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Trinity Community Church
Trinity Community Church
The Passion Project - The Enemy’s Playbook
Join Pastor Scott Wiens in The Passion Project as he unpacks “The Enemy’s Playbook,” drawn from Nehemiah 6. Scott shows how Nehemiah, determined to rebuild Jerusalem’s walls, confronts four key tactics the enemy still uses today: subtlety, frequency, attacks on integrity, and anxiety.
Scott begins by revealing how the enemy loves to mask destructive intentions as logical compromises. Nehemiah’s adversaries invite him to a meeting that appears harmless but is actually a setup, illustrating that our most dangerous temptations often come packaged in a cloak of reasonableness. Scott cites 2 Corinthians 11:14, where Satan is described as an angel of light, highlighting the importance of staying spiritually alert.
Next, he explains that the enemy’s persistence can wear us down. Much like Sanballat sending four identical messages to Nehemiah, modern temptations don’t always disappear after one refusal. Scott reminds us how vital it is to maintain our spiritual disciplines—prayer, studying Scripture, and surrounding ourselves with godly counsel—so we don’t cave in when the same lure returns at a weaker moment.
False accusations comprise the third tactic. Nehemiah faces unfounded rumors intended to tarnish his character and draw him away from his mission. Scott notes that in our daily lives, slander or misunderstandings can quickly consume us, distracting us from God’s priorities. However, Nehemiah simply denies the lies, identifies the motive, and goes right back to work—an inspiring example of trusting God to vindicate us rather than spending all our energy defending ourselves.
Finally, Scott addresses the crippling power of anxiety and fear. A hired prophet warns Nehemiah of a death threat, coaxing him to hide in the temple. Today, anxiety is rampant, and Satan capitalizes on our fears to keep us from pursuing God’s call wholeheartedly. Yet Philippians 4:6-7 promises a peace surpassing understanding when we pray with gratitude. Scott underscores that recognizing the enemy’s ploys allows us to stand firm, relying on God’s strength instead of our own.
Throughout The Passion Project, Scott keeps coming back to Nehemiah’s unwavering resolve. By studying these ancient tactics, we learn that the enemy’s playbook hasn’t changed, but our defense is strengthened by abiding in Christ. When we remain aware of subtle temptations, relentless pressure, unfair criticism, and anxious thoughts, we’re equipped to overcome each scheme and continue building the spiritual walls of our lives in God’s power.
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Well, my name is Scott. I'm one of the pastors here, blessed to continue this series in the book of Nehemiah. But I first want to talk about a movie. In 2019, there was a movie that was titled Midway. It was released to theaters and it was an epic movie about the Battle of Midway. A lot of you probably have recognized that movie, or there was a movie back in, I think, 76, called Midway as well. I know for some of you that's like ancient history. Neil was in his 60s, I think, when that movie came out. Sorry, you're right there, I just didn't.
Scott Wiens:Anyways, it's a powerful movie because it's a true story. It's about the pivotal battle in the Pacific between the Empire of Japan and, of course, the United States. It happened about six months after Pearl Harbor and there's a scene in the movie that's really poignant and as far as accuracy, I don't know necessarily how accurate it is, but the scene is poignant because of the lesson it had. They're doing the Japanese have a, they basically have a group of naval leaders surrounding a large map and they're doing war games, and war games back then was to develop a strategy and then to have you play it out. Right, you play it out, but you have to make certain assumptions about how the enemy is going to respond, right? So there's a senior commander that is he's, of course, playing the part of the Japanese Navy, and then there's some junior commanders that are there and Admiral Nagumo walks into the scene and they're arguing and he said what's going on here? And the senior commander says they're not following the plan and, of course, you know, the younger officer's got his head down like this. And Nagumo says what's going on? And he said well, we know that the American fleet, we're going to lure the American fleet from Pearl Harbor and they're going to come to Midway. So we know which way they're going to be and we're going to set a trap for them, we're going to destroy them. But he has them coming from the other side of the island and that's not in the plan. And Nagumo says he looks at them both and he says to the young officer follow the plan. Well, ironically, the young officer had it right, because the whole Japanese plan and strategy was based upon the fact that the American fleet was going to come from Pearl. What they didn't know was that the intelligence, the US intelligence, had deciphered some of the plans and the messages that the Japanese had been sending and they knew that there was a trap being set for them at Midway. So what did they do? They went around the other side of the island and they defeated, of course, the Navy Well, pretty much defeated the Japanese Navy. It was an amazing thing, but the Americans knew what the plans are. They knew what the plans were and they planned accordingly.
Scott Wiens:Well, we are in, as you've heard, a book of Nehemiah. We're going through a sermon series and we've heard five great messages, really great messages, and I thank Neil for the message last week. This has been so insightful and I don't know about you, but I'm just gaining a lot of respect from Nehemiah. This is a man of God and, as we've been going through this and, by the way, if you've missed any of these sermons, listen to them online. We don't put them there just to keep our tech team busy, because they all tie in and they all flow together.
Scott Wiens:But today we're in Nehemiah, chapter 6. And we're going to see in Nehemiah 6, there's four tactics that Nehemiah's enemies used to come after him, and I've titled this sermon the Enemy's Playbook because, just like what the Americans did to the Japanese Navy in understanding their tactics and understanding their plans. We have to understand the plans of the enemy as he comes after us. Is it closer? Can you hear me now? Which way Down up Closer? How's that? I'm sorry, you can hear. I'll speak louder. I'll speak louder too. Anyways, there's four tactics that he talks about, and I've really put them into four different keywords Subtlety, frequency, integrity and anxiety. The acronym is SIFIA, totally meaningless. I did that for Mark. Okay, let's read chapter six. So chapter six, nehemiah, verse one.
Scott Wiens:Now, when Sanballat and Tobiah and Geshem, the Arab and the rest of our enemies heard that I had built the wall and that there was no breach left in it, although up to that time I had not yet set up the doors and the gates, sanballat and Geshem sent to me saying Come and let us meet together. I shouldn't do that. I just kind of view them having a weaselly little voice, though. Come and let us meet together in Hecophrium in the plain of Ono. But they intended to do me harm, and I sent messengers to them saying I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you? And they sent to me four times in this way and I answered them in the same manner.
Scott Wiens:In the same way, sanballat, for the fifth time, sent his servant to me with an open letter in his hand. In it was written, quote it is reported among the nations that Geshem also says it. So Geshem apparently had some clout that you and the Jews intend to rebel. That is why you are building the wall and, according to these reports, you wish to become their king, and you have also set up prophets to proclaim concerning you in Jerusalem, quote there is a king in Judah and now the king, referring to Artaxerxes, will hear of these reports. So now come, let us take counsel together. Then I sent to him saying no such things as you say have been done, for you are inventing them out of your own mind. For they all wanted to frighten us, thinking their hands will drop from the work and it will not be done. But now, o God, strengthen my hands. Work and it will not be done. But now, oh God, strengthen my hands.
Scott Wiens:Now, when I went to the house of Shemaiah, the son of Deliah, the son of Mehethebel, who was confined to his home, he said let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple. Let us close the door of the temple, for they're coming to kill you. They're coming to kill you by night. I don't know if that's significant. I wouldn't want to be killed by day or night, but apparently. But I said to them, verse 11, should such a man as I run away? If men of God said that more often? And what man such as I could go into the temple and live? I will not go in.
Scott Wiens:And I understood that God and saw that God had not sent him, but he had pronounced the prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him For this purpose. He was hired that I should be afraid and act in this way and sin, and so they could give me a bad name in order to taunt me. Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, o God, according to these things that they did, and also the prophetess Noedia and the rest of the prophets who wanted to make me afraid. Verse 15,. So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month of Elul, in 52 days, and when all of our enemies heard it, all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem, for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God, verse 17,. Moreover, in those days, the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah's letters came to them, for many in Judah were bound by oath to him because he was the son-in-law of Shekiniah, the son of Arah and the son of Jehoiachin, taken the daughter of Meshulalem and the son of Berechiah as his wife. If I pronounced any of those wrong, I don't care. Also, they spoke of his good deeds in my presence and reported my words to him. And Tobias sent letters to make me afraid.
Scott Wiens:Father, as we come before you, we thank you for this amazing book. And we thank you, father, for Nehemiah, your servant. We thank you for how he prayed to you, how he heard from you and how he followed through on the task that you gave him, in spite of all the opposition. And, Father, today, as we look at the tactics of the enemy, I pray that every one of us would be stirred, lord, that we would be made aware of, more aware of the tactics the enemy is trying to do to get us to sin and to fall away and to lose our purpose. So I pray that you would open all of our minds and hearts to this truth. In Jesus' name, I pray Amen. So that's the whole chapter.
Scott Wiens:Let's get into these tactics. We'll start with the very first one, which is literally found in the first two verses. Let's read them again Now. When Sambel Tobiah and Geshem the Arab I came up with an acronym for these guys, stg, but it sounded too bad, so I think I'll just call them the bad guys Heard that we had built, I had built the wall, and there was no breach left. And, by the way, when it says no breach left, there was no main holes left. They were still going up, but they hadn't yet hung the doors. I mean, they were really close here, right? Sanballat and Geshem sent me saying come and let us meet together at Hecophrium and the plain of Ono, and they intended to do me harm.
Scott Wiens:Now what we have here is a change of tactic. Do you remember what they were doing up to this point? Direct, direct. They were mocking him. They were stirring up people to come against the people that were building. Remember what the builders had on? Each of them had on their hip A sword right. So they had a very direct attack towards him. But they've changed the technique. They've changed the tactic here, and that tactic is they're now coming at him in a subtle way. A subtle way, and that is the first playbook, or the enemy's playbook. The first tactic, and that is Satan, will come at us subtly. The enemy's playbook, the first tactic and that is Satan, will come at us subtly.
Scott Wiens:Nehemiah, by the way, he didn't buy in, he didn't play ball with this. It says in verse three, and I love this, and I sent messengers to them. They sent messengers to me. I sent messengers back to them saying I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you Now? It might sound simple to you. Well, of course, nehemiah is not going to fall for that trick. He doesn't like these guys. He knows what they're up to.
Scott Wiens:But you got to put yourself in Nehemiah's situation and understand that this was a real temptation. You want to know why? Well, just think about it. He'd been building the wall for a while now and, as Neil pointed out, there had been troubles. There was great sacrifice. The people that were doing the work, their families, were having trouble getting food right. This was a real tempting offer to him, because he could have convinced himself. Well, maybe, maybe they really do want to talk. Maybe I can convince them to get on our side. There was a lot of stress he was under and he could have convinced himself that, okay, maybe this is a change, maybe these guys are really changed. But he didn't fall for that tactic. He assessed that they were just lying and they were just trying another angle because he says, but they intended me to do me harm. They intended to do me harm. He saw through what they were doing and I love the fact that he addressed it with a very, very simple truth. He was doing a great work and he wasn't going to stop without a good reason.
Scott Wiens:Now, what's the application for us? Listen, most of us can see Satan coming a mile away and, by the way, don't flatter yourself, satan is not omnipresent, he's not omniscient. Don't flatter yourself. Satan is not omnipresent, he's not omniscient. He's probably got we got enemies coming at us, but there might not be Satan himself. Okay, but they're going to come after us and we can see a head-on attack a mile away. Right, we can see those temptations coming at us and we can identify that right up front.
Scott Wiens:It's the subtle ones we have trouble with. The subtle ones we have trouble with, I mean I keep thinking about from the perspective of how do we respond when somebody comes at us with a temptation that really, is it really sin or is it not sin? And we know that Satan will disguise himself as an angel of light. In fact, in my next scripture here, 2 Corinthians 11, 13 through 15, and we have a lot of quotes from Paul today, by the way, because Paul is addressing false prophets. But look at what he says, for such men are false prophets, deceitful workmen disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants also disguise themselves as the servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.
Scott Wiens:I think sometimes we can convince ourselves that a subtle attack really isn't an attack. And you notice, I said convince ourselves when you are under. And again, go back to what Nehemiah was going through Incredible, stressful situation, a lot of, and the pressure of leadership would have been huge on him. It would have been easy for him to convince himself yeah, maybe they really want to talk about this. Maybe they really want to help us out. Maybe they're on our side. I don't think so. I think about, I think it's really funny.
Scott Wiens:I was thinking when I was putting this together. I was thinking about young people and the temptations that the youth have, because I remember the same temptations hey, come to this party or come stay the night. Well, what's going to happen? Well, it's just going to be a bunch of us girls and my parents will be there and we're just going to watch a movie. Okay, good, you tell that to your parents. You show up. It's not just a bunch of girls, there's boys and, by the way, there's no parents around, right. But you can convince yourself, because you want to go, that that's the right thing. But maybe you need to know the history of these people. Is this something they've done before?
Scott Wiens:I've even thought about sometimes the temptation to say is it really wrong? Is it really wrong? You know, when you buy a used car I'm going to step on toes when you buy a used car and you go to the tag office and they look at you and say what did you pay for this car? And you say what did you pay for this car? And you say what A lot of people have told me and I've felt the same way hey, they've taxed this car two or three times. I'm the third owner. Why do they have to get it?
Scott Wiens:But you know what the reality is. Is my integrity worth a couple hundred bucks? He watches that. We can justify that. Because we don't agree with something, we can say it's okay, but it's not, it's not.
Scott Wiens:These are the subtle temptations, because see if Satan can get you to make an exception of your integrity for that, then he's going to look for ways to step it up. And step it up, because the enemy is never happy. He's always trying to drag you further and further into sin. Amen, he's trying to do that and this is one of his most effective ways. It's the subtle sin. We can see the enemy when it's coming up front. We can't see him when they're hiding in trees, and that's what he tries to do.
Scott Wiens:And, by the way, how do we avoid falling for subtle temptations? Well, first off, you have to do what Nehemiah did Focus on truth. Focus on truth, and that may mean that if you feel an area is gray, fall back to black and white. You know black and white. Sometimes that phrase gets a real knock, but not in this context. You stand on what you know is truth and if it's in question, then just stay and stand in what you know. Focus on the source of the temptation, right If it's a person or an organization or whatever it is. Look at that and say well, wait a second, is this a godly thing? Think through the consequences. Oh, my word, if I had done this more often. Think through the consequences of that decision and, by the way, ask trusted friends, godly people, to give you their honest opinions. And don't play with fire, brethren. Don't play with fire. Okay, let's go to the next one, in verse 4,.
Scott Wiens:And they sent to me four times in this way and I answered them in the same manner Period, frequency, frequency. Just because Nehemiah didn't fall for the first messenger, they kept sending messenger after messenger after messenger. Four times they came at him with this same thing. And you know I have to laugh, because have you ever heard that phrase? The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and over again, expecting a different result. That's what these guys were doing. They kept coming at him, coming at him, coming at him. But, brethren, if you think about it, it's actually pretty strategic. It's very strategic what they were doing, because, again, remember what I told about the pressures that he was under. He thought maybe maybe he will finally give in, maybe he'll see how sincere we are. Not that we really want to talk to him. We really want to get together. We want to work this stuff out.
Scott Wiens:Frequency the application is pretty evident. How many of you have ever had the same temptation come at you more than once? You can all put your hands up. You'll make me feel a lot better. For those who haven't, we don't like you. He'll do that. Every one of us have experienced that, especially if he has do that. Every one of us have experienced that, especially if he has a told and if he made you fall once, he's going to come at you again and again and again, and he will not give up. Because what has he got to lose? What's he got to lose? How many times have you cried out Lord, please free me from this temptation, free me from this. It's so hard to resist and God hears that. But you know, scripture tells us that we can fight those temptations, no matter how many times they come.
Scott Wiens:And as I was preparing this message, I came across 1 Corinthians 10, verse 13. I read this scripture many times, but I just began to really unpack it. Paul says no temptation has overtaken you. That is not common to man. First sentence stop. Do you realize? In any temptation that's come at, you has already been experienced by someone else. Okay, what that means is you're not alone, right. Then look what he says next God is faithful, he is. He then states a truth God's faithful. We're just talking about temptation. You're not alone. God's faithful, we're just talking about temptation. You're not alone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability. Wait what? No, he was exaggerating there, wasn't he? No, he's not.
Scott Wiens:You know, one of the challenges I see sometimes is that people will become victims. They're like well, you know, I was there, I had to Come on. Everybody does this, everybody gives in once in a while. Nope, god just simply told you right here. In truth, this is truth. You stand on that. There's no temptation. That he won't give you the ability to resist. And he says but with a temptation, he will also provide a way of escape. When you escape from something, what are you doing? You're moving away from it. Right, when you're escaping, that's what he was doing. He's saying you can get away from this, you can move away. And sometimes, by the way, and especially for men. Sometimes we're just like I'm going to stand and I'm going to fight this temptation.
Scott Wiens:You know, paul the same one that wrote this says in two other places get out, flee, smallest sin of the Bible, flee fornication. Right? Nobody got that. I don't think anybody got that. Sometimes we don't need to stand, we need to just leave. Leave the situation. I've had to do that before, especially in business. Sometimes you go to conferences or whatever, and you know there's a cocktail hour or whatever and boy, people are starting to say things, talk, things, a lot of drinks, I'll just leave, I'm tired, guys, I've got to go, I'll leave. Why? Because in the past I didn't leave. That was the old Scott. I don't want to fall into the old Scott, so I'm just gone. And somebody said well, you're not hobnobbing with the big wigs anymore, I don't care, I don't care. I'd rather please the Lord, my God, I'd rather please him than make some executive think I'm cool, it's okay to leave.
Scott Wiens:Okay, tactic number three, verses five through seven. In the same way, sam Ballard, for the fifth time, sent his servant to me with an open letter in his hand. We got to change tactic. Right, this is a change tactic. Now look what he says. In it was written this it is reported on the nations, and Geshem also says it. I love the fact that Sanballat he really thought Geshem was a big weight I mean, geshem says this too that you and the Jews intend to rebel. By the way, they'd already accused him of this way back in chapter two. Right, that's why you're building the wall and, according to these reports, you wish to become the king and you have also set up prophets for claim concerning you in Jerusalem. So basically what he's saying if you can get the spiritual group, you can get prophets saying that you're the king. Now you're getting extra support from the people, right, and you're getting them to proclaim there is a king in Judah, and now the king will hear of these reports. Now we're talking Artaxerxes. So now come, let us take counsel together.
Scott Wiens:In this passage we see the third tactic, and that is integrity. They were now going against his integrity. If you haven't figured it out, nehemiah is a man of God, a powerful man of God. I love the way Kelly opened the series up and he talked about the prayer of Nehemiah, powerful prayer, and he came out of that time of prayer with a clear focus on what he was supposed to do. He then singularly focused. He was strategic. I preached on that, about the fact he had a plan. He went forward. He's carrying that out. He's overcoming obstacles. Last week, again all these obstacles. This man was a fair and just leader and he had a singular purpose. And now they're attacking his character. Before they were attacking his action, building the wall. Now they're attacking his character.
Scott Wiens:You think about it. What if? What if Nehemiah had done what so many of us would do Get defensive? Wait a second, that's all a bunch of lies. Come on, you know. Come on, let's talk. Let's talk. I'll tell you how good I, I'll tell you why everything you said is wrong. And let's get into a battle. Let's get into a battle.
Scott Wiens:What if Nehemiah had done that? What if Nehemiah said hey, you clowns, come over here. I'm going to meet you in Ono and we're going to talk this through, because I am not that person. He would have left the wall. The people at the wall would have been leadership lists, right. The enemies would have saw a chink in the armor. They may have started to attack and he would have lost his focus. And you want to know why? This might hurt a little bit Because he was focusing on himself, focusing on himself.
Scott Wiens:But how did Nehemiah respond? Then? I sent to him saying no such things as you say have been done, for you are inventing them out of your own mind. You probably should have said you're out of your mind, but he was sort of said him, for they all wanted to frighten us, thinking their hands will drop from the work and it will be done. But now God strengthened my hands. He did three simple things. He first identified that the accusation was a lie. It's a lie. Secondly, he identified what the motive behind the lie was which, by the way, we don't always know, but it's there. And then he resolved not to fall into their distraction trap and he kept doing what God called him to do. He called it out, but you will notice there was a period at the end of that and it over, and he continued back to do his work.
Scott Wiens:How about us? Have you ever had somebody call your integrity into question? If you're a Christian and you haven't, then I think you probably need to look in the mirror, because that's going to happen. People are going to come against us. That's just going to happen. The enemy uses evil people to come against us, and they will sometime. And you might have this. You might have somebody in your family that is just attacks you because of your beliefs right and besmirches your name to other people in the family. That can happen, you know. The saddest part is when God uses people in this room to tear down other people. That happens and it's sad, but the enemy knows. Hey, the elder is. One of the biggest things that we were always protective of is the unity in the body, because that can happen really easily. You know you're talking to somebody and something well, did you hear about this person? Pretty soon, somebody's integrity is being called into question and it's sad. But the thing is we have to keep our focus, like Nehemiah did, when we come under that kind of attack.
Scott Wiens:Philippians 2, 14 through 17,. Do all things without grumbling and disputing. And then verse 15,. I love this that you may be blameless and innocent children of God, without blemish, in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ, I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. Who defends you. Who defends you? God? God, who defends you? God, and I'm not saying that you shouldn't look at an accusation when it comes against you or if someone attacks your character, is there any truth to it, then you need to own that. We always need to own that and apologize or repent or do whatever we have to do. But if it's a lie, call it a lie and then move on. There is nothing more sad. There's lots of things more sad. This is very sad.
Scott Wiens:When you're on Facebook or some forum and you see Christians ripping each other to threads over stupid stuff, you think you're honoring God because you're proving your point. Has anybody in this room ever won an argument online? Anybody, you don't. And, by the way, you might be able to influence somebody a little bit, but the reality is you're be able to influence somebody a little bit, but the reality is you're doing way more harm than good. And I fell into this trap early on, when social media first came out, and then I realized this is stupid. I was causing division and it was sad. I was spent.
Scott Wiens:And here's the thing when you spend all this time trying to argue your point, here's the thing. When you spend all this time trying to argue your point, you lose sight of God. You lose sight of the fact that he is God. He's the one you should focus on, and you're now focused solely on yourself. And it's a selfish thing, brethren, and I'm guilty, I've done this before too. That's what Satan wants you to do. He wants to get you thinking about yourself. Let's not fall into that trap.
Scott Wiens:When our integrity gets challenged, identify that it's a challenge. Identify if there's any truth, own it and if not, move forward. I will tell you that there's times, as pastors, you have to correct or you have to deal with the situation, and it's not always good, and I've had in my 20, almost 20 years of pastoring. I've had people that didn't like what I had to say. I haven't handled everything perfectly, but when you tell someone truth and then they don't agree with it, and then you start telling everybody about what kind of a jerk you are, you know what. You just got to stand on your character. If anybody attacks one of your pastors, you got to ask yourself first what do I know about these people, what do I know about these men? And, by the way, any of you should do that If someone comes out to me and says something like you know I got to pick on somebody. Do you want to be picked on? Yeah, chad Range is a jerk.
Scott Wiens:I saw Chad at the local bar drinking like a fish and dancing on the table and eating nachos. Well, I know Chad's character. I also know he wouldn't spend that kind of money. You put your hand up, man. You put your hand up, stand on what you know about that person and don't believe it. And, by the way, there's a time when you can look at someone and say why are you telling me this? Why are you? What are you trying to do? Divide the body up, call the cops on. Okay, the last one. I know we're going late. How much time? Oh, I'm out of time. Shoot, sorry, all right.
Scott Wiens:Last one, nehemiah chapter. Look to verse 10. Now, when I went to the house of Shemaiah, the son of Deliah, the son of Methet, who was confined to 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. They're coming to kill you by night. Now we got a new character in this whole story. It's a guy named Shemaiah. Now we got a new character in this whole story. It's a guy named Shemaiah. Now he was the son of the priest Okay, this was a priest, that was his dad, and we're not really told why Nehemiah went there. And as I looked into this, a lot of commentaries think that they believe that he was a prophet. I mean, he was sort of a. He propped himself up as a prophet because his dad was a priest, right, and he was secluded in his home. Maybe he was pretending to be real, righteous, or something. We don't know. We don't know. All we know is that he was bought off. He was bought off and he began to tell Nehemiah things that were not true. Well, not that people weren't going to try to kill him, but it wasn't true. And it was a new tactic, and this tactic I've called anxiety. Now you could call it fear, but the reality is fear is a little more narrow. Anxiety goes wider and that's really what he was trying to do here. If you think about Nehemiah's perspective we've talked about it he's already under a lot of pressure, a lot of stress, and now they're going to throw a threat down and say man, they're coming to kill you, they're coming to kill you, you need to run to the temple because they won't kill you in the temple. God will, but they won't. There's two problems with this tactic, though. Well, number one. Number one nehemiah knew the laws concerning the temple. If he went into the temple, there's a good chance he wouldn't come out. Who was allowed in the temple and we're all doing our bible reading who was allowed in the temple? Priests, you had to be from the levitical line to go into the temple. So he knew that. Number one. Number two Nehemiah had discernment from God, and I think Shemaiah was kind of at that point. He probably thought Shemaiah was okay. And so here you got somebody who was actually a friend of his now saying this, and he discerned, and he says in verse 12 and 13, and I understood and saw that God had not sent him. God had not sent him, but he had pronounced the prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. For this was the purpose. He was hired that I should be afraid and act in this way and sin so they could give me a bad name in order to taunt me. Nehemiah was led by God and he saw that God had not sent Shemaiah. Not sent Shemaiah If Nehemiah had caved into this one, can you imagine what would have happened? First off, he'd ran to the temple. If he did this, he would have lost all respect and credibility from the people he was leading. This is not a man that runs away, remember, he just read that. Now he's left us here. We got our swords, we're building, now we got nobody to lead us right. And, by the way, he would not have been the priest wouldn't have liked him very much either. Right, it would have been a bad situation. Wouldn't have liked him very much either. Right, it would have been a bad situation. And the application here is pretty simple. Anxiety is one of the enemy's biggest and greatest tactics Anxiety and fear. The National Institutes of Mental Health reported that almost 19% of Americans 19% live within some sort of anxiety disorder, not just experience it, but they actually have a disorder that they're dealing with. Women, by the way, experience this more than men, but they both experience anxiety. We live in a society that's plagued with anxiety and there's a lot of difference or reasons why Christians can experience this. I will tell you that there are genuine mental health disorders that people struggle with. They're genuine and they're real. If anyone tells you different, they don't quite understand it. Anxiety, depression, they're real, okay. Personal fears we all have personal fears, unresolved sin issues. I always think about David, king. David, he, he the sin with Bathsheba. He's living with her for nine months, or whatever it was all that time, knowing he's in sin. The most miserable person is not the person that's not walking with God, meaning they don't know God. The most miserable person is the one that is one of God's and he's walked away from God. That's a miserable person because I don't know if you've ever been under the conviction of the Holy Spirit. It's not a pleasant place, especially if there's sin involved. He will get through to you. Social factors Our lives are just so busy. You guys. Incorrect doctrinal understanding. I have met Christians. I have been a Christian that didn't understand truth and it resulted in great anxiety, great anxiety, and I'm not going to attempt to unpack all of it, but I just want you to understand the enemy is going to use fear and anxiety to get to you. He wants to get to you and he will play on your fears, on your fears, and you know. The thing about anxiety is you just start to really self-focus and it's hard. People who've dealt with this, they understand it's very hard. I actually this week went through something that was really difficult and I found myself very and I'm not an anxious person, but I found myself very anxious and just overwhelmed almost, and it was difficult. So how can we handle this temptation? Well, first off, it always comes down to this Hold on to the truth. Who are you? You are a child of God. You're a child of God. That's who you are and he's got you. Stay in community. This was mentioned. You know, one of the worst things is when somebody goes through a difficult time and all of a sudden, like we haven't seen them in church lately. What's going on? And you reach out to them. You got to leave two or three messages. Then you find out they're just in a really bad place. You're like why did you remove yourself from the body of Christ? We're here to love you and support you. Now, sometimes the anxiety or whatever could have come from the body of Christ. We understand that, but still, this is where we are. We need to be. It's so powerful to stay in community. We need people. When I was feeling this, I reached out to the elders and I said I just really need prayer. Guys, I'm going through something real difficult. I want the support of community. That's not weakness, brethren, that's strength to ask for that help. Seek both spiritual and mental help if you need it. You're not alone. I think that's one of the biggest lies that Satan tries to tell you is that you're alone. You're the only one that's experiencing this. That's not the case. We have people that can support you. Philippians 4, verses 4 through 7. You guys probably some of you, already thought about this. In fact, in the prayer room, one of them mentioned this Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand. Verse 6. Do not be anxious about anything. Period, stop. There's more. Do not be anxious about everything. And you want to say do you know what you're asking? Do you know what you're asking when you say that, paul? But then he says this but in everything, by prayer and supplication. By the way, those are two different things. There's two different things. Supplication has this connotation of earnestly reaching out and pleading to God for something, and we need that. Sometimes, with thanksgiving, you find yourself being self-absorbed. Start thanking God for all the things he gave you. He says let your requests be made known to God. And then here's the promise, verse seven, and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding. We throw that out all the time, but remember there's something you do before that, and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Take your anxiety and your fears to God. Seek support from people around you. Don't walk through it alone from people around you. Don't walk through it alone, and I can guarantee you that you'll be able to resist that temptation. Maybe not perfectly, but you'll endure through it. All right, I've gone over time. Let me just simply say this. We've seen four tactics of the enemy in this section. Subtlety he's not going to come at us from the front, he's going to come at us from the side and it's going to be hard to distinguish it. Frequency is going to try to wear us down by hitting us again and again and again and again and again. Our integrity is going to cause us to lose sight of God and start to self-focus by challenging our integrity. And third, he's going to want to cause us anxiety and fear and use that again to lose sight of God and start focusing on us and draw us away. My prayer is simply this I want all of us to walk out of here understanding that these four there's many other tactics, by the way, these are the four here. I want us to walk out of here more aware, more cognizant of what the enemy is trying to do and, just like that battle of Midway, we can intercept the code from the enemy and we can know what he's trying to do, and then we can be the one station around the island and we can come in and defeat him, because he's given us that ability to do that. You believe that? Stand to your feet. Let's pray, father. This life is difficult at times. Lord, I thank you for what Tyler shared about what's happening in Cuba. What a perspective gaining thing, lord. But those people, their faith is so genuine and, father, I sometimes think that we are a victim of our culture. We are so impacted by our culture and all this and the enemy is going to try to come at us, lord, through all of these different tactics and more. And, father, I pray for all of us that you give us a special awareness through your Holy Spirit, that we can see the subtle attacks from the enemy, lord, that we can see when he's trying to get us to fall into fear and cause the anxiety. And, father, that we just realize that we can stand on you. And there's so many scriptures that talk about that. But, god, you promised that no temptation will come at us that we cannot endure and we can resist. So, father, my prayer for all of us is that we do that and we walk out of here stronger, more aware, and that we can do everything we do to your glory. We pray this and we thank you in Jesus' precious name, amen, amen.
