Somebody Loves You

Guest (Male): God is fighting our battles. Nehemiah comes to that place in his own life as he stands up as a leader and he's teaching the people the Word of God and he's teaching them how to defend themselves with prayer. Why? Because he's the example. He's teaching them. If you really want to get over your problems, pray.

Welcome to Somebody Loves You Radio, the Bible teaching ministry of Raul Ries in Diamond Bar, California. We're glad you've joined us today. Returning to Nehemiah, Raul will share empowering reassurance that God is always with you when you come under spiritual attack. Satan comes against all whose hearts are fully devoted to the Lord, but those who remain vigilant and firmly grounded in God's truth will overcome. Stay with us for encouragement to shore up your faith in the Word of God and in prayer. Here's Raul Ries with part two of the study: Our God Will Fight For Us.

Raul Ries: As I was reading the lesson tonight, I was blown away by the whole thing with Nehemiah. Nehemiah had a real problem in his hands, but even in Chapter 4 tonight, as we continue our study in Chapter 4 of the book of Nehemiah, our God will fight for us. God's work will be attacked and mocked and criticized when you're really trying to do the work of God. Surely that is our heart, each one of us here individually. We want the best for our families, we want the best for ourselves, and we want the best for the Lord.

Then you have these people that become irritants in your life, like Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabians. To me, it's amazing because in the first six verses that we did last week, let me read them and we'll start with verse 7. He says the first of there are four things literally that the enemy will do in opposing the work of the Lord. Number one, we learned that it's ridicule. Ridicule always seems to bring a downcast countenance. It just disappoints people.

At the same time, when ridicule came to the people of God, the work of God was being criticized. Yet if you know that God has called you to do what you're doing, it doesn't matter what people think of you. You got to fulfill it, you got to do what God's called you to do. It's always exciting when you have people that believe in the vision that God's given to you to do it, that are backing you up and they're praying for you and they're behind you.

This guy, Nehemiah, was such a leader, such an incredible guy that not only led the people and excited them and got them to be together to do the work of the Lord. It came to that place where they were not only being ridiculed in verse 1, but it says, "But so it happened when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, that he became so furious and very indignant and began to mock the Jews." They were rebuilding the wall.

We need to rebuild the wall in our lives. We need to come to that place of examination, surveying our lives personally. Is everything good with me? Is my soul at peace with God? As you began like Nehemiah to inspect the walls and to inspect your life, and as he gathered together the people and began to work on the wall, always expect that when you're trying to better yourself in the Lord or you're trying to do involvement to get involved in some ministry or whatever capacity in the ministry that you want to do something for God, people will become angry against you, especially people that are not involved.

They get mad. They get angry, just like Sanballat here. Verse 2, he says, "And he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria. And he said, 'What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day? Will they revive the stones from the heaps of rubbish, stones that are burned?'"

Now Tobiah the Ammonite was beside himself and he said, "Whatever they build, if even a fox goes up on it, he will break down their wall." He was using the metaphor of a fox because foxes can get up on a fence and they can walk and not even hear them. They can even walk on the ground and they don't leave any footprints. They're so light in their feet. Really here they were actually Tobiah is joining in in the fun and mocking and ridiculing.

There are those that gather together in the same crowd, they become one. It can become very discouraging when you're trying to do what's right and yet they're trying to persuade you to do evil. You got to make a stand, a stand before God and before men. Sometimes even with your own family, you have to make a stand when they ridicule you and they come against you.

Nehemiah was such a person, and the people that he gathered to himself were people like that because they had a mind to work for the Lord. Look what he says in verse 4. He begins by prayer. "Hear, our God, for we are despised. Turn their reproach on their own heads and give them a plunder to a land of captivity." He begins to respond through prayer. He doesn't even waste his time in rebuking them or talking to them. He goes right to the throne of God and says, "Lord, these are the people that are bugging me, take care of them." I like Nehemiah.

Then notice in verse 5, "Do not cover their iniquity, do not let their sin be blotted out from before You, for they have provoked You to anger before the builders." Verse 6, "But so we built the wall and the entire wall was joined together up to have its height for the people had a mind to work." Listen, we can never ever get our eyes off Christ. You can't. You got to have that mind of Christ.

It's so beautiful when you have people that are like-minded in doing the work of the Lord. I mean, this is an impossibility, and yet they build the walls in 52 days. Yet it was the reason that the enemy was coming. They were oppressing, they were trying to dismay the people. At the same time, because they had a mind to work together in the Lord, they were able to accomplish the work of God.

The first thing that happened was ridicule. Here is the second thing that will happen. Intimidating plots and threatenings will come now. When you really get serious and you have a mind to work for the Lord and people see that you really have been transformed and you've been renewed and you've been born again of the Holy Spirit and it's no longer a joke, it's no longer a rumor but something really has happened, then expect to be persecuted big time.

People are going to try to intimidate you. Look what he says in verse 7, now the reaction of the Jews now. "And now it came to pass or it happened when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the walls of Jerusalem were being restored and the gaps were being closed, that they became very, very angry." Why? Because as you start sealing the gaps on the wall, it means the enemy can't get through. You're setting protection.

The enemy is always looking for those gaps in your life, always. How can I get into that person's life and begin to hassle him and to destroy him? It is of importance like these people, that as the people of God were restoring the gaps and they began to seal the gaps, that we in our own personal lives, spiritually speaking, that we seal every gap that may be there in your life spiritually so that you are safe in the Lord. The enemy hates you when you do that.

Watch what happens in verse 8. "And then all of them conspired together to come and attack Jerusalem and create confusion." Notice the threat against the Jews. Violence now. It's no longer words. Now it's physical abuse. We're going to come and we're going to teach you a lesson. Persecution will come because what happens is when people don't have God, they don't care. They don't care how they hurt you. They can hurt your wife, they can hurt your children, they can hurt your husband, they can hurt your grandchildren.

It's really important that you use wisdom as a child of God because you're not really hating them. You love them and you pray for them, but at the same time you have to protect your family. That's what Nehemiah was doing, protecting the people of God. I think it's really of importance what the lesson is here tonight, the way he's telling us to do it with all these problems, all these situations and the conspiracy here to come against them and make an attack against the people of God.

Watch again Nehemiah, what he does. "Nevertheless," verse 9, "we made our prayer to our God and because of them, we set a watch against them day and night." What did Jesus say to His disciples? Watch and pray. That's what you need to do. That's what I need to do. We don't need to partake with them in violence. We don't need to partake in making excuses for ourselves because we know in our own heart that we love them but they're not understanding. They're natural people, we are spiritual people. There's a difference.

Verse 10, notice the third thing: discouragement. "And then Judah said, 'The strength of the laborers is failing and there is so much rubbish still that we were not able to build the wall.'" Believe it or not, because we are human, what happens? We try to be strong, but we become discouraged. Think of how many wives and husbands and children and grandchildren become discouraged because of this situation within the home, within the family. It's really important that we understand because here the people began to be discouraged because of the enemy. That's a tool of the enemy to bring discouragement.

Guest (Male): You're listening to Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. Don't forget we're here to equip you with God's life-shaping word. Visit somebodylovesyou.com to browse our full array of biblical resources including Raul's Nehemiah study titled From Opposition To Victory on CD or thumb drive. Now back to more with Raul Ries.

Raul Ries: Verse 11 to 23, here is the fourth thing: fear. Fear will come next. Fear is an amazing thing. Verse 11, "And our adversaries said, 'They will neither know nor see anything till we come into their midst and kill them and cause the work to stop.'" So now it's no longer sending letters or communicating by word, but now they're trying to kill each one of them. That's murder. By intimidation, they're trying to bring fear.

Satan always strategizes by opposing people of God through fear so that you're afraid. Fear always comes when I forget who the Lord is and where His presence is over my life. That's when fear comes to my life. We should never be afraid of threats, we should never be afraid of words, we should never be afraid of any person but we should put our full confidence and trust in the Lord always, fully, completely.

So now they're threatening with murder. Look at verse 12. "And so it was when the Jews who dwelt near them came, that they told us ten times, not once, ten times: 'From whatever place you turn, they will be upon us.'" Notice that: exhaustion. They want to bring us to a place of exhaustion where we can give up the strength of the laborers now is ready to give out. Fear attacks their hearts and they're saying, "You know what, we might as well quit."

Wait a minute. Look what he says, verse 13. "Therefore I, Nehemiah the leader, positioned the men behind the lower parts of the wall at the openings and I set the people according to their families with their swords and spears and their bows." He's a man after my own heart. Notice that. Here Nehemiah took the position of that great leadership, and Nehemiah organizes the people to do what? To defend the city, to defend their homes, to defend their families. Notice that he puts them all by families so they're not separated from their families. A family that's going to pray together. This is important that families pray together and stay together. Very important.

Nehemiah knew the value of the family. He knew the strategy that he wanted to take upon the walls because of these enemy coming and putting families together. It brings strength upon the walls. Then he says in verse 14, Nehemiah here will deal now with the situation in three ways. Number one, he will improve the defense on the walls. Number two, he's not only thinking seriously, but now he's also again praying.

Notice: "And I looked and I got up and I said to the nobles and to the leaders and to the rest of the people, 'Do not be afraid of them.' Underline that: 'Do not be afraid of them.' What else? 'Remember!' Encouragement: 'Remember the Lord great and awesome,' he says, 'and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives and your houses.'" Here he is encouraging them to stand together. As the enemy uses the tool of fear, what cures fear? Getting our eyes on the Lord kills our fear. Get your eyes on the Lord.

God is for me, who can be against me? Do not fear them. Remember, the Lord is with you and He's great and He's awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives and your houses. And watch this, verse 15, "And it happened when our enemies heard that it was known to us," they said when they heard that we knew, "and that God had brought their plot to nothing, that all of us returned to the wall, everyone to work." What a beautiful picture! Imagine that. They were so discouraged, so bummed out and when Nehemiah the leader, spiritual leader got up and shared with them the Word and shared with them in prayer and they saw his strength in the Lord, they got encouraged and they said, "Forget it, man, we're with you, Nehemiah. Let's go back and work."

I love it. That's what we want to do together here at Calvary Chapel. As we're continuing to build inside and outside and remodel and rebuild so that we can beautify the place for you and for your families, at the same time not giving up in prayer and watching what God is doing and what He wants to do, we can begin like then to see that they united with one another. Notice that and they began to work for God once again. Again here we see: remember who the Lord is. Don't forget that. Who is the Lord in your life?

Then what? Verse 16, notice this. "And so it was from that time on that half of my servants worked at construction while the other half held the spears and the shields and the bows and wore armor and the leaders were behind all the house of Judah." Notice that. This is the entrance to the city of Jerusalem now. And now it is what? It is corrected, it's armed, there's security, there's stableness and everybody feels peace and feels at home and feels safe because of the work of God in each one of their lives.

Here we see the workers now getting ready to take arms and to wait. Verse 17, "And then those who built on the wall and those who carried the burdens loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction and with the other hand they held a weapon." What a beautiful picture! What do we do? With one hand we work and with the other hand we have the Word of God. Same thing. We don't have spears and we don't have swords, but what do we do? Whenever we get up in the morning or the afternoon or evening, wherever we do 24/7, we have with us what? The Word of God.

I love what he said here: they stood with one hand, they were working and the other hand, the Word of God, their weapon. Then check this out, this is so cool. He goes on to say this, verse 18, "And everyone of the builders had his sword geared at his side and he built, and then one sounded the trumpet was beside me." So the trumpet was the shofar. They used them for to wake up in the morning, they call them to a meal or a warning. They were very important, those trumpets. Here now this is a call now to them.

Check this out, verse 19, "And then I said to the nobles and to the rulers and to the rest of the people, 'The work is great and extensive and we are separate far from one another on the wall. Look you guys, it's not going to be done in one day. The work of God is so great.' I mean, I look at what God has done here in 33 years and I'm thinking, 'Lord, what are You going to do in the next 20 or 30 years?'" At the same time, if God is going to continue to build the wall and because like he said here, the work of God is very extensive. One person can't do it and we can't be separated. We have to be united and we have to work closely together in doing the work of God.

Nehemiah is bringing in this whole thing on the work of God. Then check this out, this is so neat, verse 20. "And wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Why? Our God will fight for us." These are beautiful, beautiful, comforting words to them and to us. What is he saying? Put your confidence in the Lord. God will fight for us. God is fighting our battles. Nehemiah comes to that place in his own life as he stands up as a leader and he's teaching the people the Word of God and he's teaching them how to defend themselves with prayer. Why? Because he's the example. He's teaching them. If you really want to get over your problems, pray. God will hear your prayer, and surely He has for each one of us here.

Verse 21, "And so we labored in the work and half of the men held the spears from daybreak even until the stars appear." So they never gave it up. Verse 22, "And at the same time, I, Nehemiah, also said to the people, 'Let each man and his servants stay at night in Jerusalem that they may be on guard by night and working partly by day.'" They never stopped. As a matter of fact, you will see here in the next verse that they stayed on that wall where they never really changed their clothes but they washed their clothes and put on the same clothes.

Notice verse 23, "And so neither I nor my brother, my servants nor men of the guard who followed me took off their clothes." I mean they smell, but that's all right. Watch what it says, "except that everyone took them off for washing." These people were committed to do the will of God. Remember, if the Lord fights for us, it is not our battle but it's the Lord. Our confidence has to be in Jesus Christ, and the confidence of the Christian is giving what? Expression in hymns, in songs, in prayers. The Psalms, so many prayers, so many songs. Whenever you feel down, turn to the Psalms and pray and sing out the Psalms. It will blow you away.

Guest (Male): Well as we've heard today, serving the Lord wholeheartedly isn't always easy, especially when we encounter resistance. But we can find motivation from the Israelites who worked around the clock to rebuild Jerusalem's walls. You're listening to Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. Today's study is titled Our God Will Fight For Us. If you'd like to hear an unedited version, we'll be happy to send a copy to you for a donation of $5 or more. Just call us at 800-634-9165.

And as you consider how God might use you to grow His kingdom, we'd like to tell you about Raul's 10-part series, From Opposition To Victory. It's available on CD and thumb drive. Inspiring you to face ridicule and intimidation with unwavering resolve, this resource will spur you on in obeying the Lord's call on your life, no matter how others respond. Visit somebodylovesyou.com or call 800-634-9165 to order Raul's 10-message study, From Opposition To Victory. We'll send you the CD set for $22 or the flash drive for just $13. The number again is 800-634-9165. Or write to Somebody Loves You Radio, PO Box 4440, Diamond Bar, California 91765.

For livestreamed messages and podcasts of all of these programs, visit the Somebody Loves You Worldwide YouTube channel. Straight Talk with Raul is also featured on that channel every Tuesday at 10:00 AM West Coast time. And if you'd like Raul to respond to your Bible questions and prayer needs, you can email him at pastorraul@somebodylovesyou.com. This ministry is completely listener-supported and we are thankful for your partnership. Your tax-deductible gifts are always a blessing. Be sure to join us next time as we continue in Nehemiah with a challenge to avoid the damage of division within the church body. You'll find that when you prioritize peace with your fellow believers, you can accomplish much more for the kingdom of God.

This program is sponsored by Somebody Loves You Radio in Diamond Bar, California.