Sermon Tone Analysis

!!! Arise And Build!

All Things Are Possible With God’s Help

!!! Satan’s Greatest Tools

Nehemiah 6:1-14

 

 

       It was advertised that the Devil was going to put his tools up for sale.

On the date of the sale, the tools were placed on display, each being marked with its sale price.

There were a treacherous lot of implements:  hatred, envy, jealousy, deceit, lying, pride, and so on.

Laid apart from the rest was a harmless looking tool that was well worn, and priced very high.

“What is the name of this tool?”

asked one of the purchasers, pointing to it.

“That is discouragement,” the Devil replied.

“Why have you priced it so high?”

       “Because, it is more useful to me than the others.

I can pry open and get inside a man’s heart with that, when I cannot get near him with the other tools.

It is badly worn because I use it on almost everyone, since so few people know it belongs to me.”

Americans think the devil is nothing more than a cartoon character or someone created by Hollywood special effects, but the Bible treats him as a real, evil angel, who is in rebellion against God and His people.

*/And discouragement is one of the greatest tools that he uses against God’s people.

Now, don’t forget that the devil can work through any person or situation, because it’s not so much what he does to us, as it is how he gets us to perceive various situations./*

We can see all through the book of Nehemiah that Satan has been trying to discourage Nehemiah and the Jews in various ways.

Now, we see him at it again.

To get the specifics of the story notice with me please Nehemiah 6:1-14.

/(Even though discouragement is probably Satan’s favorite tool, in the passage before us we see two other tools that He also uses to try to bring about discouragement and defeat.

First, he used:)/

 

I.

Compromise (vv.

1-4).

The wall was completed.

There were *no* broken down places in it.

It was totally completed, although the doors had *not* been hung.

At this time Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem and the rest of Nehemiah’s enemies heard the report.

I am sure that the report has gone out about The House of the Lord.

Everywhere I go people have heard about what God is doing here.

*/That means that our enemies have heard the report too, so beware!/*

 

\\ */Now, when Satan finds out that he can’t stop you through opposition, he will try compromise./*

When He couldn’t stop the Children of Israel by attacking them on their wilderness journey, his strategy became to get them to intermarry with the enemy, even though God had already warned them against this sin.

*/When you are doing something for Jesus, Satan will try to get you to compromise…compromise your calling, compromise your commitment, compromise your integrity, compromise your effectiveness./*

·        He wants us to intermarry with the enemy.

·        He wants us to intermarry with sinners!

·        He wants the Church to intermarry with politics, social agendas, and worldliness.

There is a difference in speaking */politically/* and speaking */prophetically/*.

To speak politically is to speak to the civil administration or government.

To speak prophetically is to speak a fresh word from the Lord that at least

 

1)    points towards the future,

2)    reveals the present priorities of the Lord for someone’s life,

3)    sheds light on the mysteries of life, and~/or

4)    makes sense out of pain.

We must remain true to the Word of God.

We must do what only we can and should do!

 

/(So, let’s consider Nehemiah’s answer to his enemy.)/

*/“I am doing a great work and I cannot come down.”/*

There is no greater work than the work of God.

 

·        Some work for the councilman, but I work for the Counselor.

·        Some work for the mayor, but I work for the Master.

·        Some work for the government, but I work for the Kingdom!

·        Some work for the Senate, but I work for the Savior.

·        Some work for the House of Representatives, but I work for The House of the Lord.

·        Some work for Chief of Staff, but I work for the Chief Shepherd.

·        Some work of the president, but I work for the King of kings and Lord of lords.

\\        What is the work that we ought to be doing in this NT.

dispensation?

We ought to be preaching the Gospel, witnessing, winning souls, making disciples, and setting people free, in the power of the Holy Spirit, with miracles, signs, and wonders.

*/For us, building buildings is a function of the effective work of God./*

 

·        Some don’t like my personality, but I am doing a great work and I cannot come down.

·        Some don’t like my theology, but I’m doing a great work and I cannot come down.

·        Some don’t like my methodology, but I’m doing a great work and I cannot come down.

·        Some don’t like my perception, but I’m doing a great work and I cannot come down.

I must continue to do what God has called me to do, in the way He wants me to do it!

Nehemiah knew how to say, “No!”

A good leader must learn how to say, “No!”

 

·        I must say, “No,” to some speaking engagements.

·        I must say, “No,” to some programs and movements.

·        I must say, “No,” to certain people that I can’t be affiliated with.

*/Proper vision and focus upon the vision often necessitates a, “No!”/*

 

/(But there is a second response here in the form of a question:)/

 

“Why should I stop the work while I leave it and come down to you?”

Why should we stop winning souls and affecting lives?

·        Should we stop because someone is planning to harm us?

·        Should we stop because people don’t like our methods?

·        Should we stop because people don’t like us?

·        Should we stop because we sometimes get hurt?

·        Should we stop because we are misunderstood?

The apostle Paul said,

 

Romans 8:18 (NASB-U), “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”

 

\\ Paul knew about suffering for the Lord.

He wrote in

 

2 Corinthians 11:25-28 (NASB-U), “Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep.

[26] I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; [27] I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.

[28] Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches.”

Yet he said in

 

2 Corinthians 12:15 (NASB-U), “I will most gladly spend and be expended for your souls.

If I love you more, am I to be loved less?”

 

*/There is no good or legitimate reason for stopping the work of God!/*

 

*/But Satan is persistent./*

He will continually try to put pressure on you.

But, Nehemiah knew how to say, “No.”

We must learn how to say “No” to Satan.

To say “No” to sin, self, Satan, and the world, is an automatic “Yes” to Jesus Christ.

To say “No” to Jesus Christ is to say an automatic “Yes” to sin, self, Satan, and the world.

/(Satan not only uses compromise, he uses consternation.)/

II.

Consternation.