Jeff Sessions,Mary Sessions

Attorney General-designate, Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala. and his wife Mary Sessions leave a church service at St. John's Episcopal Church across from the White House in Washington, Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

(Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Donald Trump heard a sermon Friday morning from a Southern Baptist pastor who has history of inflammatory remarks about Muslims, Mormons, Catholics and gays.

The sermon was delivered by Robert Jeffress, senior pastor of First Baptist Church, who compared Trump to the story of the biblical leader Nehemiah who helped rebuild the city of Jerusalem and its walls after the people of Judah had been exiled from the land of Israel.

Israel had been in bondage for decades, Jeffress explained, and the infrastructure of the country was in shambles, and God did not choose a politician or a priest but chose a builder instead. The first step of rebuilding the nation, Jeffress said, was the building of a wall around Jerusalem to protect its citizens from enemy attack.

"You see, God is not against building walls," Jeffress said in his sermon at St. John's Episcopal Church in Washington.

Nehemiah, according to the biblical account, completed the project in 52 days. Why was Nehemiah so successful in building the wall and rebuilding the nation? Jeffress said that Nehemiah refused to allow his critics to distract him, noting how some people still don't believe Trump will succeed in his agenda.

Nehemiah, Jeffress said, had two antagonists named Sanballat and Tobiah. "They were the mainstream media of their day," he said. "They continued to hound and heckle Nehemiah and spread false rumors while he and the Israelites were building the wall."

He noted that Nehemiah answered his critics by saying: "I'm doing a great work. . . . Why should I stop the work and come down to you?" (Nehemiah 6:3). Trump's work, he said, "is a work far too important to stop and answer your critics."

Nehemiah faced setbacks, Jeffress noted, including an economic recession, terrorist attacks from enemies and discouragement among the citizens. "The true measure of a leader is what it takes to stop him," he said. "And knowing you, I believe it's going to take a lot to stop you."

Jeffress was an early supporter of Trump, a Presbyterian who courted evangelicals during the election. Jeffress said in his sermon that it was one year ago this weekend that he was with Trump on his jet flying around Iowa. After sharing Wendy's cheeseburgers, Jeffress said, he believed Trump would be the next president and that it would be because God placed him there.

Jeffress said Trump has assembled an "unbelievably talented group of advisers" and has Vice President-elect Mike Pence by his side, "a great and godly man." "Mr. President-elect, I don't believe we have ever had a president with as many natural gifts as you," he said. But, Jeffress said, "we need God's supernatural power."

He said Trump's slogan "Make America Great Again" resonated with Americans and that "Psalm 33:12 gives us the starting point for making that happen: 'Blessed - great - is the nation whose God is the Lord.'"

Jeffress sermon seems, on the one hand, to be encouraging Trump's hubris, said Daniel Silliman, a historian of 20th century American religion and culture who teaches in the history department at the University of Notre Dame. On the other hand, Jeffress was trying to direct him towards spiritual humility.

Evangelist Billy Graham's consistent advice to presidents was that they should pray and take comfort in the knowledge so many people are praying for them, something President Ronald Reagan took seriously. Edward L.R. Elson, the minister of the National Presbyterian Church in Washington who baptized President Eisenhower after he was elected, made a similar point that he needed to turn to a higher power.

But Jeffress' sermon was pretty political compared to those who have preceded him, Silliman said. "With the Daniel citation, Jeffress suggests God (like the people who supported Trump) is waiting to see if he delivers on his campaign promises," Silliman said. "There's less emphasis on loving mercy and walking humbly before God and more on building the wall."

Following the example of President Barack Obama and George W. Bush before him, Trump attended the private service at St. John's Episcopal Church, which is near the White House. The morning worship service on Inauguration Day tradition began with President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933.

Jeffress has said in the past that Obama paved the way for the antichrist. He drew wide attention when he condemned Mormonism as a "cult," telling Christians not to vote for Mitt Romney during the 2012 Republican primary (though he later support Romney over Obama in the general election). Jeffress has also said Islam is an "evil religion," that the Catholic Church was led astray by Satan and that gays live a "miserable" and "filthy" lifestyle.

His remarks have led even some in his own denomination to decry him. Trump's inauguration organizers chose Jeffress to preach, according to CNN.

Author Information: Sarah Pulliam Bailey is a religion reporter, covering how faith intersects with politics, culture and...everything.