I CAN'T COME DOWN

I seem to be stuck in this story and period in the lives of the Israelites. But I believe that someone out there is in a place where God has given you an assignment, but because of the opposition you’re getting, you’re beginning to doubt that it was God; you’re beginning to think you must have heard wrong; you’re beginning to feel you’re going in the wrong direction and you’re about to come down off the wall…I’m here to encourage you this morning, say these words, “I Can’t Come Down”.

The title of today’s message is, “I Can’t Come Down”.

This morning while we have our focal verses, for you to get the whole story we have to go back to the beginning. (Don’t worry I’m going to give you the cliff notes version). In chapter one of Nehemiah we have Nehemiah who was one of the Israelites. While he was never called a prophet nor was his work placed with the prophetic writings, he declares to the people what God has revealed to him and then intercedes on their behalf.

Stop waiting for a title and position to do what God has called you to do. It’s not the title or position that makes you who God told you to be or allows you to do what He told you to do.

In chapter one, Nehemiah, (whose name means, “Yahweh comforts”) is hanging out at the fortress of Susa. Susa was the winter residence of the king of Persia. In other words, Nehemiah was at the palace. This is important.

He’s hanging at the palace when his brother comes for a visit and he asks him how things were going in Jerusalem. You see the exiles have now returned home and Nehemiah wanted to know how it was going. To which his brother replies they are distress referring to their social and economic situation and reproach, referring to their spiritual condition.

The walls of the city had been torn down and the gates destroyed by fire. When Nehemiah heard this he sat down and cried. Have you ever just sat down and cried for the condition of someone else? That’s a missionary’s heart, they weep for the conditions of others, disregarding their own comfort and conveniences and long to help. Not only do they long to help, they go.

3 Tobiah the Ammonite, who was standing beside him, remarked, “That stone wall would collapse if even a fox walked along the top of it!”

I seem to be stuck in this story and period in the lives of the Israelites. But I believe that someone out there is in a place where God has given you an assignment, but because of the opposition you’re getting, you’re beginning to doubt that it was God; you’re beginning to think you must have heard wrong; you’re beginning to feel you’re going in the wrong direction and you’re about to come down off the wall…I’m here to encourage you this morning, say these words, “I Can’t Come Down”.

Nehemiah didn’t just cry, he mourned, he fasted and he prayed. In the first chapter, beginning at the fifth verse you’ll find Nehemiah’s prayer. He beseeched, he begged God to listen to him, he confessed they had sinned and he included himself and his family in that sin confession. Too often people want to elevate themselves when they’re interceding for others when in fact, we’ve all sinned and we all have issues, so when we pray and ask for forgiveness, we must include ourselves too. Nehemiah’s prayer finishes out the first chapter and he ends by stating his position, “In those days I was the king’s cupbearer.” His job was to taste the king’s food and drink before the king to make sure it wasn’t poisoned.

It’s now four months later and the Israelite’s condition was still weighing heavy on Nehemiah. You see he didn’t just pray and forget about them and now the weight was so heavy it was written all over his face, he didn’t have to say a word.

The king saw his distress and asked him why he so sad and now he goes from being sad to being afraid. You see when you were in the service of the king whatever your job was, you were supposed to be cheerful about it, so you didn’t bring down the mood of the king and if you couldn’t do that he could fire you, throw you in jail or even have you killed. Can you imagine having to go to work with a good attitude every day or risk being killed?

So Nehemiah was scared, but he braved up and told the king why he was so sad, that’s in chapter two. And in a turn of events in verse four of chapter two, the king says, “Well, how can I help you?”

In for a penny in for a pound. Nehemiah let’s go with exactly what he needs and wants, and the king then asks how long will you be gone, when will you return? Could this be happening? Nehemiah is actually having a conversation with king Artaxerxes, his boss, the man who could speak and have people killed, who could send troops to war and Nehemiah is talking to him about his people, the Jews, and how he was wanting to help them.

And he doesn’t stop there, he goes on to ask the king for letters for safe passage through the regions he was going to have to travel through to get where he was going and for timber to build the gates. And the king gave him what he ask for not because of who he was, not because the king was concerned about Nehemiah’s people, but in verse eight, Nehemiah declares “And the king granted these requests, because the gracious hand of God was on me.”

When you’re following what God tells you to do, and he tells you to go to someone for help and ask them for something, don’t put them on a pedestal and elevate them to a place they shouldn’t be in your life and don’t let them make you feel indebted to them, because if God told you to ask them and if they do it, it’s not because of you or them, it’s because the hand of God is on you.

4 Then I prayed,

The title of today’s message is, “I Can’t Come Down”.

And when the hand of God is on you, you will be blessed, but there will also be opposition, and Nehemiah’s opposition shows up in the second chapter and tenth verse… “But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard of my arrival, they were very displeased that someone had come to help the people of Israel.”

It doesn’t matter that you’ve come for a noble purpose, it doesn’t matter that you were sent by God, there will always be someone who won’t be happy to see you. Be ready and remember, I can’t come down.

Despite your opposition, stay on task and do what God has called you to do. Nehemiah went about doing what he was sent to do and what he told the king, his boss, he was going to do. He had to take a look and see where they were in the process.

When you come into a situation, even though you know God sent you, even though you know what your assignment is, you still have to assess the situation, you can’t always just come and jump right in without knowing exactly what needs to be done. So Nehemiah goes out, at night, with just a few people and he hadn’t revealed his reason for being there to the people that were with him. You can’t always tell others what your assignment is right away either, even if they are eventually going to be a part of the plan and key leaders to help you complete the assignment.

Nehemiah hadn’t told the city officials, the Jewish leaders, the priests, the nobles, the officials or anyone else in the administration about what he was doing and his inspection before he did it. You don’t always need to announce your plan.

But when the time had come for him to speak, oh my did he, look at chapter two verse seventeen, Nehemiah says speaking to the Jews, “You know very well what trouble we are in. Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire. Let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem and end this disgrace!” 18 Then I told them about how the gracious hand of God had been on me, and about my conversation with the king. They replied at once, “Yes, let’s rebuild the wall!” So they began the good work.”

When God gives you a vision and an assignment, He will touch the hearts of the people who matter, those who have a part, who have influence in what it is you are to accomplish. Notice I said God will touch the hearts of the people who matter.

This morning while we have our focal verses, for you to get the whole story we have to go back to the beginning. (Don’t worry I’m going to give you the cliff notes version). In chapter one of Nehemiah we have Nehemiah who was one of the Israelites. While he was never called a prophet nor was his work placed with the prophetic writings, he declares to the people what God has revealed to him and then intercedes on their behalf.

• There will be those who will oppose you, they don’t matter

• There will be those who will try to stop you, they don’t matter

• There will be those who will try to discourage you, they don’t matter

• There will be those who will try to threaten you, they don’t matter

Do the work God gave you to do, with the people He gave you to do it with.

Say, “I can’t come down”.

The leaders replied at once, “Yes, let’s rebuild the wall!” And Sanballat, Tobiah and there’s another one with them this time, Geshem, when they heard about the plan they scoffed contemptuously, ‘What are you doing? Are you rebelling against the king?”

Nehemiah was one of the Israelites who was in captivity and he was now working as a cupbearer for the king. While he was never called a prophet nor was his work placed with the prophetic writings, he declares to the people what God has revealed to him and then intercedes on their behalf.

These men were governors in the region so they had a little power, but they were also under the authority of King Artaxerxes, the same king Nehemiah was the cupbearer for, the same king who had given him letters for safe passage, soldiers to travel with him for protection, letters for timber to build the gate and oh yes his blessing to go do it. These men were under the same authority and were now trying to stir up trouble and so they hurled insults, mocked and ridiculed the Jews’ efforts. They even went so far as to question the legitimacy of the project, saying the Jews were mounting a rebellion against the king.

Know this, those who will come to oppose you, will sometimes try to throw their dirt on you, they may try to put their guilt off on you by accusing you of the very thing they themselves are doing. Such is the case with these three men, they knew full well Nehemiah had the permission of the king to do what he was doing, this knowledge made them the ones guilty of treason against King Artaxerxes.

Know from whom you have your authority, even though Nehemiah knew he had letters from the very king they had accused him of rebelling against, Nehemiah responds, “The God of heaven will help us succeed. We, his servants, will start rebuilding this wall. But you have no share, legal right, or historic claim in Jerusalem.”

When you began an assignment from God there are some things you’d better be sure of

• Who God is

• Who you are

• What your rights are

Stop waiting for a title and position to do what God has called you to do. It’s not the title or position that makes you who God told you to be or do what He told you to do.

• And that you will succeed

Chapter three tells you who’s rebuilding which portion of the wall and you will see there were many people working on the wall at the same time. They had a plan, they had the desire and drive to do it, they had the materials and they had the people.

Many hands make light work. This is why we stress evangelism so much, first to win souls for the kingdom of heaven, but also to bring more people into the family of Love Christian Center. Not only that we want those who are already members to be faithful, to show up every Sunday for Worship service. You see there are things that occur during worship service that aren’t on the video. We announce plans and what’s happening, we pray, we praise, we worship the Lord through giving our tithes and offerings, but most importantly we fellowship together. We hug and love on each other, we find out how your week was and we share how ours was. We’re a family and you can’t get all of that by just watching a video of the message, you have to be in the house to get all of that. But don’t stop watching, if you’re here in the Douglasville area come and join us, we start every Sunday at 10 am, if you’re not, keep watching but I encourage you if don’t have a church family that you’re a part of and can worship and fellowship with please find one in your local area. It’s important.

In chapter one, Nehemiah, (whose name means, “Yahweh comforts”) is hanging out at the fortress of Susa. Susa was the winter residence of the king of Persia. In other words Nehemiah was at the palace. This is important.

For those members of Love Christian Center, it’s important to come out every Wednesday for Bible Study. It’s a forum where we discuss and ask and answer questions. Love Christian Center, we have work to do and we need people to do it. We now return to our scheduled programming.

When you get an assignment from God, he will give you supporters and Satan, His imitator, will give you haters. As we come to chapter four we see Sanballat is not going away, now he gets very angry when he hears the Jews are continuing to rebuild the wall. When a gentle prod doesn’t work, don’t think your enemies are going to go away.

He’s hanging at the palace when his brother comes for a visit and he asks him how things were going in Jerusalem. You see the exiles have now returned home and Nehemiah wanted to know how it was going. To which his brother replies they are distress referring to their social and economic situation and reproach, referring to their spiritual condition.

Now he goes into a rage and starts to demean the Jews in front of a crowd, “What does this bunch of poor, feeble Jews think they’re doing? Do they think they can build the wall in a single day by just offering a few sacrifices? Do they actually think they can make something of stones from a rubbish heap—and charred ones at that?”

The walls of the city had been torn down and the gates destroyed by fire. When Nehemiah heard this he sat down and cried. Have you ever just sat down and cried for the condition of someone else? That’s a missionary’s heart, they weep for the conditions of others, disregarding their own comfort and conveniences and long to help. Not only do they long to help, they go.

Nehemiah didn’t just cry, he mourned, he fasted and he prayed. In the first chapter, beginning at the fifth verse you’ll find Nehemiah’s prayer. He beseeched, he begged God to listen to him, he confessed they had sinned and he included himself and his family in that sin confession. Too often people want to elevate themselves when they’re interceding for others when in fact, we’ve all sinned and we all have issues, so when we pray and ask for forgiveness, we must include ourselves too. Nehemiah’s prayer finishes out the first chapter and he ends stating his position, “In those days I was the king’s cupbearer.” His job was to taste the kings food and drink before the king to make sure it wasn’t poisoned.

It’s now four months later and the Israelite’s condition was still weighing heavy on Nehemiah. You see he didn’t just pray and forget about them and now the weight was so heavy it was written all over his face, he didn’t have to say a word.

The king saw his distress and asked him why he so sad and now he goes from being sad to being afraid. You see when you were in the service of the king whatever your job was, you were supposed to be cheerful about it, so you didn’t bring down the mood of the king and if you couldn’t do that he could fire you, throw you in jail or even have you killed. Can you imagine having to go to work with a good attitude every day or risk being killed?

• Your haters will try to make you look bad in front of the crowd

• they’ll tell you we don’t want your kind here

• they’ll try to make you feel bad about yourself

• they’ll try to make you doubt yourself

• they’ll insult you

• they’ll attack your character

But I’m here to encourage you don’t come down off the wall, keep working. Say it with me, I can’t come down.

So Nehemiah was scared, but he braved up and told the king why he was so sad, that’s in chapter two. And in a turn of events in verse four of chapter two, the king says, “Well, how can I help you?”

Not only will there be a chief hater who will taunt you, others will join in. Tobia the Ammonite adds, “That stone wall would collapse if even a fox walked along the top of it!”

Nehemiah wasn’t insulted, deterred or worried, he spoke to the one who had given him the assignment. He prayed to God, he told on them to the One who could fix the problem, the One who take care of his haters, his mockers, his taunters. Don’t waste time going here and there to tell others how you’re being persecuted, how you’re being bullied, tell God and watch Him work on your behalf, watch Him defend you. You just stay on the wall and tell your hater, I can’t come down.

The people were excited, they worked enthusiastically and got the wall rebuilt to the half way point all the way around the city. I have to tell you, the better you do, the more haters you’ll get. They weren’t even done yet and now Sanballat and Tobiah and the Samaritans, and the Arabs, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites were all furious and made plans to come and attack them. But the Jews prayed to God, when your enemy comes to attack you, no matter how many of them there are, pray.

The people were working hard to rebuild this wall, moving and lifting rocks and clearing rubble and they were tired and discouraged and scared. Some of the Jews lived in areas that were close to their enemies and they could hear what the enemy was saying, they were trying to instill fear into the Jews, and they were succeeding. They said their enemies would come from all directions and swoop down on them and attack them.

Now imagine you’re trying to do your work, it’s hard physical labor, you’re tired, but you’re excited and then you continue to be attacked, you look at what you’ve accomplished so far and you want to be happy about it, but now someone is plotting a physical attack against you and you hear about it from someone within your circle or perhaps you’re the one who hears the enemy saying it loud enough for you to hear. It doesn’t matter where it’s coming from, you’re scared.

So not only did the Jews pray to God, they did something else in addition to prayer, they prepared themselves, they armed themselves and these weapons were carnal. Nehemiah placed guards by the families as they worked, and they were armed with swords, spears and bows.

He showed the people he was not oblivious to the plans of the enemy and he didn’t dismiss the feelings and fears of the people. He acted on them, he reassured them, telling them don’t be afraid, he encouraged them to remember the Lord, who is great and glorious, he told them to fight for their brothers, their sons, their daughters, their wives and their homes. He made them feel safe. Nehemiah was a leader.

In for a penny in for a pound. Nehemiah let’s go with exactly what he needs and wants, and the king then asks how long will you be gone, when will you return? Could this be happening? Nehemiah is actually having a conversation with king Artaxerxes, his boss, the man who could speak and have people killed, who could send troops to war and Nehemiah is talking to him about his people, the Jews and how he was wanting to help them.

After the enemy knew their plan was blown, the Jews didn’t relax, now half the men worked while the other half stood guard with their spears, shields, bows and breastplates and the workers building the wall did so with one hand while carrying a weapon in their other hand. Sometimes you need to be ready to fight, you need to prepare yourself for battle and just because the enemy stands down for a moment, don’t you stand down until your task has been completed. Don’t you let down your guard, because as soon as you do, that’s the time the enemy will launch his attack. You stay vigilant, you stay watchful, you continue to pray all the way until the end.

The Jews stayed ready for battle, day and night and because they were working on the wall from sun up to sun down supplies were starting to run low. Some families were starting to run out of food, they had mortgaged their fields, their vineyards and their homes trying to get food during the famine. Others had to borrow money and use their fields and vineyards as collateral to pay their taxes.

The rich Jews were taking advantage of those who were not rich. The poor Jews were selling their children into slavery just to get enough money to live; they had sold their daughters and now had no way to get them back because their fields were already mortgaged.

Nehemiah, the leader, handled the situation, he didn’t worry about ruffling feathers or hurting feelings. He called a meeting and as we would say called them on the carpet about what they were doing and how they were taking advantage of their fellow Jews and told them to stop. Nehemiah then offered himself up as an example, telling them he had been lending the people money and grain and not charging interest then went on to tell them to restore the fields, vineyards, olive groves and homes to them that day. And he didn’t stop there, then he told them to repay the interest they had charged the people when they borrowed and they agreed and did it.

Nehemiah and his men never demanded the portion of grain, wine and taxes they were entitled to and they also worked on the wall right along with the people. You see Nehemiah was not lording his position over the people, he was in the trenches, he was right there on the wall with them. The people didn’t need a manager, they needed help. Not only that Nehemiah regularly fed 150 Jewish officials at his own table along with visitors from other lands.

Meanwhile, they finished rebuilding the wall, but they hadn’t put the gates back up yet and when Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem and the rest of their enemies found out they sent Nehemiah a message asking him to meet them at one of the villages, but Nehemiah realized it was an ambush. Your enemies will try to set you up to hurt or kill you. So Nehemiah sent back this message, “And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?”

Just because your enemies call a meeting, it doesn’t mean you have to stop the Lord’s work and show up. Say it with me, “I can’t come down”. They ask him four more times for a meeting and each time he gave them the same response. If the answer is the same, it’s the same, don’t get tired of saying the same thing over and over again. If you know your message is clear, you don’t have to find new ways to say the same things. Continue to tell them I can’t come down.

And he doesn’t stop there, he goes on to ask the king for letters for safe passage through the regions he was going to have to travel through to get where he was going and for timber to build the gates. And the king gave him what he ask for not because of who he was, not because the king was concerned about Nehemiah’s people, but in verse eight, Nehemiah declares “And the king granted these requests, because the gracious hand of God was on me.”

• So when your enemies show up at your door, tell them I can’t come down it’s my prayer time

• When they talk about you, tell them I can’t come down and respond to that foolishness

• When they tell lies on you, tell them I can’t come down to try to convince others of who I am, if they can’t already see it

• When they ask you to go to lunch, tell them I can’t come down to gossip about other people with you

• When they invite you to their church, tell them I can’t come down and leave the work at my church undone

• When they invite to their house for dinner, tell them I can’t come down and plot against my brother or sister

Fast forward,

When you are following what God tells you to do, and he tells you to go to someone for help and ask them for something, don’t put them on a pedestal and elevate them to a place they shouldn’t be in your life and don’t let them make you feel indebted to them, because if God told you to ask them and if they do it, it’s not because of you or them, it’s because the hand of God is on you.

• Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords

• Jesus, the perfect Lamb of God

• Jesus, the sinless son of man

• Jesus, the Son of God

• Jesus, the one who could have called a legion of angels

• Jesus, the way maker

• Jesus, the heart fixer

And when the hand of God is on you, you will be blessed, but there will also be opposition, and Nehemiah’s opposition shows up in the second chapter and tenth verse… “But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard of my arrival, they were very displeased that someone had come to help the people of Israel.

• Jesus, the mind regulator

• Jesus, the Alpha and Omega

• Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith

• Jesus, the Bread of Life

• Jesus, the Good Shepherd

• Jesus, the Cornerstone

• Jesus, the Living Water

It doesn’t matter that you’ve come for a noble purpose, it doesn’t matter that you were sent by God, there will always be someone who won’t be happy to see you. Be ready and remember, I can’t come down.

• Jesus, the Heir of all things

• Jesus, the Holy One of God

• Jesus, the Image of God

• Jesus, the Just One

• Jesus, our Immanuel

• Jesus, the Lily of the valley

• Jesus, the Bright and Morning Star

Despite your opposition, stay on task and do what God has called you to do. Nehemiah went about doing what he was sent to do and what he told the king, his boss he was going to do. He had to take a look and see where they were in the process.

• Jesus, our Savior

• Jesus, our healer

• Jesus, our deliverer

• Jesus, the one who hung on an old rugged cross, taking on the sins of the world just so we could have a chance for eternal life, an opportunity to receive salvation.

• Jesus, fully God and fully man died on a cross for you and for me.

• When the priests, teachers of religious law and elders said, “He saved others,” they scoffed, “but he can’t save himself! So he is the King of Israel, is he? Let him come down from the cross right now, and we will believe in him!” Jesus wouldn’t come down.

For you and for me, he hung there and He died, He wouldn’t come down from the cross to save Himself, He chose to sacrifice His life for us.

When you come into a situation, even though you know God sent you, even though you know what your assignment is, you still have to assess the situation, you can’t always just come and jump right in without knowing exactly what needs to be done. So Nehemiah goes out, at night, with just a few people and he hadn’t revealed his reason for being there to the people that were with him. You can’t always tell others what your assignment is right away either, even if they are eventually going to be a part of the plan and key leaders.

• Do you have a thank you on your lips for Jesus?

• Do you have a hallelujah in your spirit for true and living God? The one they buried in a borrowed tomb, it was borrowed because he wasn’t going to need it long.

• Do you have a shout for the one who conquered death, hell and the grave?

• Do you have a praise for the one who after three days rose again with all power in his hands?

Nehemiah had not told the city officials, the Jewish leaders, the priests, the nobles, the officials or anyone else in the administration about what he was doing and his inspection before he did it. You don’t always need to announce your plan.

• Do you have a thank you for the one who ascended back to the Father and now sits at his right-hand interceding on your behalf?

The Jews took just 52-days to rebuild the wall, that’s seven weeks and three days, that means if they had started building the wall on New Year’s Day, they would’ve finished on this past Thu, Feb 21st, Caden’s birthday.

But when the time had come for him to speak, oh my did he, look at chapter two verse seventeen, Nehemiah says, “You know very well what trouble we are in. Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire. Let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem and end this disgrace!” 18 Then I told them about how the gracious hand of God had been on me, and about my conversation with the king. They replied at once, “Yes, let’s rebuild the wall!” So they began the good work.”

18 Then I told them about how the gracious hand of God had been on me, and about my conversation with the king.

God is still doing great things in the earth, through His people, are you one of His people? If your answer to that question was no, then you can change that today, the doors of the church are open for salvation.

When God gives you a vision and an assignment, He will touch the hearts of the people who matter, those who have a part, who have influence in what it is you are to accomplish. Notice I said God will touch the hearts of the people who matter.

They replied at once, “Yes, let’s rebuild the wall!” So they began the good work.

There will be those who will oppose you, they don’t matter

There will be those who will try to stop you, they don’t matter

There will be those who will try to discourage you, they don’t matter

There will be those who will try to threaten you, they don’t matter

Do the work God gave you to do, with the people He gave you to do it with.

Say, “I can’t come down”.

They leaders replied at once, “Yes, let’s rebuild the wall!” And Sanballat, Tobiah and there’s another one with them this time, Geshem, when they heard about the plan they scoffed contemptuously, ‘What are you doing? Are you rebelling against the king?”

These men were governors in the region so they had a little power, but they were also under the authority of King Artaxerxes, the same king Nehemiah was the cupbearer for, the same king who had given him letters for safe passage, soldiers to travel with him for protection, letters for timber to build the gate and oh yes his blessing to go do it. These men were under the same authority and were now trying to stir up trouble and so they hurled insults, mocked and ridiculed the Jews’ efforts. They even went so far as to question the legitimacy of the project, saying the Jews were mounting a rebellion against the king.

Know this, those who will come to oppose you, will sometimes try to throw their dirt on you, they may try to put their guilt off on you by accusing you of the very thing they themselves are doing. Such is the case with these three men, they knew full well Nehemiah had the permission of the king to do what he was doing, this knowledge made them the ones guilty of treason against King Artaxerxes.

Know from whom you have you authority, even though Nehemiah knew he had letters from the very king they had accused him of rebelling against, Nehemiah responds, “The God of heaven will help us succeed. We, his servants, will start rebuilding this wall. But you have no share, legal right, or historic claim in Jerusalem.”

When you began an assignment from God there are some things you’d better be sure of

Who God is

Who you are

What your rights are

And that you will succeed

Chapter three tells you who’s rebuilding which portion of the wall and you will see there were many people working on the wall at the same time. They had a plan, they had the desire and drive to do it, they had the materials and they had the people.

Many hands make light work. This is why we stress evangelism so much, first to win souls for the kingdom of heaven, but also to bring more people into the family of Love Christian Center. Not only that we want those who are already members to be faithful, to show up every Sunday for Worship service. You see there are things that occur during worship service that aren’t on the video. We announce plans and what’s happening, we pray, we praise, we worship the Lord through giving our tithes and offerings, but most importantly we fellowship together. We hug and love on each other, we find out how your week was and we share how ours was. We’re a family and you can’t get all of that by just watching a video of the message, you have to be in the house to get all of that. But don’t stop watching, if you’re here in the Douglasville area come and join us, if you’re not, keep watching but I encourage you if don’t have a church family that you’re a part of and can worship and fellowship with please find one in your local area. It’s important.

For those members of Love Christian Center, it’s important to come out everyday Wednesday for Bible Study. It’s a forum where we discuss and ask and answer questions.

Love Christian Center, we have work to do and we need people to it. We now return to our scheduled programming.

When you get an assignment from God, he will give you supporters and Satan, His imitator, will give you haters. As we come to chapter four we see Sanballat is not going away, now he gets very angry when he hears the Jews are rebuilding the wall. When a gentle prod doesn’t work, don’t think you’re enemies are going away.

Now he goes into a rage and starts to demean the Jews in front of a crowd, “What does this bunch of poor, feeble Jews think they’re doing? Do they think they can build the wall in a single day by just offering a few sacrifices? Do they actually think they can make something of stones from a rubbish heap—and charred ones at that?”

Your haters will try to make you look bad in front of the crowd

they’ll tell you we don’t want your kind here

they’ll try to make you feel bad about yourself

they’ll try to make you doubt yourself

they’ll insult you

they’ll attack your character

But I’m here to encourage you don’t come down off the wall, keep working. Say it with me, I can’t come down.

Not only will there be a chief hater who will taunt you, others will join in. Tobia the Ammonite adds, “That stone wall would collapse if even a fox walked along the top of it!”

Nehemiah wasn’t insulted, deterred or worried, he spoke to the one who had given him the assignment. He prayed to God, he told on them to the One who could fix the problem, the One who take care of his haters, his mockers, his taunters. Don’t waste time going here and there to tell others how you’re being persecuted, how you’re being bullied, tell God and watch Him work on your behalf, watch Him defend you. You just stay on the wall and tell your hater, I can’t come down.

The people were excited, they worked enthusiastically and got the wall rebuilt to the half way point all the way around the city. I have to tell you, the better you do, the more haters you’ll get. They weren’t even done yet and now Sanballat and Tobiah and the Samaritans, and the Arabs, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites were all furious and made plans to come and attack them.

But the Jews prayed to God, when your enemy comes to attack you, no matter how many of them there are, pray.

The people were working hard, moving and lifting rocks and clearing rubble to rebuild this wall and they were tired and discouraged and scared. Some of them lived in areas that were close to the enemies and could hear what they were saying trying and succeeding to instill fear into the Jews. Saying their enemies would come from all directions and swoop down on them and attack them.

Now imagine you’re trying to do your work, it’s hard physical labor, you’re tired, but you’re excited and then you continue to be attacked, you look at what you’ve accomplished so far and you want to be happy about it, but now someone is plotting a physical attack against you and you hear about it from someone within your circle or perhaps you’re the one who hears the enemy saying it loud enough for you to hear. It doesn’t matter where it’s coming from, you’re scared.

So not only did the Jews pray to God, they did something else in addition to prayer, they prepared themselves, they armed themselves and these weapons were carnal. Nehemiah placed guards by the families as they worked, and they were armed with swords, spears and bows.

He showed the people he was not oblivious to the plans of the enemy and he didn’t dismiss the feelings and fears of the people. He acted on them, he reassured them, telling them don’t be afraid, he encouraged them to remember the Lord, who is great and glorious, he told to fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives and and your homes. He made them feel safe. Nehemiah was a leader.

After the enemy knew their plan was blown, the Jews didn’t relax, now half the men worked while the other half stood guard with their spears, shields, bows and breastplates and the workers building the wall did so with one hand while carrying a weapon in their other hand. Sometimes you need to be ready to fight, you need to prepare yourself for battle and just because the enemy stands down for a moment, don’t you stand down until your task has been completed. Don’t you let down your guard, because as soon as you do, that’s the time the enemy will launch their attack. You stay vigilant, you stay watchful, you continue to pray all the way until the end.

The Jews stayed ready for battle, day and night and because they were working on the wall from sun up to sun down supplies were starting to run low. Some families were starting to run out of food, they had mortgaged their fields, their vineyards and their homes trying to get food during the famine. Others had to borrow money and use their fields and vineyards as collateral to pay their taxes.

The rich Jews were taking advantage of those who were not rich. The poor Jews were selling their children into slavery just to get enough money to live; they had sold their daughters and had no way to get them back because their fields were already mortgaged.

Nehemiah, the leader, handled the situation, he didn’t worry about ruffling feathers or hurting feelings. He called a meeting and as we would say called them on the carpet about what they were doing and how they were taking advantage of their fellow Jews and told them to stop. Nehemiah then offered himself up as an example, telling them he had been lending the people money and grain and not charging interest then went on to tell them to restore the fields, vineyards, olive groves and homes to them that day. And he didn’t stop there, then he told them to repay the interest they had charged the people when they borrowed and they agreed and did it.

Nehemiah and his men never demanded the portion of grain, wine and taxes they were entitled to and they also worked on the wall right along with the people. You see Nehemiah was not lording his position over the people, he was in the trenches, he was right there on the wall with them. The people didn’t need a manager, they needed help. Not only that Nehemiah regularly fed 150 Jewish officials at his table along with visitors from other lands.

Meanwhile, they finished rebuilding the wall, but they hadn’t put the gates back up yet and when Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem and the rest of their enemies found out they sent Nehemiah a message asking him to meet them at one of the villages, but Nehemiah realized it was an ambush. Your enemies will try to set you up to hurt or kill you. So Nehemiah sent back this message, “I am engaged in a great work, so I can’t come. Why should I stop working to come and meet with you?” I can’t come down.

Just because your enemies call a meeting, it doesn’t mean you have to stop the Lord’s work and show up. Say it with me, “I can’t come down”. They ask him four more times for a meeting and each time he gave them the same response. If the answer is the same, it’s the same, don’t get tired of saying the same thing over and over again. If you know your message is clear, you don’t have to find new ways to say the same things. Continue to tell them I can’t come down.

So when your enemies come, tell them I can’t come down

When they talk about you, tell them I can’t come down

When they tell lies on you, tell them I can’t come down

When they ask you to go to lunch, tell them I can’t come down

When they invite you to their church, tell them I can’t come down

When they invite to their house for dinner, tell them I can’t come down

Fast forward,

Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords

Jesus, the perfect Lamb of God

Jesus, the sinless son of man

Jesus, the Son of God

Jesus, the one who could have called a legion of angels

Jesus, the waymaker

Jesus, the heart fixer

Jesus, the mind regulator

Jesus, the Alpha and Omega

Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith

Jesus, the Bread of Life

Jesus, the Good Shepherd

Jesus, the Cornerstone

Jesus, the Living Water

Jesus, the Heir of all things

Jesus, the Holy One of God

Jesus, the Image of God

Jesus, the Just One

Jesus, our Immanuel

Jesus, the Lily of the valley

Jesus, the Bright and Morning Star

Jesus, our Savior

Jesus, our healer

Jesus, our deliverer

Jesus, the one who hung on an old rugged cross, taking on the sins of the world just so we could have a chance for eternal life, an opportunity to receive salvation.

Jesus, fully God and fully man died on a cross for you and for me.

When the priests, teachers of religious law and elders said, “He saved others,” they scoffed, “but he can’t save himself! So he is the King of Israel, is he? Let him come down from the cross right now, and we will believe in him!” Jesus wouldn’t come down.

For you and for me, he hung there and He died, He wouldn’t come down from the cross to save Himself, He chose to sacrifice His life for us. Do you have a thank you on your lips for Jesus.

The Jews took just 52-days to rebuild the wall, that’s seven weeks and three days, that means if they had started building the wall on New Years Day, they would’ve finished on this past Thu, Feb 21st, Caden’s birthday.

God is still doing great things in the earth, through His people, are you one of His people? If your answer to that question was no, then you can change that today, the doors of the church are open.