2. FINISHING STRONG

3. NEHEMIAH 6:1-16
1 When word came to Sanballat,
Tobiah, Geshem the Arab and the rest of
our enemies that I had rebuilt the wall
and not a gap was left in it—though up
to that time I had not set the doors in
the gates—

4. NEHEMIAH 6:1-16
2 Sanballat and Geshem sent me this
message: “Come, let us meet together in
one of the villageson the plain of Ono.”
But they were scheming to harm me;

5. NEHEMIAH 6:1-16
3 so I sent messengers to them with this
reply: “I am carrying on a great project
and cannot go down. Why should the
work stop while I leave it and go down
to you?”

6. NEHEMIAH 6:1-16
4 Four times they sent me the same
message, and each time I gave them the
same answer. 5 Then, the fifth time,
Sanballat sent his aide to me with the
same message, and in his hand was an
unsealed letter

7. NEHEMIAH 6:1-16
6 in which was written: “It is reported
among the nations—and Geshem says
it is true—that you and the Jews are
plotting to revolt, and therefore you are
building the wall. Moreover, according
to these reports you are about to
become their king

8. NEHEMIAH 6:1-16
7 and have even appointed prophets to
make this proclamation about you in
Jerusalem: ‘There is a king in Judah!’
Now this report will get back to the
king; so come, let us meet together.”

9. NEHEMIAH 6:1-16
8 I sent him this reply: “Nothing like what
you are saying is happening; you are just
making it up out of your head.” 9 They
were all trying to frighten us, thinking,
“Their hands will get too weak for the
work, and it will not be completed.” But I
prayed, “Now strengthen my hands.”

10. NEHEMIAH 6:1-16
10 One day I went to the house of
Shemaiah son of Delaiah, the son of
Mehetabel, who was shut in at his home.
He said, “Let us meet in the house of
God, inside the temple, and let us close
the temple doors, because men are
coming to kill you -by night they are
coming to kill you.”

11. NEHEMIAH 6:1-16
11 But I said, “Should a man like me run
away? Or should someone like me go
into the temple to save his life? I will not
go!” 12 I realized that God had not
sent him, but that he had prophesied
against me because Tobiah and
Sanballathad hired him.

12. NEHEMIAH 6:1-16
13 He had been hired to intimidate me
so that I would commit a sin by doing
this, and then they would give me a bad
name to discredit me.

13. NEHEMIAH 6:1-16
14 Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, my
God, because of what they have done;
remember also the prophet Noadiah
and how she and the rest of the
prophets have been trying to intimidate
me.

14. NEHEMIAH 6:1-16
15 So the wall was completed on the
twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days.
16 When all our enemies heard about
this, all the surrounding nations were
afraid and lost their self-confidence,
because they realized that this work had
been done with the help of our God.

15. THE CLOSER YOU
GET TO DOING
WHAT GOD WANTS
DONE, THE HARDER
YOUR ENEMY WILL
FIGHT TO STOP YOU.

16. THE ENEMY’S
STRATEGY TO STOP
YOU:

17. THE ENEMY’S
STRATEGY
Your enemy
will try to
DISTRACT
you.

18. NEHEMIAH 6:2
2 Sanballat and Geshem sent me this
message: “Come, let us meet together in
one of the villages on the plain of Ono.”
But they were scheming to harm me;

19. I’M NOT COMING
DOWN.

20. When you start moving
forward and doing what
God calls you to do,
your enemy will try
to distract you.

21. NEHEMIAH 6:2-3
2 Sanballat and Geshem sent me this
message: “Come, let us meet together in
one of the villages on the plain of Ono.”
But they were scheming to harm me;

22. NEHEMIAH 6:2-3
3 so I sent messengers to them with this
reply: "I am carrying on a great project
and cannot go down. Why should the
work stop while I leave it and go down
to you?"

23. Just because you
could do something
does not mean you
should do something.
Just because you could,
don't let even something
good distract you.

24. THE ENEMY’S
STRATEGY
Your enemy
will try to
DISCREDIT
you.

25. Your enemy will try
to discredit you.
And when you do anything
for the glory of God,
you need to understand
that your spiritual enemy
will try to discredit you.

26. THE ENEMY’S
STRATEGY TO
DISCREDIT YOU:

27. BY SPREADING
RUMORS

28. NEHEMIAH 6:5
5 Then, the fifth time, Sanballat sent his
aide to me with the same message, and
in his hand was an unsealed letter

29. The more you do for God,
the more people are going
to talk about you and
spread rumors.

30. TO COMPROMISE
YOUR INTEGRITY,
TO SIN, AND
TO DISCREDIT
YOURSELF

31. NEHEMIAH 6:10-13
10 One day I went to the house of
Shemaiah son of Delaiah, the son of
Mehetabel, who was shut in at his home.
He said, “Let us meet in the house of
God, inside the temple, and let us close
the temple doors, because men are
coming to kill you -by night they are
coming to kill you.”

32. NEHEMIAH 6:10-13
11 But I said, “Should a man like me run
away? Or should someone like me go
into the temple to save his life? I will
not go!” 12 I realized that God had not
sent him, but that he had prophesied
against me because Tobiah and
Sanballat had hired him.

33. NEHEMIAH 6:10-13
13 He had been hired to
intimidate me so that I would
commit a sin by doing this, and
then they would give me a bad
name to discredit me.

34. I’M NOT GIVING UP.

35. EVERETT ALVAREZ
JR.:
First pilot detained during the
Vietnam War and spent over
eight years in captivity; making
him the second longest-held
American POW, after U.S. Army
Colonel Floyd James
Thompson.

36. EVERETT ALVAREZ
JR.:
“Since I was all alone, I
have nothing else to do
but to talk to God, Who
is always with me.”

37. As you rise in effectiveness,
your spiritual enemy will try
to convince you that you
are more than what
you really are.

38. NEHEMIAH 6:15-16
15 So the wall was completed on the
twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days.
16 When all our enemies heard about
this, all the surrounding nations were
afraid and lost their self-confidence,
because they realized that this work had
been done with the help of our God.

39. Everybody realized
that what everyone
thought was impossible
had been done with the
help of our God.

40. CONCLUSION

41. GALATIANS 6:9
9 Let us not become weary in doing
good, for at the proper time we will
reap a harvest if we do not give up.

42. God is not calling you to take
up space and make a name for
yourself. He is calling you to
change the world.

43. MARTIN LUTHER
KING JR.:
What is your Life’s
Blueprint?

44. And when you discover
what you will be in your
life, set out to do it as if
God Almighty called you
at this particular
moment in history to do
it. Don't just set out to
do a good job. Set out to
do such a good job that
the living, the dead or
the unborn couldn't do
it any better.

45. If it falls your lot to be a
street sweeper, sweep
streets like Michelangelo
painted pictures, sweep
streets like Beethoven
composed music, sweep
streets like Leontyne
Price sings before the
Metropolitan Opera.
Sweep streets like
Shakespeare wrote
poetry.

46. Sweep streets so well
that all the hosts of
heaven and earth will
have to pause and say:
Here lived a great
street sweeper who
swept his job well. If
you can't be a pine at
the top of the hill, be a
shrub in the valley. Be
be the best little shrub
on the side of the hill.

47. Be a bush if you can't
be a tree. If you can't
be a highway, just be a
trail. If you can't be a
sun, be a star. For it
isn't by size that you
win or fail. Be the
best of whatever you
are.

48. MATTHEW 25:21
"His master replied, 'Well done,
good and faithful servant! You have
been faithful with a few things; I will
put you in charge of many things.
Come and share your master's
happiness!'