Thank you, Irene. Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace. That's really what we want to do, isn't it? Keep our eyes fixed upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Will you turn with me this morning to the book of Nehemiah once again, chapter 4. Nehemiah chapter 4. You recall last week we discussed Nehemiah's answer to discouragement among the ranks of God's people. The people had been discouraged both by the people of Judah who were tired and weary as a result of the task, and also from those that were living in the camp of the enemy. And Nehemiah pointed out the real answer to this kind of discouragement. And it involved the calling together of the people and daring to focus on the family, putting forth the leadership of the Father in the great battle that faced them. They had to continue to build the walls, and this was an important task, building these reinforcements there in the city of Jerusalem. And so they dared, first of all, to focus on the family. And then they dared as well to face the facts. That is, they dared to see that really in themselves they were insufficient, they were unable to do the job, unable to fight the foe, unable to build the walls, unable to keep from weariness and tiredness, all of these things, and they really were a very weak people. And they knew it. They faced the facts. But then, after that, they fortified the faith. After seeing how weak they were themselves, they said, remember the Lord who is great and awesome, a great God, a great Lord, a God who is able to care for us and able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we could ask or think. And then in the last part of verse 14, He dared as well to fight the foe. He challenged the people in the light of what God would do for them. He said, fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses. And there's a lot at stake in this battle. We pointed out to you that there is a cause, that there is a cause, that all the world may know that there is a God. a God who is great and a God who is awe-inspiring. And one of the reasons that we can have victory and will have victory if we trust this great Lord is simply because God is determined to show His majesty and His glory to the very ends of the earth. Now in verses 15 through 23, we see something of the method that Nehemiah uses to motivate the battling and at the same time maintain the building. So let's read verses 15 to the end of the chapter. And it came to pass, when our enemies heard that it was known unto us, and God had brought their counsel to nothing, that we returned all of us to the wall, every one to 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 the spears, and shields, and the bows, and the coats of mail, and the rulers were behind all the house of Judah. They who built on the wall, they who bore the burdens, with those that laid it, or literally, they burdened themselves. Every one with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon. For the builders, or the craftsmen, every one had his sword girded by his side, and so builded. And he who 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 whatsoever place ye hear the sound of the trumpet, resort ye there 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, at the same time said I unto the people, Let every one with his servant lodge within Jerusalem, that in the night they may be a guard to us, and labor in the day. So neither I, nor my brethren, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us, put off our clothes, except that everyone put them off for washing." I think that's probably just a little word of assurance to everybody there at the inn. Now it's vital that the walls be built up. As we've spoken before, the people of Israel were facing the fact that the temple was in jeopardy and that the people living in the city were in jeopardy. The enemy could come in at will. He could come in anytime he wished. He could do anything he wished in the city. They would come in and they would plunder the people. Roving bandits could just move into the city, even without a great deal of armaments, and take what they wanted. And this is certainly a picture of what the defeated Christian is like. For the enemy comes in and just runs rampant through his life at will, and does what he pleases. And Satan, of course, is out to defeat the Christian in every circumstance. And he loves it when there are no defenses that are built up. And so the walls must be built. This is an absolute necessity. And these spiritual fortifications, these were physical fortifications, we've been applying them to spiritual fortifications. And these spiritual fortifications that are in our lives represent maturity in the life of a believer. What God wants from believers is a maturity in their life, an area, a time in their Christian experience where they begin to be spiritually self-sustaining themselves. And they're able then to nourish others and able to build them up. But many Christians who have been Christians for a long time, and I have no doubt that they're Christians, yet they're living defeated lives, lives that are being just run through by the enemy at will. and their babies rather than being mature. And God intended that you be grown up in your Christian experience. And if we can zero in again on the men It's so important of all the members of the family that you be spiritually mature. If you're going to help your family, if your family is going to grow spiritually, it's necessary that you be the leader and that you be the one who is able to be on the wall, building, continuing to build, but at the same time protecting your family from all of the isms that would encroach upon them. But the thing that happens in the life of most people is exactly what's happened here in the book of Nehemiah. Satan comes along with doubts. That prevents the building of the wall. Satan comes along with daunting, with intimidation. And that prevents the building of the wall. Satan comes along with defiance, where he openly attacks. And that prevents the building of the wall. And in some cases, Satan comes along with discouragement. And that prevents the building of the wall. Nehemiah had answers for all of this, because he was in touch with God, and God gave him the answers. But I want you to look at Hebrews chapter 5 by way of introduction this morning, because there's a passage there that basically says the same thing. And the application that we are making here is beautifully defined in Hebrews chapter 5, beginning to read at verse 11. Actually, the apostle here has told them in chapter 4 that the Word of God is alive and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, of the joints and the marrow, and is the critic of the thoughts and intents of the heart. He's made clear that the Word of God makes manifest everything in the life. There is nothing that is hid to God. and that God is constantly probing with the sword of the Spirit to seek to bring some maturity to our lives. And then he begins to go on and talk about prayer, and then he talks about this matter of the Order of Melchizedek, which of course speaks of Jesus Christ as our great High Priest. And then he interrupts himself right smack in the middle of this argument. And he says in verse 11, "...of whom we have many things to say, Hard to be uttered, seeing you are sluggish of hearing." That's the word. Nathros is a word that means sluggish. It means slow. It means that the people were not really taking in the Word of God. They would come and their minds would be cluttered with a jillion other things, and the Word of God was being given out faithfully, and yet somehow they couldn't concentrate on it because they were concentrating their mind on other things. Rather than meditating on the Word of God day and night, they were meditating upon their problems. That's what's called worry. And they were thinking about things that were earthly-minded rather than heavenly-minded. And their minds were slow, their minds were sluggish. And the Apostle says, Hold it. Wait a minute. You're not paying attention. You're not listening. You go after you hear it and you promptly forget what's been said. These are truths that are valuable. You know, it's interesting, isn't it? If I gave you A thousand dollars. I'm sure you wouldn't stick it in your pocket and forget all about it, would you? Listen, I'm not going to give you a thousand dollars, but I've got something much more valuable than a thousand dollars. That's what we're giving. The Word of God is like hid treasure, and it needs to be mined, and it needs to be dug out. And so we dig it out, and we give it to you, refined and prepared, and you can take it, and you can spend it. It's like cash on the barrel head. And yet the average Christian sort of takes it and tucks it away in their back pocket and forgets all about the fact that God has tried, through his word, to prepare you in advance for the onslaught of the enemy. He doesn't want you to be defeated. So he says, these things are hard to utter. They're tough for me to preach, he says, because you're not paying attention. I don't have that problem with most of you here at Valley Church, and I'm thankful for that. But that's what he's saying to them here. Now notice verse 12. For when for the time, that is the chronological time, that is the amount of time, the duration of time that you've been a Christian. When you consider how long you've been a Christian, you ought to be teachers. And there is one of those 50 times in Scripture that we have that idea of you ought. It means it is the necessity when you view the nature of the case. That's what it means. In other words, when you view how long you've been a Christian, it is an absolute necessity that you be a teacher rather than be slow of hearing. When for the time you ought to be teachers, You have need that one teach you again the ABCs. Gotta go back again and again and again and start over with you and say, now hold it, wait a minute, 1 plus 1 equals 2. 2 plus 2 equals 4. A, B, C, D. Then we get to E. See? You ought to be teachers and yet You're at a stage of growth where you're still a baby, and the thing that really suits you is a reviewing of things that really aren't too technical. The things that maybe are just sort of good to taste. Over in the book of Revelation, John was told to eat the little book. And he ate it. And it was sweet to his taste, but it became bitter in his stomach. And there are some people that don't mind the sweet taste. They don't like the bitterness in the stomach. They don't like the fact that after you've heard about the cross of Jesus Christ, that in the final application of that, it affects the life. And it affects your obedience to God. And it becomes bitter in your stomach, and you don't like that. And you see, there are people who would be satisfied to just build a little hedge around the city. And then say, well, let's just keep building this hedge. God says, I want the walls to be built up. I want you to be mature. I want you to be spiritually self-sustaining. The Christian life is a walk. It is progress. It is moving toward a goal. And that goal will ultimately be reached when we see Jesus Christ face to face. But it's not going to be reached today. And it takes hard work. It takes involvement. It takes getting into the Word. It takes digging it out. It takes all of these things. But there are those that are still babies, and they have need that some teach them the first principles of the oracles of God, and are become such as have need of milk, a constant need of milk, and not of solid food. The apostle here is saying, look, you ought to be on porterhouse, and instead you're on pablum. Why? Just because you're not paying attention to what's being said, see? You're not building the walls. Notice verse 14, But solid food belongeth to them that are of full age, maturity, their walls are built, even those who by reason of use, they put what they heard into practical application. And the result was growth, who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. A discernment that comes by applying what you hear in your life. So the writer of the Hebrews had the same idea. Maturity is important as far as the Christian is concerned. And maturity isn't sort of a... it's not old age like we think of physical maturity. It doesn't mean the Christian with a lot of wrinkles. Or the Christian who's kind of old and tired. No, that's not what it means at all. It means a vigorous, healthy, reinforced life. A life that is able to give an answer to every man that asketh concerning the hope that is in him. Now here's the point. When you were saved, Satan lost out. He had a goody when he had you, see? And he liked having you in bondage, but Christ came along, gave you the key, and set you free. Satan didn't like that. And so Plan B went into effect. He knew that he could make you a miserable Christian, a defeated Christian, if he could keep you from building the walls. He knew that he could run rampant through your life just as he pleased. He would still have virtual control even though he could never again enmesh you in the chains of sin in the same way that he had you before. He knew that if he could keep you from growth, if he could prevent progress in your Christian life, that he would have victory at least temporarily. And so what did he do? He put roadblocks in your way. Everything he could. Everything from the Super Bowl to keep you from coming to church, to the lawn needs mowing to keep you from coming to church. Or something else to keep you from Bible class. I'm too tired today. Or I'm too discouraged today. Or something else. He constantly seeks to discourage and fight against us. And we need to realize that there is a necessity in our lives, both to fight the enemy and to build the walls. We don't stop building in order to fight. And we don't stop fighting in order to build. But because of the attack of the enemy, it's necessary that we both build and battle. It's not an either-or proposition. I know that there's some people that I'll say, say, I'm mischief Bible class. And they'll say to me, well, pastor, I've been fighting a real battle in my life. And I just have been so down, I'm just not able to come. You know what that is? That's a confession that you're only doing half the job. I expect that you're going to have battles in your life. If you knew how many times I stood before you people with battles in my life, you'd be shocked. You'd be surprised. We all have battles in our lives, but we don't quit building in order to battle. And we don't quit battling in order to build. We do both. And that's the content of this passage of Scripture that we have before us. The walls must go up. The warfare must go on. The people couldn't stop their work to watch and to worry. They had to work, and they had to watch, and they had to wait, and they had to war all at the same time. Sounds like a big job, doesn't it? Let's look at it. Nehemiah chapter 4, beginning at verse 15. Now, there are three things that are prominent in this text. First of all, the plan. Secondly, the promise. And thirdly, the perseverance. The plan involves a number of things. You might ask yourself, why did we need a plan? This just takes a moment of review. First of all, because of the vengeance of the wicked. Look back at verses 7 and 8 of this same chapter. It came to pass that when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabians and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites, the Philistines, heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem went forward and the breaches were being closed, they were very angry and conspired all of them together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to hinder it. The vengeance of the enemy demands that there be a plan in order that we might have victory. I think in terms of the passage over... In fact, let's turn to it. Zechariah chapter 3. Zechariah chapter 3. This is a blessed passage of Scripture. Zechariah is the next to the last book in the Old Testament. Go to the end of the Old Testament and work back and you'll find it. Zechariah chapter 3. Here is the picture of Joshua the high priest as representative of the nation of Israel in their priestly ministry. And the passage of scripture, the context here is speaking of the fact that the priestly ministry will be restored ultimately to the nation of Israel. And so here is a figure, here is a type, here is a picture being drawn. Now notice in verse 1, And he showed me, that is, showed Zechariah, Joshua the high priest, standing before the angel of the Lord. Isn't that a beautiful picture? Here is a picture, a man representing the nation of Israel, standing before the angel of the Lord. But read the rest of the verse. And Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. Now here is a picture, if you please, of the future of the nation of Israel. And the nation of Israel is the people that God has promised that He would bring back to their land and would restore them ultimately. And here standing before God is one representing the people of Israel, Joshua the high priest. And Satan is at his right hand to resist him. Notice verse 2, the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan, even the Lord who hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee. You want to stand there and you want to resist, but I'm rebuking. God rebukes him. Why? Because he is determined at this instance, in this context, to restore the nation of Israel in spite of the fact that Satan has been attacking. And so he resists Satan at that point, even as Satan resists Joshua the high priest. This is the vengeance of the wicked. And when will we ever learn in our Christian experience that Satan is out to get you? He is. And there is a great heavenly conflict going on. And the unseen forces of darkness are doing everything they can to bring defeat to the people of God. What's the answer? Build the walls. You will not defeat Satan by a lot of peripheral things. You don't defeat Satan by having box socials. You don't defeat Satan by playing tiddlywinks. You defeat Satan by building up the walls, coming to a point of maturity in our life, coming to a point of being spiritually self-sustaining, so that there can be a resistance against the forces of darkness. Draw nigh unto God, He will draw nigh unto you. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. The devil goeth about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour, whom you resist. How? Steadfast in the faith. That's the answer. See? Alright, so first of all, we need a plan because of the vengeance of the wicked. But secondly, we need a plan because of the vitalness of the work. This isn't a peripheral thing. The building of these walls is absolutely necessary and again, rather than taking the time to review, just let me state that beginning at the very beginning of Nehemiah, right up to this point, the emphasis of the book has been how important this matter of building the walls is to the people of Israel. Their city is in reproach and they build these walls so that the glory of God might be mirrored to the rest of the world. And then thirdly, we need a plan because of the vastness of the walls. Look at verse 19 of chapter 4. Verse 19, I said unto the nobles, and the rulers, and the rest of the people, the work is great and large, spread out over a large area, and we are separated upon the wall one far from another. Now, let me just make an application here. You understand that the first application has to do with the nation of Israel and the fact that, geographically speaking, it was a great, immense wall that they were building. And they were separated on that wall, the one from the other. They couldn't be an army unit that was prepared to move forward as a unit. They were individuals, working on individual parts of the wall, and they were separated. There is a sense in which if we were to gather together as believers all of the time, sort of the Hutterite concept or the Mennonite concept, where we live in a communal society, see, where we separate ourselves in a cloistered atmosphere from the outside world totally, So that we have really the only people we contact, the only people we see and the only people our young people meet are the people within this cloistered atmosphere. If we did that, there would be the advantage at least of having a singular purpose for the people and not being separated the one from the other. But you see, God never asked us to do that. In fact, He told us the opposite. The Christian life is not just a gathering together on occasion, but a going forth. We are to go out and penetrate our society and infect them with the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's part of our mission. God doesn't want us to sit around as a bunch of Christians and hold hands all the time. And you see, the thing that happens is that people come together and they find a strength. Because there is a strength. A mutual building up with one another. But you see, it's not one big happy family living together. That's going to happen in heaven. We are soldiers and ambassadors sent out on a mission. And the mission is the lost world. So you go to work and there's not another Christian in your plant. And you are separated from the others. This Santa Clara Valley is large. We have 300,000 people within 10 minutes of our church. And there is only a handful of them, speaking quite conservatively, only a handful of them that really know Jesus Christ in a personal way. And you're a missionary. And you're sent out to them. And you can't sit around all the time and be with Christians. You've got to spend some time with the unbeliever. And you find that as you spend that time with the unbeliever, that there are problems that arise because of his wrong attitudes and all the rest. And so we need a plan. And so Nehemiah had a plan because of these things. Now the second question is, who's involved in this? Before we look at the plan itself, who's involved? The secret of Nehemiah's success was his spirit-inspired scheme to give a distinctive ministry to each person and to involve everyone. Now this is a beautiful Old Testament illustration, one of several, of the New Testament concept of spiritual gifts. Look at verse 16. It came to pass, from that time forth, that half of my servants wrought in the work, and the other half of them held the spears, and the shields, and the bows, and the coats of mail, and the rulers were behind all the house of Judah. Half of his servants, and his servants you recall from chapter 2 verse 9, were the captains and the horsemen that had come as a result of the king's generosity, who were working along with him. Half of his servants were working. Half of his servants were armed to the teeth with their spears and their shields and their bows, their coats of mail. In other words, full armor of a soldier. Verse 16 also says that the rulers were behind them. That is, the rulers were in a supporting role. They were leading the people. That's what they should be doing. They were encouraging them. They were walking about the walls, checking on things, making sure everything's going fine. And that, of course, is a role of leadership. And then in verse 17, it speaks of those who built on the wall. The laborers, and notice they had one hand on their weapon, but they were building the wall. Verse 17, again, there were the burden bearers, those that were carrying the heavy limestone rock and bringing it to the city, those burden bearers. had one hand on their sword, and they were carrying the burden with their other hand. And then verse 18, the craftsmen had their sword by their side. The craftsmen needed both hands, you see. And so they wore their sword by their side, wore a sidearm. And then in the last part, there were trumpeters. And these trumpeters stood by Nehemiah. So everybody was doing his job. Everybody was involved. And you go over to 1 Corinthians chapter 12, and you find the importance of spiritual gifts, and you find the fact that God gives every single believer, when he accepts Jesus Christ, gives him a spiritual gift. Spiritual gifts that are functionary are those spiritual gifts that are usable in the building up of the walls, the building up of other believers. And we're all involved in that task. It's not just the preacher. That's a public ministry, and that's part of it. not just the one who teaches the Word of God. There's the responsibility of teaching, but there's also the responsibility of administration, leading. There's the responsibility of exhorting, encouraging. There's the responsibility of service, helping. There's the responsibility, if you please, of giving of yourself in the matter of just showing mercy, empathizing with other people. There's the responsibility of proclaiming the truth as an evangelist. There's the responsibility of giving. And we all have the responsibility of giving and the responsibility of evangelizing. But some of you have an emphasis in your life on those things and you should be doing that which God has called you to do in the building up of the body. You know it's interesting because there's no place in scripture that tells us we should tear down the body. It always speaks of edification. And edification comes first and foremost by the teaching of the Word of God. Secondarily, it comes by a sharing together, in a mutual concern, in a building up of one another, in the most holy faith. And so you see, Nehemiah organizes these people, and God has organized the church. But he put everybody to work. The children, the fathers, the mothers, the whole business. Everybody's working. I'm sure you've heard this story, but it's worth repeating. when Bud Wilkinson was for President Kennedy the National Director of Physical Fitness in the United States. He got off a plane in Dallas, Texas and he was asked by a reporter this question, Mr. Wilkinson What has modern football, Wilkinson had been the football coach at Oklahoma for many years and that's what he was best known for, what has modern football done for the physical fitness program in the United States of America? And of course he expected some kind of a profound answer from Bud Wilkinson. But Mr. Wilkinson said, absolutely nothing. A reporter was taken a little back and he said, sir, would you mind explaining that? He said, not at all. He says, football is a game where there are 22 men on the field who desperately need rest and 70,000 people in the stands who desperately need exercise. And that, my friend, is a picture of the Church of Jesus Christ. There's a handful of people who have been busy for years in the work of God, who desperately need rest. And the vast majority of the average church, and thank God that's not true of Valley Church as true as it is in some other churches because it's not the vast majority it's actually I think a minority but the vast majority of Christians today are sitting in the stands as spectators when God intends that they be down on the field involved in helping to build up the lives of other people and Nehemiah knew that the project would never be completed apart from the involvement of all of God's people. And the same thing is true in the matter of building maturity in lives. You know, it's interesting when Paul wrote to Timothy, he says, look, the things that you've heard He says, now I want you to commit those to faithful men. And the tense of the verb indicates that he wanted to commit them to faithful men who shall be able to teach others, to teach others, to teach others, to teach others, to teach others, to teach others, and on and on and on to infinity. The process in the local church should not be one of focus on individuals, but a multiplication process. Every man who knows Jesus Christ as his personal Savior should recognize that if he's here in the scale of maturity, that if there's someone he knows who is under that point, he should seek to get with him and build him up and encourage him and teach him the Word of God. You ought to be teaching. And I don't care what your spiritual gift is, you ought to utilize it to make sure that the message of God is being infused in the lives, first of all, of your family, secondly, of those round about you that need to be reached. I thank God for some of you who are doing exactly that, who are finding a ministry with people, realizing that there are some people who will always be retarded in their spiritual life unless they have personal attention. And you're spending time with individuals, or a small group of individuals in some cases, where you're spending time in making sure that their doctrine is straight and that it's founded on the Word of God, and that they know the message of this book. But you see, we all ought to be involved in There ought to be a mutual building up and a mutual arming of ourselves for the task that we have before us. Well, let's look at the plan now. What were they actually to do? And this is strategic. First of all, they were to be armed. They were to be armed. Verses 17 and 18. that we as believers need to be armed. And that the Word of God is our weapon. The Word of God is alive and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword. The Word of God is the sword of the Spirit. That is, the Word of God is the sword of the Spirit. And Ephesians chapter 6 points that out. But I want to turn you to 1 Peter chapter 4 for a moment. Those of you that studied through 1 Peter with us, this will just be a moment of review. The rest of you need to grasp this thoroughly in your mind. 1 Peter chapter 4. For as much then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, and the light of that which Christ has suffered in his undeserved suffering at the cross of Jesus Christ, and the light of that which he wrought on the cross of Calvary totally, For as much, then, as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise." That's the word haplos in the Greek, and it's a word that speaks of the haplite soldier. The haplite soldier were the best-equipped, best-trained soldiers in the Roman army. And these haplite soldiers were the ones that were always ready for battle. What does it say? We are to arm ourselves with the same mind. How do we arm ourselves with the same mind? By the Word of God. The mind of Christ has been written down. The mind of Christ is the Scripture. And we arm ourselves with the Word of God. And we should be fully equipped and fully trained and prepared for battle. Arm yourselves likewise with the same mind, for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased out from under the control of sin," literally, that he should no longer live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men. You don't have to be a defeated Christian, but instead doing the will of God. There's the contrast for you. You're either doing the lusts of men, which is carnality, or you're doing the will of God, which is spirituality. You are either doing one or the other. But the only way that you can be reinforced so that there's any kind of consistency in your life is to arm yourselves with the Word of God. That's the point of that passage of Scripture. So these people were to be armed. And then as well, if you look back at Nehemiah 4, they were to be active. This isn't a passive thing. It's not something where they sit around and wait for battle. They are armed, but they are also active. Look, verse 15, it says, "...everyone to his work." Verse 16, "...wrought in the work," it says. Verse 17, "...the burden bearers with those that laid it," or literally, they burdened themselves, they worked hard. Every one, it says in verse 17, with one of his hands wrought in the work. Verse 18, it says they builded. They were at the job. Nehemiah says, look, be armed, be ready to fight, but have that sword hanging by your side as you're ready, but also be involved in the work. And then, verse 20 shows us that they're not only to be armed and active, but they're to be alert. Look, the trumpet will sound, he says. Whatsoever place you hear the sound of the trumpet, resort ye there unto us. Our God shall fight for us. Now you see, the trumpet sounds, and everybody rushes to that spot. You know what happened this morning? The trumpet sounded. We're gathered here to help arm you, to help equip you, to meet special needs. That's why we gather in a body. We're here to mutually build one another up. The trumpet is sounding. Alright? Now the trumpet sounds again and you disperse in just a few minutes. What are you going to do with your time? How are you going to spend it? What are you going to be involved in? What has happened here should help you out there. That's the point. See? And then the trumpet will sound again tonight. And we will gather again. There will be times where the trumpet will sound where there is a special need. And we need some of you to rally to the cause. There are times where the trumpet sounds to call the people into an assembly. Maybe calling you to prayer. Maybe calling you to work. But the trumpet sounds and the people gather. But you see, they didn't stand around gathered. They went out and they built the walls. And you see, the building of the walls meant both a coming together and a going out. And God wants in our lives both. And He wants us to have that balance. Don't ever forget it. That which is built in the Christian life is not only that which is in an assembly. where they call together and find and re-hone their tools and prepare for battle and where they are gathered together to talk about the plan of the wall and how they build and what they should do and how they can better cooperate but it also involved some time alone with the family and some time alone out buying supplies and getting supplies But it all is the building of the wall. I find it very difficult to make any distinction between the so-called spiritual and secular as far as our lives are concerned. You see, going to work and doing your 8 by 5 job is not secular. That's not secular employment. You are as called to that task as I am to the task that I have. It's just as important in the will of God that you go to work 8 to 5 and do a good job for your employer as it is for you to come to church on Sunday. It's just as important. Every part of it is important because your whole life is one of spiritual building up in your life and the lives of others. I love Christians who know what it means to be a Christian 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. And that's the kind of Christian God loves to see. Because that means that there's a measure of maturity. So that's the plan. Be armed with the mind of Christ. Be active, serving, doing the thing, realizing that your whole life should be focused on that. But also be alert. And don't be afraid to listen for the trumpet call. Because someday the right trumpet is going to call and we're all going to be gathered permanently. And so shall we ever be with the Lord. And that's going to be a great rallying point in that day. Well, very quickly then, let's look at the promise in verse 20. Here is the promise that you find over and over again in Scripture. In fact, ten times specifically in Scripture, it says, Our God shall fight for us. This is what God gave to the children of Israel. as they faced the Red Sea. This is what God gave to the children of Israel as they were wandering in the wilderness. This is what God gave to the children of Israel as they faced going into the land at Kadesh Barnea. This is what God gave Joshua as he went into the land. Every time God saw that the people of God needed this strength, He said to them ten different times in Scripture, Our God shall fight for us. Remember that now. That's the promise that God has given. When you are armed, active and alert. God has promised that He's going to fight for you. Man, we can't lose because God is interested and involved in our victory. So the plan involves something you can do. But the promise involves something that you receive as a result of God's marvelous grace. And then, finally, the perseverance. Don't let anything stop the building. Look at verse 21. So we labored in the work. That's a word that means hard work. It actually means to take existing materials and to manufacture something out of those existing materials. So that's exactly what they did. They labored in the work. When they were working, they were really working. That involved hard work. But also long hours. Half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning till the stars appeared. That's a long day. But that's the kind of day they put in because the task was big and that's the kind of day we have to put in. Not a whole lot, although your subconscious can work, there's not a whole lot of building you can do while you're sleeping. Get a good night's sleep, but the rest of the time be building. There isn't a moment in the day to waste. Every moment of the day is either a building up of your life spiritually or a tearing down. Ever think of that? Either progress or retrogression. One of the two. And so they had to have long hours. Look at verse 22. Likewise, at the same time, said I unto the people, let every one with his servant lodge within Jerusalem, that in the night they may be a guard to us, and a laborer in the day. Those people that have been living outside the walls, have been picking up all this garbage from the enemy, He said, I want you to move home. I want you to live where you ought to be living. I want you to move away from the enemy. I want your life to be centered. I want your home to be centered here in the protection of the walls and so you can be on guard at all times. If you have a house outside, don't worry about that. You move in because this is the place to be. And then notice verse 23, So neither I, nor my brethren, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us put off our clothes, except that everyone put them off for washing. Now really what that speaks of is a dedication. They were so dedicated to this purpose that they had their sleep, they had to have that. But they always were clothed and always ready Always armed, always the sword by their side. It may have been uncomfortable sleeping that way, but they had the sword ready. They had their clothes on. And they did have a wash day, and some of them probably took turns washing their clothes, because they had to keep them, you know, somewhat clean. They were doing dirty work. But when it came to the matter of even sleeping, they were still on the alert. You see, my friend, this is a great picture. of what the Christian life really is all about. It's a battle from the start to the finish. But it's also a building process from the start to the finish. And so let's be building. Let's be battling. Let's be prepared. Whatever you do, don't let Satan defeat you with some of his wiles. Next week we're going to find one of the sneakiest devices that Satan uses to try to defeat Christians. Wow, is he sneaky? We'll see that next week. Let's bow in prayer. Father, we're thankful for the vast number of people here at Valley Church that have begun to build walls and that are keeping at the job And we would just pray for a moment for them, asking that Judas might give them all the help that is needed, even as you have promised. But we also pray for those that are still living in the enemy territory, those that still are not building the walls of their life. And we would dare to believe that you can take these things that we have given from your Word today and use them uniquely in their life. so that they begin to build up the things in their life that really count, rather than tearing down. Give them, Lord, an ability to help others, to teach others, to build them up, these most holy things. And we'll praise you for it, in Christ's name. Amen. Let's stand together, shall we? And shall we bow in a closing word of prayer? Heavenly Father, we're so grateful to you because you do supply in so many ways the things that we need the building materials that are necessary in adding to our faith virtue and virtue knowledge, the building blocks of the Christian life. We would pray that as we go from here today that we will appropriate all that you have given to us and that we will be willing to build in our lives and then to build in the lives of others for your honor and your praise and your glory. For we ask these things in Christ's name. Amen.