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Good morning. Good morning to all of you. If you have your Bibles, Nehemiah 13 is where

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we're going to be. We're going to finish up our study of Nehemiah today. We've taken

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eight themes that we found throughout this book and just tried to develop them over the

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last couple months. And just so you know, I'm going to give it away real quick, just

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so you know the book ends in a very peculiar way. What I mean by that is Nehemiah ends

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in a way that a lot of independent films end. It's kind of always disastrous. The main

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line movies that everybody watches, they all have a happy ending. But the ones that win

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the Academy Awards that nobody actually saw is where everybody dies and the end is just

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awful. That's kind of what we're looking at this morning. What happens in Nehemiah is

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that things don't end on a high note. They end on a low note. And here's what Nehemiah

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13 is going to do. If you're a Christian in here, it's going to tell us who we are. That's

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what's going to happen. If you're not a believer in here, it'll help you understand our inconsistencies.

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And what we've read and what we've learned in the book of Nehemiah to this point is that

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the world is broken. Nobody really wants to argue with that. Nobody really can argue

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with that. Whether you're secular or religious, everybody can look at the world around them

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and go, okay, something's broken. Something's not right. What you think is wrong varies

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from tribe to tribe, but everyone would agree that the world is broken at some level and

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it needs some repair. What we've looked at from the book of Nehemiah is that we, as the

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people of God, as the Christian church, as cornerstone, are to be a people of empathy

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and compassion. We enter into the sorrows of others. We enter into the loss of others.

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We care deeply about one another as believers in Christ, first and foremost, and then flowing

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out of the walls of the church onto the rest of the world. We are people whose lives should

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be marked by compassion. Then we're people who have a relationship with God. This should

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be said of us as believers that we have a relationship with God. God is not just an

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idea to us, but we have a relationship with God and that relationship works itself out

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through the word of God and prayer. Then we are people who act upon our prayers. That

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should be us. We are people who act upon our prayers. We're not just people who just sit

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around and hope. We pray and then we act upon the prayers that we have prayed. We don't

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just pray that God would encourage you, but we encourage you. Then from there we looked

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at and learned there will be opposition towards us as the people of God. We should expect

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it. We should be ready for it. Then from there we said that there will be a great need for

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grace and mercy inside the household of faith because I'm not sure you know this or not,

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but there's a lot of sinners in this room. There's a lot of sinners in this room which

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means we shouldn't be surprised when somebody disappoints us. We shouldn't be surprised

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that we need to extend mercy and grace. That we shouldn't be surprised that we need to

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receive mercy and grace. What that means is we're not people who are perfect by any means.

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But we are people who rest in the forgiveness of God. Then from there we looked at the fact

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that we are a people defined by and directed by the Word of God. We are very serious about

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the Scriptures. We don't pick and choose what we want from the Scriptures. We don't apologize

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for that. It is what it says. The Bible is what it says it is. We are people of the Word.

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We're shaped by the Word. We're guided by the Word. Directed by the Word of God. It's

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a divine book. It's sacred literature for us which is why it should cause a response

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in us. Then we said last week as we live to rebuild the broken world around us bringing

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glory to God we are fueled by and empowered by the faithfulness of God towards us despite

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our circumstances. What we've marveled at up to now at this point in EMI 13 what we're

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going to find out about us is what's always been true about us as the people of God. We're

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prone to do the same things over and over and over again. That's what we're looking

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at this morning. Let's get to work. Tanner is going to read our passage this morning

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out in EMI 13. He's going to pick it up in verse 4. I'd encourage you to stand if you're

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able as we honor the Lord's Word together. Now before this, Elisha the priest who was

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appointed over the chambers of the house of our God and who was related to Tobiah prepared

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for Tobiah a large chamber where they had previously put the grain offering, the frankincense,

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the vessel and the tithes of grain, wine and oil which were given by commandment to the

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Levite singers and gatekeepers in the contributions for the priests. While this was taking place

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I was not in Jerusalem for in the 32nd year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I went to the

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king and after some time I asked leave of the king and came to Jerusalem and then I discovered

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the evil that Elisha had done for Tobiah. I prepared for, had done for Tobiah preparing

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for him a chamber in the courts of the house of God and I was very angry and I threw all

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the household furniture of Tobiah out of the chamber. Then I gave orders and they cleansed

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the chamber and I brought back there the vessel of the house of God and with the grain offering

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in the frankincense. Amen. Good job buddy. Let's pray Father we're so grateful for Tanner

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and I love how you're growing him and I love how you're developing him and I pray that

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you continue to give him a strong desire to know you and your word. I pray Father as we

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look at this text that you'll speak to our hearts that we will be able to see ourselves

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in this passage. So God we give you this time. Your name we pray. Amen. Thanks buddy. So here's

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what Tanner just read. Here's what has just occurred. It's Nehemiah as he's going through

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this book, as he's going through rebuilding the wall he sets up these reforms. Alright.

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People are serious about God. They're following God. They've lined themselves up back up with

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obedience to God. So he sets all this thing up. Then he heads back to King Artaxerxes

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800 miles away. The king of Persia. He heads back to his kingdom and then while he's there

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for a while then he comes back to Jerusalem and when he gets back to Jerusalem he realizes

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that so many of the reforms that he put into place have become brittle if they haven't already

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begun to fall apart completely. And if you don't remember Tobiah he had actively worked

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against the reforms of Nehemiah since the beginning. In fact in Nehemiah chapter 6,

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Tobiah actually hired a false prophet to prophesy to Nehemiah that God had told him that Nehemiah

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would be murdered and that he should leave. And so Tobiah has been undermining the people

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of God and the seriousness about pursuit of God amongst God's people. He's actively working

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against them. So Nehemiah leaves and then we have one of the caretakers of the house

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of God making a house for Tobiah in the middle of the house of God. Clearing out aspects

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of worship to God in order to make room for a man who's actively working against the things

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of God. That brings me to the first point, which we are all prone to drift. Check in on

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us at any point in history. Check in on us here today. We all have a tendency over a

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period of time to grow less and less serious about holiness. We tend to allow things into

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our lives that shape us in a way that does not motivate us towards God but rather pulls

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us away from God. We have a tendency to allow things in our lives that are kind of morally

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neutral, that do not have good effects on us in regard to our relationship with God

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and our desire to know Him better and follow Him. For the most part, what's going on, what's

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going to get us most isn't some horrific thing. Most of us aren't struggling with heroin.

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That's not where most of us struggle. It'll be in these morally neutral areas. That thing

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that isn't blatantly evil or wrong, but for whatever reason, we give it room in our hearts

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and it distracts us and it pulls us away from the things of God. There are morally neutral

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things in your life and in my life that rob us of our affections for Jesus Christ. What

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happens is over a period of time, as we make room for these things in our lives, rather

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than being serious about eradicating those things or keeping those things in check, we

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drift away from holiness. God has been very gracious to us in this drift. In fact, again,

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if you check in on us at any point in Christian history, you will find us to be people who

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were prone to drift away from holiness. God gives us a couple of things to help us. He

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knows this is our tendency and so He's given us a few things to help us avoid this drift.

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One is the Word of God. The reason you have the Scriptures in your lap. This reason you

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have the Word of God on your device right now is once again so that God might guide

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you. But that's not all that He gives us. He also gives us a community of faith. He

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has given us the Word of God and He has given us each other, which is why we lay before

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you all the time. It's not good for you just to show up here on the weekend. You will not

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pull from the community of faith. What you should be pulling from the community of faith

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is sermons and songs are all that you're getting. We need one another and we need one

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another honestly. We don't need perfect you. In fact, that's the last thing we need. The

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last thing we need as a church is perfect you. The one who's all put together. The one

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who never struggles. Like where cape right? The Christian that never has a doubt whose

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marriage is perfect. Whose kids obey you with just a look. Some of you all are out there.

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I don't know how you do it. But reality is we need honest you. We need you. I'm telling

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you, one of the greatest paradoxes of the Christian faith is that our weaknesses edify

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and encourage one another to greater holiness. Our weaknesses edify and encourage one another

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to greater holiness. Isn't that strange? It's strange that strengths or perceived strengths

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can actually at times hinder growth in the things of God. Whereas honest weaknesses have

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a way of stirring us towards greater holiness, creating safe places for us to experience

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the grace of God. This is what God has given to you in our tendency to lack seriousness

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about holiness. We have this thing where we drift from holiness and we don't think we're

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doing anything wrong. Because whatever we're struggling with isn't necessarily bad, but

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it's robbing you of your affections for Christ. Over time that's going to help us drift. Let's

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keep reading. This is verse 10. I also found out that the portions of the Levites had not

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been given to them. So that the Levites and the singers who did the work had fled each

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to his field. So I confronted the officials and said, why is the house of God forsaken?

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I gathered them together and set them in their stations. Then all Judah brought the tithe

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of the grain, wine and oil into the storehouses. And I appointed as treasurers over the storehouses

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Shalmaia, the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pidea of the Levites. And as their assistant,

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Hainan the son of Zekor, son of Mataniah, for they were considered reliable and their

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duty was to distribute to the brothers. Remember me, oh my God, concerning this. And do not

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wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God and for his service. Okay,

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this is going to sound self-serving. But I'll try to turn it at the end so it doesn't, maybe.

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It's one of those awkward times where I just have to handle the text. The second way that

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we as people of God, as the church historically are prone to drift out of safe waters and

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into dangerous waters is over a period of time we drift from godly biblical authority.

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Let me read you a verse about the church that will sound so counter cultural and so strange

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that it might kind of rub your heart the wrong way. I want you to pay attention to how this

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verse sounds to you so that you might see if some drift is occurring in your life.

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In Hebrews 13 verse 17 it says, have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority.

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Now we're going to finish reading this verse, but I want to lay this before you. Nobody joins

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a church based on that verse. No one. No one reads that verse and says, oh, I got to get

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plugged into a church. People join churches like this. Oh, I love the music. That guy

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makes me laugh. But the Bible just said when it comes to joining a church, you are submitting

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to and agreeing to obey the elders of that church. The word obey sounds crazy, doesn't

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it? Nobody thinks that when they join a church, I'm going to obey the men that God has placed

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over my care. When they weigh in on wisdom or my life, I'm going to obey. I'm going to

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submit. When they preach and proclaim the word of God, I'm going to obey. I'm going

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to submit. Nobody thinks that way anymore. In fact, if we do something they don't like

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or try to weigh in on their lives, we'll just find another church that will stay out of

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our business. That's what is tending to happen in our culture today. Do you see how that

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puts you in harm's way? What the Bible says about the people of God, particularly those

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who are Christians who have joined this church, is what you have to do is obey and submit.

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But listen, there's far more weight on the elders than there is on you. Watch this. So

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this is have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority because they keep

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watch over you as those who must give an account. So here's what the word of God has just said.

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You are to obey and submit if you're a covenant member and we are as elders of this church

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held accountable for how we cared for you. That's terrifying to me. I think about this

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verse often. I have to stand in front of God with the elders of this church and give an

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account for how we shepherded you, how we cared for you, how we laid tracks for you,

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how we held you accountable, how we stirred your affections for Christ, and whether or

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not we served you or just leached off of you. Then the verse continues, do this so that

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their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you. This is

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a great turn on words here. He's like, it's no advantage to you. It's no advantage to

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you as a member of this church. If you beat your leaders down so badly, they're like,

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gosh, I hate this job, but I'm going to remain faithful to what God has called me to. It's

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no advantage to you if a pastor has a long list of people he wished God would take home.

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It's no advantage to you if you're on a death list in your pastor's office because you beat

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him down and nag him to death. Now, I just want to tease this out a little bit more for

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you. Enough that I would say this. It is God's will and command that you find a church and

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join it. This, I love Jesus, but not the church nonsense has to stop. I feel bold enough to

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say that I believe that if you are not a member of a local congregation, you are walking in

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disobedience. I'm not saying you're not a Christian, but I am saying you're in sin.

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And I want to say this, we're not doing some sort of membership drive here this morning.

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We're not having a membership push here today, all right? I'm not going. So membership class

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in a few weeks, y'all join. What I'm saying is find somewhere that's serious about the

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Word of God, that's serious about caring for your soul, a group of men and women who are

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willing to pour themselves out for your benefit and join. There are no perfect churches. And

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if that's what you're holding out for, you're going to be holding out forever. It's in most

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of us, a rebellious spirit that would have us not joining anywhere, not belonging anywhere.

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See the thing about attendance and not belonging is you can control it. That's why you like

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to do that. You like control. Nobody's going to tell you about your business. But what

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good is the church if we have no right to get in your business and you have no right

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to get in ours? Do you see how you even short circuit all that God has done for you and

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calling you to be a part of his people? We've so individualized this thing that we've heard

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ourselves. We are prone to kick against godly biblical leadership throughout history. They

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hated the prophets. They hated Christ. They hated many of the New Testament leaders. And

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to this day you have people who treat the church like an ecclesiological buffet. We take what

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we like from this church and then we take what we like from that church and we take what

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we like from that church. We have a drift in that way. Let's keep going to the third place

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we have a tendency to drill. Verse 15. In those days I saw in Judah people treading

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wine presses on the Sabbath and bringing in heaps of grain and loading them on donkeys

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and also wine, grapes, figs and all kinds of loads which they brought into Jerusalem

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on the Sabbath day. And I warned them on the day when they sold food. Tyrion's also who

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lived in the city brought in fish and all kinds of goods and sold them on the Sabbath

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to the people of Judah in Jerusalem itself. Then I confronted the nobles of Judah and

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said to them, what is this evil thing that you were doing profanying the Sabbath day?

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Did not your fathers act in this way and did not our God bring all this disaster on us

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and on the city? Now here's real quick. Here's what's important to know. I'm saying we've

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always had a tendency to do this. Do you see what Nehemiah is doing here? Just in that

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passage. He's saying, didn't our fathers do this? Didn't Solomon do this? Haven't we

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done this before? Haven't we had to have this conversation before? Haven't we already

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seen what happens when we drift from God like this? And here we are looking at Nehemiah.

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Years of years later and Nehemiah is pointing a thousand years before him and he's saying,

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hey, haven't we played this game before? Do you see how this is consistent? Now let's

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keep reading verse 18. Now you are bringing more wrath on Israel by profanying the Sabbath.

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As soon as it began to grow dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I commanded

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that the doors should be shut and gave orders that they should not be opened until after

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the Sabbath. And I stationed some of my servants at the gates that no load might be brought

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in on the Sabbath day. Then the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged outside

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of Jerusalem once or twice. But I warned them and I said to them, why do you lodge outside

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the wall? If you do it again, I will lay hands on you. How great is that? How great is that?

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I want to put that in our church covenant. If you do that again, I'm going to lay hands

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on you. It's biblical. It's biblical. Keep going. From that time on, they did not come

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on the Sabbath. So it works, right? Verse 22. Then I commanded the Levites that they

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should purify themselves and come and guard the gates to keep the Sabbath day holy. Remember

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this also in my favor. Oh my God, and spare me according to the greatness of your steadfast

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love. So much, so much of what the Sabbath is, is lost on us in 2024. But here's where

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we're prone to drift. And this is significant. We are prone to drift by doing rather than

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being. I'll try to explain that. The Sabbath was woven into the fabric of how God created

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the universe to work. Because you and I, just by our nature, are going to try to earn what

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can't be earned. There's something in me that happens when I complete tasks. When I can

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check something off, there's this kind of euphoric feeling, right? Now, I'm sure we've all experienced

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it. Have I just accomplished something spectacular? This thing occurs in my soul. And here's what

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happens. It doesn't take long for me to then, in turn, become enslaved to those things.

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Now I have to turn those things in. I have to get those things done because my whole

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identity is caught up in that thing. I have to preach my best sermon every weekend. I

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have to be the best husband possible. And now I'm carrying all the weight of what is

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impossible. And I am crushed and I'm owned by any and all failures. What God just says

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to remind us because we're dumb is once a week, stop and just be. Once a week, stop

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and just be. Your identity isn't in those things. Your identity isn't me. Your identity

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isn't in what you can accomplish or what you can get done or how you can clean yourself

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up or whether or not you're doing this or doing that. Your identity is found in the

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adopting work in Jesus Christ. That's what the Sabbath is for. We have a tendency to

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forget that. Almost all of us do. We have a tendency to forget that. In fact, most of

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us have a default movement of trying to perpetually clean ourselves up so that God might approve

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of us. So that God might find favor in us. The Sabbath is going to step right in to that

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line of thinking. It's going to step right into that nonsense and God screams from the

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heavens, stop. Just stop. And I've said the same thing to you since I've been here. He

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doesn't love the future version of you. He does not love the future version. That's not

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what he's wild about. You 10 years from now is not who God loves and who is who is rescued.

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You right now is who he loves and who is rescued. That's what makes grace so amazing. For you

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to go, oh, I got to quit cussing. Okay, I think you should grow in that. I think it's

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a good thing to grow in a way of expressing yourself that's not vulgar. That's growth.

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That's good. But that doesn't rescue you before God. Well, I have a real problem with lust

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and pornography. Well, I think it's a very good thing for you to pursue holiness in that

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matter and be serious about the devastation that's going to reap in your heart. It's going

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to reap in your marriage. It's going to reap in future relationships if you're not careful.

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But you no longer viewing pornography does not save you. Well, I have a real drug and

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alcohol problem. Okay, I hear that. I hear you. That's something we definitely want

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to see God work in in your life. But you being clean in addiction does not make you accepted

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before God. It is by his blood and righteousness alone that you were saved. It's by his blood

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and righteousness alone that you are saved. And the Sabbath screams out, stop, just be,

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my son, be my daughter. I love you now. We need to let that seep into our heart. My experience

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has been like a father who neglects his family in order to buy them trinkets and toys is

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we will neglect our relationship with God in order to try to serve him and get things

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done for him. And then that that takes all the delight out of ministry because then it

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becomes duty bound. And really, when all is said and done harms what makes our relationship

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with God flourish. So one of the things you and I have a tendency to do is is drift toward

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doing rather than being. It's why we need to continually be reminded of the gospel of

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Jesus Christ. We need to just be who God created us to be. We just need to stop, stop

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trying to earn, stop trying to outwork him, just be. Then one more drift here I want us

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to talk about and we'll conclude our time together verse 23. In those days also I saw

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the Jews who had married women of a shot, amen and Moab and half of their children spoke

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the language of a shot. And they could not speak the language of Judah, but only the

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language of each people. And I confronted them and curse them and beat them, beat some

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of them and pulled out their hair. Hello. Yes, please. Right. I was reading through

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that as I was getting prepared for Nehemiah and I was like, I'd like to do a whole sermon

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just on that verse, but I'm not quite sure what to do with it. Just in case any of you

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are overzealous, this is not your life verse. All right. Let's be careful with that. Well,

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they were being disobedient. So I ripped out their hair and beat them. Let's keep going.

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And I made them take an oath in the name of God saying, you shall not give your daughters

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to their sons or take their daughters for your sons or for yourselves. Did not Solomon,

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king of Israel, sin on account of such women? So here again, he's, he's referring backwards.

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Haven't we already done this? Haven't we already been here? Haven't we already made this mistake

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yet? Yeah, here we are today making the same mistakes again. Keep going. Among the many

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nations there was no king like him and he was beloved by his God and God made him king

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over all of Israel. Nevertheless, foreign women made even him to sin. Shall we then

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listen to you and do all this great evil and act treacherously against our God by marrying

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foreign women and one of the sons of Jehoida, the son of Elisha, the high priest was the

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son-in-law of Sambalot the Horde. Now you should remember him, right? He was with Tobiah in

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the beginning when we started this thing, working against the reforms of God. He says,

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therefore I chased him from me. Remember them. Oh my God, because they have desecrated the

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priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites. Thus I cleansed them from

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everything foreign and I established the duties of the priests and Levites each in his work

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and I provided for the wood offering at appointed times and for the first fruits. Remember me.

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Oh my God, for good. So do you, do you see what I mean by this book just ends in a strange

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way? He literally shows up, beats half the nation and then the book is over. Let me give

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you the fourth drift. The fourth drift that occurs to us historically and to this day

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is all of us have a tendency to get very nearsighted and lazy about the things of God. This text

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historically speaking was used to preach against interracial marriage. That's how this text was

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used. That was an ignorant, foolish hermeneutic. I don't quite even know how they really milked

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that out of this passage because it's absolutely not there. This is about inviting into your life

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cultures that are adamantly opposed to the things of God. That's what's taking place here. This is

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not a black man shouldn't marry a white woman or a Hispanic woman should marry a black man or a

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black woman shouldn't marry a white man. That's not what this text is about. It's not what's

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happening. He's saying you have invited cultures into the covenant community of faith that are

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adamantly opposed to the things of God. And we have this tendency to drift in that way. If you're

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in a place, if you're in a place where God is moving in you, he's growing in you, you're growing in

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your knowledge of the word and you're finding your marriage and relationship with Jesus Christ

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flourishing, I think it would be a foolish thing for you to do to take a job somewhere else for

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more money where you're not sure you'd have those things. One is a short-sighted mindset and one is

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long-sighted. If you found a place of care where you're growing to leave that spiritual care and

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that spiritual vibrancy for another 10 or 20 grand a year in order to get a little bit of a nicer

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car, maybe a little bit of a bigger house is short-sighted and foolish. Again, we don't have

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categories for that in our day and age. This is one of the reasons why the church is so weak. There's

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a kind of laziness that occurs over a period of time when it comes to the people of God. They're

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not serious about the things of God and they're lackadaisical in their approach to growing in

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holiness. Now none of this, none of this should feel like a heavy weight, a heavy burden to you

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because it's actually God just outing you. It should be a bit comfortable. It should feel

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comfortable. Oh good, he already knows I'm lazy. Like there's some rest in that. Or we're not having

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to pretend. Why I started this sermon saying this will cause us to marvel at who God is is because

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God has always known this about his people and yet the text says he's steadfast. He's long suffering.

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He hears their cries. He delivers them from evil. He rescues them and despite the fact that all of

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us are on this list over and over and over again. God still declares, I know, I know I've made a path

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for you. I've granted forgiveness to you. So you and I mature, you and I rebuild. We actively walk in

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the world one day at a time, one day at a time. There are no steroid shots in regards to growing

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and godliness. There's not a magic pill you can take. It's a day in, day out, living for God in

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the full knowledge that God has given me all that I need to be obedient to him today, to what he has

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called me to today. He's already given it to us. It's understanding that and knowing that. I don't

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know how you work. But if I begin to think about what I have to accomplish this month, what I have

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to accomplish this week, if I look at all the things that are coming up, I'll begin to stress out

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and not sleep real well. My mind has a hard time shutting down and so when I'm looking at all these

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things that need to get done and not resting in who he is, I'll begin to stress out. So really,

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my encouragement to you, my encouragement to all of us today is what needs to be done today? What

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needs to be done today? What steps of faith need to be taken today? I do not believe that you can

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fix you. So if you're going, I'm kind of lazy when it comes to the things of God. What I'm saying is

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take steps. Take steps. Those steps don't fix you. They don't fix you, but they put you in some

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positions to experience the grace and mercy that God is offering you. If you're struggling with

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addiction, get into recovery. That's a step. If you've been lazy about getting connected, then sign up

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for a small group. If you've just been showing up here week after week and you have, you know nobody's

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first name, then take a step and get to know somebody. Most people here are friendly. The ones

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that aren't laughing avoid those people, right? But what I'm saying is those steps, they're not going

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to fix you. They're not going to fix you. The only thing that you're better at than jacking up your

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life is you trying to fix your life. It's the only thing you're better at. You can't fix you, but you

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can take steps that will allow God to move powerfully in your life. So my question is what steps need

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to be taken? Since God is clearly warning us, my people have a tendency to do this. Throughout all

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of Christian history, my people have a tendency to walk in this way, then we should take to heart

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these things and we should consider how we might position ourselves in a better place to experience

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the grace and mercy of God in a way that's life giving, that increases our vitality and energy in

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our faith, that we might be serious about the things of God, not like a day's ago, but serious. Not

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that those things don't really matter, but how can we, how can you take seriously the steps of

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faith and the things of God? So many of us are procrastinators, right? Well, I'll start on Monday.

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I'll start after the first of the year. I'll get serious then. And we put a date on our calendar,

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we put a start on our calendar saying this is when this thing is going to begin in me,

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this is when this thing is going to start in me, and then what ends up happening is life.

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And life distracts us and that date goes on the calendar. And then we set another date. What I'm

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asking you, God has warned us, my people have a tendency to do these things. They have a tendency

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to drift from these things. What steps can you take today? If you're not taking seriously holiness,

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what steps can you take today to do that? If you're struggling with biblical,

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godly authority, what steps can you take today? If you have a hard time taking a day off and not

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just doing something, what commitment can you make to yourself today so that you can just be?

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And just where have you been lazy? Where have you been lazy? Where have you put things that are

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morally neutral ahead of godly things? What steps can you take? And so I'm going to pray for us.

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That is it for the book of Nehemiah. We're constantly in this mode of rebuilding. We're

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trying to rebuild how God created us to be. And so I hope it's been encouraging to you. I hope

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it's been edifying to you. But once again, we're not just people who pray. We're people who act

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upon our prayers. So what are you asking God for? And what steps are you going to take? So I'm

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going to pray. Our worship team will come and lead us in a couple more songs this morning.

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And however the Lord speaks to you, will you walk in obedience? Let's pray. Father, I pray right now

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that as we stop and as we worship, as you speak, I pray, Father, that you will soften our hearts to

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hear you. I pray that we will not be thinking about this person or that person, but we'll be

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thinking about our own selves and how we are prone to drift. I pray you reveal that to us.

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Revealing us any ways, any things that are robbing us of our affections for you. And I pray, Father,

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that as you speak, it will be made clear that the path that you have made for us, that we will walk

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in obedience down that path. So maybe we need to lay something down today. But Father, I pray that we

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will be a people of action. That today we will all take steps of faith to take holiness more

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seriously. To take the things that you have offered us more seriously. That we will find rest in this

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place today. So Father, I give you this time. We ask you to move. Turn in your prayer. Amen.