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[0:00] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia. It is our prayer that you'll be blessed by the preaching of God's Word. Just want to take a moment to give a little testimony. We've been working down at the church plant in Smyrna now for about, it's been about seven months.

[0:14] It'll be seven months this month, so there's been some awesome things that have happened. I want to tell you about a man named Josh Schmidt who's been coming. He received a track on his door. He lives down off Mableton Parkway, and he started coming.

[0:26] He and his wife, the first couple times they were coming, they came around just a few minutes after service started and left right when service was done. They weren't too friendly. They weren't too talkative, but they just kept coming and kept coming.

[0:37] They were very faithful. Then they started to open up a little more. Then Matt and Julie started working with them in foundations and discipleship. The past few services, we've had prayer for Celebration Sunday this Sunday.

[0:49] Josh will pray. When he prays, it's so awesome because he's talking to God. And he's saying, God, would you work? God, would you help us to see the gospel get to the world? These were people that had gone to church before but never really had much of a world vision.

[1:04] But it's amazing when he prays. He says, you know, I pray that just the United States would have the gospel, but every country around the world would have the gospel. It's just awesome to see the growth in his life and to see their faithfulness and their love for the Lord and just all the things he's doing.

[1:17] And I count that big win that they've been coming and they've been growing. Let's look at Nehemiah chapter number six. And this message is something that's really worked in my life and has encouraged me as we're heading towards Celebration Sunday.

[1:29] It's just a couple days now. This Sunday, we've been doing a big push. And this message, I've entitled, it's kind of a long title, but the title is Doing a Great Work for God and God Receiving the Glory.

[1:41] Okay? So that's kind of a long line. Doing a Great Work for God and God Receiving the Glory. The book of Nehemiah is an account of how God used a man named Nehemiah to do a great work for God.

[1:53] At one time, Nehemiah, he was the cupbearer to King Artaxerxes, and he heard of Jerusalem. He was a Jewish man. He heard of Jerusalem, the Jews' main capital, the place where God had chosen, put his name, that it was torn down.

[2:07] The walls were destroyed. That it was empty. See, there were a few strangers and stragglers who lived in Jerusalem. And he came before the king, and he was working before the king, and the king noticed that he was a little bit sad.

[2:20] He said, what are you sad about? And he prays to God and he makes a bold request. He says, would you let me go back to Jerusalem and rebuild that city? And then it goes on. In Nehemiah, the king grants that request, and the king is really behind him and sends letters to the governors to help him along the way.

[2:37] And he gets to the city, and he's back in the city, and he goes and observes the walls, and he sees that there is a lot of work to be done. The walls, the gates, everything needs rebuilt. And then once you get to Nehemiah chapter number 3, you see something really awesome happening.

[2:50] The people who were there have begun to rally behind Nehemiah. And everyone, the rulers, the priests, the merchants, everybody's starting to get involved building the wall. Everybody's working together.

[3:01] Now, we come to chapter number 6, and the ballast really starts to heat up. Because whenever someone goes and does something for God, there's going to be opposition. And that's the first part we're going to look at, that there were obstacles.

[3:12] When Nehemiah, as they were building the walls in chapter number 6, they're almost finished. It says the only thing they really have left is to put the gates back up, and they start running to some major obstacles. So we're going to find out first that there's going to be obstacles as we're serving God.

[3:25] Obstacles as a church is being built. Obstacles as we're going forward. We have a piece of land here, but we're working towards getting a building. There's going to be obstacles. There's going to be things that are just going to come up as we're serving God.

[3:37] But then we're going to find out how we can deal with those obstacles, how we can continue on through those obstacles. And we're going to find that God is going to get the glory, because he's the one doing something that we can't do. Nehemiah, we could look at it and say, man, Nehemiah is a bold leader.

[3:49] He was a great leader. But you know who was doing the work? It was God. This was something that was, it was a huge job to do. They end up finished, we're going to read it. When they finish, they finish in 54 days repairing the walls around the city.

[4:00] And the people are all going to say, all their enemies are going to say, wow, God really did something there. And that's what this is all going to end up with, that God is the one who gets the glory, because it's God working through us all along.

[4:11] It's him working in us. Let's have a word of prayer, and then we'll get right into this passage. Dear Lord, thank you for this opportunity to speak with your people, God. I thank you for teaching me from this passage. God, I pray that you encourage us as we're serving you.

[4:24] I pray that you would help us to know how to handle these obstacles that are coming up. Help us to realize that they're coming. And God, I pray that we would see that through everything, you are going to be glorified. That you're the ones who are going to be lifted up, even though we're here working, God.

[4:38] But it's not us doing it. God, you are working through us, and you're the one who deserves all the glory. I pray all these things in Jesus' name. Amen. First thing is, there's going to be obstacles. You might write that down.

[4:48] There will be obstacles. Let's start out reading Nehemiah 6, verse number 1. Look at what the Bible says. Now it came to pass, when Sambalat and Tobai and Geshem the Arabian and the rest of our enemies heard that I had builded the wall, and that there was no breach left therein, though at that time I had not set up the doors upon the gates, that Sambalat and Geshem sent unto me, saying, Come, let us meet together in some one of the villages in the plain of Bono.

[5:13] But they thought to do me mischief. And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease whilst I leave it and come down to you?

[5:24] Yet they sent unto me four times after the story, and I answered them after the same manner. First thing was, Nehemiah faced some distraction. They were almost finished with the walls. And Nehemiah is written from a really interesting perspective.

[5:37] It's almost like a journal. Because we're going to see a little bit later on down that he's going to interject a prayer. He's telling the story of what happened, and he's going to say, God, would you look on our enemies? God, would you strengthen us?

[5:47] It's a journal, and he's writing and recording and saying, we were almost finished. Everyone was saying, oh, wow, they're finished with the building the walls. But he says, yeah, not really. We had to put the gates up. It's almost like he's saying, you know, they're just exaggerating a little bit.

[5:59] But we had to put the gates up. But then look what happens. His enemies, they send and say, hey, why don't you come out and meet with us? We're going to have a conference. We're going to have a summit. We're going to get together. And maybe they were saying, well, we're going to partner with you on these terms.

[6:13] Maybe they want to bargain with them to get them to stop doing the work. He doesn't say what's going on here, but they say, well, you come out and meet with us. They're going to take his time. You have to stop the work, travel out there, talk with them, come back.

[6:25] And they send four times. Look at that. Underline that in verse number four. It says, yet they send to me four times after the story. And he answered them the same every time. He says, hey, I don't have time for that. I'm doing a great work. Why should this work stop so I can come down and talk to you?

[6:37] He says, I don't want to be distracted. I'm going forward and I'm not going to be distracted. Let's look at the second problem he dealt with. Look at verse number five. Look at what he says there. Then sent Sambalat his servant unto me in like manner the fifth time with an open letter in his hand.

[6:52] Now this part is the enemies. They're going to turn up a notch. At first they're saying, okay, hey, come out. We can be friends. We can talk because they were really their enemies. But what does it say? They thought to do me mischief. Nehemiah realized they're trying to act like maybe they want to make peace, but they're really trying to cause some trouble here.

[7:07] The second thing they do is they say he sends an open letter. It's something that wasn't sealed. It wasn't a private letter. It was something that was open. Other people could read. And look at what he says. Verse six.

[7:17] Wherein was written, it is reported among the heathen. And Gashmu saith it, that thou and the Jews think to rebel. For which cause thou buildest the wall? That thou mayest be their king according to these words.

[7:28] And thou hast also appointed prophets to preach of thee at Jerusalem, saying, there is a king in Judah. And now shall it be reported to the king according to these words. Come now, therefore, and let us take counsel together.

[7:40] I would call this blackmail, except it's not blackmail, because Nehemiah hadn't done anything wrong. This was slander. Just open slander. Look at what they're doing. They're saying, you guys are planning to rebel. You guys are planning a rebellion.

[7:51] Because remember, Nehemiah, he worked for the king, and then the king sent him out on this task. So they're going to write back to the king and say, hey, these Jews, you know what they're actually doing? They're causing rebellion here. They're just building this wall so they can fortify it, and they're going to build up their forces, and they're going to start fighting.

[8:04] And then look at what he says next. He says, they're building it so they can rebel. And then he says, that you would be their king. He says, that thou mayest be their king. That's why you guys are doing this. That's why you guys are really building this wall.

[8:15] So you guys can rebel. And Nehemiah, you want to be their king. You have big ambitions. You want to be their king. They are attacking him, saying all these false things. They're trying to tear him down. They're trying to tear him down. Look at the next part.

[8:26] And thou hast also appointed prophets to preach of thee at Jerusalem. He said, you know what else you did? You know what we're going to tell people? Is that you guys are planning on rebelling, that Nehemiah, you're planning on being king, and that you've even pulled the religion card, that you've got some prophets, and they're preaching, saying, hey, Nehemiah's the next king of Jerusalem.

[8:42] Nehemiah's the next king of Israel. And they're saying, okay, why don't you come down and reason with this? They're saying, you know, we're going to slander you. We're going to send this to the king. He's going to see what you're really doing, and you better come down and talk to us.

[8:54] But what's the truth? They weren't doing that. Nehemiah wasn't doing that. He was trying to do a great work for God. So what happens? All kinds of problems come up. When we're doing stuff for God, people are going to try to stop us. There's going to be distractions along the way.

[9:06] There's going to be false reports, people saying wrong things. In that letter, there was rebellion, Nehemiah's plans to be a king, and Nehemiah's plans to win the people to him. Of course, none of those things were true.

[9:16] So how are we going to deal with these problems? As we're serving God, how do these things come up? How are we going to deal with problems? Let's look at how Nehemiah reacted. These are some awesome truths that we can learn here, and I've had to apply in my life. So there's that, and then there's how he looks at it, how he responds to it.

[9:32] Let's look at that first part. Let's look back at verse number three. So they come up, and they try to distract him. But look at what he says. And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I'm doing great work so that I cannot come down.

[9:45] We have to know we're doing a great work. We have to know that we're doing something for God, and that is something that we cannot stop, something that we must continue doing. He says, I'm doing something here, and I don't have any time to mess around with you guys.

[9:56] I don't have any time for your mischief. I don't have any time for your tricks. I'm doing a great work for God, and I can't come down. We have to know that we're doing something worthwhile, something that's not just, it's not for us.

[10:07] This isn't, it's not for Vision Baptist Church. It's not for our fame. It's not for our glory. It's not for our families. It's none of that. It's for God. Nehemiah said, I'm doing something for God here, and I can't stop. I know that I am doing something here.

[10:20] What is our work that we're doing? We have the Great Commission. We have a great thing that we're to do. Matthew 28, verse 18 through 20. We know these verses. Let's remind ourselves. And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and earth.

[10:32] Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things, whatsoever I command you. And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.

[10:44] Amen. Jesus gave us something to do. He left us with a job to do. We have a great work to do. How can we be distracted? When things come up, we all say, You know what? I have a great work to do. I'm to get the gospel out.

[10:55] I need to be witness to people. I need to be discipling people. I need to be teaching people. I have a great work to do. I don't have any time for being distracted. That's what Nehemiah says there. He says, I'm doing a great work, so that I cannot come down.

[11:06] Why should the work cease? He's saying, why should it stop? I'm doing something for God. I'm not coming down. It's not going to stop. So we need to keep that in mind, that that's what we're doing. The ministry of reconciliation, that's what we have.

[11:18] Let's look at 2 Corinthians 5, verses 18 through 21. And this is just another thing that God has given us to do. And we're going to see three times that He's given us something to do, He's committed us something to do, and that we are His ambassadors.

[11:33] Let's look at these verses. 2 Corinthians 5, 18. Start there. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation.

[11:44] If you're taking notes, you might want to underline that. Your bow hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation. We have something to do. How can we stop? Why should we be distracted? We have something to do. God's reconciled us.

[11:55] He sent Jesus to come and die and bring us back to God. He's given us something so awesome. He's given us salvation. He says, Now, I've saved you, and I'm also giving you the job, the ministry, of reconciling other people.

[12:08] Let's keep reading there. It says, To wit that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. That's the second thing.

[12:19] Underline that. It says, committed unto us the word of reconciliation. He's given us something to do. How can we stop? How can we be distracted? He's given us something. He's given us the word of reconciliation. He says, Hey, Jesus, He came down and reconciled the world.

[12:32] He says, Now I'm sending you to go to do the same thing, to go and tell them what I did so that they can be reconciled, so they can be brought back to God. He's given us the word of reconciliation. Now, let's keep reading there.

[12:42] Verse 20, Now then, now then, we are ambassadors for Christ. We have a job to do. An ambassador, does he have time to go around and be distracted when someone says, Hey, why don't you come down and meet with us and we're going to talk about some of these things?

[12:56] He says, No, I'm an ambassador. I have a job to do. I'm going to keep going. I have a job in this country to do. And he does his job. We have a job to do. We have a high calling. We have something that's far, far bigger than anyone else here on earth.

[13:08] We have a job to do that's given to us by God Himself. So how can we stop? Why should the work stop? We're not going to be distracted. We need to keep in mind, we must know that we have something great to do that God has given us.

[13:20] We have the ministry of reconciliation. We have the word of reconciliation. We're ambassadors for Christ. We've got to keep that in mind. Next, keep at the work. Keep at the work. Notice what Nehemiah said.

[13:31] He said, I'm doing a great work because I cannot come down. He said, Why should the work cease? He says, I'm not going to let the work stop. I'm going to keep at the work. I'm going to keep going in the work. You know what Paul wrote? To Timothy as he was ending his life.

[13:43] Let's look at 2 Timothy 4, verse 7. As Paul's ministry is coming to a close, he's writing to Timothy. He says, I have fought a good fight.

[13:54] I have finished my course. I have kept the faith. He says, You know what? I was in this fight. I had a course before me and I finished it. I kept at the work. I kept on going. I did what God had for me to do.

[14:05] Paul didn't let things stop him. As he was going and serving, there were tons of things that Paul could have said, I'm just going to throw in the towel. I'm going to be done. He could have gotten distracted. He could have gone off track. Remember what he had?

[14:16] He had prestige. In Philippians, we find out that Paul says he was a Pharisee of the Pharisees. He was touching the law. He says he was blameless. Anyone could look at him and say, Man, Paul has it all together.

[14:29] He had esteem. He had a position. He had everything. He had none of those things. He says, I've finished my course. I've finished what God had me do. I kept at it. One time, a few men came to Jesus and they said, You know what?

[14:42] Jesus, we'll follow you. We'll follow you no matter what. Jesus started to tell them what it would be like. He said, You know what? Yeah, okay, pick up your cross. Follow me. Come, let's go and die.

[14:52] And then they left. And then he says this right after. Listen to this. Luke chapter number 9, verse 62. Listen to what he says. It says, No man having put his hands to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God.

[15:06] He says, You know what? These guys, they said they were going to come follow me, but as soon as they heard about all the problems, all the obstacles, and they said, No, we're not going to do that. But he says, You know what? Put their hands to the plow.

[15:18] Don't look back. They're fit for the kingdom of God. The ones who look back and quit at the work, they're not fit for the kingdom of God. He says, We ought to keep on in the work. We need to know that we're doing a great work, and we've got to keep at the work.

[15:29] Because it's not something that's easy. It isn't something that's done in a day, but it's a work of a lifetime. It's a calling. We're ambassadors. We have something great that God has given us. Now let's look at, there's one more problem that Nehemiah faced.

[15:41] One more problem that Nehemiah faced. Let's read down in verse 9. Nehemiah 6, 9. We're just going to look at a few things here. It says, For they all have made us afraid, saying, Their hands shall be weakened from the work, that it be not done.

[15:53] Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands. Afterward, I came unto the house of Shemiah, the son of Deliah, the son of Mehtabiel, who was shut up. And he said, Let us meet together in the house of God within the temple, and let's shut the doors of the temple.

[16:07] Now who's this guy? This is a guy on the inside. He's a guy inside the city. He's one of the leaders. He's in there. And he says, Hey, let's go into the temple, because they're going to be coming in at night, and they're going to kill you.

[16:19] So this might sound like a good plan. And look at what he says in verse 11. It says, And I said, Should such a man as I flee, and who is there that being as I am would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in.

[16:30] In verse 12, this is kind of like, that's what Nehemiah said, and this is kind of like his footnotes on what he really knew was happening. He says, And lo, I perceived that God had not sent him, but they had pronounced this prophecy against me, for Dubai and Sambalat had hired him.

[16:43] There was a conspiracy going on in Jerusalem. There was distractions. There was slander. And there was a conspiracy going on. He's facing all these things. This guy says, Hey, they're going to come to kill you, so let's go hide inside the temple.

[16:55] And he says, No, no, no. Why should I hide? Because we was trusting God. We're going to see that in just a minute. He was relying on God. He was trusting God all the way through. And he says, It would be wrong for me to go in the temple. Why should I flee?

[17:06] He says, He knew that God had not sent him, but that there was a conspiracy going on. Tobiah, Sambalat, they hired him to get him off track, to get him wrong, so that they would have a reason to bring up a reproach against him.

[17:18] Because remember, they said that he wanted to make himself king, but they didn't have any proof of that. But if they could get him to do this thing, to do something wrong, they could really have something to say against him. There was a conspiracy side.

[17:28] But what did he do? What was his response to this? He relied on God. He relied on God. We must do this. If we're going to be able to do anything, we must rely on God. Nehemiah 6, verse 9.

[17:39] Let's look back there. He says, just to catch one more thing out of this, he says, For they all made us afraid, saying, Their hands shall be weakened from the work, that it be not done.

[17:50] And the little boy says, Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands. This is one of those prayers that he just throws in there all through the book. He's praying. Right before he goes through the king, he shoots up a prayer. And right in the beginning of the book, he's praying, and he's praying, and he's praying.

[18:04] And then here, in his journal, he says, Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands. He was relying on God for strength. Look down at verse number 13, excuse me, not verse 13, verse 14. Look at what he says.

[18:14] My God, think thou upon Tobiah and Sambla according to these their works, and on the prophetess Nuedi and the rest of the prophets that would have put me in fear. He says, God, I need your strength.

[18:25] He says, God, think upon them. You consider them. You know what they've done. They're trying to bring this conspiracy against me. They're trying to tear me down. They're trying to slander me. But God, think on them.

[18:36] God, you are in control. God, I'm going to rely on you. Throughout the entire account, he's begging God to work. When they're facing the possibility of battle, let's look at what he does here. This verse blows me away every time.

[18:48] Nehemiah chapter 4, verse 9. They're facing the possibility of a battle. They're still working. They're building the wall. And then look at what they do. Look what they do. Nehemiah 4, 9 says, Nevertheless, we made our prayer unto God and set a watch against them day and night because of them.

[19:04] It says, We prayed to God. We set a watch. Notice, it's interesting how there's such this balance in here. He says, You know what? We prayed to God. We're relying on God. But they also set a watch. They weren't just going to say, You know what?

[19:15] We trust God. And we're just going to go out there and not be smart about these things. He said, We trusted God. We set a watch. They knew it all depended on God. But they knew that God was going to use them.

[19:26] You know, as they were building the wall, everyone had their sword with them. Everyone was prepared. It wasn't just that they relied on God. They relied on God. And we need to know that because far often myself, I don't rely on God enough.

[19:38] I think, You know what? I can do it. If I work hard enough, if I plan right, if I do this, if I do that, then people are going to come to church. People are going to be saved. Everything's going to work out. But we've got to rely on God. And we've got to do what's right.

[19:49] We've got to set a watch. We've got to be ready. We've got to be prepared. Nehemiah relied on God. Just a couple of verses from Psalms. Let's look at these. Psalm 18, verse 2. Listen to what it says.

[20:00] The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my strength, in whom I will trust, my buckler and the horn of my salvation and my high tower. You know, we need to rely on God.

[20:11] He is our rock. He's the one that we can be found on and be safe, be sure, be strong on. He is my strength in whom I will trust. Maybe underline that part. In whom I will trust.

[20:22] Nehemiah, he was relying on God all the way through. He says, God, will you think on them? God, will you strengthen us? God, will you protect us? We're setting a watch. Will you protect us? Psalm 91, verse 2. It says, I will save the Lord.

[20:34] He is my refuge and my fortress, my God. In Him will I trust. In Him will I trust. The psalmist said, Hey, I am trusting God. I am relying on God.

[20:44] He is the one that's powerful. He is the one that's doing the work. I'm trusting Him. Nehemiah, he relied on God. And in the end, God receives the glory. This is the last part. This is my favorite part. Let's look down to verse number 15.

[20:56] If you're in Nehemiah 6 there, look at verse 15. In 16. The Bible says, So the wall was finished in the twenty-fifth day of the month, Elu, in fifty and two days. And it came to pass.

[21:08] Now, notice what happens here. He says, Fifty-two days. Fifty-two days they repaired that wall. Everyone was getting together, working. It wasn't just Nehemiah putting one brick in there at a time, but everyone was working.

[21:18] The rulers, the merchants, they were in there. In fifty-two days, this was something crazy. Fifty-two days, they rebuilt this huge wall. They put up the gates. They did everything. And then look at verse 16.

[21:29] And it came to pass, that when all our enemies heard thereof, and all the heathen that were about us saw these things, they were much cast down their own eyes, for they perceived that this work was wrought of our God.

[21:41] You might want to underline that last phrase. For they perceived that this work was wrought of our God. What's he saying? He's saying, you know what? Fifty-two days later, we finished the wall. And everyone around us, all our enemies, Sanballat, Tobiah, they're sitting back in their castles.

[21:53] Their messengers came in, and they said, you know what? They've just finished the last gate today. Everything's sealed up. There's no entrance anymore. Only through the gates. He must have said, wow, I didn't think that was going to happen.

[22:04] There's no way that could have happened. Fifty-two days, and they rebuilt that wall? No way. And he realized, well, he realized in that moment that God was the one working there. God was glorified. It wasn't, they didn't look at Nehemiah and say, man, Nehemiah, he was a great leader.

[22:17] You know what? Because that's interesting. They never said that. Is that not recorded in here? They perceived that this work was brought of God. So what's going to happen?

[22:28] God's been working here. He's built a great church. He is the one who will build his church. We have a piece of property. One day there's going to be a building there. And when people look at it, it ought not be saying, you know what?

[22:38] Pastor Gardner, he did a great job. You know what? Vision Baptist Church, you guys did an excellent job. But when people look at that, you know what they all say? This was God's work. God did something here. You know what I'm praying for down Cobb County?

[22:50] That when people look at it, they wouldn't say, well, you did a good job planning. Because I've made some mistakes planned along the way. Ask Matt, he'll tell you. But what happened was, that when it's all said and done, at the end of the day, people are going to look and say, man, God did something there.

[23:02] God saved people. God changed lives. God sent out missionaries. God touched the world through that church. That this work was wrought of our God. Man was made low. God was exalted.

[23:14] Look at what he says there. It says, they were much cast down in their own eyes. These people, they weren't believers. They were enemies of Nehemiah and what he was doing. It says, they were cast down in their own eyes.

[23:25] They were up on this pedestal saying, you know what? There's no way that this is going to happen. There's no way this is going to work. It's not going to come to fruition. It's not going to be fulfilled. But then when they saw that, they were cast down in their eyes.

[23:37] They realized that they weren't strong because they had opposed it all along. Remember what they did? They tried to slander Nehemiah. They tried to distract him. They tried to create conspiracy. They tried to fight against it.

[23:48] But they were cast down in their own eyes. And they saw that that was God's work. It was wrought of God. When the wall was finished, everyone realized that God was the one who had done it. That God was the one behind it.

[24:00] Let's look at two more verses and we'll be finished tonight. Matthew chapter number 16, verse 18. Matthew 16, 18. This is Jesus talking. He's talking about the church. And no way he's going to say, it says, And I say unto thee, also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church.

[24:17] And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. If you have your Bible open there, you might want to underline this. Look at where it says, I will build my church. This is Jesus talking. He says, I will build my church. It says, Peter, you're not the one going to build it.

[24:29] Bo, you're not going to build it. Vision, you guys aren't the one building it. He says, I will build my church. I'm going to do something here. We can rely on God because he's already told us he's going to build it. We can trust that he's going to be the one who takes it all the way to the end.

[24:41] We can trust that he is the one who has given us a job to do and rests on his promise. Jesus said he's going to build his church. It's completely something that he does. Another verse, Ephesians 2, 8, 9.

[24:52] You guys know this by heart, I'm sure. Do you know the last part? Do you know what the last part says? It starts out, for by grace are you saved, through faith, not of yourselves. It's the gift of God, not of works. And look at what it says at the end.

[25:03] Lest any man should boast. You know when the walls were built? When the dust, the brick dust had been all washed away from the rain? When everyone put down their tools? When everyone put down their weapons?

[25:15] You know what? No one in that city was saying, you know, we did a real good job here. We got this wall built. It only took 52 days. We did real good at this. Nehemiah wasn't sitting in his chamber saying, you know what?

[25:25] Nehemiah, you are a pretty good guy. You're a great planner. You did a good job here. No, no, no. No one was bragging. No one was boasting. Why? Because everyone knew. It was clear to everyone that God was the one doing the work.

[25:38] God was doing the work. So what's going to happen? Vision Cobb County. Things have been going forward. God's opened doors. But I can't brag. Matt can't brag. I love Matt.

[25:50] I appreciate everything he's done. And he's worked hard. And John and Sam and Cole and Victoria and everyone who's come down to help worked hard. But none of us are going to be bragging because it's not us doing it.

[26:00] Because it's God doing it. We can't say, you know what? We've done a good job down there to start a church. But God has done something here. God has brought something here. You know what the story of Nehemiah was all in a nutshell?

[26:12] Nehemiah was almost done with the wall. This chapter, Nehemiah 6, in a nutshell. Nehemiah, they're almost done with the wall. The enemies throw up roadblocks. But God comes through. God's glorified.

[26:22] Nehemiah trusts God. God works. And everyone sees God was the one working here. God is glorified. You know what our story's going to be? Your story's going to be at this church in Cobb County with missionaries that are here tonight?

[26:34] It's not going to be that you did something awesome. It's going to be that you worked hard, you trusted God, you relied on God, and He did something great. He built something worthwhile.

[26:45] God will be glorified. So I want to challenge you tonight and remember those things. To rely on God. Always rely on God. He's our strength. He's our shield. He's the one who is working in us.

[26:55] He's using us in big ways. We need to know that He's given us a job to do. He's given us a job to get the gospel to the world, to Mableton, to Smyrna, to your coworkers, to everyone.

[27:06] He has given us that job to do. We've been given the word of reconciliation. We've been given the ministry of reconciliation. We're ambassadors for Christ. We've been given a great job to do. We can't stop this work. We shouldn't stop.

[27:17] This work can't stop. We've got to keep at it. Jesus said, no man having put his hands on the plow, looking back is fit for the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God. So what are we going to do tonight? Maybe you need to trust God.

[27:28] Maybe you need to rely on Him. Maybe I need to rely on Him. I need to rely on Him more. I'm praying that God would do something big in Mableton. I know it's going to be Him. You know what? At the end of the day, God's going to be glorified.

[27:38] He's going to be lifted up. None of us are going to be bragging, but God's going to get the glory. We have a word of prayer. This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia. For more information, log on to www.visionbaptist.com where you can find our service times, location, contact information, and more audio and video recordings.

[27:58] We're going to have a look at whether. It's pretty good. It's beautiful. It's pretty good.

[28:08] Oh, good job. That works. It's pretty straight up, but it's pretty fair to uh, a certain, every day. Without a taste. It waseland. It was very smart, maybe it was a good sotty thing.

[28:19]  It's all good meat. Always move on it. Thanks. Feels out, unless you're honest. I remember you tak it. You olun and ran away from here,