Keep Pressing Ahead - Facing Personal Attack, Part 2

If you're in the middle of a tough situation, I mean a very difficult time in your life, and you realize this is getting more personal by the day, you need to listen to today's broadcast. We're going to uncover the enemy's ways that he discourages you and give you the battle-ready tools to defeat him.

Stay with me. Thanks for joining us for this Edition of Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. Chip's our Bible teacher for this international discipleship ministry focused on helping Christians live like Christians. While we're in the middle of our series, keep pressing ahead, how to make it through anything. In our last program, Chip described how Satan uses deception and condemnation to personally attack us. Today, he'll identify two more weapons Satan wields against us that can be very effective if we're not paying attention. Before we dive into this message, if you've been encouraged or motivated by this series, would you take a minute after this message and share it with a friend?

You can do that through the Chip Ingram app or by sending them the free MP3s that you'll find at livingonthedge.org. Okay, here's Chip with the second half of his talk facing personal attack from Nehemiah chapter six. I'll never forget probably the hardest time for me, I was in the midst of a big transition and you know how transitions go and it was with the organization and I was on my way out and like every organization, we had a lot of good things that happened and a few not so good things that happened. One of the not so good things that happened, I had to take credit for a lot of the not so good things that happened, but this happened to be one of the things that I shouldn't get credit for, if you know what I mean. And so I had a board member email me and then call me and say, man, I was just in this meeting and this guy who's a part of this group came in and said A, B, C, and D and that it's your fault and you did this, this, and this and said these two things are true. And he goes, I know that's not true, but I need to ask you about it. And I said, man, are you kidding me? Well, with my personality, I mean, I was livid. I mean, I just, I mean, I couldn't sleep for like three days. I can't believe that guy did that.

Actually, that was his responsibility and he's covering his rear. I mean, I mean, you know, I'm just like, you know, and everything, you know, I wanted to hold it, I got the documentation on that and everything in me, I just, I'll tell you what, I can prove this and I can prove that and all, and I had lunch with a guy named Bill, Bill Leonard. He is in the real estate area and does what's called a high-tech breakfast where they invite people in the tech world to hear a speaker and just amazing guy, heart for people, and we were having lunch. And I began to, I said, it was like three days afterwards, I said, Bill, man, you just cannot believe what happened the other day and he was a friend and a confidant and I started to explain and he literally, he like put his hands on my hands, you know, I talk with my hands, he just like grabbed them and put them on the table. He goes, I don't want to hear anymore. I said, what do you mean? I don't want to hear anymore about the past.

It doesn't matter what it is. I said, I don't want to hear anymore. I said, he said, look, don't defend yourself.

It's energy that's wasted. It doesn't matter if, is the guy telling the truth? No.

Is it true? No. So you're really just concerned about your reputation that's wrapped around your ego, right? Yeah. He said, right now in your life, a hundred percent of your energy needs to be forward focused on the dream God put in your heart.

You want to see Romans 12 Christians here, there and everywhere, right? Yeah. That's being launched, right? Right.

Need to find the platform, the home base, right? You need, okay. Get your energy there. Get off that.

And I just got to tell you, it was so hard to let go of that. But you know, even the guy that did that, you know what the apostle Paul would say? He's probably a wounded guy. He was fearful. He was making a report to a board. He probably slanted some of the stuff in his own mind. He probably justified it.

And the apostle Paul would lean back and say, my battle's not against flesh and blood. It's not that guy. It's not that supervisor. It's not what your mate said.

It's not one of your kids. You know what? You know who's behind this? Start connecting the dots. The enemy is using some people that don't like you very much. Some people that are jealous of you and some people who actually love you very much to coordinate messages, condemnation, and your temptation is to spend your energy justifying and proving how okay you are. Jesus said, wisdom will be vindicated by her children.

You know what he meant by that? Basically, it'll all come out in the wash. You know, the worst things I've ever been through and at times by the grace of God where I've not defended myself, I now have, I have my two to three year rule. You just wait two or three years and when people lie or people do this or this or that, guess what?

You're not the first person they did that to. In two or three years, that'll probably become evident. In about two or three years, if you were correct, it'll come out as well.

And if you weren't, it'll come out as well. But condemnation's powerful. The enemy uses it. Sometimes you get paralyzed.

Third tactic, if those two don't work is doubt. Did God really say? You start to doubt what God told you. You doubt the ministry. You doubt the direction. You doubt is this the right marriage?

You doubt should I even be in this relationship? You doubt all kind of stuff. And on really, really bad days, you can even doubt, you know, maybe I'm not a Christian. On really, really, really bad days, maybe God doesn't even exist. You ever had that? I mean, have you ever had that thought and then thought to yourself, especially if you've been a Christian for a long time and you've seen God do all this and what a blasphemous thought to ever have that in my mind. And then condemnation comes. What a terrible person I am to ever have that thought.

Well, did you generate? No. All these things work together. The enemy wants to pump you with thoughts and condemnation. Before we go on, get this clear.

Are you ready? Condemnation is general. It'll make you feel bad about you and like you want to run away from God because you're a terrible person. That's the enemy. Conviction is clear, very specific, and there'll be an action.

It won't be like you messed up in general or you're a bad dad or in my case, I was a bad dad, a bad pastor, a bad husband, you name it. And I just felt overwhelmed. It was general. And it took me about three hours to figure out this is the enemy. You'd think I'd be smarter than that. But when the Holy Spirit convicts, it's specific.

You can respond to it. And the goal is because God wants to restore you back close to himself. So when I'm convicted by God, instead of you're a bad, terrible dad, it's you haven't talked to one of your sons in two weeks. He was traveling. You were traveling. Take the initiative. Conviction.

I wrote a note and then I called him. See the difference? That's different than, that's right, I am a terrible father. And then what happens?

And the enemy brings all these things. Anything bad as a father you've ever done. You know what? I bet when he was 11, I didn't go to that one ball game. I don't think he really loves me.

I noticed when we were on vacation he kind of looked at me funny. It goes on and on and on. And it's baloney. It's from the enemy. But you start believing this stuff, I will tell you it will take you down. So look at the doubt here. And when I entered the house of Shemaiah, the son of Delilah, the son of Mehotubel, or something close to that, who was confined or literally closed in in his home, he said, let us meet together in the house of God within the temple. Let us close the doors of the temple, for they're coming to kill you, and they are coming to kill you tonight. But I said, should a man like me flee, and should one such as I go into the temple to save his life, I will not go in.

Then notice discernment pops up again. I perceived, or some of your translations say I realized that surely God has not spoken to him. But he uttered this prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sambalot had hired him.

He was hired for this reason, that I might become frightened and act accordingly in sin so that he might have an evil report in order that they could reproach me. And then verse 14, he prays, remember, notice the prayer is no longer sort of a defensive prayer, God help me protect me, strengthen me, it's offensive now. He says, oh God, remember Tobiah and Sambalot according to these works of theirs, and also Noah-diah the prophetess and the rest of the prophets who are trying to frighten me. And then notice the resolve, he keeps pressing ahead, he discerns, he prays, he acts. He's got the belt of truth on, the breastplate of righteousness, he understands he's not going to doubt God's promises, he's not going to doubt his calling. What's in bold? So the wall was completed on the 25th day of the month, 52 days later, and it came about when all of our enemies heard of it, and all the nations surrounding us saw it, they lost their confidence, literally the Hebrew word is, their face fell downward.

Well why? For they recognized that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God. See the temptation here is to question your calling. Now to get a little bit of background on the story, because you might say, okay, question your calling, where does he get that from that paragraph? This Shemaiah, did you notice that when we get his name he's the son of so and so, son of so and so, son of so and so?

But when you get that, those are pretty important people, all right, we're getting a lot of lineage. Now he's closed in, now commentators aren't sure, is he in prison, or is it house arrest, or has he willfully closed himself in, but he's a prophet. When it says they're going to kill you, they're going to kill you tonight, when you look at it, it's actually in a poetic form, it's a prophecy. And then when we learn from later on this Noah-diah, there's a prophetess, she and some other prophets are saying the same thing. And so here's what's really happening, okay, you're Nehemiah, I mean it's been rough, the wall's almost done, it's just about done, the gates you're ready to drop, I mean it's a big victory, you're this close to, I mean breaking through and getting it done, and pretty soon you get this message they want to talk, you see through that one, then you know there's this threat, this emotional blackmail, you see through this one, but I mean you got to trust somebody, and this guy's a man of God. I mean this guy's a prophet, he's a priest, I mean he's, I mean if you can't trust a priest and a prophet, who are you going to trust?

And so he says, you know, I'm shut in, and I've got issues, and I'm kind of under attack from these terrible people, come to my house, I want to talk to you. So Nehemiah, you know, he stops working, and he goes over to this guy's house who's shut in, he goes, they're going to kill you, they're going to kill you tonight, God's revealed it to me, so here's the plan, let's you and I will go to the temple, because the law states clearly no one can be killed inside the temple, but the law also clearly stated that only a priest could go into the part of the temple he's talking about, and Nehemiah knew God's word, and he knew that would be sin, and because he knew God's word, and he knew that he wasn't allowed in there, the recommendation that someone acting as though he were his friend, he realized this smells, this isn't from God, said it's not God's will to flee, it's not God's will to quit, it's not God's will to cave in, it's never God's will for someone in my role to go into the temple, but the temptation is to doubt, I mean when someone you really respect and admire, and maybe it's an older Christian, or as a lady caught me in between the hallway, she goes, you know what you described was in the earlier service, she said that happened this week, I have an issue that it's very hard and very difficult, and I know the will of God and what the scripture says, and I don't have, I can't get out of this situation, issue in her marriage, and she said I talked to three people this week, one was a deacon in a church, the other was a spiritual mentor, both of them told me to divorce my husband, and I'm glad I met with a third person, because I realized you know what, I don't have biblical grounds, what I need to do is persevere, I need to do what God wants me to do, I need to be the wife that God calls me to be in the midst of a difficult painful situation and live it out, now he can make his choices, but here, but she said here I had people who really care about me, who were giving me counsel that is against what I know is true, and I came this close, how about you, you ever have someone who out of their genuine concern actually tells you the exact opposite thing to do, is this a scriptural, how about Peter, do you think Peter really cared about Jesus and loved him a lot, and when Jesus said I'm going to go to the cross, remember what he said, oh I don't think that's a good plan, I care too much about you, you know let's not go with that one, and do you remember what Jesus' words were back to Peter on that one, get behind me, Satan, see here's what you got to understand, this whole spiritual warfare stuff, it's way less spooky than you think, and it's way more about lies and doubt and deception, and it can come through people that are hostile to you, it can come through people that have no idea they're being used by the enemy, and it can even come through people that they're actually thinking they're helping you, and it's out of concern where they tell you the exactly opposite thing you should do, but it calls into question, I mean when someone with spiritual authority says, you know something, go ahead and do that, and you really want to do it anyway, but you don't anyway, but down deep you know what's wrong, sometimes you need to ask, discerning, is this from God, or is this from the enemy, and so here the biblical command is have your feet shod with the gospel, that protects us from doubt, and when the apostle Paul describes that, the Romans during that time, it's a picture, they would have these sandals, and they would go up to about here, and they would wrap around with leather, and Alexander the Great made these famous, is they would put nails in the bottom of their sandals, so when they fought they had stable footing, because the landscape would be really different, and Alexander it's recorded that he felt like his armies won many many battles, because they had sheer footing, the apostle Paul takes that picture, and it says you are established in the gospel of grace, in other words Christ died for you, your sins are forgiven, you've been justified, you've been taken out of the kingdom of darkness or the kingdom of light, his spirit lives in you, you've been adopted, he has a plan for you, he loves you, he will keep his promises, he gives you a calling, as you go it it'll be hard, there'll be a battle, I'll never leave you or forsake you, what he's saying is your doubts have to go back to your position in Christ and what is true objectively, not what you feel this day, or what a friend says, or someone who calls it into question, or circumstances that make it hard, you got to go back to what is true, not what you feel, and that's rooted in grace, that's rooted in what Christ has done for you. You're listening to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram, we'll return you to today's message in just a second, but let me quickly ask you, do you struggle to read and then understand God's Word? If so, join us later in today's program as Chip talks about our insightful resource called Daily Discipleship with Chip. This tool has helped tens of thousands of people study the Bible and hear from God.

Stick around to learn how to sign up. Well with that, let's rejoin Chip for the remainder of his message. And what happens is when we don't, those doubts come. I mean, I've had doubts when I've gotten really discouraged, and for me, I'll believe a lie, then the condemnation comes, and then I'll start, it's not smart, but forgive me, then I'll soak in it for a while, and then I'll be thinking I'm really, really, really, really terrible person, and then I start doubting, and then it gets, well, you know, there's no use, God never used me anyway, and I don't think this will probably work, and maybe I didn't even hear God's voice, and you know, what was I thinking, and who do I think I am, and do any of you ever have those thoughts?

See, that's real, and you know what I've learned? That's spiritual opposition, and you need to fight, you flee from lust, you fight the enemy, you realize, you know what, that's not true, that's a lie, that's condemnation, that's not God I'm open, if there's something I need to hear, or something I've done wrong, you show me, I'll own it, I'll confess it, I'll get right with you, and I'll get back on track, that's doubt, you called me to do this, you saved me, you put this desire in my heart, I know from your word, you want to help those people, you want to help those unwed mothers, you want to help those people in the inner city, you want to help those people in our neighborhood, you want me to lead this small group, you want me to go on that missions trip, you want me to work this marriage out, you want me to be patient with my son, it's the will of God, and all this stuff comes, and the temptation is to give in, give up, or opt out. Well he's not done, the final one is fear, because he is like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, and so in the last one verses 17, 18, 19, and just notice how this is an ongoing issue, also in those days many letters went from the nobles of Judah to Tobiah, now notice nobles, these are leaders, this is a disloyal faction, these are people day in and day out who are people with money and power and position, and the letters are coming in and the letters are coming out, and he's the governor, for many in Judah were bound by oath to him, Tobiah, because he was the son-in-law of Shekiniah the son of Ara, and his son Jehoahun had married the daughter of Meshulam, the son of Barakiah, moreover they were speaking about his good deeds in my presence and reported my words to him, I mean do you get the picture here, I mean the inner woven political junk that's against Nehemiah's God-given assignment, and so every day he keeps in here hearing all the wonderful things about Tobiah, and then he has a private conversation, and pretty soon it's showing up on someone else's email, I mean it's right up there on YouTube, and he's going I cannot believe that someone put that up there, and notice the whole reason behind it all, Tobiah sent letters to frighten me, if you went a little bible study in each one of these sections you'll find the word frighten, frighten, frighten, frighten, make us afraid or plan to harm, fear is a powerful thing, the temptation is to lose heart, I just can't take this anymore, notice it's kind of never-ending, in those days many letters, nobles plural, it's just like wave after wave after wave, it just never seems to stop, you get spiritually exhausted, you say I just you know that in your head before you say I just can't take this anymore, and the new testing command is to take up the shield of faith, and his response is discernment and perseverance, do you get the two things, he discerns what's going on, he presses ahead, discerns what's going on, presses ahead, the apostle Paul gives us a picture, these are darts, these darts of doubt, these darts of condemnation, these darts of fear, these darts, it's when the apostle Paul is describing for the Ephesian church about how to handle this, he talks about the shield of faith, and there's two different words for a shield, one is those round shields like the gladiators do, the round ones like this right, the others were about four feet by two and a half feet, they had a metal frame, and then they had a space, and then they would put cotton, and after the cotton they would put leather, so there would be a four to six inch space between the frame and the outer part of the shield, on the shields then they would have hooks, and when a Roman legion was going to go into battle, and often it was against a city and people were in towers, and the people on towers actually had machines, they could shoot multiple arrows just like in the movies, that's actually true, or they would dip them in pitch on fire as they were coming, so what they would do is they would they would lock their shields, and then when they saw them come they would go down on one knee and put the shields up, it's actually reported one fellow came back in Greek literature, he had 200 arrows in his shield, now listen to what he's saying, therefore taking up the shield of faith, faith here is not your salvific believing faith for salvation, this is the faith and belief that victory is assured, that God will keep his promises, that he loves you, that you're on the right track, and he will provide everything that you need, and the way you do that is when doubts come, the shield of faith, notice with the sword of the spirit which is the word of God, and so I'm condemned last Saturday, I get three hours, I'm in the tank, and I'm realizing I'm believing lies, and so I have to I start quoting scripture about who I am in Christ, about there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, Romans chapter 8, and I start saying them out loud, and then I verbally rebuke the demonic spirits that are trying to discourage and depress me, because I've said God search my heart, I mean if there's something wrong show me, if I'm the worst dad in the world show me like individually I'll own it, if I'm the worst husband, and so one by one, and it's still I struggled and struggled and struggled, and then so often there's this powerful thing that God's given us that when you praise God, and when you thank God, and when you put that to music there's something, remember when Saul had those demonic spirits, what did he ask for? Find someone who plays the harp and have them come, and David came and he sang, and he sang truth, and so man I put some worship music on my iPod, and I stuck it in my ears, and I found a place where people couldn't hear me, and I didn't feel like singing, and I sang praises to God, and I got a breakthrough, but it's spiritual warfare, here's what I want you to get, fight, fight, discern, be honest, check your heart, and then step up and fight, let me give you three specific ways to take this message with you, number one, recognize the source of opposition, your battle is not against flesh and blood, let those people go, don't tag it on your wife, your husband, your son, your friend, your small group leader, your supervisor, they're a pawn in the hand of the enemy, doesn't mean let them own their stuff, but realize when all this stuff's happening there's times there's someone behind it, second, remember who's in you is greater than he that is in the world, you just gotta remember, you're a victor, you don't fight for victory, you fight from victory, the spirit of God lives in you if you're a Christ follower, the spirit that raised Christ from the dead is inside your mortal body, you have the word of God, and the truth sets you free, you need to know it, claim it, live it, verbalize it, and fight, because greater is the one that's in you than he that is in the world, but boy you can't, you can't just, oh poor me, self-pity, I'm discouraged, nothing ever works, blame other people, it's death, and then third, the only way to lose is to give up, the absolute only way you ever lose if you stop pressing ahead, we started this series with a verse, for you have need of endurance so that once you've done the will of God you may receive what is promised, God's got a great plan for you, do not bail out. You're listening to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram, and the message you just heard, Facing Personal Attack, is from our series Keep Pressing Ahead. Chip will join us in studio to share some insights from today's talk in just a minute.

The Bible teaches that followers of Jesus are more than conquerors, but when we're really suffering or struggling with something, that idea can sound like religious mumbo jumbo. Now in this series Chip's going to change our perspective toward hardship by examining the life of Nehemiah, discover where adversity comes from and what we can do when our most challenging circumstances threaten to pull us under. If you've missed any part of Chip's teaching, catch up anytime on the Chip Ingram app. Well Chip's back with me in studio now, and Chip you know a recent study has found that one in five people are struggling with mental health related issues. Now what encouragement do you have for those suffering with that type of burden right now?

Anxiety, depression, worry, Dave these are all at epidemic levels. Now don't get me wrong, yes there is mental illness, there is a role for great counseling, there is a role for reading good books and good mental health, but we do need to remember that there is an enemy of our souls. We don't have to cower in fear of this invisible enemy. God has given us armor and weapons to fight back, and so we need to learn how to engage in spiritual battle. And let me encourage you to sign up now for the daily discipleship with Chip.

It's called the invisible war. Through this study we'll open our Bibles to Ephesians chapter 6. We'll learn what spiritual warfare is, who Satan is, what power he has, what power he doesn't have, and tools to help you live victoriously each and every day. And for those of you that are new to daily discipleship, this is a free video resource where you and I can study God's Word together.

I'll never talk for more than 10 minutes, and then I will ask you for 10 minutes with a brief study guide, and here's the thing. You're going to learn to study the scriptures, to hear God's voice. This is not a Bible study. I'm going to mentor you one on one. 234,000 people have gone through daily discipleships with me, and they all say basically the same thing. I'm now hearing God. I understand the Bible. I'm growing on my own, and that's our heart's desire for you. So let me encourage you.

Make the decision today. Sign up for the daily discipleship. We're in the midst of a spiritual battle. God has given us the victory, and I want to show you how to experience it.

Thanks, Chip. Well, I can't encourage you enough to sign up for this new daily discipleship, the invisible war, by going to dailydiscipleship.com. As you and Chip study Ephesians chapter 6, you'll learn how to defend yourself and fight back in this unseen battle. Again, to sign up for this brand new daily discipleship, visit dailydiscipleship.com. App listeners, tap discipleship. Well, here again is Chip with some application for us to think about.

As we close today's program, I just want to remind you of three things. Number one, recognize the source of the opposition. It's not flesh and blood. It's not your boss. It's not your mate. It's not your kids.

It's not the economy. There is an enemy that wants you to give up on the things that matter most. Number two, remember he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. Cry out to him.

Take a walk. Just God. I mean, from the heart of hearts of where you're at, cry out to God. The one who is in you is greater than the one that's in the world. And finally, the only way to really lose is give up. Don't give up. Don't give up. Don't give in. Don't quit on that marriage. Don't quit on that kid.

Don't quit on yourself. Father, I pray right now in Jesus' name that you would give my brothers and sisters the strength and the courage and the will, maybe just today, to open their Bible to Psalm 37 or Psalm 34 and just read it out loud and pray it back to you and know that the God of the universe will give them everything they need just for today to hang tough, to hang in there and see you work. In Christ's name, amen. Amen.

Thanks, Chip. Before we go, I want to tell you that Living on the Edge is more than just daily broadcast ministry. One area that really weighs on our hearts is for hurting and discouraged pastors. Now, every day all over the world, we're inspiring these leaders to keep pressing ahead through helpful in-person training and insightful resources. But to continue to do that, we need your help. If you can partner with Living on the Edge for a monthly gift of $50, we can support 60 pastors for an entire year. Our goal is to provide tools and teaching to 60,000 church leaders in 2024. So if you'd like to stand with us, become a monthly partner today by going to livingontheedge.org or the Chip Ingram app. That's livingontheedge.org or visit the Chip Ingram app. And thanks for doing whatever the Lord leads you to do. From all of us here, I'm Dave Drouie, thanking you for listening to this Edition of Living on the Edge, and I hope you'll join us next time.