1
00:00:10,272 --> 00:00:14,412
, Joshua Kehler: Nehemiah chapter 3
this morning, chapter 2 into 3 is

2
00:00:14,412 --> 00:00:16,001
where we'll be looking at today.

3
00:00:16,271 --> 00:00:21,312
we will look at the last two verses
in chapter two, and then we'll look

4
00:00:21,342 --> 00:00:24,482
in chapter three, the entire chapter.

5
00:00:24,482 --> 00:00:27,852
So, they're grouped together in
different ways, and so we'll just be

6
00:00:27,852 --> 00:00:31,732
touching on verses in chapter three,
but we'll go ahead and read verses,

7
00:00:31,942 --> 00:00:34,702
19 and 20 in chapter two right now.

8
00:00:34,752 --> 00:00:40,777
But when Sambelot, the Horonite, Tobiah,
the Ammonite official, and Geshem,

9
00:00:40,967 --> 00:00:46,227
the Arab, heard of it, they laughed
at us and despised us and said, what

10
00:00:46,227 --> 00:00:47,817
is this thing that you are doing?

11
00:00:48,227 --> 00:00:50,107
Will you rebel against the king?

12
00:00:50,317 --> 00:00:53,607
So I answered them and said to
them, the God of heaven will prosper

13
00:00:53,607 --> 00:00:58,397
us, therefore we are His servants,
and we will arise and build.

14
00:00:58,627 --> 00:01:03,497
But you have no heritage or
right or memorial in Jerusalem.

15
00:01:03,527 --> 00:01:04,137
Let's pray.

16
00:01:04,577 --> 00:01:06,617
Jesus, we thank you for
your word this morning.

17
00:01:06,657 --> 00:01:11,057
And God, we just ask that your glory would
be on display this morning in this place.

18
00:01:11,417 --> 00:01:12,757
God, we long to know you.

19
00:01:12,926 --> 00:01:17,017
Lord, we declare from the start
that it's not the opinions of men

20
00:01:17,227 --> 00:01:21,527
or the best of their ideas that
come together to transform a life.

21
00:01:21,527 --> 00:01:23,407
It is you, Jesus, and you alone.

22
00:01:23,902 --> 00:01:26,952
And so Lord, we pray that you
would be glorified in this place.

23
00:01:27,102 --> 00:01:28,082
You are the answer.

24
00:01:28,082 --> 00:01:30,592
In fact, you said apart
from you, we can do nothing.

25
00:01:30,942 --> 00:01:32,812
And we are very aware
of that this morning.

26
00:01:33,072 --> 00:01:37,021
Lord, we pray that you would take this
vessel, that's Before you and Lord

27
00:01:37,021 --> 00:01:42,112
that you would fill it for your glory,
you Lord anoint the speech, on these

28
00:01:42,112 --> 00:01:44,482
lips, may it be your words, Jesus.

29
00:01:44,771 --> 00:01:47,462
And, Lord, we just pray for a
work of your spirit in this place.

30
00:01:47,672 --> 00:01:50,632
I pray, Lord, that you would call
us all, that we'd all hear the

31
00:01:50,632 --> 00:01:55,042
call, to the work that you've called
us to do, and, so we love you.

32
00:01:55,102 --> 00:01:55,402
We love you.

33
00:01:55,402 --> 00:01:56,301
We thank you.

34
00:01:56,512 --> 00:01:57,962
We praise you this morning.

35
00:01:58,142 --> 00:02:00,082
thank you for what
you're doing in Stockton.

36
00:02:00,082 --> 00:02:01,362
Save it, Jesus.

37
00:02:01,642 --> 00:02:05,532
Be at every church in this city
that preaches your gospel, Lord.

38
00:02:05,782 --> 00:02:07,432
Come in strength and fullness.

39
00:02:07,432 --> 00:02:10,012
May many people come
into your kingdom today.

40
00:02:10,192 --> 00:02:14,282
May you refresh the multitude of
your saints in this city today.

41
00:02:14,512 --> 00:02:16,492
We love and we adore you.

42
00:02:16,732 --> 00:02:19,502
We exist for your glory
and your pleasure, Jesus.

43
00:02:19,712 --> 00:02:21,022
We love you in Jesus name.

44
00:02:21,312 --> 00:02:21,882
Amen.

45
00:02:23,672 --> 00:02:28,322
one of my earliest memories being someone
who grew up in the church, as I had the

46
00:02:28,322 --> 00:02:33,542
opportunity, and there's different pros
and cons to growing up within the church.

47
00:02:33,802 --> 00:02:38,062
The cons being that you grow up within
the church thinking that you're a

48
00:02:38,062 --> 00:02:41,892
pretty good person, that you're kind
of grandfathered into the whole kingdom

49
00:02:41,892 --> 00:02:46,902
of God, going to heaven thing, that
you, because your parents were saved,

50
00:02:47,122 --> 00:02:51,567
because they had, Believed in Jesus
that maybe you just kind of get in.

51
00:02:51,807 --> 00:02:55,097
you grow up, familiar, with
the things of the Lord.

52
00:02:55,257 --> 00:03:01,087
and they're not off the bat, impactful
in the sense that as someone finding

53
00:03:01,087 --> 00:03:06,297
the message of grace who's coming out,
of, very apparent sin in their life.

54
00:03:06,557 --> 00:03:11,582
and so there's the cons to that where
any of us who grow up from within

55
00:03:11,582 --> 00:03:15,172
the church need to find that we're
just as wretched, if not more so.

56
00:03:15,512 --> 00:03:18,152
Because we think that our own
righteousness, our own good deeds,

57
00:03:18,152 --> 00:03:20,452
our own goodness will save us.

58
00:03:20,682 --> 00:03:25,762
That we compare ourselves amongst others,
and each other, and we find people who

59
00:03:25,762 --> 00:03:27,242
are a little worse off than we are.

60
00:03:27,382 --> 00:03:30,952
And we comfort ourselves thinking
that, well, God loves us more because,

61
00:03:30,952 --> 00:03:33,082
you know, we're good moral people.

62
00:03:33,122 --> 00:03:34,712
Which is not the case.

63
00:03:34,872 --> 00:03:39,591
in fact, the Bible clearly teaches
that our Righteousness, our best

64
00:03:39,792 --> 00:03:41,682
is as a filthy garment to the Lord.

65
00:03:42,132 --> 00:03:45,292
And so, a con being in that sense
that you have to learn that.

66
00:03:45,302 --> 00:03:47,322
You have to learn that you need a Savior.

67
00:03:47,632 --> 00:03:51,812
That you need the saving power
of Christ to transform your life.

68
00:03:52,122 --> 00:03:54,482
It's like the prodigal
son and the older brother.

69
00:03:54,712 --> 00:03:57,781
And those Most often who grew
up from within the church

70
00:03:57,942 --> 00:03:59,242
are like the older brother.

71
00:03:59,412 --> 00:04:01,612
We're constantly looking
down on the prodigal.

72
00:04:01,612 --> 00:04:04,462
We're constantly looking at people
and going, man, and then we're

73
00:04:04,462 --> 00:04:08,472
wondering why God isn't blessing us
because we've obeyed him so long,

74
00:04:08,482 --> 00:04:10,152
why he doesn't have a feast for us.

75
00:04:10,382 --> 00:04:13,932
And the whole time he's pleading with
us to come in through the gate of

76
00:04:13,932 --> 00:04:16,112
Jesus Christ by the way of the cross.

77
00:04:16,522 --> 00:04:21,362
The pro of growing up in the cross is
that you are automatically birthed into

78
00:04:21,392 --> 00:04:24,172
an entirely different radical community.

79
00:04:24,937 --> 00:04:29,297
I remember in my earliest memories,
sitting in a pew down in Costa Mesa

80
00:04:29,487 --> 00:04:33,257
and, hearing, thinking the preacher's
screaming, you know, and wondering

81
00:04:33,257 --> 00:04:37,967
why this bald man is, yelling, so
passionately, and he's got the Bible

82
00:04:37,967 --> 00:04:39,797
that we would read at night before bed.

83
00:04:39,957 --> 00:04:43,157
But sitting next to me was a man,
tears streaming down his face,

84
00:04:43,157 --> 00:04:47,347
fully tatted up, finding out, you
know, it used to be, live his life.

85
00:04:47,562 --> 00:04:52,672
just abandoned to drugs and addiction
and sitting over here was, you know,

86
00:04:52,682 --> 00:04:57,132
someone who used to be in the occult
and all of a sudden these people who you

87
00:04:57,142 --> 00:05:02,182
grow up with who adopt the name Uncle
and Auntie and, you know, as you grow

88
00:05:02,182 --> 00:05:07,032
up around them, as you find out their
histories, they're gnarly histories.

89
00:05:07,392 --> 00:05:10,872
You know, fornicators and
adulterers and haters of God.

90
00:05:10,872 --> 00:05:13,952
People used to be thieves
and, these people.

91
00:05:14,512 --> 00:05:18,962
What happens is you grow up around
that, you grow up in the community

92
00:05:19,182 --> 00:05:22,172
of God, in the church of God, and
it's an entirely different thing.

93
00:05:22,592 --> 00:05:25,872
It's not like the Boy Scouts where
you join because you have one thing

94
00:05:25,872 --> 00:05:29,852
in common, or Weight Watchers, you
join because, you have nothing else

95
00:05:29,852 --> 00:05:32,892
in common with these people except you
want to lose weight, and so you join

96
00:05:33,102 --> 00:05:34,952
this kind of association and club.

97
00:05:35,242 --> 00:05:40,662
But growing up within the church, you
learn that it is an entirely new culture.

98
00:05:41,377 --> 00:05:46,487
It's an entirely new, humanity if
you will, where every tribe, tongue,

99
00:05:46,497 --> 00:05:52,957
nation, every kind of background, every
kind of person, from young to old,

100
00:05:53,007 --> 00:05:55,837
come together under the name of Jesus.

101
00:05:56,307 --> 00:06:00,497
And if we find our commonality
in Jesus, we find our family with

102
00:06:00,497 --> 00:06:03,857
one another, a family that is
oftentimes thicker than blood.

103
00:06:04,237 --> 00:06:11,107
and so, a beautiful picture of the
community of God from an early age.

104
00:06:11,317 --> 00:06:15,217
And some of us haven't experienced
that radical kind of community.

105
00:06:15,647 --> 00:06:18,897
sometimes if you're, been part
of a smaller church, it can be

106
00:06:18,897 --> 00:06:21,207
more of a club, more of a clique.

107
00:06:21,207 --> 00:06:26,007
You've got, this, agenda or this kind
of thing happening here, or you go maybe

108
00:06:26,007 --> 00:06:30,237
to the big church and it's more like a
circus where you get lost in the crowd

109
00:06:30,237 --> 00:06:34,617
and, you go there and you kind of in and
out and everything's super efficient.

110
00:06:34,617 --> 00:06:36,857
And so some of us.

111
00:06:37,067 --> 00:06:43,127
Because we were created that way, we
yearn for community, and so the Bible is

112
00:06:43,127 --> 00:06:48,157
constantly revealing pictures of what this
community is to look like, what it looks

113
00:06:48,157 --> 00:06:52,297
like to be the church, what God wants us.

114
00:06:54,232 --> 00:06:57,222
We were created for
community back in Genesis.

115
00:06:57,582 --> 00:07:02,092
It's very interesting because all
through, as God was creating, He gave

116
00:07:02,092 --> 00:07:03,972
His benediction over His creating.

117
00:07:04,022 --> 00:07:04,922
He created the seas.

118
00:07:04,922 --> 00:07:06,352
He said it was very good.

119
00:07:06,522 --> 00:07:08,372
He created, plants and animals.

120
00:07:08,372 --> 00:07:09,422
He said it is very good.

121
00:07:09,422 --> 00:07:10,262
He created man.

122
00:07:10,262 --> 00:07:11,552
He said it is very good.

123
00:07:11,782 --> 00:07:15,812
But then in Genesis, we hit the spot
where we get the first malediction, that

124
00:07:15,822 --> 00:07:18,182
negative, that something was not good.

125
00:07:18,182 --> 00:07:21,742
And what was not good
was that man was alone.

126
00:07:22,112 --> 00:07:26,912
That man was alone and even in his
perfect relationship with God and his

127
00:07:26,912 --> 00:07:32,442
times with God, God had created man
because God himself is a community.

128
00:07:32,692 --> 00:07:38,602
God, the father, God, the son and God, the
Holy Spirit, each one giving their, all.

129
00:07:38,807 --> 00:07:40,087
To the other.

130
00:07:40,207 --> 00:07:43,557
And so God exists in community,
and so he created man in his image.

131
00:07:43,557 --> 00:07:46,647
That's what it means to be created
in his image and in his likeness.

132
00:07:46,887 --> 00:07:52,397
And so we were created, as God even
has commentary on, for community.

133
00:07:52,517 --> 00:07:54,097
For one another.

134
00:07:54,237 --> 00:07:58,067
To be in a place where we could,
under one head and one banner,

135
00:07:58,227 --> 00:08:00,557
give our lives away to each other.

136
00:08:00,717 --> 00:08:02,447
And then finding.

137
00:08:03,187 --> 00:08:09,007
Life and finding joy and strength
and victory and all the benefits

138
00:08:09,007 --> 00:08:15,187
that come when we function like God
intends a church to be now often as

139
00:08:15,187 --> 00:08:17,637
we exist in this Western culture.

140
00:08:17,817 --> 00:08:20,107
It's a very individualistic culture.

141
00:08:20,407 --> 00:08:21,527
It's all about me.

142
00:08:21,527 --> 00:08:24,697
It's all about my it's all
about what what I can get.

143
00:08:24,887 --> 00:08:28,827
And so we are common often
come with a consumer mindset.

144
00:08:29,137 --> 00:08:32,837
To church, we look at the bullet points
and say, what can I get from church?

145
00:08:32,837 --> 00:08:33,677
What do they offer?

146
00:08:33,677 --> 00:08:36,297
What about the singles group or
what about this and what about that?

147
00:08:36,297 --> 00:08:39,027
And it's a more of a mindset
is what I can get from it.

148
00:08:39,687 --> 00:08:44,437
And oftentimes we carry into
church the same mindset we

149
00:08:44,437 --> 00:08:45,877
do with other things in life.

150
00:08:46,172 --> 00:08:50,542
For instance, how many of us go
have this war on inside of us?

151
00:08:50,622 --> 00:08:55,322
I want to be thin, but I want
ice cream or I want a pizza

152
00:08:55,582 --> 00:08:58,192
at Dante's with extra cheese.

153
00:08:58,452 --> 00:09:03,392
And I want those, I want the sausage
that's like a fist, you know, so amazing.

154
00:09:03,792 --> 00:09:04,662
It's amazing.

155
00:09:04,882 --> 00:09:06,332
Marriage supper of a lamb right there!

156
00:09:06,752 --> 00:09:10,522
No, lamb sausage, of course, but
there's, this war that goes on.

157
00:09:10,522 --> 00:09:15,892
We say, I want this, but I also want
this, and it's a total contradiction.

158
00:09:16,042 --> 00:09:19,622
And either one is gonna win out, or
the other, but often we come into

159
00:09:19,622 --> 00:09:24,762
the church and we say, I want to be
radically loved by everyone here, but I

160
00:09:24,772 --> 00:09:27,052
do not want to be accountable to anyone.

161
00:09:28,147 --> 00:09:30,947
I want to be radically
loved and cared for.

162
00:09:31,107 --> 00:09:35,957
I want people to know when I'm gone, but
I never ever want anybody to know my name.

163
00:09:37,217 --> 00:09:41,757
And there's this contradiction that
we bring inside the church that

164
00:09:41,757 --> 00:09:45,967
where we think we can have both,
but only one is going to win out.

165
00:09:46,157 --> 00:09:49,967
And either that idea of individualism
is going to win out, where I

166
00:09:49,967 --> 00:09:53,937
remain autonomous, where I'm not
held accountable for my actions.

167
00:09:54,127 --> 00:09:59,957
I'm not a part of the community, but I
want all the benefits of the community.

168
00:10:00,612 --> 00:10:03,352
And it can only happen when
we open ourselves up and are

169
00:10:03,362 --> 00:10:05,442
vulnerable in that kind of state.

170
00:10:05,442 --> 00:10:09,452
And so, here is a passage, Nehemiah
chapter 3, the bulk of it is a

171
00:10:09,462 --> 00:10:13,432
beautiful picture of the church
functioning together, working together,

172
00:10:13,542 --> 00:10:16,072
serving alongside one another.

173
00:10:16,312 --> 00:10:21,582
in, the work of God for the glory
of God, and it's an amazing picture.

174
00:10:21,582 --> 00:10:25,104
And along with John chapter 17,
Ephesians chapter 2, Ephesians chapter

175
00:10:25,104 --> 00:10:30,316
4, first Corinthians 12 and 14, and
revelation two and three, some of

176
00:10:30,316 --> 00:10:36,406
the best chapters of the Bible and,
places in scripture, on the church.

177
00:10:36,756 --> 00:10:38,036
the Bible teaches.

178
00:10:38,261 --> 00:10:45,040
That the church exists for the saints
and it does, in fact, in Ephesians,

179
00:10:45,051 --> 00:10:49,201
it says that some have been given
as pastors and teachers and apostles

180
00:10:49,201 --> 00:10:53,071
and prophets for the equipping of the
saints for the work of the ministry.

181
00:10:53,461 --> 00:10:58,671
Again, I mentioned this on Wednesday, two
weeks ago, but it's necessary that that

182
00:10:58,701 --> 00:11:02,331
idea is that you are the ministers, not.

183
00:11:02,811 --> 00:11:03,671
The pastors here.

184
00:11:03,671 --> 00:11:04,611
We're all ministers.

185
00:11:04,611 --> 00:11:05,921
You are ministers.

186
00:11:06,261 --> 00:11:10,161
And now what church exists for
is to come in and to be equipped.

187
00:11:10,161 --> 00:11:13,681
And that word equipped in the
Greek, again, it means to mend

188
00:11:13,751 --> 00:11:16,271
the net, or to set the bone.

189
00:11:16,271 --> 00:11:17,411
It was a medical term.

190
00:11:17,821 --> 00:11:21,051
So often fishermen, what they would do
is they'd come in, they'd be fishing.

191
00:11:21,281 --> 00:11:24,751
And, through The labor through
the catch, through the toil,

192
00:11:24,911 --> 00:11:26,151
they would, rip their net.

193
00:11:26,151 --> 00:11:29,051
And a ripped fishing net
isn't good for anything.

194
00:11:29,231 --> 00:11:32,301
In the same way as if you labored
with your hands, you swing at a

195
00:11:32,301 --> 00:11:35,961
hammer, if you dislocated your arm,
you wouldn't be able to function.

196
00:11:36,091 --> 00:11:37,901
So you'd go to the doctor,
he would equip you.

197
00:11:37,931 --> 00:11:38,811
He would set it.

198
00:11:39,040 --> 00:11:40,641
he would write that brokenness.

199
00:11:40,641 --> 00:11:42,221
you'd go somewhere and
have that netmen did it.

200
00:11:42,221 --> 00:11:46,040
So it is a picture of what the
church is to be as you guys are

201
00:11:46,040 --> 00:11:48,040
the ministers of the gospel.

202
00:11:48,221 --> 00:11:52,121
You are proclaiming the gospel out
there in your jobs, neighborhoods, and

203
00:11:52,121 --> 00:11:56,451
your families, all over wherever you
set your feet, you're to be doing that.

204
00:11:56,711 --> 00:11:59,951
And we get battered, we get
bashed, we get discouraged.

205
00:12:00,081 --> 00:12:01,591
we, experience joy.

206
00:12:01,621 --> 00:12:05,151
And we need that opportunity to
come together and to realign and

207
00:12:05,151 --> 00:12:10,521
get our eyes back on Jesus to get
relocated, to get re equipped.

208
00:12:10,681 --> 00:12:12,381
And so that is why we come together.

209
00:12:12,391 --> 00:12:15,041
That is why we worship
Jesus in this place.

210
00:12:15,041 --> 00:12:19,661
That is why we teach scripture and the
word to equip us that we might examine

211
00:12:19,671 --> 00:12:24,201
ourselves, that we might look in the light
of scripture as scripture is the standard

212
00:12:24,201 --> 00:12:26,441
and say, Jesus, am I moving towards you?

213
00:12:26,441 --> 00:12:30,636
Am I becoming more like you as we
are reconnected and we are equipped.

214
00:12:30,996 --> 00:12:35,216
So church is to exist for the equipping
and the edifying, for teaching and

215
00:12:35,216 --> 00:12:39,266
reproof, for loving one another, for
the serving of one another, as Jesus

216
00:12:39,266 --> 00:12:43,726
left us example, for praying together
and giving to one another, to worship

217
00:12:43,726 --> 00:12:48,396
together and to praise his name shoulder
to shoulder next to one another.

218
00:12:48,756 --> 00:12:52,446
But the church also, as much
as it exists for the saint,

219
00:12:52,726 --> 00:12:55,376
it also exists for the world.

220
00:12:56,131 --> 00:13:01,681
in John 13, 35 it says by this all
will know that you are my disciples

221
00:13:01,741 --> 00:13:06,361
if you have love, not just for
the world, but for one another.

222
00:13:07,281 --> 00:13:11,591
And so when there is, it happens,
church as God designed it and as he

223
00:13:11,591 --> 00:13:16,256
desires it, where people are loving one
another, are vulnerable to one another.

224
00:13:16,666 --> 00:13:19,606
they're not just individualistic
consumers, but they're coming and

225
00:13:19,606 --> 00:13:24,766
they're saying, What can I give to
this place, to, every person here?

226
00:13:24,946 --> 00:13:30,276
Then what happens is that love that
is only of God, that only can happen.

227
00:13:30,276 --> 00:13:33,506
And the world looks at that, and
the world testifies and stands back

228
00:13:33,506 --> 00:13:35,006
and goes, Something's different.

229
00:13:35,656 --> 00:13:36,426
Something's different.

230
00:13:36,426 --> 00:13:37,216
This isn't a club.

231
00:13:37,226 --> 00:13:41,516
This isn't just religion based
on us earning, our way to heaven.

232
00:13:41,676 --> 00:13:43,606
But this is a radically different thing.

233
00:13:43,606 --> 00:13:47,466
These are lives that have no business
hanging out with one another.

234
00:13:47,686 --> 00:13:51,316
If you consider backgrounds, and
you consider likes and dislikes,

235
00:13:51,446 --> 00:13:52,806
we would not match up on Match.

236
00:13:53,046 --> 00:13:53,376
com.

237
00:13:53,386 --> 00:13:54,036
We just wouldn't.

238
00:13:54,486 --> 00:13:56,846
but, here we are, and we're together.

239
00:13:56,996 --> 00:14:01,506
and so the world testifies to
the fact, and they go, They

240
00:14:01,536 --> 00:14:05,376
must be disciples of Jesus.

241
00:14:05,376 --> 00:14:09,526
Again, remember as we talked about two
weeks ago, I believe, they have to hear

242
00:14:09,526 --> 00:14:12,346
the gospel to make sense of our lives.

243
00:14:12,741 --> 00:14:14,421
Our love for one another is so radical.

244
00:14:15,111 --> 00:14:18,161
They have to hear the gospel
to make sense of our lives.

245
00:14:18,561 --> 00:14:22,191
Romans 10, 13 says, For whoever calls
on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

246
00:14:22,581 --> 00:14:25,231
How then shall they call on him
whom they have not believed?

247
00:14:25,231 --> 00:14:27,531
And how shall they believe on
him whom they have not heard?

248
00:14:27,811 --> 00:14:29,621
And how shall they hear
without a preacher?

249
00:14:29,801 --> 00:14:31,811
And how shall they preach
unless they are sent?

250
00:14:31,841 --> 00:14:35,051
As it is written, how beautiful
are the Feet of those who preach

251
00:14:35,051 --> 00:14:38,981
the gospel of peace, who bring
glad tidings of good things.

252
00:14:38,981 --> 00:14:42,251
The Lord Jesus cares for the world.

253
00:14:42,251 --> 00:14:43,241
John three 16.

254
00:14:43,241 --> 00:14:46,540
For God so loved the world that he
gave his only begotten son, that

255
00:14:46,540 --> 00:14:51,471
whosoever, believes in him, would
not perish but have everlasting life.

256
00:14:52,040 --> 00:14:56,321
2 Peter 3, 9 says the Lord is not slack
concerning his promises, as some count

257
00:14:56,321 --> 00:15:00,561
slackness, but is longsuffering toward
us, not willing that any should perish,

258
00:15:00,761 --> 00:15:04,141
but that all should come to repentance.

259
00:15:04,471 --> 00:15:08,541
Matthew 28, 19 20, again the Great
Commission, Jesus says go and

260
00:15:08,541 --> 00:15:10,581
make disciples of all nations.

261
00:15:11,246 --> 00:15:14,036
Baptizing them in the name of the
Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.

262
00:15:14,036 --> 00:15:17,436
Teaching them to observe all the
things that I have commanded you.

263
00:15:17,806 --> 00:15:20,056
And lo, I am with you always,
even to the end of the age.

264
00:15:20,266 --> 00:15:25,656
So the church's inward focus
is to be so that it has an

265
00:15:25,656 --> 00:15:27,916
effective outward expression.

266
00:15:28,606 --> 00:15:32,516
The church's inward focus as we
come together, as we learn, is

267
00:15:32,536 --> 00:15:34,716
to be such that we are effective.

268
00:15:35,026 --> 00:15:37,826
Outwardly, outside these walls.

269
00:15:38,165 --> 00:15:40,936
So we come, and what is the
important thing is we'll see in

270
00:15:40,936 --> 00:15:50,346
our passage, notice that as soon
as even talk of building starts to

271
00:15:50,346 --> 00:15:54,176
happen in Nehemiah, what happens?

272
00:15:55,126 --> 00:15:58,726
notice with me in verse 17, chapter
2, he says, Then I said to them,

273
00:15:58,936 --> 00:16:03,886
You see the distress that we are
in, how Jerusalem lies in waste,

274
00:16:03,916 --> 00:16:05,676
and its gates are burned with fire.

275
00:16:05,696 --> 00:16:11,786
Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem,
that we may no longer be a reproach.

276
00:16:12,196 --> 00:16:15,896
And I told them of the hand
of my God, which has been good

277
00:16:15,896 --> 00:16:20,426
upon me, and also of the king's
words, that he has spoken to me.

278
00:16:20,746 --> 00:16:27,076
So they said, Let us rise up and
build, then they set their hands

279
00:16:30,906 --> 00:16:38,986
As soon as the people get the vision,
not as the vision is going forth,

280
00:16:39,246 --> 00:16:43,926
but as soon as the people decide,
they hear the plan, they say, okay,

281
00:16:44,146 --> 00:16:46,286
God wants these walls restored.

282
00:16:46,286 --> 00:16:48,076
This is something that God has ordained.

283
00:16:48,326 --> 00:16:51,866
As soon as the people hear,
Nehemiah, share his heart.

284
00:16:52,676 --> 00:16:54,066
The vision and the plan.

285
00:16:54,066 --> 00:16:57,156
As soon as just that
goes forth, what happens?

286
00:16:57,156 --> 00:16:58,456
What takes place?

287
00:16:58,506 --> 00:17:00,646
What is the immediate action?

288
00:17:00,656 --> 00:17:03,586
There's not a brick been
laid on another brick yet.

289
00:17:03,746 --> 00:17:08,506
there's just the people said, we
agree, let's go and let's do this work.

290
00:17:08,566 --> 00:17:09,715
That's all they say.

291
00:17:09,935 --> 00:17:11,976
It's all in theory right now.

292
00:17:12,096 --> 00:17:14,826
It's all saying, let's
just go and let's do it.

293
00:17:14,846 --> 00:17:15,886
Yes, we agree.

294
00:17:16,026 --> 00:17:17,396
We are going to give our hands to it.

295
00:17:17,396 --> 00:17:19,526
Notice what happens in verse 19.

296
00:17:20,326 --> 00:17:23,886
But when Sanballat the Horonite,
Tobiah the Ammonite official,

297
00:17:24,116 --> 00:17:26,656
Sanballat was the governor of Samaria.

298
00:17:26,675 --> 00:17:30,166
And so, he had the
authority in the region.

299
00:17:30,256 --> 00:17:33,246
That is until Nehemiah showed up
with his letters from the king.

300
00:17:33,606 --> 00:17:37,526
Because Nehemiah was appointed
as governor to that region.

301
00:17:37,936 --> 00:17:44,636
So here is a man who loved having This
Jewish people who he despised in a place

302
00:17:44,636 --> 00:17:46,986
where he had them under his control.

303
00:17:47,156 --> 00:17:51,036
He despised them, and he loved
seeing them desolate, and he

304
00:17:51,036 --> 00:17:53,156
loved seeing their city in ruins.

305
00:17:54,246 --> 00:17:59,626
And here he is, Sambalat and
Tobiah, who is an Ammonite, who is a

306
00:17:59,666 --> 00:18:02,436
natural enemy of the Jewish people.

307
00:18:02,736 --> 00:18:06,606
here he is, and, and he
ends up having some ties.

308
00:18:07,926 --> 00:18:12,806
And so he's kind of like, Sambalat
controls the armies, and, and Tobias,

309
00:18:12,836 --> 00:18:14,816
the guy who gets the inside information.

310
00:18:14,976 --> 00:18:17,596
He's gonna, have an alliance
with the high priest.

311
00:18:17,776 --> 00:18:22,026
he's gonna have his daughter Mary's,
into some of the Jewish families there.

312
00:18:22,026 --> 00:18:23,976
And so he's got his foot in the door.

313
00:18:24,336 --> 00:18:26,186
And then Gershom, the Arab, heard of it.

314
00:18:26,196 --> 00:18:29,456
They laughed at us and despised
us and said, What is this

315
00:18:29,456 --> 00:18:30,486
thing that you're doing?

316
00:18:30,616 --> 00:18:32,256
Will you rebel against us?

317
00:18:32,431 --> 00:18:33,681
The king,

318
00:18:35,761 --> 00:18:41,411
and as soon as they say, we're going
to go to work, the enemy rises up

319
00:18:41,611 --> 00:18:48,281
and begins to mock them, begins to
ridicule them and begins to accuse them.

320
00:18:51,211 --> 00:18:55,651
And you look at this and you go, as we're
removed from its historical context.

321
00:18:56,641 --> 00:19:01,131
And often we look at a passage
like this, you know, 2, 500 years

322
00:19:01,131 --> 00:19:05,891
ago and we go, okay, so they get
up and they start to ridicule.

323
00:19:05,891 --> 00:19:08,221
What, where is the power in that?

324
00:19:08,481 --> 00:19:11,741
The power in that is that they
did the very same thing in Ezra

325
00:19:11,741 --> 00:19:14,201
chapter 4 and it stopped the work.

326
00:19:15,516 --> 00:19:20,566
The enemy had been victorious before
they were rebuilding the temple.

327
00:19:20,566 --> 00:19:24,216
They were rebuilding and
and they were making it new.

328
00:19:24,236 --> 00:19:26,976
And all of a sudden the enemy
came with the same accusation.

329
00:19:27,116 --> 00:19:28,826
Are you going to rebel against the king?

330
00:19:28,826 --> 00:19:33,046
They sent letters to the king and the
king said, yes, this work must cease.

331
00:19:34,926 --> 00:19:39,356
And so here they come and where
the enemy has been successful in

332
00:19:39,356 --> 00:19:44,506
the past to take a work of God
and to stop it dead in its tracks.

333
00:19:44,726 --> 00:19:48,026
They come that with that kind of
pride and arrogance and swagger.

334
00:19:48,176 --> 00:19:52,366
And they say to the people as they just
get done saying, yes, we're going to work.

335
00:19:52,596 --> 00:19:56,586
And they come in and they speak into
that situation and say, how dare

336
00:19:56,586 --> 00:19:57,791
you rebel against It's the king.

337
00:19:57,941 --> 00:19:59,921
How dare you think that
this work will happen?

338
00:20:00,051 --> 00:20:01,111
It's never worked.

339
00:20:01,161 --> 00:20:02,261
It's never happened.

340
00:20:02,761 --> 00:20:04,931
It will always be desolate.

341
00:20:05,001 --> 00:20:06,551
Nothing will ever change.

342
00:20:06,661 --> 00:20:08,391
Don't think that it will be any different.

343
00:20:08,541 --> 00:20:12,921
Just because some cup bearer comes
down from the king with some piece of

344
00:20:12,921 --> 00:20:16,911
paper, you think that it's going to be
any different than it's always been.

345
00:20:17,051 --> 00:20:18,081
You're ridiculous.

346
00:20:18,081 --> 00:20:22,381
You will waste yourselves in such a task.

347
00:20:27,601 --> 00:20:28,651
Stockton

348
00:20:31,091 --> 00:20:32,901
is a crown jewel to the enemy.

349
00:20:34,786 --> 00:20:35,986
He loves misery.

350
00:20:38,106 --> 00:20:39,816
He loves a city that's desolate.

351
00:20:41,046 --> 00:20:46,806
It's inhabitants in bondage,
despair, thinking that this is life,

352
00:20:46,836 --> 00:20:48,516
that this is all that there is.

353
00:20:50,991 --> 00:20:54,991
And oftentimes, other works have
come in, and they've come with the

354
00:20:54,991 --> 00:21:01,371
authority of the King of Kings, and
yet they've succumbed to the ridicule,

355
00:21:01,501 --> 00:21:08,031
they've succumbed to the accusation,
and they've folded under the pressure.

356
00:21:10,821 --> 00:21:15,691
And they've caved in and said, I
guess this is the way it's gonna be.

357
00:21:17,561 --> 00:21:19,881
I guess you're right, it won't change.

358
00:21:21,101 --> 00:21:25,611
We don't have a glorious start
and a beginning like Jerusalem.

359
00:21:27,771 --> 00:21:33,001
The beginning of Stockton being rooted
in the fundamentals of sin and depravity.

360
00:21:34,141 --> 00:21:37,211
You know why Sodom and
Gomorrah was destroyed?

361
00:21:38,291 --> 00:21:39,331
Oh, it was the sin, right?

362
00:21:42,576 --> 00:21:43,626
It was the sin, right?

363
00:21:43,686 --> 00:21:46,556
The sin was so grievous and so crazy.

364
00:21:46,736 --> 00:21:48,696
That's why Sodom and
Gomorrah was destroyed.

365
00:21:48,846 --> 00:21:50,516
It was their pride and their arrogance.

366
00:21:50,516 --> 00:21:54,586
it was the depravity that they
held up as a banner over the city.

367
00:21:54,616 --> 00:21:56,326
That's why it was destroyed, right?

368
00:21:56,571 --> 00:21:58,561
That's why Sodom and
Gomorrah was destroyed.

369
00:21:58,821 --> 00:22:02,381
Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed
because the people of God

370
00:22:02,391 --> 00:22:05,041
became invisible in the city.

371
00:22:05,291 --> 00:22:11,431
They lost their influence because God
said, If there is ten righteous that

372
00:22:11,431 --> 00:22:17,881
will not bow to the idols, If there's
ten people, ten, then I'll save the city.

373
00:22:18,771 --> 00:22:20,171
Because ten is all I need.

374
00:22:22,061 --> 00:22:23,301
And God wants to do a work.

375
00:22:24,891 --> 00:22:27,521
And God doesn't need a huge amount.

376
00:22:28,381 --> 00:22:31,641
people who love Him and adore Him.

377
00:22:33,371 --> 00:22:34,181
We need men.

378
00:22:35,961 --> 00:22:36,561
We need men.

379
00:22:36,561 --> 00:22:37,541
We don't need boys.

380
00:22:38,661 --> 00:22:39,331
Go play.

381
00:22:39,521 --> 00:22:40,241
Go live your life.

382
00:22:40,241 --> 00:22:41,121
Do whatever you want.

383
00:22:41,621 --> 00:22:42,911
But here we want men.

384
00:22:43,931 --> 00:22:48,201
We want men who have steel in their
spine and who bleed the gospel.

385
00:22:51,041 --> 00:22:52,171
Who love their wives.

386
00:22:53,021 --> 00:22:56,031
Or who love their Savior
and their singleness.

387
00:23:00,431 --> 00:23:01,251
We need women

388
00:23:03,381 --> 00:23:06,001
who have eternity stamped on their eyes.

389
00:23:07,971 --> 00:23:12,021
And with everything they do,
whatever job they're at, whatever

390
00:23:12,021 --> 00:23:16,801
place they are praying and they
are raising up the next generation.

391
00:23:20,391 --> 00:23:25,441
It's not a time to be invisible, and it's
not a time to succumb to the accusation.

392
00:23:25,441 --> 00:23:29,971
It's not a time to succumb as the enemy
puts forth, and the enemy has, and

393
00:23:29,971 --> 00:23:35,721
one of the things that happens is, for
those who come to a church that says,

394
00:23:35,771 --> 00:23:39,431
we're tired of the way things are,
and we're going to not stand for it.

395
00:23:39,441 --> 00:23:42,281
We're going to move against the
enemy, as if the enemy takes note.

396
00:23:42,901 --> 00:23:46,601
That once a church decides and says we
are going to rebuild this city for the

397
00:23:46,601 --> 00:23:50,651
praise and the glory of Jesus that his
name might be lifted up and no longer

398
00:23:50,651 --> 00:23:52,821
be a reproach, the enemy takes note.

399
00:23:53,051 --> 00:23:57,701
And the enemy all of a sudden comes
and he comes in strength like some

400
00:23:57,701 --> 00:23:59,351
of us have never known before.

401
00:24:00,051 --> 00:24:03,841
And I remember being a kid and I remember
thinking, you kind of go through this

402
00:24:03,841 --> 00:24:07,481
weird stage where your dad's always
catching you every time, right?

403
00:24:07,866 --> 00:24:10,896
And then there's that
transition to where, he doesn't.

404
00:24:12,536 --> 00:24:16,576
and I remember being at a pool and I
remember thinking, deep in, no problem.

405
00:24:16,596 --> 00:24:18,326
Don't know how to swim, that's okay.

406
00:24:18,526 --> 00:24:22,046
You know, and you jump into it,
and thinking, you know, what?

407
00:24:22,266 --> 00:24:24,366
You know, they're all swimming.

408
00:24:24,576 --> 00:24:26,596
And all of a sudden, start drowning.

409
00:24:27,176 --> 00:24:29,766
And you begin to flail and you begin
to kick, and I remember pushing up

410
00:24:29,766 --> 00:24:32,246
and seeing, and you know, there my
dad was, he's getting a drink out

411
00:24:32,246 --> 00:24:34,526
of the water fountain, I'm like,
bleh, you know, kind of a thing.

412
00:24:34,751 --> 00:24:38,501
and, you know, another time up and, and,
and, you know, people are just going,

413
00:24:38,741 --> 00:24:41,251
going around, Hey, you know, here I am.

414
00:24:41,901 --> 00:24:43,451
I'll let Jesus know you said hey.

415
00:24:43,631 --> 00:24:46,161
I remember my dad jumping in
and catching me and, putting me

416
00:24:46,161 --> 00:24:47,811
on the side and me being okay.

417
00:24:47,811 --> 00:24:51,961
But I think sometimes we hit warfare
and it's like jumping into the deep end.

418
00:24:52,626 --> 00:24:55,976
All of a sudden we begin to flail, we
begin to go, and we think it's too thick,

419
00:24:55,976 --> 00:24:59,996
it's too crazy, it's too gnarly, and we
begin to feel like we're drowning in it.

420
00:25:00,851 --> 00:25:05,691
But what happens is, if this is what we
signed up for, if we really put our hand

421
00:25:05,691 --> 00:25:11,021
to it and say we want to see the city
transformed and we will labor in prayer,

422
00:25:11,111 --> 00:25:15,901
we will labor in work, we will labor
in doing and carrying the gospel out,

423
00:25:15,911 --> 00:25:18,661
we will not stop until it is completed.

424
00:25:18,881 --> 00:25:22,771
Then what happens is that can overwhelm
us and we can be hit and we can

425
00:25:22,771 --> 00:25:24,601
go like, oh man this is too crazy,

426
00:25:24,651 --> 00:25:27,181
But what happens is you just
gotta learn to rest in it.

427
00:25:28,121 --> 00:25:30,911
Jesus has already had victory
over the enemy on the cross.

428
00:25:31,091 --> 00:25:35,641
One of the amazing things about this
passage in Nehemiah is the enemy, you're

429
00:25:35,641 --> 00:25:40,111
going to see every tactic that the enemy
employs in the Nehemiah's response to it.

430
00:25:40,251 --> 00:25:41,621
In chapters 4 to 7.

431
00:25:41,621 --> 00:25:45,831
And what's amazing about it is the
enemy, he comes and he comes with

432
00:25:45,831 --> 00:25:49,051
his horses and his chariots and
they say, we're going to kill you.

433
00:25:49,396 --> 00:25:52,656
But they can't touch him because
he's got the letter by the king.

434
00:25:52,856 --> 00:25:53,556
He's there.

435
00:25:53,556 --> 00:25:54,886
He has every right to be there.

436
00:25:55,116 --> 00:25:56,756
It's all fear and intimidation.

437
00:25:56,756 --> 00:25:57,576
It's all trickery.

438
00:25:57,576 --> 00:25:59,206
It's all lies and accusation.

439
00:25:59,476 --> 00:26:00,416
It's all deception.

440
00:26:00,416 --> 00:26:04,766
But he can never put his
hand on the people of God.

441
00:26:04,926 --> 00:26:06,806
He does not have access.

442
00:26:07,036 --> 00:26:11,446
And so we come as a church who says,
We're gonna move forward into the city.

443
00:26:11,446 --> 00:26:13,206
We're gonna take the gospel into the city.

444
00:26:13,456 --> 00:26:14,966
And we need to learn to rest.

445
00:26:15,156 --> 00:26:16,896
Because this is what we've signed up for.

446
00:26:17,116 --> 00:26:21,756
God calls us to be soldiers, I mean, he's
called us into a war and into a battle.

447
00:26:22,026 --> 00:26:23,756
And it's gonna be a battle.

448
00:26:23,956 --> 00:26:26,556
And it's gonna be hard,
and it's gonna be rough.

449
00:26:26,796 --> 00:26:30,436
But we take up our cross daily, and
we follow the one who went before us.

450
00:26:30,676 --> 00:26:33,356
Because we love and we adore
him, and there was nowhere else.

451
00:26:33,676 --> 00:26:35,896
As Peter said, Where else do we go?

452
00:26:35,896 --> 00:26:38,126
You alone have the words of eternal life.

453
00:26:38,931 --> 00:26:42,541
There's nowhere else to go, and so
we follow Him hard, we will not fall

454
00:26:42,541 --> 00:26:48,121
asleep, we will not rest, we will not
give in to the accusation, we will not

455
00:26:48,131 --> 00:26:52,911
give in to the mockery, we will not
listen to the fact that, oh, this has

456
00:26:52,981 --> 00:26:58,351
happened before, it's not gonna happen,
but we will Walk forward as His people

457
00:26:58,521 --> 00:27:03,281
taking up our cross daily and following
Him because we adore and we love Him.

458
00:27:03,461 --> 00:27:06,431
And because He's put His love
on us, we love people and the

459
00:27:06,431 --> 00:27:08,021
people in this city as well.

460
00:27:08,271 --> 00:27:10,511
And so, we will not
listen to those things.

461
00:27:10,511 --> 00:27:11,771
We begin to rest in it.

462
00:27:11,911 --> 00:27:14,421
We begin to rest that
this is the way it is.

463
00:27:14,421 --> 00:27:18,191
That this is what we've signed up for
and some of us just aren't aware of that.

464
00:27:18,426 --> 00:27:20,186
We go, oh no, something's wrong with me.

465
00:27:20,526 --> 00:27:22,536
All of a sudden I'm tempted
and I'm this and I'm that.

466
00:27:22,536 --> 00:27:26,006
And it's like, yeah,
you're on the front lines.

467
00:27:26,646 --> 00:27:28,136
Take up your shield.

468
00:27:28,946 --> 00:27:31,316
Get more time with Jesus.

469
00:27:32,836 --> 00:27:33,716
and so we need.

470
00:27:34,396 --> 00:27:35,976
To move on his response in verse 20.

471
00:27:35,986 --> 00:27:39,496
He says so I answered them and said
to them the God of heaven himself will

472
00:27:39,496 --> 00:27:43,026
prosper us He didn't argue with them.

473
00:27:43,026 --> 00:27:46,536
He didn't debate He didn't spend
and waste time saying well, this is

474
00:27:46,536 --> 00:27:49,876
my claim and we need to work this
out He didn't try to barter peace.

475
00:27:50,026 --> 00:27:52,086
He didn't say well, just
let us give us this time.

476
00:27:52,176 --> 00:27:56,136
He didn't pay him tribute He simply
said the God of heaven will prosper us.

477
00:27:56,136 --> 00:27:56,566
Therefore.

478
00:27:56,716 --> 00:28:01,161
We are his servants not your
servants We will arise and build,

479
00:28:01,581 --> 00:28:04,511
but you have no heritage or
right or memorial in Jerusalem.

480
00:28:04,511 --> 00:28:10,891
You have no place here, so
your words have no authority.

481
00:28:11,401 --> 00:28:14,231
And he looks to heaven, he looks to
God of heaven, and in essence what he

482
00:28:14,231 --> 00:28:16,111
says is, he says this is God's work.

483
00:28:16,861 --> 00:28:21,036
This isn't our work, sure it
would fail, if it was us doing it.

484
00:28:22,086 --> 00:28:23,996
God's working.

485
00:28:24,276 --> 00:28:26,566
He's the one who's going to do it.

486
00:28:26,566 --> 00:28:29,496
And so remind yourself this
morning, that as we carry the

487
00:28:29,496 --> 00:28:31,576
gospel forth, it is God's work.

488
00:28:32,316 --> 00:28:33,906
It's God's intention to build the church.

489
00:28:33,996 --> 00:28:37,146
He's the one who adds daily
those who will be saved.

490
00:28:38,416 --> 00:28:43,566
He's the one, as we lift up His name
on high, He draws all men unto Himself.

491
00:28:43,966 --> 00:28:45,476
It is God's work.

492
00:28:45,586 --> 00:28:46,616
It is God's work.

493
00:28:46,746 --> 00:28:52,456
And God's work goes forward and
will go forward by many or by few.

494
00:28:54,576 --> 00:28:56,086
But count the cost, please.

495
00:28:58,466 --> 00:29:04,506
so, we get to chapter 3, and first
of all, the reason for the work,

496
00:29:05,316 --> 00:29:06,636
it's all throughout Nehemiah.

497
00:29:07,136 --> 00:29:11,276
Nehemiah was concerned about only one
thing, and that was the glory of God.

498
00:29:11,746 --> 00:29:16,196
In chapter 2, verse 17, he says, He
said to them and we just read this,

499
00:29:16,196 --> 00:29:19,296
you see the distress that we are
in, how Jerusalem lies in waste and

500
00:29:19,296 --> 00:29:22,376
its gates are burned with fire, come
let us build the wall of Jerusalem

501
00:29:22,376 --> 00:29:25,396
that we may no longer be a reproach.

502
00:29:25,496 --> 00:29:26,746
And Nehemiah 1.

503
00:29:26,746 --> 00:29:29,226
3, he said, and they said to me,
the survivors who are from the

504
00:29:29,226 --> 00:29:33,306
captivity and the providence are
there in great distress and reproach.

505
00:29:33,506 --> 00:29:37,046
The wall of Jerusalem is also broken
down and its gates burned with fire.

506
00:29:37,316 --> 00:29:37,846
And Nehemiah 4.

507
00:29:37,846 --> 00:29:41,516
4, in response to one of the
attacks of the enemy, he says,

508
00:29:41,546 --> 00:29:43,476
hear, O God, for we are despised.

509
00:29:43,746 --> 00:29:44,316
Churn.

510
00:29:44,561 --> 00:29:48,311
Their reproach on their own heads
and give them as plunder to a land of

511
00:29:48,311 --> 00:29:51,261
captivity in chapter five, verse nine.

512
00:29:51,321 --> 00:29:55,161
Then I said, what you're doing is he's
speaking to the nobles is not good.

513
00:29:55,241 --> 00:29:59,491
Should you not walk in the fear
of our God because of the reproach

514
00:29:59,541 --> 00:30:02,061
of the nations of our enemies.

515
00:30:02,261 --> 00:30:06,011
And so over and over the driving
force behind Nehemiah isn't that he

516
00:30:06,021 --> 00:30:08,541
gets a nice place to be governor.

517
00:30:08,621 --> 00:30:11,871
It isn't that he builds the
walls and that people go, wow.

518
00:30:11,916 --> 00:30:13,316
You are a master builder.

519
00:30:13,316 --> 00:30:14,576
You are a master planner.

520
00:30:14,666 --> 00:30:19,026
We need to hire you as a consultant, you
know, to help lead, and the rebuilding

521
00:30:19,026 --> 00:30:24,576
of our city, his chief and his only
driving concern is the glory of God.

522
00:30:25,261 --> 00:30:29,891
Too long has the glory of God been
something that people laughed at,

523
00:30:29,891 --> 00:30:31,321
been something that people mocked.

524
00:30:31,491 --> 00:30:32,791
It's been a reproach.

525
00:30:32,861 --> 00:30:36,071
His name's been a reproach, as
the city, the capital, where

526
00:30:36,071 --> 00:30:38,101
the temple was, lies in ruins.

527
00:30:38,241 --> 00:30:43,291
And his driving concern, his thing that
kept him pushing and moving forward,

528
00:30:43,451 --> 00:30:47,491
that kept the workers working on the
wall in discouragement, in fear, in

529
00:30:47,491 --> 00:30:51,921
trial, in tribulation, when it was hard,
was the concern for the glory of God.

530
00:30:52,001 --> 00:30:52,271
God.

531
00:30:52,441 --> 00:30:54,441
Because Nehemiah knew who God was.

532
00:30:54,591 --> 00:30:57,151
Nehemiah, as he prayed,
great and awesome God.

533
00:30:57,311 --> 00:30:59,641
He knew God personally and intimately.

534
00:30:59,831 --> 00:31:02,161
And so he looked out at the world.

535
00:31:02,281 --> 00:31:04,581
He looked at how the world viewed God.

536
00:31:04,711 --> 00:31:06,551
And he said, that is wrong.

537
00:31:06,691 --> 00:31:08,281
That's not who my God is.

538
00:31:08,481 --> 00:31:12,461
And he was concerned that
people might know who God was.

539
00:31:12,631 --> 00:31:16,931
That God was a loving God, full
of compassion, full and longing to

540
00:31:16,931 --> 00:31:20,981
bring people back to himself, to
rebuild lives and to change them.

541
00:31:21,716 --> 00:31:24,756
So his concern was the glory
of God, that his name would

542
00:31:24,756 --> 00:31:26,216
not be reproached any longer.

543
00:31:26,216 --> 00:31:30,926
And as we move forward in Stockton, we
must make it our aim not to be successful.

544
00:31:31,096 --> 00:31:33,976
We must not make it our
aim to grow our church.

545
00:31:33,986 --> 00:31:38,566
We must not make it our aim to add
notches to our belt or buildings

546
00:31:38,566 --> 00:31:43,006
to the city, Our chief and only
concern is the glory of God.

547
00:31:43,326 --> 00:31:47,446
And we will stand shoulder to shoulder
with other churches who preach the gospel.

548
00:31:47,616 --> 00:31:54,016
We will stand with one another, many or
few, and our concern will be that Jesus

549
00:31:54,056 --> 00:31:59,236
is worshipped, that people meet Him, that
they might know that there is a Savior

550
00:31:59,326 --> 00:32:04,686
who does not task them to work and to
earn His love, but that has given His

551
00:32:04,686 --> 00:32:07,076
life freely, who has given His love.

552
00:32:07,296 --> 00:32:08,406
That is our chief.

553
00:32:08,591 --> 00:32:13,051
Concern in the city, the glory of
God that no longer will Stockton

554
00:32:13,051 --> 00:32:17,301
be a reproach that will look like
a place where God has abandoned it,

555
00:32:17,311 --> 00:32:22,661
but that it will be the place where
God has chosen to enthrone himself.

556
00:32:27,541 --> 00:32:30,741
And so that is the reason for the work.

557
00:32:31,861 --> 00:32:35,261
That's gotta be our reason,
Our reason in this city.

558
00:32:37,381 --> 00:32:39,371
We must act and function as a body.

559
00:32:40,781 --> 00:32:43,071
We function as a plurality of leaders.

560
00:32:43,731 --> 00:32:47,981
We don't have one who gives an
assignment down and then the others do.

561
00:32:48,611 --> 00:32:50,461
We function as a body here.

562
00:32:51,271 --> 00:32:52,401
We need your prayers.

563
00:32:52,401 --> 00:32:53,361
We covet them.

564
00:32:53,851 --> 00:32:55,481
We need your accountability.

565
00:32:55,751 --> 00:32:56,801
We covet them.

566
00:32:58,521 --> 00:32:59,451
we need you guys.

567
00:33:01,751 --> 00:33:04,511
And so, The people of Jesus.

568
00:33:04,531 --> 00:33:06,431
God uses all kinds of people.

569
00:33:07,451 --> 00:33:11,411
In verse 1 of chapter 3, and
verse 12 to 19, you see that

570
00:33:11,411 --> 00:33:14,061
He uses rulers and priests.

571
00:33:15,321 --> 00:33:17,431
In verse 12, He uses men and women.

572
00:33:18,041 --> 00:33:19,811
In fact, He uses whole families.

573
00:33:20,631 --> 00:33:24,061
in verse 8 and 32, he uses
professional craftsmen.

574
00:33:24,891 --> 00:33:28,691
In verses 7, even people
from outside the city.

575
00:33:29,611 --> 00:33:34,551
There was a place for everyone
and a job for everyone to work.

576
00:33:35,841 --> 00:33:38,691
First of all, leaders
must set the example.

577
00:33:38,691 --> 00:33:40,561
In Nehemiah 3, 1, notice.

578
00:33:42,981 --> 00:33:46,051
Then Elishab, the high priest,
rose up with his brethren, the

579
00:33:46,051 --> 00:33:48,241
priests, and built the Sheep Gate.

580
00:33:48,261 --> 00:33:50,291
They consecrated it and hung its doors.

581
00:33:50,481 --> 00:33:54,891
They built as far as the Tower of
the Hundred, and consecrated it,

582
00:33:55,081 --> 00:33:57,841
then as far as the Tower of Hananel.

583
00:33:58,471 --> 00:33:59,356
And, God.

584
00:33:59,566 --> 00:34:02,956
uses everyone and leaders need to lead.

585
00:34:02,966 --> 00:34:06,416
If anybody in the city should
have been busy in the work, it was

586
00:34:06,416 --> 00:34:10,706
the priest, for the glory of the
Lord was involved in the project.

587
00:34:11,045 --> 00:34:15,606
That the priest used his consecrated
hands to do manual labor shows

588
00:34:15,606 --> 00:34:21,275
that he considered the work on the
wall to be a ministry to the Lord.

589
00:34:21,516 --> 00:34:25,646
He did not say, I should be over here, I
should be doing this, I need to do this,

590
00:34:25,646 --> 00:34:29,156
or, you know, I need to Make sure the
temple's all ready when you guys do, but

591
00:34:29,166 --> 00:34:33,076
he worked, the priest worked on the wall.

592
00:34:33,416 --> 00:34:37,916
Therefore, in 31, it says, Therefore,
whether you eat or drink or whatever

593
00:34:37,916 --> 00:34:41,076
you do, do all to the glory of God.

594
00:34:41,666 --> 00:34:42,886
All to the glory of God.

595
00:34:43,085 --> 00:34:47,696
Whether it's raising your family, whether
that's working at your job, do it that

596
00:34:47,706 --> 00:34:50,295
God may be seen through you and in you.

597
00:34:50,476 --> 00:34:52,376
Do it all to the glory.

598
00:34:53,670 --> 00:34:56,130
Notice that God used the out of towners.

599
00:34:56,391 --> 00:35:00,921
look at verse 5, it says, next to them
the Tekoaites made repairs, but their

600
00:35:00,921 --> 00:35:05,231
nobles did not work, and did not put
their shoulders to the work of the Lord.

601
00:35:05,601 --> 00:35:09,731
Tekoa was a town 11 miles away
from Jerusalem, and many would

602
00:35:09,731 --> 00:35:13,501
travel to Jerusalem Two work
on the walls of Jerusalem.

603
00:35:13,791 --> 00:35:18,351
And so again, 11 miles in that day
is like, I don't know, Turlock , no.

604
00:35:18,651 --> 00:35:20,481
but it was a long ways away.

605
00:35:20,661 --> 00:35:26,011
But the fact is, is that God used people
from, without, remember Jerusalem, was

606
00:35:26,011 --> 00:35:28,201
not a place that many people inhabited.

607
00:35:28,231 --> 00:35:33,116
And at the end of the book, Nehemiah's
gonna ask for a tithe, but not, of money.

608
00:35:33,436 --> 00:35:34,636
But of people.

609
00:35:34,816 --> 00:35:37,436
He wants people to live in Jerusalem.

610
00:35:37,646 --> 00:35:39,016
from the surrounding areas.

611
00:35:39,016 --> 00:35:40,676
And they give a tithe of people.

612
00:35:40,846 --> 00:35:43,176
That they would come into the city.

613
00:35:43,176 --> 00:35:45,566
That they would begin to
inhabit the neighborhoods.

614
00:35:45,566 --> 00:35:47,066
That they begin to live there.

615
00:35:47,256 --> 00:35:50,916
And live is that
counterculture, for the Lord.

616
00:35:51,156 --> 00:35:53,156
And, in that city, representing Him.

617
00:35:53,436 --> 00:35:56,026
And so, God used people from out of town.

618
00:35:56,286 --> 00:35:59,546
The people from out of town
we see in verses, verse 7, or

619
00:35:59,546 --> 00:36:04,016
actually verse 5 and 27, that they
build at two places on the wall.

620
00:36:04,306 --> 00:36:06,436
So it wasn't that they just kind
of came in and did their thing.

621
00:36:06,596 --> 00:36:07,766
But they were invested.

622
00:36:07,766 --> 00:36:11,206
In fact, they did more than some of
the other people who lived in the town.

623
00:36:11,516 --> 00:36:14,986
And so, The people from
Jericho, we see that in verse 2.

624
00:36:14,986 --> 00:36:16,446
Gibeon and Mizpah in verse 7.

625
00:36:16,736 --> 00:36:21,696
And so, all throughout the area, people
got the vision and they said, We are gonna

626
00:36:21,696 --> 00:36:27,556
come, we are gonna, give our time and
our resources to this work in this city.

627
00:36:27,566 --> 00:36:28,256
It's important.

628
00:36:28,256 --> 00:36:31,496
God has put, a vision there
and He wants people to do it.

629
00:36:31,496 --> 00:36:35,796
And so, just Again, thank
you, for those and we love you

630
00:36:35,976 --> 00:36:38,406
as our focus is on Stockton.

631
00:36:38,556 --> 00:36:42,756
We thank you for coming and for
participating and laboring with

632
00:36:42,756 --> 00:36:44,106
us in the work of the city.

633
00:36:44,106 --> 00:36:48,521
All you who are from, without this
church probably would not exist if it

634
00:36:48,521 --> 00:36:50,171
wasn't from people from without a town.

635
00:36:51,171 --> 00:36:55,821
in the beginning it was almost
exclusively people who supported

636
00:36:55,821 --> 00:37:00,101
this work from different parts
from Modesto and Turlock and Lodi

637
00:37:00,111 --> 00:37:02,081
and, Manteca and all these places.

638
00:37:02,341 --> 00:37:05,151
And so, we love and we adore you guys.

639
00:37:05,311 --> 00:37:06,861
And, moved to Stockton already.

640
00:37:07,091 --> 00:37:09,081
Um,  just kidding.

641
00:37:11,291 --> 00:37:16,501
But as the Lord expands the work, so
he'll bring works to those cities as well.

642
00:37:16,871 --> 00:37:21,181
and, and as that people would
benefit as Jerusalem was established.

643
00:37:21,431 --> 00:37:25,081
and so, some people, they did
more work than other people.

644
00:37:25,321 --> 00:37:26,701
In Nehemiah 3.

645
00:37:26,701 --> 00:37:30,451
11, verse 19, 21, 24, 27, and 30.

646
00:37:30,451 --> 00:37:34,041
Most of the workers are glad to lay down
their tools when their job is finished.

647
00:37:34,181 --> 00:37:37,051
But these people asked for
additional assignments.

648
00:37:37,291 --> 00:37:38,691
They did not, they had this vision.

649
00:37:38,691 --> 00:37:39,771
We need to get this done.

650
00:37:39,941 --> 00:37:41,321
We want to carry it.

651
00:37:41,331 --> 00:37:43,411
They didn't just say, okay,
this is what's been given me.

652
00:37:43,551 --> 00:37:45,951
So I'm just gonna see to
this, to this being done.

653
00:37:45,951 --> 00:37:47,431
But they said, what else can we do?

654
00:37:47,591 --> 00:37:48,921
How else can we help?

655
00:37:48,951 --> 00:37:50,191
We've got, you know, resource.

656
00:37:50,191 --> 00:37:50,851
We've got this.

657
00:37:50,991 --> 00:37:52,411
Let us all work together.

658
00:37:52,411 --> 00:37:53,761
Let us all do it together.

659
00:37:54,051 --> 00:37:56,221
Some did their work at their home.

660
00:37:56,271 --> 00:37:58,186
chapter 3, verse 10, 23.

661
00:37:58,656 --> 00:37:59,546
28 to 30.

662
00:37:59,896 --> 00:38:03,056
You have at least six different
workers, plus an unknown number of

663
00:38:03,056 --> 00:38:07,696
priests, repair the portions of the
wall that were nearest to their houses.

664
00:38:07,856 --> 00:38:09,716
And so they worked in their neighborhoods.

665
00:38:09,716 --> 00:38:11,626
They worked exactly where they lived.

666
00:38:11,636 --> 00:38:14,496
That's where they built the
wall, the places that mattered.

667
00:38:14,716 --> 00:38:17,986
And so God calls us all to begin
to rebuild in our neighborhoods.

668
00:38:18,051 --> 00:38:22,781
That we would begin to pray and labor in
prayer to get people who are believers

669
00:38:22,781 --> 00:38:26,111
as well together in that neighborhood and
say, let's begin to pray that God work in

670
00:38:26,111 --> 00:38:31,751
this neighborhood, that you for a year or
two years, labor consistently in prayer.

671
00:38:31,921 --> 00:38:34,081
And then what happens is
you look for opportunities.

672
00:38:34,231 --> 00:38:35,791
Let's go help this family.

673
00:38:35,791 --> 00:38:39,771
Let's go get the church to rebuild
this house, or let's go help.

674
00:38:39,911 --> 00:38:44,271
them fix their car here And what
happens is as you begin to be missional

675
00:38:44,311 --> 00:38:48,461
in that sense, you begin to get this
vision for that neighborhood and then

676
00:38:48,461 --> 00:38:50,261
you build bridges for the gospel.

677
00:38:50,361 --> 00:38:52,721
And so, some people
work harder than others.

678
00:38:52,721 --> 00:38:53,081
In Nehemiah 3.

679
00:38:53,081 --> 00:38:58,461
20, it says, Notice verse 20, it says,
And after him, Barak, the son of Zabal,

680
00:38:58,661 --> 00:39:02,071
carefully repaired the other section
from the buttress of the door to the

681
00:39:02,071 --> 00:39:03,791
house of Elisha of the high priest.

682
00:39:04,081 --> 00:39:08,451
That word carefully there, in, in
the Hebrew, is actually zealously.

683
00:39:08,481 --> 00:39:09,691
It means to burn.

684
00:39:09,751 --> 00:39:10,831
To be hot with.

685
00:39:11,011 --> 00:39:15,961
And so here's one who saw this labor in
this work, and they burned and they said,

686
00:39:16,021 --> 00:39:18,361
this is from the Lord building this wall.

687
00:39:18,421 --> 00:39:22,981
And so he did, he spent himself
on it and he burned out on it

688
00:39:22,986 --> 00:39:24,886
in a good way, burn out, on it.

689
00:39:24,886 --> 00:39:28,956
And so, it means earnestly,
to burn or to glow.

690
00:39:29,116 --> 00:39:32,356
Ecclesiastes nine 10 says,
whatever your hand finds to do,

691
00:39:32,356 --> 00:39:33,706
do it with all of your mind.

692
00:39:34,516 --> 00:39:37,096
Because ultimately,
we're doing it for Jesus.

693
00:39:37,306 --> 00:39:38,526
We should be doing it for Jesus.

694
00:39:38,526 --> 00:39:44,856
And so our work, you know, Christians have
a bad rap for being pretty lame at work.

695
00:39:46,086 --> 00:39:47,006
And you know,

696
00:39:49,196 --> 00:39:54,076
we need to work hard because
we're not working ultimately

697
00:39:54,076 --> 00:39:55,796
for a paycheck as believers.

698
00:39:56,366 --> 00:39:58,806
We're not working for
the weekend as believers.

699
00:39:58,986 --> 00:40:00,846
We're not just getting by.

700
00:40:00,876 --> 00:40:01,986
We're not just doing these things.

701
00:40:02,136 --> 00:40:07,036
We are serving Jesus through our
work and praying and praising and,

702
00:40:07,036 --> 00:40:13,576
and asking that people see Jesus and
how we move and how we do things.

703
00:40:16,446 --> 00:40:21,146
I really had a hard time thinking that
one through practically until I used

704
00:40:21,146 --> 00:40:24,586
to work as an electrician and it was a
couple of us guys who were believers.

705
00:40:25,651 --> 00:40:28,511
And there was a guy there, really
hard, to the things of the Lord.

706
00:40:28,851 --> 00:40:31,021
Really, really pretty standoffish.

707
00:40:32,441 --> 00:40:33,691
Until he hit rock bottom.

708
00:40:34,521 --> 00:40:38,591
And, I remember my boss getting a
call, and he got a call from this

709
00:40:38,591 --> 00:40:40,381
guy, and he's like, I'm saved!

710
00:40:40,581 --> 00:40:41,651
I got saved!

711
00:40:41,891 --> 00:40:42,871
I got saved!

712
00:40:42,871 --> 00:40:44,971
and, you know, as he kind of
found out, well, what was it?

713
00:40:44,981 --> 00:40:46,051
Did you, go to a church?

714
00:40:46,051 --> 00:40:47,071
Did somebody witness to you?

715
00:40:47,291 --> 00:40:50,291
He said, all I could
think about was your guys.

716
00:40:51,311 --> 00:40:53,301
And they always did
everything with a smile.

717
00:40:53,301 --> 00:40:54,981
There was something
different about their lives.

718
00:40:54,981 --> 00:40:55,951
They worked hard.

719
00:40:56,191 --> 00:40:58,781
they stayed after to get it done.

720
00:40:59,191 --> 00:41:03,311
When I was in trouble, they helped me,
you know, to bail me out kind of a thing.

721
00:41:03,481 --> 00:41:06,751
There was something different in their
lives and it drove them to Jesus.

722
00:41:08,481 --> 00:41:09,881
All we did was put pipe together.

723
00:41:13,271 --> 00:41:18,711
But when you do it as worship to
Jesus, again, people take note.

724
00:41:20,521 --> 00:41:25,071
In verse 5 it talks about the nobles, and
I love, because this chapter, chapter 3

725
00:41:25,071 --> 00:41:29,361
is full of names, and you can read it,
and it's name after complicated name,

726
00:41:29,531 --> 00:41:32,911
after I would never name my baby that
name, and it's, name, and name, and

727
00:41:32,911 --> 00:41:34,471
name, and you think about scripture.

728
00:41:34,701 --> 00:41:38,371
That scripture has been built
on the blood of martyrs to have

729
00:41:38,381 --> 00:41:40,211
what we have in our laps today.

730
00:41:40,361 --> 00:41:44,111
You think about how many times
it's been tried to be taken out.

731
00:41:44,121 --> 00:41:45,921
How many people have stood against it.

732
00:41:45,931 --> 00:41:47,511
How many people have criticized it.

733
00:41:47,721 --> 00:41:50,281
You think about just
scripture being God's word.

734
00:41:50,281 --> 00:41:53,681
He says, heaven and earth will pass away,
but my word will by no means pass away.

735
00:41:54,186 --> 00:41:59,636
Scripture, amazing, perfect, infallible,
you know, and here's this thing.

736
00:41:59,756 --> 00:42:01,576
And there's a list full of names.

737
00:42:02,246 --> 00:42:03,426
There's a list full of names.

738
00:42:03,426 --> 00:42:08,716
I mean, don't you have better ways
to use room than just listing names?

739
00:42:08,876 --> 00:42:12,756
But it's amazing because there's such
a contrast because here are people who

740
00:42:12,756 --> 00:42:14,766
went to work and they did the work.

741
00:42:14,766 --> 00:42:18,136
They said, I will do my part in
this city and I will rebuild.

742
00:42:18,286 --> 00:42:21,286
And God throughout all of
history takes note of it.

743
00:42:22,281 --> 00:42:27,241
God takes note of it in scripture, and
he says this person, and this person

744
00:42:27,241 --> 00:42:28,871
worked, this person worked hard.

745
00:42:29,051 --> 00:42:34,151
He takes note of the work of
building a wall in 52 days.

746
00:42:34,271 --> 00:42:37,631
He takes note of just putting
rocks on top of one another so

747
00:42:37,631 --> 00:42:39,271
that his glory might be seen.

748
00:42:39,271 --> 00:42:40,691
He takes note of that.

749
00:42:40,691 --> 00:42:42,561
But there's something
that he did not name.

750
00:42:42,561 --> 00:42:46,111
There are peoples, in this story
whose names don't get in there.

751
00:42:46,231 --> 00:42:48,001
And that's the people who refuse to work.

752
00:42:48,001 --> 00:42:52,571
He just calls them nobles in
almost an ironic mocking way.

753
00:42:52,741 --> 00:42:54,001
Oh, the nobles.

754
00:42:54,366 --> 00:42:56,066
Because they're not noble to God.

755
00:42:56,236 --> 00:42:58,386
Because God doesn't take
note of who they were.

756
00:42:58,706 --> 00:43:02,506
Yes, they rise, and yes, they had
power, and yes, they had influence

757
00:43:02,516 --> 00:43:07,006
in their time, and in their sphere,
and yes, they had comfort and luxury.

758
00:43:07,236 --> 00:43:09,656
But God didn't take note of their names.

759
00:43:09,786 --> 00:43:13,532
God took note of the perfumers, and
the goldsmiths, and the ironsmiths,

760
00:43:13,532 --> 00:43:17,176
and the families who were impoverished,
and the people who came from all walks.

761
00:43:17,276 --> 00:43:19,626
It was the people who put their
hand to the plow, counting

762
00:43:19,626 --> 00:43:21,856
the cost, not looking back.

763
00:43:23,826 --> 00:43:24,976
But He didn't take note of the nobles.

764
00:43:26,036 --> 00:43:29,066
He just said, they didn't work,

765
00:43:31,416 --> 00:43:32,116
they didn't work.

766
00:43:32,916 --> 00:43:37,286
And so to God, that's not nobility,
because God judges differently.

767
00:43:40,836 --> 00:43:42,716
So some people, they refused to work.

768
00:43:43,786 --> 00:43:48,796
They were too important in their own
eyes, or perhaps they had already

769
00:43:48,796 --> 00:43:50,716
succumbed to the enemy's tactic.

770
00:43:50,946 --> 00:43:54,746
Perhaps they talked together and said,
hey, this has happened before, do

771
00:43:54,746 --> 00:43:56,256
you really think it can happen again?

772
00:43:56,456 --> 00:44:00,776
And they began, and in chapter 5 we'll
see, they became the mixed multitude.

773
00:44:00,786 --> 00:44:05,601
I mean to say, the Did God
really want us to do this?

774
00:44:05,601 --> 00:44:06,401
This is hard.

775
00:44:06,401 --> 00:44:07,241
This is difficult.

776
00:44:07,411 --> 00:44:10,621
Wouldn't it be better if we just went
back to peace and security and safety?

777
00:44:10,851 --> 00:44:12,061
Let's not rock the boat.

778
00:44:12,291 --> 00:44:15,541
It's too hard to go into Stockton,
really plant that many churches.

779
00:44:15,541 --> 00:44:16,131
Are you kidding?

780
00:44:16,141 --> 00:44:20,011
That's, that's kind of rough and,
and, and, and, and this kind of this

781
00:44:20,021 --> 00:44:23,181
way and, and, you know, Stockton's
always going to be Stockton.

782
00:44:23,181 --> 00:44:25,671
It's always going to be in
this situation in this state.

783
00:44:25,911 --> 00:44:27,701
It's always going to be in this case.

784
00:44:28,261 --> 00:44:33,081
and I find that the people who talk the
most and criticize the churches the most.

785
00:44:33,646 --> 00:44:36,436
are the people who never lift a
finger to do anything to help out.

786
00:44:39,946 --> 00:44:41,966
It's just the way it is, I guess.

787
00:44:43,136 --> 00:44:45,826
It's the people who talk and say,
look at the gaps, and they never

788
00:44:45,826 --> 00:44:47,406
lift a stone to fill in the gap.

789
00:44:50,446 --> 00:44:53,376
And people come and they say,
you know, oh, this should be this

790
00:44:53,376 --> 00:44:55,706
way, or this should be this way,
or this, this, this, and this.

791
00:44:57,886 --> 00:45:02,876
You know, we constantly invite people
to our staff meetings on Friday nights.

792
00:45:02,876 --> 00:45:05,236
It's called prayer.

793
00:45:06,936 --> 00:45:09,556
We meet with the senior pastor
to find out what he wants to do.

794
00:45:12,406 --> 00:45:13,366
Come to a staff meeting.

795
00:45:17,416 --> 00:45:18,066
Think about it.

796
00:45:20,976 --> 00:45:22,076
It's going to be hard.

797
00:45:24,026 --> 00:45:24,916
It's going to be difficult.

798
00:45:26,651 --> 00:45:28,291
It's going to mean laying down your life.

799
00:45:29,861 --> 00:45:32,411
It's going to mean giving up
when you could have comfort.

800
00:45:32,421 --> 00:45:36,871
It's going to mean inviting
people in when you want solitude.

801
00:45:40,651 --> 00:45:41,211
Think about it.

802
00:45:43,491 --> 00:45:44,241
But God takes note.

803
00:45:47,971 --> 00:45:49,541
Well done now, good and faithful servant.

804
00:45:52,441 --> 00:45:54,101
Will anything else matter on that day?

805
00:45:56,951 --> 00:45:57,611
Will anything?

806
00:45:58,591 --> 00:46:05,726
I mean, will all our success and
financial status and Our prestige

807
00:46:05,726 --> 00:46:08,606
level 10, what will matter?

808
00:46:11,476 --> 00:46:13,346
Standing face to face with the Savior,

809
00:46:15,426 --> 00:46:18,176
who bore those wounds for you and for me.

810
00:46:22,406 --> 00:46:24,456
I want to read you scripture in Ephesians.

811
00:46:27,046 --> 00:46:29,636
The great thing about the Lord is
He's never, He's never condemning.

812
00:46:29,686 --> 00:46:33,576
you know, Lord, I haven't worked, I
haven't lived my life for eternity.

813
00:46:33,946 --> 00:46:37,806
He doesn't say, yeah, you.

814
00:46:37,806 --> 00:46:39,721
He says, I know it's okay.

815
00:46:40,861 --> 00:46:42,711
Here, take your place on the wall.

816
00:46:44,041 --> 00:46:44,481
Work.

817
00:46:46,271 --> 00:46:48,631
And He's gifted you all,
young and old, in this room.

818
00:46:50,671 --> 00:46:51,741
And you all have a place.

819
00:46:52,491 --> 00:46:55,771
One of the beautiful things is to see
the perfumers next to the goldsmiths, and

820
00:46:55,771 --> 00:47:00,381
to see every walk of life in every shape
coming together as the community of God,

821
00:47:01,301 --> 00:47:03,601
and laboring for the sake of His glory.

822
00:47:06,701 --> 00:47:08,011
It's beautiful.

823
00:47:08,081 --> 00:47:14,051
In Ephesians chapter 2 verse 19, it
says, Now therefore you are no longer

824
00:47:14,051 --> 00:47:18,071
strangers and foreigners, but you
are fellow citizens with the saints

825
00:47:18,071 --> 00:47:19,671
and members of the household of God.

826
00:47:20,451 --> 00:47:23,661
So no longer strangers, but now
we are made the family of God.

827
00:47:23,691 --> 00:47:28,801
Each member having a place, having
been built on the foundation of the

828
00:47:28,801 --> 00:47:32,341
apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ
himself being the chief cornerstone.

829
00:47:32,341 --> 00:47:35,521
Speaking of scripture as being the
foundation, that's how we know.

830
00:47:36,826 --> 00:47:39,876
what we should believe about
this and that, ultimately

831
00:47:39,876 --> 00:47:41,196
scripture being about Jesus.

832
00:47:41,196 --> 00:47:44,306
And that's why we're here, to be
hearing about Him, to be gathered in

833
00:47:44,306 --> 00:47:49,086
His name, to be falling in love, with
Him, for Jesus to become more and more.

834
00:47:49,176 --> 00:47:53,806
Beautiful in whom the whole building
being fitted together grows into a

835
00:47:53,806 --> 00:47:58,146
holy temple in the Lord in whom you
also are being built together for a

836
00:47:58,146 --> 00:47:59,786
dwelling place of God in the spirit.

837
00:47:59,786 --> 00:48:03,196
And so what the Lord wants to do
in first Peter chapter two, verse

838
00:48:03,206 --> 00:48:05,216
five, he calls us living stones.

839
00:48:05,691 --> 00:48:10,121
And he says, here we are, we're stones,
and he talks about the temple, being

840
00:48:10,121 --> 00:48:13,761
fitted together, and what would happen
is in the quarry, when they were building

841
00:48:13,761 --> 00:48:17,991
the temple, they would not allow hammers
or chisels or anything that made noise

842
00:48:18,271 --> 00:48:21,761
to happen on the temple grounds because
the place was sacred, and so they would

843
00:48:21,801 --> 00:48:25,981
carefully hew out the stones, these huge,
gigantic stones, and that's about it.

844
00:48:26,001 --> 00:48:30,641
Carefully to precision where you could not
slide a piece of paper in between them.

845
00:48:30,681 --> 00:48:32,461
They were so perfectly cut out.

846
00:48:32,761 --> 00:48:36,241
And so they would cut out these
stones, which speaks to our conversion.

847
00:48:36,431 --> 00:48:42,161
That from out of, chaos, God has hewn
out for himself a people and he's each

848
00:48:42,171 --> 00:48:46,731
given us and he's made us as living
stones to fit together into a community.

849
00:48:47,081 --> 00:48:49,641
And we are not that by ourselves.

850
00:48:49,641 --> 00:48:51,751
We are only that with one another.

851
00:48:52,221 --> 00:48:56,561
We only find our identity as the
church and as Christians when we

852
00:48:56,571 --> 00:49:01,331
stand together, when we become
the building that God fills, the

853
00:49:01,331 --> 00:49:03,171
people in which He works through.

854
00:49:03,371 --> 00:49:08,601
Again, as God will use an individual,
He longs to use and He desires to

855
00:49:08,601 --> 00:49:12,941
use, and the normality of His use
is using a group of people, using a

856
00:49:12,981 --> 00:49:15,241
community who love Him and adore Him.

857
00:49:15,991 --> 00:49:17,571
And it's to be fit together.

858
00:49:17,571 --> 00:49:20,071
Have you ever seen a keystone
when you build an arch?

859
00:49:20,651 --> 00:49:25,601
And you've got this arch And there's
this special fit, for this one stone.

860
00:49:25,741 --> 00:49:29,261
And this stone can't stand by itself
because of the way it's shaped.

861
00:49:29,311 --> 00:49:31,811
You know, it's built
specially for one thing.

862
00:49:31,991 --> 00:49:35,881
And that's to take the arches
that would fall, without it.

863
00:49:35,911 --> 00:49:40,021
And to put that in so that all the
pressure fits Perfectly in there is

864
00:49:40,021 --> 00:49:44,481
then put on that keystone, and then it's
strong and nothing could take that down.

865
00:49:44,761 --> 00:49:48,441
And so you have been designed, and you
have been shaped, and you have been

866
00:49:48,451 --> 00:49:52,951
gifted specifically to be put in the
building of God and in the church of God.

867
00:49:53,141 --> 00:49:57,991
And to remove yourself from that as
a believer is to cause the found, is

868
00:49:57,991 --> 00:50:02,571
to cause that to weaken, to cause the
building to be not as strong as it is, or

869
00:50:02,571 --> 00:50:05,761
to not be entirely what it was made to be.

870
00:50:06,361 --> 00:50:07,591
So God calls you.

871
00:50:08,136 --> 00:50:09,666
And he's the one who fits you in.

872
00:50:09,966 --> 00:50:15,086
And let me tell you, do you think
a perfumer swinging a hammer, do

873
00:50:15,086 --> 00:50:16,546
you think it was just perfection?

874
00:50:17,456 --> 00:50:17,796
No.

875
00:50:20,096 --> 00:50:23,276
He's like, Oh, I, I ruined it again.

876
00:50:23,286 --> 00:50:24,466
Spray some cologne on it.

877
00:50:24,466 --> 00:50:25,246
I don't know, you know.

878
00:50:25,896 --> 00:50:31,581
What do you, I mean, It was
messy, they were taking rubble

879
00:50:31,581 --> 00:50:35,191
and trash, it wasn't like a kit
you get and you build a wall kit.

880
00:50:35,691 --> 00:50:39,051
I mean it was gnarly and people were
making mistakes and they're falling

881
00:50:39,051 --> 00:50:42,681
over one another and stuff, but they
worked and they kept it going and when

882
00:50:42,681 --> 00:50:45,601
they got discouraged they were there
for one another and they held and

883
00:50:45,601 --> 00:50:49,551
they said keep working, keep going,
keep carrying the gospel out, be not

884
00:50:49,551 --> 00:50:54,181
weary and well doing for in due season
you shall reap if you faint not.

885
00:50:54,441 --> 00:50:57,211
Go, go, go, keep going.

886
00:50:57,801 --> 00:50:57,871
Keep going.

887
00:50:58,311 --> 00:50:58,951
Keep going.

888
00:51:01,351 --> 00:51:02,341
And he fit them together.

889
00:51:05,971 --> 00:51:09,321
The enemy has many jewels here,

890
00:51:12,331 --> 00:51:13,671
but they're not glorious jewels.

891
00:51:13,671 --> 00:51:20,021
They're like coal and they're, they're
like charcoal and, and he holds them

892
00:51:20,021 --> 00:51:26,061
up as testimonies and as a testament
to his strength and his power.

893
00:51:27,651 --> 00:51:32,091
And like Sambalat and Tobiah and
Geshem, they laugh and they mock at

894
00:51:32,091 --> 00:51:34,591
the idea of God changing the city.

895
00:51:35,171 --> 00:51:38,481
And they put on display, they say,
look at my strongholds, look at my

896
00:51:38,481 --> 00:51:42,281
places, I have ruled this place, do you
think that it will be any different?

897
00:51:42,511 --> 00:51:47,161
And they hold up person, after
person, after person, after person.

898
00:51:48,111 --> 00:51:54,471
Like some stain on, in the central
valley is, is his testimony and

899
00:51:54,481 --> 00:51:56,051
is his things as he holds up.

900
00:51:58,066 --> 00:52:00,266
He uses them as proof in Malachi

901
00:52:02,776 --> 00:52:05,376
chapter 3, verse 17.

902
00:52:07,736 --> 00:52:09,936
I just believe this verse is for Stockton.

903
00:52:12,266 --> 00:52:19,706
He says, They shall be mine,
says the Lord of hosts, on

904
00:52:19,706 --> 00:52:22,307
the day that I make them mine.

905
00:52:22,606 --> 00:52:30,126
My jewels, my jewels, and I
will spare them as a man spares

906
00:52:30,126 --> 00:52:32,076
his own son who serves him.

907
00:52:34,796 --> 00:52:43,106
As the enemy holds up his idea and his,
proof, God would long to hold you up as

908
00:52:43,106 --> 00:52:44,826
a beautiful jewel that he's made you.

909
00:52:45,536 --> 00:52:50,106
A jewel of his grace, a jewel
of his mercy, a jewel of a life

910
00:52:50,146 --> 00:52:54,496
that has been given to him and
transformed and changed by him.

911
00:52:55,451 --> 00:52:59,611
So where the enemy says,
look it, we stand together.

912
00:53:01,461 --> 00:53:05,101
And we look at one
another, and we say yes.

913
00:53:07,031 --> 00:53:08,171
Look at what God can do.

914
00:53:10,131 --> 00:53:11,721
Look at what God can do in a life.

915
00:53:13,421 --> 00:53:20,981
He can take people addicted, slaves to
that addiction, and He can transform them.

916
00:53:21,491 --> 00:53:22,401
and change them.

917
00:53:22,771 --> 00:53:27,201
He can take witches and people who
worship the devil and the occult

918
00:53:28,321 --> 00:53:31,251
and he can make them his jewels.

919
00:53:32,791 --> 00:53:34,351
He can take the gnarliest.

920
00:53:34,481 --> 00:53:38,621
He can take the most religious and he
puts them on display of his grace and

921
00:53:38,621 --> 00:53:42,521
he says, yes, but this is what I do
and this is what I'll do in this city.

922
00:53:43,236 --> 00:53:50,156
And so we remember our God, great
and awesome, great and awesome.

923
00:53:50,496 --> 00:53:53,886
But in verse 17 it says, And I
will spare them as a man spares

924
00:53:53,886 --> 00:53:55,296
his own son who serves him.

925
00:53:56,796 --> 00:54:00,466
But to make you a jewel, and
that's just common sense, isn't it?

926
00:54:00,466 --> 00:54:04,526
It's common sense that we would
spare a son, we would reward a son.

927
00:54:04,816 --> 00:54:09,966
Somebody who was obedient, somebody who
did nothing to, rebel, or none of that.

928
00:54:10,036 --> 00:54:11,196
We would reward them.

929
00:54:11,361 --> 00:54:15,241
openly, because, man, they
bring us joy in their obedience.

930
00:54:15,481 --> 00:54:19,131
But if you're here today and you don't
know Jesus, the truth of the gospel is

931
00:54:19,131 --> 00:54:22,451
that God, he did, not spare his son.

932
00:54:22,451 --> 00:54:24,631
Even though Jesus was obedient.

933
00:54:24,891 --> 00:54:27,071
Obedient in every way, shape, or form.

934
00:54:27,071 --> 00:54:27,801
He obeyed the law.

935
00:54:27,801 --> 00:54:29,171
He did not sin.

936
00:54:29,861 --> 00:54:33,211
And what Jesus did because of his great
love, and God did because of his great

937
00:54:33,211 --> 00:54:36,431
love, is he gave his son up a ransom.

938
00:54:37,621 --> 00:54:39,051
You need to know that today.

939
00:54:40,036 --> 00:54:44,886
That for you to be made a jewel,
it cost innocent blood, but

940
00:54:47,666 --> 00:54:52,916
He made the way for you, and He
made the way for me, by going to

941
00:54:52,916 --> 00:54:55,336
the cross and by bearing our sin.

942
00:54:59,196 --> 00:55:02,516
If you don't know Jesus in this place,
He adores you, and He loves you, and

943
00:55:02,516 --> 00:55:08,716
He longs to take what the enemy means,
and the enemy holds up, and the enemy

944
00:55:08,926 --> 00:55:11,126
applauds, and the enemy says, look it.

945
00:55:11,511 --> 00:55:17,131
This is the reason why it won't happen,
and Jesus longs to, because of what He did

946
00:55:17,131 --> 00:55:22,361
at the cross, take you, and to wash you,
and make you clean, and to hold you up as

947
00:55:22,361 --> 00:55:27,171
a jewel and a testament of His grace and
mercy and say, yes, but this is what I do.

948
00:55:28,611 --> 00:55:32,251
And this is why I came, and
this is why I laid down my life.

949
00:55:32,251 --> 00:55:37,681
No one takes my life, but I give it
freely, so that many would come to me.

950
00:55:39,431 --> 00:55:40,481
What a beautiful thing.

951
00:55:41,336 --> 00:55:46,586
When God's people recognize what he's
done, recognize their absolute, absolute

952
00:55:47,186 --> 00:55:54,506
putrid state in sin, and yet Jesus desired
to press them, and to hold them, and to

953
00:55:54,506 --> 00:55:56,676
wash them, and to make them his treasure.

954
00:55:57,691 --> 00:55:59,261
All by his grace, all by his mercy.

955
00:55:59,261 --> 00:56:02,041
And what that does is it causes
us to worship him together

956
00:56:02,331 --> 00:56:03,801
and to say, isn't he good?

957
00:56:04,051 --> 00:56:05,671
Isn't he great and awesome?

958
00:56:05,841 --> 00:56:11,461
And no amount of accusation, no amount
of lie, no amount of proof that the

959
00:56:11,471 --> 00:56:14,171
enemy holds can touch a candle to that.

960
00:56:14,171 --> 00:56:18,321
I mean, it's a revolution

961
00:56:21,311 --> 00:56:22,881
as he takes life and he changes them.

962
00:56:23,431 --> 00:56:24,801
So let's be the church today.

963
00:56:25,761 --> 00:56:29,151
If some of us maybe we need to
repent just for listening to the

964
00:56:29,151 --> 00:56:30,861
lie because of the sin of unbelief.

965
00:56:31,611 --> 00:56:35,141
Some of us need to repent
because we haven't worked.

966
00:56:36,191 --> 00:56:39,371
We've been critical and we've just
looked and we've been consumers in an

967
00:56:39,381 --> 00:56:45,381
individual society asking to be loved
radically but never being vulnerable.

968
00:56:47,991 --> 00:56:51,421
And again, some of us need to
repent just for the fact that

969
00:56:51,421 --> 00:56:54,851
we've held back our gifts because
we've been hurt by the church.

970
00:56:59,176 --> 00:57:03,396
And I'm not telling you it's going to
be perfect, but I'm telling you, as we

971
00:57:03,396 --> 00:57:08,056
worship and look and keep our eyes on
Jesus, we'll keep building the wall.

972
00:57:10,826 --> 00:57:14,586
Some of us just need to renew our
love for Jesus as we take communion

973
00:57:14,586 --> 00:57:16,266
and just say, You are amazing.

974
00:57:16,276 --> 00:57:16,976
You are great.

975
00:57:16,986 --> 00:57:17,846
You are awesome.

976
00:57:18,036 --> 00:57:18,966
You are magnificent.

977
00:57:20,646 --> 00:57:21,676
I've lost sight of that.

978
00:57:22,006 --> 00:57:23,736
And I've made other things magnificent.

979
00:57:23,936 --> 00:57:25,176
I've made other things this.

980
00:57:25,766 --> 00:57:28,146
But I'd ask you all to count the cost.

981
00:57:30,036 --> 00:57:31,996
There will be warfare in this church.

982
00:57:32,986 --> 00:57:36,266
It will not be easy.

983
00:57:39,036 --> 00:57:43,546
But we will move forward and by
God's grace, because it's his work,

984
00:57:44,386 --> 00:57:45,966
we're gonna see this city changed.

985
00:57:46,856 --> 00:57:47,386
We love you.

986
00:57:47,986 --> 00:57:49,076
Thank you that it's your work Lord.

987
00:57:49,896 --> 00:57:50,856
So Lord, I pray that

988
00:57:52,921 --> 00:57:55,131
You do a work in us that you'd
knit our hearts together, that

989
00:57:55,141 --> 00:57:58,311
you'd bind us together, Jesus,
Lord, that we would be your people.

990
00:57:58,681 --> 00:58:02,061
That, Lord, the world would see
because of our love for one another.

991
00:58:02,491 --> 00:58:06,341
God, I pray, Lord, that you would
be the cornerstone in our lives

992
00:58:06,571 --> 00:58:08,441
upon which we build everything.

993
00:58:09,371 --> 00:58:09,911
Jesus, we love you.