Rumors And Whispers From Hell
PPT 1 Message Title
We are going to talk about a tactic of the enemy that is often employed to hinder believers, and the work of God.
There is an ancient Chinese text called the Art of War
PPT 2 Sun Tzu the art of war
Sun Tzu has been called the greatest military strategist of all time. His book was written around 500 BC, and it is used by military organizations, business leaders, and the fact that it is still studied at the professional level 2500 years later, speaks to its enduring legacy.
In a similar fashion I think the book of Nehemiah contains a comprehensive outline of hell's strategy against the believer and the church. I haven't read it in a long time, but the same subject forms the basis of JRR Tolkien's book, "The Screwtape Letters". Here are the 6 major attacks of hell found in the book of Nehemiah, meant to hinder the work and growth of the people and church of God.
PPT 3 attack methods
1. Ridicule 4:1-6
2. Threat of Attack 4:7-9
3. Rumors and Whispers 4:11-23
4. Distractions 6:1-4
5. Discouragement 6:5-9 ( by slander and a threat to use the government against them.)
6. Using fear to entice to sin. 6:10-13. They are coming to kill you let's hide in the temple, which was illegal for Nehemiah. Only Priest could go into the temple. Other illustrations of this type of pressure: You can't pay so steal, you will get in trouble so lie.
The Amazing thing about the book of Nehemiah is that none of these tactics worked.
Today we are going to look at just one of those attacks and that is Rumors and Whispers
PPT 4-6 Text
Ne 4:11 And our enemies said, "They will not know or see until we come among them, kill them, and put a stop to the work."
Ne 4:12 And it came about when the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times, "They will come up against us from every place where you may turn,"
Ne 4:13 then I stationed men in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, the exposed places, and I stationed the people in families with their swords, spears, and bows.
Ne 4:14 When I saw their fear, I rose and spoke to the nobles, the officials, and 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 houses."
Ne 4:15 And it happened when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had frustrated their plan, then all of us returned to the wall, each one to his work.
Let's break this text down for our benefit
1. The enemies words heard. v. 11 and they had a profound effect.
PPT 7 text
Ne 4:11 And our enemies said, "They will not know or see until we come among them, kill them, and put a stop to the work."
Ne 4:14 When I saw their fear...
The enemy has a way of getting his words heard.
We have often said that words are containers.
Doesn't he/she looked good laced with lust.
Did you hear what the cruel thing John did? laced with anger
Corona is a very dangerous virus laced with fear. There is a difference between healthy concern and fear.
In Nehemiah's case the words the people heard produced great fear that was visible. (v.14)
We cannot prevent ourselves from hearing voices that are laced with fear. But we don't have to keep hitting the rewind and replay buttons. You control whether or not it is repeated in your head and heart.
2. Secondly the enemies words were repeated often.
PPT 8 Text
Ne 4:12 And it came about when the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times, "They will come up against us from every place where you may turn," (From all directions.)
Fears can speak 10 times more often than faith. It will seem like it speaks 10 times louder.
Faith and fear both whisper, but the volume control is in your heart and mind.
Will you turn up faith or fear?
3. The enemy uses weak believers as an echo chamber to amp up his volume.
The Jews who lived near them. Them who? The enemy. There are some people in the kingdom of God who live near the enemy (spiritually) and are often more in tune with the voice of hell than that of heaven.
There are Sanballats in the church who can bring the words of hell better than they can the words of God.
If someone came to us with horns on their heads we would not easily listen to anything they had to say. But if we saw them with a choir robe on, we wouldn't so quickly put up or defenses, in fact the shield of faith would be off to the side, and the fiery darts of the enemy have a better chance of getting in. We need to have the shield of faith always at the ready.
Church folk can be the devil's echo chamber, take note and be on your guard.
Jesus even rebuked Peter once saying, "get the behind me satan."
Nehemiah's successful response to this attack of the enemy:
PPT 9 text
Ne 4:14 When I saw their fear, I rose and spoke to the nobles, the officials, and 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 houses."
A. He rose, NIV I stood up. Literal, but isn't there also a spiritual message here. We need to rise up against fear, we need to stand up against fear. We need to push fear down, and let faith arise in our hearts.
B. He spoke. He countered the words of fear with words of faith. Think about God's power not theirs. He also intimated the danger if they didn't also rise up, your brothers, sons, daughters, wives, houses. If you stop this work you are more vulnerable to danger than if you continue it.
C. He acted.
PPT 10 text
Ne 4:13 then I stationed men in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, the exposed places, and I stationed the people in families with their swords, spears, and bows.
Ver. 13. Therefore set I in the lower places behind the wall, &c.] Where the wall was lowest, and the enemy could more easily break it down, or get over it:
Here they would fight with swords and spears.
KJV exposed places = higher places or rather on the towers upon the walls, as the word signifies the tops of rocks
Here it is not the place of vulnerability put the place of vision, the high spot and here they would use different weapons - the bows.
They let the enemy know they were ready for a fight, there would be no easy victory today. The enemy thought he could win by simple intimidation through lies and whispers, but Nehemiah rose up and met the challenge.
The enemy has no real weapon except that of lying, and lying only works if we believe it. No weapon formed against us will prosper, NO weapon.
Resist the devil and... he will flee from you!
The result:
PPT 11 text
Ne 4:15 When our enemies heard that we were aware of their plot and that God had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall, each to his own work.
The enemy recognized they had failed, and the work resumed.
It's all about stopping the work of God
Close: As I wrap up I want to remind you of the words of a song by Casting Crowns: The voice of truth.
Oh what I would do to have
The kind of faith it takes
To climb out of this boat I'm in
Onto the crashing waves
To step out of my comfort zone
Into the realm of the unknown where Jesus is
And He's holding out His hand
But the waves are calling out my name
And they laugh at me
Reminding me of all the times
I've tried before and failed
The waves they keep on telling me
Time and time again. "Boy, you'll never win!"
"You'll never win!"
But the voice of truth tells me a different story
The voice of truth says, "Do not be afraid!"
The voice of truth says, "This is for My glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth
Closing prayer: Are you being pressured by fear? Make a commitment to turn down the devil's radio station.
