Discernment for Great Work | Sunday, July 3, 2022

This morning, we are going to be turning to the book of Nehemiah, Chapter 6. If you have your Bibles with you, go ahead and open there. If you're new or visiting the broadcast today, I want to welcome you. I'm Pastor Garrett here at Cross Connection Church, and it's been such a pleasure to be serving here. Predominantly, I serve as the high school pastor and oversee junior high and all the events of the summer. I do want to apologize right at the front; my voice is a little bit raspy because I've been yelling with a bunch of kids. We took about 30 kids to Catalina Island for summer camp, and it was such a blessed time. A lot of the kids had an awesome experience.

While you are turning to the book of Nehemiah, Chapter 6, where we've been the last couple of weeks here at Cross Connection Church, let me provide a brief overview for those who might be joining us for the first time in this series. Nehemiah records for us the reconstruction of the walls of Jerusalem, which is Judah's capital city. Together, he and Ezra lead the people in a spiritual, political, and religious restoration of the Jewish people after Babylonian captivity. Under Nehemiah's leadership, the Jews withstood great opposition and were able to come together to accomplish a great work.

Nehemiah is known for leading by example. He gave up a respected position with a secular government, serving right next to the king as the cupbearer for one of the greatest and most powerful kings of his time. He exchanged that comfort for hard labor in a politically insignificant region. Nehemiah was driven to do this great work because it was the will of God. The physical reconstruction of the wall made it possible for the remnant of Jews to survive. After Babylonian captivity, there was really just a small remnant of Jews left. This was about 500 years or so before the time of Christ, and it was important that the Jews would survive because our Savior was born of Jewish parents, as prophesied by the Scriptures.

Doing this great work for God always comes with opposition, and we will be talking a little bit about that in the message today. The devil is hard at work against the work of the church today, and you might be seeing that in the turmoil we observe around the world.

Everything seems like it is in chaos and disorder. There appears to be even disorder within the church and division. The devil is, again, the father of lies. He loves to masquerade as an angel of light, but really, he is the angel of darkness. Today, we will look at how we can learn discernment that overcomes temptation through the story of Nehemiah, chapter 6.

Now that you've hopefully turned to Nehemiah chapter 6, let's go ahead and read verses 1 through 14. It should also be on your screen. It says, "When Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard I had rebuilt the wall and that no gap was left in it, though at that time I had not installed the doors or the city gates, Sanballat and Geshem sent me a message: 'Come, let's meet together in the villages of the Ono Valley.' They were planning to harm me.

So I sent messengers to them saying, 'I’m doing an important work and I cannot come down. Why should I leave this work? Why should this work cease while I leave it and go down to you?' Four times they sent me this same proposal, and I gave them the same reply. Sanballat sent me this message a fifth time by his aid, who had an open letter in his hand. It was written, 'It is reported among the nations, and Geshem agrees, that you and the Jews plan to rebel. This is the reason that you are building the wall. According to these reports, you are to become their king and even set up the prophets in Jerusalem to proclaim on your behalf, "There is a king in Judah." These rumors will be heard by the king, so come, let's confer together.'

Then I replied to him, 'There is nothing to these rumors you are spreading. You are inventing them in your own mind. For they were all trying to intimidate us. They will drop their hands from their work, and it will never be finished. But now God strengthened my hands.'

I went to the house of Shemai, son of Deliah, son of Mehedabel, who was restricted to his house. He said, 'Let's meet at the house of God inside the temple. Let's shut the temple doors because they are coming to kill you. They are coming to kill you tonight.'

But I said, 'Should a man like me run away? How can someone like me enter the temple and live? I will not go.' I realized that God had not sent him because of the prophecy he had spoken against me. Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. He was hired so that I would be intimidated, do as he suggested, sin, and get a bad reputation in order that they could discredit me.

My God, remember Tobiah and Sanballat for what they have done, and also the prophetess Nodiah and the other prophets who wanted to intimidate me. Let's bow our heads in a moment of prayer as we jump into this morning's message.

Father, we do pray, especially as Psalm 25, verse 4 says, "Show me your ways, O Lord. Teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation. And for you, I will wait all the day long." Father, may you teach us to resist the schemes of the devil. May we daily put on the entire, the whole armor of God, learning from Nehemiah how we can have and even build discernment that overcomes temptation.

Father, for all of those listening, whether they are here local in Escondido County or around the world tuning in to this broadcast, I pray that you would bless and keep them and cause your face to shine upon them. Be gracious to them, Lord. And Father, would you give them your peace as we pray in Jesus' name, amen.

There was a great battle that was fought in the Judean wilderness. This was in the time of Jesus. In fact, it was before He began His public ministry that this great battle was fought. It was a battle between Jesus and ultimately the devil, who for 40 days took Jesus out into the wilderness and tempted Him. This wasn't a battle for necessarily physical territory, but for the territory of our hearts.

Satan not only tempted Him for 40 days, but the temptations were three: one was for food, one was for glory, and one was for obedience. However, Satan was really tempting Jesus to get His position. What do I mean by that? Satan has always desired worship. He has always desired the position of God because he believes that he could be that. He wants the same position, the same authority, the same power, and the same worship that God receives.

Today, I believe personally that the devil is after our position. If you're a believer in Jesus Christ today, and you know that Christ died on the cross for your sins, in your place, so that you could now have a renewed relationship with God, that you've been reborn into the family of God and received the Holy Spirit into your heart, the devil is after your position. You are a son or a daughter of God now, and he is after your position. He wants to distract you from the work that God has now given you.

You see, the devil came when Jesus was most vulnerable. Have any of you ever fasted for 40 days?

I didn't think so. I personally have not fasted for 40 days, especially in a desert. I have been to Israel, specifically to the Judean wilderness, and I can tell you it is a desert. If you take our desert out here in California, Ocotillo Wells, you could imagine something like that. It's a desolate desert. Jesus was out there being tempted for 40 days, with the sun beating down on him.

What I want to bring out of that is that the devil always finds us when we are most vulnerable. You see, Jesus hadn't eaten in 40 days. He was alone; he didn't have companions with him there. The devil always comes after us when we're most vulnerable. Satan tempted Jesus after he was baptized, right? He was baptized, and the Spirit of God descended from heaven with the voice of God the Father saying, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." Yet, it was after that affirmation that the devil sought to trip him up.

Jesus had already been affirmed in his ministry, but he had not begun his public ministry yet. I believe that this is where the devil always wants to try to distract us from the real work that God has for us, to use the gifts, talents, and abilities that He has given us for the kingdom of God, for the church. We can be the hands and feet of God in this world, reaching people with the good news of Jesus Christ. The devil is trying to distract us from that.

Now, as we come back to Nehemiah, we find him here. He was a man who worked in a secular government job faithfully. He heard about the state of Jerusalem, and like Jesus, he cared about God's people. He learned that the walls of Jerusalem were torn down and that the Jews were not worshiping in the temple because they weren't safe there. The worship of God had ceased, and the walls around Jerusalem were demolished, leaving no protection for the people to come and safely worship God or even reestablish the traditions and laws that God had set before them in the Torah.

This is where we find Nehemiah. He cared so much about God's people that he left his comfort to go and serve the Lord in this place, rebuilding the walls. To rebuild these walls, which were massive, was a significant task. These walls had been torn down over 150 years prior to Nehemiah's arrival, so just consider that for a minute. Nehemiah set out to do this great work that God called him to do in restoring Jerusalem, and he was met by military opposition from the Samaritans, which came from outside the walls.

Nehemiah faced both exterior and interior opposition. He encountered turmoil within Jerusalem, among its people, while also defending against enemies outside the city. He was able to save the people from these external threats and from their own civil unrest and injustices, which we discussed a little bit last week. Now, we come to an even greater scheme. The devil is trying to specifically target Nehemiah with temptation and distraction through enticement.

Let’s read verse 1 again. It says, "When Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of the enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall and that no gap was left in it..." At this point, the wall was complete, but Nehemiah had not yet installed the doors and gates, leaving some openings. Sanballat and Geshem sent him a message: "Come, let’s meet together in the village of the Ono Valley." They were planning to do him harm.

These three political enemies knew that the walls around Jerusalem were built and that there were no gaps other than the gates and doors. This meant that an external army could no longer challenge Jerusalem effectively, as the strength of the walls would hold up against any attack. Recognizing that a military assault would not work, the Samaritan governors decided to target Nehemiah specifically, attempting to slow him down before he could finish the work that God had called him to do.

The devil does the same thing with us today. He schemes to distract us so that the work God began in us does not get finished. What these men were ultimately calling Nehemiah to do was to leave the place God had called him to, the place where God had planted him, and to come meet them in the Valley of Ono. The devil always tries to entice us away from doing the will of God, distracting us from accomplishing His purposes. For reference, the Valley of Ono was about 30 miles from Jerusalem, which placed Nehemiah outside the protection of the walls that had just been built.

So that would have meant Nehemiah left the protection of the walls that they had just established and built, and gone to a valley 30 miles away. This would have taken time away from the great work he was doing to meet these three leaders who just wanted to do him harm. It was actually a great place for a political assassination attempt. Even though the Valley of Ono was supposedly politically neutral at the time, these evil men were trying to tempt him.

The devil's desire for you, and this is point number one this morning, is for us to leave the will of God. Right now, the devil is either scheming to keep you from God and His purposes, or he is scheming up ways to trip you up as a Christian. Maybe you don't know God. Perhaps you're tuning in today and you're praying, thinking, "I haven't been to church, but with what I see going on in the world, with the chaos in my own life and in my family's life, maybe I've lost loved ones recently." You might be wondering, "Is there a God that still loves me? Is there a God that cares? Is there a God that has a plan and a purpose for my life?"

You see, the devil is either scheming to keep you from God and His great purpose for your life, or he's trying to halt your growth into spiritual maturity. He is scheming for ways to stop the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, who transforms our character to match our calling.

The meeting requested by Sanballat, Geshem, and Tobias was essentially a meeting of equals, meaning that they were all governors. They all held positions of leadership in their cities. Nehemiah knew that the walls of Jerusalem were complete, and he recognized that they were equals. So why would this meeting be so enticing to Nehemiah?

I think there are a couple of reasons. First, he might have thought, "This is my great opportunity to sit down with important people." It could have been a chance to meet with those who have been leaders for a long time. If he could sit down with them, and if other people saw him doing so, it would certainly make him feel good.

Now, let's bring that into a current context. What would be the enticement to meet with these three people? Well, they have a ton of followers.

Have you seen the followers they have on Instagram or Twitter? They have a ton of followers. Their following is insane. People love their influence, and if they invited me to go meet with them, oh my goodness, how could I ever say no? Wow, now is the chance for me to get into the camp that I've been idolizing.

What if Nehemiah was so insecure in himself that he fell for this enticing offer? There is a great danger when we are not secure in who we are in Christ; it becomes easy for us to get sidetracked. The same is true when we're emotionally unhealthy. We begin to easily fall for these enticing offers of friendship that are ultimately meant to lead to our ruin. God really does care about that kind of stuff.

Let's read how Nehemiah answers this enticing offer that was given to him. Four times they sent this enticing offer. These letters were sent to him four times, requesting that he would come down to the Valley of Ono, 30 miles outside of Jerusalem. Four times Nehemiah replied, "I am doing an important work and cannot come down."

The devil's goal is to drag us down. If the will of God is up here, he tries to drag us down outside of that will of God. He wants to get us sidetracked, doing something else, doing our own thing, or doing something that may make us feel important. But God is saying, "I've given you a job and a task that's greater than anything else you could ever do."

God has established His kingdom in this world and has given you, Christians, a job. He has given you gifts, talents, abilities, and spiritual gifts in order to serve the body of Christ and to reach the lost with the good news of Jesus Christ.

Four times Nehemiah was tempted with the same proposal, and four times he gave them the same reply. I believe that Nehemiah knew the great truth of the psalmist. Psalm 1:1 says, "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly." Who we hang out with does matter. Who we spend time with matters. Who we identify with matters.

Point number two: something that we need to remember as Christians...

The Christians in our audience right now, point number two is, I am doing a great work for the Lord. Wherever you're at, whoever you're sitting with, I want you to turn to them, or if you're just by yourself, you can go ahead and talk to me on the screen. Just say out loud, "I am doing a great work for the Lord, and I cannot come down."

You see, that's the proper response to the constant temptations that come to us. The devil wants to throw these temptations at us, especially when they are the same. Often, the devil will use the same exact temptation to try to lure us outside of the will of God and drag us down. We need to be the kind of people who can say, "I'm doing a great work for the Lord." We must remember that God has called us to an incredible work and given us an incredible purpose. There is no greater task, no greater mission in life than being a Christian.

But we've all felt the devil's temptations come, right? We've all experienced that temptation in our lives. Whether it's, "Come and look at these pictures on my phone," or, "You know you're supposed to be faithful to your wife, but you feel that temptation." You know you're supposed to be faithful to your husband, but you feel that pull, "Hey, come over here, and I'll show you a better time. I'll make you feel more loved." You know you're supposed to be at your job, but you feel a pull to be anywhere else. You know you're not supposed to go to that party and drink, but you feel that invitation. It's tempting; it's enticing.

Many of us have been damaged and broken in the Valley of Ono because, ultimately, we sin because we want to. Sin is enticing, right? It promises great things but leaves us empty, famished, and in a desert. It leaves us in the valley where we say, "Oh no," if I might use the pun. In fact, my daughter, who is two years old, anytime she drops something or something happens, she'll say, "Oh no." I find that kind of funny.

I think that when the devil drags us down to the valley outside of the will of God, we always end up looking back after being marred and damaged by the sin we've committed in our lives. We look back and say, "Oh no, what have I done?" Thank God our God is a God of second chances. Four times, Sanballat and Tobiah sent the same request. Four times, Nehemiah responded the same. His response was one of truth.

He didn't call them out for their treachery, but he answered with a true reason why he could not go. He said, "I have a great work to do, and I cannot come down." When the devil tempts you with the same temptation over and over again, resist it with the same reason and resolution over and over again.

Point number three on your outline, and this is another way that we can help resist the temptations of the devil, is this: a focused heart and clear priorities shield us against the schemes of the devil. I'll say it again: a focused heart and clear priorities shield us against the schemes of the devil. Nehemiah is a great example of this, and even Paul is a good example. Paul actually tells us that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood in Ephesians 6:12. We don't wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, the cosmic powers over this present darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

The real enemy of man isn't necessarily man; our enemy is the devil. The original sin was not Adam and Eve; it was the devil who desired to be worshipped himself, who then came and tempted us, causing us to fall into sin. But I tell you this today: a person who is focused on what God said, focused on what God's will is, and focused on the great work that God has given us will be able to withstand the schemes of the devil.

A person who is focused on what God said—Nehemiah was focused on what God said. We're going to see this again later on in this same passage. Nehemiah was focused on what God said; he knew the Scriptures. Do you know the Scriptures today? Do you spend valuable time in the Scriptures? He also knew what God's will was. How do we know what God's will is? Well, we have to read His word and we have to pray. Nehemiah is a great example of both of these things, and he was able to withstand the schemes of the devil and remain righteous.

You see, when a person has clear priorities, they are most shielded against enticement. Jesus had clear priorities and clear focus. He said in John 6:38, "For I came down from heaven, not to do my own will, but to do the will of him who sent me."

Jesus had clear priorities and clear focus, and that drove Him all the way to the cross. He did not sin once. Nehemiah also had clear priorities and clear focus. He had this burden from God to finish the building of the wall and to see the heart of worship restored in Jerusalem. He wanted to see a spiritual revival in his city, amongst his people.

I want to see a spiritual revival in my city, amongst my people. I believe our country and our cities are spiritually sick. They need the Word of God; they need the freedom that God can bring. They need the Holy Spirit to come in, enter into their lives, and turn their lives around, transforming them from the inside out. Only then can we see a restoration in our country and in our cities. Only God can do this kind of work. It is not something we can force or legislate; it is something that God must do in our hearts.

Are your priorities clear? What do I mean by that? I mean, do you put God first? Do you put your spouse second, if you're married? Do you put your children third, if you have children? Do you put your job and your ministry fourth?

As soon as we reorganize those priorities in a way that seems most fitting, we can easily fall into temptation. The first temptation is to take God off the top. That's what idols are in our lives. Anything that takes more of our time, talent, and treasure than God—anything that we want more than God—can easily push Him down the list. It can also lead us to take our spouse off the top, perhaps because we love our kids more.

My wife is a much higher priority than my kids. My kids are incredibly important to me, but you have to fight to keep these priorities in line. You have to fight, Christian, to keep these priorities in order: God, your spouse, your children, and then your ministry and your job.

I think one of the great reasons we have seen so many pastors fail in ministry is that we often get these priorities upside down. We might say, "Okay, God is number one," but then we place ministry and job second, followed by spouse and family. Anytime we get these priorities out of order, it becomes very easy for us to fall for the enticing offers and schemes of the devil, drawing us away from the great work which God has called us to do.

When our priorities are clear, all of our decisions are pre-made for us. Some of us, like me, have a really hard time making decisions. When your priorities are clear, when you're focused on the will of God, when you pray to Him regularly and know His scriptures, it becomes very easy to say no to the enticement of the devil. It becomes easy to decline the offers that we might receive from friends trying to drag us away from the will of God, whether it's to go to a party or from that guy or gal at work who wants to draw us away from our spouse.

God has called us to do one thing, and if we engage in other activities, we cannot accomplish the work He has set before us. This is so important to understand. When we're focused on the Word of God, He establishes clear convictions in our hearts. When our convictions are clear and our priorities are in order, it becomes easy to say no to the schemes of the devil, who tries to divert us from the good work that God is doing.

The second scheme that they tried with Nehemiah was blackmail through defamation. Defamation hurts. Many of you have probably experienced it before; there have been false accusations. Defamation attacks our character and who we are. Sanballat sent me this message a fifth time by his aid, and he had in his hand an open letter. It was the same letter, but this time it was open.

The devil loves partnering with others to lead us into rebellion. This time, Sanballat specifically sent his aid, someone else, to partner with him. The devil enjoys collaborating with others to draw us away from the work of God. In fact, he even partnered with Peter, the apostle Peter. You might recall when Christ was on His way to the cross, very near to His crucifixion. Peter approached Christ and tried to convince Him that there was no way He could die, that He couldn't go to the cross. What did Jesus reply? "Get away from me, Satan."

The devil works even in our insecurities to draw us away from the will of God, and he is willing to partner with anyone to keep us from fulfilling God's purpose.

Now Nehemiah is being defamed, and the devil is attacking his witness and his character. Your witness and your character are two of the most important things that you have. As soon as the devil undermines your witness and credibility, your credibility crumbles. So what I say to you right now is to guard your witness. Guard your witness. Be the same man or woman that you are in church as you are at home, and vice versa. Be the same man that you are at work as you are at church. Be the same woman that you are at work as you are at church.

This is why I try to avoid, at all costs, commenting on social media. The comment section can be the devil. I'm being facetious here, but be careful what you post online, because that can hurt and damage your credibility. There are times to talk and times to be silent.

Now, remember this letter that was open. It read, "It is reported amongst the nations, and Geshem agrees, that you guys are planning to rebel." Here’s the curveball: this messenger was sent with an open letter. Back in these days, around 450 BC, when letters were sent, they were sealed with a wax seal of the sender. That wax seal indicated that the letter was authentic and that the person receiving it was worthy to open it. This time, however, there was no seal on the letter; it was an open letter.

An open letter in those times was akin to gossip. Every town that the messenger passed through would read the letter and see, "Oh, Nehemiah is planning a rebellion," and then gossip would spread. It was specifically designed to promote gossip. When it says, "It is reported amongst the nations," in our culture today, this would be equivalent to saying, "Well, they all believe," or "Everyone said that we should do this." I always ask, "Who’s they? Who’s everyone?" Because oftentimes, everyone is just one person, maybe their wife.

Don't panic over the "they saids" in your life. Ask who said. This open letter lacked its official seal and was specifically designed to promote gossip, and Nehemiah prayed.

This letter was specifically designed to promote gossip and to weaken the efforts of Nehemiah. Nehemiah could have been scared; I think he probably was. I mean, I would have been. What do you do when somebody starts giving you false accusations and tries to promote gossip? It's going to get back to the king, who might say, "King, you see here what Nehemiah's doing? He's actually trying to become king now." And the king might think, "Didn't you send him down there to rebuild this wall? But now he's going to rebel against you?" Doesn't that sound alarming? You can't do that. You see, in Persian law, you could not rebel against the king like that. Nehemiah wasn't rebelling; he was being obedient.

In times like this, Nehemiah could have just laid it all down and stopped the work, but he didn't. He didn't try to leave, stop, or get out of his circumstances. Instead, he prayed, "God, strengthen my hands."

Point number four is that obedience is greater than deliverance in silence. Nehemiah had a great work to accomplish, and he didn't pray for deliverance from his circumstances but for the strength to continue the work. He prayed for the resilience to complete the great work that God had called him to do. Perhaps you today need to pray that prayer. You need to say, "God, I pray that you would strengthen my hands in my circumstances. God, I pray that you would help me to be resilient to complete this good work that you've called me to do."

That's an important prayer because oftentimes our prayers go like this: "God, just take me out of this situation. Take me out of my circumstances. Take me out of this pain. Get me out of here." But where God has sent you doesn't mean that there won't be pain, suffering, trials, or temptations. Christians, I think we, especially today, need to be praying not so much for deliverance but that we would be obedient where God has placed us. We should be obedient to Him who put us there and pray for strength when we feel weak.

Now let me tell you, God is so faithful to strengthen you in your hard times. God is so faithful to strengthen you in your circumstances. Who did He meet in the fire? When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego stood up before the golden idol, they would not bow down and compromise their faith. They decided that death was a better route than to compromise their faith and dishonor God.

God was doing a great work, and what happened? They were thrown into the fiery furnace. But then what did the king see in that fiery furnace? There were three men, but there was a fourth, and the fourth was like the Son of God. In your trials today, Jesus is faithful to meet you in the fire. Let me tell you, He is also faithful to strengthen you through them.

When you talk about following Christ, it does not mean health, wealth, and prosperity. The Apostle Paul had everything opposite of that. He had basically nothing to his name and a reputation that was just awful. He would show up in a town, cause riots, get beaten up, and thrown out of the city. Sometimes, he had to sneak out of towns just to survive because he was faithfully teaching the Word of God.

Be faithful to God. Be obedient to what God has called you to do. Complete the great work that God has called you to do. We can't control what others say, but we do have control over ourselves. Nehemiah didn't have control over the circumstances around him, but he had control over his response and his reaction. He responded with truth and he responded with prayer. I encourage you to respond with truth and prayer.

Responding with truth and responding with prayer is what I would call discernment. Sometimes, our duty to speak and to pray for strength is greater than deliverance. Nehemiah did speak out with the truth that these men were making it all up. He wasn't silent; he didn't hide away. He spoke out with truth, declaring that these accusations were false. But he did not stop the great work that he was doing.

The next scheme of the devil is a scheme of deception. Nehemiah said, "I went to the house of Shammai, the son of Mahathabel, who was restricted to his house." This man, who was supposed to be a prophet, said, "Let's meet at the house of God. Let's go inside the temple. Let's close the doors and hide in there because these men are coming to kill you tonight, Nehemiah."

But Nehemiah responded, "Should a man like me run away? How can someone like me enter the temple and live?"

I will not go. I realized—remember, I realized right there is code for discerned. I discerned that God had not sent him because of the prophecy he spoke against me. Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. He had been hired so that I would be intimidated to do as he suggested, which would be to sin and to get a bad reputation in order that they could discredit me. Nehemiah said, "I will not go."

How did Nehemiah get to that point? How did he have that discernment? Well, he knew the Word of God, and he responded with truth and with prayer: "Lord, strengthen my hands." How do we get discernment? We need to know the Word of God, the Word of truth. You see, "I realized" is code for discernment.

As the Prince of Preachers, Charles Spurgeon, says, discernment is not knowing the difference between right and wrong. This should be up on your screens. It is knowing the difference between right and almost right. That's pretty deep. Discernment isn't knowing the difference between right and wrong. I think we all know the difference between right and wrong. It doesn't take much discernment to know a white lie from the truth, but knowing what's right from what's almost right is crucial.

The devil loves to take Scriptures and then twist them just a little bit—just enough to say, "Did God really say this? Would this really happen?" You see, when Jesus responded to temptation for 40 days in the wilderness, He responded three times the same way—with the Scriptures: "It is written." We need to know the Word of God to have discernment.

Discernment is a divine knowing that is on the inside, inspired by the Holy Spirit within us as Christians. We know that. As we grow in our knowledge of God and His Word, we grow in discernment. As we grow in prayer, we grow in discernment. The best lies are not white lies; they're lies that are half-truths. Satan is a professional at this kind of lying.

Nehemiah prayed, "Lord, remember those deceivers." Oswald Chambers said, "God never gives us discernment in order that we may criticize, but that we may intercede." Now, Christian, I want you to think about that right now. Oftentimes, you might mix up discernment with criticism, like being critical. God gives us discernment so that we might, in turn, intercede. So we can then say that having discernment is the ability to see things as they really are.

Are not what you want them to be, right? Discernment is the ability to see things as they really are, not as you want them to be. Discernment, then, is grounded in reality. We don't necessarily live in a world that loves reality right now. Oswald Chambers again said this: God does not exist to answer our prayers, but that by our prayers we might come to discern the mind of God.

You see, if discernment is to promote intercession, we can discern something so we can pray. As we pray, we begin to discern the mind, the will, and the heart of God. However, let me tell you, with discernment, when you start to receive discernment as a believer, it comes with division. It divides the believer from the unbeliever. It may even divide the discerning believer from the undiscerning believer. Division will, I mean, discernment will even divide the mature and the immature.

Nehemiah was able to do a great work to organize a group of ordinary people to do an extraordinary work: rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. He accomplished this in an extraordinarily short time period—52 days, as we'll learn next week. Because he was focused and had clear priorities, he was able to accomplish this great work.

As we close, cross-connection, you are involved in a great work. The great work is this: you are building the thing that Jesus left behind, that being the church. The church is worthy of your time, it's worthy of your giving, it's worthy of your service, and worthy of your sacrifice. When the schemes of the devil come against you, remember that you are involved in a great work. May you respond like Nehemiah: "I will not come down; I'm doing a great work."

Now today, I want to also address those of you who might be tuning in for the first time. Perhaps you are still on the cusp of whether you really believe in this whole Jesus thing. Maybe you've left the church for a while, you're backslidden, or this is your very first time even watching a church service online. Maybe you're just dipping your toes in the water to see if Cross-Connection Church is a good church that you can explore and call your home church.

You've made it this far into the broadcast, so I want to turn your attention to another man who refused to come down. That man is Jesus Christ. Hanging on the cross, he had these demonically inspired men looking up at him and saying, "If you really are God, come down from that cross; save yourself."

And Jesus, though, was sent by God to do God's will, right? We know from John 3:16 that God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, that whoever would believe in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Jesus refused to come down because He was doing a great work. He refused to come down because He was doing a great work for you and for me—to save the world from their sins and to reconcile us to God.

Perhaps today you find yourself in the valley of "oh no." You've been tempted and enticed, and you went with those temptations. Now you're looking back and saying, "Oh no, what am I going to do?" You need a second chance, and God is offering you one today. Come to Jesus and find life everlasting. Come to Jesus and discover that there is no sin too great that God won't forgive. He will meet you where you are today, right in the valley of "oh no," but He won't leave you there. He offers you a new life—a life where you are reborn.

As you are reborn as a son or daughter of God, you inherit the eternal life that Christ gives us. You then begin this lifelong process of God transforming your character to match your calling as you receive the Holy Spirit into your heart. I ask you to come to Jesus today and find life. Don't delay the call of God. Don't delay responding to Him. Don't delay asking Him the questions that you've had for so long. Don't delay bringing your problems to Him. Come to Jesus as you are and begin the great work in you.

Come to Jesus, and He will begin that great work. God is so good and so faithful that even when we mess up, He gives us those second chances. Jesus paid the price for your second chance on the cross, so that today you can find life in His name.

Let's pray. Father, as we close this morning, as we close our service, I pray that You would give us clear focus and clear priorities. I ask that You would provide us with the entire armor of God, the spiritual armor we need to withstand the schemes of the devil. A clear mind and clear focus are essential, and they are great gifts that You provide.

Shield us from the devil's schemes, but they aren't perfect. Lord, we still end up tripping. We still end up falling. I pray this morning that for those who have fallen, you would pick them back up.

Father, for those who have been tempted over and over again, I pray that you would give them the resilience to respond the same way with the same answer, your truth, and your word that it is written. May we not play or toy with temptation, but may we take it seriously and be freed from it. Help us to resist the evil one so that your name might be glorified and that many might come to know you and the good news of Jesus Christ.

Lord, you're doing a great work in your church. You're doing a great work in our nation and in the world. I know that the gates of hell will not prevail against the church. I pray for the spiritual revival in our country, in our people, that Nehemiah sought in rebuilding the walls and restoring the people back to you, back to worship.

Father, may we be a nation that returns to you. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen.