312. WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN DOING GOD’S WORK

(The Faith Forum Series – Batch 11)

There are sufficient accounts given in the Bible, what we know of our past brothers and sisters in the Lord and even from our own experiences in life, for us to know that as Christians, when we are engaged in God’s work, this attracts opposition.

In particular, when you set about to build anything for the Lord, there are six (6) things that are likely to occur, as were recorded in the book of Ezra in the Bible. In this book, work had been commissioned and approved of by God, him having stirred up the spirit of a heathen king of Persia, to have God’s people go up to Jerusalem and build the Lord’s house.

The previous house that had been built by king Solomon, before God’s people had been taken captive by king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, had been destroyed and after many years, while still being captives in a strange land, God worked on the heart of the sitting king, to cause him to proclaim that the house should be rebuilt.

Of how the work all started, Ezra 1: 1-3 reads:

• “Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? His God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel, (he is the God), which is in Jerusalem.”

In response, the people of God, whose spirit God had also raised, went up willingly to go to build the house. Indeed, it was a great work and an honour to be a part of it. Some of them therefore gave of what they possessed, so as to contribute to it and in verses 68 and 69 of chapter 2, it says of them:

• “And some of the chief of the fathers, when they came to the house of the Lord which is at Jerusalem, offered freely for the house of God to set it up in his place. They gave after their ability unto the treasure of the work threescore and one thousand drams of gold, and five thousand pound of silver, and one hundred priests’ garments.”

Everything seemed set therefore. God wanted the work done, the heathen king who had the rule over God’s people at the time, had given his endorsement for it to be done and the people of God were willing to do it and set about to do just that!

However, the enemy of God and his people were not pleased. The devil raised up adversaries against God’s people as they began to build, to try to get the work to halt.

Ezra 4:1-24 reads:

• “Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity builded the temple unto the Lord God of Israel; Then they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assur, which brought us up hither. But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel, said unto them, Ye have nothing to do with us to build an house unto our God; but we ourselves together will build unto the Lord God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia hath commanded us.

• Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building, And hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia. And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, wrote they unto him an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. And in the days of Artaxerxes wrote Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of their companions, unto Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the writing of the letter was written in the Syrian tongue, and interpreted in the Syrian tongue.

• …This is the copy of the letter that they sent unto him, even unto Artaxerxes the king; Thy servants the men on this side the river, and at such a time. Be it known unto the king, that the Jews which came up from thee to us are come unto Jerusalem, building the rebellious and the bad city, and have set up the walls thereof, and joined the foundations. Be it known now unto the king, that, if this city be builded, and the walls set up again, then will they not pay toll, tribute, and custom, and so thou shalt endamage the revenue of the kings. Now because we have maintenance from the king’s palace, and it was not meet for us to see the king’s dishonour, therefore have we sent and certified the king; That search may be made in the book of the records of thy fathers: so shalt thou find in the book of the records, and know that this city is a rebellious city, and hurtful unto kings and provinces, and that they have moved sedition within the same of old time: for which cause was this city destroyed. We certify the king that, if this city be builded again, and the walls thereof set up, by this means thou shalt have no portion on this side the river.”

Ezra 5: 3-16 also reads, after God’s people had been commanded by the new king, Artaxerxes, who succeeded Cyrus, to stop the work but then resumed sometime around when the third king Darius took the throne:

• “At the same time came to them Tatnai, governor on this side the river, and Shetharboznai and their companions, and said thus unto them, Who hath commanded you to build this house, and to make up this wall? Then said we unto them after this manner, What are the names of the men that make this building? But the eye of their God was upon the elders of the Jews, that they could not cause them to cease, till the matter came to Darius: and then they returned answer by letter concerning this matter.

• The copy of the letter that Tatnai, governor on this side the river, and Shetharboznai and his companions the Apharsachites, which were on this side the river, sent unto Darius the king:

• They sent a letter unto him, wherein was written thus; Unto Darius the king, all peace. Be it known unto the king, that we went into the province of Judea, to the house of the great God, which is builded with great stones, and timber is laid in the walls, and this work goeth fast on, and prospereth in their hands. Then asked we those elders, and said unto them thus, Who commanded you to build this house, and to make up these walls? We asked their names also, to certify thee, that we might write the names of the men that were the chief of them. And thus they returned us answer, saying, We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and build the house that was builded these many years ago, which a great king of Israel builded and set up. But after that our fathers had provoked the God of heaven unto wrath, he gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house, and carried the people away into Babylon.

• But in the first year of Cyrus the king of Babylon the same king Cyrus made a decree to build this house of God. And the vessels also of gold and silver of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple that was in Jerusalem, and brought them into the temple of Babylon, those did Cyrus the king take out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered unto one, whose name was Sheshbazzar, whom he had made governor; And said unto him, Take these vessels, go, carry them into the temple that is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be builded in his place. Then came the same Sheshbazzar, and laid the foundation of the house of God which is in Jerusalem: and since that time even until now hath it been in building, and yet it is not finished.”

As indicated before, the scriptures above and others that I will mention, serve as a reminder to Christians today, that whenever you seek to do a work for the Lord and God is in it and for it, there are at least six (6) things that you can expect to occur, which are listed below:

ONE – When doing God’s work, you can expect OPPOSITION.

When building for the Lord, the enemy of your soul will not sit quietly by, content to have you being used by God to do great exploits for His Kingdom. No. The devil does not want to see God’s work flourish or his people thrive. Anything that God wants done, he opposes and the people that are special to God, he hates. He will therefore send opposition in the form of ungodly people, situations and circumstances, even people who belong to God but are not living in submission to him as they ought, to provoke and harass you, in the hope that this will derail, distract and discourage you. Truth be told, sometimes he will even try to raise up your own flesh against you, filling you with thoughts of inadequacy, insecurity, causing you to doubt whether God wants that particular work to be done or for you to do it, given your past or how lowly esteemed and regarded you are by others in general or something else. His aim is to paralyze you into non-action, to get you to abort the work.

In Ezra, he used people to oppose the work, them doing things to weaken them, trouble them and frustrate them. Chapter 4 records, that “…the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building, And hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose...”

Similarly, in Acts 16, when Paul and Silas simply sought to do God’s work as instructed by the Lord Jesus, by going out, casting evil spirits out of people and preaching the gospel to them so that they would know that salvation from eternal damnation could be obtained freely through faith in Jesus Christ, this work, though good and excellent, attracted opposition.

They were accused of exceedingly troubling the city they were in and a large number of people rose up against them, causing them to be beaten with many stripes and put in prison.

Thankfully though, this did not stop the work. It only advanced it. For, Paul and Silas gave such wonderful testimony by praying and singing praises unto God despite their pain and suffering, that the Bible states the prisoners heard them and the keeper of the prison and his entire household were given the gospel, received the truth by faith and were saved.

TWO – When doing God’s work, you can expect some of your enemies to cloak themselves and to seek to ALIGN THEMSELVES with you, under the guise that they are like you, pursuing the same objective in life as you and that they want to help you.

When building for the Lord, those who hate you and want to see you brought down (your enemies), will try to pretend that they are rooting for you and supporting you and glad for you, when deep down, they wish you nothing but evil. They will, under the guise of wanting to help you, even offer to join with you so as to build with you, claiming that they are likeminded and therefore, that you should be yoked together in partnership for the work.

However, the Word of God commands:

• “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 6:14-18)

In Ezra 4:2, it says of the adversaries of Judah, that when they heard that God’s people were building the temple, people who the scripture referred to as “the children of captivity” because they had been taken captive years prior due to their sin against their God and had been nothing but a laughing stock by their enemies ever since:

• “…they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assur, which brought us up hither.”

However, while these people claimed affinity and feigned concern for the welfare of God’s people, deep down, they simply wanted them to remain captive, in bondage, without hope and defeated. They did not want them to arise and to rebuild what had been destroyed and to strengthen themselves in the Lord.

This is a reminder to you, that not everybody who is on the team is really on the team. Not everybody that has joined the Church and the membership and sits in the pews or is engaged in so-called “ministry” activities or that even preaches on the pulpit, is for God’s people. Some have been positioned by the enemy, as Judas was planted among the rest of the disciples, to wreak havoc and bring about destruction, albeit in a subtle manner. While some are working hard to build, they that have joined for the devil’s purposes (whether they know that they are false or have been self-deceived into thinking that they are Christians) are working hard to punch holes and to frustrate and discourage God’s people.

Discernment is needed at times, to ascertain the true motives of people. As mere human beings though, we we will never be able to correctly assess everyone and must remain content, while being guarded, watchful, prayerful, wise and alert, that God knows all those who are his and those who are not (2 Timothy 2:19).

Some forms of opposition will be blatant and openly try to fight against you but perhaps more dangerously, are those that the enemy will send under the cloak of being for you. They will come disguised as a friend, a fellow brother and sister in the Lord or even a love interest and significant other. Some men of the world will attach themselves to the Church (as sent by satan) and then seek to attach themselves to you, trying to dupe you into believing that they are also of the body of Christ, that they too seek to serve the Lord and that they want the best for you, so that you would align or yoke yourself to them in a relationship and also through marriage. The aim though is diabolical. These are the devil’s servants appearing as angels of light and their intention is to bring you down, to destroy your testimony and to derail you from the work that God would have you do.

Only through discernment from God, which will come by abiding in Jesus, reading and meditating on his Word and praying, will you be able to correctly assess who is for you and who is not.

THREE – When doing God’s work, you can expect that when you SEPARATE or refuse to align yourself with those who are not for you, that they will show their true colours.

When building for the Lord, when you desire to separate from the ungodly, the pretenders and all those that are not genuinely seeking to advance God’s work but to hurt it, you can expect those who are operating under the cloak of friendship and pretending to support and care for you and the work, to turn on you. In short, once you refuse to go along with their antics and you make it clear that you are not agreed or one, that you are not duped by their deception and you take steps to separate from them, they will show their true ugly colours. Stripped of their disguise and no longer having any motive to hide behind, they will aggressively fight openly against you, determined to try to bring you down and to get what you are doing to cease.

In Ezra 4:3-6, as soon as the people of God made it clear that they would not join with those who pretended to be in support of them or to accept any of their help but would build the house of the Lord by themselves, those who pretended to be for them and to have a similar desire to see the temple built, began to actively, openly, aggressively and persistently fight against them and to bring false accusations against them. The scripture states:

• “But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel, said unto them, Ye have nothing to do with us to build an house unto our God; but we ourselves together will build unto the Lord God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia hath commanded us. Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building, And hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia. And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, wrote they unto him an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.”

FOUR – When doing God’s work, you can expect those who want to bring you down, to maliciously spread DAMAGING ACCUSATIONS (mainly false or exaggerated) against you.

When building for the Lord, the enemy will cause accusations to be brought against you.

In Acts 16 with Paul and Silas, they were beaten and placed in prison because they were brought to the magistrates and falsely accused of greatly troubling the city, by teaching customs which were not lawful for them to receive or observe.

When David, as a young man was about to take down Goliath, a giant, a work that God had ordained for him to do, his merely asking questions about the situation, caused his oldest brother Eliab, to raise accusation against him. David was accused of having pride, a naughty heart and to have come to see the battle that was ongoing between Israel and the Philistines, when in truth and in fact, none of this was true. His father Jesse had sent him to see his brothers so as to report back to him as to how they were doing and to carry food for them, which David had obeyed. Yet, the devil used Eliab to make false accusations, so as to abort what God was about to use David to do. Thankfully though, the tactic did not work. No doubt stirred up by the Spirit of God, him having been anointed by Samuel prior, David replied, “What have I now done? Is there not a cause?”

Similar to the experience of David, Paul and Silas, in Ezra, during the second king’s reign, the adversaries of God’s people went so far as to write to him, falsely accusing the people of God of building with the intent of rebelling against the king.

The scripture reads:

• “And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, wrote they unto him an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.”

As a result of their accusations, king Artaxerxes considered what the people of God were doing as a threat to his reign and commanded that the work be stopped. Verses 24 of chapter 4 states, “Then ceased the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem. So it ceased unto the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.”

This is no different from what the devil does today. He loves to accuse the brethren and to use his minions to fight against them. He is always seeking to bring accusations, whether true, false or embellished to the point of exaggeration, against God’s people, so as to discredit them in the eyes and estimation of others, frustrate them and get them to abort God’s purpose for their lives. This is nothing new. His tactics are not new but your shield of faith, the Word of God and the rest of your spiritual armour as outlined in Ephesians 6 :11-18, remain potent and are to be used to disarm these attacks.

FIVE – When doing God’s work, you can expect the battle to be ONGOING AND LONG-LASTING, as the enemy is persistent.

When building for the Lord, you need to gird up your loins and prepare yourself for the long haul. For, the enemy does not fight against you for a short while and then let go. No. He is persistent and even when he stops, it is only for a season, as we saw when the devil tried to tempt the Lord in the wilderness. Once you resist, as Jesus did with the Word of God, he will eventually flee but don’t expect this to be immediately. He tried to get the Lord Jesus to do wrong on not just one or two but three occasions and he only left temporarily because he could not resist the truth of God’s Word.

In Ezra, the adversaries of God’s people tried to undermine, harass and provoke them and persistently so, for a very long time, so much so, that the king of Persia’s reign ended and another king, king Artaxerxes, began to be on the throne and they had still not stopped! When the people of God decided to eventually resume the building that king Artaxerxes had commanded be stopped, the attacks and attempts to stop God’s people continued under the reign of the third king Darius, who they also brought the matter before, in the hopes that he would do as king Artaxerxes had done and cause the work to end.

The scripture reads:

• “Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building, And hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia. And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, wrote they unto him an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.”

The attacks and attempts were therefore long-lasting and went on for several years, the people commissioned by the devil and hating on God’s people, being determined to get them to stop. Thankfully though, this did not work and Darius confirmed the initial approval that had been given by the first king Cyrus. This brings me to my sixth and final point.

SIX – When doing God’s work, you can expect by God’s favour and despite all that the enemy does, that THE WORK WILL BE FINISHED and you will be victorious.

David still brought Goliath down. Paul and Silas still continued to blaze the testimony of Christ and people still got saved.

When you are building for the Lord and he is in it, irrespective of that the enemy does and who he raises up to try to frustrate you and the work, the work will still thrive, once God has willed it to thrive! Once God is for the work, it may be fought against, undermined, dismissed as nonsense and false accusations may be levelled against you. The enemy may even try dirtily, to throw your past transgressions which God has already blotted out upon your repentance, in your face.

However, even if the work may at times cease for a time (as happened in Ezra with God’s people) because God ordained that it be done and prepared you as his servant and gave you the heart to get it done, it will resume by his grace. Because he is rooting for you and it is his will that whatever you are building for his glory be built, the enemy can only delay but not deny. The work will ultimately be done because God will grant his favour.

This is exactly what happened in Ezra. To the dismay of their enemies, and despite all that they had done to have it aborted and for so many years, the work eventually resumed with king Darius’ endorsement and in Ezra 6:14-15, it reads:

• “And the elders of the Jews builded, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they builded, and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia. And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.”

Similarly, in the book of Nehemiah, where God’s people were frustrated sore by Sanballat and Tobiah, as they sought to build the wall, it was still built. The enemy’s persistent tactics of deception, trickery, intimidation, fear, open insults, harassment, provocation and accusations were similar but thanks be to God whose power trumps all, the work was still eventually completed.

In Nehemiah 6: 1 to 16, Nehemiah states of the experience:

• “Now it came to pass when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and Geshem the Arabian, and the rest of our enemies, heard that I had builded the wall, and that there was no breach left therein; (though at that time I had not set up the doors upon the gates;) That Sanballat and Geshem sent unto me, saying, Come, let us meet together in some one of the villages in the plain of Ono. But they thought to do me mischief. And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you? Yet they sent unto me four times after this sort; and I answered them after the same manner.

• Then sent Sanballat his servant unto me in like manner the fifth time with an open letter in his hand;  Wherein was written, It is reported among the heathen, and Gashmu saith it, that thou and the Jews think to rebel: for which cause thou buildest the wall, that thou mayest be their king, according to these words. And thou hast also appointed prophets to preach of thee at Jerusalem, saying, There is a king in Judah: and now shall it be reported to the king according to these words. Come now therefore, and let us take counsel together.

• Then I sent unto him, saying, There are no such things done as thou sayest, but thou feignest them out of thine own heart. For they all made us afraid, saying, Their hands shall be weakened from the work, that it be not done. Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands. 

• Afterward I came unto the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah the son of Mehetabeel, who was shut up; and he said, Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us shut the doors of the temple: for they will come to slay thee; yea, in the night will they come to slay thee. And I said, Should such a man as I flee? and who is there, that, being as I am, would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in. And, lo, I perceived that God had not sent him; but that he pronounced this prophecy against me: for Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. Therefore was he hired, that I should be afraid, and do so, and sin, and that they might have matter for an evil report, that they might reproach me. My God, think thou upon Tobiah and Sanballat according to these their works, and on the prophetess Noadiah, and the rest of the prophets, that would have put me in fear.

• So the wall was FINISHED in the twenty and fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty and two days. And it came to pass, that when all our enemies heard thereof, and all the heathen that were about us saw these things, they were much cast down in their own eyes: for they perceived that THIS WORK WAS WROUGHT OF OUR GOD.”

CONCLUSION

Ezra and God’s people were involved in the physical building of God’s house and God’s people were also involved in Nehemiah’s time, in the building of the wall, both of which held spiritual implications. and were willed by God. Similarly, the Lord Jesus has sanctioned the spiritual work of his Church, commanding them to go into all of the world and to preach the gospel (Mark 16:15). All those who have believed on him by faith and confessed with their mouths that he is Lord, have been recruited for this work and are expected to do their part.

This is a good and a great work and a work that he is pleased with. However, the enemy has actively tried to frustrate God’s servants so that they will abort the work, from Bible times and to date. He has not ceased. Nevertheless, armed with our spiritual armour, we must press on, come what may, knowing that our Lord is sovereign and that HIS power trumps all. Nothing can happen to us unless he allows it and once we do his work in obedience, he is able to protect us.

As Christians today, as we seek to live for the Lord and to do his work in a world that hates God and us, we can be encouraged by the Ezra and Nehemiah accounts, knowing that the good work that he has begun in us, he will be sure to complete, once we continue to abide in him (Philippians 1:6).

The Word of God tells us when we are attacked, accused, provoked and harassed as we seek to do God’s work and to serve him:

• “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.” (1 Peter 4:12-14).

Charles Spurgeon reminded Christians in one of his sermons, of what they could expect when seeking to live for the Lord. This includes doing his work. Spurgeon stated:

• “If you follow Christ, you shall have all the dogs of the world yelping at your heels…Fearless of all consequences, you must do the right. You will need the courage of a lion unhesitatingly to pursue a course which shall turn your best friend into your fiercest foe; but for the love of Jesus you must thus be courageous.”

(Written on 06th and 07th September, 2024, added to thereafter)

Dear Reader, if you found the above Article to be interesting, informative, beneficial or edifying, you may also be interested in reading the following:

• Note 111 – ‘What I Have Learned About Obeying God’s Call In Ministry’
• Note 153 – ‘Note To Self – Keep Building’
• Note 187 – ‘Stirring Up The Gift – Getting God’s Work Done’
• Note 224 – ‘Dear Enemy Of My Soul, I Will Not Retreat!’
• Note 245 – ‘Stand Guard – A World In Mutiny’

Also, under ‘SINGLE Daughters’:

• Note 189 – ‘Dear Sanballat And Tobiah…’
• Note 299 – ‘Foxes, Grasshoppers And The Spirit Of Discouragement’

Under ‘BROKEN Daughters’:

• Note 56 – ‘Pursuing God’s Path? Expect Opposition’