He knows how to embarrass somebody.
It's so good to be here this evening. I'm sorry I couldn't
come. I think Frank asked me back the
first of the year and it just didn't work out because of the
weather. We're so delighted to be here this evening and I pray
our Lord enables us to worship him. You would open your Bible
to Nehemiah chapter 4. This will be our primary text,
but I'm going to go back and I'm going to bring us up to where
we are here in this chapter. We'll probably be looking mainly
at this chapter. I'll give you a minute to find
it because it may be in a while since you looked at the little
book of Nehemiah. We may call it a small book, but this was
written for our learning and for our admonition. These things
that happened here during Nehemiah's time, they happened on purpose.
It happened for a reason, and I think these are recorded that
God may enable us to learn the lessons in this chapter. Here, the children of Israel,
they, remember, were taken into Babylon for 70 long years. Our Lord sent Isaiah and Jeremiah
and those prophets and prophesied to those people and said, turn
from your idols. And they would not listen. And
God brought Nebuchadnezzar from that place called Babylon and
took them into captivity for 70 years. You would turn with
me and I'll read the account in Jeremiah chapter 39 when this
happened. When they came, and you imagine,
that great temple that Solomon built. and that wall around that
temple. And when they came in, they destroyed
it all. Nebuchadnezzar was just an instrument
in God's hand to accomplish his purpose. In Jeremiah 39 verse
4, it says, It came to pass that when Zedekiah the king saw them,
and all the men of war, that they fled and went forth out
of the city by night, by the way of the king's garden, by
the gate betwixt the two walls, and went out the way of the plain.
But the Chaldeans' army pursued after them, and overtook Zedekiah
in the plains of Jericho. And when they had taken him,
they brought him to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, to Rehoboth,
in the land of Hamath, where he gave judgment upon him. Then
the king of Babylon, watch this, slew the two sons of Zedekiah
and Rehoboam before his eyes. Also the king of Babylon slew
all the nobles of Judah. Moreover, he put out Zedekiah's
eyes and bound him with chains to carry him to Babylon. And
in verse eight, and the Chaldeans burned the king's house and the
houses of the people with fire and break down the walls of Jerusalem."
That's what they did. Then Nebuchadnezzar, the captain
of the guard, carried away captive into Babylon. Now what's this?
The remnant of the people that remained in the city and those
that fell away that fell to him with the rest of the people that
remained. Nebuchadnezzar, the captain of the guard, left of
the poor of the people. which had nothing in the land of Judah and gave
them vineyards and fields. Can you imagine living in that
time? The poor which had nothing is
the ones he left. But they're his remnant. They're
his remnant. You know, what's amazing is how
our God is so gracious and merciful. Even though he told them they're
going into Babylon, he said it's only for 70 years. He, in his
purpose and plan, eventually brought them back. In the book
of Ezra, what we have is when they first started coming back,
Ezra, they came back and began to build the temple. And then
they just went lax for like 15 years. And you have prophets
like Haggai that came in and said, consider your ways. They
said, it's not time for us to build God's house. He said, well,
you're building your house, but you don't want to build God's
house. But what they did, those prophets came to stir them up
and they built the temple. But the walls around that temple
have not been built. Those walls represented protection. Every city had walls. Those walls
were for protection and those walls were for separation. of
those who were kept inside those walls. So that's what we see
here in Nehemiah. God raises up this man, who's
a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, who goes to Jerusalem to rebuild
those walls. So turn back to chapter 1 and
we'll bring us up to chapter 4. In Nehemiah 1, verse 1, the
words of Nehemiah, the son of Haculi, And it came to pass in
the 12th year as I was in Shushan the palace. Notice where this
man was at. He was in Shushan the palace.
And how now, one of my brethren came, he and certain men of Judah,
they came back from Jerusalem and he said, I asked them concerning
the Jews that had escaped. which were left of the captivity
and concerning Jerusalem. He's concerned about it. He said,
when you all were over there in Jerusalem, what did you all
see? How were those people faring? He's concerned about it. And
here's what they said. And they said unto me in verse
three, the remnant that are left of the captivity there in the
providence are in great affliction and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem
also was broken down and the gates thereof are burned with
fire. And it came to pass when I heard
these words, that I sat down and wept, and I mourned certain
days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven. Now
look in verse eight. He said, remember, he's praying
to the Lord, I beseech thee the words that thou has commanded
thy servant Moses, saying, if you transgress, I will scatter
you abroad into the nations. And that's what he did. But if
you turn unto me and keep my commandments and do them, though
they were of the cast out unto the uttermost parts of the heaven,
yet will I gather them from thence, and I will bring them unto the
place that I've chosen to set my name there in Jerusalem. Now
watch what he said. Now these are thy servants and
thy people whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power and by thy
strong hand. He said, Lord, these are your
people. Those are your people that are in Jerusalem, that they
are in great affliction. The walls are torn down. It's
a mess. It is a mess. But what's he going
to do? He can't just leave. We see there
in the last verse of chapter 11, I mean, chapter 1, verse
11, he said he was the king's cupbearer. That meant before
the king ever drank from his, whatever he drank from, it was
his responsibility to drink it. And if he don't die, it's okay
for the king to drink it. But that's a very high job. You
think about this, why should he be cared about those in Jerusalem?
He has everything he could want. He's in the palace, he has this
great job, but he's concerned and he can't just leave. He's
concerned about it, but what's he going to do? He prays for
four months. Because we see in verse 1 of
chapter 2, And it came to pass in the month Nishan in the 20th
year of Artaxerxes king, that wine was before him. And I took
up the wine and gave it into the king. Now, I had not been
beforehand sad in his presence. But you're not sad in the king's
presence. If you're sad, he said, well,
there must have been something wrong with the wine. And that's what he's
saying. Wherefore, the king said unto
me, why is thy countenance sad? saying that you're not sick.
This is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then was I very sore
afraid. And I 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 sepulcher, lieth
waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire. Then the king said unto me, what
doest thou make request? So I prayed the Lord God of heaven,
and I said unto the king, Please the king, and if thy servant
has found favor in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me into
Judah, into the city of my father Sepulchre, that I may build it.
And he presents his request to the king, and the king lets him
go. And he gives him papers. He comes
on authority from the king. And you imagine this man praying
for four months for those people. I can see him saying, God, give
me favor with this man. So I can go, so he did. So when he comes to Jerusalem,
how do you think he's going to be received? You think he's going
to be received with open arms? And can you, can you imagine?
I don't know how far it is from Babylon to Jerusalem. I can imagine
the things going on in his mind. He's thinking, I wonder what
I'm going to find when I get there. How bad is it going to
be? It's, you imagine it's been 70
long years. Everything's in a mess, it's
burnt, and you imagine, you see an old house when it's just left
to go to itself, everything, the weeds grow up around it,
and it's just a mess. That's what this was. A mess,
and all this rubbish was everywhere. It said, verse 9 of chapter 2,
Then I came to the governor beyond the river and gave them the king's
letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen
with him. But watch verse 10. When Sambalat
the Horthat and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard it, heard
what? About Nehemiah coming. It grieved
them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare
of the children of God. They don't like it. They're grieved
over it. That someone, do you not see
what a beautiful picture of our Lord who came from the palace
to come to where they were because of the welfare of His people. That's why He came. That's why
Nehemiah's here. That's why God raised Him up.
Raised Him up. Well then we see over in verse 17. Nehemiah, I'll
just sum up some of the things. Nehemiah goes out and he looks
at everything. He just sees how bad it is. Well,
then he comes back to the people. And here's what he said. 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 princes, nor to the nobles,
nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work. Then
said I unto them, you see the distress that we are in? I'll
ask you that same question. Do you see the distress that
we're in? How Jerusalem lieth waste, and
the gates thereof are burned with fire. Come and let us build
up the walls of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach. Then
I told them of the hand of my God, which was good upon me.
He told them how God had worked it out for him to even come.
And as also the king's word that he had spoken unto me, and they
said, look what they said, let us rise up and build. Now they'd seen this mess for
years. And Nehemiah said, let us rise up and build the walls. So they hearkened, so they strengthened
their hand for this good You know, in Hebrews it talks about
strengthening the feeble hands which hang down. Have you just
before ever just felt spiritually exhausted? That's why it's talking
about the feeble hands that hang down. You remember reading where
Jonathan who loved David, how he came to David when David was
running from Saul his father. You know what he did? He strengthened
David in the Lord. You know what they did? They
encouraged each other. These people, I think, encouraged
Nehemiah, and I think God used Nehemiah to encourage them. You
know, we need encouragement in this world. We live in this world,
and it's just full of rubbish. We live in a body that's full
of rubbish. We live in a body that's full
of sin. And we have to deal with it every
day. And apart from God's grace, it's
depressing. Apart from His grace, you have
to deal with it. You lay down at night, you deal
with it. All those things. And Nehemiah said, we're going
to rise up. We're going to build. But you know, you don't just
build. There's a bunch of stuff to have to move. Have you ever
just walked in a room and tried to clean up an old house or something
and you just go, where do I begin? It's such a mess. That's depressing. I remember me and Sandy, we bought
a piece of property back in North Carolina right before we moved
to West Virginia. We worked on that piece of property
for five months. It was a double-wide. We took
it plumbed down to the studs. And a man that I knew that did
some work for me, carpenter work, he'd come in one day and he said,
oh, you've got a gommy mess. And that's about what it was.
But I had to make a mess before I could fix it. You know what
I'm saying? But you can imagine it, and I'm
going, Sandy, when will we ever get this done? And you know,
we got it done in July the 17th, and in September, Labor Day,
six weeks later, the people in college will ask me to be their
president. But I never forgot that mess. Never. So this is
where they're at. In Chapter 3, What records is
how they begin to build sections of the walls and start setting
up these gates. And it lists everyone who did
certain amounts of work. Now, notice the verse, as I was
reading this evening, there in verse 27. And after them, the
Torquats repaired... Wait a minute. Let me find it. It talks about the Korathites.
Let me see if I can find my scripture. that they were building, but
the nobles, they wouldn't work. Here it is, verse 5 of chapter
3. And next unto them the toy kites repaired, but their nobles
putting off their net to the work. Well, why wouldn't they
work? Some thought they thought they were just too good to work. I guarantee you by the end of
the day, you look pretty bad. You ever just been around where
something's been burnt? You're going to get sucked and
dirt all over you. We're not doing that. The Tokathites did, and if you'll
see over, I think it's in verse 20, it mentions their name again. And after them, the Tokathites
repaired another piece. They're workers, ain't they?
They're workers. Okay, so now you see, Nehemiah,
they're beginning to work. They're beginning to work. They're
beginning to remove all this stuff. now come to chapter four. So you see the picture. But it
came to pass. And it always does. That when
Sambalat, as we read earlier, heard that we builded the walls,
he was wroth and took great indignation and mauled the Jews. Are they happy that somebody's
building the walls? They're upset about it. They're
mad about it, and they begin to mock the Jews. And here's
what they said, and he spake before his brethren and the army
of Samaria and said, watch what he says, what do these feeble
Jews? Will they fortify themselves?
Will they sacrifice? Will they make an end in a day?
And here's the title of the message, will they revive the stones out
of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned? That's what they
ask. Will they revive the stones out
of the heaps of the rubbish? You imagine all those stones
that was in that original wall, they're still there. Buried under
the rubbish. You remember when Solomon built
the temple? You never heard a hammer or a chisel when the temple was
being built. Everything was made in a quarry
and it was brought and it's filled. And they said, they revived those
stones? They didn't go out and cut new
stones. They revived the stones that was there out of the heaps
of the rubbish. And the enemy said, is that what
they're going to do? That's exactly what they're going to do. Exactly. You know, that's what they didn't
want to happen. They were OK as long as everything was in
a mess. Spurgeon said, there's enough rubbish and there's enough
people to defend it. They like it when it's like that.
When Nehemiah came, what I want you to see is this struggle.
They come and these people, they want to fight against this work.
It says in verse three, now, to buy the Ammonite was by him.
And he said, even that which they build, if a fox go up, he
shall even break down their stone wall. It won't ever last. It
won't last. So what's Nehemiah going to do?
Now you imagine hearing this, would that be discouraging? It'll
never last. Yeah, there's a bunch of rubbish,
but look what he said in verse four. Here, O our God, for we
are despised and turn their reproach upon their own head and give
them for prey in the land of captivity. A lot of people, a
lot of commentators have a lot of issues with chapter, with
verse five, and I'm not, I'm just going to read it and just
leave it at that. Because he said, and cover not their iniquities,
and let not their sin be blotted out from before thee, for they
have provoked thee the anger. What is it to provoke somebody?
Somebody comes up and they just keep pushing you, just keep pushing
you, just, just keep aggravating, just provoking you. Just, just,
and what there is, just, I want to see you do something. I wouldn't
want to provoke God's anger, would you? And Nehemiah said,
they have provoked God's anger. I can tell you, this is God's
work. And it's work, and it's serious
business. And Nehemiah knew it. But he,
you know what he did? He took it to the Lord. So built we the wall. And all
the wall was joined together unto the half thereof. people
had a mind, it worked. Isn't that amazing? This wall
isn't, this is no small wall. This could probably, they said,
get to be several miles around it. Probably 50 feet tall and
the wall's half done? How can that be in such a short
period of time? You know what God did? Even the
wrath of men will praise Him. God even used those men to motivate
God's people. You ever read in the book of
Exodus, it said the more they afflicted them, the more they
grew. The next time somebody just irritates
you, you just remember they're in your life for a reason. For
a reason. And God will even use them to
motivate you. And it will make you, God will
give you a mind and it's a mind to work. And you know, it's work. It's work. You know, it says
about a preacher, it said, if a man desire the office of a
bishop, he desire what? A good work. But they had a mind to work.
But look, verse seven. But it came to pass that when
Sambalat and Tobiah and the Arabians and the Ammonites and the Astrodites
heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up and that the breaches
began to be stopped, then were they very wroth. Now they're really mad. They're all joined together. And it said, and they conspired
all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem
and to hinder the work. We're going to do everything
we can to hinder it. We're going to do everything we can to stop
it. It's like when you pray, God enable us, God enable us
as we come to worship. Everything in the world tries
to hinder you from worship, doesn't it? what happened before church
or what happens after church, and it's just like, we're gonna
hinder it, we're gonna stop it, we're gonna conspire, we're gonna
just slip in. That's what they're doing. Listen,
it says in, you remember what it said in the book of Acts?
It said, whom by the mouth of thy servant David said, why do
the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings
of the earth stood up and the rulers were gathered together.
They're all gathered together against the Lord and against
his Christ for a truth. The holy child Jesus, whom thou
hast anointed, both Herod, Pontius Pilate, and the Gentiles, and
the people of Israel, were gathered together for to do whatsoever
thy hand determined beforehand to be done." All these people. It was just Sambalat and Tobin.
Now everybody's gathered together to stop this work. Can I tell
you a secret? Everything in this world would
conspire and stop this church if they could. That's right. You know what I think's a blessing
in Psalms 23, he said, he prepares a table for us in the presence
of our enemy. They're all around them, but
they can't do one thing, but just run their mouth. You know,
it says, and what he's quoting there in Acts is in Psalm chapter
two, you know, it says, why do the heathen rage? You know, it
says, you know, they laughed and they're mocking. God's going
to be the one to laugh. They say he'll laugh at their
calamity. He'll mock when their fear comes. He'll have them in
derision. What are they to do? Nevertheless,
we made our prayer unto God. Do you see one thing I see that
it's doing? It's driving Nehemiah to his
knees. You know when it's sad that we
most of the time just pray when we're in need. And most of the
time, we just ask. Why don't we come just thank
him for anything? But he did it, drove him. He knew that he
needed God. Unless God built the house, we're
laboring in vain. We made our prayer unto God.
We set a watch against them day and night because of them. Somebody's
got to watch. Remember, he talks about a watchman
on the wall. It's his responsibility to watch. Somebody's going to
get tired and they got to lay down and go to sleep. Somebody's
got to watch. If the enemy's coming, somebody's got to blow
the trumpet. Somebody's got to warn people. And what preachers do,
they warn. Warn and encourage. Read on. Now won't you sit and watch verse
10. Watch what Judah said, that kingly tribe. And Judah said,
do you see, he not only works from without, he works from within.
And Judah said, the strength of the bearer of burdens is decayed. And there is so much rubbish,
so we're not able to build the wall. Just like somebody came
up and said, Frank, it's just too hard. You think, would Judah
do that? He said, there's so much rubbish,
we're not able to build. There's no denying the rubbish.
It's just like, I guess they just got tired and said, I can't
do it anymore. And our adversary said, they
shall not know, neither see till we come in the midst among them
and we'll slay them. You know what we're going to
do? We're going to cause the work to cease. It came to pass that when the
Jews, verse 12, which dwelt by them came, that they said unto
us ten times from all places whence you shall return unto
us, they shall be upon you. Therefore, I said in the lower
places behind the wall and on the higher places, I said to
people, what's this? After their families. Their sword
with their sword, their spear and their bow. After their what? Their families. You know, I think
the enemy wants to destroy more than anything else. It's families. I told someone the other day,
I remember when I was When I was brought up, that's not been that
long ago. You know, you were you were taught in the home to
respect authority. You know, he says, if you correct the child,
you deliver his soul from hell. And now I say nobody has any.
They have no respect for no authority. They don't respect God. They
don't respect in a ball. They don't respect parents. They
don't respect anybody. And he said, you fight for your
families. You fight for your children.
I pray God saves my children. Sandy's son and his wife have
come to live with us and they're basically, they say they're atheists.
And I pray God has mercy on them. I told him the other day that
we were there for five years and they never one time came
to see us. But about a month and a half ago, he said, Mama,
I'm ready to come to West Virginia. Somebody made him one of them.
But you see what I'm saying? I pray God show that boy mercy.
I tell you, I'm not acting for pity or anything, but I've never
dealt with anything like that, that strong in my life. Talks
about, they said, well, we're the enlightened generation and
y'all are a bunch of idiots and all the problem is your fault.
And I'm going, you know, what? You know, that's hard to deal
with. You just have to deal with it. But you know what he's saying?
That's part of the rubbish. What do you do? You say, well,
it's just too hard. You know what's wrong with him?
You know what's wrong with my stepson and his wife? There's
so much rubbish. Somebody just kept piling it
up, piling it up. Rubbish. Rubbish. He said, you fight for your families.
And I look and rose up, verse 14, and said unto the nobles
and to the rulers and to the rest of the people. Now, watch
this. You need to see this. Be not ye afraid of them. Remember the Lord, which is great
and terrible. And fight for your brethren,
your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your house. What do you have to do? You fight
for them. That's what they're doing, they're having to fight
for. If there's no wall, there's nothing to stop them from just
coming in. They want to destroy their minds. They want to, then
they have. God has allowed them to do it.
They don't fear God at all. There's no fear of God before
men's eyes. You know, I have a word for you
tonight from the Lord right here. Be not afraid of death. God has given us the sword of
the spirit to stand. He says, put on the whole armor
of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the
devil. And having done all to stand, what are you supposed
to do? You stand therefore. You stand there. And it came to pass, verse 15,
when our enemies heard that it was known unto us and God had
brought their counsel to naught. You remember how the counsel
of Ahimethel was plotting against David and God brought it to naught.
God's counsel is going to stand. They can plot and they can do
all they want to. And God just messes it all up.
In a magazine, let's hear our Lord's word. came to pass when our enemies
heard, they'd heard that it was God, that it was, it was known
to us and God had brought their counsel to naught that we, what's
this? That we returned all of us to
the wall. So that makes me think they must
have left. It said they returned. And I want you to see this. Every
one unto his word. You know, if you're a believer
here tonight, every one of you, God has given you a work. You
ever thought about that? You say, well, I can't preach.
I can't do this. But God has given you. You know,
when God saved you, he put you in his body. And the little toe
can't say to the eye, or the eye can't say to the little toe,
I have no need of thee. Everybody has a work. Let me
give you an example. There was a gentleman years ago
with the church I pastored in North Wilkesboro. He had emphysema. He couldn't hardly do anything,
and he couldn't even work anymore. But we just had a small yard
there at the church, and he wanted to mow it. And if I knew he was
going to go, I'd make sure I'd get down there before he did
and mow it. I didn't want him mowing it. And you know, one
Sunday I came in, and he was in tears. He said, Pastor, I
can't do much. But he said, I can mow that grass.
He said, please don't take that from me. And his name was Jay. And I said, Jay, you mow that
grass as long as you want. He said, well, that ain't important.
Somebody's got to mow the grass. You know, I heard Henry, I heard
Henry make a statement one time on a message. He said, you know,
there's a lot of people want to take the floor, but there's
not many people want to sweep it. And that's what he's saying. Every man went to their work. This is my work, not your work. And whatsoever you lay your hand
to do, do it to the best of your ability. Verse 16. And it came to pass from that
time forth that the half of my servants wrought in the work
and the other half of them held the spear and the shields and
the bow and the harbourgians and the rulers were behind all
the house of Judah. while somebody's working, the
other are watching for him. If you ever see your pastor and
he's struggling as he tries to preach, say, God help him. He's just a man. He's just a
man. Verse 17, and they which build
it on the wall and they which bear the burdens, With those
that laden, every one with his one hand wrought in the work,
and with the other he held a weapon. Spurgeon had a paper, you know
what he called it? The sword and the trowel. In this hand,
this is the sword, the sword of God's work. Well, what's a
trowel used for? That's what you put mortar in
between stones. So one hand he's got the sword,
and you know what I see here? If the enemy can get you to justify
always defending, just fighting off, you're not building. That's
what he wants to do. But he said to help the sword,
we're not going to stop building. We're not going to stop. For the builders, everyone, verse
8, 18, for the builders, everyone had his sword girded by his side
and so built it. And he that sounded the trumpet
was by me. And I said unto the nobles and
to the rulers and to the rest of the people, the work is great
and large. We are separated upon the wall,
one far from another. It's about two hours from here
to Cottagefield. This is a great work. And we
are separated upon the wall. That's what he's saying. Ain't
we? But you know, I'm thankful that we're no farther apart than
we are. You know, there's some people, they're six hours to
the nearest grace church. But he said, this is what he's
saying. He said, we're separated upon the wall. This is this is
a great work. We're not in competition. This
is a great work. This is God's work. I just, it rejoices my
heart how he encourages them. Don't quit. In what place, now watch this,
what place therefore you hear the sound of the trumpet? You
know what that is, that's the sound of the gospel. When you
hear the sound of the gospel, resort ye thither unto us, our
God shall fight for us. You know what you're listening
for as you work on the wall? The sound of the trumpet. The
sound of the gospel. If it gives an uncertain sound,
how shall they prepare themselves to the battle? Well, they go,
what's that noise? That's the gospel. God fights
for us. The battle's not yours. The battle's
His. The problem is this world hates our God. And that's never ceased and it
never will cease. Till we leave this world, they
hate Him and they hate you. He said, if they've hated me,
they're going to hate you. They don't love you. They hate you.
If God did not protect us tonight, we couldn't even meet safely.
That's right. That's right. Verse 21, so we labored in the
work. Half of them held the spear from the rising of the morning
until the stars appeared. Likewise, at the same time said
unto the people, let every one of you with his servant lodge
within Jerusalem, that in the night they may be a garden to
us and labor all day. So neither I, nor my brethren,
nor my servants, nor the men of the guard which followed me,
none of us put off our clothes, saying that every one of them
put them off for washing. They were committed to the work. Well, how long did it take them
to build the wall? Turn over to chapter six. It came to pass when Sam Blatt,
Tobin, Gishom, the raven, and the rest of our enemies heard
that I had builded the wall and that there was no breach left
therein, though at that time I had not set up the doors or
the gates, that Sam Blatt and Gishom said unto me, saying,
Come let us meet together in some one of the villages in the
plain of Ono. But they thought to do me mischief.
And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I'm doing a great work
so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while
I leave it and come down to you? Yet they sent unto me four times
after this hour, and I answered them after the same hour. I'm
not coming down. I'm not coming down from the
wall. This is too great a work. Look in verse 15. So the wall was finished, and
the twenty and fifth day of the month, 52 days. That's less than two months. Out of all the opposition and
everything they went through. You know, our God is sovereign,
but God uses means. And every church, this church
and ours and others, They are places that God has raised up
to preach the gospel in this day in which we live. And this
is our Lord's work. It's amazing to see God snatch
men like firemen from the fire. You know, I told Sandy today,
I said, Sandy, can you just imagine what it would be like if God
saved your son? In 52 days, 52 days. How did they do that? God did
it. Do we really believe God? Do
I really believe God? He convinced them of all the
rubbish and all the aggravation and everything that went on in
52 days. Because everyone had a mind to
work. This is what we're going to do. Listen, Jesus Christ is
our life. This is our life. Nothing else
matters. Nothing else matters. You know
what it said about David? When he served his generation,
he fell on sleep. He served his generation. God
give us the grace and the strength and the determination to serve
this generation in which we live. Isn't that amazing? They finished. And they said,
look what I wrote down. One day, like you read, every
stone, every believer will be placed in the wall, and he's
going to say, look what I've done. Thank you, Mike. That was such
a blessing. I'm glad he went over to that next chapter, because
I was going to point that out. You know, whatever it is God's
given you to do, I don't care how much rubbish there is. I
don't care how much opposition there is, or how hard it is.
Whatever it is God's given you to do, just do it. Just do it. It can't fail. Just
one page, 52 days. That's amazing. You can't fail. The wall was
finished and then a blessing. I'm so thankful. Let's bow together
in prayer. Father, we thank you for your
great mercy and grace to your people. We thank you for your
providence, allowing us to be here this evening to one more
time hear your gospel preached. Father, cause it to encourage
us and strengthen our hearts to serve you wherever it is that
you've seen fit to put us. Father, thank you for Mike and
pray your continued blessing be upon him. Bless them as they
travel back home tonight. Give him traveling mercies. Bring
us back together again as soon as it could be thy will. We ask
you bless our time of fellowship now together. Watch over us and
bring us back Sunday to one more time. Hear your gospel preached. It's in the precious name of
Christ.