Let's keep taking our Bibles and turning to the Book of Nehemiah. Book of Nehemiah. Testing, testing, what about now? What about now? Testing one, two, three. To be saved, say amen. Amen. It's good to be saved. Good to be here this morning. Got a lot going on at Myrtleville Baptist and appreciate God's grace and mercy through all of it. And as far as we do have a bus leaving at 2.30 this afternoon going down there to Woodstock for the visitation, we know that a lot of you would like to go. So we're going to be running that bus. And some have asked, well, when is the bus coming back? 12 midnight. Just kidding, just kidding. No, as soon as all of you get done with your visitation, then it'll make its trip home back to the church. So just wanted to afford that to anybody that wanted to go down this way this day. Let's take our Bibles and turn to the book of Nehemiah chapter number two. Nehemiah chapter number two. If you'll stand to honor the reading of God's word this morning, Nehemiah chapter number two. I want to read just a few verses of Scripture. I do want to say I thank the Lord for the three-day or the three-meeting revival that we had, even though we had to cut it short. And I highly recommend this. If any of you were not here Monday night, to listen, go to our website at myrvelbaptist.com and listen to the message that Brother Bud Stiltner preached on the dangers of laying down on God. The dangers of laying down on God. Tremendous, tremendous message in how God used Brother Bud that night to help me and to help all of us that were here. So you be sure to avail yourself of that message. I know that it'll help you. Nehemiah chapter number 2. We've been in the book of Nehemiah for some while and what we've been doing on Sunday mornings We've been preaching a message on the principles of biblical leadership. The principles of biblical leadership. And we'll get into that in just a minute. But I want us to begin in verse number 17 of Nehemiah chapter number 2. And we want to look at a few verses of Scripture, then bring the thought that God's laid upon our heart for this morning's service. Nehemiah chapter number 2, verse 17. This is Nehemiah writing. He said, Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire. Come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach. Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me, as also the king's words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work. But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian heard it, they left us to scorn and despised us and said, What is this thing that ye do? Will ye rebel against the King? Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, He will prosper us. Therefore we His servants will arise and build, but ye have no portion, nor rite, nor memorial, In Jerusalem, let's bow for a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we love You this morning and appreciate Your grace and mercy toward us all. Lord, thankful Lord for the service thus far this morning, but God, how we need You to speak to us by the Word of God. I pray, Lord, that You'd anoint me, dear Heavenly Father, with that fresh anointing of God. that, Lord, I be not a hindrance in any way, but, Lord, that I might be a help to Your people, that I might preach what You've put on my heart, that, Lord, You'd give me the boldness and the filling of the Spirit of God to enable me. But, Lord, without You, I cannot do this thing. And, Lord, I pray, God, that You please, Lord, not just for me, but for every person that's in this room, that, Lord, You'd move upon every heart, God, that Lord, we'd have truly a meeting with God while we've assembled ourselves here. Lord, there's no sense in us turning on the lights and the air and going through all the motions if, Lord, we're not going to meet with You. So, Lord, we call upon You, begging You, dear Heavenly Father, to come and meet with us one more time. I'm thankful, Lord, for the songs. I thank You, Father, for the fellowship. Thank You, Lord, for the assembly of people. And just asking you, please, to simply be God among us, and we're thankful for what you'll accomplish and do. In the blessed holy name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we pray and ask these things. Amen and amen. You can be seated this morning. We've been in the book of Nehemiah on Sunday mornings for a little while now, and the Lord has put it on my heart to preach a message or series of messages on the principles of biblical leadership. Making a choice to lead for the Lord Jesus Christ is one of the greatest choices that anybody could ever make in their lives. You know, one of the God-given mysteries of life is that God has given us all the ability to make choices or to make decisions. He's given us free will, and every one of us in here, we have the free will to make choices with. And the best choice, the best decision that anybody could ever make in life is to decide to trust Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Can I get a witness right there? But at no need in stopping there. You see, a lot of people are just simply saved. That's as far as they've gone with the Lord. Yes, their name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Their sins are forgiven. Their sins are under the blood. They are children of God. But that's as far as they go with any kind of relationship or any kind of service for the Lord. They just are simply saved. I don't know about you, but I'm not content being that kind of Christian. I want my life to be bigger than that. I want my life to count for more than that. I want to live for the Lord Jesus Christ. And beside getting saved, the decision to live for the Lord Jesus Christ is a great decision in life. But then also, the decision to be a leader for the Lord Jesus Christ is one of the greatest decisions that could ever be made by anyone. And you know, there's a lot of people that aspire to be a leader. a presidential year, a presidential election where many men, how many are there? Are there about maybe a hundred that are wanting to vie for presidency? They want to be the leader of this great country. And by the way, this still is a great country because of what it was founded on. Yes, we've drifted away from what we were founded on, but I'm still thankful to be an American Still thankful for the red, white, and blue. I'm still thankful to be born in America. Can I get a witness right there? Well, so many people want to be a leader, but being a biblical leader is the very best leader that anybody could ever be. And we need more godly leadership in this world. We need godly leadership in our homes. We need godly leadership in our churches. We need godly leadership in our nation. We need godly biblical leadership in this world today. Can I get a witness? Amen. Well, we've looked at some messages already out of the book of Nehemiah, of how Nehemiah made that critical decision in his life, and he became a leader for the Lord Jesus Christ. He became a leader for God, and he went to Jerusalem even though he had it made. He was in Shushan the palace. He was a cupbearer, but when he heard about the destruction that laid in Jerusalem, he got a burden and he decided that it was not about him, it was about others. And he took off to Jerusalem to be able to make sure that the walls were rebuilt. in Jerusalem. And so Nehemiah became a great leader. I love studying the book of Nehemiah because there's some biblical principles of leadership that we find in the life and the book of Nehemiah. We've looked already at the first principle is being able to lift your eyes and your heart to God. If you're going to lead for the Lord Jesus Christ, you've got to learn to lift your eyes and your heart to God. There's so many distractions around us, so much going on in this world, but I'm glad that by the eyes of faith, we can look up and we can lead for Jesus Christ. But then we look not only for lifting and looking to Jesus, but we looked at the second message on leading for a cause that's bigger than you. Leading for a cause that is bigger than you. And we've got to have that kind of leadership in our lives if we're ever going to do anything for the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, a lot of people, all their life, it's just their little world, their little bubble. It's all about them. It's all about what they can get out of life. And I pity the person that lives their life like that. There's so much greater things to live for. And the best thing that we could ever live for is living for the Lord Jesus Christ and giving our hearts and our lives to Him. Oh, I wish I could get a witness this morning, because the greatest thing, the greatest decision that a child of God could ever decide to do is to live and lead for Jesus Christ. I want to take the third part of this thought this morning. It's not just those principles, but now I want us to look at this principle of learning the ministry. Learning the ministry. When I first got to working on this message, I entitled it, Learning the Enemy. But I've decided the Lord has dealt with my heart, and it's not just about the enemy, but it's to learn about the ministry. And by the way, this thing that we call church, it is a ministry. It's a ministry to people. It's to help people. It's to reach out to people. It's to help the lost to become saved. Can I get a witness right there? It's to help the saved to become sanctified. It's to help the sanctified to become sold out and serving for the Lord Jesus Christ. We're in this thing for a ministry. It's not just about just preaching and just saying a few words and getting people to pat you on the back. It's a ministry to where God can reach into your heart and my heart and change all of our lives for the glory of God. God wants to be God in all of our lives. God is not sitting on the throne up there lukewarm. He is still God. Even though the church has gone lukewarm, He is still God Almighty. And He still is interested in the church of Jesus Christ. Well, I want to preach this morning for just a little while on learning the ministry. If you're going to make up your mind to lead for the Lord Jesus Christ, there's some things that we need to expect. Number one, we need to learn to expect opposition. You do realize that this world is no friend of grace. This world is no friend of God. Matter of fact, this world has turned its back on God so much that now we're seeing the fruit of it today. We're seeing, like Brother Dale mentioned, the homosexual agenda and all the other agendas of this life. They've just turned their backs on God, and now they're proud to be what they are. They're proud to be sinners. But may I remind you that God is still a holy and righteous God. That God is still seated on the throne of holiness. And God is still going to be God. even if we turn our back on Him. And I'm glad to be on His side. Amen. I'm glad to be a Christian. Oh, I felt something on that. I'm glad to be a child of God. I'm glad to be saved. My sins are forgiven. My name is in the Lamb's Book of Life. And I love being a child of Almighty God. It's a blessing to be saved. But we need to learn to expect opposition. I want you to look at our text this morning. He said in verse 19, it says, But when Sambalat the Horonite and Tobiah the Servant, the Ammonite and Gishom the Arabian heard it, they laughed us to scorn and despised us, and said, What is this thing that you do? Will ye rebel against the king? In other words, they're saying, Are you going to rebel against Obama? Listen, if Obama makes a a decree on every side to go against that Bible, I'm going to stay with that Bible. Amen. I'm going to stay with God. This church is going to stay with God. And we might as well go ahead and make up our mind to plant our feet flat-footed and count the name of Jesus Christ as an honor and live for Jesus. Amen. But we better learn to expect opposition. Once someone makes the decision that there will be much opposition to defeat, to discourage, and try to totally dismantle this type of leadership. You know why? Because biblical leadership is of God. It's God's way of doing things. It's not man's way of doing things. Biblical leadership is God's way of doing things. The Bible says in II Corinthians chapter 2 and verse number 11, it says that we should be aware, let Satan get advantage of us, for we are not ignorant of his devices. And He's got many devices in store to try to dismantle a church, to try to dismantle a home. You realize without biblical leadership, there will be no Christian homes. Can I get a witness? There will be no Christian families. We need some men in the churches that will raise up and say, I'm going to be a leader for God. I'm going to leave my home for God, my home as for me and my house. We will serve the Lord. Amen. I want you to rise up this morning and realize that God has put the responsibility upon the men to be men in the home and to lead your family for the cause of Christ. Amen. I know this is old-fashioned preaching. I know this is an old-fashioned message. But we still need some men that'll be men in this generation. We've got too many effeminates in the church today. We need some men that'll have the backbone of a saw log and stand up and proclaim what thus saith the Lord and make a decision, I'm going to live for God. I don't care which way this world goes. I'm going to make my mark for Jesus. in this life. There'll be contention from the outside. Sanballat and the Horonite and Tobiah, they began despising them. They began laughing them to scorn. And that's what the world is doing to the church today. They're laughing at us. They're mocking us. They're making all kinds of accusations against Christianity today. But can I remind you, that we are on the winning side. The battle has already been won. And if you're saved this morning, you've already on the winning side. You don't have to cross over. It's already been settled. God has won the battle. Amen. Amen. I want you to notice how the progression of this, the devices that Satan used to try to dismantle this leadership. In chapter 2, verse 19, we just read that they despised them. This world hates Christianity. Let me go ahead and say it like this, this world hates Christ. This world hates Jesus Christ. They'll let you talk about God, because when you mention God, they've got all kinds of thoughts that come into their mind about who God is. But they don't know the God of this book. And they'll let you mention God, but don't you mention Jesus Christ. You know why? Because they hate the name of Jesus Christ. They hate Jesus Christ Himself. This world is no friend of Jesus Christ. And they mocked him. You remember when we had the Columbine disaster? Those guys walked in that schoolhouse with those guns. And I remember one of the incidents, one of the tragedies that happened out of that was one of the assassins, they asked that girl in Columbine High School, said, do you believe in Jesus Christ? And she said, I do. I'm a Christian. And they shot her. Right there. Why? Because Satan... Listen, that was not just a man standing there. Satan was behind that. There's an evil force in this world that is against God Almighty. And anybody that'll take a stand against God is being led by Satan to do so. Amen. They despise... I want you to look in chapter 4. Not just did they despise them, but look in chapter 4 verse 1, it said, But it came to pass that when Sanballat heard that we had built the wall, he was wroth and took great indignation and mocked the Jews. And he spake before his brethren in the army of Samaria, and said, What do these feeble Jews? Will they fortify themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they make an end in a day? Will they revive the stones of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned? Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall. You know what they're doing? Not only did they despise them, they mocked them. They started making fun of them. They started laughing at them and mocking them. Why all the ridicule? They're trying to get the children of God to be ashamed and make them think, well, I'm not really cool, I'm not hip, I'm not liked by anybody if I don't go along with them. Hey, can I talk to all the young people in this room this morning? Don't you let this young generation mock you and make fun of you for standing for the Lord Jesus Christ. What we need is more people that make up their minds that they're going to stand for Jesus Christ no matter what this world is saying about it. No matter what kind of ridicule. Hey, at school they'll laugh at you. They'll make fun of you. They'll call you a little Christian or a little Jesus and all like that. But you go ahead and stand for Jesus Christ. We need some adults at a stand like that, too. Amen. They mock them. That's what the devil is doing today to Christianity, making us think we're not cool if we don't go along with the world. Well, I've got news for you, honey. I'm not going along with this world. Amen. I've made my decision. I'm going to take a stand with Jesus Christ. They mock them, but then I want you to notice they had a conspiracy against them. In chapter 4, verse 7 and 8, it said, "...but it came to pass that when Sambalet and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Astrodites heard the walls of Jerusalem were made up, and that the breaches began to be stopped, then were they very wroth, and conspired all of them together to come, and to fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it." You see, the whole thing is to try to hinder what Nehemiah is trying to do at Jerusalem. It's to try to hinder this great leader that has made up his mind that I'm going to take a stand for God, and I'm going to do something for God. I'm going to make sure this thing goes God's way. And may I say this to every man in this room, that whenever you make up your mind that you're going to take a stand for God in your home, there will be opposition. There will be Sembilac to come against you and try to make fun of you and ridicule you and conspire against you and get you to quit what you're doing for God. Try to get you not only to do that, but look in chapter 6, verse 1. It says, Now it came to pass, when Sambalat and Tobiah and Gishem, the Rabbi and the rest of our enemies, heard that I had builted the wall, and that there was no breach left therein, though at that time I had no set up the doors upon the gates, that Sambalat and Gishem sent unto me, saying, Come, let us meet together in some one of the villages in the plain of Ono. But they thought to do me mischief. And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and come down to you?" Then they tried to get them to compromise. The devil will try to get you to compromise with him. Well, just give in a little bit here, or give in a little bit there, or just do it a different way here. Just compromise with it. Come on down to where we're at. Hey, the world, if we were to go with the world, we would have to come down to where the world's at. I'm not coming down to where the world's at. There's a too great a work for the name of Jesus Christ to be accomplished for me to come down. to where the world's at, but then they'll start slandering you. Verses 5 through 7, they started making up slanderous accusations against Nehemiah. I'm talking about there'll be some controversy, there'll be some contention from the outside. When you decide to lead for Jesus Christ and do it God's way, There's always going to be opposition against your life. You can always count on it. But brethren, I want to tell you something, that leading for Jesus Christ is the greatest honor that anybody could ever do in this life. I remember one time, I'd been saved about six, seven years at the time, And the Lord had put it on my heart to start a church in Waycross, my hometown, and so I did. Started a little storefront building, and the Lord began blessing it, and people were getting saved, and the church was growing, and there was much around town, a little town like Waycross, there was much around town about Bible Baptist Church. And there was a lady in the church that got mad at me, and she'd been listening to somebody else in the church. And somebody else in the church was trying to stir her up against me, and they did a good job of it, so she came to my house. She was the kind that if it was on her mind, it was gonna come out of her mouth. You ever met people like that? It's here, it comes out there. Well, she came over to the house and she said, she said, you doing this church stuff, and she's a member of my church now. She said, you're doing all this church stuff, you're just in it for the money. You're making all this money. And she went on and on and on and on about how much money I was making. She knew more about it than I did, honestly. I mean, she did. But she went on and on and on about it. And I just let her go on. And when she finished, I said, well, do you know how much I'm making? She said, no. I said, I'm making $130 a week. And I was full time with the church. I said, I'm really in it for the money. And she felt so bad about that, and we made up there at the house, and I prayed for her. But you know, there's always going to be some conspiracy. There's always going to be some contention. There's always going to be somebody against the church that's trying to do something for the Lord Jesus Christ. But not only was there contention from the outside, but I want you to notice this, there was contention on the inside. Look with me in chapter six, or yeah, chapter four. Back in chapter four. In chapter 4, if you notice when we were reading earlier in our text, in verse number 2, at the end of the verse, they were talking about the rubbish that was burned. That's the enemy talking about all the rubbish that's there. They said, you can't build, you can't do anything. For God, there's too much junk laying around. But I want you to notice what happens in verse number 10. of chapter number four. It says, in Judah, wait just a minute while we're there on Judah. Who is Judah? Judah is the one that, his name means praise. Judah's the one that was always praising the Lord. He was always the one with the hands lifted up. He was always the one that said, hey, we can do this thing, but look how Judah's talking now in our text. It said, in Judah said, the strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed and there's much rubbish. so that we're not able to build the wall. They had contention from outside, but there was contention on the inside now. There was people that had been listening to the enemy, and they heard what the enemy was saying, and they decided that the enemy was right. May I go ahead and stand flat-footed and make this announcement that God is greater than Satan, that God, the church, is not going down. We're going up one day. The church is still valuable. The church is still worth fighting for. The church is still worth working for. We need to expect some opposition. But then I want to say secondly, and I'm hurrying, we need to expect some not to work. If you're going to be a part of a ministry, you might as well go ahead and note this, that not everybody's going to put their hands to the plow. I want you to look with me in chapter 3. In chapter number 3, he begins there. Let's just read a few verses so you'll get the action that's going on. It said in chapter 3, verse 1, And Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren, the priest, and they builded the sheep gate and sanctified, set up the doors. Verse number 2, And next unto him builded the men of Jericho, and next unto them builded Zechar the son of Emery. But the fish gate did the sons of Hasaniah built. Verse number 4, Next unto them repaired Merimoth. But I want you to watch it in verse number 5. And next unto them the Tekoaites repaired, here it is, but their nobles put not their necks to the work of their Lord. There's just some people in the work of God. If we're going to learn something about the ministry, there's just some people in the work of God that's just too good to work. They're too noble. That word noble means they're better than everybody else. And I've been in this saying for over 20 years now, and I've realized this, that only a small percentage of people will actually get in there and put their hands to the work with you. There's going to be some that's going to sit back in that chapter 3 all around those nobles on either side of where those nobles are sitting. There's people working. There's people doing this. There's people doing that. And the nobles are just standing there watching everybody else work. I wouldn't want to live that kind of Christian life. I'd want to be the one that could be counted on. I'm a Martha. I know who I am. Brother Bud was preaching on Mary Martha the other night. I know who I am. I'm a Martha. I'm a worker. And people that won't work, honestly, I get a little ill at them at times. If I get my eyes on them too long, I'll be ill with them and I'll get mad with them, amen? But I can't be like that. I've got to keep my eyes on Jesus Christ because I'm in this thing for the Lord. I'm not in this thing because of who ain't doing this or who is doing that. But you might as well go ahead and mark this down that there's going to be some that's not going to put their hands to the work. There's going to be some you can't count on. There's some Christians, this is sad to say in this age in which we live, there's some Christians that you can't count on to pray. Well, I felt a root right there. There's some Christians that if something was going on in somebody's life, you couldn't count on them to pray for you. They're too busy with their life. They're too noble. They're too busy with everything else in life, and you couldn't ever count on them to pray for you. And we need everybody involved in this to lead for the Lord Jesus Christ. You can expect some not to work. And notice the nobles would not put their necks to the work of their Lord. I want to make just three little statements. Some are too good to fight. Some are too good to work. But secondly, some are not against you, but they're not necessarily for you either. They're not against you, but they're not really for you either. They're there, but you can't count on them. You can't nail them down. They won't commit themselves. They're just there. And those kind of people, they're in the ministry, they're a part of it, and you might as well realize that that's just a reality of the ministry. And then there's, I want you to notice what the end of verse 5 says. But their nobles put not their necks to the work of their Lord. They're not really against you. They're against their Lord. The one that saved them, they're the ones that say, I don't care what the Lord's done for me. I'm not going to do this. I'm not going to get involved in the work of God. Can you imagine? Can you imagine Jesus Christ not working on this wall? Can you imagine Him not being a part of what's going on in Jerusalem? But there are some Christians that'll say, I'm just not going to get involved. You can't count on me, preacher. And we're learning some things about the ministry. We're learning first that there's going to be opposition. Secondly, not everybody's going to work. But thirdly and lastly, You can expect victory. You can expect God to give you victory because God is still interested in the church of Jesus Christ. Can I get a witness right there? God is still interested in what is going on in this room. How many of you have already been to see that movie, War Room? Great movie. If you've not been, I know this will be on the internet and I'll get some flack from the brethren for this, but you need to go see that movie, War Room. It's about a woman, a little lady teaching a young lady how to really pray and win the war in her life. You know, a lot of people, we get to thinking, well, I've got to fight this and I've got to fight my way through this. We can do more on our knees than we can do fighting people. And in that movie that it ends with that little lady in her war room, that's what she called it, And I got to thinking, man, that'd be a great thing for every child of God's house to have as a war room. Just a little room where we'd set it aside, where we'd go in, shut the door, and get along with God and spend some business in there with Him and talking to God again. How's your prayer life doing? In that war room, that lady would get down and she would call on God, and that movie ends with her calling out. And I can just hear that voice echoing even today of what she was praying for. She was saying, God, give us some men that will rise up to the occasion. God, give us some women. You know what we need? We need some Christians that will rise up again, make up their mind, I'm going to be a child of God. I'm not going to get bogged down with all this junk down here in this world. I'm going to be a child of God for the glory of God, and I'm going to build something for the Lord Jesus Christ. We need it in the homes. We need it in this church. We need it in this country. This country, I just read, I just got a, how many of you know Todd Starnes? He's a Fox contributor. He sends me weekly emails, and I got an email from him. The little show Muppets, the Muppets, they're going X-rated. Even the Muppets are going adult themed, and they're going to do a thing where it's Well, I don't want to go into all of that. It's wicked. It's going to be adult-themed, X-rated, Muppet show. And they're picking on a children's show to bring in wickedness even deeper into this world. Children of God, I'm telling you, if the children of God don't get back on our knees and pray and in seeking God again, And getting serious with God again, there's no telling what we're going to see before we leave this world. It could be that what we're going to see before we leave this world is up to us. Are we going to go to battle on our knees and fighting on our knees? Are we going to rise up and be the leaders that God's called us to be? Or are we just going to let the world just have it all? I don't know about you, but I'm going to stand for the ground that God has given me. I'm going to stand for what God has given me to stand for. It means this church, it means my family. Do you realize if the walls aren't built, your family will be open for attack? If the walls aren't built, this church is going to be open for attack. We need Christians that will get on their knees again and say, I'm going to lead for Jesus Christ. Let's all stand. Get the pianist to come to the piano.