weekend Broadcast

Facing Personal Attack, Part 1

From the series Keep Pressing Ahead

Ever had a situation that caught you off guard - that was so troubling, so painful, that you just stopped and said, “God - why? Why this? Why me? Why now?" Well, if so, join Chip as he shares some insight on how to navigate those times that make you say, “Why?”

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Message Transcript

Sometimes adversity comes when you obey. Sometimes it comes when you disobey, and there are consequences. And sometimes it’s personal attack. I don’t know the reason behind this situation. But I can tell you, there’s one that I don’t think we give much mental thought to is personal attack.

And you’ll notice, on those notes, personal attack – there’s an enemy behind it. There’s an enemy of your soul. There is an angelic being, who is the most intelligent, most beautiful, cherub in all the world, who wanted to usurp God’s role, and when he did, he took a third of the host of heaven. And his name is Lucifer, or Satan, or Beelzebub – multiple names in Scripture – and he has a third of angels that were good angels that turned bad angels – they are now called demons.

And this isn’t weird stuff. This is the reality of a biblical worldview. His goal is to destroy your life, destroy your faith, ruin your marriage, make you discouraged. Anything that you’re doing that is positive, encouraging, or helpful in your life, or in the name of Christ, he wants to discourage you, and take you out of it.

So, some adversity – please do not hear, “all adversity.” Some adversity, some pain, some difficulty, some unexplained things are not just because, in general, you’re making progress, or not just because there are consequences of something you did wrong, or, just, “it’s a fallen world.” Sometimes you’re under spiritual attack. And how you respond to spiritual attack is different than how you’d respond to those other things.

Now, I want to give you five quick ways that are times when spiritual attack is, often, very, very common.

But here are the five times when these things are occurring, you might say to yourself, Maybe…and you need discernment. You ask God; He’ll show you. But when you’re growing spiritually.

Sometimes when you decide, I’m going to memorize this passage. I’m going to get up and meet with God. I’m going to… You take steps spiritually, often, attack comes.

Second, when we invade enemy territory. In other words, when you begin to share your faith, or you are doing things that are bringing light: you help some orphans; you go on a mission trip – spiritual attack occurs.

When we expose Satan for who he is. Because when he is being revealed, he doesn’t like it.

The fourth is when we repent and make a clean break with worldly or sinful patterns. Satan doesn’t let go of people easily. It’s going to be really, really hard.

And the fifth is when God is preparing us for a great work for His glory. There are times when you can’t figure out – you pray, you search, and you just don’t know what’s going on. But there’s an invisible world that knows a little bit more of what’s going on than you do.

And when God is preparing you for something very significant, one of the signs is, there’s this spiritual opposition. And often it’s a dot here, and a dot here, and a dot here. And it takes a little while, and you realize, Oh, I think something is happening here.

Now, in Nehemiah 6, here’s what we’re going to see. We’re going to see what it looks like to put on the full armor of God, to do what God calls us to do.

And what we’re going to see is, you’re going to see what it looks like with clothes on, with a human being who responds. And the parallels with Ephesians 6 are astounding.

Beginning in verse 10 of Ephesians 6, here’s what we learn: who is behind spiritual warfare, personal attacks. “Finally, brethren, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.” Command: “Put on the armor of God, so that you can take a stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

Now, this is a guy who is getting beat up, stoned, thrown overboard, personally attacked at every level. And the apostle Paul, in chains, is saying, “It’s not that guard; it’s not that problem. It’s not Rome; it’s not those Judaizers. Our struggle is not against flesh and blood. There is a power behind this that is seeking to take me out because I’m doing what God wants me to do.”

And then, he says, “Therefore” – verse 13 – “put on the full armor of God, so that when the evil day comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then” – well, how? – “with the belt of truth buckled around your waist” – well, how else? – “with the breastplate of righteousness in its place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

“Now, in addition to this, take up also the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.”

And then, in the sense of, in the process of all of this, “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. And with this in mind, be alert and always praying for all the saints.”

What I want you to see is, there are four specific, ways that the enemy attacks us.

The very first one, the most common, is deception. Just circle that. I want to give you an overview of the whole of what we’re going to go through. The first is deception. Notice in John 8:44 Jesus calls Satan – who? He’s “the father of lies.”

The second is condemnation: the sense that you’re worthless, you don’t measure up. Notice, Revelation 12:10 calls Satan – who? “The accuser of the brethren.”

As you look at the other page, you notice Plan C of his tactics is doubt. In Genesis, the very first words that come out of Satan’s mouth, in Scripture, in the form of a serpent, is tempting mankind by saying, “Did God really say…?” Placing doubt.

And then, finally, he’s “a roaring lion,” from 1 Peter 5:8. And a big part of what the enemy tries to do is scare you, and paralyze you with fear, so you bail out of God’s program for your life.

So, with that said, are you ready? Let’s dig in. Nehemiah chapter 6 – plan A, deception. “Now it came about when it was reported to Sanballat, Tobiah, the Geshem, and the Arab and the rest of their enemies, that I had rebuilt the wall, and that no breach remained in it, although at that time I had not set up the gates or the doors, that Sanballat and Geshem sent a message to me, saying, ‘Come, let us meet together in Chephirim in the plain of Ono.’

“But they were planning to harm me. So I sent a message 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?’ And they sent messages to me four times in this manner, and I answered them in the same way.”

And you’re going to see, there are four tactics that they use on Nehemiah that are four of the very specific things the apostle Paul will say you will face, and I will face. And he even tells us how to face them.

Tactic number one is deception. So, they’ve tried scaring him; they’ve tried rumors. They were going to attack. Here’s the tactic: “You’re a reasonable man, Nehemiah. We’ve had our differences. But you don’t seem like a narrow, foolish person. Let’s have a, let’s have a meeting.”

And this city, actually, is twenty-seven miles north of Judah, right on the border. It’s a territory that wasn’t in control by the Jews. And so, they’re asking him to get out of where he doesn’t have protection. It’s got to be about a day and a half, twenty-seven miles – you don’t drive your car back then, right? So, if you walk twenty-seven miles, figure it out. A donkey is not that much faster.

So, he’s looking at a couple days’ trip, both ways, and what they’re coming on to say, “Look, let’s be reasonable. We’ve had our differences.” And then, they appeal a little bit to what other people might think: “You don’t want to be known as narrow-minded, do you? You don’t want to be known as someone who is not willing to come to the table and talk about how we could resolve our differences together.”

Now, here’s what you need to get, because this happens over and over and over and over, all four times: He discerns deception. He discerns, this is not a legitimate attempt for peace or reconciliation. This is an attempt to get him off the job, distracted, and they may even want to kill him. You see the line where he says, “But they were planning to harm me.”

So what’s the temptation? What’s the application for us? The temptation is to get distracted. God’s got a plan for your life. God’s got a calling on your life. For some, the will of God is really clear: “Address this marriage issue.” For some it’s, “You know what? Address this parenting issue.” For others it’s, “Address this ministry, or this small group,” or something He wants you to do. But it’s really clear, this is what you’re supposed to do.

When that gets really clear, and that’s the will of God for you, the enemy will try to get you distracted. He’ll try to deceive you; he’ll bring pressing, urgent, important, “You’ve got to do this,” “You’ve got to do that,” “Oh, we need you.” And he wants to take you off of what you are called to do.

And so, you need to be someone that’s astute, that can hear God’s voice, that’s prayerful, that’s in His Word, so you’re taking what’s coming in, and filtering it through truth. And so, the New Testament command is to put on the belt of truth.

And so, Paul is picturing, in the metaphor, as a Roman soldier of his day, because he’s writing to a group in Ephesus, and he wants them to get it. And he says, “You see those Roman soldiers, right? And you know how they are.”

And there’s this belt, and every piece of armor connects to the belt. You put the belt on, and then the breastplate that goes from right under your chin, down to your thighs – it connects, and the sword connects. So, everything is about the belt. Everything starts with truth. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” “You’ll know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Ninety percent of all that demonic forces want to do in your life are not weird. They are not The Exorcist. They are not physical or audio manifestations. It’s deception. Very subtle. They just want you to believe lies about God: “He doesn’t care about you. He doesn’t keep His promises. You don’t matter.”

Or lies about you, “You’re worthless. You’re stupid. He wouldn’t use you. You’re not smart enough. You’re too old. You’re too young. You’ve blown it before. You’ve had an abortion. You’ve been through two marriages. This isn’t going to work.” Lies, lies, lies – “There’s no hope for you.”

And once he gets you to believe a lie – about God, the future, your past, yourself – you’re done. You don’t have to worry about things moving in your house. You don’t have to worry about manifestations that are weird. Ninety percent of all he wants to do.

But the average believer doesn’t understand how demonic, spiritual warfare occurs, and you’re being deceived, and deceived, and blaming yourself, or blaming someone else. Nehemiah doesn’t. And he doesn’t get distracted. He picks up on what it is.

The belt of truth is being honest with God, and honest with yourself. It’s living in this reality of, “I’m not going to con God. I’m not going to act, or say, or pretend that things aren’t – I’m going to be absolutely, ruthlessly honest, because, ‘The Lord is near to those who call upon Him, to those who call upon Him in truth’” – Psalm 145:18. Nehemiah’s response here is discernment and perseverance. He discerns what’s going on, and he perseveres. Now, I don’t know what distracts you. It can be different. And sometimes it’s so appealing.

Second is condemnation. He’s “the accuser of the brethren.” Notice how their tactic shifts – this doesn’t work; he doesn’t take the bait.

“Then Sanballat sent his servant to me in the same manner a fifth time” – oh, wow, this is getting old – “with an open letter this time in his hands. In it was written, ‘It’s reported among the nations, and Gashmu says, that you and the Jews are planning to rebel; therefore you are rebuilding the wall. And you are to be their king, according to these reports. And you have also appointed prophets to proclaim in Jerusalem concerning you, “A king is in Judah!” And now it will be reported to the king’” – speaking now of King Artaxerxes, king of Persia – “‘and now it will be reported to the king according to these reports. So come now, let us take counsel together.’”

Do you see what they’re doing? They went from trying to deceive him, get him out of town, stop the work, to – this is basically – it’s not even thinly veiled. This is a threat. This is, “Hey, we have this letter.” This is a rumor; this is slander. This is, “Nehemiah, we just are telling everybody, and we’re having this letter, and we’re going to put it, like, overnight UPS to the king in Persia. And this isn’t about rebuilding the wall. It’s not about God, it’s about you, and your ego, and you want to be the king, and you actually have hired some people to be your own prophets.”

And so, they have made up this story. But the story is filled with emotion, and it condemns – what? It condemns his motives; it condemns his actions. It says, “You’re nothing that you purport to be. And this is getting spread all over Judea, and we’re going to send it all the way back to Persia.”

How do you respond when you have those feelings of condemnation? He knows it’s not true! Notice what he does. They say, “Come on, now, are you going to talk now? If you don’t talk to us, we’re going to send the letter.”

“Then I sent a message to him saying, ‘Such things as you are saying have not been done, but you are inventing them in your own mind.’” And then, notice, discernment again: “For all of them were trying to frighten us, thinking, ‘They’ll become discouraged’” – or demoralized – “‘with the work and it will not be done.’”

And then, notice this prayer: “But now, O God, strengthen my hands.” He doesn’t pray, “O, God, take away everything.” “Give me the strength to make it through.” And so, the temptation here is to defend yourself. The temptation is to go from, “This is what I’m supposed to do. This is –” Now, there are lots of things in your life, but, “This is what God has called me to do. This is the top priority right now.”

Distraction didn’t work, so now there’s all this condemnation: “You’re not doing this for the right reason. Look at your motives. Who are you trying to impress? What about this? What about that?” Right?

And there are certain times you just need to say, “You know what? I’m not going to defend myself.”

The command here is to “put on the breastplate of righteousness.” That’s what protects you from condemnation. And in essence, what that is, is that when God shows you what to do, you’re in the process of obeying Him. It doesn’t mean you’re perfect. But what keeps you is, “As far as I know, before God, my motives are right. As far as I know, before God, I’m doing what I know God wants me to do.”

And that’s the breastplate of righteousness. That protects you. That lets you know that these innuendos, and these slanderous reports. You know they’re not true. But you can spend a lot of horizontal energy trying to defend yourself. Instead, Nehemiah – it’s discernment – declares the truth – and then he prays for strength.