Josh Howerton - Overcoming Opposition Through Jesus (01/12/2026)

Summary:

Building on the momentum from a powerful church event («Encounter»), the preacher delivers an intense message from Nehemiah 4 & 6 about spiritual revival and the inevitable opposition that follows obedience to God. Key points: Expect opposition when the Holy Spirit moves, as Satan reacts; fathers must fight spiritual battles to break generational curses rather than pass them on; distinguish between wise (shepherds), simple (sheep), and evil (wolves) people to avoid misplaced trust; prioritize Jesus above all relationships. The service culminates in calls for prayer, spontaneous baptisms (over 300 planned), and celebration of new believers.

Energized Welcome and Encounter Recap
Man, if you guys got your Bibles, head over to Nehemiah chapter 4. Nehemiah 4 is going to be today, and hey, let me just start like this: man, I just need y’all to know I got a lot of preach in me today because Encounter was amazing! I just need y’all to know that. Like, that was amazing. Let me ask all of our locations, who was at Encounter this week? Where you at? Where you at? Where you at? That’s awesome, man! Who was there every single night of Encounter? Who was there? Dude!

All right, man, let me just say, if you were there every night, you are about to hear the greatest sermon you have ever heard—not because I’m about to preach the greatest sermon you’ve ever heard, but because the soil of your heart has been tilled by gathering with the people of God and the power of the Spirit of God under the authority of the Word of God. And when that happens, something changes in you. So, man, you just buckle up, buckle up! Man, I also need you to do this: y’all seem a little sleepy today, and I’m not liking it. So give me a good amen! Give me an amen!

Let’s hear, «Preach, Pastor! Let’s go!» Okay? With applause, like Jesus was just exalted. All right, man, 'cause I just need you to know if you do the «it’s early and I’m staring at you with coffee in my hand» thing today, I’m not going to do great with it. So, all right, here we go.

Let me just say this, man. I don’t want us to treat what’s holy as if it were common. Here are some things I saw this week: I saw 177,000 people gather on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday night outside of life just to worship Jesus. I saw grown men—like, I saw 55-year-old grown men running down aisles to give their lives to Christ. I personally prayed with high schoolers and college students reduced to weeping and falling on their knees, coming under conviction of sin in repentance, coming back to the love of the Father. Seventy-seven people indicated a first-time decision to follow Jesus with their lives, and we will baptize 300 people today across all of our locations in one weekend. Y’all, let me just say it: something’s happening around here, guys! We’re not going to treat what’s holy as if it were common.

Nehemiah: Revival and the Spirit’s Power
Now, here’s what I’m doing: I am counting today as the last day of Encounter. This is it. So, like, last night at camp, that’s what you got right now. This is last night at camp. I’m preaching Nehemiah 4 and 6 together, and I just want to remind you that the book of Nehemiah is a story about a nation—a nation that had the anointing and presence of God and then, somewhere along the way, lost it. This is the story of how they got it back.

How it happened is this: it was like a Spirit-filled general contractor. This dude steps forward in faith—one person surrendered to the power of the Spirit. He steps forward, and God uses this man to lead a nation into revival, into awakening, into the power of the Spirit. So, what happens is he is led by God to rebuild the walls around the city of Jerusalem, and he does, in the power of the Spirit, in 52 days what they had not been able to accomplish in 52 years. How many of you know that when the Spirit of God falls on a person, falls on a family, falls on a church, the Spirit of God can do in days what we can’t do in decades?

This is what happens right here, man. I just want to point this out: when we baptize 300 people in one weekend, and we’re on our way to baptizing 2,000 people in one calendar year, do y’all understand? Like, man, that’s awesome! But I need you to understand that it’s not normal. What’s happening is that that is occurring in days what many churches would pray for in decades. When the Spirit of God falls, He can do more in days than we can do in decades. There is nothing He cannot accomplish.

Expect Opposition
When Nehemiah steps forward with this, now this sermon is preached to people who this week at Encounter, like, God moved on your heart, and you took a step of faith or you made a decision to do something in your life you’ve never done before. Or you are one of the hundreds or thousands of people this year at Lake Point who have decided, «Man, I’m crossing a line of faith. I’m going to follow Jesus.» Here’s the watch out: you might think that the second you step forward in obedience, because God’s for you, that afterward it’s all going to be like rainbows and sunshine and unicorns and applause and everything’s going to be awesome. But you have to know this reality.

By the way, if this is your first time at Lake Point, come back next week; this week’s a little intense, let me just say that. The reality is, when the Spirit of God goes to work, so does Satan. Check this out; this is Nehemiah 4:1. It says, «When Sanballat the Horonite, » everybody say «Horonite.» Okay, say it very carefully when you’re at church: «Horonite.» Heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry. He was greatly incensed, and he ridiculed the Jews. In the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, «What are these feeble Jews doing? Do they think they’re going to restore the wall? Do they think they’re going to offer sacrifices again?» He’s mocking them. «Will they finish in a day? Can they bring stones back to life from those heaps of rubble?»

Oh, by the way, Jesus in the New Testament says, «Yeah, actually, in the power of the Spirit, they can!» Because if the rocks don’t cry out, these people are going to do it. So the answer to that question is yes, burn as they are! Then Tobiah the Ammonite—everybody say «Ammonite.» There you go, who was at his side said, «What are they building? Even a fox climbing up on it would break down their wall of stones.»

Now, here’s what I want to point out: the second Nehemiah steps out in obedience, the enemy steps up with opposition. I just need to call something out because some of you have been taught, either implicitly or explicitly— for some of you, it’s simply been implied—there are pastors all across our country who will make it sound like to you that if you just step forward in obedience and become a Christian, that’s going to punch your ticket to like a low-maintenance, hassle-free life where it’s all applause. But the Bible says this—the Bible says wrong! Expect opposition!

I just want to speak the truth to you: expect opposition. Let me read you some things straight from the Scriptures. This is 1 John 3:13: «Do not be surprised, brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.» Surely it would be a strange thing to say that we worship and follow a guy that was so hated by the world he was crucified, but we think that if we follow the guy that was hated by the world, we will be loved by the world. That would be a really, really weird thing to expect.

Jesus said this in Luke chapter 6: «Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you, insult you, and reject your name as evil because of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day, leap for joy because great is your reward in heaven, for that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.» But watch this: «Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, because that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.» Guys, Jesus commanded us to love our enemies; He did not say we wouldn’t have any.

The book of Ephesians commands every believer everywhere—listen to this language—to put on the full armor of God. Do you know when you need armor? When you’re in a battle. John Piper— I understand about 8% of what he says, but when I do, it’s awesome—says this: «Life is war.» That’s not all it is, but it is always that. Our weakness in prayer is owing largely to our neglect of this truth.

Prayer is primarily a wartime walkie-talkie for the mission of the church as it advances against the powers of darkness and unbelief. It’s not surprising that prayer malfunctions when we try to make it a domestic intercom to call upstairs for more comforts down in the den. God has given us prayer as a wartime walkie-talkie so that we can call headquarters for everything we need as the kingdom of Christ advances in this world.

Spiritual Warfare and the Enemy
Now, let me just point this out. If you’re especially new to the faith, you’re kicking the tires on this whole thing, you may be going, «Well, why? If God is sovereign over the world, then why is it that when I start to follow Him, opposition ramps up?» Let me help you understand how the theological math works: when you become a Christian, you didn’t just gain a Father in Heaven; you gained an enemy in hell. The Bible says that God is real and that this world was created and is overseen by a Holy Spirit who loves you so much that He was willing to die for you.

God is a Spirit, but that’s not the only reality in the universe. There is a Holy Spirit that loves you so much He was willing to die for you, but there’s also an unholy spirit, a real enemy that the Bible calls Satan, and he hates you so much that he is willing to kill you. We have a real enemy in this real world, and what the Bible says is that he wants to steal, kill, and destroy everything you hold dear. He wants to steal, kill, and destroy you, your family, your children, but what he wants most of all is he’s coming after your faith.

That’s what he wants. He’s coming after your faith! Before you were a Christian, you didn’t have that enemy. You didn’t know it, but you were playing for his team. But the second you become a Christian, what the Bible says is that you are transferred in the love of God from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light; that you were transferred from hell to heaven, from sin to righteousness; that you were an enemy of God, and now you are a son or daughter of the living God.

What happens in that moment is, again, you didn’t just gain a Father; you gained an enemy. Someone said it like this: the birthmark of a believer is a bullseye. The second you make that transfer, you get marked as an enemy of Satan. So what that means is, listen, that obedience is always met with opposition—always. Nowhere, at no time, is that not true.

So, can I just speak to specific moments? Some of you are in this week coming out of Encounter—a move of God in your life. Right here: before you were a Christian, everything was cool, but then you become a Christian, and all of a sudden, opposition happens. So, for example, for many of you, it’s like with your friends. It’s like, «Bro, when you were partying and sleeping around and drinking and doing all the destructive things, all your friends were like, ‘Oh, this dude is awesome. Let’s hang! Bro, I’m in! Let’s do it! ’» But the second you start trying to consecrate your life and live for the purposes of God, all of a sudden, it’s like, «Oh man, lame! This dude’s actually kind of judgy. Like, ah, what’s going on, man?»

Or at work: if you’ll just go with the flow and you’ll do all the things and check all the boxes, and there are a few shady things that actually you’re being asked to do—and you’re willing to fudge in your integrity—there’s some ideology that you’re asked to sign off on. When you’re at work, if you just do all of those things, everything’s fine. But the second that you draw a line in the sand and go, «Man, actually, I can’t do that because I’m a disciple of Jesus, » well now we need to have a conversation with HR.

Or what about this at school? You’re a high schooler: as long as you’re quiet, as long as you either believe what everybody else believes or you’re just quiet about the fact that you don’t believe it, everything’s fine. But the second you speak up and say that you don’t believe those things, now we’ve got a problem. Or, let’s be a little sensitive: if you invite a dude dressed as a girl to read perverse stories to kids in a library? Totally welcome to do that. Invite a pastor to read Bible stories to kids in a library? «We don’t do that here.»

Now, let me ask this question: why is it like that? Okay, listen to me: whenever you take an action with the Holy Spirit, there is always an opposite reaction of unholy spirits—what the Bible calls demons. That is a real reality! Now, if you’re like especially new, it’s like, «Oh my gosh, did he totally just say this? This is the 21st century! Josh, you cannot possibly believe in demons!» Yeah, I do! I just think that in our culture, we call them things like addictions.

Think about it: when you talk to somebody that’s an addict, think about what they say. They say things like, «Man, there’s this thing in my life that I actually don’t want to do. I don’t even like this thing! And I know if I keep doing it, it can kill me, it can kill my marriage, it can kill my family. It’ll steal, kill, and destroy everything that I love!» And it’s like, «There’s something inside of me that’s not even me! There’s this other voice in me that baits me to go down this road to the path of slavery!» Now, what do you call that? Bad judgment? Yeah, there’s more going on here!

There is a Holy Spirit, and every time you take an action in the Holy Spirit, unholy spirits—called demons—react to that. Now, I want to be clear: if you’re a Christian, a demon can oppress you, but you can never be possessed by a demon because you are a bought and paid-for possession of the Most High God. That’s a reality in your life!

So, man, listen, you just need to know this promise: in this world, you will have trouble. Some of you right now are like, «Man, Pastor, geez! Can’t you be more positive?» Yes, I can! I am positive that when you start to follow Jesus, you will experience opposition. I am positive. But I am also positive that it will be worth it a trillion times over! I am positive about that!

Listen, I just need to remind us of this: this is not my language; I just love this language. Do you guys remember why we follow Jesus? We don’t follow Jesus because He makes life better! Now, every time I say that, I’ve got to pause and just go, «Hey, actually, following Jesus typically does make your life better.» Like, the commands of God are not burdensome! Actually, when God says, «Don’t, “ what He means is, „Don’t hurt yourself!“

All of God’s commands are like God saying, „Here’s how life works best.“ In this world, Satan has a plan to curse your life; God has a plan to bless your life ultimately, and you get to choose which path you’re on. This is God’s path to bless your life. So, like, following Jesus in our culture at this time typically does make your life better, but that’s not why we follow Jesus! We follow Jesus because He is better than life! That’s why we follow Jesus! It’s like, „Man, at His right hand are pleasures evermore.“ That’s why we follow Him!

Fathers: Fight or Flee?
Okay, so you just need to know this: you are going to have battles, but listen to me. Make no mistake; listen: these battles matter, y’all! I pointed this out to you earlier: the two dudes who are evil in this part of Nehemiah are Sanballat and Tobiah. Sanballat—the Horonite—means he was from a city called Horon, which was in Moab. This is important; just track with me. Then Tobiah says he was an Ammonite.

Now, this is important: the Moabites and the Ammonites, if you go back in your Bible, you’ll remember this. If you go back to the book of Joshua, Joshua was commanded generations earlier—Joshua and the people of Israel—they were commanded to quote, „Utterly destroy and utterly drive out all the people of Canaan, “ and that included the Moabites and the Ammonites. So, listen closely: what you’re seeing here is that the fathers in Israel did not fight and win those battles, and so those battles were left to the children.

I want to speak to fathers in our church right now. You are facing battles in your life, and you have a choice. You can either fight or flee, but if you flee, you will leave those battles to your children. I just want to say this, man: some of you right now, you’ve got battles! Man, this is real! It’s real stuff!

You walked in here with things like divorce, addiction, depression, adultery. Every now and then, you’ll hear somebody use this phrase—a generational curse—that’s actually a concept that is a biblical concept, and what’s going on there is the Bible is acknowledging the reality that these battles—things like divorce, addiction, depression, adultery—will get passed down from generation to generation to generation until some man in the family line stands up and acts like a man.

In the power of the Spirit, wins a battle so that the generations after him can walk in freedom. That is what happens! So, your choice is to fight or to flee, but if you flee, you will leave those battles to your children.

Now, I’m getting ready to say some things that are politically incorrect, but they are biblically correct, and you just got to go with me. If you don’t like it, you can leave; we need your parking space, okay? I love you. That sounded snarky.

In our culture right now, what everybody’s always talking about is like, „Oh man! The biggest problem in our culture right now!“ People talk about it all the time: „Toxic masculinity! Toxic masculinity! Toxic masculinity!“ And, oh, by the way, are there some men that are toxic? Absolutely! But listen, the biggest problem in our culture is not toxic masculinity; it is an absence of masculinity. That’s the biggest problem in our culture!

Let me just give you some data. I’m just giving you dаta: hard to get mad at data. Okay, dаta: 71% of inmates and 81% of rapists come from fatherless homes. 90% of all homeless and runaway children come from fatherless homes. 60% of youth suicides come from fatherless homes. President Obama, years ago, pointed out that children without present fathers are 500% more likely to live in poverty and commit a crime, 900% more likely to drop out of school, and 2,000% more likely to end up in prison.

Fatherlessness is the number one contributor to all five of the following societal ills: crime, homelessness, unwed pregnancy, poverty, and future fatherlessness. Now, every time—listen, I don’t think the weight of what I just said dawned on you, so I’m going to say it again: fatherlessness is the number one contributor to crime, homelessness, unwed pregnancy, poverty, and future fatherlessness.

Now, bad news: if you flee from battles, you will pass those battles to your children. Good news: if you bend your knee to the lordship of Jesus and then stand up and act like a man in the power of the Spirit, under submission to the Word of God, and win that battle, you will pass victory to your children. That’s good news!

Let me just show you this from the Scripture. Like again, I’m just giving you dаta: this is data. Okay, check this out. If a family member comes to Christ, here’s what you’re getting ready to see—the influence they have on the rest of the family coming to Jesus. So this is dаta: if a wife comes to Christ, there’s an 18% chance—nearly 20%—of the whole family getting caught up in the kingdom of God.

Now, sometimes because God loves the lowly, He won’t work top-down; He’ll work bottom-up. Sometimes God will infiltrate a family from the children and work up, and the data shows that if a child comes to Christ, there’s a 22% chance of the entire family coming to Jesus. That’s awesome!

But check this out: if a father bends his knee to the lordship of Jesus and comes to Christ, there’s a 94% chance the rest of the family comes to Jesus.

So, man, let me just say this: all this stuff applies to everybody, but I’m speaking right now to men, to husbands, to fathers, to future husbands, to future fathers: dads, man up for your kids! Dads, fight for your kids! Go after the hearts of your kids! This is the first time in our nation’s history that we’ve got more kids growing up without a father than with a father, and you wonder why this place is getting so jacked up!

Hey, Lake Point Church, do you want to change the world? How about every man in here stand up and act like a man and fight for the hearts of your children? That’ll change everything! You do that, that’s going to change everything!

So, check out what Nehemiah does in Nehemiah 4. I love this so much! The opposition comes, and Nehemiah puts swords into the hands of the fathers. He gives this command: „Remember the Lord who is great and awesome! Fight for your families! Fight for your sons! Fight for your daughters, for your wives and for your homes!“ Fight!

What happens right now in this world is this world breaks men down. We want to be at a church that builds men up! We want to build men up! So, every time we come in here, what I want to do—the Bible says the Scriptures say that the Word of God is like a sword of the Spirit—and in the same way that Nehemiah shoved swords in the hands of the fathers and said, „Fight for your kids, “ every time we walk in here, what I’m trying to do is put a sword in the hands of the fathers and say, „Fight for your children! Fight for your wives! Fight for your families!“

Every time you open the Word of God in the morning and you submit to His authority as a man under submission, every time you do that, you’re picking up a sword and you’re fighting—fighting for something!

And y’all need to understand: every time we gather corporately for worship—all of our locations. Every time we do this thing right in here, this is not a show! You know this; this is not like some show! This is not a game!

When we come in here, this is the thin place. This is the place where the space between Heaven and Earth evaporates. This is where Heaven touches Earth; this is where the Spirit of God touches the people of God! When we come in here, whoa! When we come in here and we sing the songs, and we pray the prayers, and we preach the Word, y’all, supernatural stuff happens! Chains break off in here. Generations get changed when we gather!

Some of you right now don’t even know it, but you’re like the first dude in your family ever to start being a guy that’s like, „I’m gonna get up, and I’m gonna go to church!“ It’s not just about you; you’re doing something for your children and your children’s children to the tenth generation! Like the Word says, man, stuff happens!

So we want to be a church that builds this up.

Detect Opposition: Wise, Simple, Evil
Now, let me transition. The heading here is expect opposition, but listen, it’s not enough to expect opposition if you do not have the ability to detect the opposition.

Nehemiah in the book of Nehemiah overcomes the opposition, listen, in part because he is able to distinguish between three categories of people. Now, if you’re going to take notes on any part of this sermon, the next three minutes is the part because a failure to understand these three biblical categories will lead to probably the greatest pain you ever experience in your life. I am not teasing.

Here’s what it is: Nehemiah has this ability to distinguish between three categories of people. Here are the categories: wise, simple, and evil—wise people, simple people, and evil people.

The reason I’m saying this is a lot of times we give naive advice as Christians. We’ll say things like—even to our kids—we’ll say stuff like this: „Hey, you need to make sure you treat everyone the same.“ Wrong! That’s wrong! You can’t treat everyone the same because everyone is not the same—you have to treat people on the basis of their character. Their character determines how you relate to them and their access into your life! You have to understand that!

The greatest pain in your life will probably come from mis-categorizing somebody on this spectrum of wise, simple, and evil. Now, let me explain this real fast. Category number one—these are all in the book of Proverbs:

Category number one is wise people. Wise people are like shepherds. The book of Proverbs says, „The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.“ A wise person is a person who loves Jesus, obeys Jesus, opens the Word of God, and walks in submission to the commands of God.

These are people who have biblical convictions and they live their lives in obedience to Him. So wise people live by the Spirit, and they are a positive force for building the Kingdom of God. Nehemiah in this book is an example of a wise person.

Now, here’s the deal: with wise people, when you find them, you bring them real close! You talk to them; you build your life with these people! You want to get all up in there with a wise person!

Now, let me just say this: here is why the church is this beautiful miracle every time we gather in this place, and especially gather in life groups. You get this chance to find other wise people who are following Jesus and get all up in their lives!

So, right now, especially if you’re in my generation and down, let me just tell you: some of you are struggling in your marriage and you’re struggling in parenting. Do you know who you do not need marriage and parenting advice from? An Instagram influencer! You do not need that! That is the blind leading the blind; that’s what you’re doing.

So, let me just put my pastor head on and just say something, man. So here’s the deal: „Well then, who do I need advice from?“ All the people you need advice from are too old to be on Instagram and TikTok! All of them! Every single one of them! So what you need to do is you need to go find somebody in a life group that has an age starting with a five, six, seven, or eight. That’s what you need to do! You need to find somebody who, like, „Hey, are you on TikTok?“ and they say, „What’s TikTok?“ That’s the person you’re looking for!

And what you need to do is you need to go find them. I’m listen; this is free right here. You need to go find them, and you need to find somebody who, like, they love each other, they love Jesus, and you need to find them in a life group or whatever. You need to go, „Hey, we are bad at marriage and you are good at marriage! Can we buy you dinner and talk to you about marriage?“ You need to go find somebody who, like, „Man if you’re struggling in parenting, please, for the love of God, don’t watch TikTok videos and Instagram reels! For the love of God, please don’t do it! No!“ You need to go find somebody, again, whose age begins with a five, six, seven, or eight, they love Jesus, their kids are figuring this out, they know their kids love them, they love their kids, and you need to go, „Hey, we are struggling with our parenting. You seem like you were a good parent! Can you tell us what to do?“

Is this making sense to y’all? I need to know; does this make sense? Okay, this is what you need to do. So, this is what you do with wise people. You get in there!

Now the second category of people is simple people. Simple people are like sheep. The Bible says all we like sheep have gone astray. The book of Proverbs says the simple believe everything. So, being simple isn’t about being dumb; it’s about being gullible. In the book of Nehemiah, everybody between wise Nehemiah and the evil Sanballat and Tobiah are all simple.

So, this is who they are. These are people who, listen really close; this is important. Their hearts are in the right place, but their heads have just not caught up to their hearts yet. In their hearts, they love Jesus; they love God’s Word—they just haven’t been walking with Him long enough, or don’t have enough discernment yet to know how to have biblical convictions and what to do with their lives as a disciple.

So, here’s how you know a simple person: a simple person will do the wrong thing, but when they hear what the Word of God says, they go, „Oh, simple! I’ll do that!“ That’s a simple person. So, it’s the person with a good heart that loves Jesus, but they’re still kind of figuring this thing out.

Can I just say, dude, I love these people! There are a lot of them; I love these people so much! When people are around here and they love Jesus, they’re just still figuring this thing out—their heart is soft toward God, I love it! My favorite compliment after preaching is I will be in the lobby, and it’s always like some big dude, you know, like come up, and the Spirit of God worked on him—he’s a little weepy—he always walks up, and they never look at me. I’m like, „Man, you know, hey, have you ever surrendered your life to Christ?“

He’s like, „Man, I haven’t.“ „Man, you want to?“ „Yeah, I do!“ „Okay, well, let’s pray.“ Dude literally uses the f-word in his salvation prayer. Literally, I’m not joking. I’m totally not joking. And I was like, „He did it!“ And I just smiled. I was like, „I’m not even going to correct it; I think the Lord is so pleased right now!“ This dude just being honest; he’s giving his life to — we’re gonna — we’ll figure all that out later!

There’s a guy—he was probably in the last services here every week last year—he gives his life to Jesus, big burly dude got his little Kuu hunting shirt on and all that stuff, and we’re out in the lobby, and it was really obvious God was working on him.

And so I’m like, „Man, you know, have you ever surrendered your life to Christ?“ He’s like, „Man, I haven’t!“ I’m like, „Man, you want to do that?“ He’s like, „Yeah, I do!“ I’m like, „Okay, let’s pray!“ Dude literally uses the f-word in his salvation prayer—literally, I’m not joking. And I was like, „He did it!“ And I just smiled. I was like, „I’m not even going to correct it; I think the Lord is so pleased right now!“

This dude just being honest, he’s giving his life to — we’re GNA — we’ll figure all that out later!

So, I could tell these stories all day. Somebody at one of our campuses—they like, God moved on—you know, moved on their life, they wanted to honor God, offering buckets come by, and I guess they just wanted to offer Him something that mattered. They didn’t have any money, so the guy literally puts three bags of weed in the offering bucket!

Okay, now, so then you know, offering buckets are passing; everybody in the whole service had the choice: puff or pass! Yeah, you get it? I’ve been waiting all week to tell that joke!

This is a good joke, now! Ninety percent of you are laughing, and ten percent of you are like, „I don’t like that!“ „I don’t know about that!“ You’re like, „I don’t like those things; we’re in here!“ Okay, okay!

That may be where you are, but God is going, „I just love that those people are here because Jesus said, ‘The healthy have no need of a doctor, but the sick—I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners to repent.’“

Now, how do you treat a simple person? Here’s how you treat them: you influence them, but they don’t influence you! Nehemiah led these people; they did not lead Nehemiah! Some of you need to learn that lesson now.

Now, the last category of people—so you had wise people, who are like shepherds; simple people, who are like sheep; evil people, who are like—there it is right there! Y’all totally knew that was coming!

If you didn’t see that coming, you need to pay more attention!

So let me do the real one; here’s the real one!

All right, so wise people are like shepherds; simple people are like sheep; evil people are like wolves! The Bible says evil people oppose!

So wise people build the things of God; simple people are neutral, very often; evil people oppose the things of God. They do things like—they call the truth hate. Oh, by the way, the truth sounds like hate to people who hate truth! Wise people live by the Spirit; simple people live by the flesh. Evil people, they don’t know it, but they are ultimately animated by the demonic. Sanballat, Tobiah, and the Arab in this story are examples of evil people.

Now listen, here’s why I’m pointing this out: some of you are very— I love you, listen to my love for you. Some of you are very naive, and when you’re choosing friends in your life, you say things like, „I want to go where I’m celebrated, not where I’m tolerated. I want people who will cheer me on; I need cheerleaders!“

But listen to me: friends who will cheer you on all the way to hell are not your friends! Friends who will cheer you on all the way to hell are not your friends! In fact, let me take it a step further. Now, here’s what’s important: I’m describing this for you because evil people don’t walk into your life with a label over their head that says „evil.“

Actually, what the Bible says is that Satan masquerades as an angel of light! What did Jesus say? He said wolves come in sheep’s clothing! So, this is what you got to watch out for!

In fact, in Nehemiah 6, Sanballat, Tobiah, and Guam, they hire these false prophets and pay them to lie to Nehemiah. They come to Nehemiah presenting themselves as wise people who are for the things of God, when actually they are evil people opposing the things of God!

I’m getting ready to say something that will be one of the hardest lessons you ever learn in your life. But listen, just because they say that they’re believers doesn’t mean that you should believe them! Just because they say that they’re believers doesn’t mean that you should believe them!

If you want to know who wise, simple, and evil people are, listen: don’t watch what they say; don’t watch how they make you feel. Watch what they do! Wisdom is shown by her deeds, the Bible says. Do they act like disciples of Jesus? Are they dying to self? Are they in submission to the Word of God? When the Word and the world contradict each other, do they prioritize the Word over the world, or the world over the Word?

This is how you know the difference between these people! Now, how do you relate to evil people? Nehemiah gives us an example. This is Nehemiah 6:2 and 3. Sanballat and Tobiah sent to me saying, „Come, and let us meet together at Hakum,"—that’s my best shot—"in the plain of Ono.» But they intended to do me harm, which is why it’s called the plain of «Oh no!» There it is!

I didn’t do that in any other service, and I probably shouldn’t have done it in this one. That just came out!

They—and I sent messengers to them saying—I love this: listen real close. I am doing a great work, and I cannot come down! How do you relate to evil people? You don’t! You don’t!

Notice what Nehemiah doesn’t do: he doesn’t meet with them, he doesn’t reason with them, he doesn’t talk to them, he doesn’t respond to them! He just keeps building! He goes, «Man, I don’t have time for this! I’ve got my eyes on what God has called me to do! Fixing my eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of my faith! I’m laying everything behind me!»

Man, like the Apostle Paul said, «One thing I do.» One thing I do! Can you pray for them? Yes! Can you share Jesus with them? Yes! Yes! Can you love them a little bit? Yes! But you don’t have a deep relationship with them in any way!

Rhetorical question: do not raise your hand! Don’t raise your hand; rhetorical question means don’t answer. Okay? How many of you have ever heard our church criticized before? Don’t raise your hand! I hate it when I ask that question, and thousands of hands go up! It’s like discouraging to me!

Probably almost all of you, but how many times have you seen me respond to those criticisms from stage? I don’t! Because my calling is not to convert critics; it’s to honor Christ! That’s not my calling!

Listen, my mentality is when I hear that stuff, I’m like, «Okay, they’re over there doing their thing! I am doing a great work, and I cannot come down! I am doing a great work, and I cannot come down!»

Man, you ultimately can’t debate or disciple what is ultimately demonic! You just need to ignore them and follow Jesus! Do you have the intestinal fortitude to look at opposition to your obedience and say, «I’m doing a great work, and I cannot come down?» Some of you don’t need to live online debating people who are against Christianity; you just need to go be a Christian!

Prioritizing Jesus Above All
Now, let me land the plane with something that’s a little heavy. Some of you right now are like, «Yeah, Josh, but the people that are evil in my life, it’s not people online. You’re going, 'Man, it’s my parents! ' Or, 'It’s my brother! ' Or, you just described my closest friends! Or the hardest one of all: some of you are going, 'Man, but that’s my kids! That’s my kids! ' What do you do when it’s that category?»

I’m going to say some hard things to you that are true because I love you. Jesus is our Lord! Jesus said this in Luke 14:26: «If anyone comes to me and does not—» you say it—"does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, even their own life, such a person cannot be my disciple.»

Now, you may hear that, and you may go, «Man, hate? What are you talking about? Then the Bible says, 'For God so loved the world! '» What do you mean, «hate?» Let me explain what Jesus is doing here, and I’m going to do like a very hard emotional gear shift.

So, in 2009, I bought Jana this Christmas present that I was most excited about of any Christmas present ever to give her. And this was him. This was little Jack! Now was Jack adorable? No, Jack was not adorable; he was demonic!

Okay, so I—you know I loved that dog. But here’s the deal: Jack had like some little, like something was wrong with his little doggy head. So he had this thing where, as long as we had him—no matter how much training we did—if something startled him, like even, even somebody opening a door, he would flip over and shoot pee in the air. He would just—he never stopped!

We did all this training and all the things, and like little things—like it would be quiet in the room for a while, and it’d be like «Hey, Jana!» You know, anything would just set him off, and he had this fear response where eventually he would do this thing where he’d like attack you!

So, at first it was like, «Oh, it’s cute!» Like this little one-pound puppy is gnawing on my toe. You know, kind of cute. But then, as he got bigger, it was like—he started kind of growling and snarling—like «Oh, he’s for real now!» And then eventually he snapped on us. And then eventually Pop Pop came in, and he got scared and latched onto Pop Pop’s hand and drew blood!

Now, all this was like kind of a problem; it became a big problem when we started adopting our kids. And I got six-week-old infants in the house!

So the breakpoint moment was eventually he snapped and went after one of my infant kids. Now, when that happened, something broke inside of me! And I’m not proud of this, but here’s what I did: I immediately, with aggression, walked into the living room, grabbed Jack by the scruff of his neck, lifted him in the air, walked very quickly into the kitchen to our silverware drawer.

I opened the silverware drawer and pulled out a long, sharp knife. I walked to the back door of our house—it was a sliding door—and I opened the sliding door. I took Jack and the knife out into our backyard, and walked around the side of the house so nobody could see. I lifted up Jack’s head; I picked up—(Now, I’m just teasing! I didn’t do that! That’s a joke, man! That’s a joke! That’s a joke! That’s a joke! That’s a joke! That’s a joke! Come back! Come back! That was probably too much for the end of a sermon! Come back! Okay, I did not do that.)

But I did immediately get rid of Jack—immediately! Now, rhetorical question again—don’t answer! Did I hate Jack? No, honestly, I loved the little dude! He was adorable! And I just—I loved him!

But listen, in comparison to my love for my kids, my love for Jack looked like hate! When Jesus said, «If anyone would come after me, he must hate father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, » what He was saying is, «Man, you can love them, but in comparison to your love for me, your love for them is going to have to look like hate!»

He was saying, «Man, when you come to me, you’ve got to be willing to lay down your life for the one who laid down his life for you. We don’t follow Jesus because He makes life better; we follow Jesus because He is better than life! This is what we do!

Invitation: Prayer and Baptism
Now that’s the call! Now I’m landing the plane a little different today, and here’s what I want: at all of our locations, man, we’re getting ready to celebrate with hundreds of people who have made a decision: I’m following Him, no matter the cost!

Would you do this at all of our campuses? I know this is a little weird; would you guys stand with me? I want to start giving some directions because a lot of stuff’s going to happen in this room!

Number one is the Bible says, and y’all, this weekend at Encounter, we’re like leaning into this. I want to ramp this up to a 10 degrees to increase the prayer culture of our church right now. I’m going to call our prayer teams down. Prayer teams at all our campuses, y’all start coming down.

And number one, some of you, you need to pray, and like even while I’ve been preaching, there’s like this burden that’s rising in your heart. You’ve got this need; you need provision; you need healing; you need a prodigal child or a grandchild to start coming home. You need your heart awakened to the things of God!

The Bible says where two or more are gathered in my name, there that’s going to move the heart of Heaven! If you agree on Earth, that’s going to move the heart of Heaven! And so some of you are like, „Man, God’s moving on your heart…“ You’re going to be like, „Ah, I don’t know if I want to walk down front and pray with somebody.“ The answer to your prayer may be exactly on the other side of that step of faith! Faith activates the power of God!

So some of you, you need prayer, and as soon as I tell you, you need to like run—like I saw this week! You need to run down, you need to pray with somebody, and let’s see if it moves the heart of Heaven! That’s number one: pray!

Now, number two: we are also getting ready to celebrate baptism, like I said, with over 300 people! It’s actually 312 people who registered to be baptized this weekend! And so baptism, people who are being baptized, you can go ahead and start moving to your spots at all of our campuses!

But here’s what I know: 312 people are scheduled to be baptized, but I think there’s probably one more that needs it! I think there’s probably somebody that you’re here right now, and the Spirit of God is moving on your heart, and you’re realizing, „Man, I need to surrender! I need to bend the knee and surrender to the Lordship of Jesus!“ And you need—you need to do it today!

The Bible says hasten and do not delay to obey His command! You need to do it today! Now, if that’s you, you’re like, „Oh man, like I actually want to do that, but like, bro, I didn’t bring any clothes, that kind of thing.“ That’s okay; we got clothes for you!

„Oh man, but I don’t have a towel. How am I going to dry off?“ We got a towel for you! „Yeah, man, but I got shirts. But what about my underwear?“ We got underwear for you! I’m not even joking! We have all sizes! We’re ready for you!

You’re like, „Oh, yeah man, but my family’s not going to like it because they’re going to have to wait for me to dry off after the service.“ Hey Lake Point family, are we going to be proud of people as they take a step to follow Jesus?

Oh! How about we’re going to be like, „Man, I’m just so happy! I’m so glad I got to wait an extra seven minutes this week!“ I bet we’re going to be so happy!

Some of you, as soon as I release you at the Rock Wall campus, you need to head right underneath both of these big crosses on the side, and you need to, today in your business clothes, make a decision to bend your knee to the Lordship of Jesus and be baptized in obedience to His commandments! You need to do that, like, today! Head to those at all of our other campuses; you head to the back of the room where they told you to!

So that’s you! Now, the last thing: everybody, everywhere, hey Lake Point family, are we going to be the first thing these people should hear as they come out of the water? Are we going to be the shouts of celebration of their newfound brothers and sisters? We’re going to turn; we’re going to make Heaven come down to Earth! We’re going to make it!

More rejoicing in Heaven! And so, right now, some of you need to stream down for prayer; some of you need to head there for baptism. All of us, we need to celebrate and rejoice with these people making that decision! Praise, sing, bring-let’s go right now! Let’s go!