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*Title*: I am not coming down, I doing a great work!
*Text*: Nehemiah 6:1-15
 
Our story today is about a man with a concern not particularly for himself but for the well being of his people who were now coming out of captivity.
Nehemiah, the cupbearer for the king of Babylon, was a man on a mission to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem.
Nehemiah was a humble leader of the Jewish people and a man of action.
He stayed calm under pressure and he was focused on the task that the Lord committed to him.
Nehemiah’s character is the character that a pastor should imitate.
For one thing, we see a man of compassion for his people.
He saw the need of his people and did something to meet it.
As pastor you should have a heart for God’s children well being and be ready to do something to meet their needs.
We also learn from Nehemiah is the importance of a pastor’s spirituality.
In Neh 1:4 tells us that he not only wept and mourned about the condition of his people but he fasted and prayed.
Nehemiah shows us as pastors that we must have a consecrated lifestyle.
We must fast and pray seeking the Lord’s guidance.
Even Jesus tells that there and some things that only can be handled by fasting and praying.
It is through his consecrated lifestyle that Lord gives Nehemiah favor by allowing the king not only to give him release papers to go and rebuild the wall of Jerusalem but also send supplies with him.
We, as believers and especially pastor’s should have the spirit of Nehemiah i.e. have compassion for people, a mission and an intimate relationship with the Lord so we can have favor with God.
But don’t let it surprise you that when you begin working for the Lord, the enemy gets started!
You were fine before you started serving and traditional.
You were alright just warming a pew but when you started to answer the call to serve, the enemy raised his head!
This is what happened to Nehemiah.
At first the enemy laughed him to scorn when he said he was going rebuild the wall which seem to be impossible.
/But you know with God nothing is impossible/.
When the enemy saw that he was getting it done, they got mad and were ready to kill him.
Isn’t that just like the enemy?
People will laugh at you at first not taking you serious but when they start seeing the result of the glory of God in your life, they get mad and are ready to kill you maybe not physically, they will try to do it emotionally and psychologically!
But know that, “no weapon formed against you will prosper” when you are doing the Lord’s work!
It is here that we enter our message for today.
The passage opens up with Nehemiah’s enemies, /Sanballat/, /Tobiah/ and /Geshem/ heard that the wall of Jerusalem was /near/ completion *but* there was /no door/ on the gates.
This was prime time for the enemy to attack.
The enemy’s job is to look for openings in your life to destroy what you are doing for the Lord.
He goes for the weakest and unguarded area in your life to try to stop you.
But Nehemiah went on ahead anyway and did what the Lord has called him to do which is our first point which is...
*I.               **Be Persistent*
Nehemiah’s enemies tried to get him to stop what he was doing.
They sent him a message to “/come down from doing what you are doing and meet with us/”.
This was just a distraction trying to make Nehemiah lose his focus and not finish what the work of the Lord.
Anything that distracts you from Jesus is from the enemy.
Don’t get distracted.
Stay up there and keep working!
Don’t curse back.
Don’t argue back.
Keep on working.
If you do anything, give God glory with praise and serving Him with gladness.
That will make the enemy even madder but you will have the victory.
Our problem is that we lose our focus and come down to their level.
But you have to be persistent and focused.
Look what Nehemiah says in verse 3.
He tells his enemies “/that I am doing a great work.
Why should I stop and come down to you/?”
He was persistent.
But don’t think that the enemy is going stop because you resisted him one time.
The text tells us that the enemies sent the same message four more times.
The enemy is persistent.
He will try to wear you down until you give in.
Also, if the enemy does not get you one way he will try another way.
Look at verses 5-7.
The enemy sent out an /open letter/ trying to scandalize Nehemiah’s name attempting to make him afraid of moving forward.
An /open letter/ was a public document that *all* could read.
It was the group list email of that day.
In the letter, it said that Nehemiah was trying to start a /rebellion, that he was trying to be king and that he was setting up his own prophets/.
These were all lies.
Lies are intended to break your character and weaken your testimony by attacking you on an emotional level attempting to slow down your progress.
You can’t let lies stop what you are doing because as soon as you do, the enemy has you.
Nehemiah teaches us in verse 8 how to handle enemies lies.
All he says is that what they said is not true and that they made it up in heart.
In other words, “stop lying” and he kept it moving!
He did not fight back.
He just kept it moving”.
He stayed focused.
You have to stay focused on Jesus and don’t give room for the enemy.
*Be persistent in getting the work done*.
Nehemiah does not stop what he is doing to get back at his enemies but he does something else that we have to learn while we are doing work to build the kingdom of God and that is to…
*II.
Pray for power*
Look how Nehemiah prays in verse 9.
He says “/O God, strengthen my hands/”.
Doing the work of the Lord, you will become weary and you will need strength.
Prayer will give you strength in the time of need.
Saints, you must have a prayer life to receive your daily bread for strength.
Prayer will strengthen you and give you victory over your enemy.
We have to learn to pray like Nehemiah prays, “God strengthen me so I can complete what you have given me to do”.
Strengthen me so I can the parent I need to be.
God strengthen me so I can serve.
Strengthen me so I can work on this job that is getting on my nerves!
You have to pray for strength.
The old church adage is true: “Much prayer, much power, little prayer, little power, no prayer, no power!”
After this episode with the enemy, Nehemiah takes a break from his work.
The text says that Nehemiah goes to the house (/built in the wall/) of someone he knows named Shemaiah.
The name Shemaiah means “/Yahweh has heard/”.
He is somebody that God hears.
But there is a problem with this encounter.
In verse 10, Shemaiah suggested to Nehemiah that he should lock himself in the temple because the enemy was trying to do him harm.
In verse 11, Nehemiah responds “/should a man like me run away or go into the temple/?”
Nehemiah rejects his so-called friend’s offer.
Nehemiah shows no fear from his enemies.
This reinforces that we should not fear our enemies because God /did not give us a spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind/.
But what was so bad about going to the temple?
Here is the problem.
Even though Shemaiah asked him to go into the temple, Nehemiah didn’t go in because only the Levite priest could go into the temple according to the law.
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