Adrian Rogers - A Steadfast Church
Be finding Nehemiah chapter 4. We're in a series of Bible studies, things that I want to say to the church. What kind of a church should this church be? What kind of a church have I been trying in these past years to allow God to lead me to make this church to be? Last Sunday, we talked about a unified church, that we might be one in the bond of love. Today, I want to talk to you about "A Steadfast Church", one that can overcome the devices of the devil.
Now, may I tell you that it is obvious that Satan does not want this church to succeed, to be mightily used of God! And Satan has all kinds of machinations and devices and tricks to stop or to slow down or to discourage the people of God. Now, you say, "Pastor, I don't feel any satanic opposition". Well, don't brag about it. If you and the devil have never met head on, it's because you and the devil are going in the same direction. You turn around, and rather than being in collusion with him, you'll be in collision with him.
Now, there is always the opposition of Satan. And that doesn't mean when Satan opposes that God is not for us. Paul said in First Corinthians 16:9, "There is a great and open door, but," he said, "there are many adversaries". And the door to the room of opportunity swings on the hinges of opposition. There's no cheap way, there's no easy way, there's no lazy way. And when you try to do something for God, endeavor to let God use you, you're going to meet satanic opposition. I was thinking of the words that the Bible uses to describe the devil. He is described as a deceiver, as a liar, as a murderer, as an accuser, as a tempter, as a destroyer.
Now, he has many aliases like other criminals, but he has one desire, and that is to dishonor, discredit the church of the Lord Jesus Christ and every member of it. And I was looking this morning in some of the Scriptures that describe his activity. The Bible, for example, speaks in Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 11 of, "The wiles of the devil". Think of that, "The wiles of the devil". That word in the Greek is methodeia. It's the word we get method from. Satan has sinister methods, "The wiles of the devil".
And then, in Second Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 11, the Bible speaks of "his devices". Get that word in your mind now, "his devices". Satan has all kinds of devices to come against the church. And then, again, the Bible mentions there in Second Timothy chapter 2 verse 26 "The snare of the devil". Now, put those words together: wiles, devices, snares, liar, temptation, destroyer, evil one. Put them all together and that will give you some idea of who is against us, so, therefore, it's all the more important that we remember who is for us.
Now, in this message on the devices of the devil and overcoming his devices, the Book of Nehemiah is the basis for our study. And I want to take what applied to Nehemiah so long ago and apply it to the church today. Nehemiah was a man of God. Nehemiah saw that the walls of the City of Jerusalem had fallen. The Jews had been carried away into captivity, and Nehemiah got a message about the terrible condition of Jerusalem. Now, Jerusalem is a city with beautiful walls, but those walls had fallen, and Nehemiah was heartbroken because the wall symbolized protection and separation and beauty, what God has for His people. But the walls had fallen, and Nehemiah wanted to rebuild the wall.
Nehemiah said, "Let us rise up and build". But there were some enemies, some locals, who did not want it to happen. And so, when God's man said, "Let us rise up and build," they said, "Let us rise up and stop them". There's always satanic opposition. I remind you again that the door to the room of opportunity always swings on the hinges of opposition. And so, what we're going to do here in the Book of Nehemiah is we're going to see what Satan did to discourage Nehemiah and to stop Nehemiah and to destroy the work of Nehemiah. Now, I want to mention some ways, therefore, that the devil will try to stop the church. Are you ready?
Number one: Satan will attack the church with derision. Write down the word derision. And look here in Nehemiah chapter 4 verse 1, "And it came to pass that when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall, he was wroth," kids, that means he was hot, angry, steamed, "he was wroth, and he took great indignation," now underscore this phrase, "and mocked the Jews". That means he ridiculed them. He had them in derision. And this church will be in derision if we stand for Christ. Do you know what a Christian is today in today's society? He's called a do-gooder. He's called a bluenose Puritan. He's called a fundamentalist. He is called a fanatic.
Recently, those of us who've taken a stand for righteousness here in the heartland of America have been renamed "Jesus land. Jesus land". Yeah, I think it's a pretty good title, myself. But it was a term of derision by these who are mocking those of us in America who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, listen, there is no way, are you listening church, there is no way that you can stand for Jesus without becoming the laughing stock of this world. Do you think you're better than Jesus? Listen to this, Mark chapter 5 verse 40, concerning Jesus, "And they laughed him to scorn". Can you imagine anybody mocking the Lord Jesus? They laughed Him to scorn.
Luke 22 verse 63. When Jesus was being crucified, the Bible says, "They mocked Him and smote Him". Not only did they mercilessly beat Him; they are laughing while they are doing it. "They mocked Him and smote Him". In Luke 23 verses 36 and 37, "And the soldiers also mocked Him, coming to Him and offering Him vinegar, and saying, 'If Thou be the King of the Jews, save Thyself.'" Now, you're not better than Jesus. If they mocked the Lord Jesus, they're going to mock you. And ridicule has a sting. There's not a one of us that wants to be laughed at. A Christian wife who tries to live for Jesus may be mocked for her faith by her husband.
Some of you college students, if you go away to school and stand up for the Lord Jesus Christ and let the banners unfold and stand on the Word of God, I can promise you you're going to be laughed at. You're going to be mocked at any college today that is not a Christian college. If you're a businessman and you try to stand for the principles of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, this world is going to mock at you. Now, what, what was the nature of their ridicule? First of all, they ridiculed the feebleness of God's people.
Look if you will here in Nehemiah 4 verse 2, "And he spake before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, 'What do these feeble Jews"? "What are these feeble Jews trying to do?'" In other words, they said, "Look, they're insignificant. They are weak; therefore, we laugh at them". And from the world's viewpoint, we don't have any strength. The world boasts of its power, its education, its erudition, its influence. And they look at us and they just sort of tolerate us. They feel, basically, that we're those feeble Baptists.
I heard about a man one time who applied for a job as a lumberman to cut down trees, and this man was about 120 lbs, about 5'6". And they said, "Look, being a lumberjack is a hard job. You've got to have great strength to be a lumberjack". He said, "I can cut down trees". They said, "O, can you? You look pretty feeble. There's a sapling; cut it down"! He took his axe and went wickerty-whack, and the sapling fell. They said, "Well, that's all right, but try this on a larger tree". Wickerty-whack, and that one fell. He said, "All right, try it on this great big tree". Wickerty-whack, and that one fell. They said, "Good night! Where did you learn to chop down trees"? He said, "The Sahara Forest". He said, "You mean the Sahara Desert". He said, "Yeah, now"!
You know, it's easy to underestimate the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus started out with 12 unlettered fishermen and turned the world upside down. Jesus went out against the imperial might of Rome, against the religious bigotry of His day and turned that world, He and His disciples, upside down. They mocked the feeblety, the feebleness of God's people. Secondly, they mocked the futility of the task. Look in the last part of Nehemiah chapter 4 and verse 2, "Will they make an end in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish that are burned"? They said, "Look, there's no way you can do it. It is futile".
They were looked upon as dreamers, visionaries; impractical, wasting their time with an impossible task and, therefore, they laughed at them. They laughed at the feebleness of their strength, and the futility of their task. And they also laughed at the foolishness of their faith. Look in Nehemiah chapter 4 and verse 2, "Will they sacrifice"? Now, what he's saying is this, "Are they going to worship their God"? Their devotion to the God of Heaven was a source of ridicule. May I tell you that what we believe, the old-fashioned, old-time religion, the truth of God's Word, its inerrancy, its impeccability, the deity of Jesus, His blood sacrifice, the things that we hold dear, people laugh at; they mock. It has always been that way.
First Corinthians chapter 1 verse 18, "For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness". Now, I'm going to tell you something, folks, they're going to laugh at you if you believe this old-time religion. Harry Ironsides used to be the Pastor of Moody Memorial Baptist Church. And he and some friends were out in Oakland, California, and they were on a ferry crossing that bay. And they were singing choruses and praising the Lord. And a man standing there said, "Who are you"? He said, "Well, we're some Christians". "What are you doing"? "Well, we're praising the Lord". And the man said, "You're fools". Ironsides said, "Yes, that's true. We are fools". But he said, "We're fools for Christ's sake. Whose fool are you"?
Now, the world thinks that we are fools, and we have to be ready to be ridiculed. Why do they ridicule us? Think of their character. You know, the reason a person laughs at holy things is he's a wicked person. The Bible says in Second Peter 3:3, "There's going to come in the last days scoffers walking after their own lusts". You show me a scoffer, you show me somebody, like Sanballat and Tobiah, who laugh at God's work and laugh at God's people and I will show you, beyond the shadow of any doubt, someone who has the devil's initials carved in their heart, someone who is covered with the slimy fingerprints of sin.
Scoffers walking after their own lusts. That's the reason they do it is the character that they have. And then I want you to consider the company that you're in when they laugh at you. You're no better than Jesus. I've already told you that. If they mocked the Lord Jesus, they're going to mock at you. Now, nobody is laughing at you. If you haven't been ridiculed, perhaps Satan doesn't think that you're worthy of any worry. But if you're getting some flack, it just may be that you're over the target.
Just consider the company that you're in. And consider the reward that's yours for being laughed at. Jesus said Matthew chapter 5 verses 11 and 12, "Blessed are you when men shall persecute you and revile you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely for My sake; rejoice," now, listen, "and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward". If somebody laughs at you because of your faith, you ought to go home and throw a party. Say, "How wonderful it is that people can see a difference in me"! Satan will attack you personally. Satan will attack this church with derision.
Now, secondly, Satan is going to attack the church with discouragement. Look in Nehemiah chapter 4 verse 10, "And Judah said" now, Judah was one of the leaders. "And Judah said, 'The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed, and there is much rubbish; so that we are not able to build the wall.'" That's sad. They were discouraged, and the discouragement did not come from the outside. This time, Satan used somebody from the inside. Do you ever get discouraged? Discouragement is one of life's most deadly diseases. It's universal and it's reoccurring, but thank God it can be cured.
Now, what are the causes of discouragement? Well, number one: they were worn out. There's the problem of fatigue. Look in Nehemiah chapter 4 verse 10, "The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed". Sometimes we get tired. Vince Lombardi, the famous, former coach of the Green Bay Packers, said, "Fatigue makes cowards of us all". Sometimes the most spiritual thing we can do is go to bed, did you know that? Here these people were worn out. And when did this come? When did this discouragement come? When they were half done, right in the middle.
Look, if you will, in Nehemiah chapter 4 verse 6, "So built we the wall; and the wall was joined together unto the half". They were half done. Do you ever start to climb a mountain, even a mole hill, and get about half way up and you decide it's not a good idea. Have you ever heard of a midlife crisis, when you come to a certain stage in your life when you say, "I'm not going to be able to do the things that I thought I ought to do. I'm not going to be able to make it".
Do you ever buy a new car? It's so wonderful. Then the newness wears off about half the time the car is paid for. You see, this always happens to us. When we can get discouraged because we're worn out. And not only were they worn out; they were weighted down. Look if you will in Nehemiah chapter 4 verse 10, "And Judah said, 'The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed.'" Why, he said that, "There's much rubbish; so that we're not able to build the wall". The church will face rubbish. You will face rubbish. Serving the Lord Jesus Christ is not always glamorous. Now, you can't build without stones, but those stones sometimes are buried in rubbish. But you can't build on rubbish, either.
Church, listen to me, it's not going to be just all easy, all honey and no bees. If the devil cannot laugh you out of service to the Lord Jesus Christ and your personal life and corporate life, then he will try to discourage you. And he'll come when the job is half done and say, "It can't be done! You are worn out. You are weighted down. It cannot be done"! And it's sad when this comes from within. I've had people to discourage me; try to, anyway. Some people are like a drink of water to a drowning man.
I pastored a little church on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi when I was in seminary. It was a little church, we met in a barracks building. It was a little army barracks building. We had a church there. Had about 50 members; 25 of them were crooks. I'm serious. They, it wasn't much now. We kind of got the crooks straightened out after a while, but it was a hard little church to pastor. And I knew that we needed to grow. I knew that we needed more buildings. We didn't have any money. Hardly any leadership in that church. But I went to Jackson to our Sunday School Board and got some architectural plans that I thought would fit that church. We needed a building. Had no money. I got three shovels. I got two other young men and myself and I said, "Let's mark off the foundation of this building and let's begin to dig".
We had no money! We had no builders! We had no help! We got out there in the blazing sun and began to dig the footing of that building. One of the leading members of that church came by. She was a woman. Her husband was a contractor. Little did he help! She came by and she stood and said, "What are you doing"? We said, "We're digging the footing for our new building". She said, "It will never be done"! I said to myself, "O yes, it will"! And, friend, that building is built today. There are those who tell you that it cannot be done. But it can be done. Don't you let the devil discourage you and talk you out of a work for the Lord Jesus!
Now, here's a third way that Satan will come against you. Not only will he come with derision to laugh you out of the work for God, or not only will he come with discouragement to cause you to lie down and quit, but he will also come with dismay. He will try to frighten you out of a work for God. Look now in Nehemiah chapter 4 and verse 11, "And our adversaries said, 'They shall not know, neither see, till we come in the midst among them, and slay them, and cause the work to cease.'"
You see, terrorism is not new. He says, "When they walk, working on the wall, we're going to pounce them. They won't know where we've come from. And we are going to kill them". Now, you see, Satan is not always dainty. Satan is not above taking your life, killing you, inciting somebody to do that. In my ministry I've had not a few death threats. I have been the target of wicked people who would like to put me to death.
You say, "Pastor Rogers, I thought you were a better man than that". No. Friend, if they sought to put our Lord to death, don't you think they'll want to put us to death? Jesus said, "The time will come when they who slay you will think that they have done God a favor". Satan will stop at nothing. Now, what do you do when Satan comes to give you dismay to frighten you away from a work for God? If he can't laugh you away, and if he can't discourage you away, he'll try to threaten you away. Well, do what Nehemiah did.
Number one: remember the Lord. Nehemiah chapter 4 verse 14, look at it, "And I looked, and rose up, and said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, 'Be not ye afraid of them: remember the Lord.'" I got a call from the Sheriff's Department. They said, "Pastor, we need to tell you there's a man with a rifle who said he's coming down there to kill you. We don't know where he is, but we just need to tell you". I'm sitting in my study. I said, "Lord, what do You want me to do"?
I thought, well, first of all, I'm going to get a word from the Word. And I went over there, and I keep my Bible open to Psalm 119 there in my study and try to get a word out of that. It's about the Bible and it's about preaching. Before I step out here, many times I'll just glance and get a word from that. So I walked over there and I said, "Lord, I want a word from the Word," and I put my finger down. But it wasn't Psalm 119; it was Psalm 118. I put it down on the wrong page, but the right page. One verse!
I put my finger on and looked down to see what it was, and it said in verse 17, "You will not die, but live, and declare My Word". And I said, "Well, that's a good verse". Amen. Well, you say, "Pastor, haven't people been killed for serving Jesus"? Of course they have. Does that mean they lost? No, that means they won! "We overcome him by the blood of the Lamb, the word of our testimony, and be not loving our lives unto the death". Revelation 12:11. Do not let Satan terrify you. "In nothing be terrified by your adversaries". Philippians 1:28. Now, the time's going to come when to be a Bible Christian will be dangerous. And so, what Nehemiah says to his people, "Look, remember the Lord".
And then he says, number two: reflect on the issues. Look, if you will, again in Nehemiah 4 verse 14, "Remember the Lord, which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses". Remember what's at stake! Remember your sons, your daughters, your wives, your houses! Stand up for Jesus, ye soldiers of the cross. Satan will attack with derision. Satan will attack with discouragement. Satan will attack with dismay.
Now, listen, folks, resist the enemy. Look, if you will, now in Nehemiah chapter 4 and verse 18, "For the builders, every one of them had his sword girded by his side, and so builded. And he that sounded the trumpet was by me". They were building and battling at the same time, and so must you be! The devil would like to terrify you, but the Bible says in Philippians 1:28, "In nothing be terrified by your adversaries". To the contrary, James chapter 4 verse 7 says, "Resist the devil and he'll flee from you". It's not enough for you to say, "I'm not afraid of the devil". The devil ought to be afraid of you, a man armed in the power and the anointing of Almighty God.
Now, again, number four: Satan will attack Bellevue with discord. Look, if you will, in Nehemiah chapter 5 and verse 1, "And there was a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brethren the Jews". Now, Satan, if he can't intimidate us with bodily harm or humiliate us with laughter, he will try to sow discord among the brethren. That's why I preached last Sunday on a unified church. And here in this, these people are supposed to be building. They turn against one another. There was discord in the ranks. And I remind you that the devil had rather start a church fuss than to open a porno palace. Are you going to let Satan divide you as a church? No! But here's what happened. There was a discord.
Do you know what it was over? It was over finances, and some people didn't like the way the finances were being handled. And, very frankly, they were not doing the best job of handling the finances. But you have to watch people who sometimes get upset over finances in a church. Now, there's a time, obviously, when people need to be held to account. But there's another category of people who knit-pick. Those of you who are from smaller churches and country churches know that every one of those churches has its kind of self-style watchdog.
One man in this particular church opened a broom closet and there were five brand new brooms in that closet. He got all upset. He asked the janitor, "Whoever authorized anybody to buy five new brooms at one time? We're not meeting our budget and there are five brand new brooms". The janitor said, "I don't know". He said, "Maybe you ought to ask the pastor". So the man, very irate, came in to talk to the pastor. He said, "Why do we have five brand new brooms in the closet"? The pastor said, "Well, I don't know. Maybe there was a sale on brooms. I don't know".
Later, the pastor was having coffee with the church treasurer and he mentioned this to the treasurer. The treasurer just smiled and said, "Oh, pastor, that's easy to understand. How would you feel if you saw everything you'd given to the church in the past year tied up in five brooms"? It was over money. But they solved the problem. And they got the answer to the problem. Now, Bellevue, I want to tell you something. There are no problems too big to solve; only people too small to solve them. And Satan will attack this church, and any church with discord. Now, next: Satan will attack us with distraction.
Look, if you will, now in Nehemiah chapter 6 verses 1 and 2, "And it came to pass when Sanballat and Tobiah and Geshem the Arabian, and the rest of the enemies, heard that I had builded the wall, and that there was no breach left therein, though at that time I had not set up the doors upon the gates, that Sanballat and Geshem sent unto me, 'Come, let us meet together in some one of the villages in the plain of Ono.' But they thought to do me mischief". Now, they couldn't stop the work, so they said, "Let's come down here and talk about this thing. Stop building. The gates are not there. But, come, let's have a little conference". But Nehemiah said, "They sought to do me mischief. They really did not want to help me. What they wanted to do was to distract me from the work".
Satan will try to distract this church. Why are we built? Why are we here? What is our purpose? What is it? To magnify Jesus through worship and the Word. To move believers in Jesus toward maturity and ministry. To make Jesus known to our neighbors and the nations. And the devil will try to distract us and to get us to do something else, to come aside and sit down, and talk about these things. Nehemiah said, "I can't do it. I'm doing a great work and I will not come down".
Don't ever get distracted. We're here to glorify Jesus and to win souls. Now, say Amen. Oh, the late, great Dr. Vance Havner said, "Every now and then a church says we're going to major in evangelism". If you ever heard Dr. Havner speak, kind of a nasal voice. He said, "Well, for me, for a church to major in evangelism would be very much like a railroad majoring in transportation". Now, it's a no-brainer. Now, we are doing a great work. Some of you mothers are doing a great work as a mother to your children. But somebody says, "Well, you need to stop that and go out into the job market and get a job".
Now, if you have to do that to put food on the table or covering over the heads or clothes on the back, fine, if you have to do it. But if you are a mother raising little children, you are doing a great work! And the devil will say, "O, step down". Some of you who used to serve the Lord Jesus Christ in church are now not serving the Lord, but you're members of other kind of clubs and organizations. Why is that? Why have you allowed the devil to distract you? You become the First Vice President for the "Society of Prevention of Cruelty to Grandmothers with Athlete's Feet". You get out in some of these things that don't really matter.
Stay with the church. You're doing a great job. Do not come down! Now, and I must finish. But Satan will also attack the church with defamation. Nehemiah chapter 6 verses 5 and 6, "Then sent Sanballat his servant unto me in the like manner the fifth time with an open letter in his hand; wherein was written, 'It is reported among the heathen, and Gashmu saith it, that thou and the Jews think to rebel: for the which cause thou buildest the wall, that thou mayest be their king, according to the, their words.'"
Now, here was a rumor, a vicious rumor to defame them. They said, "You're building these walls. We know why you're building these walls. You're building a kingdom for yourselves". Have you ever heard anybody say that the church is building a kingdom? Have you ever heard anybody say, "That pastor is motivated by personal gain or pride or ambition"? That's what they said about Nehemiah. "He doesn't really love God. He's really not doing a spiritual thing. He is trying to set himself up as some kind of a king".
And notice how he did it. Some individual, Gashmu, saith it. Who in the world is Gashmu? And there was an open letter, very much like a letter to the editor, to defame God's people. There are always those, listen, you're never more like the devil than when you spread rumors about godly people, never! When you defame the good and the godly, you're doing the work of the devil. A little three-year old had heard the model prayer. She didn't get it right, but I think she said, "And forgive us our trash baskets, as we forgive others who put trash in our baskets".
Don't let somebody put trash in your basket! I've just got to finish this message. But there are people who say things that they have no business saying. A godly pastor was doing a good job, but two men in the church didn't like him. They came to him and they said, "Pastor, we think you should be the pastor no longer in this church, and we're going to ask you to step aside and resign". He said, "Well, gentlemen, thank you for coming to me". He said, "I'll tell you what I'll do. I will take it to the Lord and pray over it and I'll get back with you". They said, "All right, we'll meet next week". Next week came and they met, and the men said, "Well, what did God say to you"? Pastor said, "God said He'd never heard of you two guys".
Now, what I'm trying to say is this: there are always people who will be used of the devil to defame the good. Well, I've got to quit. Now, church, you listen to me, in this time, Satan will do everything he can do to get you to come down from the wall. And by God's grace, you're not going to do it. You're not going to do it! You're going to be God's people, and you're not going to let derision or discouragement or division or dismay or defamation, or any other thing keep you from being a steadfast church. And God's people said, Amen.
Now, bow your heads in prayer. If you're a child of God and you know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, would you pray God's blessing upon this church. Would you say:
O, dear Lord God, bless us as we build walls of defense and walls of doctrine and walls of decency. Help us to be one in the bond of love.
Now, while we have our heads bowed, if you have never, ever given your heart to Jesus Christ, you're wasting your life and you're headed for a terrible eternity. But if you know the Lord Jesus Christ, you have a purpose for living and you have a hope in dying. And you're saved by believing that Jesus Christ died on the cross and paid your sin debt with His shed blood. And when you put your faith where God has put your sins, you'll be saved. Would you pray:
O, Lord Jesus, I need You and I want You. Come into my heart. Forgive my sin and save me.
Father, I pray that many will do that today. In Jesus' holy name. Amen.