R320 How To Handle The Enemy, Pt.1

We are facing an enemy. The power of good and evil is always in the struggle, but how do we deal with that enemy? Over the next few days, Dr. Dodd's going to be talking about how to handle the enemy. Here on The Encouraging Word, we'd love to pray with you as you do that.

At 866-899-WORD, that's 866-899-9673. We're here with you. The Encouraging Word. And now, today's message from Dr. Don Wilton. Turn with us to Nehemiah in chapter 4. Now friends, we're going to be looking at a subject in two parts.

Part one this morning and then part two next Sunday morning. And I'm going to say to you that the subject that we look at today is of vital, vital significance to each one of us. As we begin to try to understand what it is that God would teach us through the life and experience of Nehemiah and his people, we're going to discover that there are some basic issues that confronted Nehemiah that are identical to the same things that we confront in our own lives today.

I don't believe that there is anyone here who would doubt the fact that we face unprecedented struggles in life. We see the enemy at work everywhere we turn. He's on the loose. In fact, the Bible says this.

Peter put it like this in his epistle. He said, we need to be sober and we need to be on the watch because the devil is as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. The devil is at work today. He's at work in our home lives. He's at work in our work lives. He's at work in our social lives. He's at work everywhere we turn around every corner. I think that a lot of very nice things have been said.

Cards have been sent. But you know, friends, the reality of it is that Satan is in the middle of breaking up families. If Satan can break up your family, he has accomplished one of his major goals.

He's doing that all over America. But you know something, folks, Satan is out to destroy our families. Satan is getting hold of our young people. You can see it in some of their eyes.

I know this should never be said from the pulpit, but sometimes even from the pulpit, I can look out across the congregation and I look into the eyes of a teenager and I can see the hostility. I can see the deadness. There's no life. They don't sing a hymn. They just stand there. They don't smile. They do nothing. There's just a sadness in the eyes of some of our teenagers.

There's no response. They're becoming like computers. I look out across our world today and I see parents like that. I see husbands leaving their families. I see parents becoming angry with one another.

The family is at war. And I've got such good news for you today, my friends. No matter where you've been and no matter what you've done, today can be the first day of the rest of your life. And if you as a congregation believe that Jesus Christ makes the difference and that Jesus Christ can help us to handle and to overcome the enemy, I want you to say Amen. That was a pretty weak Amen. Do you believe that Jesus Christ can help us to overcome the enemy?

If you believe that, would you say Amen? I went to watch a basketball game. One of my sons was in a championship game. I tell you what, folks, we have no problem hooping. You want to see us, me included. I hope you weren't watching me.

I mean, it is unbelievable how badly we believe. I mean, I've seen parents with posters. I've watched people doing this and pointing and getting fired up and getting cracked up. If you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that Jesus Christ can restore families and that Jesus Christ can make a difference and that Jesus Christ can enable us to overcome the enemy, would you let it be known by saying Amen? How to handle the enemy.

How to handle the enemy. Oh, we talk a lot about it. I do. I hear myself. We're very good at theorizing.

We're very good in Valentine's Day of sending the right kind of picture with the right kind of flowers. But I'll tell you, I'm going to be the first one to volunteer, folks. It takes me sometimes less than 24 hours that I start making the same mistakes that I've made before. Sometimes it takes us even less than that.

When we come into the book of Nehemiah, we're going to discover some staggering things. You see, the issue is this. What are the practical resources that we can appropriate in our own lives to help us to handle the enemy? What can I do? What must I say? How must I think? How can I handle the enemy?

Our subject this morning. Part one, how to handle the enemy. Turn with me in your Bibles to Nehemiah chapter four. I want to read a passage just to illustrate because we're still doing an overview this week and next week of Nehemiah. Then we're going to go back to chapter one and we're going to start to really study the book of Nehemiah. You see, folks, you cannot make a resolution concerning your marriage or your family or your relationship or your behavior until you're willing to come to grips with the issues that you are confronting.

If you are a selfish person in your marriage, no matter how many times you apologize to your wife or your husband, until you understand the issue, your apology is never going to last. Until you come to the point at which you understand the issues that are confronting you. Well, let's try and discover this in the book of Nehemiah. So I'm reading in Nehemiah chapter four beginning at verse 10 and I may stop once or twice. Meanwhile, the people in Judah said, the strength of the laborers is giving up.

Would you mind if I just stop there for a second? That'll preach. I can't wait to come back to that verse. The strength of the laborers is giving up. I wonder if there's anyone here, don't raise your hand this morning, but I wonder if there's any mom or dad or teenager, son or daughter, grandparent, that you can honestly say that there are times at which your strength is just giving out. Your resolve is giving out. Your want to is no longer there.

Your resolution is going out the back door. You need to decide whether your washing machine is a male or a female. I decided 20 years ago that thing's a female. I tell you what, when he got all over me yesterday, I decided to myself that that thing's neuter.

I mean, he told me exactly what I was doing. He said, listen, buddy, you send your wife off to Ladies First Thursday and you tell her, honey, you go to Ladies First Thursday. You have a good time.

I'll take care of everything. So mom gets all ready. She goes to Ladies First Thursday. She has a wonderful time. She comes back to see who's taken care of everything and she walks in and the place looks like a jungle gym.

She knows it because everything's upside down. It hasn't been taken care of. You see that's doing something with strings attached. You see, friends, sometimes you just want to give up. You say, what's the use of trying? My marriage will never come back together again. I've messed up.

I'm out on a limb. Listen to what the Bible says. Meanwhile, the people in Judah said, the strength of the laborers is giving up and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall.

Well, how much rubble is there in your life? Also, this is interesting, verse 11, our enemies said, before they know it or see us, we will be right there among them and we'll kill them and we'll put an end to the work. Then the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times over, wherever you turn, they will attack us. Therefore, I stationed some of the people behind the lowest points of the wall at the exposed places, posting them by families with their swords and spears and bows. After I looked things over, I stood up and I said to the nobles, the officials and to the rest of the people, don't 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. When our enemies heard that we were aware of their plot and that God had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall, each to his own work. And from that day on, half my men did the work, while the other half were equipped with spears, shields, bows and armour. The officers posted themselves behind all the people of Judah.

Brother Larry, did you get that part there, Mr. Chairman of Deacons? The officers posted themselves behind all the people of Judah who were building the wall. Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked, but the man who sounded the trumpet stayed with me. Then I said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, the work is extensive and spread out and we are widely separated from each other along the wall.

Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, join us there. Our God will fight for us. So he continued the work with half the men holding spears from the first light of dawn till the stars came out. At that time I also said to the people, have every man and his helpers stay inside Jerusalem at night so they can serve us as gods by day and workmen by night and workmen by day. Neither I nor my brothers nor my men nor the gods with me took off our clothes. Each had his weapon even when he went for water.

May the Lord write his word upon our hearts this morning. How to handle the enemy. I wonder what you would say if someone asked you who your enemy was. I think that would be rather interesting.

It would be rather interesting. You see friends, the devil is alive and well and he is infiltrating every corner of God's people. There are at least seven principles this week and next week, part one and part two, that I want us to look at very carefully related to this issue of how to handle the enemy.

What can we do? Write these down. They're biblical principles. This is not something that the Pope is saying to us. This is not something that the pastor is saying to us. This is not something that a marriage and family counselor is saying to us.

This is not something that a psychiatrist or a social worker is saying to us. What does the Bible teach us? What are the principles that are laid before us? Principle number one, how to handle the enemy, know who God is. That's principle number one, know who God is. Look at chapter four and verse 14 or look with me there.

Chapter four and verse 14, we read it a moment ago. After I looked things over. Now, I want to just pause there for a moment because that is a very interesting statement of monumental significance.

May I suggest to you that at some time this year, if we haven't already, we are going to have politicians in the primaries, presidential election from all persuasions, who are going to stand up. Basically, they're going to say, I have looked things over and I have got the answer. That's right. They're going to say, vote for me. I've got the track record. I've looked things over. I've served my country. I've been in place. I understand the needs. I've got a plan of action.

Vote for me. That's basically what happens in politics. Well, it's rather interesting here, my friends, that here Nehemiah confronted by unprecedented obstacles and circumstances. Here, right in verse 14, he says, after I looked things over, after I analyzed, after I subjected myself to a marriage renewal seminar, after I had come together with my wife, after I'd sat down and looked at my family, after I'd tried to understand the busyness of my schedule.

You can never build a nest on a moving train. After we understand the depth and the extent to which we are involved, the battle that presents itself to us. Here he says, after I looked things over, I stood up. And by the way, that standing up is very significant, friend. You will never make a resolution that will follow through in handing the enemy until you're prepared to stand up and be counted. Men, I want all the fathers to look at me all across you. Men, you will never, and I will never be the man God wants me to be until you and I are willing to take a stand.

Until you're willing to step out and be counted. What a challenge are we willing? As you've been listening to Dr. Don Wilton, our teacher here on the encouraging word, perhaps the Lord has stirred your heart with questions. We'd love to go with you and find the answer to those questions in the Bible itself, God's encouraging word.

We can do that keyboard to keyboard on our website right now at www.tewonline.org. We'd love to meet you there. It's also the place you can get a copy of the brand new book from Dr. Wilton about his years of 25 years pastoring Dr. Billy Graham.

It's called Saturdays with Billy. Again, online you'll find all the details at www.tewonline.org. But there's also another resource that we consider one of the most important resources of the encouraging word. Did you know that the Bible tells us to pray? Ephesians 6 18 says, and pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people. We would love to pray with you. The encouraging word has a 24 hour live prayer line.

You can call 866-899-WORD and talk to a real person who will be glad to pray with you. The encouraging word is a viewer and listener supported ministry. Thank you for listening today. Now back to today's teaching as we study on how to handle the enemy with Dr. Don Wilton on the encouraging word.

But I tell you something friends, there is no problem in America today. The average man can go and sit in a football stadium. He can get whipped up into a state of cosmic frenzy. He can go into another planet. He can yell and scream and burst five blood vessels. He can give five high fives and low fives and every other kind of five. He can barbecue and tailgate and put all the chicken in South Carolina into the ministry if he is a minister.

He can do all kinds of things that you could ever imagine. But what Nehemiah is trying to say here, my friend, is that unless you and I are willing to stand up, unless we're willing to stand up, we are never, we are never going to be able to carry through with the resolution that God has placed in our hearts. You will never serve God sitting, my brother. You'll never serve God and be silent at the same time. You'll never serve God unless you're willing to get in the forefront of the action, unless you're willing to be men and women of conviction. Here we read very simply in verse 14, After I looked things over, I stood up and I said to the nobles and the officials and the rest of the people, don't be afraid of them.

Remember the Lord who is great and awesome. Oh yes, he knew exactly who God was. Well, there are four things that he knew about God.

I want to share them with you. Number one, God is creator. We're never going to handle the enemy, my friends, unless we know who God is. Well, who is God according to Nehemiah?

God is creator. Look at chapter nine. Go over to chapter nine.

Let's hear those pages roughly. Chapter nine, chapter nine and verse six. Marvelous passage. Listen to this, chapter nine and verse six. You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything and the multitudes of heaven worship you. What did Nehemiah say? What was he reiterating at this juncture?

What Nehemiah was saying is, listen, I can never handle the enemy that confronts me unless I know who God is. If I come to understand who God is, guess what I discover? I guess first I find out that he is creator. He has owned everything. He's in charge of everything.

He has made everything. Everything that ever existed belongs to him to begin with. Everything.

Everything. I wonder if there's anyone here this morning who says, well, you know, my bank balance is my bank balance. I give whatever I decide to God. Friend, listen, according to Nehemiah, you don't give to God.

You borrow from God because it belongs to him to begin with. I wonder how many of us, everything that is so important to us, our homes that we live in, the motor car that we drive, the food that we eat, the clothes upon our backs, this beautiful place. One of my favorite radio programs I try and listen to every day is Bill Drake speaking of Spartanburg.

I love it. It's just so rich. And I'm always reminded of how special our city is, our community, our people, our church. But you know what, folks? Everything that we have, these beautiful mountains and these trees and these rivers and the snow that falls and the homes that we live and this beautiful sanctuary called God's house, this all belongs to God.

Why? Because he is creator. He made us.

We're never gonna handle the enemy, folks, until we understand who we belong to. He's not only creator, but he is covenant maker. He is covenant maker. Go back to chapter one. That's what I love about being in a short book.

We can get to these passages easily. Go back to chapter one and verse eight. God is not only creator, but he is covenant maker. Verse eight, listen to what he says in his prayer. He says, remember the instruction you gave to your servant Moses saying, if you are unfaithful, what will happen? Is there anyone here today who's been unfaithful to God? Listen to what the Bible tells us. Is there anyone here who's been unfaithful to God? Listen to what the Bible tells us.

Here it is. If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations. Now that word scatter in the Hebrew text is a very interesting word. Do you know what it means? It means literally to rip asunder.

That's what it means. It means that if you are unfaithful to God, you know what he'll do? He'll take you and he will rip you apart.

He will throw you to the wind. God will do it because he's a covenant maker. But you see, that's not where it stops. If it stopped, if the covenant stopped there, I'm ready to get out of here. I'm out of here. Bye. You need to get another pastor because if that's where the covenant stops, I'm dead.

I'm out of here, brother. You come and preach. But covenant doesn't stop there. That's the one side of covenant. It is tied into the sin of man. It is the Adamic side of the covenant of God. In Adam all die, but in Christ Jesus, we are what? We're all made alive.

So let's read on. Let's read on verse nine. But if you return to me, I love this, and obey my commands, then even if your exile people are at the father's horizons, wow, wow, wow.

Can you imagine? Even if you're at the father's, you're out of sight. You've let God down. He says no matter what you've done and no matter where you've been, even if you've drifted away and you've torn my heart out because I'm God, because I'm covenant maker.

Look what happens here. Then even if your exile people are at the father's horizon, I will gather them from there and I will bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling place for my name. Is that wonderful? Does anyone find a little glimmer of hope there?

Just maybe a little smidgen? Is there anything there that would cause us to want to stand up and say thank you, Lord Jesus? He's creator. He's covenant maker. But there's another thing about God that we discover. He is character builder.

Oh, he is character builder. Turn over to chapter 5. Just quickly in chapter 5. Chapter 5. Now I don't have time to get in the background.

I'm gonna do that a little bit later. Chapter 5 and verse 12. Now these people were faced with a tremendous predicament. Can I just say this to each one of us?

Folks, listen to me. As God's people, we are going to constantly and continually be faced with character building predicaments. And look what happens here in chapter 5 and verse 12. They've been in an unbelievable predicament. They have been involved in things that are not right and God gets a hold of them and in verse 25, look what happens. We will give it back, they said.

And we will not demand any more from them. We will do as you say. God is character builder. There's a fourth thing that the Bible tells us about him. He is caretaker.

He is caretaker. Look at chapter 4. We read it to begin with in verse 20. Perhaps the central part of this passage.

Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, join us there. Why? Because our God will fight for us. Ha, I love that. You know what that tells me about this God? It tells me that he is caretaker. It means he takes care of me.

It means that when I face those struggles in my marriage, in my home, at work, at school, at play, with my finances, with my health, with my material, spiritual and emotional wellbeing, I can always know who God is. He is caretaker. Takes care of me. And isn't that a glorious joy to know that he takes care of us.

God takes care of his children, his family. Are you part of the family of God? You're listening to The Encouraging Word featuring the Bible-based preaching of Dr. Don Wilton and you've heard his teaching, but now as he comes into the studio, listen to him as he shares from his heart. Are you ready to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ? Why don't you pray this prayer with me right now? Dear God, I know that I'm a sinner and I know that Jesus died for me on the cross. Today I repent of my sin and by faith I receive you into my heart. In Jesus' name. My friend, I welcome you today into the family of God.

This is exciting news. Perhaps you just prayed with Dr. Wilton moments ago and gave your life to Jesus Christ. Welcome to the family of God. Maybe you were praying along to rededicate your life or maybe you have been saying, I know I need to do something.

I need to make some sort of course correction, but I'm not sure what. We would love to pray with you in all three situations at the other end of 866-899-WORD. That's 866-899-9673.

Not just now during the broadcast, but any time. We'd love to talk with you, pray with you. Dr. Dunn has wonderful resources he wants to give you absolutely for free. If you just rededicate your life to Christ or gave your life to Jesus Christ, please call us. 866-899-9673. Or if you'd rather, let's connect on our website at www.tewonline.org. That's www.tewonline.org. We'll meet you there right now. The Encouraging Word