is of no avail; they move off discomfited, and the work goes on as
before.

Satan, the great enemy of souls, is the same to-day as he was in
Nehemiah's time. He never lets a good work alone; he never permits
Christ's servants to row in smooth water, but immediately he sees work
done for the Master, at once he stirs up the storm of opposition.

The young man who is careless about eternity, who is living simply to
please self, has an easy time; he will not come across even a ripple of
opposition, his sea will be smooth as glass. But let that young man be
aroused, be awakened, be converted to God, let the good work of grace
be begun in his soul, and at once Satan will stir up the storm of
difficulty and opposition. Very often it begins, just as Nehemiah's
storm began, in laughter. It has been said that laughter hurts no one.
That statement might be true if we were all body, but inasmuch as we
have a spirit within us, it is not true that laughter cannot hurt.
Surely it stings, and cuts, and wounds the sensitive soul, just as heavy
blows sting, and cut, and wound the body. Satan knows this, and he makes
full use of the knowledge.

The man who sets out for heaven will scarcely fail, before he has gone
many steps, to come across a Sanballat. He will have his taunt and jest
all ready. 'What is this I hear of you? Have you turned a saint? I
suppose you are too good for your old companions now; you are going to
set the whole world to rights.' Or, if the words are unspoken, Sanballat
has the shrug of the shoulders, and the scornful gesture, which are just
as hard to bear. Nor must the man who has his face heavenwards be
surprised if he hears Tobiah's sneer. 'Ah, wait a bit,' says Tobiah;
'let us see if it will last. Even a fox will throw down that wall; the