Sermon Tone Analysis

Dealing with Distractions

Nehemiah 6:1-19

Some of you might know that I’m a morning person.

I like mornings.

Mornings are the best time of the day.

I get a lot of things done before I even leave for work every day besides those things like showering, dressing, and making coffee.

I do my Bible study and prayer time.

I do school work.

I work on sermons.

I get a lot done most days.

One of the reasons that I get up really early every day is so that I can avoid a lot of distractions.

When everybody else is sleeping, the house is quiet and it’s just me and the cat who likes to sleep in my lap while I’m at my desk in the morning.

When I try to do things in the evening, there are a lot more things that can keep me from doing what I need to do.

I mean Sunday mornings comes around every week.

So does Sunday and Wednesday night.

I need to have my work on my sermons done.

But it’s so easy to get sidetracked isn’t it?

It takes a lot of determination to finish what we start because there are always so many other things competing for our attention.

One thing that the Book of Nehemiah makes clear is that life is a battle from beginning to end.

And if we are in a battle that means we must have an enemy.

Here in Nehemiah 6, we learn that the enemy has two main ways of working.

The first tactic is fear.

Satan is prowling around, as Peter says in 1 Peter 5:8,

…Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

But he has another battle plan as well.

He not only uses fear, he also uses flattery.

2 Corinthians 11:14 says:

And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

He comes with attractive promises and flattering words, assuring us that what he offers will cost us absolutely nothing.

Whatever method he employs, whether it is fear or flattery, his aim is to distract and destroy us.

We need to be on guard against each of these approaches.

We need to be on guard because Satan is both a lion that devours and a serpent that deceives.

As we study chapter 6, we are going to see some of the things that can distract us from the work we are supposed to be doing.

I’m going to pray and then we’ll work through this text together.

Pray!

The first distraction we face is compromise.

Compromise

Since Sanballat and his buddies failed in their attempts to stop the people building the wall, they decide to concentrate their attacks on Nehemiah himself by changing their tactics and resorting to a subtle method of persuasion.

You will experience this as well when you try to correct some things in your life.

Many people today are failing in their Christian walk because they listen to the advice and temptations of those closest to them and begin to compromise.

Let’s take a look at verses 1-4:

These enemies suddenly become Nehemiah’s friends and invite him to a conference down on the plain of Ono.

Ono is located on the seacoast near the Gaza strip.

It was a beautiful resort area.

But Nehemiah senses danger:

But they intended to do me harm.

So, Nehemiah said, “Oh, no!” to Ono.

Some commentators suggest that they were trying to trick him into leaving Jerusalem, where he had armed support, to come to a conference where they could ambush him.

Nehemiah evidently senses this.

He declines 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?”

That is a great answer even though it sounds blunt.

Nehemiah sees through their plan by refusing their invitation four different times.

All of us are going to experience continuing pressure to change our minds and go along with something that is wrong and compromise.

Some of us give in to repeated pressure.

We might say no the first time but find our defenses weakened as the temptations continue.

We find Nehemiah persisting in his refusal because he knows what his priorities are: “I am doing a great work.

I have a great calling.

God has committed a tremendous project to me, and if I leave, it will be threatened.

It won’t be finished.”

Sometimes these distractions come disguised as harmless choices or even good things.

There are many things that distract us from what’s really important - things like TV, sports, email, Facebook, texting…

One of the most helpful things that we can do to resist the temptation to compromise is to remember that God has called each of us to a great work.

That’s true for every believer in Christ whether this is your first time here or if you have been here for decades.

But not all compromise is bad.

Loving compromise can be good and useful things if there are no moral or spiritual issues involved.

Happy compromise can strengthen a marriage or ministry, but this is compromise among people who love each other and have the same purposes in mind.

When you invite the devil to join your team, expect him to change the rules and the goals; and expect to be defeated.

We are called to make a kingdom impact.

We’ve been called to a great task, one that we have to prioritize or we’ll be distracted from it.

If we don’t practice some “planned neglect” of other things, even good things, we’ll be distracted from God’s best.

That’s what Nehemiah does.

He’s involved in a great work, and he’s not going to forsake it for anything less.

The first distraction is compromise.

The second is:

Accusations

When the enemy cannot distract us by offering peace, he switches back to his original scheme of making accusations.

He moves from softball to hardball.

Look at verses 5-7:

Statements like “it’s been reported” and “they say” have caused trouble in many local churches and ministries.

In every organization, there are gossip-mongers, hovering like vultures, just waiting for tidbits of slander that they can chew, swallow, and then regurgitate.

Someone has defined gossip as news you have to hurry and tell somebody else before you find out it isn’t true!

This accusation is designed to pressure Nehemiah to give into them and fall into their trap.

But he resists because he sees it for what it really is, an enticement based on lies.

It says it was an “open letter.”

In other words, it was designed for everyone to read, so that the lie would be spread around that Nehemiah was trying to make himself king.

Nehemiah responded three different ways

· he denied the rumor

· he prayed to God for strength

· he went back to work

Look at verse 8:

That’s the best way to respond to a charge like this -- just a flat denial.

He doesn’t try to challenge the accusation but simply says, “That is a lie.

There is no truth in it.”

And then, invariably, as was his practice, he responds with another “popcorn prayer” in verse 9:

Their tactics were to get the people to think that Nehemiah had some hidden motive -- his own glory -- for rebuilding the wall, hoping that the workers would get discouraged and quit.

Nehemiah simply prays, “Lord, do not let that happen.

Strengthen me to work all the harder.”

They were on the last lap of the race and the finish line was in sight.