I'd like you to turn to Nehemiah chapter four, Nehemiah chapter four in the Old Testament. It's actually a history book, so you'll be turning beyond the middle of the Bible, past the wisdom literature, going back further to Nehemiah chapter four. I'm not going to read it, but we're gonna be working through it, and I'll read it as we go, let's pray. Lord, I thank you for this opportunity to spend time in your word. I pray that what I have settled upon here would be beneficial to the congregation and that you would be pleased. In Jesus name, amen. You may be seated, but please keep that text in front of you. I want to read. And I will read through the whole fourth chapter. But to give you just a little background before we get there, Nehemiah was, I believe, I guess I should have probably verified in my mind, my memory doesn't work that good. I believe he was an administrator for the king of Persia, all right? He was important to the king. And he'd asked because he had heard that things weren't going great in Jerusalem. There was some hostility according to the neighboring peoples and there was no wall built around Jerusalem and that was a big part of the problem. And so he wanted to go back to Jerusalem, bring others with him and assist those who are already living there to build up the walls of the city again. So now I'll begin reading in verse one through three. And he's arrived, okay, they've already begun the work. Now when Sanballat heard that they were rebuilding the wall, he was furious and filled with indignation. He ridiculed the Jews before his associates and the army of Samaria, saying, what are these feeble Jews doing? Can they restore the wall by themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day? Can they bring these burnt stones back to life from the mounds of rubble? Then Tobiah, the Ammonite who was beside him said, if even a fox were to climb up on what they are building, it would break down their wall of stones. Some people you just want to smack, you know. But the world is filled with Sanballets and Tobias. These men were princes, one of Moab and the other of Ammon. Both men actually had ties to Judah. prior to Nehemiah's arrival. So they saw what was going on here as a bit of a threat. And it says Sambaled, he was furious with rage against God's people and this reconstruction project. Tobiah chimes in, mocks the work of the Jews. But the two together, they represent hostile peoples. The people of Moab, the people of Ammon. And those were both populations that the Israelites, when they originally came into the promised land hundreds and hundreds of years earlier, they were supposed to kill them. They were supposed to annihilate these people, and they didn't. Just as it is in these verses, God's enemies, they don't like him imposing. And so they get riled up whenever God's people begin to be heard. Whenever God's people begin to build and gain ground, the wicked get riled up. Nehemiah, as the city planner and governing architect, you might say, acknowledges these enemies. And realizing that they may be effective with their words. And he didn't know how their words would affect the builders. Nehemiah turns directly to God and asks Him to protect the work. Look at verses four through six. Hear us, O God, for we are despised. Turn their scorn back upon their own heads and let them be taken as plunder to a land of captivity. Do not cover up their iniquity or let their sin be blotted out from your sight, for they have provoked the builders. In verse six, so we rebuilt the wall until all of it was joined together up to half of its height. For the people had a mind to work. Nehemiah prays to God. To curse them. Doesn't he? To summarize, he says, turn what they're doing against them, O Lord. Let them fall into the pit they're digging for us. Take them away from their homes and land into exile where we have been. Rid us of them, please. Don't forgive them, but punish them, for they stand opposed to what you want. They stand opposed to what God wants. Nehemiah is praying what is called an imprecatory prayer. An imprecatory prayer is a prayer that is asking God to judge his enemies. It invokes him to bring calamity or curse upon those who oppose his ways. There are Psalms of David that are called imprecatory Psalms. I'm going to give you just two brief examples of it, because I know the idea of praying For a curse to come upon someone, okay, no matter how wicked they are, we tend to think, oh, you'd never do something like that. I don't think that's true. And I'll share a little bit more, and then you can draw your own conclusions for the moment. In Psalm 69, this is just some of the psalm, the whole psalm is this way. David sings this, right, this is psalm. Let their own table before them become a snare and when they are at peace, let it become a trap. Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see and make their loins tremble continually. Pour out your indignation upon them and let your burning anger overtake them. May their camp be a desolation that no one dwell in their tents. Wow. He said that to God. Psalm 109, verses six through 15, David prays this. Appoint a wicked man against him. Let an accuser stand at his right hand. When he has tried, let him come forth guilty. Let his prayer be counted as sin. May his days be few. May another take his office. May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow. May his children wander about and beg. seeking food far from the ruins they inhabit. May the creditor seize all that he has. May strangers plunder the fruits of his toil. Let there be none to extend kindness to him, nor any to pity his fatherless children. May his posterity be cut off. May his name be blotted out in the second generation. May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out. Let them be before the Lord continually that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth. Wow. Is David sinning? This is the word of God. He's praying this to the Lord. David most certainly wants God to foil his enemies. He wants them to be brought to ruin. And their children for that matter. They are godless and destructive people. They hurt others. They lead astray. They are replicating their wickedness through their children. So David wants God to deal with them according to their wickedness. You may think that sounds awful, uncharitable of David. And you may decide for yourself, that's no way to pray for someone. I will not pray that way. Instead, I will only pray for their salvation. I think David has passed all that in these prayers. David was a man after God's own heart, more so than you and me, I would guess. But I think he's passed all that, not in a bad way. Maybe he did already pray for them to be saved. Maybe not. I can tell you that David would be delighted, right, if the wicked repented. If the wicked bowed the knee to God, David would be ecstatic, as we would. In other words, if these enemies he is praying against become remorseful, seek forgiveness, and want to learn the ways of God, I tend to think David would receive them and become their teacher even. But I think he's past that. Unless God changes something. He's praying that the wicked don't get their way. That the wicked don't victimize. and that God would deal with them to prevent them. I believe in precatory prayers allow us to oppose the wicked and their schemes. God gives us as his people an intimate, intimate opportunity to stand between the innocent and their persecutors. That's loving. Isn't it loving to stand between the innocent and the tyrant in prayer? Who's being more loving? Lord, bless the tyrant. Oh, I pray things would go well for him. I want him to love you and believe. That could be part of your prayer for certain. But isn't there the prayer that prays for the innocent victim? against the abortionist for example? Isn't that a legitimate prayer for those who are oppressed in a nation to pray against the king in his wickedness? Wouldn't it even be appropriate for a child living in a family where the father is an abuser, beating his children, molesting, whatever the case may be, to pray to God that God would stop him no matter what it took. I think that's a loving prayer. An appropriate prayer. By their opposition to Nehemiah, Sanballat and Tobiah have proven to be persecutors of the church, sons of the devil. Let me add one more thing to what I just was saying. It's powerful. Prayer is supposed to be powerful. God deals with people when we ask him to, frequently. But when we have so sequestered our prayers to be these trite little salvation-only prayers, We've neutered much of the capability that we have in this intimate relationship. Sorry. Verse seven, when Sanballat and Tobiah, together with the Arabs, Ammonites and Ashdodites, heard that the repair of the walls of Jerusalem was progressing and the gaps were being closed, they were furious. And all of them conspired to come and fight against Jerusalem and create a hindrance. Now, okay, to conspire is to plot evil. And often such plans are made in secret. Usually they cannot be kept secret for long because most people cannot keep their mouth shut. So anytime someone tries to convince you, and I say this out loud, to all of huge conspiracies involving many people that you have to read the right books or articles in order to know about it, whenever you hear about that kind of conspiracy, run. That's foolishness. It doesn't mean that wicked people don't conspire just by being wicked to do things always bad against what's good. We have that tendency. You don't even need to call that conspiracy. We're just built to want to do bad things frequently. But if anyone tries to convince you of a huge conspiracy that involves so many people, you can probably write it off as improbable. I think your best conspiracy has to be between two people at the most. But even if the two are husband and wife, God has a way, God has a way of getting one to blab anyhow. The conspiracy of Nehemiah's enemies was to band together four or five countries, go fight the Jews, and prevent the building of Jerusalem's walls. Hearing of it, Nehemiah turns to the Lord for protection. It was going on, this was the plot, right? But it gets out. Verse nine says, so we prayed to our God. Anytime you think that someone's doing something behind your back, but you're not sure, remember that line. So we prayed to our God. Pray to your God. Let him sort it out. So we prayed to our God and posted a guard against them day and night. Meanwhile, the people of Judah said, The strength of the laborer fails, and there's so much rubble that we will never be able to rebuild the wall. And our enemy said, before they know or see a thing, we will come into their midst, kill them, and put an end to the work. At that time, the Jews who lived nearby came and told us ten times over, wherever you turn, they will attack us. So there's this whole propaganda machine going on. I'm not saying all in a false propaganda, but it was just this campaign to discourage the builders. Oh, man. People were beginning to get discouraged. They were doubting whether this was even a good idea to begin with. But at some point, you have to decide who you put your faith in. Do you think men and schemes and plots to destroy you can undo what God has in store? If God wants you to accomplish his work in the earth, then what can man do to you? Psalm 118, that's quoted in Hebrews, I think, right? Hebrews, if God, whatever, what can man do to you portion. But it's taken from Psalm 118. The psalmist expresses a correct perspective. I'm gonna read it to you. A few verses of it. It says this, out of my distress I called on the Lord. The Lord answered me and set me free. The Lord is on my side. I will not fear. What can man do to me? The Lord is on my side as my helper. I shall look in triumph on those who hate me. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes. All nations surround me. In the name of the Lord, I cut them off. They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side. In the name of the Lord, I cut them off. They surrounded me like bees. They went out like a fire among thorns. In the name of the Lord, I cut them off. I was pushed hard so that I was falling, but the Lord helped me. The Lord is my strength and my song. He has become my salvation. That's the way to approach these things. Back to Nehemiah, verse 13, he takes precaution, but nonetheless, in faith, he proceeds ahead with God's work. Verse 13, so I stationed men behind the lowest section of the wall at the vulnerable areas. I stationed them by families with their swords, spears, and bows. After I had made an inspection, I stood up and said 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, and your daughters, your wives, and your homes. So here's the thing. God has not changed. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. We can trust him to be the way he's always been. He cares for those he loves. He wants us to trust and obey. He's ever present and always the most important one in the room. God is the one we should fear, not men. Those who oppose him, they become our enemies. You've got to get that. Those who oppose him, they become our enemies. And we should pray against them and for them. And on behalf of God, we must act in their midst. If the wicked want to repent and join us, so be it. If not, So be it. Hope you caught the tone of voice change. Tone of voice change, right? It was dramatic effect. I wanted to, but it's true. They join us, so be it. Yay. If not, so be it. In the case of the Jews here, they continue building, good. But guard against the enemy while they build. Verse 15, when our enemies heard that they were aware of their scheme, that we were aware of their scheme and that God had frustrated it, each of us returned to his own work on the wall. And from that day on, half of my servants did the work while the other half held spears, shields, bows, and armor. The officers stationed themselves behind all the people of Judah who were rebuilding the wall. The laborers who carried materials worked with one hand and held a weapon with the other. And each of the builders worked with his sword strapped at his side. But the trumpeter stayed beside me. Then I said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, The work is great and extensive, and we are spread out far from one another along the wall. Wherever you hear the sound of the horn, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us. So we continued the work while half of the men held spears from the break of dawn until the stars came out. At the time, I also said to the people that every man and his servant spend the night inside Jerusalem. so that they can stand guard by night and work by day. So neither I nor my brothers, nor my servants, nor the guards with me changed out of our clothes. Each carried his weapon, even to go for water." So perhaps Sanballat and Tobiah slowed the Reconstruction. Maybe. The Jews could only work one-handed, you might say. But maybe things went faster. Because I tell you, God has a way of compounding interest to your account when you're under pressure, but you're committed to his work. When Charles Spurgeon, Preached in the mid-1800s in England, God granted him great success. Thousands packed to hear him, packed into the church to hear him. However, it was a time when he also experienced numerous attacks by wicked men, even churchmen. Spurgeon began a publication in 1865 called Sword and Trowel. The name is based upon Nehemiah's concept here of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem with a trowel in one hand and a sword in the other. Verses 17 and 18 capture it best. The laborers who carried materials worked with one hand and held a weapon with the other, 18. And each of the builders worked with his sword strapped at his side. And I speak to this today because we must be both builders and fighters. Trowel and sword. I know how most Christians like the building idea, but they'd prefer to go without conflict. I think it's natural. However, as long as there is sin in the world, you will need to fight. The apostle calls us to, he calls us to demolish strongholds. and take every thought captive for Christ. If you build, but don't fight, I guarantee the Sanballats and the Tobias, they will come and destroy all the good things that you set your hand to. They will leave nothing for your descendants. I encourage you, we cannot escape to the comfort and ease of our paneled houses. But there are others who are willing and eager on some level to engage in the fight. They're the fighter types. Their temptation is actually to neglect to build. They need to commit more strength of soul, might, body, to dominion work, to becoming a better barber, a better cook, a better teacher, a proficient carpenter, a good business owner, or father and mother for that matter. These things are as important as fighting the fight of the faith. These dominion tasks are not secondary. We've been put here to do them. You've got to hear this. I warn you. especially those who are dissatisfied with their portion in life, who think in their brain, someday, someday, I will enter God's more important work to defend and advance the truth of his word. Someday, I'll be able to do what I really wanna do. I'll be put in a position to carry the sword and let others carry the trowel. That's a mistake. We need to do both, always. It's vitally important that we work daily and dutifully and improve our work skills, train our children, build up our households, and absolutely, we must keep a sword with us while we build. I have to confess. I never aspired to sell locks, door locks. Ever since Christ awakened me, and I was in college, I wanted to share his truth with others. That was really what motivated me. And so any form, this is what I'm confessing, any form of employment to me was just a job, it was just a job. Something that allowed me to pay the bills and make a better home life, that's all it was. But the job, it held little significance. Hope you don't feel that way in whatever you're doing right now, it's a mistake. I know it's now, I know it's wrong-headed. Here's what I should have been thinking. I should have meaningfully, I should have been meaningfully building for Christ's kingdom in every job I held. I should have prayed to see the significance, for instance, I did this for a while, refurbished boilers. What a nasty job that is. But I should have seen the significance of refurbishing Christ's boilers while I did it. Or another job, I should have protected traffic access points into the Lord's sewage district, which is where I worked for a time, just to get a check. I didn't see things that way. I should have learned the importance of providing quality lock hardware, establishing usable effective keying systems to many of Christ's buildings in Western Wisconsin. After all, doesn't Jesus own all of these things? Are they not his? But I treated those things as mere jobs. I didn't see the relevance to Christ's kingdom. They were money providers, that's all. Necessary impediments to what I wanted to do or was waiting to do. So short sighted of me. I should have wanted to be the best at each thing, I think. Set my hand to it, at least I probably never would have accomplished it in the time spent. But that should have been my goal. Why not strive to be the finest security solution company? I think I will. Or one of the best barbers, or the greatest chef in Waupon, or whatever the work is. Why not work diligently to learn your craft and to improve it? Christ wants you with your labor to better his kingdom and world. I admit, even with the company we currently run, GAPA Security Solutions, I did not enter the very, I did not entertain the very important idea of how we could honor Christ by providing the absolute best solutions to our customers. Maybe some employees have. I did not enter it that way. From the start, my questions should have sounded like this. How do I become an effective security solutions provider for the Lord? Can I fulfill my part in this industry of his, his industry, and leave it better than when I arrived? I did not ask those kinds of questions. It was primarily what? Just about creating an income source, you know, because what really mattered to me was a plurality of elders. If I could come up with some income, I admit it, immature. But I'm growing. I've been reading a book called The Dip by Seth Godin. I'm not sure. Andy, how do you pronounce his name? Seth Godin or Godin? Don't know? I can't hear you. It's a business book. I've read a lot of business books, okay? If I've studied to show myself approved in anything, probably over decades, I've always been listening or reading books about running a business. So that's good, I guess. But I want to read from one section of this book. I think it helps make my point. Hannah, it's called The Best in the World. Okay, almost done, really. Hannah Smith is a very lucky woman. She's a law clerk at the Supreme Court. She's the best in the world. Last year, more than 42,000 people graduated from law school in the United States, and 37 of them were awarded Supreme Court clerkships. Those 37 people are essentially guaranteed a job for life after they finish their year with the court. Top law firms routinely pay a signing bonus of $200,000 or more to any clerk they are able to hire. Clerks go on to become partners, judges, and senators. There are two things worth noting here. The first is that Hannah Smith isn't lucky at all. She's smart and focused and incredibly hardworking. And the second thing, that any one of the 42,000 people who graduated from law school last year could have had Hannah's job, except they didn't. Not because they weren't smart enough or because they came from the wrong family. No, the reason that most of them didn't have a chance is that somewhere along the way, they quit. They didn't quit high school or college or law school. Instead, they quit in their quest to be the best in the world because the cost just seemed too high. Gordon puts out there that the best in the world at what you do is somewhat subjective, okay? And maybe it could be the best in your part of the world at what you do. or maybe the best at this time in history in your part of the world. In any case, these days I am more intentional, not perfectly so, and I wonder what the Lord will have me and us do to be the best provider of security solutions in the state of Wisconsin, Minnesota, maybe Iowa and Northern Illinois. We know for sure we are a company that helps others to protect their people and their property. Actually, we are a company that helps others to protect Christ's people and Christ's properties. So how can we do it better? How can we do it best? This is the build part of Christ's kingdom. The trowel part. What do you think? We might live 70 plus years. Some of you can stop at any time and no one would be surprised. I'm just kidding. Well, I'll probably live 70 plus years, you know, for the most part. How should you invest your time? Where should you put the greatest investment of your time and effort? Fighting for truth or building according to it? Obviously, the answer should be both. Neither should be pursued apart from the other. And like the people of Nehemiah 4, you and I must fight and defend the truth against God's enemies while at the same time we build up our homes, our companies, and the society around us. No, no, no. Again, we must fight and defend the truth against God's enemies while at the same time we build up Christ's homes, Christ's companies, and Christ's societies. The world belongs to him. So then it's never either or, but both, always. In one hand we need to hold a trowel, while in the other hand we hold a sword. These are our Christian tools and they'll remain our Christian tools until that last day when Christ removes all opposition and gives us universal peace. It's then we can discard the sword and simply build. Let's pray. Lord, I ask that you would work in us as a congregation, that you would use these things to stir us, to see more clearly, to be willing to fight the fight and construct and reconstruct according to your desire. In Jesus' name.