is where we're going to be, the book of Nehemiah. And let me start off this morning by doing, I do this always when I preach at the prison and most of the time I do it while I'm here as well. But I want to say this, what we're going to talk about this morning is really pointed towards the Christian life and Christian growth and more important than that is if you're not a Christian, if you don't know for sure where you're headed when you die. That is our prayer for you. And I would hate for anyone to walk in these doors and sit through a service and walk out and not know for certain where you'll spend eternity and not let someone show you. And so, again, that's what we're here for. We love you. And maybe this is your first time. Maybe you've been here many times. But if you don't know for certain that you're on your way to heaven, let someone take a Bible this morning. We'll have an invitation at the end of the service, which is an invite for Christians to come, pray, do business with the Lord. It's also an invite If you don't know for certain you're on your way to heaven, that someone just take a Bible, they go right to a side room and show you how you can know. Last night, I was at the Topeka prison, kind of a smaller area that we were in. I believe there's, I didn't count exactly, but maybe 20, 25 ladies or so in that service. And I did that right at the beginning of the service and said, hey, listen, you know, don't come to a service and walk out and not know in your mind for sure where you're gonna go to heaven and never having seen it from the Bible. And one lady, raise your hand, she wanted someone to show her, And my sister Joy got to sit down with her and go through the plan of salvation with her, and she accepted Christ. She came to me after the service and said, I know. And again, our prayer for you this morning is that if you don't know that you would find that out this morning. Nehemiah this morning, we're going to look in chapter number four. Now, if you were here last Sunday, last Sunday I taught in the adult Sunday school class, we looked at the book of Nehemiah regarding goals, really, for the new year. and Nehemiah building the wall and his goal to build the wall and some things that we applied. I'm gonna go back to the book of Nehemiah, a little different this morning out of chapter number four. I wanna read one verse with you before we pray. So if you look down in verse number 11 and you follow along as I read out loud and I'll show you the direction we're gonna go. The Bible says this, Nehemiah chapter four, verse 11. It says, and our adversaries said, they shall not know neither see, till we come in the midst among them, and slay them," and look at the last phrase of this verse here, "'and cause the work.'" to cease. Now this morning, I want to just give you a simple thought this morning titled, when the adversary attacks. Now I don't know this morning about you, but I hope that you have this, you know, we're a few days into the new year. I hope that you've got some vision or some direction or some goals for your life as a Christian for this coming year. But I want to reiterate that if you do that, there is an adversary that does not want you to do that. And there is an adversary that does his best to stop us when it comes to our work for the Lord. And I want to look at that this morning here. And we'll go to the Lord in prayer and ask him to speak to us. You pray in your heart as I pray out loud and ask God to speak to you here this morning. Heavenly Father, Lord, we stop for just a few minutes at the beginning of this service. And Lord, we ask that you would speak to us. Lord, I pray that it would not be, Lord, the words that I would say, but, Lord, the words that your Holy Spirit would use, Lord, in the hearts of people, Lord, to show us, Lord, to warn us, Lord, that there is an adversary, that adversary wants to stop the work of each and every Christian, that adversary would like for us, Lord, as Christians, to give up. And Lord, I pray that you'd help us this morning as we look at this passage and be able to apply some things Lord to our lives that will help us this coming year, help us when we think about 2020, the direction, the vision for the church, the direction for our lives as Christians, that we would let you, Lord, lead and that we would not let the adversary get the victory. Lord, bless this thought here this morning in Jesus' name, amen. Nehemiah chapter number four, we're going to jump right into it this morning. What I'd like to do is I'd like to read a good portion of this chapter, maybe the whole chapter here this morning, and then we'll jump right into the thought. But again, you'll see a lot as we read through here about Samballot and Tobiah and the other adversaries that were trying to stop the work. But let me just give you a quick rundown. Maybe there's maybe a few people in here that you're not familiar with the book of Nehemiah. Basically, God put a burden on Nehemiah's heart in chapter number one to go back and rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. This was a big deal. Nehemiah was a cupbearer and Nehemiah basically went to the Lord and said, God, would you give me mercy in the sight of the king? And he goes to the king and says, hey, listen, would you let me go back and rebuild the wall? The king grants him permission. He asked for a couple of other things there as well. And then they go back and rebuild the wall. Nehemiah finishes the wall in 52 days. Now, during that 52 days, there was a lot of opposition for him. Now, Samballot and Tobiah are the two names that you think of the quickest when you think about the opposition he had. But you'll see in the chapter they they had other people gathered with them that were against this work And so they're gonna face some opposition. We're gonna look at that this morning. Let's read in chapter chapter 4 verse number 1 You can follow along as I read the Bible says this but it came to pass that when Sam Ballett heard that we builded the wall look what the Bible says he was wroth and and took great indignation and mocked the Jews. And he spake before his brethren and the army of Samaria and said, now, Church Fam, I'm not gonna preach this verse. Years ago, I did preach a thought out of verse number two, and it's really a powerful thought, what Sam Ballas says. He says this, he says, what do these feeble Jews? Will they fortify themselves? Look at the questions he's asking. Will they fortify themselves? Will they sacrifice? Hey, it takes a sacrifice to do a work for the Lord. And he is mocking them when he makes these questions or these statements. And he says, hey, listen, these are feeble Jews. What are they going to do? Are they going to fortify themselves? Or are they going to sacrifice? Are they going to be really, really willing to pay the price to build this wall? Look what he goes on. He says, will they make an end in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned? Look at verse number three. Now you see another name here. Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him. And he said, again he's going to mock them as well here. He said, even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall break even break down their stone wall. Now, if you know anything about a fox, a fox is very, you use the word sly. They're very quiet. They're not very big animal. They're not very heavy animal. And he says, hey, listen, even if a fox came up to the stone wall that they're going to build, the fox is going to knock down the stone wall. The adversaries are mocking them. Look what happens next. Verse number four, the Bible says this, hero our God, Nehemiah's prayer here. Nehemiah says, Hero, our God, for we are despised, and turn their reproach upon their own head, and give them for a prey in the land of captivity, and cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from before thee, for they have provoked thee to anger before the builders. Verse number six, so built we the wall, and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof. And there's another very important sentence in this chapter, for the people had a mind to work. Verse number seven, but it came to pass that when Sambal and Tobiah and the Arabians, and notice all the other people listed with these two guys, the Arabians and the Ammonites and Ashdodites, and heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up and that the breaches begin to be stopped. Look what it says, then they were very wroth, verse eight, and conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem and to hinder it. Verse number nine, nevertheless, we made our prayer unto God and set a watch against them day and night because of them. Verse number 10, and Judah said, the strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed and there is much rubbish so that we are not able to build the wall. Verse number 11, we read this one a minute ago, and our adversaries said, they shall not know, neither see, till we come in the midst among them and slay them and cause the work to cease. Verse 12, And it came to pass, when the Jews which dwelt by them came, they said unto us ten times, From all places which ye shall return unto us, they will be upon you. Verse 13, Therefore said I in the lower places behind the wall, and on the higher places. I even set the people after their families with their swords, their spears, and their bows. And I looked and rose up and said unto the nobles and to the rulers and to the rest of the people, be ye not afraid of them. Remember the Lord which is great and terrible and fight for your brethren and your sons and your daughters and your wives and your houses. And it came to pass when our enemies heard that it was known unto us and God had brought their counsel to naught that we returned all of us to the wall, every one unto his work. And it came to pass from that time forth that the half of my servants wrought in the work and the other half of them held both the spears and shields and the bows and the aborigines and the rulers were behind all the house of Judah. They which builded on the wall and they which bear burdens with those that laid it, every one with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon. For the builders, every one had his sword girded by his side, and so builded, and he that sounded the trumpet was by me. And I said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, the work is great and large, and we are separated upon the wall, one far from another. In what place, therefore, ye hear the sound of the trumpet, resort ye thither unto us, our God shall fight for us. So we labored in the work, and half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning till the stars appeared. Likewise, the same time said I unto the people, let everyone with his servant lodge within Jerusalem, that in the night they may be a guard to us and labor on the day. So neither I, nor my brethren, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard which followed me, none of us put off our clothes, saving that everyone put them off for washing." Church family, if I can encourage you and challenge you this morning from this passage, we have an adversary. Our adversary is the devil. For Nehemiah, his adversaries, and really it was the devil or Satan that was working through people to stop the building of the wall. The names that we would recognize first would be Samballot and Tobiah, but obviously there's a host of others, the Arabians, the Ammonites, and and the Ashdodites that had joined with these two men to stop. And the Bible says in 1 Peter 5, 8 that the devil calls him our adversary. And the Bible says that he walks about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. And listen, what you have to remember is that our God is bigger than our adversary. But as a Christian, your adversary is bigger than you. And if you try to face the adversary on your own, in your own strength, you will fail. Now listen, there's no reason for us to fail in the face of our adversary, Satan, and all that he tries to do to stop us as we go forward in our Christian life, because we serve a God that's much bigger. than Satan. I want you to think about this. Satan, he's not out, for the Christian, he's not out to try to take your salvation. He can't do that. My salvation was settled on the cross of Calvary, and when I asked as a four-year-old boy for that free gift of salvation, I repented of my sin and I asked Christ to save me. I'm saved. It's eternal life. It's forever. Nothing that I am going to do in this life is going to help me keep that salvation or nothing's going to cause me to lose that salvation because why it's secure with Christ, however Satan's not trying to take that from me. He knows he can't have that but Satan is trying to stop my work for the Lord. Now, look back in verse number 11. Look at that last sentence that we read before I prayed. It said this. This is what their purpose was. And it says, and cause the work to what? Cease. Hey, can I tell you what Satan wants for you? He's not trying to take your salvation away. He's not trying to doom you to a place called hell to pay for your sin if you've accepted Christ as your Savior. But you know what he's trying to do? He's trying to cause your work for God to cease. Sam Ballett and Tobiah, what they wanted to happen was the work on the wall to cease. Satan doesn't want you to be a witness. Satan doesn't want you to be involved in reaching people. Satan doesn't want you to read your Bible. Satan doesn't want you to spend time in prayer. Satan wants the work for God to cease. I think about something else that I follow through in this book. You find it interesting that Sam Ballant and Tobiah didn't give Nehemiah any problems before he went to build the wall. When he was the king's cupbearer, before he was doing the work on the wall and getting people together, they didn't give him any problems. And can I tell you, as a Christian, in your mind, when you think about, man, there's problems going on here, and it seems like Satan tries to attack me and pull me down in this area, can I tell you why? It's because you're doing a work for the Lord. If you don't do a work for the Lord, Satan doesn't have a reason to try to stop you. The Christian that's carnal, that lives for the devil, lives for the world, and doesn't live for his savior, Satan has no reason or no purpose to try to pull that person down. It's the person that tries to do their best for the cause of Christ to push forward the work of the ministry for Christ. That's the person that Satan's going to try to stop. I think it's interesting to me as you follow through in this book, I'm going to show you this real quickly, I think it's interesting the progression of adversity that Nehemiah faced as the project went along. Look at this, go back in your Bible to verse number 10 of chapter number 2. The Bible says this, Again, chapter number two, church family, is right when Nehemiah gets permission from the king to go and build the wall. Look what it says in verse number 10. They haven't even started anything yet. This is the beginning planning of it. Verse number 10. The Ammonite heard of it, it looks what it says, it grieved them exceedingly. So the first thing you see about them is they're grieved that someone is seeking, the Bible says at the end of that verse, they're seeking the welfare of the children of Israel. Look over in verse number 19, you're gonna see again here, and it gets a little more intense with each step. The Bible says this after they strengthened their hands for the work in verse 18, verse 19, but when Sambalat, the Hornite, and Tobiah, the servant of the Ammonite, and Geshem, the Arabian, heard of it, look what they did next. First, they're grieved. Secondly, they laughed us to scorn and despised us. I want you to flip over to chapter number four where we're at. We read verse number one. The Bible says, but it came to pass when Sam Ballett heard that we builded the wall, the next step, he was wroth. took great indignation and mocked. Look down in verse number 7, but it came to pass when Samballot and Tobiah and all these other folks, the Arabians and Amorites and Ashdodites heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up and that the breaches begin to be stopped. And you can see progress on the project now. Look what it says then. Then they were very wroth. Verse eight says they conspired to come together and to fight against Jerusalem to hinder it. Verse number 11, and our adversaries said they shall not know, neither see till we come in the midst of them and slay them. Now they're gonna slay them and cause the work to cease. Can I tell you the more you do for God, The more intense Satan is set on stopping you, the more serious he gets about attacking your life to discourage you, to trip you up, to hinder you, to cause, why? The work to cease. Satan would love for the church to close its doors. Satan would love for us no longer to go out door-to-door soul winning. Satan would love for us to stop having Sunday school like many, many churches have done. Satan would love for you to stop reading your Bible. Satan would love for you to stop praying for your missionaries because Satan wants the work to cease. There's so much application from this chapter. I think about it in this sense, though. We cannot see Satan physically. I can't show you and say, he's right there. No, we can see the work that he does. But the Bible says in Ephesians that he's the prince and power of the air. And this is not a physical warfare with him. This is a spiritual warfare. Now, there are physical things that Satan does in our life to stop the work. But the battle is not a physical flesh and blood fist fight or a flesh and blood fight with Satan. It's a spiritual battle where Satan is trying to stop us in our work spiritually for God. Now I want you to see some things this morning. Now typically I have three points and this morning It's in the passage. There's four points this morning. So again, I'm gonna apologize ahead of time that I don't go with normal protocol of three points But there's four and I think you'll see them. I can't get around the four points that are here Alright, so here's what the Christians response ought to be in To our adversaries our adversaries are continually trying to beat us down. They're continually trying to stop us They did the same thing to nehemiah with the work of the wall. What was nehemiah's response to the adversary? Let's look at the scriptures this morning. I want you to look down in verse number 14 The bible says this and I looked I've got nehemiah here and I looked and rose up And said unto the nobles and to the rulers and to the rest of the people Now it's it's pretty intense at this point church family at this point in time the enemy, the adversaries are conspiring together and their purpose is to slay them. They're gonna kill them. They're gonna do this to get the work to cease. And Nehemiah comes to the people in verse number 14, and this is what he said, right in the middle of verse 14, be not ye afraid of them. Now, I don't know about you, but if you knew that there was not just one person, but there was a group of people, different Ammonites and the different people that were all tied together with one cause, and their cause was to kill you so that the work that you were doing on this wall would cease, I would think you have your whole family there. You have your friends there. You're looking at this project. I would think that your first response would be fear. What are we going to do? Nehemiah comes to him and he says, be not afraid. Now, I want you to see the next phrase because this is why they shouldn't be afraid. Look what he says. Be not afraid in verse number 14. He says this, remember the Lord. Hey, can I tell you what you and I are supposed to do when the enemy attacks, when it seems like, man, I'm trying so hard to do this for God, but it just seems like every time I turn around, I'm facing another something that's going to trip me up in my life, something that's discouraging to me and makes me want to just throw in the towel or give up. What should you do? Should we be afraid and throw in the towel and say, you know what, it's not worth the risk? Nehemiah said, don't be afraid. He said, don't be afraid, but here's how you keep from being afraid. Remember the Lord. Now, church family, to me, meanings of words are very interesting when I'm studying out a passage. And it really brings to light exactly the direction or the application of that word when I'm applying a scripture passage to my life. Now, I looked up the word remember. This is, to me, Very neat. The word remember means this. It means to mark. Now how many of you use, maybe in your Bible or another book or something, you use a highlighter? Some of you might use a pen or something else. Some of you might use a bookmark if you're a reader and you read a book and you want to remember where you're at. We put a marker in there. The word remember, when Nehemiah looked at the people and he said, don't be afraid, here's why, remember the Lord, that word means to mark. In other words, when you think about all the ways that the adversary is trying to stop you, in your mind, humanly, you wanna be afraid and you wanna throw in the towel, here's what you need to do. You need to go back in your book of life, you need to pull out your highlighter, and you need to mark the Lord. How am I going to get through this? Or how am I going to keep my goals for 2020? I'm going to mark the Lord. You know what we do as a Christian? We mark the credit card. We mark the medical doctor. We mark the security that I have in my job. Or we mark the security that I have in man. Hey, we're Christians. This is a spiritual battle. You know who you ought to be marking in life as this is why I'm not afraid of the adversary. You ought to be marking the Lord. He is the one that's going to protect me. He is the one that's going to see me through. He is the one that's going to help me take this step in life. And maybe I don't know how this is going to work out, but I know this is the way that God wants me to go. How am I going to get it done? The adversary wants to cause the work to cease. It's the Lord in your life. when you think about, boy, this is my security. Who is it that you mark? Who is it that you say, hey, this is where I'm gonna come back to? When you're reading through your Bible and you see a verse that, boy, it speaks to you or means something to you, and you think, boy, I wanna remember that verse, and you pull out your highlighter and you mark it, why? So that I can go back to it. That's the way the Christian oughta be. Hey, Nehemiah said, don't be afraid of them. remember the Lord. There's so many so much application that really could go along with that. The Bible says in Philippians four verse number six, be careful for nothing. But in everything by prayer and supplication, let your requests be made known to the Lord. I remember a verse that we, I don't know, I don't know why I always remember this. There's some verses that are memorized as a kid that they just stick with you for the rest of your life. But I remember Psalms chapter 56, verse number three, what time I am afraid. I will trust in thee." Hey, God ought to be the one that you have marked, as this is why I'm not afraid. This is why I'm trusting that I'm going the right direction. You know, you see signs all over, especially if you see a law enforcement vehicle or anything like that, you'll see the signs, call 911. And in our country, that is a security. Now Ben talked a little bit about Africa, where he's at and how the numbers for the emergency personnel don't mean as much over there. And maybe you might call that number and nobody would show up. But over here where we're at, we're blessed to have, there is a comfort in your mind of knowing, hey, if I have a problem and I really need it, I can call 911. Somebody will come and help. Hey, can I tell you as a Christian, You know who ought to be your 911 number? It ought to be the Lord. Remember the Lord. What are you going to do this year when the adversary attacks? What are you going to do this year when Satan does his best to shut down your Christian life? Number one, remember the Lord. I want to see the second thing here quickly. Look also in verse number 14. This is interesting. You really can't separate these points from this passage. Read verse number 14 again It says and I looked and rose up and said to the nobles and to the rulers and to the rest of the people be not ye afraid of them remember the Lord which is great and terrible look what the rest of the verse says and What's the word fight and fight? Hey Christian, you know what you're gonna have to do when Satan attacks You're gonna have to fight We get to the point as Christians where I guess the words that we would use is, we're a pushover. Boy, Satan gives us the least little bit of resistance and it's, okay, I can't do that for God and I just, the least little bit of resistance and we just, what do we do? We just back up and say, it's not worth it, I'm not gonna try it. Do you know what Nehemiah said to the people? He said, first of all, you need to remember God. But secondly, here's your response to the adversaries that are looking to slay us, that are looking to cause the work to cease, is you need to fight. Now, I imagine some of those people on the wall, they might have looked at Nehemiah. Maybe it does not record that they said this at all. I think they were very much behind Nehemiah. But I imagine some of those people probably thought, well, I'm not a warrior. I'm not skilled in using a sword. And when it comes to this thing of fighting, I'm not going to be very good at that. But can I tell you as a Christian, if you don't have some fight inside of you, what's the Bible say in Ephesians when it comes to us? It talks about it being a spiritual warfare. It shows us the pieces of armor that we're supposed to use as a Christian. Can I tell you, if you're going to keep your goals this year, If you're going to have the 2020 vision like our theme is this year, you're going to have to decide, I am willing to fight for it. And when Satan tries to stop me, I'm not just gonna throw in the towel, but I'm gonna be willing to fight. Look what the rest of the verse says. He says, he goes on, he says, and fight, look what it says, for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, your houses. Hey, can I tell you, your fight to do something for God, we get so wrapped up in us. Barney Smith what Barney Smith is gonna do for God what Barney Smith is gonna accomplish in 2020 Can I tell you my fight is not just about me. It's about my brethren It's about my wife and my children and the people that God allows me to influence in this life Can I tell you you can't give up the fight? Because there's some people that are depending on you to fight. I Think sometimes in our mind We look and say, oh, I just don't want to have any confrontation. I just don't want any, you know, any type of resistance at all. And so as long as it's easy for me to serve God, and as long as I have time to be able to go soul winning, and long as I can, you know, it works for my schedule to read my Bible, then I'll do all of those things. Boy, if there's any resistance, we just want to lay down the sword and say, no, you know, I just don't want to fight. Can I tell you as a Christian, you ought to fight the adversary. Because I'm going to tell you, he's not going to back down. He's gonna keep after it until the work ceases. You ought to fight. I want to show you the third thing this morning that I think is so clear in this passage. Not only did he say, remember God, not only did he say to fight, hey, let me mention this when it comes to fighting. Isn't it interesting when David, remember how David, his brothers were at the battle with Saul, and when David was sent with the food from his father, sent to take it to his brethren. Remember when he comes out there and he delivers the food and he hears Goliath. David's just a youth. You would think that David would say, oh my goodness, I'm glad I'm not old enough to fight. I'm glad I'm not out here where you guys are at. Here's your food. I'm going back to the sheep. That was not David's response. David hears Goliath mocking. And he says, hey, which one of you guys is going to go fight this guy? Which one of you guys is going to get your sword on and go out and take care of this guy? And of course, all of them were, oh, no, not us. We're going to get killed if we do that. So we're not going to step out there and fight. David's first response to the adversary was, let's go fight him. Hey, can I tell you what your response ought to be to Satan? Let's fight. Let's win this war in Satan trying to cause the work of God to cease. Let's, as Christians, say, I'm willing to do whatever it takes. I'm willing to pick up the sword. I'm willing to fight. Look at the third thing this morning. I want you to look in verse number 15. The Bible says this, and it came to pass when our enemies heard that it was known unto us and God had brought their counsel to naught. Again, they'd conspired to try to kill him and that didn't work out. It says that we returned, all of us, to the wall. And every one unto his, what's the word? His work. Hey, can I tell you what you ought to do thirdly as a Christian when Satan attacks? Now, can I tell you, even though their counsel was brought to naught, they weren't gone as far as an enemy. They weren't gone as far as trying to stop the work. And you know what Nehemiah said? Hey, listen, yes, we have adversaries. Yes, they're trying to kill us. Yes, they're trying to stop the work to cease. But you folks need to remember the Lord. You folks need to remember to fight, be willing to fight. And thirdly, you need to be willing to keep working. Hey, there's going to be some times where it's going to be discouraging. This year, with these people sitting in this auditorium. And it might be the circumstance. It might be something that causes a financial disruption in your life. Maybe you lose your job, or you lose a family member, or whatever. Or there's an offense between you and someone else. And you just want to say, you know what? There's too much tension with this. Can I tell you what Satan wants you to do right there? Let the work go. Can I tell you what Nehemiah told the people? He said, hey, listen, we need to return to the work. Be willing to fight, but be willing to keep working. I think about, in the Old Testament, I think about the story of Daniel. I think about how that, we won't go and take time to read the passage this morning, but I think about Daniel chapter number six. Remember when King Darius signed the decree that no one was supposed to pray to anyone except for him. You read that passage, those verses in chapter six, it's very interesting that Daniel, the Bible says, when he heard the decree was signed. He didn't do this in ignorance, not knowing that there had been this decree that had been signed. When he heard the decree was signed, he went to his room and he opened his windows and prayed to God. Hey, can I tell you there's going to be some times that you don't want to? There's going to be some times that you're going to be afraid? There's going to be some times it seems like, boy, it seems like Satan's getting the victory in this area. And you know what you need to keep doing? You need to keep working. You need to keep staying in your Bible. You need to stay in prayer. You need to stay in reaching people. You need to keep yourself and your family in church. You need to keep taking the next step. What are you gonna do when the adversary attacks? This is not if he attacks, this is when he attacks. He doesn't want the work to continue. What are you going to do? You need to keep working. Now, I want to show you the last thing this morning. I think it'll be a help to you this morning out of this passage. Go back to verse number 20. The Bible talks about it. Brother Ham mentioned this in Sunday school this morning, but very key to the passage here and to the thought. Verse number 20, the Bible says this. Actually, let's start in verse 19. Nehemiah said, and I said unto the elders and to the rulers and to the rest of the people, the work is great and large. And we are separated upon the wall, one far from another. In what place, therefore, ye hear the sound of the trumpet? Resort ye thither unto us." And look what it says, our God shall fight for us. So Nehemiah says, hey, listen, folks, the work is great, and the wall is long, and we're spread out distance from each other sometimes just because that's what the work does. It's what the work requires. You might be way down the wall working on some bricks down there or some rocks down there, and I'm clear down here working on a gate. And he said, listen, in what time you hear the trumpet blow, you need to gather together to the trumpet. We need to be, this is your fourth point, we need to be unified. Now he didn't say we need to be unified so that we in our strength can fight the enemy. He said we need to come together and God is gonna fight for us. Look, I tell you what's gonna help you when it comes to victory, when the adversary attacks your life, and when Satan tries to get the work of God in your life to stop, you know what's gonna help you? It's this thing called unity. In my garage at home, I do lawn care, and I work on most of my own equipment. And I have this big old jug. It's got loose nuts and bolts and washers in it. Sometimes I'll get into a project trying to fix something up, and I need a bolt. And you know what I do? I take that big old jug, take the cap off, and dump it all on the workbench, and I start sorting through them. And I find the bolt that I think is about long enough, and then I start looking for the washers that'll fit on that bolt. And I start picking up all those little nuts and trying to screw them on there. And you know how frustrating it is when you can't find one that'll fit. And you know, sometimes one bolt or nut, I can put Johnson smiling, I'm sure he's been through this before too. You know how it is, one whole project can be stopped because there's no unity. I've got the bolt, but I don't have the nut that fits it. or I've got the nut that I need, but I don't have the washer that I need to go on this bolt. Can I tell you, there's a lot of the work of God that gets hindered, not because God's not big enough to do the work through us, but because we as Christians stop saying, okay, maybe I wanna be the bolt, but today I'm the nut. Maybe I wanna be the washer, but today I'm the bolt. And we won't say, hey, listen, I'm gonna work together. Hey, can I tell you what's going to have to happen if you're going to have victory in this thing when you're facing Satan that tries to attack our lives and our families every day? You've got to say, I'm going to be unified. Hey, listen, church family, it's healthy for you to spend time with one another. It's healthy. It's healthy for us to be unified. You say, well, Brother Smith, I'm just not the people person. I just don't have very many people that I like to get along with. Can I tell you, you still ought to spend time with people. We still ought to be unified. I imagine there were some people working on that wall with Nehemiah that they thought, I'm glad that guy is working down there because I wouldn't want to work beside him. I'm sure that happened. I'm sure that some people said, you know what, I'm glad you're building gates and you're not laying rocks on the wall with me because I couldn't build a gate with you. But Nehemiah said, there's some times when you're gonna hear the trumpet blow, and you better put all your differences aside, and you better come together so that our God can fight for us. Now, church family, this thing about being unified is paramount. to what we're gonna do together as a church in 2020. Hey, there are some people in this auditorium that they're not like you. Their personality is not like you. Hey, there's some of you, my personality is probably not like you. And you probably think of me, boy, I'm glad I don't have to live with Brother Smith every day. Hey, listen, I guarantee you, everybody in here, our personalities, the way God made us is different. But can I tell you, God put us together in a congregation. And no matter what your background is or what my background is or what my tastes or likes or dislikes are, God put us together. And if we're going to accomplish for God, defeating the adversary and accomplishing the work for God, we've got to say, hey, listen, it's important for me to be unified. Now, church family, it's not if Satan is going to attack you. Maybe you don't feel like you're being attacked right now. It's not, well, if Satan ever attacks me, then sometime I might put those, hey, listen, it's going to happen. What are you gonna do? When that tension builds in your life, and boy, it seems like, boy, I started off with all these goals, but you know what? I think I'm just gonna throw in the towel. I think I'm just going to quit." Or are you going to do what Nehemiah said? Are you going to remember God? Are you going to get your highlighter out in this life that we live and say, you know what? I'm going to put a big highlighter mark right over the Lord because He's who I'm going to go back to when I need help. Or are you going to say, hey listen, I'm willing to fight. Maybe that's not my nature to be like that, but you know what? Satan's coming after me, and I've got to work to accomplish for the Lord. I'm going to be willing to fight. Are you going to say, hey, listen, I'm going to be willing to keep working, even when there's adversaries around me. I'm going to keep working for the Lord. And last this morning, are you willing to say, hey, listen, it's important. that I be unified. It's interesting that Jesus in the New Testament when he prayed for his disciples, one of the things that he prayed for them is that they would be as one. God wants us to be unified. Hey, listen, I don't know where you're at, and I have no idea what God's gonna do in your life this year. I don't know what goals you've set. I don't know what things that might happen in your family's life that might be the roadblock this year that Satan's gonna put there just to cause you to get out of church, just to cause you to stop being involved in the ministry, just to cause you to say, listen, it's just not worth it any longer. But whatever those things are, decide this morning. that, hey, listen, I'm gonna take this Bible passage and I'm gonna put these things to practice in my life. I'm gonna trust God, I'm gonna be willing to fight, I'm gonna be willing to work, and I'm gonna be willing to be unified. Why? All for one purpose, so that the work doesn't cease. Hey, listen, Brother Ham made several comments in Sunday school about how wonderful it is that God has given us this place. Our church, many of you have been here for years and years. Can I tell you, this place doesn't necessarily have to be here in a year or two or 10 years. This place is gonna be here because there's a group of people that decide we're gonna trust in the Lord. And we're gonna be willing to work and to fight and we're gonna be unified, why? Because we have a work to accomplish for Him. Hey listen, determine in your mind right now, this is January, what is it today, the 5th? January the 5th. We're getting ready to embark on 2020. We're in the beginning of the year. What are you going to do for Christ? How is Satan going to try to stop you and what is your response going to be to the adversary? Let's bow our head and close our eyes