The Elbert County tribune., 1917-11-30

L t1all 90 unto me.-deDreWS l3.b.
The lesson of November IS spoke Of
Nehemiah journeying to Jerusalem.
After his arrival he spent three days
IN looking over the work; then he
told the priests and other leaders his
plans. Enthusiasm was awakened, all
classes were aroused, the work of the
building of the wall of the city was
apportioned among the people, and
soon half of the wall was completed
4for the people had mind to work"
I. The Wrath Of the Enemy, Wv. 10.
The progress of the work kept up
the anger of Sanballat the Toronto
and his friends who formed an alli-
ance to hinder the wall being built
(vv Z, 81. When God begins to work
through his people, Satan is aroused
and tries to interfere. 1t is no sign
tflt a Christian is out of the will
Of God when opposition is felt. The
enemy will always be on hand to try
to hinder whenever q real work for
4 God is going forward. Dead formal
Christianity runs smoothly and with
deadly monotony and Satan let's 1t
]
real work are seen, opposition is at
once felt. Thus 1t was when God
sent his Son into the world, and so
It has been in every movement for
/ God in the church, and so 1t will be
In the individual Christian life. From
the next verse (9) we would almost
,hink that Nehemiah had heard our
Lords injunction to "watch and pray"
Many do much watching and fail;
many do much praying and fail; but
none ever turns to watching and pray
Ing without finding victory. Prayer
alone means sloth; watching alone
means pride; but watching and pray
Ing victory.
II. Internal Opposition, w. 10-14
Sanballat and his friends were not
the only ones Nehemiah had to con-
tend with. Among those that worked
on the wall were some shirkers and
grumblers. They had become discour-
aged in the work and began to say
they could never complete 1t ". 10).
If Satan fails to hinder the work
from the outside, he will attempt to
create dissatisfaction on the inside
Internal confusion of the church is
more to be dreaded than open opposi.
ton from known enemy. Dissension
and confusion in the church can usu.
ally be traced to workers becoming dis
couraged. The plot Of the enemy to
make n surprise attack was dis
covered by the Jews who lived out
side the city. They reported it moi
once, but ten times, with the sugges
tion that the work on the wall be
stopped, and safety sought by leav
ing the city altogether wv. IL, 12).
When the enemy's open opposition
fails and discouragement has beer
tried, an attempt is made to bring feaI
upon the workers. But the Bible Is
full of exhortations for Christians te
''fear not" Could these workers or
the walls of Jerusalem have seen the
unseen, 1t would have made little diff
ferences to them whether the enemies
were numbered by tens or thousands
and could Christians today realize that
God is for them, all opposition would
be as nothing. Il Cor. 10 :13; Rom
S:31; Phil. :13). Nehemiah at once
proceeded to allay the fears (13
14). Armed forces were arranged
about the walls to guard against the
reported surprise attack. TIE warri.
ors were placed so that in the event
of battle they would be protecting
their own particular families. Their
Nehemiah made short speech of en-
courngement to the people, the heart
Of which was Remember the Lord
which is great and terrible" Remem
| yxo 1t drfx "
They who are on the Lords side are
already victors even before the bat
tie has begun. Someone said to q
great general before a certain bat
tie began: 81 hope the Lord is on oui
side" The reply was: II trust We
are on the Lords side" When this II
true, there need be no fear whether
the enemies be few or many. Nehe
miah then exhorted them to fight fol
their families and their homes. Thit
two-fold secret of the victory Is pre-
sented to us over and over in this boob
of Nehemiah, and nowhere is so prom
inent as in this lesson. Victory fol
the Christian depends on two things:
We must trust in the Lord as though
all depended on him, and we mus
work and fight as though all depended
on us. This is the secret of the sue
cess of Nehemiah.
Ill. The Progress of the Work, wv
15-21). The speech of Nehemiah hav.
ing quieted the fears of the people and
the enemy having heard that theli
plans were known and that God had
brought their counsel to nought. NIL
the peoDle returned to the work with
renewed enthusiasm and purpose (15).
There was a Encouragement of forces
(18-2I. Half of the people worked !;
half, full armed, stood guard. A trum
peter was beside Nehemiah. so that a.