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Nehemiah 3:1-32 · Providence Baptist Church - Sermons

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Turn to the Old Testament book of Nehemiah.
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I think I may need to start saying go to since so many people are doing this digitally now.
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So we get the hipsters covered. Go to the Old Testament book of Nehemiah,
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although that still doesn't quite cover it because many of you are only carrying your New Testament today.
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Hipsters, so you're out of luck this morning.
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Thank you.
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We've been working our way through Nehemiah and we've come now to the beginning of chapter 3.
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And we've seen so far as the story unfolds for us,
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those of you who may not be quite caught up to where we are, just as a quick recap for you.
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Nehemiah has been part of the Babylonian captivity.
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He was born in captivity.
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He is living here in the story in a town called Susa,
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serving as the cupbearer to the king, Artaxerxes, who is the Persian king.
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Persia has now become the world power.
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Babylonia is no more and they are now in control.
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And he is serving as the cupbearer to the king some three months journey from Jerusalem.
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And he receives word, we see at the beginning of chapter 1, from his brother
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that the wall around Jerusalem has yet to be rebuilt.
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The people have been returned, they've been living in the land,
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and yet there's still a shame, a mockery, and this breaks his heart.
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In fact, we see in verse 4 that he sits down and he weeps and he mourns for days.
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Not simply because they weren't safe, because his people potentially could be attacked,
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because they were being mocked, but more so because his God was being shamed.
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Recognize that at this time, the visible manifestation of God's goodness,
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his character, was found in his people.
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Much the same way it is today, which is how we draw the parallel.
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It's now found in the good of his church.
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We build in a much different way, which we've talked about and will continue to.
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But this is the state of things.
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This is why he's so broken over this report.
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And so we saw his prayer, the last part of chapter 1,
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that it was a persistent prayer.
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It was saturated by God's character.
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It was motivated by God's promises.
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And that it was humble and intercessory.
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It was a prayer on behalf of the people of Israel.
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He recognized that without God, nothing could be accomplished.
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The task that was ahead of him, what he was looking to do,
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knowing that God was going to use him to go back to Jerusalem and lead the rebuilding of the wall,
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was a massive task.
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You see, King Artaxerxes, 13 years previously, had issued an edict stopping the building of the wall.
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And for him to stand before the king and ask for him to go back on his word,
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was to ask the king to shame himself, to say, I was wrong.
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Let me set it right.
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And this was not something you did in these days.
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And so the task ahead of him was massive.
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And he knew that without prayer, without God going with him, nothing would take place.
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But yet he planned.
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We look at that last week, right?
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He knew that he needed to go.
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He knew how long he needed to go for.
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You see this in chapter 2.
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He knew exactly what provisions he needed from the king.
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So even though as he prays and he knows that God must move and act in the situation,
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he also planned.
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He set a very careful course for how this task needed to be accomplished,
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all the while recognizing God's providence.
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We can see in verse 8 of chapter 2, the last half,
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says, and the king granted me what I asked,
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for the good hand of my God was upon me.
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And so he travels to Israel with an armed guard,
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takes them approximately three months,
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surveys the wall, continues this planning and praying process,
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and then speaks to the people of Israel.
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And when he encourages them, verse 18,
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it says, and I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good.
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They said, let us rise up and build.
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So they strengthened their hands or they set their minds to the task for the good work.
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And that's where we find ourselves this morning,
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right at the cusp, at the edge of them rising up,
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strengthening their hands for the work.
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Let's pray together.
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Father, we thank you for the blessing of your word.
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I thank you that the proper preaching of it and the proper hearing and application of it
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is a work of your spirit.
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And so we pray this morning that you will act and move through us to accomplish your goodwill.
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We pray this in Christ's name.
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Amen.
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Amen.
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So it was my original intent, as we set out,
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to talk about the work that they did
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and the work that they did in the face of opposition.
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But I decided late this week to drop out the work they did in the face of opposition
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and to treat that next week as it just seemed to be a little bit too much.
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So we're going to skip around just a little bit.
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And I apologize to those of you who really love it when I go verse by verse.
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But we're going to skip over the end of chapter 2 from verse 19 down.
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And we're going to just hit right into chapter 3.
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And we're going to cover all of chapter 3 today, taking a look at the work.
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I'm also not going to read you the text as I normally would.
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Because it would take me about 15 minutes to fumble over all of these names.
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I just make a fool of myself fumbling over Hebrew names.
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And it really wouldn't help that much our understanding.
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So what I want to do is encourage you to read the text for yourself later on.
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And let me draw your attention to some different parts of it.
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At first glance, we look at something like this.
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And it just really seems to be a list of names.
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Names, positions, where they built.
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It starts out with the building of the Sheep Gate.
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And it ends with that.
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You'll notice as you read, going counterclockwise around the city,
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there's an account of every section of the wall,
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how it was built, and who, in fact, built it.
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But there's so much in here for us to glean out for ourselves.
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It's a simple point.
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This morning will probably be a shorter sermon.
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But I think it's a very, very important point for us to see.
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So we're going to talk this morning about the work.
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So the first point I want to make to you from this is that they worked.
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And Nathan, that seems kind of obtuse.
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Of course they worked if they built the wall.
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They had to build to build the wall, right?
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But haven't we said up to this point that they were encouraged by the providence of God?
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They saw that the good hand of the Lord was upon them, moving and working.
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And yet, they worked.
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And I fear sometimes as a church that believes heavily in the sovereignty of God,
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maybe to err sometimes.
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That we so believe God is going to move and act that we fail to actually work.
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That we don't see that it is God that uses us to accomplish His goodwill.
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That we sit on our hands just waiting for something to happen,
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when in fact He's tasked us to get it done.
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Hear me carefully.
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God is sovereign.
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He is providentially in control of all things.
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Nothing happens apart from Him.
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So when we work and accomplish things,
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no praise belongs to us.
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It all belongs to God because He's using us to accomplish His will.
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But yet, we must work.
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They worked.
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You see the words throughout the text?
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Repaired.
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Built.
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And rebuilt.
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So there was a lot of work to be done,
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but know that the wall wasn't completely in shambles.
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There were portions of it that were still in fairly good shape.
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You'll see that the word repaired is used repeatedly.
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So the rubble was there.
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It just needed to be stacked back up.
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And not to make light of the task ahead of them.
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It was quite a task.
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But they just needed to repair the wall.
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The gates were burnt.
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Most of them, it says, they had to be built.
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They were made of wood and they were burned down.
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The bolts had to be set.
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The locks had to be put in place.
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They had to actually be built.
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And we see that some sections of the wall were simply rebuilt.
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So they were completely torn down.
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There were gaps in the armament.
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And they had to be built completely.
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So this language of work, and you see it as it goes in this pattern,
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that they worked side by side, shoulder to shoulder, if you'll allow,
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working on this wall.
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They completed what hadn't been completed in 90 years in 52 days.
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We'll see that in chapter 4.
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They completed the wall in 52 days.
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I'm going to draw your mind back to this language in verse 18 of chapter 2.
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So they strengthened their hands for the good work.
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And this language, this Hebrew language, was a way of stating that they became resolute.
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They set their eyes on it.
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This was the controlling thing in their life.
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Certainly they still had to clean up the house and cook and take care of the kids and do these things.
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But the driving activity in their life in this time was to rebuild the wall.
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My mind was drawn to a couple of New Testament texts, like 1 Corinthians 9.24, where Paul says,
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Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize?
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So run that you may obtain it.
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And Philippians 3.12-14, he says,
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It's not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own,
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because Christ Jesus had made me His own.
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Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own, but one thing I do,
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forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,
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I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
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See that language of pressing and straining?
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A language of work.
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Charles Spurgeon once said,
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The man who does not make hard work of his ministry will find it very hard work to answer for his idleness at the last great day.
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I'll give it to you again.
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The man who does not make hard work of his ministry will find it very hard work to answer for his idleness at the last great day.
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They worked.
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And this is the call for our lives as well.
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To work.
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To put our head down.
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And to go.
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There's some aspects of their work as well I want you to see.
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They worked without regard to their positions.
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So look at your text.
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We see that the priests worked.
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Still performing their priestly duties in verse 1, in verse 17, and verse 22 of chapter 3.
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We see that the priests worked.
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We see that the nobles or the rulers worked.
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Rebuilt.
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Verse 12, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19.
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I think I covered all of them.
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We see that the nobles, they stooped to work.
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Except the nobles of the Takawhites in verse 5.
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Who would not stoop to serve.
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So the nobles, they worked.
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The temple servants in verse 26.
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Put themselves to work.
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These people recognized that the goodness, the physical, visible goodness of God was worth stepping out of their trade.
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Of the position that had been given to them.
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It would have been shameful for any of these people to have lowered themselves to physical labor.
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But in this case, the glory of God circumvented that.
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They went above and beyond.
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They did more than in physical labor they would have had to do for their position.
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Secondly, they worked without regard to their gender.
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Notice in verse 12, we see a picture of this.
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Let me find that.
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Shalom, the ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, he and his daughters worked.
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Ladies, be encouraged by that.
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The work of God is yours as well.
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They worked without regard to their zip code.
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I couldn't think of a better way to say this.
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You see the Takawhites in verse 5.
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The Gibeonites, the Marantothites, and the Mizpahites in verse 7.
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Aren't you glad now I didn't read the entire chapter?
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People who lived in towns that were not in Jerusalem.
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They were in the area.
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Gibeon and Mizpah was about 8 miles outside of the town.
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Quite a few hours journey to the town.
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The physical building of the wall didn't fit these people in any way whatsoever.
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It didn't protect them from attack.
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But they knew, for the sake of the glory of God, that they should work.
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And so they worked without regard to their zip code.
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They came from where they were to build for the glory of God.
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I hope that's an encouragement to some of you that drive a little far to get here each day.
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They worked without regard to their fair share.
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There's two rather amazing men that are recorded here.
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In verse 8 and 30, we see a man named Hananiah.
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So look at him in verse 8.
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Next to him, Hananiah, one of the perfumers, repaired and they restored Jerusalem as far as the broad wall.
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And then notice verse 30.
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After him, Hananiah, the son of Shalamiah, and Hanan, the sixth son of Zalaph, repaired another section.
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Didn't just build their section of the wall, but when they finished said,
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We got more.
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We can give to this effort.
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Let's build another section.
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You see again another man by the name of Ben-Wai.
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We see him in verse 24.
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Ben-Wai, the son of Hinnadad, repaired another section.
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And as I look back in the text, I don't remember this guy's name anywhere in here.
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I don't recall him ever building an original section.
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And so I hunted and I hunted and I looked and I looked and realized that in verse 18, we see his brother.
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After him, their brothers repaired.
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Bavi, the son of Hinnadad.
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Notice now in verse 24, Ben-Wai, the son of Hinnadad.
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And so, as the record shows, Ben-Wai helped his brother in the building of that section of the wall.
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And when they completed, he moved on to build another section of the wall.
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So they worked without regard to their fair share.
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They worked without regard to their skill sets.
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These men, none of them are recorded as trained wall builders.
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None of them masons here.
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Notice in verse 8, you have a perfumer.
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A person who made perfume.
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That's Hananiah, in fact.
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The man who built two sections of the wall.
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We see goldsmiths in verse 8, verse 31, verse 32.
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We see a gatekeeper rebuild his own gate that he was in charge of in verse 29.
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We see merchants in verse 32.
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And as previously mentioned before, we see rulers and priests and temple servants all lending to the work that was before them.
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So they worked.
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And they worked without regard to all of these things that would tend to be excuses for them and for us.
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Now let me caution you.
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As I've said before, I am not suggesting that the work before us as the church, the way in which we can glean value from this for our lives,
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is that we are to build a building.
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It's not what I'm suggesting to you.
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That our great endeavor is to build this property and make it beautiful and make it tall and make it wide and full of natural light.
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That's not the task that's in front of us.
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In fact, I'm not even really suggesting that the major task in front of us is the building of this particular congregation,
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what I would call the church.
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We're careful to use that language properly.
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This building is not the church.
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We're the church.
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I'm not even really suggesting that.
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That it's all about building Christ's family church.
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As an example of buildings, I, this past week, learned of a church building in Texas that has in it a 75,000-gallon aquarium.
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The name of the church, just because they deserve to be picked on, is the International Body of Christ Church.
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They built a 75,000-gallon aquarium and around it a $40 million building.
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It's rather spectacular, to be totally honest with you.
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There's two tunnels that go through it to go into the room that they meet in.
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They have a full-time biologist on staff to care for the fish.
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And this thing, and in big letters over the top of it, it says, follow me and I will make you fishers of men.
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What a cool idea.
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I mean, one of you brings that idea to me.
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I'm like, that is an awesome idea.
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That is so cool.
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We would never, ever, ever do it.
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But what a very, very cool idea.
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And they have above it, follow me and I will make you fishers of men.
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And what I say to that is they get it, but they don't get it.
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Right?
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That is not what we are meant to be doing now as God's people.
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God's glory is not contained in buildings.
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Right?
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God is not honored with a big, flashy building.
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God is honored in the lives of holiness of His people.
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I'm also not suggesting that everybody's ministry will look the same.
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Right?
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These people put down their trades.
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They weren't making perfume or gold.
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They weren't selling their goods.
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They were building.
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They all became builders.
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I'm not saying that all of us are going to look exactly the same.
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Right?
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All of them looked the same.
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They were either, I guess in this way, gate builders or wall builders.
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Those are two categories that they were doing.
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Right?
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In the simplest of terms, that's not the way we're to work.
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God has gifted us in various ways.
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Turn with me to Romans chapter 12.
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We'll leave Nehemiah behind for the morning.
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Turn with me to Romans chapter 12.
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Or go to, I ought to say.
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Romans 12, verse 3.
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1 Corinthians 1.
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Romans chapter 12.
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Verse 4 through 7.
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Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit.
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And there are varieties of service, but the same Lord.
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And there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.
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To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
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Now note, all of these different things that are happening here.
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The different varieties.
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Right?
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Varieties of gifts.
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Varieties of service.
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Varieties of activities.
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Right?
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But the same Spirit.
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The same Lord.
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The same God that empowers them.
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That puts them into action.
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That initiates them.
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With the singular task of honoring God Almighty.
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That's the big thing.
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That's the wall building.
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Right?
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Bringing honor to God Almighty.
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How are we doing that?
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In all of these various ways.
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Turn to Ephesians chapter 4.
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We're going to begin in verse 11.
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Remember here, just before this, we see that Christ ascended on high.
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What does that mean?
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Except that He descended bringing gifts to men.
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Right?
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For the church.
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Verse 11.
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And He gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,
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to equip the saints for the work of ministry,
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for building up the body of Christ,
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until we all attain to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God,
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to mature manhood,
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to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,
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so that we may no longer be children,
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tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine,
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by human cunning, by craftiness and deceitful schemes.
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Rather, speaking the truth in love,
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we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head,
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into Christ, from whom the whole body,
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joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped,
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when each part is working properly,
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makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
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Okay.
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Right?
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There's a lot there.
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But I want you to see the bridge here,
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the connection of what's happening.
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We see the gifts given to men.
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He gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, teachers.
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For what?
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For a work.
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For the equipping of the saints.
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For ministry.
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And what is that ministry?
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Building up the body of Christ.
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Christ.
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There's that language of building.
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Right?
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Building up the body of Christ.
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Does that include Christ's family church?
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It absolutely does.
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But more than that,
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it includes the church universal.
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Building the body of Christ.
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Right?
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You might say,
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well, this just includes the maturity of those who are already believers.
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He goes on to explain that, right?
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That we should grow up into mature manhood,
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to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
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So we won't be children tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine,
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by the deceitful scheming of men.
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Right?
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We get all that.
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That's for the believer to grow up and to mature.
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But notice as he begins to conclude this thought,
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that when we're all joined together,
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built up in that way,
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joined and held together by every joint,
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what's going to happen?
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The body will grow.
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The body grows so that it builds itself up in love.
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Right?
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Right?
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So that includes the advancing of the kingdom of God.
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Right?
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So I'm not saying that the work ahead of us,
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the work that all of us should be doing,
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is the building of a building.
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I'm not saying that our parts in that are going to look exactly the same.
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Some of you are especially gifted
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at turning conversations to spiritual things.
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I've seen it happen.
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A lot of you in this room are really gifted at doing that.
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Not everyone is.
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Ought we trust God to work and move through us?
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Ought we put ourselves in situations being expectant
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that He might turn a conversation to spiritual things?
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Absolutely.
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But if you have a friend who has led countless thousands to Christ,
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and you hold a few in your hand,
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don't be ashamed of that.
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You're being used in a different way.
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What I am saying, though,
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is that we are all called to work.
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We're all called to be disciple-making disciples.
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Growing up into Christ-likeness.
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Seeing that come to bear in other people's lives.
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To be holy and to bring about holiness.
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A couple of weeks ago,
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kind of as an aside that I hadn't planned,
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I told you that the phrase feel called
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is a phrase I don't care for.
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It's worked its way into our vernacular.
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People ask me that often as a pastor.
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When did you feel called to be a pastor?
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And I honestly haven't known how to answer the question
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because I don't understand it.
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Feel called?
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What does that even feel like?
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Like, what are you talking about?
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When did I feel called to be a pastor?
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And I recently read a book which is of great help to me.
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Kind of set my mind at rest
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to know that I wasn't the only crazy one
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thinking in this way.
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The gentleman does a wonderful,
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elaborate study of calling in the Scriptures.
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We are all called to be Christians
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and to make other Christians.
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Right?
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To be disciple-making disciples.
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That's the calling on all of our lives.
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And the danger then with language like feeling called,
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because I don't know what that feels like.
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Honestly, you shouldn't know what it feels like
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because we're all called.
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If you think you're waiting for some divine mountaintop moment
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to get active in the work of the kingdom of God,
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you're never going to set yourself to the work.
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You're never going to strengthen your hands
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waiting for some feeling to come upon you
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that that's something you should be doing.
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We are all called to be disciple-making disciples.
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We're given different tasks in that.
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I've been given the task of standing in front of you
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and doing my very best by God's grace
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to expound the Word of God to you.
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To do other things to lead this church.
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Your task will look different than that.
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There's a pretty sure bet
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that I'm the only person in this church
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that's going to do this consistently.
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I'm thankful for all of the giftedness in our church
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to help me out to fill in when I'm sick
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and just tired.
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But as a general rule,
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there's going to be one guy
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that gets up here and preaches on a consistent basis.
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So what is your role then?
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You're called just the same.
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It's not something we feel.
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It's something that's true.
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It's something that's been told to us
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in the Scriptures.
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We've been called to be Christians.
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We're called to make Christians.
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Get to work.
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Don't just plan to work.
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Trust in the providence of God.
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Strengthen yourself to work.
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Get ready to it.
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Say, I'm going to work.
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I'm going to do it.
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And not work.
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The work is the obedience,
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carrying out the faith
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that's been granted to us.
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I want to tie it back in together.
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I'm going to keep doing this for us.
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1 Peter 2.
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I think you'd appreciate turning there.
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1 Peter 2.
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That is Christ.
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Cornerstone that was so important
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to set the foundation,
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to make sure that the walls were built straight.
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This was the most important piece of the building.
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The cornerstone was set properly.
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Everything else worked out
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the way it was supposed to work out.
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And that's the language here.
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Jesus Christ is the cornerstone
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which the spiritual house is being built upon.
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But I want you to see
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that there's not a clergy-laity distinction in here.
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There's not a
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those-who-feel-called-to-be-minister
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and those-who-don't language in here.
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That's why we're careful about the way we say things around here.
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That's why we will never in this church
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have an altar call.
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We may have an invitation of sorts.
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It may look different than our typical Lord's Supper.
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But to use the language of altar call
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would seem to communicate to you
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that I am somehow a priest
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that stands between you and God.
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It would seem to communicate
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that the sacrifice has yet to be made in Christ.
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And ladies and gentlemen,
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the sacrifice has been made.
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Christ has made the once and for all sacrifice.
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In His language, it is finished.
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It's part of what was meant by that.
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We see in the beginning of Hebrews,
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He's seated at the right hand of the Father.
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He's not having to continue to make sacrifice.
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It has been done.
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We have no need of an altar
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in our meeting places any longer.
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I don't want you to think ever
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you have to come through me to get to God.
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What a horrible thing that would be.
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I am as flawed as you are.
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You go to God.
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You know who you go through to get there?
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Christ.
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That final and full sacrifice.
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There's no clergy-laity distinction here.
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Beginning in verse 1.
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So put away all malice
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and all deceit and hypocrisy.
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He's talking about the holy living we should be doing.
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And envy and all slander.
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Like newborn infants,
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long for the pure spiritual milk
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that by it you may grow up into salvation.
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If indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.
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And here we are.
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Verse 4.
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And as you come to Him,
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a living stone,
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rejected by men,
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but in the sight of God,
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chosen and precious,
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you yourselves,
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like living stones,
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are being built up
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as a spiritual house.
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To be what?
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All of you.
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To be a holy priesthood.
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To offer spiritual sacrifices
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acceptable to God
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through Jesus Christ.
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For it stands in Scripture,
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Behold,
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I am laying in Zion a stone,
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a cornerstone,
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chosen and precious,
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and whoever believes in Him
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will not be put to shame.
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So the honor is for you who believe.
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You will not be put to shame.
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But for those who do not believe,
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the stone that the builders rejected
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has become the cornerstone.
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And a stone of stumbling
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and a rock of offense.
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They stumble because they disobey the Word
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as they were destined to do.
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Now verse 9.
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But you,
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all of you,
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all of us,
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those who have placed our faith in Christ,
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that is who Peter's talking about here.
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But you are a chosen race.
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Again, here's the language.
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A royal priesthood.
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A holy nation.
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A people for His own possession.
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For what reason?
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We've all been called to this
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and we're all called
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that we may proclaim
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the excellences of Him
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who called you out of darkness
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into His marvelous light.
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Once you were not a people,
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but now you are God's people.
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Once you had not received mercy,
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but now you have received mercy.
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He's quoting from Hosea.
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Beloved,
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I urge you
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as sojourners and exiles
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to abstain from the passions of the flesh
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which wage war against your soul.
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Keep your conduct
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among the Gentiles honorable
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so that when they speak against you
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as evildoers,
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so they may see your good deeds
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and glorify God
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on the day of visitation.
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And there's the wrap-up to it, right?
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We're all called to be holy
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and to bring about holiness
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in the hearts of people around us.
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This is the work
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that we are set to.
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If you may or may not be familiar with,
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I learned it's a myth,
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lemmings.
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You guys know a little bit about lemmings?
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When I say the word lemmings,
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these little rodents.
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And the myth is
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that spontaneously,
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they all get this desire.
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He knows why,
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but there's a,
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just something kicks off in them
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and they all rush off of a cliff.
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Have you heard this?
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They kill themselves
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and I've heard lots of things about this.
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It's like a population control
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because they're rodents
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and they multiply greatly
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and it's totally a myth.
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You know who invented it?
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Walt Disney
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in a 1958 film called
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White Wilderness.
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Totally a myth, right?
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Lemmings do not do this.
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But interestingly,
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people do.
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From a desire set down within humanity,
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all humanity,
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it rushes towards a cliff
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to their certain doom, right?
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To go right off the edge,
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to be dashed upon the rocks
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at the bottom, right?
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This is what our sin has bought us.
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And God in Christ
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has graciously shown
32:41
so many of us the edge, right?
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Shown us the futility
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of what we were doing.
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Said to us,
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the end of this path
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is surely destruction.
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Don't run off the cliff
32:52
with the others.
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And what we ought to be doing now,
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the natural response to that,
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ought to be to run around
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on the edge of the cliff
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warning everyone else, right?
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Trying to show them
33:03
this very thing.
33:05
We recognize all along
33:06
God is providential
33:07
in this saving work.
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But,
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it's still the work
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given to us
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to proclaim
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the edge is close,
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the doom is certain.
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If you go over the edge,
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you will die.
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And I think
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many of us
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have taken out
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a folding chair,
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folded it out,
33:26
and sat down
33:27
facing away
33:29
from the edge of the cliff
33:29
and we say hey
33:30
to our friends
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as they go by.
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Hey Bob,
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good to see you.
33:33
Hey Sue,
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grass is looking great.
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And they rush right past us
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and off
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the edge.
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There is a work
33:44
set before us.
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Your co-workers,
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your neighbors,
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your classmates
33:50
need to hear
33:51
the gospel of Jesus Christ.
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Right?
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Not it just in its simplest form,
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which is where we start,
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but in its full revelation,
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bringing about holiness
34:02
in their lives.
34:04
Right?
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Seeing them converted
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and discipled.
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And we do all of this
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to the praise
34:10
of the glory of God.
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This is the house.
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This is the wall
34:15
that we are
34:16
to be building.
34:18
One that brings
34:19
great praise
34:20
and glory
34:21
to our God.
34:23
As I told you before,
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it's not about
34:26
Christ's family church.
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It is my hope
34:29
that a natural byproduct
34:30
of our time together
34:31
is that we grow in numbers.
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It just makes sense to me
34:34
that it would.
34:34
That if we're being
34:35
healthy together,
34:36
this is going to begin
34:37
happening.
34:38
Right?
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That we're going to
34:39
fill this room
34:41
and have to use
34:41
an overflow room.
34:42
Right?
34:43
That we're going to have
34:43
to seriously be considering
34:44
planting new churches
34:45
because we can't possibly
34:46
fit any longer
34:47
in this building.
34:48
Right?
34:49
I think that's a natural
34:49
healthy byproduct
34:51
of us being healthy
34:52
together in our meeting times.
34:54
Right?
34:54
Reminding each other
34:55
of the work
34:56
that's before us.
34:57
But hear me clearly.
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This is not primarily
34:59
what I care about.
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I want Christ's family church
35:03
to proclaim the excellencies
35:04
of God.
35:04
I want people to look
35:05
at us and say,
35:06
what are they doing?
35:07
It's weird
35:08
and they're growing
35:09
and they're planting churches
35:10
and what is happening
35:11
in this place?
35:12
But more than that,
35:15
it's about the global,
35:16
the kingdom of God.
35:18
I just got to tell you,
35:18
I am so, so glad
35:21
that we have so many
35:22
young people come
35:23
to this place and leave.
35:25
And there wasn't a time
35:25
in my life
35:26
I could have said that.
35:27
That I would have been
35:28
happy that you guys leave.
35:30
Because we were working
35:31
to build something
35:32
and every time
35:32
we invested in somebody
35:34
and they seemed to be
35:34
somewhat healthy,
35:35
like get you just in
35:36
kind of a healthy
35:37
church member spot
35:38
and I could finally
35:39
start saying,
35:40
wow, now this is a person
35:41
or a couple I can use.
35:43
They'd leave.
35:45
And it was really hard
35:46
and sometimes it still is
35:47
in moments.
35:48
I still have struggle
35:49
with that.
35:49
I want to build.
35:50
I want to accomplish.
35:52
But we have sent people
35:54
all over this world.
35:57
And don't say that
35:58
to boast on me.
35:59
Just say that to say
36:00
that God has blessed us
36:02
uniquely to impact
36:04
so much
36:05
and I'm so thankful
36:06
for it
36:06
that we can
36:07
pour a bit
36:08
and send on
36:09
and pour a little more
36:10
and send on.
36:11
that someday
36:13
the work that we do here
36:15
will see it fully.
36:16
We'll recognize
36:17
what has happened
36:18
as a result
36:18
of the work
36:19
that we've done
36:20
in this place.
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Someday,
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I hope,
36:24
as we work,
36:25
as we put our minds to it,
36:27
as we strengthen our hands
36:28
and do the work,
36:30
God will say to us,
36:31
well done,
36:33
my good
36:33
and faithful servant.
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And that will make it
36:36
all worthwhile.
36:37
All worthwhile.
36:38
Let's pray together.