“Stand Firm against the schemes of the Devil Together”
Paul’s letter to the Philippians offers some key elements to “Maintaining the Joy of the Lord No Matter What”.
1. ADOPT THE RIGHT AXIS – Passion to praise exalt Christ
2. MAINTAIN THE RIGHT ATTITUDE – Passion to please Christ
3. PURSUE THE RIGHT AIM – Passion to pursue Christ
4. PRACTICE THE RIGHT ACTIONS – Passion to live well
A. Stand firm in the Lord 4:1
Therefore, my brothers, dearly loved and longed for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, dearly loved.
APPLICATION OF STAND FIRM IN THE LORD
Stand firm against persecution and false teaching
Stand firm in the storms of life.
Stand firm against the schemes of the Devil
What?
STAND / RESIST , WRESTLE, QUENCH / EXTINGUISH, WAR, DESTROY, TAKE CAPTIVE
Who?
For our wrestling is NOT against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenlies. Ephesians 6:12
Why?
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 1 Pet 5
How?
Be alert
Be empowered with God’s power.
Be armored and armed with God’s provisions.
Adopt the proper perception regarding spiritual warfare.
Everyone battles the devil.
Resisting the devil involves suffering.
Don’t give the devil any place through unresolved anger. Eph 4
Don’t give the devil any advantage through unforgiveness.
Just as in any war there are many facets. You need training, armament, strategy, soldiers, supply lines, support personnel, medical personnel. It requires a group of people to wage an effective war. God required all the tribes of Israel to battle together to take out the major enemy strongholds. Nehemiah kept a journal of how God used him to restore the walls and worship when the exiled Jews began to return to the promised land from a 70-year captivity. His thirteen-chapter journal breaks down into two major divisions.
Chapters 1-6 recounts the rebuilding of the broken-down wall.
Chapters 7-13 recounts the restoration of the broken-down worship.
Within the protection of the wall they could safely engage in genuine worship. Nehemiah lived as a cupbearer for the Persian King. Much could be learned from how God used this gifted administrator. When he received a visit from his brother from Jerusalem, he made some inquiry.
Nehemiah first researched the need through inquiry; asking questions.
I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.” 1:2-3
Do we have a desire to seek out the needs of people?
Nehemiah then responded to the need with compassion and prayer.
As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. 1:4
No specific planning until a season of passionate praying. Satan has more concern when we talk to God about people than talking to people about God. In answer to Nehemiah’s powerful prayer, God moved the heart of the pagan king to not only allow Nehemiah to make the 800-mile journey back to Jerusalem but also to supply him with all he would need to tackle the massive rebuilding project.
Once on sight, Nehemiah resolved the need through specific planning. More prayer, humble introspection, stirring inspiration.
Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer suffer derision.” And I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also of the words that the king had spoken to me. And they said, “Let us rise up and build.” So they strengthened their hands for the good work. Nehemiah 2:17-18
Whenever the Lord stirs action the devil attempts atrophy. Satan tries to thwart spiritual progress in any way possible. An unholy trinity sprang into action to prevent the rebuilding of the wall.
I want to take some time to focus on the kinds of opposition employed to stop the project.
Resist devaluing of our authority and heritage.
But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they jeered at us and despised us and said, “What is this thing that you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?” Then I replied to them, “The God of heaven will make us prosper, and we his servants will arise and build, but you have no portion or right or claim in Jerusalem.” Nehemiah 2:19-20
Satan loves to question what we are doing. He devalues the importance of our work.
He discourages from acting against our pagan culture. Like Nehemiah, we must reaffirm confidence in God’s work and claim our heritage through Christ while denying any territory to the devil.
Resist ridicule
Chapter three catalogs the progress all around the wall by the various groups of families.
Now when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and greatly enraged, and he jeered at the Jews. And he said in the presence of his brothers and of the army of Samaria, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore it for themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish up in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, and burned ones at that?” Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, “Yes, what they are building—if a fox goes up on it he will break down their stone wall!” 4:1-3
Oh how Satan loves to ridicule the Christian. “Praying will do nothing.” “It will never last.” “What are these feeble Christians trying to do?” We need to respond like Nehemiah.
First with prayer.
Hear, O our God, for we are despised. Turn back their taunt on their own heads and give them up to be plundered in a land where they are captives. Do not cover their guilt, and let not their sin be blotted out from your sight, for they have provoked you to anger in the presence of the builders.
Second with a renewed heart for the work.
So we built the wall. And all the wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work. Nehemiah 4:4-6
Resist direct intimidation
But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem was going forward and that the breaches were beginning to be closed, they were very angry. And they all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it. 4:7-8
Satan continually utters threats and intimidation.
Like we discovered last week, we need to actively resist and stand firm in the of the devil’s attacks.
Again, we need to take a clue from Nehemiah’s’ notebook.
I observe at least seven specific actions Nehemiah took to resist intimidation.
Depend on Prayer
And we prayed to our God
Designate a continual guard
we set a guard as a protection against them day and night. Nehemiah 4:9
So in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in open places, I stationed the people by their clans, with their swords, their spears, and their bows. Nehemiah 4:13
Deal with fear by encouragement
And I looked and arose and said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.” Nehemiah 4:14
Great is He that is in you than he that is in the world.
Fight for you family.
Determine to carry on the work
When our enemies heard that it was known to us and that God had frustrated their plan, we all returned to the wall, each to his work. 4:15
Discover the balance between battling and building
From that day on, half of my servants worked on construction, and half held the spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail. And the leaders stood behind the whole house of Judah, who were building on the wall. Those who carried burdens were loaded in such a way that each labored on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other. And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built. 4:16-17
This calls into minds all the passages urging us to be sober and alert.
Design a “911”system.
The man who sounded the trumpet was beside me. And I said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “The work is great and widely spread, and we are separated on the wall, far from one another. In the place where you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.” 4:18-20
How can we practically implement such a practice? Part of it includes the prayer chain. We must also be willing to share our struggle with others.
Develop diligence for the task.
Because of this strategy, the work progressed
So we labored at the work, and half of them held the spears from the break of dawn until the stars came out. I also said to the people at that time, “Let every man and his servant pass the night within Jerusalem, that they may be a guard for us by night and may labor by day.” So neither I nor my brothers nor my servants nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us took off our clothes; each kept his weapon at his right hand. Nehemiah 4:21-23
Resist internal strife
Chapter 5 records an internal squabble between the nobles and the common folk.
Through Nehemiah’s leadership and personal example, they resolved the conflict.
I also shook out the fold of my garment and said, “So may God shake out every man from his house and from his labor who does not keep this promise. So may he be shaken out and emptied.” And all the assembly said “Amen” and praised the LORD. And the people did as they had promised. Nehemiah 5:13
The application here is obvious.
Resist persistent distraction
Nehemiah did this by setting priorities. Sanballat tried to stop the work by distracting Nehemiah from the project.
Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, “Come and let us meet together at Hakkephirim in the plain of Ono.” But they intended to do me harm. And I sent messengers to them, 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?” And they sent to me four times in this way, and I answered them in the same manner. Nehemiah 6:2-4
We need to fight what has been called the “Tyranny of the Urgent”. Sometimes what seems urgent keeps us from what is important.
Resist False accusation
The unholy trinity accused Nehemiah of trying to build a personal kingdom. He directly refuted their accusations.
Then I sent to him, saying, “No such things as you say have been done, for you are inventing them out of your own mind.” For they all wanted to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will drop from the work, and it will not be done.” But now, O God, strengthen my hands. Nehemiah 6:8-9
Satan is called the accuser of the brethren. Don’t listen; he has NO right.
Resist false direction
Next, they tried to send a false prophet to scare Nehemiah into hiding in the temple.
But I said, “Should such a man as I run away? And what man such as I could go into the temple and live? I will not go in.” And I understood and saw that God had not sent him, but he had pronounced the prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. For this purpose he was hired, that I should be afraid and act in this way and sin, and so they could give me a bad name in order to taunt me. Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, O my God, according to these things that they did, and also the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who wanted to make me afraid. Nehemiah 6:11-14
Make sure you can discern the voice of God from the deceptive voice of the enemy.
As a result of maintaining a heart for the work, they completed the wall.
So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. And when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem, for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God. 6:15-16
The was a phenomenal task accomplished in an amazing amount of time. The opposition continued but didn’t stop the wall or the coming worship. Be sure the enemy will not rest so neither can we. The purpose of opposing the enemy was to praise the Lord.
One of the elements to defeating the enemy was unified resistance.
By far the most powerful component was continual prayer.
With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, Ephesians 6:18
Here is a prayer that incorporates many of the truths of Scripture to stand firm against the enemy.
Se last week’s notes for the full text of the prayer.
