Would turn to Nehemiah chapter two. Yes, I said we're gonna be in chapter three and we are. But I'm gonna read a couple verses from chapter two. Nehemiah chapter two and verse 17 verses seventeen and eighteen. This morning, Nehemiah two seventeen and eighteen.

Then said I unto them, ye see the distress that we are in. How Jerusalem lieth waste and the gates thereof are burned with fire. Come and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem that we be no more a reproach. Then I told them of the hand of my God which was upon me. On as also the king's words that he had spoken unto me.

And they said, let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work. Let's go to the Lord in prayer once more. Dear heavenly father, thank you, Lord, for your word this morning. Pray that we would be challenged by it.

We pray if there's one here today that is yet to receive your gift of eternal life through faith in your son, Jesus. That today would be their day of salvation. In Jesus precious name, we do pray. Amen. So quick review.

Nehemiah was a Jew. He was an Israelite. They had been scattered to many places when conquered by Nebuchadnezzar in May. God told them this would happen if they turned away from worshiping and following him. They did and so this did and they were scattered.

Nehemiah, descendants, probably maybe his parents or grandparents were taken in that captivity. He ended up the king's cup bearer in Shushan or Susa, which was at the time the capital of Persia, and he was the cup bearer for the king. He heard one day when he met some relatives of his, Jewish brethren, that the walls were still in rubble in the city, now about ninety years later, and that a good bit of the city was still not rebuilt. And it it burdened him greatly. And he spent much time in prayer to the Lord about what to do and asking the Lord to do great things.

And the Lord put his finger on Nehemiah and basically said, Nehemiah, you go. And so he did. He asked the king, which a very brave thing to do, if he could go and he'll help his people rebuild the city and the walls of Jerusalem. The king not only granted his request, but the Lord actually I mean, the the king actually also gave him permission to use supplies that he would get along the way and provided him with protection along the way to to get to Jerusalem from Persia. Now you say, I don't know where Persia is on the map.

Well, if you happen to know where a place that's in the news right now is, it's called Iran. Iran is Persia. About a hundred years ago, Persia changed their name to Iran. So up until the early nineteen hundreds, it was still known as Persia. But today, we know it as the country of Iran.

And we do need to be praying for the people there. They are under terrible oppression and despite the terribleness of many things there, the most important one is this, there is no religious freedom in Iran. You're not allowed to own a Bible. You're not allowed to speak to people about Christ. You're not allowed to go to church and to worship the Lord in Iran.

And so we do need to pray for their freedom and for their protection and particularly for the believers there. And the Lord always has some everywhere despite the best efforts of Satan. And that is certainly true in Iran as well. So so back to our lesson. So Nehemiah went from the palace in Shushan to Jerusalem with supplies.

And there, when he got there, he, for himself, inspected the walls and he developed a plan and he gathered people together. And at the end of chapter two, he was motivating them to get to work, to join him in this effort because it was going to take many hands. Okay? Not just a few. If this was to be done, it was going to take the majority of the people getting together and deciding this is our wall, this is our city, this is our project, it's our task, and if it's going to get done, we're going to have to do it.

And so that is exactly what we read about in the first two verses we read in chapter two today. But that is not the end of the story. That is just the beginning of the story. Miles of wall needed to be either rebuilt or repaired and gates needed to be fixed or built and hung. Miles of wall, miles of stone wall that had been taken down.

The stones would have to be replaced. Whatever they were using for mortar would have to be used, and the walls would have to be built up high enough to provide protection for the people of Jerusalem. There were several gates to the city. Those almost every one of those gates was destroyed. They were having to rebuild those gates, rehang those gates.

That would require a slightly different skill set than the masons who would build the walls and so forth and so on. It was a daunting, daunting project. Why hadn't the walls been repaired already? The group which came back with Joshua and Zerubbabel, different Joshua from Joshua and Moses, this is the high priest of Nehemiah's day. The group that came back with Joshua and Zerubbabel had been there now for over a decade.

They had barely finished building the temple. Nonetheless, began to do anything about the walls. I suspect one of the reasons, and we will look at the other next week, was because the project was so daunting that the people were just discouraged from even trying. It was just so huge a project. There's just it it just gonna take too much time.

We just don't have that much time. It's gonna take too many people. We don't have that much people. It just it just can't be done. Not yet.

So we'll put it off till what? We'll put it off till tomorrow. And tomorrow never what? Tomorrow never comes because it's just too daunting of a project. Ever been there?

Ever put something off to tomorrow because, well, I just don't know if it can be done. So it doesn't get done and it doesn't get done and it doesn't get done and it doesn't get done because we're just afraid it can't be done. And we come up with excuses and reasons why we just can't start today, we'll have to start tomorrow. I have a magnet on my refrigerator, and on that magnets it's it's round, about this big. And on that magnet, it says to it.

It is a round to it. If any round to it, get a round to it. See, I have a round to it. Do you have a round to it? Okay.

Get a round to it. I have a round to it on my refrigerator. That was bequeathed to me by Judy Bashore before she passed away. Every time I'd go to visit, I would notice her round to it on the refrigerator, and so I got the round to it. Unfortunately, too often, that's how we live our lives and one of the reasons is because everything or some things at least just seem too daunting and so, we just don't try.

Maybe the project is reaching family members with the gospel. That can seem awful daunting. Maybe it's reaching people in your neighborhood with the gospel or people at work. Where do I start? Maybe the problem is a lack of discipline in your own life.

Maybe to read the Bible each day or be a more faithful witness or or to be faithful to church or to to get victory over an addiction or a bad habit. It's just too daunting. It it just can't be done. I've I've tried before and it just I failed. So, you know, it just can't be done.

I'll put it off till tomorrow. Satan tells us that we are losers. Satan tells us that we are weak. Satan tells us there can be no victory and no success. And so we just do what?

We just give up and we do nothing. We get satisfied with the status quo. We think, well, it's just the way it is. My family situation is just the way it is. I can't do anything about it.

My my work situation is just the way it is. My spiritual condition, well, it's just the way it is. That Christ didn't save us to leave things just the way it is. He saved us to change us. He saved us to use us to make a difference, to be salt and light in the world.

What do salt and light do? They make a difference. We can't make a difference if every time something comes to mind that we need to do, we make the excuse was just too daunting, I can't do it. Or if we let Satan win by telling him, by listening to him, well, I'm just too weak. I've tried.

I just can't get victory over this. Do not listen to the lies of Satan, whether it comes to your business, your church, your family, or your personal life. He is not your friend. He doesn't want you to get up off that couch. He doesn't want you to get busy about your master's business.

He doesn't want you to make it to church each week. He wants you to sit there and go, well, it's just too daunting. I can't do it. Please remember, the Bible says we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. Please remember, the Bible says that with God, all things are possible.

The Bible says that we have overcome the world because our savior has overcome it for us. The Bible says, greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world. The Bible says that we can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth us. Do those sound like terms of defeat? Does that make it sound as though we're weak?

No. In the flesh, we are weak, but in Christ, are strong. Is there any way that a little pipsqueak named David could defeat a giant nine feet tall? Not in the flesh. Not all alone.

But David didn't walk up to Goliath all alone. No, he didn't. God was with him and he knew it. And God gave him the victory. I mean, it wasn't even a contest.

Just treat treat things over, you know? Just like that. It's all it was. It wasn't a contest but it was the opposite way around from what they expected. It wasn't the giant that squashed David, it was David that squashed the giant with just a little stone because God was with him.

And in Christ, are strong and we have the victory. We need to quit listening to the devil. We need to be strengthened in our faith, and we need to get about our father's business. In second Corinthians ten four and five, it says, for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalted itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought, obedience of Christ. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but they're mighty through God to the bowling down of strongholds.

As the walls of Jericho fell down before Joshua and the children of Israel sold the walls will can fall down in our lives, and we can move forward in the completion of the task that God has set before us with weapons of warfare that are not of the flesh, but of the spirit that are mighty to defeat our enemies and also yet mighty to give us victory over our own thoughts and temptations. The weapons and tools we possess in Christ are mighty, but only if we will trust in the Lord, get up and tackle the task in faith before us believing that with God indeed all things are possible. One of my favorite verses in the Old Testament is Proverbs three, five and six. What does it say? Trust in the Lord with all thine heart.

Lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him. He shall direct your paths. He shall direct us. He will give us victory.

He will help us because we're not alone. And the thing that he has called us to do, we can do if we'll just learn to what? Trust him. Just trust him. Just trust him and step forward.

Accept the call, the task, the ministry of the moment or the day that God has called us to. He will not let us down. I am here to tell you this morning not to be afraid of tackling that task or temptation or weakness. That giant who stands before you or that mountain in your path. What did David say?

The battle belongs to who? The Lord. And he will not let us down. As God told Joshua not to be afraid as he looked into the promised land at the walls of Jericho and the giants that live there. He said, don't be afraid.

Trust in me. Follow my word. The walls and the giants and the armies will fall before you. You shall succeed. Joshua one, this book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night that thou mayest observe to according to all that is written therein.

For then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, then thou shalt have good success. Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage, be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed for the Lord thy God is with thee, whethersoever thou goest. So God told Joshua and so Joshua got the 2,000,000 people that were under his care together. And he said, here we go.

Into the land of which the previous generation refused to go because the small cities and all the chariots and the big people were just too much, too daunting of a task. And indeed it was. It was a daunting task. A matter of fact, it seemed like an impossible task and it hadn't changed. What had changed?

Joshua and the hearts of the people. They changed. And this time, they followed Joshua in. And Joshua led them, and they conquered, and they took the land. So Nehemiah, like Joshua, trusted in the Lord, was not overwhelmed by the task before him and so he spoke and persuaded and organized the people to do it and they did.

Don't be afraid. Don't be discouraged. Don't think, oh, it's just too daunting of a task. It can't be done. It can.

It has been before. It can again. This project would have taken Nehemiah and a small repair crew of quasi professionals months to do or maybe even years. But the project was finished in what? Fifty two days.

That's less than two months they rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem. It had they had sat like that after their return for ten or fifteen years and nothing had been done and now it was finished in what? Fifty two days they finished it. Everyone had a mind to work, it says. Chapter four verse six says, so built we the wall and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof for the people had a mind to what?

To work. Work. You know, nothing's gonna get done without some effort. As I mentioned last week, you've got to put feet to your what? Prayers.

Pray and then go do something about what you prayed for. Some things you can't fix, you can't do, only God can. But the parts you can, you should. God uses us in fulfilling our prayers and in often cases, fulfilling the prayers of others. But we've gotta be willing to put feet to our prayers.

The people had a mind to work and work they did. They put effort in. They knew it was gonna take work. It wasn't just gonna the wall wasn't just going to build itself. Didn't happen.

They had to work together. Each family, clan, ruler, business, priesthood, pitched in, took care of their part of the wall. Look if you would in Nehemiah three. Verse one. See, I told you we were going get to Nehemiah three.

Then Eliashib, the high priest rose up with his brethren, the priest, and they builded the sheep gate. They sanctified it and set up the doors of it. Even into the Tower Of Mia, they sanctified it onto the Tower Of Hananeel. And next unto him builded a man, builded the men of Jericho, and the next of to them builded Zaccur, the son of Imri. But the fish gate did the sons of Hassenaah build, who also laid the beams thereof and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof.

Next, unto them repaired Meremoth, the son of Urijah, the son of Kaz, and next, unto them repaired Meshullam, the son of Berechiah, the son of Mishasah, Mishasabeel, Beel, and next unto him repaired Zadok, the son of Bana. Next unto him, the Tekoites repaired, but their nobles put not their necks to the work of their Lord. Moreover, the old gate repaired Jehoiada, the son of Paseah, and Meshullam, the son of Bethsaida. They laid the beams thereof, set up the doors thereof, and the locks thereof, and the bars thereof. Next, some of them repaired Melatiah, the Gideon, Gibeonite, and Jaden, the Meronothite, the man of Gibeon, and of Mizpah, to the throne of the governor on this side of the river.

Next, unto him repaired Isaiah, the son of Harhaiah, of the goldsmith. Next unto him also repaired Hananiah, the son of one of the apothecaries, and they fortified Jerusalem onto the broad wall. Next unto him repaired Rephaiah unto the son of Hur, the ruler of the half part of Jerusalem. Okay. We could go on.

The whole chapter is all about each and every group that had a part in rebuilding the wall. What they did is they took a section, they took a project, each family, business, priesthood, group, and they did their part. Some of them had skills that more were useful in in putting the walls together, some in building the gates, some in building doors, and some doing other things. But they worked together. They did their part the best they could and the walls got built.

I don't know. I've noticed this some around here. When I was youth pastor in Georgia, on the highway, you would see a sign that says adopt the highway. And different groups would adopt about a mile of highway. The church where I was youth pastor, we adopted the mile of highway that our church sat on.

A highway means just two lane road by the way, not an interstate but on, you know, most parts of the world, highways can be two lanes but and so every, I don't know, every couple of months, we took the youth group and we we walked the mile and we picked up our trash, our part of the road. Another group did their part, another group did their part, and and the road was relatively, you know, free of debris. Okay? Why? Because, well, everybody took their what?

Took their part, you know. I can imagine cleaning up 20 miles of highway would be an incredibly daunting task. Yet, the 20 miles of highway got cleaned. How is that? Well, each group just took their mile and everybody did their mile and 20 miles and 40 miles and 50 miles of highway, the trash got picked up.

And it wasn't that big of a deal. It's not that big of a deal when there's many volunteers and many hands and each person does their part. Many hands indeed make light work as we tested out yesterday, passing out flyers, and we passed out you know how long it would have taken me to hang 300 flyers? I'd have been at it all day, but it took us an hour and a half to do it with 10 of us. And so that went much, much faster.

The Bible says required in stewards that a man be found faithful. Faithful just to do your part. You don't have to do everybody else's part. But if everybody will do their part, then the task will get the task will get done. But we have to quit allowing fear to cause us to to not step out in faith to get to the work.

We need to not allow laziness and the distractions of the world. We need not allow just the immensity of the project to discourage us from getting started because if we ever get started, guess what? It'll work. But we have to get what? Started.

We have to get we have to get whatever it is. And it it may be something in your life, a sin, a temptation, or or something that needs to change, and and you just you just gotta get started. You just trust the Lord and step out in faith. And when the devil knocks you down, you get up, you trust the Lord, and you step out in faith, and you keep doing it till God gives you the what? Till God gives you the victory.

And that is possible In other words, being faithful means doing your part. If everyone, each person is faithful to do their part, only what each one can do at their pace with their ability, then the wall gets built. Certainly, God doesn't expect everyone to have the same gifts or abilities or stamina. But he does expect everyone to do their part just as we expect each organ of the body to do its part or each team member to do their part. I watched a little bit of football yesterday And, you know, there's 11 people on the team out there.

And if each person does their part, guess what? The football gets moved down the field and pretty soon here the team is up by two or three touchdowns and the game is well on the way to being one. But if half the people out there aren't doing their part, then you can have the greatest quarterback and the greatest running back and the greatest receivers. But if the line can't stop people from coming through and sacking the quarterback, you're not going anywhere. You're not going anywhere.

It takes everybody with what skills that they have been given. To be what? To be faithful. To do their part. If only half of those who took a section of the wall were faithful, it would have only been half built.

But all were faithful and the wall was built in fifty two days. In the past year, we have accomplished much because several members of our church gave what they could of their time and their ability to do things which needed to be done. They weren't discouraged by the immensity of the task. They began to work. They used their gifts.

And now, the children's church room is finished. And it didn't cost us a bundle of money and we didn't have to go hire a contractor. Now, the exterior of the church has been fixed and repainted, and we did it at half the cost. Now, the audio visual in this auditorium has been completely redone. And now if you're sick or ill or disabled, you can watch this service from home if you need to.

And we have at least one lady that watches our service from France, and she can. And you can see me a little better because of the lights, which I'm not sure is a good thing. The the shrubs and a good bit of the landscaping that had been run amok outside is not run amok anymore because somebody said, this is my part and I'm gonna do it. It wasn't my part and I didn't do it, but I'm glad it was somebody's. And those things got done.

They seemed like daunting tasks and they got done. They didn't get done by one person. They got done by many, many people with different abilities and different callings. But now that many of those things are accomplished, not all, but many, we can turn more of our attention to some things which need to get done. And we need to fill these pews.

We need to reach people in this community. We need to see souls saved. This building is here for one reason, and that is to be a testimony for the Lord Jesus Christ and to bring people into the kingdom of God and into his service. And it's wonderful that the the shrubs are fixed. It's wonderful that the the building is painted.

It's wonderful. We have children's church room again, but we need more kids in children's church room. We need more people in these pews. We need to use this baptistry more because we have people who have come to Christ. I'm really pushing friend and appreciation Sunday.

Friend and neighbor appreciation Sunday. Why? Because we need to get busy and get stirred up about getting people to hear the word of God and to hear the gospel and to get saved because that is the most important by a long shot task that has been laid out before us and has been given us by the Lord. Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy ghost, teaching them all things whatsoever I have commanded you.

And lo, I will be with you till the end of the world. What is Jesus saying? I will be with you. I will help you. I know it seems like a daunting task to take the gospel to the world, but it's possible.

And guess what? The world that we know today is much larger than the world they knew in that day, and the world we know today has a lot more people in it than the world they had in that day, and yet we're not done with that task. However, there is a gospel witness in almost every corner of this world today. There are bible believing Christians in almost every nation in this world today. The task seemed daunting, but they didn't stop.

They believed in the Lord and they went out and look what happened. They turned the world upside down. Those were not the words of Paul. Those were the words of his enemies. Well, these people, they've come here.

Now, the the these people that have turned the world upside down, now they've come to our city. Praise the Lord. And they had. And God did. There there just happens to be how many days did it take them to build the wall?

Fifty two. Fifty two days. There just happens to be fifty two weeks in a year. I wonder if that's purely a coincidence or if God meant those two numbers to coincide. There just happens to be fifty two weeks in a year.

Let's double our attendance. Right now, we're running about 40. Let's make it 80. If they can build a wall in fifty two weeks, we can double our attendance. In fifty two days, we can double our attendance in fifty two weeks.

We can. It's only 40 people. Just one person per one person in fifty two weeks, and let's start it out with a bang on friend day in two weeks. God is able. God is able to bring at least one soul amongst the salvation to get baptized in this baptistry every month this year.

Let let's let's make it two. How how can we do that? If you just do your part. You don't have to do everybody else's part. You don't have to take off a bigger chunk.

Just just just do your part. Just look for one one person or two or three to to focus in on. We prayed for Jane's friend, Margo, in Sunday school this morning. We we prayed for Nehemiah, a kid I ran into on visitation yesterday. Who who is it that God has put in your life?

What which family or neighbor or friend or relative that that lives nearby that you can bring to church, that you can can water the seed that hopefully you've already planted and not give up or not think, oh, it's too daunting. We can't we can't do that. We can do that. It's been done thousands of times. We can do that.

We can. If everyone will do their part beginning with your pastor and commit to passing out tracts and witnessing and bringing people to church and praying while we continue to make our place of worship appealing to those who pass by. We can we can grow our church and, more importantly, the kingdom of God. It is not as overwhelming as it may seem. We just need to get busy, sign up, and be faithful.

If we double our attendance this year and we add 40 people the next year and 40 people the next year, then in five years, this auditorium will be too small. That isn't that impossible, is it? I don't think so. I don't think so. We just need to step out in faith.

We need to believe that it can be done, and then we just need to do our part and be faithful week by week, day by day. I am trying and seeking the Lord's help to be able to share the gospel with one person each day. I have done so for the past three or four days. I've been able to personally share with somebody the gospel of Jesus Christ. I wanna be able to do that every day or close to every day.

And that is possible. Let's not look at the mountain and say, oh, it can't be can't get over it. We can. God says if you'll have faith as a what? Mustard seed.

Let's have faith. In fifty two weeks, the church can be expanded and revived spiritually, but not only church, but but you personally. We're not just concerned about the numbers. We're concerned about the people, and we're concerned about the Lord. God wants you wants to do a work in you.

What say you? Do you want that? Are you willing to sign up for that? To read your Bible each day, to throw off sins and practices which deter and distract and hinder you from being the child of God you ought to be? Get victory over the addictions or bad habits that that hold you captive.

Gain joy and peace in your heart and life that should be yours as a child of God by looking to Christ and pouring more of our time and energy into things that are of eternal value. That's where the joy is found. And, of course, making sure of your salvation in Christ. If there is a doubt today, if you belong to him, let's erase that doubt. If you'll come as we'll sing this hymn of invitation this morning, we can fix that.

God can fix that. He can take away that doubt. He can give you eternal life. He can make you his child. And then let's all get busy about our master's business.

And we will see that with God, all things are possible. Let's pray. Dear heavenly father, thank you, Lord. For Nehemiah and those that helped him that are an inspiration, Lord, to to us today. Lord, if they can build a wall in fifty two days, Lord, in fifty two weeks, we can certainly see a change in our church, in our ministry.

We can see souls saved and lives changed. And, Lord, we we pray that you would you would give us a burden and a zeal. Lord, to pick up that task that is before us, to step out in faith and to see what you can do. Lord, we thank you for those that have already been hard at work here in this place. Hard at work doing things around the church that had to be done and some that are already hard at work praying for and ministering to their friends and neighbors and sharing the gospel.

But, Lord, we can do more. And, Lord, we pray that you would give us the zeal to do so, that you would give us the patience to do so, that you would give us the faith to do so. And, Lord, if there's something in our heart and our personal life that that we need to tackle this year, I pray that you'd give us the burden and the power and the faith and trust to conquer that and to claim victory in Jesus Christ even today. Lord, I pray if you've spoken to people's hearts concerning something, Lord, that we would deal with that now and not put it off till tomorrow. And, Lord, I pray most of all, if there's one who have yet to receive Christ as savior, one for whom you died that is yet to choose Christ as Lord and to put all their faith and trust in you.

I pray that today would be their day of salvation and they would come this morning as we sing this hymn of invitation. In Jesus precious name we pray.