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Our God Will Fight for Us - Nehemiah 4

Taught on | Topic: Spiritual Warfare | Keywords: battleground, battlefield, fight, Lord of hosts, identity, the Devil, Satan, enemy, spiritual warfare, opposition, the Bible, God's Word, promises, sword of the Spirit, body of Christ, spiritual gifts

Nothing is more comforting in war than knowing you’re on the winning side. When you face a hostile enemy with the knowledge that your cause is just, your resources are many, and your companions are brave, you’re ready for anything. And when you have a Commanding Officer who has never lost a battle, your confidence level is at an all-time high. Our worship team wrote the song “Our God Will Fight for Us” with these thoughts in mind. Let’s consider a fourfold strategy for facing the battles in our lives.

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7/26/2015
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Our God Will Fight for Us
Nehemiah 4
Skip Heitzig
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Message Summary
Nothing is more comforting in war than knowing you’re on the winning side. When you face a hostile enemy with the knowledge that your cause is just, your resources are many, and your companions are brave, you’re ready for anything. And when you have a Commanding Officer who has never lost a battle, your confidence level is at an all-time high. Our worship team wrote the song “Our God Will Fight for Us” with these thoughts in mind. Let’s consider a fourfold strategy for facing the battles in our lives.
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War is Over, The

War is Over, The

As Battledrums releases its debut album, The War Is Over, we take a look at these songs and how they apply to our life as we live in victory over sin. Join Skip Heitzig in celebrating these songs and what they symbolize for our Christian walk. The war is over--Christ has won!

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Outline

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  1. We All Face Battles (vv. 1-3, 7-8, 10-11)

  2. We All Have Backup (vv. 4-6)

  3. We All Bring Balance (vv. 16-18)

  4. We All Need Boldness (vv. 19-20)

Study Guide

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Connect Group Recap: July 26, 2015
Teacher: Skip Heitzig
Teaching: Our God Will Fight for Us
Text: Nehemiah 4
Tune: "Our God Will Fight for Us"

Path

Read the text to discover your identity:
  1. We All Face Battles (vv. 1-3, 7-8, 10-11)
  2. We All Have Backup (vv. 4-6)
  3. We All Bring Balance (vv. 16-18)
  4. We All Need Boldness (vv. 19-20)

Points

Review four key truths about our battle:

We all face battles:
  • Your "born" identity: you've been born from above, born anew, but you've been born on a battlefield. Take comfort: you have a Commanding Officer who has it all under control.
  • Christians are caught in the crossfire; we have a battle before us. But we must remember that God is capable. The term Lord of Hosts is used 271 times in the Bible, referring to God's command of heavenly armies.
  • In battle, Nehemiah had three responses: he wept (emotional response), he prayed (spiritual response), and he volunteered (practical response).
  • Christians must understand, as Nehemiah did, that we have enemies on the outside and on the inside.
    • Outside: hostility from the world, led by the Devil, the slanderer-in-chief
    • Inside: disheartened workers whose job is too big and strength is too small. Each person and ministry has trash to evaluate:
      • Personally: bad attitude or habits
      • Organization: "We've always done it that way"
We all have backup:
  • We have four resources to keep us strong in battle:
    • Prayer: Nehemiah aligned himself with God's purpose (see vv. 4-6). Nehemiah didn't talk with his enemies; he talked with God about his enemies. Typical first reactions are to panic or get provoked. Instead, get in the habit of going to God in prayer.
    • Promise: Nehemiah called people to remember the Lord (see v. 14). In the thick of the battle, we need backup from Scripture to remember what God has promised. Memorize Scripture. When arrows come your way, pull out the sword---the Bible.
    • Persistence: Nehemiah continued to rebuild the wall, working toward what God called him to do (see vv. 6, 9, 15). When enemies attack, be persistent. Stay on task; never give up.
    • People: we all bring balance, using our varied gifts accordingly (see vv. 16-18).
We all bring balance:
  • We do not fight alone; we have God's people with us.
  • In Nehemiah's day, the people did their part in the work of God. Likewise, the body of Christ with its varied gifts brings balance to God's work in the world (see 1 Corinthians 12).
We all need boldness:
  • We are on the winning side; we need boldness in our witness. The people of God are equipped to the do work of God: "Our God will fight for us" (v. 20). Engage and leave the results up to Him. Regular church gatherings rally us for the battle.
  • A child of God doing the work of God in the will of God is invincible, so be bold.

Practice

Reflect on the following questions:

Connect Up: We all face battles. Emotionally, what are some battles you are going through? Spiritually, what battles are coming from inside the church? Practically, what battles are coming from outside the church? In all, how are you letting God fight the battles for you?

Connect In: We have backup: prayer, promises, persistence, and people. Do you pray, panic, or get provoked in difficult times? How do you connect to people (that is, other Christians) to help fight the battles in your own life and the world? How do other Christians bring balance to the battle?

Connect Out: We need to be bold. Pastor Skip reminded us that "a child of God doing the work of God in the will of God is invincible." How can you be bolder for the cause of Christ? What practical steps can you take to help connect other people to Jesus?

Detailed Notes

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  1. Introduction
    1. Your born identity
      1. You have been born again
      2. You've also been born onto a battleground
    2. The Devil, adversary
      1. 1 Peter 5:8
      2. Ephesians 6:11-12
    3. Lord of Hosts
      1. Hosts means a multitude
      2. From Hebrew word tsaba
      3. The Lord of heaven's armies
      4. The Commander-in-Chief
    4. This language shows up throughout the Bible
      1. Zechariah 14:3
      2. Psalm 24:7-8
    5. Four key truths to our born identity
  2. We All Face Battles (vv. 1-3, 7-8, 10-11)
    1. Nehemiah came to Jerusalem to rebuild, not to fight
      1. He was a butler to Persian king Artaxerxes Longimanus
      2. He cared so much about what happened to Jerusalem, he did three things
        1. He wept: emotional response
        2. He prayed: spiritual response
        3. He volunteered: practical response
      3. He discovered he was in a battle zone
    2. Sanballat was the governor of Samaria; now he had competition
    3. Devil means slanderer
      1. Revelation 12:10
      2. Job 1:8-10
      3. It happened to Job; it'll happen to you
    4. The battle was from two sources
      1. Outside: hostility from the world (Sanballat, Tobiah, army)
      2. Inside: despondency from the workers
        1. Verse 10: "Our job is too big; our strength is too small"
        2. Whenever you do something from the Lord and the work gets stopped, you sink down into a very disheartening place
          1. Elijah: 1 Kings 18-19
          2. Proverbs 13:12
    5. What do you do with trash? You throw it away
      1. Every individual and organization has trash that needs to be taken out
      2. Dung Gate
  3. We All Have Backup (vv. 4-6)
    1. We have resources that help us get through the battle
    2. Prayer
      1. Their first reaction, instinct
      2. Our first reaction to opposition is to panic or get provoked
      3. Nehemiah knew that the enemies provoked God
        1. He aligned himself and his work with God's purpose
        2. God takes it personally when His kids are hassled; Acts 9:4
      4. Nehemiah talked to God, not his enemies
        1. Don't talk to the Devil; talk to God about the Devil
        2. James 4:7
        3. You don't scare Satan; the God inside of you does
        4. "Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees" —William Cowper
    3. Promise
      1. "Remember the Lord" (v. 14)
        1. Nehemiah remembered what the Lord had promised
        2. Leviticus 26; Nehemiah 1
      2. Nehemiah knew his Bible
        1. Be able to call to mind things that God has specifically promised
        2. 2 Peter 1:19
        3. Memorize certain promises in the Bible so you can fight with them in the battle
          1. When the enemy is throwing fiery arrows at you, pull out your sword
          2. Ephesians 6:17
          3. You want your peace quota to go up? Learn the promises of God
    4. Persistence
      1. If God has called you to something, keep doing it until you can't do it any further
      2. You want to drive your enemies nuts?
        1. Love them
        2. Stay at the task they're criticizing you for
        3. "Living well is the best revenge" —George Herbert
        4. "Never give in, never give in, never, never, never" —Winston Churchill
  4. We All Bring Balance (vv. 16-18)
    1. Charles Spurgeon: the sword and the trowel
    2. Balance: different people doing different tasks for the glory of God
    3. Good picture of the body of Christ
      1. Never try to fight alone; never try to build alone
      2. People bring us balance
      3. 1 Corinthians 12:4-6
    4. Jesus Christ is the head of the body
      1. The Holy Spirit is like the nervous system
      2. There's nothing like seeing a well-coordinated body
  5. We All Need Boldness (vv. 19-20)
    1. If you are on the winning team, you should have boldness
    2. Juxtaposition of verse 14 and 20
      1. Are you fighting or is God fighting? It's both
      2. Do what you can do, and let God do what only God can do
    3. A child of God doing the work of God in the will of God is invincible until God is done
    4. Revelation 11:7

Figures referenced: Artaxerxes Longimanus, William Cowper, George Herbert, Winston Churchill, Charles Spurgeon

Hebrew words: tsaba

Cross references: Leviticus 26; 1 Kings 18-19; Nehemiah 1; 4; Job 1:8-10; Psalm 24:7-8; Proverbs 13:12; Zechariah 14:3; Acts 9:4; 1 Corinthians 12:4-6; Ephesians 6:11-12, 17; James 4:7; 1 Peter 5:8; 2 Peter 1:19; Revelation 11:7; 12:10


Transcript

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Hello and welcome to this teaching from Skip Heitzig, pastor of Calvary Albuquerque. Our series called The War Is Over celebrates the songs from our worship team Battledrums' debut album now available on iTunes, Google Play, and at battledrumsmusic.com.

In this series, Skip examines what these songs symbolize for our Christian walk. If this message brings you the hope of Christ, tell us. Email us at mystory@calvaryabq.org. Nothing is more comforting in war, than knowing you're on the winning side. And when you have a commanding officer who has never lost a battle, your confidence is at an all time high. The song "Our God Will Fight For Us" was written with that in mind. We invite you to mark your bible in Nehemiah chapter four. But before Skip begins, check out this sneak peek of "Our God Will Fight For Us."

[MUSIC BATTLEDRUMS WORSHIP, "OUR GOD WILL FIGHT FOR US"]

Good morning. Would you turn in your Bibles to Nehemiah. The book of Nehemiah, chapter four. The song that we just highlighted, "Our God Will Fight For Us" is, actually, right out of the scripture in Nehemiah. In the Old Testament, in chapter four. And in verse 20, it says, "Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet rallied to us there. Our God will fight for us."

Let's pray before we begin our study. Father, these words of Nehemiah building a wall in Jerusalem, finding opposition as he did it. Lord, they ring true for us in our current situation, as all scripture does. We learn principles, Lord, and how to face and how to fight, as well as how to build your work.

Lord, I pray that you would capture our attention. That you would strengthen us as we gather together and then disperse from here and live our lives in different places, throughout the week. I pray also, Lord, that you would speak to and help those who are outside watching by computer or iPad or iPhone, or whatever it might be, or listening on the radio, to feel a part of us, as a body. That you'd speak to them, and you would strengthen them, as well. In Jesus' name. Amen.

You've all heard the name Jason Bourne. Right? Most of you have. He's a fictional character. He's written by an author named Robert Ludlum. And the books made their way into films. There have been four films. The Bourne Identity was the first one. And Jason Bourne, B-O-U-R-N-E, Jason Bourne, was a Special Agent, and a secret agent.

But in the first film, The Bourne Identity, it's a classic story about someone who has forgotten who he is. See, Jason Bourne doesn't know he's Jason Bourne, in that. And this highly trained agent, who is very capable of fighting bad guys, getting at the enemy, of being very strategic, in his moves. Getting in and out of dangerous places. Something happened to him. He got shot. He almost drowned. And in the course of that, he had amnesia. So he forgets who he is.

He's in a restaurant one day. And in all of this confusion, something dawns on him. He realizes that he has just been able to, as he's sitting in the restaurant, the license plate of every car in the parking lot, he has committed to memory. He memorized all of them. And he can close his eyes in that restaurant, and details of everyone sitting in the restaurant, are in his mind.

And he says, who does stuff like this. It's a good question. Because the answer to that question helps him discover his identity. Who does stuff like this? A highly trained special agent for the American government does things like this. So when the enemies come out, and he can deflect instantaneously, they're blows. When he hears a foreign language, he not only knows the language, but he can talk back to them in phrases. So he discovers, hey, I speak that language.

I want to help you discover, this morning, your born identity-- B-O-R-N identity. You have been born again. You have been born from above. Born anew. But you've also been born onto a battleground. The Christian life, far from being a playground, is so often a battleground. This is a rude awakening for many young believers. They're all about experiencing forgiveness and new found joy and a piece that floods the heart, purpose and meaning for their life.

To be told that they are now part of a battlefield experience. Well, it can be very disconcerting to that individual. But Jesus spoke about the devil. And when he spoke about the devil, he called him the enemy. The Bible, a couple of times, speaks about your adversary, the devil. Peter said, he walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

So we find, we discover, that we have an enemy. He's an adversary. He's got a strategy against us. And we're in a battle zone. Paul, the apostle, was even more detailed. In Ephesians 6, he said, put on all of God's armor, so that you will be able to stand firm against all the strategies and tricks of the devil. For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world. Against those mighty powers of darkness who rule this world and against wicked spirits in heavenly realms.

And some of you might be thinking, well, I didn't sign up for that. I just came forward at an altar call because I wanted forgiveness and a shot of hope. Now you're telling me I'm in a battlefield. Well let me be the first to welcome you to the battlefield, then. It's part of your identity. You are caught in the crossfire of this battle.

Now I never liked getting in fights, as a kid. I got an few of them, but I didn't like it. I think every boy has to go through those stages of how do I fend for myself at school. But I did have an older brother. And it was always handy when Bob was around school. He was a couple years older than me. And though I'm pretty tall, I turned out to be 6 foot five, my brother was Goliath. He was 6 foot 8 inches.

So when I was in my formative years, and I wasn't quite 6' 5". My brother was always pretty tall, pretty big. I loved it when I could think that Bob was around school somewhere. And if I got into a fight, my brother would fight for me. And you know what? Sadly, he actually enjoyed it.

I had a conversation with my father-in-law the other day. And, in our conversation, something he said, sort of, struck me. First of all, he said, you know, I've read through the Bible every year since I gave my life to the Lord. I read from cover to cover every year. It's my practice. So he's read through the Bible 44 times. That, in and of itself, is a great feat.

But he said, this last reading, I'm noticing a name of God, and it seems like it's more than any other name that God is called in the scripture. And it, just, gets my attention now every time I read it. And it's the title the Lord of hosts. You come across that, do you not? The Lord of hosts. Well we read that, and we're not understanding, typically, what that is in reference to. Because it's an antiquated term.

First of all, hosts we don't use that word much. The Lord of hosts, it means a multitude. Sabaoth is the Hebrew. And it literally means he is the Lord of the armies. He's the Lord of Heaven's armies. Some translations call Him the Lord of Heaven's armies. But even the term, Lord, is sort of an outdated term in our modern vernacular.

In the context of that title the Lord of hosts, I think, perhaps, a better way of looking at it, in a truer translation, would be this. He's the commander in chief. He is the commander in chief of the armies of Heaven. And our God will fight for us.

Now this language shows up throughout the Bible. When Zechariah looks forward to the time when God will fight for the nation of Israel, Zechariah said, then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations as He fights in the day of battle. It's picturing a god who is ultimate as the Commander in Chief, strong, over the armies of heaven. In Psalm 24, Jerusalem is told to open her gates for the King of glory. And it asks, who is this King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty. The Lord, mighty in battle.

This morning, looking at Nehemiah, chapter four, there are, really, 20 verses at our disposal. But we're going to look at several of them, to discover, four keys to our identity, our born identity. Four key truths. The first truth is that we all face battles. You'll notice how the chapter begins. But so it happened. I'll tell you what that means in a moment. But so it happened. When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, that he was furious and very indignant, and he mocked the Jews.

Nehemiah had come to Jerusalem to rebuild, not to fight. Nehemiah was not a profit. He was not a priest. He was not a clergyman at all. He was a butler to a king in Persia. The king was named Artaxerxes Longimanus. But Nehemiah was Jewish. And though he was not living in his homeland, he had heard that this once great city of Jerusalem was still in shambles.

The people of Israel, many of them, had been back to rebuild for already a century. But things weren't going well. He heard that gates were burned with fire, and the walls were still broken down. When Nehemiah heard that, he cared so much, he did three things. First, he wept. He had an emotional response. Second, he prayed. He had a spiritual response. And third, he decided to go and do something about it. He had a practical response. He wept. He prayed. And he volunteered.

And he went with great excitement, with a small crew, surveying the walls, seeing what needed to be done. But when he got there, he discovered he was in a battle zone. There were enemies there who wanted to crush him, who wanted to kill him, who wanted to stop the work. And one of them is listed here, Sanballat.

And then notice, in verse two, he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria. So there's now an army, a contingent of fighters who are outside the walls. And he said, what are these feeble Jews doing. Will they fortify themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day? Will they revive the stones from the heaps of rubbish? Stones that are burned.

Now Tobiah, the Ammonite (Ammonites were ancient enemies of the Jews) was beside him. And said, whatever they build, if even a fox goes up on it, he will break down their stone wall. Sanballat was the governor of Samaria. That's a Northern district, just north of Jerusalem. He was the governor of that entire region until Nehemiah comes back, under the order of King Artaxerxes Longimanus, to be in charge of this building project.

And he is infuriated. Why? Well, simply, because his pocketbook will now run thin. He was levying taxes, not only on Samaria, but all the way down in Judea. He was getting money from them. Now his money source is drying up a little bit. There's competition. There's a new kid on the block. So he and his buddies, with their armies, come out. And they lob these taunts, these jibes, these insults, sarcastic questions meant to crush the spirits of the workers who are building the walls of Jerusalem.

We face something similar. Do you know that the word devil means slanderer. It's really a good title for him. He's the devil. He is the slanderer in chief. The Bible says, in Revelation 12, he is the accuser of the brethren, who accuses them before God, day and night. It happened to Job.

Remember when God, sort of, showcased Job and said to Satan, have you considered my servant, Job. He is upright. There's none like him. Immediately, Satan began to accuse Job. Does Job serve you for nothing. You set a hedge about him. He's a mercenary servant of yours. He only serves you because of what you give him. Accusation after accusation. The accuser of the brethren. It happened to Job, it'll happen to you.

You live in a secular world. You go to a secular college or school, or work in a secular workplace. They find out you're a Christian. These kind of insults will come your way. Oh these feeble Christians. All they can do is get together in their little meetings and pray and sing. They're so out of date. They're so intellectually inferior. You're so narrow-minded. You're such this. You've heard it for years. And frankly, it can get old.

Sometimes I, sort of, feel like Linus in the Peanuts cartoon. Who quipped, I love mankind. It's just the people I can't stand. And so the Christian living in a hostile world, like he is in a hostile place. So Nehemiah and his workers are in a battle zone. And the battle is from two sources: the outside. We just read about that. Sanballat, Tobiah, the Ammonite, the outside armies. And on the inside. So there's hostility from the world, number one. And number two, there's despondency from the workers, in their own ranks.

Go down to verse seven. Now what happened when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites. All of these enemies around them, heard it, that the walls of Jerusalem were being restored. And the gaps were beginning to be closed. That they became very angry. And all of them conspired together to come and attack Jerusalem and create confusion.

So you've got hostility from the world, but watch this. You have despondency from the workers. Nevertheless, we made our prayer to God and because of them, we set a watch against them, day and night. Then Judas said, the strength of the laborers, is failing. And there is so much rubbish that we are not able to build the wall. Our job is too big. Our strength is too small.

Whenever you do something, especially if that something is something you believe to be from the Lord, His will. And you come with a level of excitement, and you pour your heart and your soul into that. But then something happens that causes your plans to change, and the work gets stopped. Then you sink down into a very disheartening place.

I can speak personally to that. Many years ago, before we were even in this building, we were in a storefront building. And we had been in a previous storefront building, and we were moving into a larger storefront building. And I was so excited. Several of us had put in all of our nights to get this place ready. And we thought it was ready. It was ready. It was clean. It was nice. The rooms were up. The carpet was down.

And a couple of days before we were to occupy, the fire department came in and shut it down. They said you will not occupy. Your firewall in between your foyer and your sanctuary, isn't thick enough. It needs more drywall. You're going to have to put up another wall. And I remember how crushed I felt. I felt so discouraged. Because now we had told everyone, show up Sunday. Now we come. We're going to have to be in the parking lot and say go back. Go back to Egypt for a couple weeks. We'll be here in a few more weeks. But we have to build this wall. Build the wall.

It can be very, very discouraging. For Elijah, the prophet, it was like that. He had a tremendous victory on Mount Carmel. You know about it. It's in first Kings, chapter 18. Fire falls down from Heaven, a great display of God's power.

But then in the very next chapter, he's running away from Queen Jezebel. And after that great victory on Mount Carmel. Now he's underneath a tree. And he says something like this. OK, God. Kill me. I just want to die. He's so depressed. Because what he thought would happen, as a result of that incredible display, didn't happen. What he thought would happen is national revival. That didn't happen. The queen rises up in fury against him. Drives him down into the desert. And he says, God, take my life. I want to quit the ministry. I'm a profit. I just want to become a non profit. I'm done.

We call that hope deferred. You know, the Bible says, hope deferred makes the heart sick but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. That is Elijah having his hope deferred. So Nehemiah has two sources of the battle. One, a real battle, real armies, hostility from the world, but despondency of the workers. Did you notice in verse 10, it says, and there is so much rubbish that we're not able to build the wall. There's too much trash.

Now what do you do with trash? You throw it away. You take it out or you sell it on eBay, one of the two. You get rid of it. Because you can't build a wall with trash. You need to build a wall with stones. I've discovered that every individual has trash that needs to be taken out. Every organization has trash that needs to be taken out. It's just rubbish. It gets in the way.

Now in those days they figured out how to do this. In Jerusalem, they build a special gate for this called, the dung gate. All of us need a dung gate. We take all of that stuff out. Sometimes we have to get rid of our own personal trash. Bad attitudes. We need to correct our language, our thinking, habits. We got to take the trash out.

Organizations also can get filled with trash. You know, any organization, even Christian organizations, can get cumbersome, over time. And need to be reevaluated and realigned with God's purpose. And to look at things and go, well, you know what. Let's just cut that out. And let's include this. Because we believe this to be what God wants now.

So we all face battles.

Let's move to the second key in discovering your born Identity. We all face battles, but we all have backup. That is to say, we have resources, that when we are in the battle, help us get through the battle. We have backup. I've looked at a few things in this chapter, and I've come up with three or four things that were resources for them, backup.

First of all, prayer. That was their first resort. The enemies are coming to attack. The first thing they do is pray. Look at verse four. Hear, oh God, for we are despised. And turn their reproach on their own heads. And give them, as plunder, to a land of captivity. Do not cover their iniquity. Do not let their sin be blotted out from before you. For they have provokes you to anger before the builders.

The way this is written, it doesn't even say, and we got together and bowed our heads, and we prayed and said thus. It just includes the prayer. As if to intimate it was their first reaction. Their first instinct was just to stop and pray.

I don't think that's always our first instinct, is it? It ought to be, but it's not always. Our first reaction to opposition isn't to pray but it's to panic. Or to get provoked. We get mad. Here's what I want you to notice about this prayer. Nehemiah didn't have to get provoked because he knew that they, the enemies, provoked God.

Look at the prayer. Hear, oh God. Notice in verse five. They have provoked you to anger before the builders. I want you to mark that. That is important. They have provoked you to anger. What Nehemiah is doing is so aligning himself and his work with God's purpose, that he realized, wait a minute. It's not that they're making me mad. They're making God mad. You don't want to do that.

I'm aligning myself with God's purpose. Did you know that God takes it very personally when his kids are hassled? When Saul of Tarsus was persecuting Christians, going all the way up to Damascus to hunt them down and kill them, and Jesus stopped him, dead in his tracks. Do you remember the question? He said, Saul, why are you persecuting me.

That was an eye-opener for Saul of Tarsus. What you mean, you. I'm not after you. I'm after them. No. Well, you touch them, you mess with me. You are persecuting me. I am taking this personally. I love it, to be able to say, don't mess, you're going to get God mad. I'm going to tell God on you. They have provoked you to anger before the builders.

Something else that is interesting here. In this entire section, you find Nehemiah talking to God but not to his enemies. He's not talking to his enemies, in this chapter. He's talking to God. I don't think the Christians ought to be talking to Satan. They should talk to God about what Satan's doing. But don't talk to Satan.

And yet, for the life of me, it never ceases to amaze me, that I hear believers, from time to time, in meetings say things like: I address Satan and his kingdom and I bind you, devil. And I want you to know. And I'm going wait, wait, wait, wait. You're using up all of that breath. It sounds like you're praying to the devil. Why don't you stop talking to him and start talking to God about him. That's what Nehemiah does.

The Bible says, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Doesn't say, carry on lengthy conversations with the devil, and he will flee. Just resist him and talk to God about him. By the way, don't flatter yourself. Satan is not scared of you.

Somebody comes up. Well I want you to know something. Let me say, you are nothing to him. You don't scare him at all. However, the God inside of you does. That's your secret weapon. Satan trembles when he sees, the weaker saint upon his knees. That's where you fight the battle. That's your first backup prayer.

Here's the second resource, that I found. Promise, not just prayer, but promise. In verse 14, it says, I looked, and I arose and said to the Nobles, to the leaders, and to the rest of the people do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.

That little phrase he says, remember the Lord, is very, very telling. You see, Nehemiah is here, in Jerusalem, because he remembered what the Lord had promised. He remembered that God had predicted a 70 year captivity, if the Jews disobeyed God. And that happened. In fact, he even quotes Leviticus chapter 26 in his prayer in chapter one. And it goes something like this. Look, God. I know you said that if we were really, really bad and turned from you, that you kick us out of the land. And you did. But you also promised through Moses, that if we repented and turned to you and prayed, you'd bring us back.

So here I am, repenting on behalf of all of us. I, know people are back, but it isn't happening in Jerusalem. This walls still are not built. Lord, please bring us back to rebuild. And then he went. He was there on a promise, because he remembered the Lord. And now he is encouraging the leaders, remember the Lord.

All of that to say this. Nehemiah knew his Bible. He knew the promises of God. And may I suggest to you, know your Bible. Be able to call to mind things that God has specifically promised. Peter called the scripture, a more, sure word, a light that shines in a dark place. And I believe that if you and I, could take certain promises in the Bible, and commit them to memory. It's not that hard. Commit them to memory. So that when you are in a battle, you pull them out. You recite them. You refresh your mind with that promise. You are remembering the Lord, at that time.

Because you're in a battle. And when the enemy is throwing fiery arrows at you, pull out your sword. And the sword, the Bible says, is the word of God. The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

One Bible publishing company and Christian bookseller performed a study. And they noted that 90% of Bible readers, frequent Bible readers, feel at peace all of the time or most of the time, compared to 58% of infrequent Bible readers. You want your peace quota to go up. Learn the promises of God so that in the battle, you go, whoop, there's that promise. Oop, there's that promise. And you remember the Lord.

So you've got prayer, and you've got promise.

There's another resource that is your backup in a battle. Persistence. Persistence. There's something about going back and staying at the task. I want you to notice this. Verse six. So we built the wall. This is after all the opposition. So we built the wall. And the entire wall was joined together up to half it's height. For the people had a mind to work. Love that verse. Verse nine.

Nevertheless, we made our prayer to God. And because of them, we set a watch against them, day and night. Down at verse 15. And it happened when our enemies heard that it was known to us, that God had brought their plot to nothing. That all of us returned to the wall. Every one to his work.

Listen. If God has called you to something, keep doing it until you can't do it any further. Got some enemies in your life? You want to drive them nuts? First of all, love them. That'll drive them nuts. Second, stay at the task they're criticizing you for. Stay at the task.

George Herbert said living well is the best revenge. Living well is the best revenge. Winston Churchill, remember what he said. Never give up. Never give up. Never, never, never, never give up. Stay at the task.

I always love the story of the politician. Yeah, believe it or not, I have a few politician stories I actually love. This is one of them. It was a politician running for local office. He had people running against him and as often happens when people run for politics, they have negative campaigns from the other side lobbed at them.

And it was one of those campaigns. It got pretty nasty, and the opposing side made up a bunch of rumors. They were not true. They were not substantiated, but they just hurled all of this defaming insult in their negative campaign ads. So his own campaign team said, we need to fight back. We need to think of something really bad, really dirty to say. And this politician said, no, no.

He said, my dog will bark when the moon shines. And you know what the moon's response is. Just to keep shining. So I'm just going to let the dogs bark on this one. I'm just going to keep on shining. That's persistence. I'm going to do what's right through thick and through thin.

So prayer, promise, and persistence. We all have battles. We all have backup.

Here's the third key. We all bring balance. We all bring balance. There are other people around in our lives, that in the battle, bring the balance. I want you to see this in the text, and we'll apply it.

In verse 16, so it was from that time on that half my servants worked at construction, while the other half held the spears and the shields, the bows, and wore armor. And leaders were behind all the house of Judah. Those who built on the wall. And those who carry burdens loaded themselves. So that with one hand they worked at construction and with the other held a weapon. That's an interesting way to build.

Sturgeon called the sword and the trowel. Sword in one hand, trowel in the other. Every one of the builders, verse 18, had his sword girded at his side, as he built. And the one who sounded the trumpet, was beside me.

What I'd like you to notice is the balance. Different people doing different tasks at the same spot, for the glory of God. Some were builders. Some were battlers. Some where just behind them as leaders, bringing supervision. But the Christian life is always that balance. This is a really good picture of the body of Christ. Never try to fight alone. Never try to build alone. You were never wired to do that.

People bring us balance. They do for us what we cannot do. We have a part to play. Find out what are part is, and let others play it, as well. There's never one gift. There's never one style of ministry. There's never one person that is to be lifted up as more important than anyone else. It's called a body of Christ. And Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12, there are different kinds of gifts but the same spirit. There are different kinds of service but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them, in all men.

That's the body of Christ. And the Bible tells us, Jesus Christ is the head of the body. So he's like the brain. Brain is amazing. The master organ is amazing. Ten billion nerve cells. Ten billion nerve cells able to connect to different parts of your body. Regulating things. Taking in the senses. What you see, smell, feel, hear. Process that. And then send signals out all over the body, to the organs, to 600 plus muscles, ligaments, bones, et cetera. So that there's a smooth, coordinated movement.

Jesus is the head of the body. The Holy Spirit. I liken him to the nervous system. Conveying the wish of the head to all the different members of the body. There's nothing like seeing a well coordinated, well toned body.

I was, a few years ago, at Venice Beach in California. Ever been to that place? It is like a human zoo. It's like a freak show 24/7. I mean it is just something to see. And there's always these weird, crazy people. One guy, his name might have been Chad, decided that it was a cool thing to juggle with live chainsaws.

So he'd turn on a chainsaw. Start it up. Cut wood to show that it was real. And he'd flip it up. Flip it over. And he'd catch it every time. Then he started up another one. He had two. Then he finally had three live chainsaws going. That he was juggling. Now you know that his brain and his body, all the little parts, had to be just in perfect sync. Right? Because one little false move, and it's like Stub-ville for him.

The body of Christ is truly wonderful when there's such a balance of coordination, where we're hearing from the head, the Holy Spirit faithfully conveys the power to this part of the body and that part of the body. One's a teacher. One's an encourager. One's a helper. And we're all working together. We all bring balance. We all face battles. We all have backup. We all bring balance.

And the fourth and final key to understanding your Born Identity is that we all need boldness. Think about it. If you are on the winning team, you should have boldness. You should have confidence. You should have assurance. Verse 19, I said to the Nobles and rulers and the rest of the people, the work is great and extensive. And we're separated far from one another on the wall. Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.

Notice a combination. Just notice the juxtaposition of verse 14 and verse 20. Look at it yourself. In verse 14, he says fight for your brethren. That means you. Pick up a weapon. Engage in the battle. You fight for your families, your brethren, your rest of your families.

And then also, in verse 20, our God will fight for us. So which is it? Are you fighting or is God fighting? It's both. Do what you can do, and let God do what only God can do. The results are up to him.

I believe that you are invincible. Listen to my language now. You are invincible. Don't we love that term. I'm invincible. You're invincible until God's done with you. You're invincible until God's done with you. A child of God doing the work of God, in the will of God, is invincible till God is done.

In Revelation 11, there's the appearance of two witnesses in the tribulation period. They have incredible power. They have fire power. They have miraculous power. But listen to what it says. Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the abyss attacks them, overpowers them, and kills them.

When did that happen? When they had finished their testimony and not before. A child of God doing the work of God in the will of God is invincible, until God is done. And that person has finished his or her testimony. And when that time is up, who wants to hang around here anyway. It's time to go home, go to glory, get graduated, get rewarded, et cetera. So be bold about God's work. You're on the winning side.

Let's pray. Father, we face these battles, and we know they're real. We may not have signed up for it initially, but we discover the excitement of the battlefield. The smell of smoke in the air. And we suddenly realize that there's more at stake than just our own peace, happiness, joy, purpose in life.

We're caught in the cross fires of a cosmic battle that has been going on. Help us to understand that identity. Born again but born into battle. As we face them, Lord, I pray we would take advantage of the resources. Not only finding the right battles, but leaning on You and prayer. Leaning on You with the promises that You have made.

Being persistent. Staying at it. And then realizing we can lean on the people that you placed in our lives to bring balance, in the midst of our warfare. And, Lord, I pray that we would just raise our heads. And because we're on, ultimately, the winning side, we know the end of the story. That we would be bold. For we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.

When we face life's battles, we fight for the one true God. But what is even more phenomenal, is that our sovereign God fights for us. And because of that, we can't lose.

You can give financially to this work at calvaryabq.org/giving. And just a reminder. You can find Battledrums' album, "The War is Over" on iTunes, Google Play, and at battledrumsmusic.com. Thank you for listening to this message from Skip Heitzing of Calvary Albuquerque.

Additional Messages in this Series

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7/12/2015
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The Light Has Come
John 1:1-9
Skip Heitzig
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Message Summary
Music is an integral part of the human experience and expresses our deepest feelings, fears, and hopes. Worship music in particular conveys our dependence on God and celebration of Him. Our worship team has written fresh expressions of praise in their brand-new project, The War Is Over. This summer, we will consider the biblical themes from which these songs are drawn. "The Light Has Come" is a song that celebrates one of the great themes of John’s gospel—God’s life that enlightens us has come in the person of Jesus Christ.
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7/19/2015
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Rend the Heavens
Isaiah 64
Skip Heitzig
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The song "Rend the Heavens," written by our worship team, echoes words first uttered and written by the prophet Isaiah. His heartfelt cry for his people was that they would experience the presence of God in the most profound way. It is our prayer that we would all do the same. As we examine Isaiah's plea, we'll see how it has been answered and yet awaits a further and fuller answer. His prayer shows us three incentives in our relationship to God.
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8/2/2015
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Now I Live
Romans 5-6
Skip Heitzig
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Message Summary
Our worship team has managed to put the most salient truths of the Christian experience into this single song. Every step detailed in this section of Paul’s letter to the Romans is expressed in condensed form in this new anthem of praise. Today we will walk through the four essential steps of spiritual growth and examine where we are in relationship to them. Some may still be on the first step, while others have camped on the second and third. The challenge from Paul’s message is to press forward to that fourth step of triumph.
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8/9/2015
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The Valley
Psalm 23
Skip Heitzig
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Everyone knows pain and suffering to some degree. It’s guaranteed for all. As Job said, "Man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward" (Job 5:7). He meant that hardship is as predictable as flames and flickers rising when a fire is lit. King David poetically referred to such adversity as walking down into a valley. Though everyone suffers, not all suffer well. Today we rediscover why the valleys are necessary and how they can even be rewarding.
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8/23/2015
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Let His Love In
1 John 3:1-3
Skip Heitzig
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Message Summary
The heart is like a strong fortress that doesn’t easily admit outside forces in, even if God Himself is the One who is knocking at the door. I’ve found that even Christians can have a difficult time believing that God really loves them, and few experience that love regularly. Our Battledrums worship team has composed a song with this in mind, inviting you to let His love in. Our text in 1 John is a survey of this incomparable love of God, and will help you open your heart to it.
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8/30/2015
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All to You
Matthew 11:1-11
Nate Heitzig
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Message Summary
In times of difficulty, we tend to ask God, "Why am I going through this? Is this really Your will for my life?" We expect God to solve all our problems, when really He wants to use the problems to work on us. In this message, Nate Heitzig explains that though external difficulties can lead to internal doubts, God refocuses us by giving us eternal direction.
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9/6/2015
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By Your Stripes
Isaiah 53:4-6
Skip Heitzig
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Today I bring you "Christianity 101." These verses in Isaiah not only capture the heart of our worship team’s song, but they present the very heart of the gospel itself. These three monumental truths are the cornerstones of the Christian faith and show our need for Jesus Christ. Though the passage itself highlights many profound aspects of the person and work of Christ, I want to keep it simple and confine it to three. Let’s discover the love of God afresh.
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9/13/2015
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Great and Awesome
Daniel 9:1-19
Skip Heitzig
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Have you ever been shaken to the core, disillusioned, and disheartened? When such times occur and fear rises up inside of you, what assurance do you have that life will get better and you’ll be able to even go on? This song penned by our Battledrums worship team speaks to this, and Daniel the prophet instructs us with his prayer. Daniel held onto three assurances that God’s work in us and through us isn’t over but will keep marching on.
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9/20/2015
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Victory (The War Is Over)
1 Corinthians 15:50-58
Skip Heitzig
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Message Summary
Victory is a decidedly Christian term. It is used in our spiritual vocabulary almost without effort or thought. We frequently celebrate that Jesus went to the cross and volunteered His life to be the payment for sin in order to justify us before God. But this is more than a simple concept. In this final message explaining the scriptural foundations of our new worship project, we now turn to the future when we will become winners over the last enemy of life—death itself.
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There are 9 additional messages in this series.
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