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Collierville First Baptist Church
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I have prayed so hard about what to preach today.
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Today I'm preaching the final sermon in our Family Talk series.
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Coming off the heels of Charlie Kirk's assassination,
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the unprovoked stabbing of a young lady on a train in Charlotte,
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and the guy who repeatedly shot into a church school filled with praying children.
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We've certainly got something to talk about this morning.
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The message is entitled, "Fighting for Your Family."
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Don't think for one moment
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that you get a pass when it comes to the enemies attacked on families.
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Let's be honest, Satan is a vile, evil, fallen angel.
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He targets our families and our biblical worldview.
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That fact should come as no surprise to us. It all began in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve,
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where Satan introduced rebellion against God to the first couple, the first man and the first woman. The first man and the first woman.
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And he disrupted their marriage.
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He created disharmony in their marriage.
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And he created such conflict between their two sons, Cain and Abel, that Cain ended up murdering his brother Abel.
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From one end of the Bible to the other,
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we can trace his fiendish attacks on families.
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David was a man after God's own heart,
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but I'm telling you, Satan came after his family,
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and there was a lot of consequences, a lot of stuff that happened in David's family that was painful and hurtful.
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Don't be naive.
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He wants to destroy your marriage.
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He wants to lead your kids astray.
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He wants to turn your dreams into nightmares.
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He wants to introduce his buffet of destructive heresies into your life, into your heart, into your kids' hearts.
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Heresies like traditional marriage is oppressive. That's a heresy.
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Heresies like LGBTQ rights must be celebrated. It's a heresy.
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Sexual freedom is a human right. That's a heresy.
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Gender is self-determined. That's a heresy. Filthy entertainment is harmless. That's a heresy.
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Socialism is better than capitalism. That's a heresy.
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Lawlessness is a path to social justice. That is a heresy.
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A woman's right to control her body is a heresy.
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Her right to control her body does not triumph the baby's right to live. In light of the danger this poses to the Christian family,
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we need to take some appropriate action. We need to understand some things from a biblical viewpoint that is very important. Now, I want you to take your Bible. I want you to turn to Nehemiah chapter 4. You'll go to Psalm and take a left. Go to Psalms and take a left.
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He's real close over there to the left.
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Now, Nehemiah was a Jewish man who was brought into exile, Babylonian exile,
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and he became a cupbearer for King Artaxerxes, the King of Persia.
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He received a report that things were not going well in Jerusalem.
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In fact, the walls of Jerusalem were practically a pile of rubble.
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God called Nehemiah to something greater than himself.
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He called him to go back to Jerusalem, which was quite a journey, and he called him to rebuild the city walls.
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The task was daunting.
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Satanic opposition was fierce.
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In fact, the city was completely surrounded by enemies.
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To the north were Sambalot and the Samaritans.
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To the east were Tobiah and the Ammonites.
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To the north were Geshim and the Arabs.
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To the west were the Ashdodites.
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As the enemy saw the work progressing on rebuilding the wall, they became angry,
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and they planned a secret attack against Jerusalem.
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If Satan could have prevented Nehemiah from rebuilding the wall and accomplishing his God-given mission, the enemy could destroy the nation
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and frustrate the plans of God to bring the Messiah to be the only Savior the world could ever have.
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Now, I want you to follow with me. I want to read verses 9 through 23 of Nehemiah chapter 4.
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So all of this is happening.
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The Bible says, "But we prayed to our God because of them. We set up a guard against them day and night.
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Thus in Judah it was said, the strength of the burden-bearers is failing.
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Yet there is much rubbish, and we ourselves are unable to rebuild the wall."
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People were saying, "We can't do it. It's too much."
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Our enemies said, "They will not know or see until we come among them, kill them, and put a stop to the work."
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Let me say something to you right now. If you get serious about following Jesus Christ, if you take a stand, a biblical stand on moral issues that are being hotly debated in our country, you better believe that the enemy is going to come after you. He's going to come after you, just like the enemy came after Charlie Kerr. The Bible goes on to say, verse 12, "When the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times,
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they will come up against us from every place where you may turn."
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There were even Jews who were discouraging the work of God.
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"Then I stationed men in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, the exposed places,
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and I stationed the people and families with their swords, spears, and bows.
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When I saw their fear, I rose up and spoke to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people. Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers. Fight for your sons. Fight for your daughters. Fight for your wives and fight for your houses.
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When our enemies heard that it was known to us that God had frustrated their plan, then all of us returned to the wall, each one to his work.
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From that day on, half of my servants carried on the work, while half of them held the spears, the shields, the bows, and the breastplates, and the captains were behind the whole house of Judah.
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Those who were rebuilding the wall and those who carried burdens took their load with one hand, doing the work and the other holding a weapon.
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As for the builders, each wore his sword girded at his side as he built while the trumpeter stood near me. I said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, the work is great and extensive, and we are separated on the wall far from one another.
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At whatever place you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.
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So we carried on the work, with half of them holding spears from dawn until the stars appeared. At that time, I also said to the people, let each man with his servants spend the night within Jerusalem so that they may be a guard for us by night and a laborer by day.
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So neither I, my brothers, my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us removed our clothes.
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Each took his weapon even to the water. Let's pray, heavenly father, I pray you'd take this text,
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and I pray that your spirit will make it come alive in our hearts.
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And I pray you'd speak to us. I pray that you would strengthen our families.
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I pray you'd give us a will to work and a will to fight.
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Lord, have your way in our hearts this morning. In Jesus name, Amen.
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So look at verse 14 one more time.
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When I saw their fear, when Nehemiah saw their fear,
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I rose and spoke to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people.
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Do not be afraid. I think that's a good word for us today. I think there are a lot of believers in our nation today who have been blindsided by what's going on.
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Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord who is great and awesome and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives in your houses.
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So my take away truth today, the one I want you to take away, the one I want you to seal in your heart as a father, a mother, a son, a daughter, a grandparent, an aunt or an uncle, I want you to seal this in your heart. Fight for your family.
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Fight for your family. You say pastor, that's too radical. Oh really? Oh really?
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I'm telling you folks, evil has made its way onto the shores of America. Been here a long time, but man, I'm telling you, it's increasing.
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What was a ripple has now become a tidal wave.
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And we have got to fight for our families.
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So how do we do it? Number one, trust the Lord.
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Now you knew that was coming, but that's not a little trite statement.
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That flows right out of this text today. Look at verses nine and 10. What did Nehemiah do when the enemy mocked them and scoffed at them? What did he do? What did he do when they planned to come in a clandestine attack and kill them? What did he do? The Bible says right here in verse nine and 10, but we pray to our God.
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We prayed to our God. And because of them, we set up a guard against them day and night. Verse 10, thus in Judah, it was said, the strength of the burden bears is failing. Yet there's much rubbish.
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And we ourselves are unable to rebuild the wall.
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So what does it mean to trust the Lord? It means you pray for your family.
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You pray for your family. In Ephesians chapter three, verses 20 and 21, Paul wrote, now to him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to him be the glory of the church and in Christ Jesus, to all generations forever and ever. Amen. We are praying to a God who has unlimited power,
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a God who invites us to ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be open to you.
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So we pray for our family every day.
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I may miss once in a blue moon, but every day I try to pray for the spiritual, physical, moral, financial and emotional protection of every family member. And I pray for them by name.
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Sometimes I feel like Job and Job's family gathered together and they were having a big birthday celebration and Job prayed for them. He prayed for them. But I think we ought to do that for our families by name, not generally. Oh God bless our family. No, no, no. No, the battle is too intense for that. You pray for them by name.
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In Ephesians 6, 18, Paul went on to say, with all prayer and petition, pray at all times in the spirit and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints. And that includes your family.
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Pray for your spouse, pray for your kids, pray for your parents, pray for your grandparents, pray for your church.
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Trust the Lord.
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How do we trust the Lord? We pray for our family, but we also fight through discouragement.
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Have you ever been discouraged in your family?
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I mean, you went before your pastor and you said your vows and you thought it was going to be easy from there on out, but it's hard.
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It's hard sometimes.
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And some of you in this room, you're in danger of losing heart concerning your marriage or concerning a prodigal child
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or concerning your finances. You're in danger of losing heart, of being discouraged.
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Well, I want you to flip back to Nehemiah chapter four, verses one to three. Look at it.
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Now it came about that when Sam Ballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became furious and very angry and mocked the Jews.
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He spoke in the presence of his brothers and the wealthy men of Samaria and said, what are these feeble Jews doing?
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Are they going to restore it for themselves? Can they offer sacrifices? Can they finish in a day? Can they revive the stones from the dusty rubble, even the burned ones?
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Now, Tobiah the Ammonite was near him and said, even what they are building, if a fox should jump on it, he would break their stone wall down.
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We live in a culture that mocks us, that scoffs at us.
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They mock us for believing that there is only one way to be saved.
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They mock us for believing that this book is truth without any mixture of era, our final source for faith and practice. We are mocked left and right, but we must not be discouraged.
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We must not be discouraged. We must fight through discouragement.
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Verse 11, our enemy said, they will not know or see her until we come among them, kill them and put a stop to the work. This was not an easy fight for them. It was hard.
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But we must learn to focus on the opportunity in front of us, not the obstacles around us.
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Galatians 6 and 9, let us not lose heart in doing good for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. Not only were they discouraged about the mockery and the scoffing and all the stuff that was going on by their enemies, they also were inundated by rubbish. They were trying to rebuild the wall and they were having to wade through the rubbish that had been gathering for years and years and years.
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We can't do it, they say, but they did. They did.
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You say, pastor, I can't do it any longer. I've been fighting for my marriage. I can't do it any longer.
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Yes, you can.
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Don't look at the obstacles around you. Look at the opportunity in front of you.
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Fight for your family. How do we do it? We trust the Lord.
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Number two, we remember the Lord.
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Look at verses 11 to 14. Our enemies said, they will not know or see until we come among them, kill them and put a stop to the work.
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When the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times, they will come up against us from every place where you may turn. Then I stationed men in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, the exposed places.
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And I stationed the people and families with their swords, spears and bows.
[01:20:26;30 - 01:20:36;37]
When I saw their fear, I rose and spoke to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people. Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord who is great and awesome.
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Fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives in your houses.
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Nehemiah and the Jews were seeking to build the city wall for their own protection, not as an offensive weapon.
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And they were doing so in obedience to the Lord in his word, in spite of the noble causes.
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The enemy sought to do violence against them.
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Nehemiah said, remember the Lord.
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Remember the Lord. You know, in World War II,
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there was a saying that became a part of our nation. Remember Pearl Harbor.
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Remember that? And in early times, remember the Alamo.
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But think about that just a moment.
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We were remembering a defeat.
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Nehemiah said, remember the Lord. Remember a victory.
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A victory.
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Focus on the Lord and the victory that only he can bring. That's what it means when he said, remember the Lord.
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How do we remember the Lord? Well, reinforce your weak points.
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That's what they did.
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Nehemiah looked at the vulnerabilities in the wall that they were building. And he, he shored up those areas. Do you know where you're vulnerable in your family?
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Do you know the weak points in your family?
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Do you know where the enemy is prone to attack in your life as husband, as wife, as kids? Is it your biblical convictions? Is it your devotional life?
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Is it setting boundaries for your kids? Teenagers? Is it your social media activity?
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Men? Is it pornography or some other form of addiction? Do you know your own vulnerabilities?
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Here's what we learned from this story. You've got to shore up your weak spots.
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You say, how do we do it? Well, you dig into the word.
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You dig into the Bible and you find out the principles of the word of God that would help you to remove those vulnerabilities and to make you strong where you're weak.
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That's what you do.
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But not only do you reinforce your weak points, you also prepare for the battle.
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Like it or not. We're in a spiritual and an ideological war.
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We are. Your family's in the cross hairs of the enemy.
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Paul wrote in Ephesians 6, 10 to 13, finally be strong in the Lord and the strengths of his might.
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Put on the full armor of God so that you'll be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
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Therefore, take up the full armor of God so that you will be able to resist in the evil day. Do you hear that? So that you will be able to resist in the evil day.
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And having done everything.
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To stand firm.
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Second Corinthians 10, three through five, Paul wrote, for though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.
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For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh. It's not guns and bullets.
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It is not knives. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God. And we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. You must win this battle with spiritual weapons. Not human weapons. Remember the Lord. Remember how awesome the Lord is. Remember how powerful the Lord is.
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There is no reason that any Christian within the sound of my voice can look at the opposition and the scoffing and the mocking that we receive in our culture and lose heart.
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No reason.
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I can tell you how it ends. You want me to tell you how it ends? We win.
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We win.
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Those who reject Jesus Christ lose.
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Those who scoff at the Bible lose.
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Those who resist and rebel against moral clarity, they lose.
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We win.
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Fight for your family. How do we do it? We trust the Lord. We remember the Lord. Number three. Finally, we honor the Lord. We honor Him.
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Nehemiah chapter four verse 15 to 17.
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When our enemies heard that it was known to us that God had frustrated their plan. Isn't that neat?
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Who frustrated their plan? Was it Nehemiah?
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Knew it was God. The sovereign God intervened for Nehemiah and the children of Israel because they were seeking to do something that God wanted them to do.
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When our enemies heard that it was known to us and that God had frustrated their plan, then all of us returned to the wall, each one to His work. I like that.
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From that day on, half of my servants carried on the work while half of them held spears, the shields, the bows, the breastplates, and the captains were behind the whole house of Judah. Those who were rebuilding the wall and those who carried burdens took their load with one hand doing the work and the other holding a weapon.
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Now, let me tell you, it doesn't mean that we get to
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trust the Lord doesn't mean that we don't have responsibilities.
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There are things that we have to do.
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Can I advise you to do some things? Can I advise you to pray on a regular basis? Can I advise you to read your Bible?
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Could I advise you to come to church? Could I advise you to love Jesus more than you love anybody or anything on this planet?
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Keep serving the Lord. Don't quit. Refuse to quit.
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Listen, Charlie Kirk, there's no telling how much harassment he received.
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But you know what? He never quit. He never quit. He stood for Christ. He stood for the Word of God.
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And I can tell you the moment that bullet hit his neck and he died, that moment he was with Jesus.
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He's with Jesus. Persist until you finish the job. What does the enemy want you to give up on today?
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Your marriage, your ministry, your connect group, your desire to read through the Bible.
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Don't give up.
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Fight for your family. Trust the Lord. Remember the Lord. Honor the Lord.
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Fight to keep your marriage vows. Fight to end selfishness in your relationship.
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Fight to encourage your spouse. Fight to be a disciplined parent.
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Fight to protect your children. Fight to see your kids grow spiritually.
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Fight to instill truth into your kid's heart. Fight to see every addiction crushed.
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Fight to make sure that your kids know the difference between right and wrong.
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Fight for your kids to have moral clarity in their lives. Fight for your family.
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I found this poem. It captures something I was feeling in my heart.
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I want to let go, but I won't let go. There are battles to fight by day and by night. For God and the right, I'll never let go. I want to let go, but I won't let go.
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I'm sick, it's true, and worried and blue, and worn out through and through, but I won't let go.
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I want to let go, but I won't let go. I will never yield.
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What? Lie down on the field and surrender my shield? No, I'll never let go.
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I want to let go, but I won't let go. May this be my song, "Mid legions of wrong."
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Oh, God, keep me strong, so I'll never let go.
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Fight for your family. Would you bury his please?
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Heavenly Father, I thank you that the Holy Spirit included the book of Nehemiah.
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In the Bible. I thank you for the challenge that Nehemiah laid down to the children of Israel as they were rebuilding the wall.
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And Lord, I pray in the name of Jesus that every person within the sound of my voice will fight for their families.
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That we would trust you, Lord. That we would remember you, Lord.
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And that we would honor you, Lord. Help us.
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Lord, I thank you that under Nehemiah's leadership and your help, Lord, they were able to finish building the city walls in 52 days.
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They finished the job.
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And I thank you, Lord, that you created this. You saved us, not to be quitters, but to be winners.
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And I pray in the name of Jesus that we would fight for our families as long as we have a breath in our bodies.
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Lord, we love you. In Jesus name. Amen. Hey, look, you may be here today. You're looking for a church home. Can I tell you, you need a church home.
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The Christian faith calls for us to be a part of a body of Christ.
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We need each other in this fight.
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And I'm going to ask our staff to come, our worship team to come. And if you're looking for a church home, you come to one of our staff members and just tell them that you want to be a part of carnival first Baptist church.
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We'll fight along beside you.
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Maybe you're here today and you've not bent the knee to Jesus as Lord and savior.
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I pray that today you'll come to a staff member and you will tell them today, I want to invite Jesus into my heart and receive him as my savior and my Lord.
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Maybe you just would like some prayer. Maybe you want to come to the altar and just pray by yourself. Maybe you want to come to a staff member and ask them to pray for you.
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Come. Do what the Holy Spirit is leading you to do.
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That's a key to victory.
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So let's stand and worship and you come as God leads you.
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