Thank you for listening to the media ministry of the Puritan Reformed Presbyterian Church in San Diego, California. If you are blessed by what you hear and would like to help keep our little church going as a ministry partner with your cheerful gifts, please listen for instructions at the end of this message. As I mentioned, we're really continuing from where we were last time, verses 7 through 15. It's a little bit more closely connected than sometimes there's more of a clear break in each section. I think it'll be appropriate to have done it this way, but just keep in mind it really does, it's kind of continuing the part two of where we just were last week. I'm going to read tonight verses 16 through 23, so we will complete the chapter this evening. Nehemiah 4, 16 to 23. Hear now the word of the Lord. And it came to pass from that time forth that the half of my servants wrought in the work and the other half of them held both the spears and shields and the bows and the Habergians and the rulers were behind all the house of Judah. They which build it on the wall and they that bear burdens with those that laid it, every one with one of his hands wrought in the work and with the other hand held a weapon. For the builders, everyone had his sword girded by his side, and so builded. And he that sounded the trumpet was by me. And I said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, the work is great and large, and we are separated upon the wall, one far from another. In what place, therefore, ye hear the sound of the trumpet, resort ye thither unto us, our God shall fight for us. So we labored in the work, and half of them held the spears, from the rising of the morning till the stars appeared. Likewise, at the same time said I unto the people, let every one with his servant lodge within Jerusalem. that in the night they may be a guard to us and labor on the day. So neither I, nor my brethren, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard which followed me, none of us put off our clothes, saving that everyone put them off for washing. May the Lord bless this, the reading, the hearing, the preaching, the believing, and the responding to his holy word. I do want to give review, especially because this section is very closely connected to verses 7 through 15 that we looked at last week. So because of that, I'm doing a little bit more of a flyover of some of the details, but you can look and drill down there with me, but mostly I'll be giving you what I think would be the most important main thing to recognize that's behind everything else. But remember, we're continuing a main theme of chapters four through six, and that is that there is increasing opposition by God's enemies to try and stop their rebuilding of the wall. And that is always going to be the case. We saw foreshadowing of it, if you will, in chapter 2. There is always a war between Satan and Christ. There is always a war between the dragon and Christ and his church. Christ already has the victory. And yet Satan is trying to drag you down if he can't drag you to hell. And what we see is when there is some resistance and some victory, and a continuing to build Christ Church, it doesn't stop the fact that there will be waves and new waves and more aggressive and direct attacks. And so, J. Montgomery Boyce reminds us that we see six forms of opposition in these chapters and six forms of how Nehemiah handles them in greater degree as the aggression grows each time. Now earlier, after hearing intended messages that were to intimidate them and stop the work, Nehemiah prayed and they maintained their work and their mind to work. So the enemies we saw last week ramped up the fear factor, preparing to likely attack, probably by guerrilla warfare, but enough to do some serious damage, intending to kill. and that they would give up immediately. And we saw, as we looked at that last week, that first of all, when aggravated anger of God's enemies towards the work of his people with a real threat of attack that can cause the church to emotional exhaustion and possibly interrupt the work comes, God's leaders must prepare his people with prayer, A plan of defense and motivational preaching that can stop the threat and keep the people going. First, we focused in on this. Your enemies will keep stepping up their strategic attacks against your church work. Second, real threats can cause real danger of dismay and deserting your church work. Third, your leaders must respond by amping up their preparations for you to fight and build. And we saw, therefore, with all of that, be prepared to fight the good fight, and often your enemies' fearful threats will fizzle. For the sheer fact that you have heard, and you know, and you are prepared, and you're prepared to fight, a lot of times that'll stop them from attacking. Now besides last time, verses 7 to 15, where there was preparation for warfare, you see the different ways they were getting ready to protect one another, we see more of that. They're doing more preparation now in our section. It's kind of a continuation of that. The fact that the enemies learned they knew and they were prepared to fight stopped them, but they're doing more to be ready to fight. Now we see that Nehemiah has them holding their weapons in strategic fashion, side by side to be able to defend and go on offense. And in that strengthening and being ready to continue to work, To get back to the work, it's interesting where it says regularly, something like, holding on to their spears. You could translate that Hebrew word, they strengthened themselves, like they had a strong hold on their spears. You know, they were ready to fight. He's getting them ready. He's strengthening them. verses 16 to 18 and verse 21 you just see more of those kinds of preparations with weapons and having them on their sides or some are guarding while the others working and they all seem to have some kind of weapon or most of them in their hand while with the other hand they're doing the work so they're working But they have prepared themselves to be ready to fight if they come and actually try to attack them and stop their work. So there's a military preparation. And as we saw some commentators point out, you can really see Nehemiah knows what he's doing by the way he's organizing them and all that he's doing. And that continues to develop. Backing one another up. Also keeping guarded watch by day and by night to keep the work going. Verse 22, night and day. We're not going to think that they won't attack by night. We're going to always have somebody watching. We're going to always have somebody ready to fight. And then verse 23, they even slept in their clothes, at least some of them ready to fight at any moment. You know, there are times like when you know you just have to be ready to get up at any moment. It's kind of related to the idea of the Passover, the unleavened bread. You got to be ready to get up and go at any moment. when God's going to deliver you. And there's that aspect of the Christian life that we need to be ready to go at any moment. You know, some of us, especially if we have to go to bed late and have to get up early, and maybe it's to catch the plane, this or that, we usually have our bags packed, and sometimes we might even be in our clothes, ready to throw on our shoes and get out the door. There's that idea of you don't know. Jesus says, watch and be ready. You don't know the time of his return, but he compares it to things like a thief in the night. And we're to be ready to fight like that. We're to be ready to defend ourselves. The enemies did stop their secret ambush plan because they heard that the people knew about it and had a plan to fight and defend themselves. But now they are doing more to get ready. The Israelites, by Nehemiah's leadership, continue to prepare, ready to sound the alarm at any time and rally together to defend their work. Verses 18 and 20. They are ready to go to war. But the main reason they're ready to go to war is what Nehemiah has said before in other ways, but particularly brings to their view tonight. And what I want to focus on for us as what's behind all of what we saw last week and tonight. They are ready to fight and they're going to keep working while they're ready to fight at any moment. Because verse 20, the second part, Chapter four, verse 20, the second part. Our God shall fight for us. He says, be ready if the trumpet sounds. The trumpet, the alarm, it's actually the shofar. If that thing sounds, you'd be ready to rally, come together, and be ready to fight. And you've all got your weapons. It's not going to take. You're sleeping in your clothes. We're ready to go. I mean, they're taking this seriously. They know there's a very serious threat of attack. And just because they held off for now, hey, we keep seeing it growing in waves. So we're not going to think they're done. We're going to do more to be ready to defend ourselves and go to war with this attack if we need to. and be ready to sound the alarm. But why? Because our God will fight for us. Why are we getting ready to fight? Why can we have a strong hold on our weapons while we keep working day and night to build this wall? Because it's for God. It's from God. It was put on the heart of Nehemiah by God. It's the calling of God. It's where God is restoring the city of Jerusalem so the Son of God can come in due season at the time of Reformation with healing in His wings And offer himself up on the cross there. And be resurrected from there. Our God will fight for us because it's his plan of redemption. It's the further working out of Genesis 3.15. Christ has stepped on the enemy's head. though he has bruised his heel. We have the victory. There's more to do. But always, always, always, our God is fighting for us. And if God is with us, who can be against us? And if God is fighting for us, then we can't lose. Whatever it looks like, and remember, they're mounting up on every side now. They're getting more and more people groups together on every side. They're surrounded. But our God will fight for us. And that's what keeps your hand to the plow. That's what keeps you from giving up and burying your head in the sand. Our God will fight for us. I don't know how. Could be that if our eyes were opened, we'll see all the chariots of fire and horses and angels all around us. But one way or the other, our God will fight for us. And this is just like his earlier motivational preaching, and this is what we need to hear. We don't want to presume on God, and it's not scripture-redemptive history that we can know for sure, anything in specifics, but we can know that our God always fights for us. And that is the only reason that we can keep showing up to fight and to build. and to be ready to fight to continue to build in every generation of the church. And he's preached like this before. Look back at chapter two, verses 18 and 20. Because this is the example that the ministers and the elders especially need to remember, our people need to hear, and we need to say to one another in our session meetings and encourage one another, our God shall fight for us when it looks like all is lost. Okay, let's do what we can to be ready, and we know our God shall fight for us. if there comes such a time. Verses 18 and 20 of chapter 2. And then I told them, that is, when he first comes to Jerusalem, he tells the people, I told them of the hand of my God, which was good upon me, as also the king's words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work. They strengthened their hands for the work, because He's strengthening their hearts with the promise that it's from God. And so, verse 20, Then answered I them, that is, Sanballat and Tobiah, who are trying to discourage them, I said, the God of heaven, he will prosper us. Therefore we, his servants, will arise and build. We will rise, we will build. You won't stop us, we won't let you stop us, because our God has called us to it. And by our God, the God of heaven, we will prosper. And so similarly in chapter 4 verse 14, Now this is when it's clear they're planning to actually attack and kill people. Be not ye afraid of them. Remember the Lord, which is great and terrible. And fight for your brethren, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your houses. Fight and don't be afraid. Why? Because it is the Lord who is with us, great and terrible. And then in particular, he just brings that out more in verse 20 of our text tonight. Our God shall fight for us. So at the beginning and following, we see these verses. They are getting ready for war. They are getting ready to fight. They got weapons in their hands and on their thighs. They're taking turns backing each other up like the shield bearers for those who would fight in war. We are ready. And they are ready by Nehemiah's leadership as the head guy for the Persian king. He knows what he's doing preparing them for war. But the reason they can be confident is because God will fight for them. This is God's work. This is God's war. And as we know from Exodus 15, God is a God of war. The Song of Moses, repeated in Revelation 15. God will give the victory to his people. And so we can fight and not be afraid. We see also verse nine, they are praying a corporate prayer together, reflecting all his earlier personal prayers of leadership. So he prepares them, remember, for military warfare and to keep them continuing to build. Gideon and Gabriel, you need to stop. He also prepares them, we remember, with prayer. And we don't want to forget that's what we see from the beginning throughout personal prayer. They're reflecting that now in corporate prayer together as the people groups keep mounting up to come against them. And it's also with the preaching, our God will fight for us. And that's what you should expect from your preacher, proclamation. And proclamation, beside whether or not we can see how it's going to work out, our God will fight for us. This church, our God will fight for us. And has he not? How many years do we go through as a session as a church? You might not say it, but I think we know you think it. And we're often saying it in session meetings. Well, we're still here. And wonder how it's gonna work out and we're still here. The Lord is always doing something and always sending folks and giving signs and that he's fighting for us against, you know, plenty of threats in the last year or so, public threats, which is why we're preaching through Nehemiah. We talked about it last year, as you know, and our God fights for us. He's with us. We don't claim to be the only church, but we believe we're a branch in the vine and that the Lord's doing a work here. And if the Lord's doing a work here, no one's going to stop it. He calls us to be ready, but he doesn't call on us to fight alone. He fights for us, he's with us. So beloved, with all our challenges, let us rally together and be ready to show ourselves approved and to give an answer. to witness and war against the satanic spiritual principalities and their manifestations around our property and possibly one day at our doorposts. When we are between a rock and a hard place, or in between the Red Sea and the forces of Egypt moving in chariots upon us, God will protect us. from the front and from the rear. Jesus, our pillar of cloud and fire by day and night will be your shield, your deliverer. Exodus 15, the song of Moses, God is a God of war. What were they rejoicing about? Exodus 14, he drowned those Egyptians coming to destroy them. Far more powerful. He drowned them in that Red Sea. Exodus 14, verse 14, and verses 24 to 25, I highlight, the Lord shall fight for you. This is Moses. You need to preach to your people. God will fight for you. The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. And it came to pass that in the morning watch, the Lord looked unto the hosts of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians, and took off their chariot wheels, and they draved them heavily, so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel, for the Lord fighteth for them. against the Egyptians. Moses reminds them in the historical prologue leading into the review of the Ten Commandments in Deuteronomy 5, Deuteronomy 1 verses 30 to 31, the Lord your God which goeth before you, he shall fight for you. according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, and in the wilderness, where thou hast seen how that the Lord thy God bare thee as a man doth bear his son, and all the way that ye went until ye came unto this place. Deuteronomy 3.22, 3.22, Ye shall not fear them, for the Lord your God, he shall fight for you. Deuteronomy 20, verses 4 to 5. Hear, O Israel, ye approach this day unto battle against your enemies. Let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them. For the Lord your God is he that goeth with you to fight for you against your enemies to save you. And so we pray, deliver us from evil. Often we understand the evil one. Indeed, you have a great enemy, an adversary, but you have a greater advocate, Jesus Christ, and he fights for you. Joshua 23 verse 10. Oh man, excuse me, excuse me, one man shall chase a thousand. You might recall we had a sermon on that a little while ago. What an amazing thought. You're small? How in the world are you going to defeat all these people? No problem. I only need one man to defend a thousand. For the Lord your God, He it is that fighteth for you, as He hath promised you. Those spiritual battles in your dark moments, especially alone, and you think you're alone, the only one on your own to deal with your own progress and sanctification. You think you're beaten, the Lord shall fight for you. You don't fight it alone. Yes, you need to work with the Lord and grow in sanctification, but he's actually fighting for you by the blood of Christ and the presence of the Holy Spirit. Call upon him. Isaiah 54 verse 17, Beloved, no weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper. And every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord. And you will see that said for you, you will hear and experience that in full at the resurrection, when you are vindicated before the world, and all Christ and your enemies. Similar to Nehemiah's prayer in chapter four, verses four to five, you can sing and pray against those who plot together on all sides to destroy our work, building his church. Satan would love to take out a church in Paradise Hills. He'd love to do that. Folks, we just had people come last night seeking support, and they showed up for church this morning. He's not done. Just all the time is how how is this going to continue and the Lord continues it because he's not done He fights for us and he doesn't work and we can pray against Satan's efforts to destroy us This witness right here Psalm 83 verses 13 to 18. Oh my god, make them like a wheel as the stubble before the wind As the fire burneth the wood, and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire, so persecute them with thy tempest, and make them afraid with thy storm. Fill their faces with shame, that they may seek thy name, O Lord. Let them be confounded and troubled forever. Yea, let them be put to shame and perish. That men may know that thou whose name alone is Jehovah art the most high over all the earth. You can pray that because it is the truth. Yes, as Psalm 83 says, so many plot against your work, O God. Plot to destroy your church, plot to destroy this church. And you can pray, turn it on them, Lord. Turn it away from us. Show yourself to be Jehovah. Show yourself to be with us. Fight for us. And show your glory in giving victory in what otherwise could not be explained. And glorify yourself in it. And like Nehemiah and his people, keep your hands to the plow with your heart to keep working, ready to fight, knowing your God is with you and will fight for you. David defeated Goliath with a stone and a sling. And we know from times when we've looked at those texts, he seemed to have the advantage, if you know how people can use a sling at those times with a stone. What a dangerous weapon that was, something like a gun today. And he knocked Goliath down and cut off his head. But how did he do it? Yes, he had experience defeating lions and bears to protect his sheep, and he had a lethal weapon in his hand at a distance. But ultimately, he had the God of Israel, and the God of Israel gave him the victory, and thus gave the people the victory through him, and he's a type of Jesus Christ. David had contempt for Goliath, as giant as he was, for threatening to destroy the children of God Almighty, quote, he should defy the armies of the living God? 1 Samuel 17 verse 37, David said, moreover, the Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of the Philistine. God will fight for me. when mocked and threatened by Goliath to even have David's carcass and throw it to the dogs. After killing him, David responded, 1 Samuel 17, verses 45 to 47. Then said David to the Philistine, to Goliath, Thou comest to me with a sword, and a big sword, and with a spear, a big spear. And with a shield, a huge shield, don't forget all the other Israelites were shaking in their boots as Goliath taunted them every day. Anybody gonna fight me? He says, but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand. And I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee. And I will give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear, for the battle is the Lord's. he will give you into our hands. I will have victory, we will have victory, because the battle is the Lord's. Now he uses the means and the weapons and the people, but they are victorious. They have the confidence to keep fighting, to keep their hands to the work, with a hand, with a weapon to protect their work, because God will fight for them. The battle is the Lord's, and the Lord never loses. Christ already has given you the victory on the cross and in his resurrection. You are more than conquerors because of Christ. Watch and be ready, beloved. Knowing Jesus will never leave you nor forsake you with this vision of Christ your King in Revelation 6 verse 2. And I saw, and behold, a white horse. And he that sat on him had a bow, and a crown was given unto him. And he went forth conquering, and to conquer. That is not just the future, that is the present. in Jesus Christ, our mediatorial king, subduing his and our enemies. This is your rally cry, now and forever, of he who sits on his throne in heaven, where your lives are hid with him until the last great day, Revelation 11.15. And the seventh angel sounded, And there were great voices in heaven saying, the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever. Notice the sounding of the trumpets. And recall that Jesus says when he returns, a great trumpet shall sound. and he will rally all of his troops from every generation together, and they will go in with the victory into the new heavens and the new earth while all their enemies are raised to be sent to hell, the lake of fire with Satan and all his demons. Last week, the message was be prepared to fight the good fight, and often your enemies' fearful threats will fizzle. Sometimes they won't and you need to still be prepared. And be prepared to fight because what we see this week, our God shall fight for us. From all sides of the church where each of us serve, keep putting on the whole armor of God and hold firmly to the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Be ready to face all kinds of threats of attack to stop your work. rallying to one another's side with this encouraging refrain from Nehemiah passed on to you now in this generation of God, of Christ, building his church against the gates of hell that cannot prevail against it. Our God shall fight for us. And if God is for us, who can be against us? Let us pray. O Lord God, please strengthen our hearts, strengthen our grips to our spiritual weapons, strengthen our hands to stay to the plow, and finish our work, not growing weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not, and though we often reap and so in tears we shall reap in joy, because you have called us to the work. This is your work, and so you will sustain it, you will build it, and you will fight for us against the enemy's attacks. Lord, strengthen your people tonight. We can do all this. We can keep our hands to the work. We can fight the good fight of faith against Satan's attacks and their manifestations. Because you are with us, you will not forsake us, and you fight for us. We praise you in Jesus' name, all your people saying, Amen. Thanks again for listening to the media ministry of the Puritan Reformed Presbyterian Church in San Diego, California. If you are blessed by our sermons and would like to help keep our little church going as a ministry partner with your cheerful gifts, please click on the Give button at the top of any of our sermon audio pages to support us with your online donation. Or visit our website at puritanchurch.com and click through the Give button at the top right of your screen. And if you prefer to send your support through the mail, please make your check out to Puritan Reformed Presbyterian Church and send it to Puritan Reformed Presbyterian Church, 6374 Potomac Street, San Diego, California 92139. Thank you.