Facing Personal Attack, Part 2

Third tactic, if those two don’t work, is doubt. “Did God really say…?” You start to doubt what God told you. You doubt the ministry. You doubt the direction. You doubt, “Is this the right marriage?” You doubt, “Should I even be in this relationship?” You doubt all kinds of stuff. And on really, really bad days you can even doubt, “Maybe I’m not a Christian.” On really, really, really bad days, “Maybe God doesn’t even exist.”

You ever had that? Have you ever had that thought? And then thought to yourself – especially if you’ve been a Christian for a long time, and you’ve seen God do all this, and – What a blasphemous thought, to ever have that in my mind. And then, condemnation comes: What a terrible person I am, to ever have that thought. Well, did you generate – no. All these things work together. The enemy wants to pump you with thoughts, and condemnation.

Before we go on, get this clear – are you ready? Condemnation is general. It’ll make you feel bad about you, and like you want to run away from God because you’re a terrible person. That’s the enemy. Conviction is clear, very specific, and there will be an action. It won’t be like, You messed up, in general, or, You’re a bad dad – or, in my case, I was a bad dad, a bad pastor, a bad husband – you name it. And I just felt overwhelmed. It was general. And it took me about three hours to figure out, This is the enemy. You’d think I’d be smarter than that.

But when the Holy Spirit convicts, it’s specific. You can respond to it. And the goal is because God wants to restore you back close to Himself. So, when I’m convicted by God, instead of, You’re a bad, terrible dad, it’s, You haven’t talked to one of your sons in two weeks. He was traveling; you were traveling. Take the initiative. Conviction. I wrote a note, and then I called him. See the difference? That’s different than, That’s right. I am a terrible father.

And then, what happens? And the enemy brings all these things – anything bad, as a father, you’ve ever done. You know what? I bet, when he was eleven – I didn’t go to that one ball game. And, I don’t think he really loves me. I noticed, when we were on vacation, he kind of looked at me funny, and – right? It goes on and on and on. And it’s baloney! It’s from the enemy. But you start believing this stuff, I will tell you, it will take you down.

So, look at the doubt here: “And when I entered the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetabel” – or something close to that – “who was confined” – or, literally, “closed in” – “in his 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 tonight.’ But I said, ‘Should a man like me flee? And should one such as I go into the Temple to save his life? I will not go in.’”

Then, notice, discernment pops up again: “I perceived” – or some of your translations say, “I realized” – “that surely God has not spoken to him, but he uttered this prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. He was hired for this reason, that I might become frightened and act accordingly and sin, so that he might have an evil report in order that they could reproach me.” And then, verse 14, he prays, “Remember –” And notice, the prayer is no longer a defensive prayer: “God, help me. Protect me. Strengthen me.” It’s offensive now. He says, “O God, remember Tobiah and Sanballat according to these works of theirs, and also Noadiah the prophetess and the rest of the prophets who were trying to frighten me.”

And then, notice the resolve. He keeps pressing ahead. He discerns. He prays. He acts. He’s got the belt of truth on, the breastplate of righteousness. He understands. He’s not going to doubt God’s promises; he’s not going to doubt his calling. What’s in bold? “So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth day of the month, fifty-two days later. And it came about when all of our enemies heard of it, and all the nations surrounding us saw it, they lost their confidence.” Literally, the Hebrew word is, “Their faces fell downward.” Well, why? “For they recognized that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God.”

See, the temptation here is to question your calling. Now, to get the little bit of background on the story, because you might say, “Okay, ‘question your calling.’ Where does he get that, from that paragraph?” This Shemaiah, did you notice that, when we get his name, he’s the son of so-and-so, son of so-and-so, son of-so-and-so? Well, when you get that, those are pretty important people. All right? We’re getting a lot of lineage.

Now, he’s closed in. Now, commentators aren’t sure – is he in prison, or is it house arrest, or has he willfully closed himself in? But he’s a prophet. When it says, “They’re going to kill you,” or, “They’re going to kill you tonight” – when you look at it, it’s actually in a poetic form. It’s a prophecy. And then, we learn, later on, this Noadiah – there’s a prophetess – she and some other prophets are saying the same thing.

And so, here’s what’s really happening, okay? You’re Nehemiah, it’s been rough, the wall is almost done. Whew! – it’s just about done. The gates are ready to drop. It’s a big victory. You’re this close to breaking through and getting it done.

And pretty soon, you get this message: They want to talk. You see through that one. Then there’s this threat, this emotional blackmail. You see through this one. But you’ve got to trust somebody. And this guy is a man of God. This guy is a prophet; he’s a priest. If you can’t trust a priest and a prophet, who are you going to trust? And so he says, “I’m shut in, and I’ve got issues, and I’m under attack from these terrible people. Come to my house. I want to talk to you.”

So Nehemiah stops working. And he goes over to this guy’s house, who is shut in. And he goes, “They’re going to kill you. They’re going to kill you tonight. God has revealed it to me. So, here’s the plan. Let’s you and I – we’ll go to the Temple” – because the Law states, clearly, no one can be killed inside the Temple. But the law also clearly stated that only a priest could go into the part of the Temple he’s talking about, and Nehemiah knew God’s Word. And he knew that would be sin. And because he knew God’s Word, and he knew that he wasn’t allowed in there, the recommendation from someone acting as though he were his friend, he realized, This smells. This isn’t from God. He said, “It’s not God’s will to flee. It’s not God’s will to quit. It’s not God’s will to cave in. It’s never God’s will for someone in my role to go into the Temple.”

How about you? You ever have someone who, out of their genuine concern, actually tells you the exact opposite thing to do? Is this Scriptural?

How about Peter? Do you think Peter really cared about Jesus, and loved Him a lot? And when Jesus said, “I’m going to go to the cross,” remember? What did he say? “Oh, I don’t think that’s a good plan. I care too much about You. Let’s not go with that one.” And do you remember what Jesus’ words were back to Peter on that one? “Get behind me, Satan.”

See, here’s what you’ve got to understand. This whole spiritual warfare stuff – it’s way less spooky than you think, and it’s way more about lies, and doubt, and deception. And it can come through people that are hostile to you, it can come through people that have no idea they’re being used by the enemy, and it can even come through people that they’re actually thinking they’re helping you, and it’s out of concern where they tell you the exact opposite thing you should do.

But it calls into question – when someone with spiritual authority says, “You know something? Go ahead and do that.” And you really want to do it anyway, but down deep, you know it’s wrong – sometimes you need to ask, discerning, “Is this from God, or is this from the enemy?” And so, here, the biblical command is, have your feet shod with the gospel. That protects us from doubt.

And when the apostle Paul describes that, the Romans, during that time – it’s a picture. They would have these sandals, and they would go up to about here, and they would wrap around with leather – and Alexander the Great made these famous – and they would put nails in the bottoms of their sandals, so when they fought, they had stable footing, because the landscape would be really different. And Alexander – it’s recorded that he felt like his armies won many, many battles because they had sure footing. And the apostle Paul takes that picture, and he says, “You are established in the gospel of grace.”

In other words, Christ died for you. Your sins are forgiven. You’ve been justified. You’ve been taken out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. His Spirit lives in you. You’ve been adopted. He has a plan for you. He loves you. He will keep His promises. He gives you a calling.

As you go it, it will be hard; there will be a battle, “I’ll never leave you or forsake you.” What he’s saying is, “Your doubts have to go back to your position in Christ, and what is true objectively.” Not what you feel this day, or what a friend says, or someone who calls it into question, or circumstances that make it hard.

You’ve got to go back to what is true, not what you feel. And that’s rooted in grace. That’s rooted in what Christ has done for you.

I’ve had doubts when I’ve gotten really discouraged, and, for me, I’ll believe a lie, and then the condemnation comes. And then I’ll soak in it for a while, and then I’ll be thinking I’m really a really, really, really terrible person. Do any of you ever have those thoughts?

See, that’s real. And you know what I’ve learned? That’s spiritual opposition. And you need to fight. You flee from lust. You fight the enemy. You realize, You know what? That’s not true. That’s a lie. That’s condemnation. That’s not…

God, I’m open. If there’s something I need to hear, if something I’ve done wrong, You show me. I’ll own it. I’ll confess it. I’ll get right with You, and I’ll get back on track.

That’s doubt. You called me to do this. You saved me; You put this desire in my heart. I know from Your Word, You want to help those people. You want to help those unwed mothers. You want to help those people in the inner city. You want to help those people in our neighborhood. You want me to lead this small group. You want me to go on that mission trip. You want me to work this marriage out. You want me to be patient with my son. It’s the will of God! And all the stuff comes. And the temptation is to give in, give up, or opt out.

Well, he’s not done. The final one is fear, because he is like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. And so, in the last one – verses 17, 18, and 19 – just notice how this is an ongoing issue: “Also in those days many letters went from the nobles of Judah to Tobiah.”

Now notice nobles. These are leaders. This is a disloyal faction. These are people, day in and day out, who are people with money, and power, and position, and the letters are coming in, and the letters are coming out, and he’s the governor.

“For many in Judah were bound by oath to him” – Tobiah – “because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah the son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah. Moreover, they were speaking about his good deeds in my presence and reported my words to him.” Do you get the picture here? The interwoven, political junk that’s against Nehemiah’s God-given assignment. And so, every day he keeps – they’re hearing all the wonderful things about Tobiah.

And then, he has a private conversation, and pretty soon, it’s showing up on someone else’s email. It’s right up there on YouTube, and he’s going, “I cannot believe that someone put that up there.” And notice the whole reason behind it all: “Tobiah sent letters to frighten me.”

If you want a little Bible study, in each one of these sections you’ll find the word, frighten, frighten, frighten, frighten, make us afraid, or, plan to harm. Fear is a powerful thing. The temptation is to lose heart. I just can’t take this anymore.

Notice, it’s never ending: “in those days,” “many letters,” “nobles” – plural. It’s like, wave after wave after wave. It just never seems to stop. You get spiritually exhausted. You say, “I just” – in your head, before you said, “I just can’t take this anymore.” And the New Testament command is to “take up the shield of faith.”

And his response is discernment and perseverance. Do you get the two things? He discerns what’s going on, he presses ahead; discerns what’s going on, presses ahead.

The apostle Paul gives us a picture. These are darts: These darts of doubt, these darts of condemnation, these darts of fear, these darts…

When the apostle Paul is describing for the Ephesian church about how to handle this, he talks about the shield of faith, and there are two different words for a shield. One is those round shields like the gladiators use, the round ones like this, right?

The others were about four feet by two and a half feet. They had a metal frame, and then they had a space. And then they would put cotton, and after the cotton they would put leather. So, there would be a four- to six-inch space between the frame and the outer part of the shield.

On the shields, then, they would have hooks. And when a Roman legion was going to go into battle – and often it was against a city, and people were in towers, and the people in towers actually had machines. They could shoot multiple arrows, just like in the movies – that’s actually true – or they would dip them in pitch and fire, as they were coming.

So, what they would do is, they would lock their shields. And then, when they saw them come, they would go down on one knee and put the shields up – tchoo, tchoo, tchoo, tchoo, tchoo, tchoo, tchoo, tchoo. It’s actually reported, one fellow came back, in Greek literature, he had two hundred arrows in his shield.

Now, listen to what he’s saying: “Therefore, taking up the shield of faith…” Faith, here, is not your salvific, believing faith for salvation. This is the faith and belief that victory is assured, that God will keep His promises, that He loves you, that you’re on the right track, and He will provide everything that you need.

And the way you do that is, when doubts come, the shield of faith – notice, with the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. And so, I’m condemned last Saturday. I got three hours; I’m in the tank, and I’m realizing I’m believing lies. And so, I start quoting Scripture about who I am in Christ, about, “There’s no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” – Romans chapter 8. And I start saying them out loud.

And then, I verbally rebuke the demonic spirits that are trying to discourage and depress me, because I’ve said, God, search my heart. If there’s something wrong, show me. If I’m the worst dad in the world, show me, individually. I’ll own it. If I’m the worst husband… And so, one by one – and still, I struggled and struggled and struggled. And then, so often, there is this powerful thing that God has given us that when you praise God, and when you thank God, and when you put that to music, there is something.

Remember when Saul had those demonic spirits? What did he ask for? “Find someone who plays the harp and have them come.” And David came, and he sang, and he sang truth.

And so, man, I put some worship music on my iPod, and I stuck it in my ears, and I found a place where people couldn’t hear me. And I didn’t feel like singing, and I sang praises to God, and, tchoo, I got a breakthrough. But it’s spiritual warfare.

Here’s what I want you to get: Fight! Fight! Discern! Be honest. Check your heart. And then, step up and fight.

Let me give you three specific ways to take this message with you. Number one, recognize the source of opposition. Your battle is not against flesh and blood. Let those people go. Don’t tag it on your wife, your husband, your son, your friend, your small group leader, your supervisor. They’re a pawn in the hand of the enemy. It doesn’t mean – let them own their stuff, but realize, when all this stuff is happening, there are times, there’s someone behind it.

Second, remember, who is in you is greater than he that is in the world. You’ve just got to remember. You’re a victor! You don’t fight for victory; you fight from victory. The Spirit of God lives in you, if you’re a Christ follower. The Spirit that raised Christ from the dead is inside your mortal body. You have the Word of God, and the truth sets you free. You need to know it, claim it, live it, verbalize it, and fight, because greater is the One that is in you than he that is in the world. But, boy, you can’t, just, Oh, poor me, self-pity, I’m discouraged; nothing ever works, blame other people. It’s death.

And then, third, the only way to lose is to give up. The absolute only way you ever lose: if you stop pressing ahead. We started the series with a verse, “For you have need of endurance so that once you’ve done the will of God you may receive what is promised.” God has got a great plan for you. Do not bail out.