Works Baptist Church. Let's all find our seats. As you find a seat, grab a songbook, turn to song
number 66. Song number 66 has our first song this morning at Calvary. Let's all stand together for
this first song if you are able. Number 66 at Calvary. Altogether nice and strong in that first verse.
Let's start off our service with a word of prayer. Lord God, Heavenly Father, we just
thank you for giving us another day that we come here to your house and hear the preaching of your
word. Thank you for everyone that's here this morning. We ask that you please bless our service,
every aspect of it, the singing, that it would be pleasing to your ears, that will prepare our hearts
for the message, Lord. And most importantly, please fill Pasadena with your spirit as he
preaches unto us. Give us your spirit in the congregation as well. Give us ready ears
to hear, Lord, so that we may leave here changed. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. You may be seated.
Please turn your songbooks to song number 372. Song number 372. Song number 372. Let the lower
lights be burning. Altogether nice and strong on that first verse.
Brightly paints our Father's mercy from his lighthouse evermore. But to us he gives the keeping of the lights along the shore. His funerary sin has settled. Loud the aloes roll, watching alone.
Great singing. Welcome to First Works Baptist Church. Just a few announcements here before we sing our next song, which will be song number 100.
If you want to get that ready in your songbooks, day by day, song number 100. If you did not get a bulletin, go ahead and raise your hand.
One of the ushers can get one for you. Some important information on there. Of course, we welcome you to come back tonight for our Sunday evening service.
And tonight I'm going to be preaching on the subject of false prophets. And so if that subject interests you, we do welcome you to come back tonight.
We are a family integrated church. And so infants and children stay with their parents in the service.
Excuse me, but for your convenience, the mother baby room is located in the back of the building and there are changing tables, screens and speakers there.
So you can still tune into the preaching and come back in at your discretion. You have the soul winning times in teams there in the middle.
And if you'd like to learn how to preach the gospel, you can see me after the service to be placed on the team to learn how to communicate that.
You have the list of expecting mothers, if you can keep them in prayer. And then today is the birthday breakfast for the month of May.
So who whose birthday is in May on this section? Anybody over here and there, Ron got one here, one there.
OK, Jose, anybody else over here, but the Rick? OK, Miss Melissa, anybody else?
OK, wow, we got a lot. All right. Anybody over here? Nobody over here.
You guys are against me. OK, all right. Well, we're going to sing happy.
We're going to embarrass you real quick and sing happy birthday to you, those of you in May.
Lift it up together. Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday.
God bless you. Happy birthday to you.
All right. Happy birthday to you all. Hope you enjoy those healthy muffins.
And then you have the first work stats there for salvation and baptisms for the month of April.
Great month there on the right hand side today after the service is Ms. Jenny's baby shower.
That'll be after the a.m. service. And ladies, if you have any questions about that,
you can see my wife for more details. But of course, all the ladies are welcome to participate in that.
It will be in the former fellowship hall, which is this section right here.
They're going to clear that out and prepare that for the baby shower.
Next week is our sow the seed offering Sunday for our members.
So let me just go over a couple of things regarding that and in preparation for that,
just a couple of things here that I want to mention.
Number one, pray that God would give us a generous offering to kickstart our saving
for a new building and a growing church has growing needs and of course, as we continue
to grow, we're going to end up outgrowing this building.
And so the plan is in the coming years to purchase our own building that will facilitate
our growth.
Secondly, please participate by giving a one time gift and consider giving monthly to
our building funds to help us to reach that goal.
Number three, you can give through PayPal, but preferably give through Zelle.
And of course, you can give in the offering plate on Sunday as a check or as cash or whatever
it is that you want to do.
But if you do give online, I do recommend people to give through Zelle just because
PayPal does tax you quite a bit.
Zelle, on the other hand, does not do that.
If you have any questions, you can talk to Brother Elisa Hernandez on how to do that.
It's pretty self-explanatory there though.
But there will be offering envelopes with a designated section for the building offering
that's going to be placed in the bulletin next week.
And so that's going to be, if you're going to give monetarily on that day, like physically
into the play, just make sure you put it into that offering envelope so we can allocate
that, count it, and know what is going where.
And then lastly, please make sure you just pray for God to provide.
I'm excited about this.
Obviously, this is more like a long-term thing where we're going to be doing this for a couple
of years in order to prepare to purchase a building, put a down payment on the building,
and pray that we'll be able to get that.
It's exciting that we are growing, and it's obviously a good problem to have that we're
running out of space.
But we need to plan for the future.
And, of course, we've got a lot of little ones in our church, and in the next 10 years
we're going to have a lot of teenagers, so we do want to prepare to have a church for
them as well in the coming future.
And so pray to that end.
Now, I do realize I made a mistake when we did the offering Sunday, and I put it on May
11th, and May 11th is also Mother's Day, amen?
And so we're still doing Mother's Day, of course.
We're going to have a gift for all the moms that come next week, and there will be a photo
corner in the former foyer there.
And so we're still excited about that and want to encourage you to bring your moms on
that day to receive that gift and take some pictures.
Next here is the TJ missions trip coming up on Saturday, May 24th, meeting at the building
at 9 15.
If you'd like to participate in that, just make sure you bring your passport and talk
to Brother Ulysses Hernandez.
Of course, the expenses are paid for.
We always have a great time and get a lot of salvations there and eat a lot of tacos.
And it's a great trip.
And then lastly, a graduate.
We're going to have a graduation ceremony on Sunday, May 25th.
The kindergarten ceremony would be on Sunday morning and then the high school graduation
will be on Sunday night.
We'll give you more info on that as we approach.
And that is pretty much it for our announcements.
Please make sure you silence your phones during the preaching so as to not be a distraction
during the service.
And that is it.
Let's go ahead and sing our next song.
Song number 100, Day by Day.
All together, nice and strong in that first verse.
Day by day, each passing moment, bring thy mind to meet thy trials.
Resting his wise beast, O men of God, for were born free.
Best and self is this special mercy for each other.
Can't pain would bear and cheer.
They shall look on himself, he lands from afar.
Wonderful singing, at this time the ushers will come forward to receive the offering.
You can turn your Bibles to Nehemiah chapter 2.
Nehemiah chapter number 2.
Nehemiah chapter 2, Bible reads, "It came into pass in the month Nisan, the twentieth
year of our exerties of the king, that wine was before him, and I took up the wine and
gave it unto the king.
Now I had not been before time sad in his presence; wherefore the king said unto me,
"Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick?
This is nothing else but sorrow of heart."
Then I was very sore afraid, and said unto the king, "Let the king live forever.
Why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my father's sepulchers,
layeth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?"
Then the king said unto me, "For what dost thou make request?"
So I prayed to the God of heaven.
And I said unto the king, "If it please the king, and if thy servant hath found favor
in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, under the city of my father's sepulchers,
that I may build it."
And the king said unto me, Queen also sitting by him, "For how long shall thy journey be,
and when wilt thou return?"
So it pleased the king to send me, and I said him a time.
Moreover I said unto the king, "If it please the king, let letters be given me to the
governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over until I come unto Judah.
And a letter unto Asaph, the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber
to make beams for the gates of the palace, which I pertain to the house, and for the
wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into.
And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.
Then I came to the governors beyond the river, and gave them the king's letters.
Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me.
When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant of the Ammonite heard of it, it grieved
them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.
So I came to Jerusalem and was there three days.
That I rose in the night, I and some few men with me.
Neither told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do with Jerusalem.
Neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon.
And I went up by night by the gate of the valley, even before the dragon well, into
the dung port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof
were consumed with fire.
Then I went on to the gate of the fountain and to the king's pool, but there was no
place for the beast that was under me to pass.
Then I went up in the night by the brook and viewed the wall, and turned back and entered
by the gate of the valley, and so returned.
And the rulers knew not whether I went or what I did, neither had I as yet told it
to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest
that did the work.
Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste,
and the gates thereof are burned with fire.
Come and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more reproach.
Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me, as also the king's words
that he had spoken unto me.
And they said, Let us rise up and build.
So they strengthened their hands for this good work.
But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant the Ammonite, and Gisham the Arabian
heard it, they laughed us to scorn and despised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do?
Will ye rebel against the king?
Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore
we his servants will rise and build.
But ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial in Jerusalem.
I pray to the Lord God, thank you for your word, thank you for this opportunity to hear
preached.
I just ask that you would fill a pass from here with the Holy Spirit now, and please
bless the preaching for our edification, and in Jesus' name we pray, amen.
Amen.
Okay, we're in Nehemiah chapter 2 this morning, look down at your Bibles in verse 18, it says,
"Then I told them of the hand of my God, which was good upon me, as also the king's words
that he had spoken unto me.
And they said, 'Let us rise up and build,' so they strengthened their hands for this
good work."
And the time of my sermon this morning is, "Let us rise up."
They are committing the grievous sin of forsaking the Sabbath, right, which is a major thing
in the Old Testament.
And it's for that reason that God ends up punishing them as well by allowing a foreign
nation known as the Babylonians to come and take them into captivity.
So King Nebuchadnezzar comes, he goes into Jerusalem, he destroys the temple, he takes
all the instruments of the temple, and he takes the people and takes them into captivity.
Now, this is something that we see prophesied in the book of Isaiah, okay?
If you're here on Thursday nights, we're studying through the book of Isaiah, and we see just
this continuous decree of God's people being destroyed by a foreign nation known as the
Babylonians.
And in the book of Jeremiah, we actually see Jeremiah prophesying of how long that captivity
would be for.
And he specifically tells them, "You're going to be gone for 70 years," okay?
So in order to give the land rest.
So he punishes them by allowing them to be deported and taken captive for 70 years.
And he tells them, "I know the thoughts that I think of you, thoughts of peace and not
of evil, to give you an expected end.
You're going to come back to the land after those 70 years.
However, get comfortable in Babylon."
And one of the messages that he preaches, he says, "Hey, make sure you dig some wells
there, build houses, dig vineyards, you know, get comfortable in Babylon because you're
going to be there for a very long time, okay?
Have kids, just start a new family there," is basically what he's telling them, because
you're going to be there for a long time.
And really what God wants is that He wants a new generation to rise up after that captivity
that will believe on the Lord, and that generation will essentially come back to Jerusalem.
And that's exactly what happens.
And so what we have in Babylon is they get taken over by the Medo-Persian empire.
So the Babylonian empire falls apart, they're taken over by the Medo-Persians, and you have
this very famous historical character known as Cyrus the Great, okay?
And he's very famous, not only historically, but just biblically in general.
He's very famous.
He's mentioned by name in the book of Isaiah a hundred years prior to him taking over Babylon.
He's a servant of the Lord.
Obviously, there's a lot of debate whether he's saved or not.
I think he potentially was.
He believes on the God of the Bible, and God places it in his heart to release the children
of Israel back to Judah, to reconstruct the temple, and to return those instruments of
the house of God back to its former place, its rightful place.
And so he does that, and now a lot of people think, well, when the children of Israel returned
to Judah, it was just like in one wave, but it actually wasn't.
It was in three waves that they returned.
And it was over a span of about a century or so that they returned.
And so the return of those of Judah back to Jerusalem took place under the leadership
of Zerubbabel and Ezra and Nehemiah.
So when they come back, they reconstruct the temple.
This is what the book of Ezra is all about.
It's about the reconstruction of the second temple.
The book of Nehemiah, on the other hand, is about the reconstruction of the wall that
protects the city from which the temple is located.
So Ezra and Nehemiah are all about reconstructing that which has been torn down, that which
has been burned, right?
Ezra focusing on the temple, Nehemiah focusing on the wall that protects the city where the
temple is located.
Everyone understand?
Pretty simple, right?
So these books are historical books, just like the book of Acts would be considered
somewhat of a historical book.
And the major and minor prophets of the Old Testament are kind of like the epistles of
the New Testament, right?
Essentially talking about in real time what's taking place during those captivities and
such.
And so that's where we find ourselves in the book of Ezra and Nehemiah.
Now obviously in the New Testament, we don't worship in a temple, okay?
And in fact, you know, any physical temple that claims to believe in the God of the Bible
is not a legitimate temple, is not a legitimate institution set forth by God, because the
Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians chapter 6 that we are the temple of God, right?
1 Corinthians 6 19 says, "What know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy
Ghost, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?"
That we're bought with the price.
So just as that physical temple was essentially the house of God in the Old Testament, our
bodies are the housing of the Holy Spirit.
Once we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ.
So we don't need a synagogue, we for sure don't need a synagogue.
We don't need a temple, a tabernacle, and in fact the New Testament says that we are
also the tabernacle, right?
It's more of a spiritual emphasis in the New Testament.
So stop funding that third temple over in Israel.
Fund what we've got going on here, amen?
Don't fund that third temple because this is the temple of God, and of course each and
every one of us collectively makes up a church, understand?
Now we're going to extrapolate some principles from both of these stories and how do we apply
that to our Christian lives because here's the thing is that these principles of constructing
and reconstructing the temple can be applied to us as well.
You know, we can apply this in a sense of each and every one of us are called to construct
ourselves in the Lord, build ourselves up in the Lord.
But you know what?
Maybe some of you, like the children of Israel, got away from God.
Maybe you were punished by God and maybe your temple was destroyed as well.
Well now you got to come back and reconstruct that temple.
Build up those walls again.
Build up that second temple again.
Maybe you got to start from scratch again in order to start serving the Lord and honoring
God once again.
Which leads me into my first point regarding these two stories, these two books, should
I say.
And that is that the king decrees the reconstruction.
The king decrees the reconstruction.
Look at Ezra chapter one in verse number one.
It says, "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 hath charged
me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
Who is there among you of all his people?
May 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.
Now, by the way, verse three is somewhat the evidence that it's possible, you know, it's
possible evidence that Cyrus was saved because he says that the God of Israel, he is the
God.
And obviously, an argument can be made.
Well, he's just kind of recognizing the God of the Bible as being the God which is in
Israel because he says that towards the latter end of the verse.
either case we know that God is working in this leader to essentially decree for
them to return and build up the work once again right well like manner you
know our King commands us to reconstruct as well you know our King Jesus Christ
has commanded us to build our lives on the Word of God to build up people to
build up disciples to build up converts to build up our spouses and our families
that's our responsibility and in fact you 20 says this but ye beloved building
up yourselves on your most holy faith praying in the Holy Ghost now let me
just explain something when it comes to building a spiritual life it sometimes
needs to get torn down first you know you're like well I know everything there
is to know about the Bible but then you come to church and you realize there's a
lot of things you got to work on and the preaching of God's Word tears you down
it tears you down that you may be built back up right and you know something
this is how it works even with exercise in order to build muscle you got to
tear down the muscle eat the protein to build that muscle back up and make it
stronger well in like manner you know sometimes we do need to get torn down
and you know what there's churches out there that only want to edify only want
to build up but hold on a second what if you're building up on a on a faulty
foundation you know we need to make sure that we appropriately build
ourselves up using the Word of God that we build up ourselves on our most holy
faith that we forsake old ideologies that are against the Bible and build
some new ideologies that are actually biblical you know maybe you have some
preconceived ideas about the Bible and about church and about Christianity that
stuff needs to get torn down and we need to build up ourselves on our most holy
faith why because Jesus Christ sorry there's a bug there Jesus Christ
commands it that wasn't a part of my illustration first Corinthians 3 9 says
this for we are labors together with God year God's husbandry listen to this ye
are God's building according to the grace of God which is given unto me as
a wise master builder I have laid the foundation another build that they're on
but let every man take heed how he build it there upon you know the problem is a
lot of churches that are so focused on building an actual building they don't
actually build the people and you know a building is important obviously we live
in the United States of America buildings are necessary they're a
necessary evil but never at the expense of actually building something of
substance within the walls of this building right we never want to just
have a large building of people number one that are not saved or number two
maybe they are say but they don't know the Bible or maybe they do know a little
bit of the Bible but they don't do the work we want to make sure that we
produce save people who know the Word of God who are doing the work of God
soul-winning preaching the gospel obeying the Lord doing things that are
pleasing in his sight we are God's building and we need to recognize that
God has commissioned every single one of us to reconstruct ourselves to rebuild
ourselves to build up this temple this tabernacle in order to glorify God
you're in Ezra chapter 1 let me give you another principle here and that is
that when we construct or reconstruct ourselves in the Lord you know what it
requires sacrifice of our resources look at verse number 4 it says and whosoever
remaineth in any place where he sojourneth let the men of his place help
him with silver and with gold and with goods and with beasts beside the
freewill offering for the house of God that is in Jerusalem go to chapter 3 if
you would chapter 3 and verse number 5 constructing or reconstructing ourselves
in the Lord requires sacrifice of our resources Ezra chapter 3 verse number
5 says and afterward offered the continual burnt offering both of the new
moons and of all the set feasts of the Lord that were consecrated and of
everyone that willingly offered a free will offering unto the Lord hold your
place in the book of Ezra go to second Corinthians chapter 9 second
Corinthians chapter 9 you know you're out of your mind if you think you're
gonna grow in the Lord and not sacrifice something something always has to go
it's gonna cost you something it's gonna cost you time talents treasures it's
gonna cost you you know what maybe sometimes it costs you family maybe
sometimes it costs you friends maybe sometimes it costs you the admiration of
the people who you love the most it's gonna cost you something you have to pay
something in order to grow in the Lord you know you got to pay something in
order to learn the Bible you're not to pay something in order to win people to
Christ you can't expect to grow and build a building without actually
sacrificing something and he's saying here these people brought of their own
offerings silver and gold in order to build the house of God look at 2nd
Corinthians chapter 9 now let me just put a little plug in for the offering
Sunday amen since we're on the subject of sacrificing you know 2nd Corinthians
9 verse 3 says this yet have I sent the brethren lest our boasting of you
should be in vain in this behalf then as I said you may be ready let's happily if
they of Macedonia come with me and find you unprepared we that we say not ye
should be ashamed in this same confident boasting therefore I thought it
necessary to exhort the brethren that they would go before unto you and make
up beforehand your bounty where have you have noticed before that the same might
be ready as a matter of bounty and not a not as of covetousness now what is he
talking about here well the Apostle Paul is collecting an offering for the
churches and he's like he goes to the Corinthian church he says hey you guys
talked a big talk so I'm just gonna I just want to make sure that you walk the
walk as well so I'm gonna send some guys beforehand to go and collect that
offering for you because you said you're gonna give that offering and he says
here in verse number six but this I say he which so it's sparingly shall reap
also sparingly what does that mean you get what you put into it right and this
not only applies financially this just applies spiritually period I don't know
enough Bible well you get into it what you put into it you get out of it what
you put into it if you so sparingly you're gonna reap sparingly well I don't
get anybody safe well you get out of it what you put into it he says he which so
it's sparingly shall reap also sparingly and he which so it's bound to flee shall
reap also bound to flee every man according as he purposeth in his heart so let him
give and again this is in context of finances right this offering that they're
taking and you know what I hope that today you know you purpose in your heart
what you're gonna give on that day purpose in your heart and so let it give
now here's how you do it though cuz God not only wants you to give he wants you
to do with the right attitude he says not grudgingly or of necessity for God
loveth a cheerful giver you know don't be crying when you're throwing that
you know you're just like it just hurts you it should be cheerful amen cuz you
are in vet it's not necessary even a sacrifice it's an investment God loveth
a cheerful giver and it says and God is able to make all grace abound toward you
that ye always having all sufficiency and all things may abound to every good
work so in other words you know what you sacrifice God is able to make up the
difference God can provide for you God can use you in a great way he can provide
for your needs you can never out give God in other words right and what is
this telling us this is showing us at the end of the day that if we want to
serve God it does cost us something not just in resources but in relationships
in time and in talents you being here on a Sunday morning cost you something
maybe cause you some gas for some of you cost you a lot of gas you know driving
two three hours to get here to church you know it's going to cost you
something but you know what you reap the benefits because of it and you can't
expect to serve God and you know you can't expect to be able to serve him at
an optimal you know position and reap all these benefits without the process
of actually sacrificing and investing something right no one can make you grow
you have to sacrifice to make yourself grow you know we can preach the sermons
we can exhort you we can guilt-trip you but at the end of the day you have to
pay the price to actually grow as a Christian no one can make you blessed you
have to pay the price in order to get that for yourself you have to choose to
do the right things you have to choose to go soul winning you have to choose to
learn how to preach the gospel you have to choose to learn how to read the Bible
you have to choose to wake up in the morning every single day crack open the
Word of God read the Word of God walk with God pray you have to sacrifice
that oh man I just want a godly family well guess what it's gonna cost you
something I want a godly marriage it's gonna cost you something hey if you
want to get right with God that's gonna cost you something too and you know at
the end of the day it has to be of your own free will just as we see the
offerings in Ezra chapter 1 and chapter 3 they were a free will offering in like
manner it has to come from your own voluntary will to do so you can be in an
environment conducive to spiritual growth you can have the best types of
Christians around you you can have the best pastor at the end of the day though
none of us can make you do what you're supposed to do you have to choose to
sacrifice you have to choose to to invest in order to reap the benefits of
God's blessing the Bible tells us in Matthew 16 verse 24 then said Jesus into
his disciples if any man will come after me let him deny himself take up his
cross and follow me what does this mean it means that it's gonna cost you
something to follow the Lord now there's a lot of weird teachings going out
there regarding this verse of these pastors and they're just like well you
know when it says take up your cross it doesn't mean take up your cross it
doesn't mean so what does it mean then a cross is an instrument of death right
that's what it is a crucifix is an instrument of death and you know what
this pastor is trying to get at is that you know you don't have to give things
up to serve God or something oh really then what does the cross represent then
what are we what are we talking about here exactly and you know I'm sick and
tired of pastors telling you what something doesn't mean and not telling
you what it does mean that's frustrating right there it's just like it doesn't
really mean that if I have enough time I'll go over there just a bit it's like
you have an hour say it in two minutes it's not hard my friends here let me
tell you what take up your cross means it means you're gonna die and let me
cross-reference that I die daily let me cross-reference that the Bible says I
beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present your
bodies a living sacrifice wholly acceptable into God which is a
reasonable service that's what it means to take up your cross because just as
Jesus Christ went to the cross to sacrifice himself in like manner if we
want to serve God you know accept the corn or wheat fall to the ground and die
in a bite of the loam but if it dies it bears much fruit that's just a little
you know I just chased a rabbit there but the point that I'm making is that
serving Jesus Christ will cost you something you have to die to self you
know it's gonna sometimes it costs some of our most valuable relationships let's
just be honest you and I can both agree that being a Christian has cost us
some pretty you know close relationships in our life but at the end of the day
it's always worth it to serve the Lord and we know and we understand that the
Bible teaches that if we're gonna construct or reconstruct our lives in
the Lord it's gonna require some some form of sacrifice go back to Ezra if
you would you know don't ever think that the sacrifice you're made is in vain
never in vain like oh man I lost all these relationships maybe I lost this
job opportunity maybe I lost this this the opportunity to make this amount of
money but it's never in vain the blessing of the Lord and make it rich
and he had no sorrow to it it's always worth it to sacrifice for the Lord okay
especially if we're trying to construct or reconstruct ourselves in him now let
me give you another requirement here when we construct or reconstruct
ourselves in the Lord and that is number three that it requires a team let me
just remind you that in the Christian life there are no grown-in Christians
there's no lone Christians I could just do this on my own I just know these
things on my own I can just be successful on my own you know there's no
I in team I know that's cheesy but you know it's true though if you know how to
spell you know there's no I in team you know at the end of the day God wants us
to depend on others to spiritually grow and if you are gonna build yourselves up
on your most holy faith if you're gonna get right with God guess what it
requires a pastor and a church to aid you in doing so and no one is their own
just self-made man success story we are a comp our success is a compilation of
the investment of God and others that's what it is it's the investment of your
parents it's the investment of your brothers and sisters in Christ of your
pastor of people who have taught you the Word of God and brought you along that
is what's needed in order to grow and this is why it's important folks that if
you're an online listener you need to get into a church eventually that's
great that you get to watch online and everything and you know you know drink
your soda and eat your chips as you're watching a sermon or something like that
but eventually you need to get your rear end in church and you know what thank
God for the internet we can reach hundreds of thousands of people get the
Word of God out there but just nothing beats actually being in person in a
local New Testament church and look I'm gonna tell you right now the messages
are different when you're actually in person like when you watch online you're
just like man I was a good sermon but then when you're in person you're like
oh man I think that sermon's about me you know that's true and yeah you run the
risk of getting preached against for sure but man up you know we all do you know
in order for us to construct or reconstruct ourselves in the Lord we
need people to help us and aid us along the way to exhort us daily right to
continue in the faith and look we all go through problems we all got issues you
all got issues y'all got drama true we all wrong because we're humans and you
know we need people to either encourage us or rebuke us sometimes we just need
someone to come along and help us to get right with God and look sometimes we
just need people to tell us what we need to hear not what we want to hear you
know we need people to tell us like hey you need to start preaching the gospel
it's time for you to start going soul-wanting you know it's time for you
to start reading your Bible you're not reading your Bible you know what brother
you need to start reading your Bible hey you need to start coming to church more
often we need people to exhort us in that manner because how do we get better
if we don't have someone correcting us look at Ezra 1 verse 5 says then rose
up the chief of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin and the priests and the
Levites with all them whose spirit God hath raised to go up to build the house
of the Lord which is in Jerusalem so we see that it's not just the common folks
who are getting involved in the reconstruction of the second temple we
see that the chief fathers meaning the the ancients of Judah and Benjamin we
see that the religious leaders the priests and the Levites are also getting
involved it's a team effort and you need your pastor but you also need other
godly leaders to help you along the way as well car as a team and I know how
some people are you know some people are just they're so introverted they just it
just kills them to have to have be friends with people or something it just
it just kills them and the reason you're chuckling is because it's probably you
right you're just like oh sorry but you're a Christian though and this is
God's model God's model is for you to develop close relationships with people
in church why let me tell you why because iron sharpeneth iron and you know
what if you come to church with no help you're just dull you're just a dull
instrument you're a dull sword you need someone to come and sharpen you up a
little bit in your doctrine sharpen you up in your soul winning sharpen you up
in your Christian living so that you can be effective for the Lord meet for the
master's use and prepare it into every good work the Bible says in Philippians
chapter 1 verse 27 you have to turn there only let your conversation be as
it become at the gospel of Christ go to Ecclesiastes chapter 4 only let your
conversation be as it become at the gospel of Christ that whether I come and
see you or else be absent I may hear of your affairs the stand fast in one
spirit with one mind I want you to notice this striving together for the
faith of the gospel so you know in order for us to be effective in reaching the
world with the gospel of Jesus Christ we need to strive together we need to
fight together not with each other but we need a band together in order to
reach people for Christ right and you know what we can't really depend on the
churches around here I'm not saying that they're not doing soul winning in our
area I just don't know I just know what's going on here and you know what
we need to preach the gospel as though we're the only ones who are preaching
the gospel we need to have a sense of urgency and realize you know what no one
else is gonna go to Mexico we need to go to Mexico and go preach the gospel you
know we don't have any other I don't know if there's Mexicans going across
the border to go preach the gospel wait they're going across the border but I
don't know if they're going to preach the gospel we need to send the Mexicans
here to go and preach the gospel right we need to send Spanish speakers here
why because it's our duty it's our responsibility we need to work together
in order to get the work done look at Ecclesiastes chapter 4 verse number 9
says for you lone Rangers out there it says here verse 9 two are better than
one because they have a good reward for their labor know what that means if you really
want to be rewarded in the Christian life you can double your efforts by
laboring with someone else having a co-laborer in Christ why because two are
better than one he says in verse 10 for if they fall the one will lift up his
fellow now that's important right there because we go through seasons where we
stumble we fall we're discouraged we're not as strong as a previous season and
we need someone who is strong in the Lord and the power of his might to lift
us up when we fall right to say get up come on we can do this I got your back
let's go to church let's go let's go soulening you know I'm here for you I'm
gonna call you call me let's text I'm here for you we need someone to lift us
up when we're down he said for if they fall the one will lift up his fellow but
woe to him that is alone when he falleth for he hath not another to help him up
the Bible says now let's just be honest here we got more than two an entire
church verse 11 says again if two lie together then they have heat but how can
one be warm alone and if one prevail against him two shall withstand him and
a three-fold cord is not quickly broken the Bible says what does it say there's
power in numbers and if you want to succeed for the long run as a Christian
and everything that includes being a Christian whether it's your family your
marriage soul-witting serving God you need a team to aid you in that process
that's a fact you will never be a success story in God's book if you don't
get the help from other Christians it's a necessary thing you know a lot of
times people don't want that because it requires humility to say that you need
help and I get that she's like man it's kind of embarrassing to say that I need
help in this area yeah but I'd rather be embarrassed get the help and succeed
then you know allow my ego to get in the way and not succeed and fail
miserably when we construct or reconstruct ourselves in the Lord it
requires sacrifice of our resources when we construct or reconstruct ourselves
in the Lord it requires a team a church to help us and aid us in the ways of the
Lord go to Ezra chapter 3 Ezra chapter 3 number 4 when we construct or
reconstruct ourselves in the Lord it requires the right foundation the right
foundation look at Ezra chapter 3 in verse number 10 it says and when the
builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord they set the priests
in their apparel with trumpets and the Levites the sons of Asaph with symbols
to praise the Lord after the ordinance of David king of Israel so we see here
that the builders are laying the foundation of the temple of the Lord and
of course the foundation of our church is Jesus Christ the foundation of our
church is the Word of God so here's the thing folks is that we need to make sure
that when we construct ourselves on the Lord it's not just on the emotion I just
feel the presence of God here well let's see when you say that when I preach a
hard sermon against your sin if you still feel the same way about that you
know what let's see what happens when I preach against feminism let's see if you
actually still feel that same way thereafter you know your feelings can
deceive you and you know a good good thing God doesn't say like hey base that
sermon off of your feelings it's supposed to be based off of whether it's
true or not right because here's the thing folks is that the Word of God goes
against our natural inhibitions our natural desires and the reason it does
that because he wants us to conform to his ways but at the end of the day
that's why we need to make sure that the foundation of our church as for us as
individuals is the Word of God now let me just chase a little rabbit here just
explain the context of what's taking place you know they build this
foundation and then they construct the temple the second temple and in this
particular story you know the people who came from the Babylonian captivity
who were like born in Babylon but came here you know or came to Jerusalem they
see the temple they're just like this is great this is awesome and they're
excited they're crying they're just thrilled to death but then the old
codgers the ones who saw the first temple they're crying not because they're
happy because they think the temple sucks they're just like so you have to
You have two groups of people. They're both crying, but one's crying because they're excited about what's going on
The other ones we've been because they're just like this is just this pales in comparison to what we used to have
Look what it says in verse 12
It says but many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers who were ancient men
They had seen the first house when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes
Wept with a loud voice and many shouted aloud for joy so that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy
from the noise of the weeping of the people for the people shouted with a loud shout and the noise was heard afar off now
We're not going to turn there but in Haggai chapter 2 who's a prophet who's preaching it around this time
He actually records what takes place during that whole debacle and he talks about the fact that you know people are just really sad
They're just like this is just not like in comparison to what we had before and
Haggai says yeah, but you got to realize that this second temple though the God of the Bible is gonna walk into the second temple
Because the second temple is where Jesus Christ went into read the Word of God in sacrificed in so, you know
Yeah, the previous building was far more impressive and glorious
But the second temple is actually more impressive not because of what it looks like but because who's in it
Jesus Christ went into that second temple and this is the verse in Haggai chapter 2 when it talks about the
Desire of all nations shall come it's referring to the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ in the first century AD would end up coming there and
Serving the Lord in that particular temple. So who cares how it looks
Jesus Christ is going there
Right and you know the principle that we can apply for us in the New Testament is who cares how our building looks
We just want to make sure that Jesus Christ is preeminent here
You know people people take beef with like, you know, oh you guys meet in an office and store or whatever
You guys don't really have a nice of Basilica. You know, you don't have a really nice building
Yeah, but hold on a second your buildings full of dead men's bones
Full of all in cleanness and iniquity. It's it's a white it's sepulcher
Which indeed indeed appears beautiful on the outside, but inwardly they're full of dead men's bones and all wickedness
You know, I'd rather have and we're you know, I'm not saying that we should just trash the place
I think we should have a spirit of excellence
But far more important is what's the foundation of that what's inside that building is the Lord Jesus Christ pre-eminent in that building is
Doctrine being preached in that building our red hot sermons being put forth in that building are people getting saved and baptized and being turned to
Righteousness in that building if that's the case who cares what it looks like
Yeah, the first temple might have been really nice, but you know, the second temp temple is even nicer on the inside
It's on the inside what counts don't apply that all across the board
But you know, it's true to a certain degree
You know point that I'm making here is the fact that we need to make sure that we build our lives upon the foundation
Which is Jesus Christ Jesus said whosoever here at these sains of mine and do with them
I will liken him to liken him unto a wise man
Which built his house upon a rock and the rains descended and the winds blew and the floods came and it beat upon that house
And it fell not for a sound that upon a rock who cares how the house looks like it's just not gonna fall
If it's building upon the right foundation though, you know
And you know, I don't want a basilica for a church. What's the what's the point of having all high steeple with no safe people?
It's important for us to have the right foundation to build ourselves upon the Word of God
And you know what what you bring people in with is what you got to use to keep them
That's the fact and anybody who's been to these liberal fund centers knows that that's a fact people go there because of the bells and whistles
lights and smoke screens
You know and all that all the theatrics whereas if people come back here, it's because of the preaching
Not to say we don't offer anything else, you know
I'm gonna take a picture of you and your mom next week and give her a gift and all that
But hold on a second. It's this preaching that's of substance. It's what really matters, right?
When we construct or reconstruct ourselves in the Lord
We need to make sure that we have the right foundation go to Nehemiah chapter 4 Nehemiah chapter 4 if you would
Nehemiah chapter number 4 talk about constructing or reconstructing ourselves in the Lord
It's decreed by our King to make sure we do so it requires sacrifice
We need to make sure that we build upon the right foundation
But let me also say this, you know, it requires a team
But let me say this is that it requires a work ethic
Now the book of Ezra has to do with the reconstruction of the temple and Ezra was a pretty good cook
You know, he's a good guy. I like Ezra. It's a nice guy, but I really like Nehemiah though
Nehemiah's a little rough and you know, they're like contrasting characters in Ezra and Nehemiah
Because Ezra, when the people sin, he plucks out his own hair
He's just like ah, you know, you know, you some parents, you know, your kids make you just pull your hair out
You know what I mean? You guys know what I'm talking about, right? Am I the only one? No, I'm just kidding
You know, he's plucking out his own hair. Whereas Nehemiah is like no, I'm gonna pluck out your hair in chapter 13
You know when they sin against the Lord, he's like I'm not gonna mess this thing up. You know what I mean?
I'm plugging your hair out and that's what exactly what he does. Well Nehemiah
Focuses primarily on the reconstructing the reconstruction of the wall and the wall is important because it protects the city where the temple is laid
Right and we can apply that and say, you know
It's it's the convictions it's the standards that we have in order to protect the temple of God
Right the protective barrier that we place in our lives in order to protect our convictions
But at the end of the day both works require a work ethic
Okay, and let me just say this like when they constructed the build the the the wall they did it in 52 days
I mean that's impressive right look at Nehemiah chapter 4 and verse number 6
It says so built we the wall and all the wall was joined together unto the after of for the people had a mind
To work. I love that phrase, you know, why was it done in 52 days? Why was it done with such excellence?
Why were they able to accomplish it so fast?
I'll tell you why it's because the people had a mind to work, you know, why we got over a thousand salvations last year
I'll tell you why because the people had a mind to work
You know why we get so many baptisms every single month? I'll tell you why because the people have a mind to work
You know what people are being disciple why the house of God is being filled
I'll tell you why because people have a mind to work. They realize it's time to work, you know
And we come here to fellowship. We have a great time eat muffins
But at the end of day, what are we here for? We're here to work
We are as workmanship created in Christ Jesus into good works, which got it before ordained that we should walk in them
And we want to make sure that we produce laborers not lazies, right that we're laboring for
the Lord look at verse number seven and says but it came to pass that when Sanballat and Sabaya and the Arabians and
The Ammonites and the Ashdodites
Heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up and I want you to notice this and that the breaches began to be stopped
Then they were very Roth. What is a breach? It's a hole. It's a chink in the armor
You know the purpose of a wall to protect you from invaders
Nehemiah was responsible for not only constructing reconstructing the wall once again, but he sealed up the little holes
Where the enemies can get in and you know what we as God's people that's exactly what we want to do as well
We want to seal up the breaches of doctrinal errors. We want to seal up the breaches of conduct
We want to make sure that there's no hole available whereby the enemy can infiltrate and disrupt the work of God here
Oh you guys emphasize doctrine so much you guys talk about doctrine so much. Why so much about doctrine?
I'll tell you why cuz we're sealing up the breaches that the previous generation left behind
You know what? We as God's people need to develop an appetite for doctrine. Well, I just want to TED talk
You're not gonna get one here every once in a while. I'd if I you know
Encourage you of course I will be you know right right before I tear you down. I'm just kidding
Of course we edify here, but hold on a second
It's my responsibility to make sure we seal up the breaches though that we teach doctrine
That's what a church is supposed to be for and somewhere along the lines over the last
You know a couple decades churches have lost that vision. They no longer emphasize doctrine
They think that's boring to people that people are not gonna like it
But let me just tell you we got to stop trying to condescend our
Doctrine to men who don't want to hear doctrine and help men come back up to that standard of doctrine help people develop the
Appetite for doctrine and the teaching of God's Word seal up the breaches
Okay, you know Jesus when he was here when he was here on this earth. He had a mind to work
He said my meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work the night cometh when no man can work
He says right so we need to make sure that when we construct or reconstruct ourselves in the Lord
We have a good work ethic
We need to make sure that we put in the labor and the work to actually accomplish what needs to be done
And let me just put it in practical ways, you know
Some of you need to start learning how to preach the gospel
You're in a church where we preach the gospel
You need to start learning and let me tell you what it's gonna require you putting in work
You need to start memorizing the verses you need to start practicing your introductions
You need to tell your team leader help me to get to the first and second point
Hey, there needs to be a deadline and say you know what in four months
I want to be a full-fledged soul winner leading people to Christ
It can be done four months easy if you put in the work four months
You hit that PR as long as you have a mind to work four months
You can accomplish a lot in four months if you are determined in your mind every single week
I'm gonna improve two percent three percent in this particular area, but you know if you're just hitting miss though
That's not a mind to work
You know if you don't go to the gym very often you're not gonna make a whole lot of progress
If you just miss here and there what would they forget about PRS?
You know, let's just get you in the habit of going to the gym
But you know if you're already in the habit of coming to church
Let's get you to the next level and actually get you to start preaching the gospel so that you can go on a missions trip
And get people safe so that you know aside from a sanctioned church winning window of time where you go preach the gospel
You can preach to your friends and family so that you know if you are at a gas station at a restaurant and the opportunity
Presents itself you don't need a physical Bible. You're just spitting facts
He's got the verses already memorized you can just pull out the sword right then and there start wielding it
That's the goal now look we use the Bible when we go out and preach the gospel every single time
But you know there's gonna be instances where you don't have the Bible and at that point you gotta be like
You know you gotta be able to spit the gospel off the top of your head at the drop of a hat
Like what if someone just comes to you and says what must I do to be saved you're gonna watch this video
I'm all for the videos, but you're walking video though. You know how about you memorize the video, right?
That just seems like a lot of work
Yeah, it is a lot of work
But you know what once you build up that wall you realize it was worth putting in all that work
It takes work ethic a good work ethic to accomplish to construct or reconstruct ourselves in the Lord go to chapter 4
I'm sorry go to chapter 2 of Nehemiah. Let me also say this is that when you construct or reconstruct yourselves in the Lord
You know, it requires sacrifice. It requires a team. We see that we need to lay a foundation
We see that we need a good work ethic
But let me also say this is that when you construct to reconstruct yourselves in the Lord it attracts opposition
When you're trying to actually serve God, you know when you're like living sinfully and you're just kind of like out there in the world
No one's fighting against that. Everyone's happy. They're not succeeding everyone's having just like oh, yeah
You know, it's a beer every once in a while
Yeah, nothing's gonna happen. But it's not actually when you start serving God now people are like, oh now you're going to church every Sunday
Oh, yeah. Oh now you're reading the Bible. Now you want to go so you get a little radical there
You're getting a little too crazy with this Christian stuff, you know, oh you're starting to wear skirts now. Oh, that's a little crazy
That's a little radical. Oh, you know, oh brother. Well, what is it? What is that?
You know, you'll get opposition and sometimes the opposition is extremely hard. Sometimes it's just petty
People are just petty. You know what I mean? Oh, you will you comb your hair now, you know? Oh
You're wearing a suit to church. Oh, wow. Look at this is a Christian guy, you know, you'll get mockery
Opposition why because you know, some people just they're just haters. That's why world's filled with haters
I just hate to see a man succeed. I just hate to see people make progress, but expect it
There's always opposition when you progress in the Christian life
Look at look at Nehemiah chapter 2 and verse 18 says then I told them of the hand of my God
Which is good upon me as also the King's word that he had spoken unto me
And they said let us rise up a bill so they strengthen their hands for this good work
but when Sanballah the Horonite and Tobiah the servant the Ammonite and
Gesho the Arabian heard it they laughed us to scorn and despised us and said what is this thing that you do?
Will you rebel against the king? So by the way, what are they saying here?
They're they're creating a straw man because the king commissioned for them to go and do this
Are you doing this because you want to rebel against the king?
No, I'm actually being obedient to the king by doing this verse 20 then answered I and them and said into them the God of heaven
He will prosper us. Therefore we his servants will arise and build but ye have no portion nor right
Nor memorial in Jerusalem. So he's saying I'm gonna rise up and build you're just basically jealous that you don't have what I have
And you know what a lot of times when people see you progressing in the Christian life is because they're envious
That you are improving your life and their life sucks
Because you know what any life outside of Christ is inferior any life outside of living the principles of God's word is an inferior life
Fact and sometimes people don't like it when you're succeeding
They don't they see you living out the principles of God's word and succeeding at your job
Succeeding with your family succeeding with your marriage. You know what? They just don't like that. So what do they do?
They mock they scorn but what do they might say? Well, you don't even have a portion in this
I like that answer, you know, you know, you don't even have these blessings go to chapter 4 if you would chapter 4
By the way Ezra also saw the same opposition when he was constructing the temple
It talks about let me read to you from Ezra chapter 4 verse 1
It says then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah and troubled them in building and hired
counselors against them to frustrate their purposes all the days of Cyrus king of Persia even until the reign of Darius king of
Persia and what does it shows it shows us sometimes people are just gonna oppose you for the rest of your life
You have family members that probably will not like that you're a Christian for a very long time
You know, I've had family members that just did not like me being a Christian living out the Christian life for a very long time
You know, eventually they came around and eventually they're like, okay, this is not a phase
This is something that's legitimate in his life
He actually and then they end up getting one over to the Lord because of it
But the point that I'm making is it expect opposition don't give in to opposition
Don't start lowering your standards as a Christian because you want to please your unsafe family members
Don't start lowering your standards of going to church just because you want to please your unsafe family members who don't read the Bible
Or your safe family members that do read the Bible keep the standard high Amen build that wall high
I'm building the wall. They're just like all look at this wall
Well, I'm gonna build it even higher now look at Nehemiah 4 verse 1
But it came to pass that when sand ballot heard that we builded the wall
He was Roth and took indignation and mocked the Jews and he spake before his brethren in the army of Samaritan said
What do these feeble Jews will they fortify themselves will they sacrifice will they make an end in a day?
Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned now?
Tobiah the Ammonite was by him and said even that which they build if a fox go up
He shall even break down their stone wall
What you say is like even if they're six even if they successfully build a wall you put a fox in that thing that thing
Fall apart. Oh, what are you gonna do? So you're just gonna go to church for the rest of your life
Yeah, once the wrong woman comes into your life once the wrong man comes into your life
You're just gonna fall apart once a job opportunity comes. You're just gonna fall apart once a trial comes
You're just gonna fall apart. This is what the opposition does tries to discourage you from actually building the wall
Reconstructing your life. You know, you gotta you gotta just ignore it
You have to ignore it and proceed to build regardless of the mockery regardless of it
Look at verse number skip down to verse 6
It says so so built we the wall and all the wall was joined together into the half-drill for the people had a mind
To work skip down to verse 14
It says and I looked and rose up and said into the nobles into the rulers and to the rest of the people
Be not ye afraid of them
Remember the Lord which is great and terrible and fight for your brethren your sons and your daughters your wives and your houses
So obviously, you know the people are listening to all these threats
They're listening to all the mockery and you know, it's a little discouraging and you know, they get up and basically tell them like hey
Ignore it. God is powerful and you need to make sure that you fight for the future of your kids
Just fight for your sons fight for your daughters fight for your wives fight for your houses
You know do this not to please those who don't want you to be in the house of God do for those who need you
To be in the house of God do for your kids
You know one thing that I believe is good is when parents decide to just get serious about the things of God for the sake
Of their children even if they're just like man
I just don't feel like being here
But I'm here because I want my kids to just make sure they grow up in church. I'm all for that
I think that's a righteous reason because eventually you'll end up liking it yourself, right? You'll end up
Developing an appetite getting on fire for God being zealous for the things of God
I think it's a righteous thing to desire to serve God to fight for your
Wives your sons your daughters your houses
This is what the Bible says here look at verse 15 and came to pass when our enemies heard
That it was known into us and God had brought their counsel to not that we return all of us to the wall
Everyone into his work. So, you know once they realize all these people are determined our counsel is going just going
It's not affecting him
You know eventually they back off a little bit
The point that I'm making here is that you need to expect opposition from your friends and family members and just people around you
It's gonna happen. Don't let it deter you discourage you from serving God
Hey young people if your parents get out of church you keep coming to church if they allow you of course
Be obedient to your parents, but you know if they're good with you coming to church you keep coming to church
You keep serving God why do it for your for your father and your mother's sake you're in chapter 4
You know the Bible tells us that when a great ineffectual door is open unto us there are many adversaries
I promise you once we we continue to grow we get into a building
There's gonna be a whole new set of problems
I preached a sermon years ago, and it's called this new levels new Devils
And that's a fact you want to grow in the Christian life alright new levels new Devils
You want to succeed as a father and as a wife alright new levels new Devils
What am I saying there's always going to be opposition the Ops Ops are always gonna be there
I'm trying to reach out to my Gen Z crowd, so I'm losing them
So I gotta you know I gotta speak in their language right the Ops are always gonna be there
And we need to make sure that we oppose them don't give in to their you know
mockery and threats or whatever it is
You know if you're at home, and they're just constantly making fun of you for reading the Bible
They're making fun of you for being a Christian
Just let it go in one year and out the other and which leads me to my to my last point
And that is that when we construct to reconstruct ourselves in the Lord it requires a fight
You got a fight can't be weak, you know, you don't really win a boxing match. Just defending yourself
Defense is only part of the equation. You need to like knock someone out not physically
It's all spiritual. It requires a fight
You're gonna have to do something about it
Look at Nehemiah chapter 4 verse 16
It came to pass from that time forth that the half of my servants rot in the work and the other half of them held
both the spears the shields and the bows and the
Berghians and the rulers were behind all the house of Judah they which build it on the wall and they that bear burdens with
Those that laded everyone excuse me everyone with one of his hands rot in the work and with the other hand held a weapon
So they're just like ding ding ding. They're fighting on both ends
They're building their families as they're fighting the enemy
We don't want to just make sure that we're fighting the enemy not building
We want to make sure that we're discipling people in church all the while. We're fighting false doctrine
You know, I'm building the congregations today by preaching an edifying sermon on how to construct your life
But I'm gonna fight false prophets tonight gotta be a balanced diet, right and we need to make sure that we realize hey
I need to make sure I'm building myself up by reading the Word of God
But I also have to make sure that I earnestly contend for the faith as well and fight to stay right with God
Fight the flesh not give in to the flesh fight the world fight the devil fight the world coming into the church
These are the things we have to fight because the moment you decide well, you know, let's just build
Then the enemy comes and makes more breaches in the wall. That's just sounds like a lot like a hammer and then we're fighting here
Yeah, but it makes life exciting though keep things lively and you know what?
This is what God requires of us even in the New Testament
I'll go to Nehemiah chapter 13 Nehemiah chapter 13 1st Timothy 6 12 says fight the good fight of faith lay hold on eternal life
We're unto thou are also called and as professed a good profession before many witnesses
Of course, he goes on to say in 2nd Timothy 4 7. I fought a good fight
I finished my course and I have kept the faith now
This is the reason why I really like Nehemiah because obviously he's building but he's also
Fighting the you know, the opposition but he's also fighting his own people sometimes look at verse 19
It came to pass that when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the Sabbath
I commanded that the gates should be shut and
Chars that they should not be open till after the Sabbath and some of my servants set eye at the gates that there should be no
Burden be brought in on the Sabbath day. So what's the problem here, you know, the Israelites are not really obeying the Sabbath
So even when they're coming back, they start like not observing the Sabbath
This is like guys, don't you know that this is the reason why we're in this mess in the first place
Take the commandments of God. Seriously. Nobody should be at the gates. No one's bringing in burdens
We're not working on the Sabbath says in verse 20
So the merchants and sellers of all kind of where lodged without Jerusalem once or twice
Then I testified against them and said into them why Lodgy about the wall if you do so again
I will lay hands on you ask leadership
He's like, why are you hanging about the wall? If I see this again, I'm gonna whoop you now
He probably had guys that can go lay hands, but he's like, no, no, I want to do this myself
This is a good verse to put on your wall, man. I will lay hands on you and he's not talking about ordaining them either
He's not talking about ordaining them to be a pastor sending out a church
He's like I'm gonna kick your behind your Hinderparts if you do this again
He says I will lay hands on you from that time forth came day no more on the Sabbath
Well, that's not the kind of leadership would need you know
I kept them from actually going there on the Sabbath because guess what fearing works get down to verse 23
So he's building the wall. He's fighting the opposition, but then he's also fighting to keep his people in line as well
He's like hey no work on the Sabbath
And if I catch you here again, you're getting a whooping look at verse 23 in those days also saw I Jews they had married
wives of Ashdod of Ammon and of Moab and their children spake half in the speech of Ashdod and could not speak in the
Jews language but according to the language of each people so he's really mad about this and you can see why because God forbade
the mixing in of other cultures because the
Ashdodites and these heathen don't worship the God of the Bible and this is the reason why the northern kingdom became apostate
Alright, because they're mixing in with all these false religions
They're forsaking the God of the Bible. And so Nehemiah is just like why are you doing this?
You're making this go back to square one. Once again, we're going back to the drawing board because of you and you know
He's like your kids don't even speak English. Look at this. This is America. We speak English in America
I'm kind of giving like the the modern interpretation of this right verse 25 and I contended with them and
Cursed them and smote certain of them. So he's like argue with them. He's cursing some of them
he's like smacking them somewhat some of them around and
Plucked off their hair. So he's just like
Nehemiah's crazy, but you gotta you gotta read the whole book of Nehemiah though because the man is tender-hearted
Don't don't know. I'm just highlighting his how gangster he is, but in the beginning, you know, he's like burdened over the wall
He's tearing he's like he's sad and he's under authority
he's asking the king for permission to come to Jerusalem, you know
The man has a heart for God, but you know
He hates it when people disobey the Lord and he's like, you know as we're over here plugging his own beard
I'm gonna plug your hair out
He says and made them swear by God saying ye shall not give your daughters into their sons
Nor take their daughters into your sons or for yourselves. Now, that's pretty hardcore
You know, he's like say it say you're never gonna do this again
You know, and there's like I'll never forgive my daughters into the heathen because you know
Nehemiah obviously sees the long-term consequences of these actions and you know, I'm sure there's people they were
Existing during this time they thought that Nehemiah was just going a little overboard
They're like seriously, you're gonna pluck off the hair off my husband
He worked so hard to grow those three strands of hair
You're really gonna do that, you know
Someone someone in those days had some Filipino jeans and they had a couple hairs and he just plucked them all out
In one swipe or whatever, you know, he's like man, this is a little exact. But you know what? It's because Nehemiah
Recognizes the long-term effects of it
And you know what if you feel that sometimes I get a little overboard or I exaggerate a little much in my sermons
Am I preaching when I'm preaching hard against it? Just remember this
I just see the long-term effects of certain things that you do and sometimes I have to get up here and pluck out the
Hair sometimes I have to get up here and curse not cuss curse
Sometimes I have to get up here and contend why because we don't want to dig ourselves in that same pit from which we came
Out of he's like hey, we just got back. Can we just obey the Lord?
We're reconstructing the temple. Can you not do the things that God is in this mess in the first place?
What is he doing? You know, he's recognizing that if we're gonna reconstruct this thing
we need to make sure we do it right and
Avoid the actions that God is into this mess in the first place, you know, you're back in church. Praise God
Well, I'm not gonna preach on the things that you did that got you out of church
Why to impede you from making those same mistakes once again?
I'm gonna have to pluck out the hair to make a point so that you don't get involved in those sins again
Point that I'm making here is that if we're gonna rise up and build if we're gonna construct or reconstruct
It's gonna require a lot of steps
But let me just say this once it's built once the foundation is laid
Then we can glorify God because the end game is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ through our lives and through our church
Right point that I'm making here is that hey, let's rise up and build, you know
We don't want to be a museum
We want to be a a worker be type of church where we're accomplishing the work of God, but it takes work
To build up our lives to build up other people's lives to make sure that we're serving God winning souls to Christ and doing this for
Generations to come and just keep in mind, you know
You're building your life upon the word of God because it's gonna teach your children how to build their lives on the word of God
As well. I want my kids to grow up in this church. I want my kids to grow up with you guys
I want my kids to grow up with your kids
I want my kids to be influenced by the godly influence of your kids and your godly influence
I want them to be here hearing the preaching of God's word hearing the hymns
Desiring to be preachers and missionaries and so warners and servants of God because when I'm gone
I can't do the night cometh when no man can work parents
Let me just remind you the night cometh when no man can work
We've got to put in the work right now because once we're gone
They're on their own and all that lasts is the convictions that we instilled within them because we built the house
Let's pray father. We thank you so much for this day. Thank you for these books Lord and the principles that we learned thereof
I pray that you'd help us as your people to construct and reconstruct Lord
And I pray that you would help us to keep these principles in mind and recognize that it is gonna cost us something
We do need a team Lord. We need a strong foundation
We need a mind to work. There is gonna be opposition and we need to fight and I pray Lord that you would bless us
May you fill us all with your spirit and your power and help us to be prudent and
Discerning to see the long-term effects of the good decisions
We make but as well as the long-term effects of the bad decisions that we make as well
Help us Lord to continue to succeed as a church the wind souls to Christ and to honor and glorify you
We love you. We thank you and pray this things in Jesus name. Amen
Eastern your song which is song number four hundred and sixty five
Song number four hundred and sixty five the ninety and nine
Song number four hundred and sixty five altogether nice and strong in that first verse
there were ninety and nine that saved me lay in the shelter of
the force out on the hill of cold waves
Can the shepherd maester this up as wandered away from those who
Walked the night that the Lord Mary found that was light to dust and red to dust
Are those blood-stained shepherds how the shepherd could pray that?
For new night and sun-rimmed rye-stained glad-cron to the gate of heaven
Rejoice! I have found she-hey!
Singing "Yorda's Moose"