to draw away from the work so that he's not overseeing the construction. More importantly, if they can separate him from the site and get him into the Plain of Ono, they can take his life.

That's probably likely. But I think some other commentaries, and this is what I would suggest, is that it's a neutral territory. The Plain of Ono is really in between these two warring parties, where they're building the wall and then where these men are from. And so, it's neutral territory between these two opposing influences.

But we know if we're a student of the Bible, there is no such thing as neutral territory. There is no such thing as neutral territory in the Scriptures. You're either in Christ or you are in enemy camp. You are either born again, or you are a product of the flesh. You are either for Christ, or you are against Christ. And so, there is no neutral territory. Remember years ago, I was given a book by a mentor of mine about a study in Joshua and it's by Donald Campbell and it's titled, "No Time for Neutrality." And it's really a study in the life of Joshua which is excellent. "No Time for Neutrality." And Donald Campbell says this in the book: "The world cries out for leaders, forceful, forthright, courageous Christian leaders who can face the pressures of this world and persevere against opposition." And that's what we see Nehemiah doing here as we walk through this book. And I want you to notice what Nehemiah recognizes about this message that was sent.

Number one, he knew they were lying and using this as a means of trying to kill him. Number two, he was convinced of the greatness of his work. He was convinced of the greatness of his work. And number three, he knew that there was no basis for cooperation with these men. He knew there was no basis for cooperation with these men.

It's interesting, back in chapter two in verse 20, Nehemiah wrote this, and in his prayer, recounting his prayer: "The God of heaven, will give us success." Nehemiah 2:20 "the God of heaven will give us success. You have no share in Jerusalem or any claim to it." Talking to these same two ringleaders. And it's interesting that we'll see the success bear fruit now in chapter six of what he prayed back in chapter two. He says you have no part in this building project, and you have no claim to anything that we're doing in Jerusalem.

But don't miss what they were planning to do. It says that they were planning to harm me. Better rendered in the Hebrew, they were planning to do evil to me. That's a better translation, do evil to me. We know from the New Testament that Satan is a liar. Satan is a murderer. He's a destroyer. It's where we get the word diabolo from. It means to throw something so hard and throw it through and kill something.

And yet he's disguised many times today and then as an angel of light, isn't he? Comes with a subtle message as an angel of light, all the while trying to do evil and destroy Nehemiah and destroy this project that the Lord is engaged with his people in. So, here's the point. Nehemiah doesn't lose focus. Do you see that? Nehemiah doesn't lose focus.

He says in verse three: "I'm doing a great work and I cannot come down." I can tell you as an elder, it is constant, the amount of things that assail us to try to take us off course; to try to move us away from the main thing, the Gospel, the Word of God, the preaching of the Word of God, which is the means of God that He uses to save sinners. He says, “I'm doing a great work and I can't come down.” Notice he says in verse three, "why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?" In other words, I don't have time for your distractions. I don't have time for this nonsense. He understands what they're doing. Nehemiah discerns their plot.

And I would argue in the white space of this chapter, as we've seen undergirding this entire ministry that Nehemiah has in the book of Nehemiah for the first five chapters, we see what in chapter one that Nehemiah is a man of prayer, isn't he? This whole ministry that Nehemiah is engaged with is undergirded with prayer. And in the white space in this text, I would submit to you that this is because of prayer, that he has the discernment to recognize the evil that these men intend. He started in chapter one, he prayed in chapter two, and all through the book we see that.

And so that's where his wisdom and godly discernment come from. Eric Alexander in his commentary says this, "Commitment to our duty and to prayer is a great protection against spiritual danger." Isn't that good? Let me read that again. "Commitment to our duty and to prayer is a great protection against spiritual danger."

Nehemiah's ministry was to lead the people in building this wall, and that burden liberated him from distraction. And so, what ministry has the Lord given you that liberates you from distraction, to keep you from getting bogged down and losing focus? Perhaps your ministry, whatever that ministry is, seems mundane, but no ministry is mundane to the Lord. It has eternal consequences when it's done in the name of the King. And so, what distractions are you facing right now as you work in the ministry that the Lord has given you, that sphere of influence that the Lord has given you?

Look at verse four, "They sent messengers to me four times in this manner, and I answered them in the same way." Satan is never going to grow weary. He's never gonna stop. He never takes a day off. Four times they sent the messengers in this manner, and he answered them the same way.

I want you to notice that like any good leader, Nehemiah, listen carefully, knew how to say no knew how to say no. I know as a younger man, it's harder to say no when you're younger. This is one of the things I tell younger men, you need to learn how to say no. Not always, but sometimes the good can crowd out the great, or the better can crowd out the best. And so, he knows how to say no, he says it four times. And notice also he had discernment.

He wasn't taken in by this plot, again, because of his prayer, because of the Lord's providence in leading him with wisdom. Enemy conflict comes wave upon wave. Do you find that in your own life? No? He comes sometimes wave upon wave with conflict. But that's what the Christian life is all about. It's about overcoming opposition. It's about overcoming opposition. What does the book of Revelations end with? Those who overcome will endure to the end and will have a place in my kingdom.

Jesus said it this way in John 16:33. John 16:33, "these things I have spoken to you. So that in me you may have peace." It's the only place we have peace is in the Lord Jesus Christ. First, we must have peace with God and then we are given the peace of God. And he says, "I have spoken these that in me you may have peace." Here it is, "In the world you will have trouble. but take courage, I've overcome the world."

Just as Nehemiah overcame the enemies here in chapter six, so too the Lord Jesus Christ will protect us and preserve us, and we will overcome the threats in the world because He is the Good Shepherd. And so, what we do for the kingdom will not go unopposed. What we do for the kingdom will not go unopposed.

Four times these attacks came in waves. It reminds us of Matthew chapter four, doesn't it? Where Jesus was tempted three times in succession by Satan. You remember in Matthew chapter four, three times Satan, the enemy, came to tempt Him in the wilderness when He was alone. And he says, if you are the son of God, do this. If you are the son of God, do that. And what does Jesus do? He didn't lose focus. Neither did Nehemiah.

Ray Steadman says this in his commentary, "Satan assures us that the things he tempts us with will grant us everything and cost us nothing." That's good, let me say it again. "Satan assures us that the things he tempts us with will grant us everything and cost us nothing." And so, number one, a plan to distract. Notice number two. Number two, a lie to discourage. A lie to discourage. First a plan to distract, now a lie to discourage.

Verses five through nine. Look at verse five, "Then Sanballat sent to his servants to me in the same manner a fifth time with an open letter in his hand. In it was written, it is reported among the nations that Gashmu,” I said that's probably Geshem, most translators believe, “says that you and the Jews are planning to rebel, therefore you're building the wall. You are to be their king according to these reports. You've also appointed the prophets to proclaim in Jerusalem concerning you, a king is in Judah, and now it will be reported to the king according to these reports, so come now, let us take counsel together." We have a new strategy.

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. The new strategy this time is sending a servant a fifth time, but this time it's with an open letter. Now you probably know that back then kings would write letters and they would seal it with their signet ring, dipping the ring in wax and stamping the letter so that it was only open for the appropriate party. And so, the point of an unsealed letter was that it was scandalous. It was to be spread far and wide, and as many people as possible would read it. And so, this relentless attack now comes in the form of an open letter.

It's basically a form of blackmail. We're going to go public with this, Nehemiah. If you don't toe the line, we're going public with this report that we've got of these things that you're now trying to do. And so now they have a lie here to discourage.

And we see all throughout the Scriptures the same thing. We see it in the life of Joseph, don't we? How many times did Joseph have a lie to discourage? We see it in the life of David. We see it in the life of David. We see it in the life of Daniel. We see it in the life of Paul. And of course we see it, the gold standard, we see it in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ, who went to trial amongst kangaroo courts, had the Pharisees and scribes and the Sadducees constantly saying all kinds of false things against Him.

Are we to be no different? Of course. We've seen this in the brief history of Trinity Bible Church, that we've been involved in these kinds of things. And you have as well. If you're a believer, this is not something that you're unfamiliar with. Now, Satan primarily works in three ways. I like to say, as a former golfer, he likes to use three clubs primarily. Those are his favorite clubs, they're well-worn. The lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the boastful pride of life. And he's very, very good at using those three clubs, but he has so many more available to him. And we see here that he has tons of other means that he can use.

In this very section that we're looking at here, he's using lying and deception. Lying and deception. In fact, Jesus says in John 8:44, he is the father of lies. He is the inventor of lies. He is the source of all lies. And so, notice the lies that he's perpetrating here against Nehemiah in this text. Number one, the first lie, the Jews are planning to rebel. No, they're not. Lie number two, you are to be their king. Another lie. And finally, number three, you appointed the prophets. All three lies.

And so, Paul says in 2 Corinthians 2, verse 11, "so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes." And we at Trinity Bible Church, you, in your own lives should not be ignorant of his schemes. You know, there's a, it's been said, I think maybe Andrew Curry said this once as well, there's a danger when it comes to the enemy that we either think of him as this silly little red man with a pitchfork who's a caricature and not real, or we live over here and we're just like, we're so fearful and scared that he causes us to just lock up. Because we don't realize what Jesus said, "greater is He who is in you than He who is in the world." Jesus has defeated him, ultimately. And so, we need to walk the middle road where the scripture has, where we don't make him a caricature, but we also don't become so scared of who he is. but we're not ignorant of his schemes.

And so, notice that the motive, once again, is not hidden from Nehemiah. The motive is not hidden from Nehemiah. Look at what he says here in verse eight. Look at verse eight, "Then I sent a message to him saying, “such things as you are saying have not been done. You are inventing them in your own mind."” Literally, in the Hebrew, it says, you're inventing them from your own heart. For all of them were trying to frighten us, thinking that they will become discouraged with the work and it will not be done. But now, another prayer, but now, O God, strengthen my hands. Notice that Nehemiah knows these are blatant lies and that he's engrossed in a smear campaign. But it's very instructive to see what Nehemiah does. He simply denies it. He doesn't get down in the mud with them. He denies it, patently calls it false. Job 13:4, Job said this, "but you smear with lies. You are all worthless physicians."

David wrote in Psalm 52:2, "your tongue devises destruction like a sharp razor, a worker of deceit." Have you ever had this happen in your life? Of course you have. Warren Weirsbe says this in his commentary: "the average person doesn't realize the tremendous pressures and trials that those in leadership experience day after day. Leaders are often blamed for things they didn't do and criticized for the things they tried to do. If they act quickly, they're reckless. And if they bide their time, they're cowardly or unconcerned."

And I want you to notice as I've read through chapter six and as we've walked through these first few verses, notice the emphasis on fear in this chapter. Did you see that? Did you notice that? Words that are repeated are such a key to the interpretation of a text. Look at the words fear that are mentioned, verse nine. We're gonna see it in verse 13. We're gonna see it again in verse 14. We're gonna see it again in verse 19.

In fact, I wrestled with making the title of the message "Faith Over Fear." That would be a good backup title, "Faith Over Fear." If you prefer that, you're welcome to use it. But we see four times this fear is mentioned, and that's what Satan is a master at. He's a master at creating fear. Nehemiah trusts the Lord and prays.

Verse nine, "I prayed, now, oh God, strengthen my hands." And what's so interesting is that's the very thing that Andrew's passage had last week. Look at verse 19, it's probably right there on the same page. Chapter five, verse 19, the very last verse in chapter five. "Remember me, oh my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people."

Similar prayer, remember Lord, help me Lord, strengthen my hands, Lord. Paul uses similar language to this passage here in verse nine in Ephesians six. Many of you I know in the young adults are going through the book of Ephesians, have just gone through the book of Ephesians. But it's instructive that in chapter six, talking about spiritual warfare, Paul uses the same type of language in Ephesians six, verses 10 and 11, where he says this, "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. put on the full armor of God so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil." There's nothing new under the sun, is there? Paul's writing that years later.

Nehemiah had the same experience. We have the same experience today. There's no less threat that we have this morning as we stand here at Trinity Bible Church in 2026, that we need to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. In other words, Paul's saying, Nehemiah's saying, Jesus is saying, don't lose focus. Don't lose focus. Warren Weirsbe says this, "if we take care of our character, we can trust God to take care of our reputation." Isn't that good? "If we take care of our character, we can trust God to take care of our reputation."

Nehemiah sails right through this, not without battle scars, not with... burns on his feet from walking over hot coals or having his feet torn up from walking over three miles of gravel. But Nehemiah perseveres with the help of the Lord as he goes through these conflicts. And so, the question for us, I think, is what are you currently frightened about? What is currently giving you fear? Do what Nehemiah did. Do what David did. Do what the Lord Jesus Christ did when he was on the earth. Take it to the Father like Nehemiah did. He's more than capable of handling it. We need to take it to prayer. So, first we saw a plan to distract. Second, a lie to discourage. Third, verses 10 through 14, a threat to discredit. A threat to discredit.

Look at verse 10, "When I entered the house of Shemaiah, the son of Deliah, son of Mahabal, who was confined at home, he said, let us meet together in the house of God within the temple, and let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you, and they are coming to kill you at night."

I don't know about y'all, but a death threat would get my attention. Would it get your attention? They're coming to kill you? So, we have a death threat now. We are ratcheting up the heat because the other plans, the other ploys haven't worked. So now we have a death threat. And it's sent by the means of a false messenger. So, we have a threat to discredit.

And again, amazingly, Nehemiah maintains focus. Look at what he says in verse 11, "But I said, should a man like me flee?" Talk about standing firm. "And could one such as I go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in." He maintains focus, he maintains composure, he basically says two things. Number one, I won't flee, and number two, I won't go in. Now, there's been ink spilled on the fact that he wasn't allowed to go in as a priest, and that's true. He was being asked to do something contrary to law.

How do we know when a false prophet is a false prophet? Well, we learned way back in Deuteronomy 18, Moses says, “if what I say or what the prophet says doesn't come true, then you know he hasn't spoken of me.” Isaiah chapter 8 verse 20 says, “if they do not speak according to this law, meaning the word of God, there is no light in them.” And so, all of that's implicit in this text.

He understands that this man is telling him to do something contrary to the Word of God. But I think the real key here is that Nehemiah is a true shepherd. He's not a hireling. Jesus would talk about this years later. The true shepherd stands and guards the sheep. He doesn't run off when the wolf comes. And so, we see here what true shepherding is through Nehemiah as he stands post in the midst of death threats. And so sometimes, at least I'll speak for me, we can read these texts glibly and not really put ourselves in the situation. You've got somebody that gives you a death threat, and you say, I'm not leaving my house. I'm not going anywhere.

That's hard to do, other than the supernatural work of the Lord in Nehemiah's life. Verse 12, he says, "Then I perceived that surely God had not sent him, but he uttered his prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. He was hired for this reason, that I might become frightened and act accordingly in sin so that they might have an evil report in order that they could reproach me." Notice again the power of prayer, the power of prayer. You have to see in the white space, undergirding this whole chapter is Nehemiah's prayer life here is giving him the ability. Supernaturally, he says, "I perceived." Well, how did he perceive that? He perceived it because God had given it to him. God had not sent him.

And notice how sin here rolls downhill. In this chapter we see sin rolling downhill, which is what it does. They seek to discredit. They seek to tempt him in sin. They seek to give an evil report. Then they seek to reproach him. And ultimately, it's to frighten him. Ultimately, it's to frighten him.

Fear makes us cowards, doesn't it? I'll speak for me. Fear makes me a coward. There's times where I should speak in a business meeting and I don't say something because I'm scared. I don't want to risk my relationship with a client or risk my reputation. Fear makes us cowards. But not Nehemiah, verse 14, "Remember" he says, "oh my God, Tobiah and Sanballat, according to these works of theirs, and also Noadiah the prophetess, (sends a woman) and the rest of the prophets who were trying to frighten me." Again, fear is one of the great weapons of the enemy. He loves to use fear. And this prayer here is instructive. "Remember, oh God, their works."

I want you to notice that Nehemiah doesn't take things into his own hands. He turns the enemies over to the Lord. David turned Ahithophel over to the Lord. Paul in the New Testament in Romans 12 tells us in verse 19 that we are not to take vengeance. Quotes the Old Testament, vengeance is mine, saith the Lord. So, we need to leave room for the Lord and turn over our fears, turn over our enemies to Him to handle, not take matters into our own hands.

What we want to do is lash out, at least I do, lash out against them. So, we saw number one, a plan to distract, number two, a lie to discourage, number three, a threat to discredit, and finally fourth, a truth to declare. A truth to declare, verse 15 through 19. Look at verse 15, a truth to declare, "So the wall was completed in the 25th month of Elul in 52 days." Think about that, less than two months this building project was completed. James Boyce says, "this is a superb understatement." A superb understatement. How in the world could they have finished in 52 days?

Well, we see in the text how God's work was accomplished in God's way by God's people. God's work was accomplished in God's way by God's people. Verse 16, "when all our enemies heard of it and all the nations surrounding it saw it; they lost their confidence. For they recognized that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God."

There's your answer right there. Yes, it was the people that Nehemiah had overseen with the swords and the trowels. Yes, they had laid the wall brick by brick. Yes, they were engaged in working diligently on behalf of Nehemiah and his instructions. But ultimately, ultimately, it was the work of the Lord that brought this to completion.

I want you to notice that Nehemiah gives all the glory to God. Nehemiah gives all the glory to God. If there's anything that can be said about Trinity Bible Church, anything, it's that God gets all the glory. God gets all the glory, and He has since 2018.

The enemies lost hope. I want you to notice this word here, lost hope, when it says they lost their confidence. The better translation in Hebrew is this. They fell exceedingly in their own eyes. Isn't that good? They fell exceedingly in their own eyes. They had to admit themselves that God had done it in spite of all their attempts to stop it.

And it really reminded me this week as I was going through this passage of Gamaliel's words in Acts 5, which were not quite two in the adult class going through the book of Acts. But remember in Acts chapter 5, when there's all the enemy battling against the apostles and dragging them off and flogging them and telling them not to speak in the name of Christ. In Acts chapter 5, verse 38 and 39, Gamaliel, a wise man, although not a friend of the Lord, said this, "So in this present case, (speaking to the men who are fighting against the apostles,) I say to you, stay away from these men and let them alone. For if this plan or action is of men, it will be overthrown. (In other words, it'll come to nothing. But verse 39,) " if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them or else you may even be found fighting against God."

Well, that is exactly what Tobiah and Sanballat and Geshem the Arab and all these band of merry men and even women, that's exactly what they were doing in the book of Nehemiah. And God overruled it.

And it should be an encouragement for Trinity Bible Church. It should be an encouragement for you personally. No matter what bumps and bruises you get along the Christian life, no matter what bumps and bruises we've had as a church, the Lord will continue His work faithfully through the saints here. It's even better news, than a wall, isn't it? That He will finish His work in every saint. Isn't that even better news than the wall in Nehemiah 6, Philippians 1:6 that, "he who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus."

If he has given you new birth, he will give you glory. He will finish that work. He who justified you and gave you the imputation of righteousness in Christ, will then sanctify you and make you and conform you to the image of Christ, ultimately will glorify you in Christ.

Read the book of Romans in chapter eight. All of those are in the past tense. He has birthed us, He will sanctify us, and He will glorify us. So, God will accomplish His work in every saint. He will finish it, just like He did the wall here in Nehemiah 6. It's a physical picture of a spiritual reality.

1 John 4:4, the apostle John says this: "you are from God, little children and have overcome them, (here it is,) because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world." Yes, he will come at us with scheme after scheme, wave upon wave, never end, never sleep, never rest, but as we stand firm in the armor of the Lord, He will preserve us. We are from God, and ultimately, Nehemiah was preserved as you and I will be preserved in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Verse 17, "also in those days, many letters went from the nobles of Judah to Tobiah, and Tobiah's letters came to them. For many in Judah were bound by oath to him because he was the son-in-law of Shekeniah, the son of Arah. and his son Johanan had married the daughter of Meshulam, son of Berechiah. Moreover, they were speaking about his good deeds in my presence and reported my words to him. Then Tobiah sent letters to frighten me."

Basically, what's going on here is Tobiah sends these letters around to the nobles of Judah because he had married into the wealthy establishment. And so, what he did was he took that that platform of being married into wealth. And he spread more lies among the wealthy Jews against Nehemiah. That's what's going on here. And notice it says, “Tobiah sent letters,” verse 19, to frighten me. So, he used his wealth and influence to exploit the relationship, the reputation of Nehemiah.

Now, none of that goes on today, I know, but back, (thank you for laughing). Back in chapter six here, Nehemiah did. Jeremiah chapter nine, verse four, the prophet Jeremiah knew about this. He says this in Jeremiah 9:4, "beware of your friends. Do not trust anyone in your clan. for every one of them is a deceiver, and every friend a slanderer," Reminds me of the things I've taught my daughters. All men are liars. It's in the Proverbs, you can read it, okay? All men are liars. The very last verse of John 2, it says, Jesus did not entrust Himself to any man because He knew what was in man. And His disciples left Him at His moment of need.

So, it goes. As I close, three quick things. Number one, this book is a wonderful instruction and a wonderful example of God's sovereignty and man's responsibility. We see it all through the Scriptures. Man is a responsible agent. He is duty-bound to obey his Creator, and he has sinned in Adam and he sins in himself. But he is a responsible agent and yet God is completely sovereign over the affairs of men and his decretive will that he has put in place before all eternity. And so, we see both of these play out to fulfill his purposes. The greatest place in the New Testament I can take you for these two things that are antinomies, parallel truths that never intersect is Philippians chapter two.

Paul says, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. That is our job. We are to work out, but how? Verse 13, for it is God who is at work both in you to will and to work for who? His good pleasure. We are to work out what God has already, through new birth, worked in. That is the example of God's sovereignty and man's responsibility.

Number two, remember the battle is not only physical. Not in Nehemiah 6, and it's not today in 2026. It is a spiritual battle. Paul says in Ephesians 6:12, just later when I read a minute ago, a couple verses later, verse 12, "our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the powers of this dark world."

But here's the encouragement. We have absolute confidence in the Lord that His plan will be fulfilled. Jesus said it this way in Matthew 16:18, "I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it." So, bring it on, world. This church will be built, and Christ says no one will stand against it.

And so finally, as I was meditating on this text this week and preparing for this, I thought, how is it that we can maintain focus today. The so what. So how is it that we maintain focus? Matt Heidelbaugh, how does he maintain focus? How do you maintain focus in a world that's very wrong?

So, I want you to turn with me to Matthew 6. I think I have the North Star, and I trust this is what the Lord gave me to tell you. Matthew 6. This is the North Star that I think if we can remember this, we can maintain our focus by God's grace. Look at Matthew 6 and verse 33. Matthew 6, verse 33. In a world that seems upside down, this should be our North Star. Matthew 6:33, "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things, will be added to you."

He's talking there about material possessions, food, clothing, all the necessities of life. He says, I'll worry about those. You focus on My Kingdom and My righteousness, and I'll take care of everything else. I think that's our North Star, friends. I think that's it. Focus on His kingdom and His work. So, the question that I'll leave you with is this. Are you in His Kingdom? Are you in His Kingdom? Do you know the King? Do you know Jesus Christ savingly? I don't mean know about Him, I mean know Him. Ginōskō is the word. Intimate knowledge. Adam knew Eve, that you are born again. You know Christ from a scent.

You know the message about the gospel, that Jesus Christ came to die for sinners. You have knowledge that Jesus Christ came to die for sinners, and that sinner is you. And most importantly, you have trust, that you have abandoned all hope of self, and you have cast yourself upon the blood and work of Jesus Christ on the cross. But for that, you deserve hell because you have broken God's law and a holy God must punish sin in a holy way.

And the only one who can pay the penalty for a holy God's broken law is Jesus Christ, the God-man, who's as good as God and a perfect man. That's the King. That's the one who is ruling the Kingdom and His Kingdom will have a glorious end.

Let's pray.

(Prayer) Dear Heavenly Father, we thank You for this chapter to have so much truth. We haven't even scratched the surface. I pray, Father, that You would mark on our hearts and stamp on our heads these truths in this book. Not just in chapter six, but all of the truths we've heard in the first five chapters and now in the coming chapters and weeks ahead. So, Lord, bless this book as we walk through it and may You teach us from it. Bless the balance of our day and pray that You would receive all the glory in Christ's name, amen. (End)

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