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Guest (Female): Welcome to Connect with Skip Heitzig. We're so glad you've tuned in today. At Connect with Skip, we're passionate about helping you grow in your relationship with Jesus. That's why we share verse-by-verse Bible teaching that's both clear and practical, so you can live out God's truth wherever He's placed you.

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Nate Heitzig: Nehemiah teaches us another important lesson. You don't have to attend every argument you're invited to. Again, we already learned that you don't have to attend every meeting that you're invited to. "No" is a perfectly acceptable answer. The same is true for arguments. Some people just want to bait you into an argument about everything.

It's like, can you just give it a rest? You're like a dog that's got a bone and you refuse to let that stinking bone out of your mouth. Give it a rest. If you want to argue for the rest of your life, go do it with someone else. Suck their joy, because I'm not going to be a part of it anymore. Peace out, bro. I'm done. I'm done arguing with you about this stupid stuff.

Some people just want to bait you into an argument at every turn. You don't have to attend every argument you're invited to. You don't have to get involved in someone else's drama. That's their drama, let them deal with it. Of course, as Christians, if we have sinned against somebody, if we have wronged somebody personally, we are required by the law of God to go to them and make amends and apologize, and vice versa.

But most of the time, the arguments we have have nothing to do with that. It has to do with perceived faults and how that made me feel, and it's all this. No, I'm not going to get involved in your arguments. I'm doing something important. I'm not going to let my spiritual peace be sapped by your needs. Fear spreads when we stop building and start defending.

Imagine what would have happened if Nehemiah would have gone to all the people in Israel and said, "Hey, did you guys hear the rumors? The king's coming. He wants to kill us. He thinks we're starting a rebellion. We need to defend ourselves." Could you imagine what would have happened in Jerusalem if he would have said that? Everyone would have freaked out. Everyone would have stopped doing the work. They would have gotten on the walls. They would have lived in fear. They would have thought at any moment their impending doom was approaching.

What did Nehemiah do in response? Again, it says, "I continued the work with even greater determination." I love that. "Hey, Nehemiah, come and meet with us." "No." "Well, Nehemiah, we heard you're going to plan a rebellion and overthrow the king." "That's not true. You're a liar. You know what? I'm going to get to work. And now you've ticked me off, so I'm going to work even harder than I was before. You thought this would stop me? All it did is fire me up. I'm just going to get busy and do even more work."

That was Nehemiah's approach. Nehemiah didn't panic. He prayed and he pressed on. Calvary, don't trade your hammer for a microphone. God's called you to hold your hammer, to get to work, to build your walls, to fortify your gates, to fortify your life. And when you allow those public accusations to come into your mind and cloud your judgment, you go into defense mode. You pull out the microphone. "It's not true! It's not true! It's all lies!" But you're doing exactly what the enemy wants you to do.

Don't trade your hammer for a microphone. When slander comes, let slander deepen and not derail your resolve. Keep building. Let your obedience be your rebuttal. When lies get louder, let your integrity get stronger. Come at me, bro. I've got nothing to hide. Now, if you do have something to hide, fix that. If there are things in your life that you need to sort through to make sure that your integrity is standing strong, do that.

But if you're living a life of integrity, who cares what the peanut gallery says? No one likes them anyways. Cancel culture is over. People are done with it. We're sick of it. We're saying, "Hey, we had a few years of that. We're done with that crap." Don't allow other people's opinion of you to affect your life and what you're doing. It's not worth it. Don't let the roars of the world scare you away from the Lord. There is strength in the pack, and though it's scary hearing the roars of the other packs, don't let them trick you into straying away.

The same thing's happening today. Back then, it was Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem who were making these crazy claims about Nehemiah and the children of Israel. But the same thing's happening today. I mentioned a few weeks ago when I taught through Nehemiah 4 that people attack us as Christians and call us Bible-thumping bigots.

Because we believe God created biological men and women and that can't change, we are homophobic and intolerant. Because we believe the words of Jesus when He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one, no one comes to the Father but through Me," we are intolerant and narrow-minded. Because we believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God, we're simple-minded fools. Because we believe life starts in the womb, we're anti-women and anti-women's rights.

Don't let the ridicule, the threats, the fabricated lies, false accusations, or the intimidation shut you up. What should we do when these things are said about us? Continue the work with even greater determination. Keep doing what you're doing. Don't get distracted. Don't give in. Give it your all. Keep working. Keep building. Keep living the Christian life.

Don't try to be accepted by the world, change the world. Don't fear being rejected by the world, fear God. Don't blend in with the crowd, get loud and get to work. Don't perform damage control, let integrity stand firm. Don't let the whispers of people distract you from the call of God. Rumors are carried by haters, spread by fools, and believed by idiots. Don't be any one of those. Stand firm in the work God has called you to do. Respond with truth, not defensiveness. You don't need to clear your name when your life is doing that for you.

Guest (Female): This is Connect with Skip Heitzig. We'll return to Nate Heitzig's teaching in just a moment. Your support helps reach people every day with biblical truth that speaks into real life, bringing clarity, strength, and lasting hope. And this month, we'd love to thank you with two resources designed to help you trust God in difficult seasons and move forward with confidence.

When you give today, you'll receive the *Expound Nehemiah* seven-message series with digital download, along with Pastor Skip's booklet, *Overcoming an Anxious Mind*. These resources will help you see how God is at work even when life feels uncertain, and how to experience His peace instead of anxiety as you follow Him. Your gift helps extend the reach of Connect with Skip Heitzig, connecting more people to God's word. Request your resources when you give $50 or more at connectwithskip.com/offer or by calling 800-922-1888. Now, let's get back to the teaching of Nate Heitzig.

Nate Heitzig: The third and final distraction that we see is the distraction of spiritual manipulation. I think this is probably the most dangerous of all of them, and I think it's the one that we as Christians tend to fall victim to most often. Why? Because when someone comes to us, we're having a conversation, maybe we let slip that we're a Christian. The second someone says, "Oh, I'm a Christian too," we drop all of our defenses. It's like, "Oh, you're a Christian! Awesome!" And our defense is immediately dropped.

When we're having a conversation with a friend and they tell us a verse that they read and take it completely out of context so it has nothing to do with what the actual verse was talking about, the second we heard "Bible verse," we're like, "I'm in! Tell me what God told you!" And we're very easily manipulated and tricked by those who claim to be Christians. We're prone to believe whatever it is that they say, even if it isn't true, because all of a sudden they're a friend.

See, now the enemy gets sneaky. A man who appears to be a prophet tells Nehemiah to hide in the temple to save his life. And it would appear from the text this is someone Nehemiah knew and possibly knew well. It says that Nehemiah came to his house, so it was a relationship we had. This was a prophet of Israel, quote-unquote, a brother in Christ, someone who probably gave Nehemiah good counsel before.

And so he comes to Shemaiah's house, and Shemaiah gives him this word from the Lord. "Hey, Nehemiah, they're coming to kill you. Hide. Protect yourself. Run away." They use a false prophet to spiritualize fear, suggesting compromise in the name of safety. In verse 10, Shemaiah says, "Let us meet in the house of God." That sounds spiritual, doesn't it? As a matter of fact, it sounds like wise counsel, doesn't it? "That's good counsel, Shemaiah. Nehemiah, maybe you should listen to him. It's a good idea. If they're coming to kill you, you should hide."

But Nehemiah sees through it. He says, "Should such a man as I flee? I perceived that God had not sent him." Again, this was all a distraction. Here was the premise: If the enemy couldn't get Nehemiah off the wall, then maybe someone who appeared to be a friend could. If the threats of the enemy didn't work, maybe the counsel of a believer would.

A fellow believer coming to him and saying, "Hey, Nehemiah, brother, I love you. I care about you. Are you sure God's speaking to you? Are you sure you're hearing from God? Maybe you should just hide. Let's go to church." By the way, this is like one of the only times where saying "no" to an invitation to church was the right decision. Nehemiah made the right call not going to church that day.

But he made it sound so spiritual. He made it sound so appealing. And what were they trying to do? They were trying to isolate Nehemiah by using peer pressure to get him to hide. Again, the whole goal was to isolate Nehemiah, get him alone in the church so the enemies could come in and destroy the city. Isolate Nehemiah using peer pressure. The invitation was spiritual manipulation for the purposes of intentional diversion. Shemaiah offered safety, but at what cost?

There was a survey conducted by the University of Minnesota that asked children and teens to who or what do you turn to in times of trouble? The top responses were that kids turn to music, drugs, friends, and video games before ever going to mom and dad. As a matter of fact, of the 54 coping options that were offered to those who were polled, talking with mom was number 31 and talking with dad was number 48.

Peer pressure is the number one reason given for turning to drugs, alcohol, and sex. Studies on peer pressure reveal that during the teen years, the most important area in the child's life is that of acceptance. Parents need to understand that being accepted by friends is more important to their teen than being accepted by parents. Now, before we look at that and say that's so terrible, it's not always bad. It can be good or bad depending on who those peers are.

If your children have a good group of friends who love Jesus and are spurring them on towards righteousness, that can be a good thing. But if they have bad friends, it can be a very bad thing. Remember that Satan wants to isolate you. Satan's desire is to isolate you just like they tried to do to Nehemiah, get him hiding in the church, afraid of every bump in the night. Like a lion stalking his prey, Satan wants to isolate you and destroy you.

And there is nowhere that's more apparent than in peer pressure. Because if he can isolate you and make you feel like you're the only one doing the right thing and everyone else is doing the wrong thing, then he can get you to give in even when you know it's wrong. Nehemiah knew better. He knew that God doesn't contradict His mission with cowardice. He recognized the manipulation because it didn't align with the mission that God had given him.

Hiding in the temple would have disqualified him as a leader. It would have fractured trust with the people. Nehemiah actually calls it a sin, that they were trying to get him to sin so it would be a reproach to him. False prophets can appear very pious, even using scripture to hide their sinister motives. All through the Bible, we see a pattern of infiltration and compromise that follows.

When the children of Israel left Egypt, they were joined by a group of spiritual freeloaders called the mixed multitude. And it was actually the mixed multitude who first started complaining about everything that made the Israelites start complaining that they were missing these things they had in Egypt and lusting after those things that they left behind. Ananias and Sapphira appeared to not only be believers but super spiritual ones.

Ananias was a man who wanted people to think he was devoted to God even when he wasn't. Peter said to him, "Satan has filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit. You think Jesus is in your heart? Brother, it's not Jesus." This sin has been repeated many times throughout church history, continues to this day. It's when people come to church, go through the motions, sing their songs, pull out their Bibles, but it doesn't change their heart.

Scripture says, "These people draw near to Me with their mouths, but their hearts are far from Me." Judas did a similar thing in his betrayal of Jesus. In the garden, when identifying Jesus, what did he do? He smothered Him in kisses, which made his act of betrayal so much more despicable. Cicero said, "Of all villainy, there is none more base than that of a hypocrite, who, at the moment he is most false, takes care to appear most virtuous."

Another example in the New Testament church is the man Simon the sorcerer. Simon was a magician. He performed witchcraft and he would have people ooh and ah the wonderful tricks that he could do. But it appears that he had a conversion. Philip came to the town and Simon himself, it said, believed and was baptized. And then Simon followed Philip everywhere. But he still wanted the attention of the people.

When he saw the power of the Holy Spirit and people being healed, he offered to pay money to receive the filling of the Holy Spirit, to which Peter said, "May you and your money perish with you because you thought you could buy the gift of God for money. You have no part or share in this ministry because your heart is not right before God." Contact with holy things, if it does not convert, hardens the heart.

I mentioned how privileged we are as Americans to live in the country we have, with the freedoms we have. And we have the privilege to own a Bible. We have the privilege to go to church and worship freely. We have the privilege to evangelize and tell our friends about Jesus. That is an incredible privilege, the contact we get to have with holy things. But it's also a responsibility.

Because if we come to church again and again and again and hear the same messages, feel the same conviction, but never allow our hearts to change, the more we do it, the harder our heart will become and the less likely it is that God will speak to you and lead you to conversion. It's a privilege, but it's a responsibility. The light of Jesus Christ, if it does not convert, plunges the listener into deeper darkness.

Yes, there are tares among the wheat. The mixed multitude are among us: the Ananias and Sapphiras, the Judases, the Simons, the Shemaiahs. The satanic plants put there to undermine the work of God. Christian, remember: not every spiritual voice that speaks to you is speaking truth. Not every spiritual-sounding word that you hear is from God. Evaluate every spiritual influence by scripture and mission clarity. Is it in the word of God?

And is it calling me to do what God has called me to do? Because if it's not, if it's telling me to hide when God said to build, that's not a spiritual voice. If it says something that the word of God contradicts, then it's not a spiritual voice. When fear dresses up like faith, test it against God's word. Courage doesn't mean that you aren't afraid. Courage means that you refuse to hide in the temple when God's called you to build on the wall.

Has anyone seen the show *The House of David* on Amazon Prime? Phenomenal show, I love it. I can't wait for season two. But in *The House of David*, in the final episode, David and Jonathan are by the stream as David collects rocks. And Jonathan begins to question him and the courage that he has. And David responds with this: He says, "Am I the only one who believes the old stories? Who this beast has defied?

It's not about the greatness of the giant, it's about the greatness of God. God is not with us here where we cower; He is with us there when we choose to face our fears." Don't hide when you're called to build. Let's close by looking at verse 14. Nehemiah ends it all with this prayer. "My God, remember Tobiah and Sanballat according to these their works, and the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who would have made me afraid."

Now, I want to point out, I don't think that word "remember" is like, "Lord, remember them and bless them." No, that's like a "remember them," kind of like the *Taken* Liam Neeson kind of a voice. "My God, remember Tobiah and Sanballat according to these their works, and the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who would have made me afraid." Nehemiah ends not in retaliation. He doesn't come up with a scheme.

He doesn't send another letter to Sanballat and Tobiah saying, "Hey, actually, I know the king. He's my friend and he's going to kill you, not me." He doesn't do that. He doesn't invite them to the Plain of Ono with the desire to do them harm. He doesn't send a false prophet to them who says that they're going to call down fire from heaven and destroy them. No, what does he do? He prays. He prays and he keeps working.

He lets God handle the opposition while he keeps building the wall. Christian, let God deal with the lies while you stay faithful to your post. Let your prayer echo Nehemiah's. You're engaged in kingdom work. And so when distraction and lies bombard you, turn to Him, stay on mission, and keep on building. When distraction knocks, don't come down. When accusations fly, don't flinch. When fear whispers, don't fold. Stay on the wall. You're doing a great work.

So as we close one more time, I want to ask you: What wall has God called you to build? Where are the gaps? What's broken down in your life that God has called you to rebuild? Maybe every year you say, "This is the year I'm going to fix this. This is the year I'm going to rebuild these walls." And then you get to the end of the year and you look back and you say, "What happened? I didn't make any progress on that area of my life."

Maybe you're being distracted. Maybe you're being pulled off the wall with the distractions of deceit, the distractions of false accusations, the distraction of spiritual manipulation, and you just need to get back on the wall. So what wall has God called you to build? Is it your marriage? Is it your family? Is it your integrity? Is it a new ministry? Is it your mental health? Whatever it is, the enemy wants you off that wall and he will use whatever he can.

Distractions, pressure, fear, or doubt. Don't come down. Not for gossip, not for fear, not for safety, not for flattery, not for lies. Stay focused. You're doing a great work. Don't come down. I want to close by giving everyone four tools for staying focused. You can write these down if you find yourself struggling to stay focused to do what you know you're supposed to do. I think these can help you.

Number one: If you want to stay focused, you need to set clear boundaries. Boundaries with friends, boundaries with extended family, boundaries with work, boundaries maybe even with church. Unbiblical commitments kill vision. You need to learn how to say "no" boldly. It's okay. Again, we as a church do a lot of things. We have so many ministry opportunities and we're always asking for help, and we need help.

But you can't do everything. Sometimes you just need to say, "Hey, I'm sorry, I can't do that. My family is suffering because of it. I've got to say no." It's okay to say "no" even to good things. Number two: Cultivate courage in your life through prayer. Nehemiah prayed 12 times. We see that prayer was the muscle that drove his conviction. So cultivate courage in your life through prayer. Let prayer be the thing that strengthens your muscle of conviction.

Third: Surround yourself with spiritual truth. You've got to surround yourself with the right voices. See, trusted voices challenge distractions, not affirm them. Trusted voices, when you go to them and say, "Hey, I've got this cool opportunity, these things that I want to do," will say, "That's a stupid idea. You shouldn't do it." "Well, what? That was so mean! That's so cool!" "No, it's not good for you. You shouldn't do it."

Trusted friends will tell you the things you don't want to hear even when it hurts. They'll stab you in the front instead of the back. So surround yourself with spiritual voices, not just voices that tell you every single idea you have is the best idea ever. "Do it! Yay!" No. No. Fourth and finally: Keep mission at the center. I challenge you this week to go home and write down two things.

Number one: What is it that you're trying to build? What's the wall in your life that God's called you to be upon? What's the great work that you're doing? And then number two: Write down the "why." Why is that important? What's the wall and what's the why? And review it daily. It'll become your barometer, it'll become your test to determine what you should and what you shouldn't do. Just like Nehemiah reminded himself, "I'm doing a great work. I can't come down." You need to have your wall and you need to have your why.

Guest (Female): We're so glad you joined us for Connect with Skip Heitzig. Today featured Pastor Skip's son, Nate Heitzig. Before you go, here's a reminder: When you give $50 or more this month, we'll send you the *Expound Nehemiah* seven-message CD series with digital download, along with Pastor Skip's booklet, *Overcoming an Anxious Mind*, as our thanks. These resources offer biblical insight and encouragement to help you trust God in challenging seasons and experience His peace as you follow Him. Your support helps keep this Bible teaching ministry on the air, connecting more people to God's word. Give today at connectwithskip.com/offer or call 800-922-1888. See you next time.