The Brinkley argus., 1917-11-30
EsoN FOR DECEMBER Z
I.,eMIAH BUILDS THE WALL OF JERUSALEM.

JERUSALEM.
 ..coN TExT-Nehemiah 4:7-21.
 EnEN TExT-The Lord is my
 and I will not fear what man
 do unto me.-Hebrews 13:6.
 o lesson of November IS spoke of
 ssmIah journeying to Jerusalem.
 his arrival he spent three days
 noking over the work; then he
 inc priests and other leaders his
 Enthusiasm was awakened, all
 '.es were aroused, the work of the
 rdIng of the wall of the city was
 0rtioned among the people, and
 half of the wall was completed
 the people had a mind to work"
 The Wrath of the Enemy, w. 7-9.
 progress of the work kept up
 anger of Sanballat the Horonite
 his friends who formed an alli-
 . to hinder the wall being built
 S). When God begins to work
 ,mgh his people, Satan is aroused
 tries to interfere. It is no sign
 Christian is out of the will
 Cod when opposition is felt. The
 mv will always be on hand to try Kinder whenever a real work for
 is going forward. Dead formal
 dstianity runs smoothly and with .dly monotony and Satan lets it
 no. but as soon as some results of
 work are seen, opposition is at
 felt. Thus it was when God
 his Son into the world, and so has been in every movement for
 fin the church, and so it will be E3he individual Christian life. From [ next verse (9) we would almost hk that Nehemiah had heard our <Ts injunction to swatch and pray" |snv do much watching and fail; .ny do much praying and fail; but @e ever turns to watching and pray E without finding victory. Prayer ame means sloth; watching alone bans pride; but watching and pray E victory.
 RI. Internal Opposition, w. 10-14, knballat and his friends were not he only ones Nehemiah had to con- pu1 with. Among those that worked uIsthe wall were some shirkers and ,amblers. They had become discour- xpd in the work and began to say ley could never complete it (v. 1O). kSatan fails to hinder the work Sm the outside, he will attempt to reate dissatisfaction on the inside, lternal confusion of the church is ore to be dreaded than open Oppos1' on from a known enemy. Dissension Id confusion in the church can usu' ly be traced to workers becoming dis ,uraged The plot of the enemy to ake a surprise attack was dis gered by the Jews who lived out ie the city. They reported it not lee, but ten times, with the sugges' on that the work on the wall be opped, and safety sought by leav' g the city altogether (vv. Il, 12). hen the enemy's open opposition Ills and Encouragement has been led, an attempt is made to bring feai ,on the workers. But the Bible is I of exhortations for Christians tc ear not" Could these workers on c walls of Jerusalem have seen the seen, 1t would have made little diff rences to them whether the enemies ,re numbered by tens or thousands d could Christians today realize that 'd is for them, all opposition would as nothing. q Cor. 10:13; Rom 31 Phil. :13). Nehemiah at once Oceeded to allay the fears (13 ]. Armed forces were arranged out the walls to guard against the ported surprise attack. The warri' } were placed so that in the event battle they would be protecting fir own particular families. Then hemiah made a short speech of en- lragement to the people, the heart which was Remember the Lord ich is great and terrible" Remem ing him would drive the fear away ey who are on the Lords side are eady victors even before the bat has begun. Someone said to g at general before a certain bat began: T hope the Lord is on our C." The reply was: "I trust we on the Lords side" When this is e, there need be no fear whether enemies be few or many. Nehe' h then exhorted them to fight for ir families and their homes. This )-fold secret of the victory Is pre- ted to us over and over in this book and nowhere is so prom at as in this lesson. Victory for Christian depends on two things: must trust in the Lord as though depended on him, and we must K and fight as though all depended us. This is the secret of the sue of Nehemiah.
 II. The Progress of the Work, (vv. 'D. The speech of Nehemiah hay. Quieted the fears of the people and
 enemy having heard that theif IS were known and that God had lght their counsel to nought, all people returned to the work with ewed enthusiasm and purpose (lo)' re was a encouragement of forces O1N T,e 70 4bo x,ao,,Ia xunrk cd