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Welcome to Beyond Sunday, an 
extension of the preaching 

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ministry here at Leamington EMC.
I am Pastor Jonah Chitty and I 

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am joined today by. 
Joe. 

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Pastor Joe Penner Joe, how are 
you today? 

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I'm doing good. 
Is it? 

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Is it sadden you that the snow 
is melting? 

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It is very sad. 
Is it? 

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Is it sad? 
Yes. 

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See, I'm I've said this to so 
many people. 

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Everybody knows this already. 
I doubt it. 

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When it's, if it's going to be 
cold, there might as well be 

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snow. 
And some people might say, well,

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I'd rather be warm. 
To which I agree, probably. 

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I agree probably I prefer the 
warmth. 

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But at the same time it's like 
this like cold and then it snows

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and then it warms and melts and 
gets mucky and messy. 

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I'm like, I'd sooner just have 
like 3 or 4 months of like nice 

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cold weather. 
There's snow on the ground. 

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You can build a ice rink or. 
You can have fun with it. 

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Go play in the snow and then 
then we get back to spring and 

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summer. 
Yeah, I don't know. 

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I I like it all. 
I I like cold weather. 

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So, yeah, growing up in the heat
make this so silly, right? 

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But I love cold weather, so. 
Yeah. 

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OK. 
So we heard a sermon based on 

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Nehemiah chapter 4 on Sunday. 
Pastor Jake preached a sermon. 

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He called have faith in God when
facing opposition. 

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He had five points in his sermon
and they were his first point 

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was interesting enough the the 
same as the title so that's 

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easy. 
The first point was have faith 

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in God when facing opposition. 
Jealousy and anger and fear can 

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cause problems when they're all 
linked together. 

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He said that in there when 
they're all together, big 

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problems come. 
His second point was pray to God

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when facing opposition. 
So pray Third Point was when 

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opposed in faith, keep moving 
forward. 

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His fourth point, stand guard 
against attack on God's work. 

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And then his .5 was sort of 
related was equipping yourselves

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to stand guard against that 
attack. 

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So yeah, he used several 
different illustrations from 

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other texts to help as he as he 
preached through this passage. 

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Pastor Joe, you had a chance to 
listen to the sermon. 

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Yes, Sir. 
What do you think? 

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What was what was going on? 
Yeah, it was. 

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He started off with, I kind of 
wanted to start where he started

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off in the very beginning of the
sermon he talked about in his 

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introduction, you know, things 
sometimes in life start off 

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good, but then they go bad. 
Like he used it like marriage or

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a new job as an example. 
And so I wanted to be super. 

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Smiling at me. 
Might as well start off with a 

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whole bunch of tension, get 
ourselves into some trouble. 

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Do you remember any like, 
tension from the beginning of 

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your marriage? 
Obviously, like everything 

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leading up to the wedding and 
you're excited and you're 

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excited for like this, all this 
planning and everything to be 

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done. 
And then the marriage starts. 

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Like, do you remember like 
tension that you and Val had at 

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the beginning of your marriage? 
Thanks a lot. 

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I mean, there's been so much 
tension. 

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We're 15 years. 
I think you guys are married 15 

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years too, right? 
Yeah. 

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Yeah. 
So 1515 years. 

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And that's a long time ago to 
think about. 

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But yeah, probably, like, I 
mean, just the normal stuff, she

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would probably have different 
answers, right? 

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That's the thing about marriage 
is like, she probably kept a lot

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of stuff from me. 
Like that was really annoying 

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her. 
And she was just like trying to 

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keep the peace that she's a 
peacemaker and so she would do 

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whatever she can. 
But like, arguments in the 

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kitchen like that still happen 
now. 

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Like, you know, like we do 
things way different as far as 

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like cooking and cleaning and 
all of that stuff. 

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And we both like it clean, but 
like order of operations is way 

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different. 
I like to clean as I go. 

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She likes to wait and clean it 
all after. 

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And I'm just like, this is 
disgusting. 

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How can we eat like and know 
what's happening right now? 

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We need to clean. 
But she thinks the opposite. 

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It's like it's fine. 
It's just one of those things 

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like, But those little things 
like that, you expect 

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everything's going to be roses 
and everybody's going to know 

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exactly what I'm used to. 
And then you, then you, then you

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merge your life together. 
And then you realize, hold on, 

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this is way different than I was
expecting. 

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She cooks nothing like my 
mother. 

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And yeah, anyway, I just got 
myself in trouble now. 

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But, yeah. 
So what about you? 

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Well, that's really funny. 
Like those little things that 

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you think of, they just like 
it's, they're the tiniest 

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things, like like the typical 
things, right? 

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You know, they're laughable 
right now. 

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Yeah. 
If she was sitting here, I might

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not be laughing. 
It's like, because it's because 

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it's real tension. 
Like the little stuff draws out 

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real tension. 
Right. 

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We're real tough when our wives 
aren't around. 

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I'm really like dreading pushing
like the the upload button on 

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this podcast. 
I, I'll, I'll share this story. 

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I, I don't think I'll get in 
trouble for this because we 

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share this story with people 
anyway, but it, it's not, it's 

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just really funny, honestly to 
me. 

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But early on in our marriage, I 
don't know that it's a fight or 

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attention. 
I remember we lived in this 

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little apartment for like the 
first year of our marriage. 

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And I remember we went to like 
this liquidation store and we 

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bought a massive like box full 
of family sized macaroni and 

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cheese boxes. 
And so like we could, they were,

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these boxes were so big, we 
couldn't even eat a whole family

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size Mac and cheese. 
So we like had like separated 

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and we just joked it like that 
first year of our marriage. 

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It's like we ate Mac and cheese 
so much and it's just, to me, 

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it's just funny. 
But yeah, I mean, we had little 

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arguments. 
Whose decision was it to buy? 

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I don't remember the wholesale 
quantity of family size boxes of

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Mac. 
We did it together, but let me 

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tell you, I mean, just she makes
Mac and cheese for the kids now 

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too, but she can make Mac and 
cheese like nobody's business. 

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You know, she's a professional 
Mac and cheese maker. 

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She makes far better food than 
that. 

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But but anyway, but I would say 
at the beginning, like, you 

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know, again, like you think 
marriage is you. 

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You literally get into this 
mindset. 

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It's like we're going to get 
married and everything's going 

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to be great. 
And then you fight about the 

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dumbest thing. 
Well, part of it is this is this

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isn't a podcast on marriage. 
We'll get to an EMI four in a 

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minute. 
But like, part of it is like 

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when you're dating, you're both 
trying to put on like the best 

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face possible and you're both 
trying to to like, like appeal 

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to the other person. 
And so you're like, maybe you 

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agree to watch something on the 
movie that you weren't really 

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interested in. 
Like, I love action movies and 

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and comedies and Valerie loves 
period pieces, but she watched 

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comedy movies and action movies 
when we were dating. 

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And so like, once we got married
and she didn't want to watch it 

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anymore. 
Like, what in the world? 

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This is what I like to watch. 
And so, yeah, those are the 

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things like you don't like. 
Because a part of it is that 

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reason, right. 
Like you're. 

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Yeah. 
Like you're trying to make good.

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Like you're in to put your best 
forward and like, get them to 

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like you just like, just be 
yourself, right? 

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And you end up being yourself. 
And it causes like, like what 

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Pastor Jake said, he starts off 
really, really good. 

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And then like 6 or 8 months in, 
maybe sooner than that, right? 

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You realize, oh man, who is this
person I married? 

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Yeah, I'm talking about Valerie 
asking that question, not me. 

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I would never ask that question.
Who is this person I married? 

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You start to get more 
comfortable with each other and 

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more open and more honest. 
And so yeah, anyway, I I thought

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that was kind of funny. 
But yeah, I know we've had our 

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fair share. 
No one thing silly little 

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arguments. 
And hopefully, I think we're 

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much more for now, I mean. 
Yeah, but you guys dated a long 

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time before you got married, 
right? 

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Yeah. 
It wasn't like long long, but. 

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You knew each other just. 
Over a year, yeah. 

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Yeah, we did. 
We did know each other a long 

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time. 
Yeah. 

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So Valerie and I knew each other
like maybe a year before we got 

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married. 
Yeah. 

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No, not even a year. 
So like, it was, that was even 

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harder because you don't know 
each other. 

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Like you have no time. 
There's no frame of reference 

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other than what you're dating. 
And so it's like, anyway, yeah, 

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maybe one day we have time we 
can talk more about like the 

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marriage topic, you know? 
Anyway, I think it might be fun.

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Right. 
But yeah, here in the Nehemiah 

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4, that's sort of exactly like, 
that's exactly what happens, 

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right? 
Like we, we've gone through a 

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lot of hard things about how 
this project whole got started 

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and got underway, but finally 
it's like the work is getting 

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done and it seems like 
everything's going well, but 

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then our position comes in and 
problem starts to creep in and 

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we got problems. 
We got problems. 

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So problems come from three 
places in Nehemiah Chapter 4. 

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Problems come from verbal 
assault, right in the beginning.

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They come from physical assault 
and they come from within two. 

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There's some, there's some like 
we're like scared. 

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We're not. 
There's too much trouble. 

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Remember that part in the yeah, 
there's too much. 

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There's too much stuff. 
We can't like overcome the 

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obstacle that is the wall 
itself. 

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And so there's a little push 
back there. 

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But Nehemiah urges them to go 
on. 

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We see, we see the problems and 
then we see the people's 

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response throughout the chapter.
What do you think about in 

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pregatory prayers? 
Yeah. 

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Sorry, just like jump right in 
there. 

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Why don't you explain? 
Why don't you explain that bit? 

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Yeah, so in pregatory prayers 
are prayers the against people 

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like you're praying for the Lord
to bring down judgment against 

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your enemies. 
And we see that a lot in the 

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Psalms. 
We see it a lot in the Old 

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Testament. 
We see both Paul and Jesus quote

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in pregatory Psalms in their 
writing. 

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So like in in the Gospels, we 
see Jesus quote it and in in 

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Romans, we see Paul quote them 
sometimes. 

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And so they're not, they're not 
prayers that are selfish prayers

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for vengeance. 
They're they're prayers for for 

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God's justice to be to be done. 
And so, yeah, so we see an 

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example of that here in Nehemiah
4. 

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I'll just read that. 
So this is after a sandblot in 

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his cronies jeer the Jews. 
And then in verse 4 we see a 

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prayer from Nehemiah. 
Here, O God, here, O our God, 

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for we are despised. 
Turn back their taunt on their 

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own heads and give them up to be
plundered in a land where they 

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are captives. 
Do not cover their guilt and let

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not their sin be blotted out 
from your sight, for they have 

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provoked you to anger in the 
presence of the builders. 

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And then so we built the wall. 
So I mean, he's saying like, 

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whatever they're saying against 
us, may it be against 

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themselves. 
Is it, is it wrong to pray that 

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kind of prayer, Pastor Joe? 
I struggle with it a lot because

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I'm just thinking of like, you 
know, what I, what I, what I 

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practically do that now. 
And I, yeah, I don't think I 

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would, I don't think I would 
have the confidence. 

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I mean, this is scripture. 
And so these, these people have 

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the confidence and, and the 
boldness to, to, to pray in, in 

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a way that, you know, they're, 
they're aligned with God's will.

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I would struggle to know if my 
heart was in the right place to 

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pray that, to pray that sort of 
prayer. 

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You know, I think my heart, if I
was praying this prayer today, 

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it's like an enemies were 
attacked against me. 

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Don't get me wrong. 
I mean, there's times where in 

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my flesh it's like, you just 
want vengeance, right? 

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You want, you want revenge. 
You want. 

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But again, that's, that's the 
selfish aspect of it where it's 

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like, am I just wanting that for
my own sort of like my own 

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justice that that's what I want 
to happen. 

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But Nehemiah is concerned about,
you know, Jake brought this out 

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in the sermon that he's 
concerned about God's glory, 

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that they are going against God.
He realizes that like these 

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people aren't opposing me, 
they're opposing God. 

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And so he has insight into that.
But if I were to pray this 

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prayer, I might pray like man, 
Lord, change their hearts so 

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that they come alongside us and 
like they realize that you're 

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the only true God and they want 
to come along and work with us 

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and be a part of what we're 
doing, you know, like instead of

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opposing us. 
But there's a there's a sense in

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which we as even as New 
Testament Christians in the new 

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covenant, like we do recognize, 
OK, well, there is coming today 

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when all of God's enemies will 
be judged right. 

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And we actually have a song. 
We we sing a song. 

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I, we introduced a song this 
last year, Psalm 145. 

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How great. 
By solving grace music. 

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And in that Psalm, we actually 
sort of sing that same song, 

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like that same sort of thing 
where it's like we know that one

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day God is going to make every 
wrong right. 

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Like he's going to destroy his 
enemies. 

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You're pulling it up right now. 
Maybe you can read that for us. 

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If I can get there. 
But yeah, in this song, it's, 

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it's sort of alluding to that 
same sort of thing, that God's 

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enemies are going to be 
destroyed. 

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You know, I'll pull up the 
lyrics of the song too, just so 

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that I get that right. 
But. 

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Yeah. 
But I think that's where it's, 

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it's important for us to maybe 
understand maybe more of what's 

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going on there instead of, you 
know, just assuming that, you 

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know, Nehemiah is not wrong, 
right? 

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00:12:50,560 --> 00:12:52,480
Yeah, exactly. 
No, I mean, he's upheld. 

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He's actually upheld, right to 
be right. 

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Verse 20 in this says the Lord 
preserves all who love him, but 

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all the wicked he will destroy. 
Yeah. 

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And that's in verse. 
That's Psalm 14520. 

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Yeah. 
And in some way we are, we do 

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have enemies that will be 
judged. 

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And in fact, we are without 
God's grace, we, we would be 

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certainly judged as well without
God's grace and, and the blood 

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of Christ covering our sin, 
right. 

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So, but yeah, I think like, I 
mean, we wouldn't like you said,

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it's really seems prideful to to
pray a prayer like that. 

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Or maybe maybe you think I'm not
that bold. 

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Like you said. 
I did read an example, like 

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someone prayed, someone claimed 
that they prayed in purgatory 

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prayer like recently and like 
against Planned Parenthood. 

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And like the leader of Planned 
Parenthood recently died. 

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So they claimed that they prayed
a prayer on Sunday and then she 

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died on Monday. 
I don't. 

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It's one of those crazy stories.
Yeah. 

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But who knows, right? 
I wouldn't, I wouldn't have the 

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courage to pray that My prayer 
would be. 

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I think I shared this in our 
Wednesday night class. 

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00:14:02,280 --> 00:14:03,920
But my prayer in that situation 
would be your prayer. 

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00:14:03,920 --> 00:14:08,720
What you said earlier is like, 
Lord, this is not just, you 

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00:14:08,720 --> 00:14:12,320
know, for, for the sake of your 
name, save this person, you 

288
00:14:12,320 --> 00:14:16,080
know, make them understand 
they're wrong and draw them to 

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00:14:16,080 --> 00:14:17,240
yourself. 
I think that's a Christian 

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00:14:17,240 --> 00:14:18,520
prayer. 
Yeah, right. 

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00:14:19,200 --> 00:14:22,680
The desire for all to be saved 
is an evangelistic and a 

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00:14:22,680 --> 00:14:24,920
Christian prayer. 
And then the Lord is going to do

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00:14:24,920 --> 00:14:26,440
his justice however he deems 
fit. 

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So whatever happens, happens. 
But at the same time, like I 

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00:14:29,920 --> 00:14:33,040
don't think like I'm not praying
like heaping coals on someone's 

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00:14:33,040 --> 00:14:36,320
head, Like that's just not me. 
But at the same time, I think 

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00:14:36,320 --> 00:14:38,560
there's a place for it. 
Like when they're when, when 

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00:14:38,560 --> 00:14:43,880
God, when God is being mocked 
blatantly and there is no like 

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00:14:43,880 --> 00:14:47,440
sign of repentance or no, like 
you see them hope for it. 

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00:14:47,440 --> 00:14:49,520
You just pray that the Lord 
would just deal with it. 

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00:14:49,920 --> 00:14:51,880
I think that's, that's what 
that's what Nehemiah is doing 

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00:14:51,880 --> 00:14:53,080
here. 
He's just praying that the Lord 

303
00:14:53,080 --> 00:14:57,960
would just deal with this. 
Well, and I think that's I think

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00:14:57,960 --> 00:15:02,120
that's a faithful understanding 
of God's justice because for for

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00:15:02,120 --> 00:15:04,120
us, again, like you said, I 
think we got to be real cautious

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00:15:04,120 --> 00:15:07,000
and careful about how we do that
and how we go about that, making

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00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:08,280
sure our hearts in the right 
place. 

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00:15:08,560 --> 00:15:12,520
But that rightly does understand
that God's justice against 

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guilty sinners is to judge them 
and for his wrath to fall on 

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them. 
Right. 

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00:15:17,320 --> 00:15:22,520
So God is just in in scenario 
one, to save people and to not 

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00:15:22,520 --> 00:15:25,000
count their sins against them if
they place their faith in Jesus 

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00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:26,640
Christ. 
He is just to do that. 

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00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:31,320
He's also just to condemn them 
when they refuse that sacrifice 

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00:15:31,320 --> 00:15:33,960
and when they turn against his 
ways and so. 

316
00:15:34,120 --> 00:15:36,080
Which is verse 5. 
Do not cover their guilt. 

317
00:15:36,320 --> 00:15:38,920
Yeah, and not let their sin be 
blotted out from your sight, 

318
00:15:39,040 --> 00:15:41,120
right? 
And actually this reminds me of 

319
00:15:41,120 --> 00:15:43,920
like I'm, I'm teaching the 
baptism class on Wednesday 

320
00:15:43,920 --> 00:15:46,440
nights and we had this 
conversation in one of our 

321
00:15:46,440 --> 00:15:50,680
classes where we talked about, 
you know, who God is and his 

322
00:15:50,680 --> 00:15:53,560
character and his nature. 
And as we talked about it, we 

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00:15:53,560 --> 00:15:56,240
talked about, well, OK, well, 
man has sinned. 

324
00:15:56,640 --> 00:16:00,480
And so couldn't God just, yeah, 
you know what, everybody's 

325
00:16:00,480 --> 00:16:05,040
sinned, whatever, no big deal it
all sin is forgiven and it's 

326
00:16:05,040 --> 00:16:07,640
fine. 
And we go, well, is that, does 

327
00:16:07,640 --> 00:16:10,160
that make God good and righteous
and just? 

328
00:16:10,800 --> 00:16:12,960
And so we thought about that for
a while, but then it's like, 

329
00:16:12,960 --> 00:16:14,760
well, let's, let's make it 
practical, right? 

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00:16:14,760 --> 00:16:17,760
Let's make it a, let's make it a
judge here in Leamington who, 

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00:16:17,760 --> 00:16:20,120
who's a, he's a judge. 
And I don't even know that we 

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00:16:20,120 --> 00:16:22,000
have judges here in Leamington. 
You might have to go to Windsor 

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00:16:22,680 --> 00:16:24,480
court. 
Let's say there's a judge in 

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00:16:24,480 --> 00:16:28,000
Windsor who judges cases. 
And, you know, let's say you got

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00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:32,000
a, a guy who, who's a rapist or 
a murderer or whatever. 

336
00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:34,960
And he's a, he's stolen out of 
like 20 different stores in the 

337
00:16:34,960 --> 00:16:36,480
area. 
And he comes in and he's 

338
00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:38,680
prosecutor and he's brought in 
for the judge. 

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00:16:38,680 --> 00:16:41,120
And this case is laid out. 
And the judge is like, you know 

340
00:16:41,120 --> 00:16:44,560
what? 
It's not a big deal, just you're

341
00:16:44,560 --> 00:16:46,080
free to go. 
Just don't do it anymore. 

342
00:16:46,080 --> 00:16:50,120
Right is is anybody like, oh 
wow, what a what a good judge 

343
00:16:50,120 --> 00:16:51,720
like that judge is like really 
good. 

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00:16:51,720 --> 00:16:53,480
He upholds the law like he's 
really right. 

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00:16:53,480 --> 00:16:55,440
No, everybody's like outraged, 
right. 

346
00:16:55,440 --> 00:16:56,440
He's. 
Like just judge, right? 

347
00:16:56,480 --> 00:16:59,120
How could you let that guy go? 
He's guilty. 

348
00:16:59,720 --> 00:17:04,359
And so for us to say to act like
God should just like, you know, 

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00:17:04,359 --> 00:17:07,920
overlook sin, and that would 
make him a good, no, that 

350
00:17:07,920 --> 00:17:10,319
doesn't make him a good judge. 
That makes him an evil judge, a 

351
00:17:10,319 --> 00:17:13,720
wicked judge. 
You know, he's just to do it 

352
00:17:13,960 --> 00:17:16,880
based on our faith in Christ 
because we are putting faith in 

353
00:17:16,880 --> 00:17:19,160
the way that he has made for us 
to be saved. 

354
00:17:19,839 --> 00:17:24,760
But if people reject that, then 
he is just to condemn people 

355
00:17:24,760 --> 00:17:26,880
based on their choice to follow 
their sin. 

356
00:17:27,520 --> 00:17:30,960
And so to that end, I think we 
should pray for justice, you 

357
00:17:30,960 --> 00:17:33,520
know. 
And so again, we ought to be 

358
00:17:33,520 --> 00:17:36,240
very cautious and careful about 
where our hearts are at when 

359
00:17:36,240 --> 00:17:39,200
we're doing that. 
But I think to pray a prayer 

360
00:17:39,200 --> 00:17:44,560
that that wicked people would be
judged for their sin is faithful

361
00:17:44,560 --> 00:17:47,760
because God is just and he's 
going to do that in my heart. 

362
00:17:48,160 --> 00:17:51,720
I immediately go that drives me 
back to the throne of grace, 

363
00:17:51,720 --> 00:17:53,440
right? 
Because if I'm praying like 

364
00:17:53,440 --> 00:17:56,240
Lord, I pray that you condemn 
wicked sinners for their 

365
00:17:56,240 --> 00:17:59,800
sinfulness for their the fact 
that they're opposing you like 

366
00:17:59,800 --> 00:18:02,560
you just said before, that 
immediately drives me back to 

367
00:18:02,560 --> 00:18:05,600
the cross in worship because I 
go, I deserve that. 

368
00:18:05,600 --> 00:18:08,120
I just. 
I mean, all of the sin is paid 

369
00:18:08,120 --> 00:18:09,880
for. 
Wicked's all accounted for. 

370
00:18:10,480 --> 00:18:13,120
Like it just who paid for it, 
right? 

371
00:18:13,120 --> 00:18:15,240
Like who paid for your sin? 
Well, you can either pay for it 

372
00:18:15,240 --> 00:18:18,520
yourself or you can place your 
faith and trust in Christ and 

373
00:18:18,520 --> 00:18:21,320
and trust that he paid for it. 
Yeah, on your behalf. 

374
00:18:21,400 --> 00:18:22,640
Yeah, man. 
Yeah. 

375
00:18:22,640 --> 00:18:25,160
It should drive us back in 
worship. 

376
00:18:25,640 --> 00:18:27,760
It's really good. 
Really, really good. 

377
00:18:29,160 --> 00:18:31,800
What else stood out in Chapter 4
to you, Pastor Joe? 

378
00:18:31,920 --> 00:18:34,280
Yeah, well, just, I mean, 
obviously Jake tied in again, 

379
00:18:34,280 --> 00:18:37,280
like Nehemiah constantly going 
back to God, right? 

380
00:18:37,320 --> 00:18:40,360
He constantly comes to God in 
prayer, you know, through all of

381
00:18:40,360 --> 00:18:44,040
the opposition, his his. 
And this is just consistent with

382
00:18:44,040 --> 00:18:47,560
the whole book so far that his 
primary thing is to go back to 

383
00:18:47,560 --> 00:18:49,840
God time and time and time 
again. 

384
00:18:50,360 --> 00:18:53,400
He's not trying to solve 
everything on his own. 

385
00:18:53,400 --> 00:18:57,360
I mean, he does, he does act, he
does do things, but not before 

386
00:18:57,360 --> 00:19:00,520
going to the Lord in prayer. 
And he just, you just you really

387
00:19:00,520 --> 00:19:02,480
get the sense that he has a 
really deep intimate 

388
00:19:02,480 --> 00:19:05,360
relationship with the Lord and 
just constantly goes to him in 

389
00:19:05,360 --> 00:19:07,600
prayer. 
And this gives him confidence to

390
00:19:07,600 --> 00:19:10,600
do the things that he does 
because he just trusts God that 

391
00:19:10,600 --> 00:19:12,920
much. 
And I really liked what what 

392
00:19:12,920 --> 00:19:17,080
Jake said that when we turn to 
God in prayer, you know, it's 

393
00:19:17,080 --> 00:19:19,840
not that we're changing God's 
mind or, or anything like that. 

394
00:19:19,840 --> 00:19:22,400
It's like we begin to align 
ourselves with what God is 

395
00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:25,360
doing, which I thought was a 
helpful way of, of thinking 

396
00:19:25,360 --> 00:19:26,720
through that because it is so 
true. 

397
00:19:27,280 --> 00:19:30,280
It helps us to remember that God
is God. 

398
00:19:30,440 --> 00:19:34,080
He's eternal, he's in control, 
He knows what he's doing and we 

399
00:19:34,080 --> 00:19:38,160
can trust him. 
Yeah, verse verse 9 and we pray 

400
00:19:38,160 --> 00:19:41,280
to our God and then the second 
part of that verses and set a 

401
00:19:41,280 --> 00:19:43,960
guard as protection against them
day and night. 

402
00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:47,240
Doctor Betts in his commentary 
said like the pattern of 

403
00:19:47,240 --> 00:19:50,920
Nehemiah's life is to pray 1st 
and then to act. 

404
00:19:51,160 --> 00:19:53,440
And I thought that was hopeful 
to, to understand what's going 

405
00:19:53,440 --> 00:19:57,040
on in this chapter. 
Yeah, because no, they're not 

406
00:19:57,040 --> 00:20:01,080
attacking their enemies, but 
they are setting up like firm 

407
00:20:01,080 --> 00:20:05,280
defense, right? 
It's the it's the sword and the 

408
00:20:05,280 --> 00:20:07,040
trowel they're holding at the 
same time, right? 

409
00:20:07,040 --> 00:20:10,080
They're working with a a hand 
like a right hand on their 

410
00:20:10,080 --> 00:20:12,840
sword, and they're working with.
Building the wall, the images 

411
00:20:12,840 --> 00:20:16,240
like they're doing the same 
thing, always ready for for 

412
00:20:16,240 --> 00:20:21,360
attack to come. 
But that pattern, we've seen it 

413
00:20:21,360 --> 00:20:25,840
since the beginning when 
Nehemiah heard of the of the 

414
00:20:25,840 --> 00:20:28,880
problems that they were having 
in Jerusalem, he like he prayed,

415
00:20:29,440 --> 00:20:30,920
right? 
He spent lots of time in prayer 

416
00:20:30,920 --> 00:20:33,680
and then then he was given the 
opportunity to act. 

417
00:20:33,680 --> 00:20:38,240
And so we see it again here. 
He prays and then they act. 

418
00:20:38,920 --> 00:20:39,960
Yeah. 
And I just think that's really 

419
00:20:39,960 --> 00:20:42,360
good application for us to be 
thinking about in our lives, 

420
00:20:42,360 --> 00:20:45,000
right? 
Like when difficulties come, 

421
00:20:45,000 --> 00:20:48,240
when trials come, when hurts 
come, you know, whatever comes 

422
00:20:48,240 --> 00:20:51,640
in our life where we're tempted,
you know, sort of with the theme

423
00:20:51,640 --> 00:20:54,200
of this passage, whether it's 
enemies come and you know, 

424
00:20:54,200 --> 00:20:57,640
people mock you or slander you 
or or say things that are not 

425
00:20:57,640 --> 00:20:59,800
true about you or whatever the 
case is, right? 

426
00:20:59,800 --> 00:21:04,040
Whatever opposition comes and 
we're tempted to like pull off 

427
00:21:04,040 --> 00:21:06,120
of doing the work that we're 
doing, or maybe we feel 

428
00:21:06,120 --> 00:21:09,040
embarrassed or whatever, or like
to stop doing what God is 

429
00:21:09,040 --> 00:21:11,640
calling us to do. 
What is our first response, 

430
00:21:11,640 --> 00:21:13,520
right? 
To look at that in the flesh and

431
00:21:13,520 --> 00:21:15,240
to make a judgement, to make a 
decision? 

432
00:21:15,240 --> 00:21:17,080
Or do we immediately run to the 
Lord? 

433
00:21:17,760 --> 00:21:20,760
And, and again, sort of going 
back to like previous sermons in

434
00:21:20,760 --> 00:21:24,000
this series, It's like when you 
do the, the work on the front 

435
00:21:24,000 --> 00:21:27,160
end to be prayerful in like, is 
this actually what the Lord 

436
00:21:27,160 --> 00:21:29,960
wants me to do? 
Once you finally, you know, put 

437
00:21:29,960 --> 00:21:33,280
your hand to the trowel, you're 
confident that already that it's

438
00:21:33,280 --> 00:21:35,640
the Lord's word. 
And so now it's just a matter 

439
00:21:35,640 --> 00:21:38,480
of, OK, maybe going back to 
going back to the Lord and 

440
00:21:38,480 --> 00:21:41,240
saying, I was very confident 
that you asked me to do this. 

441
00:21:41,240 --> 00:21:43,120
This is, and I was very 
confident of that. 

442
00:21:43,120 --> 00:21:45,200
Like you need to be at work 
here. 

443
00:21:45,200 --> 00:21:47,960
Like I'm trusting you. 
Like give me the confidence to 

444
00:21:47,960 --> 00:21:50,600
continue going ahead with what I
was confident that you asked me 

445
00:21:50,600 --> 00:21:52,440
to do, right. 
And if there's something that I 

446
00:21:52,440 --> 00:21:55,080
missed or whatever, then make 
that plain to me and and show me

447
00:21:55,080 --> 00:21:59,320
the direction. 
Otherwise heaping coals on their

448
00:21:59,320 --> 00:22:03,400
heads, right, like right. 
I think that's that's really 

449
00:22:03,400 --> 00:22:06,520
good. 
Like when we face opposition, 

450
00:22:08,480 --> 00:22:11,640
especially in something that 
we've already determined in our 

451
00:22:11,640 --> 00:22:15,800
heart that this is God's will, 
like we should expect 

452
00:22:15,800 --> 00:22:16,960
opposition. 
It's coming. 

453
00:22:17,440 --> 00:22:19,440
Like, I think that's that's one 
thing that we can learn from 

454
00:22:19,440 --> 00:22:23,680
This is like, Yep, everybody 
started to build the wall. 

455
00:22:24,160 --> 00:22:26,920
Everybody from their neighbor 
and all to their house to the 

456
00:22:26,920 --> 00:22:28,600
neighbor's house. 
Everybody built their own 

457
00:22:28,600 --> 00:22:31,000
section of the wall. 
Everything seemed good. 

458
00:22:31,360 --> 00:22:33,680
Everything was going to work 
toward according to plan. 

459
00:22:34,240 --> 00:22:35,800
We should expect some 
opposition. 

460
00:22:36,040 --> 00:22:37,720
Like they knew San Balat was 
coming, right? 

461
00:22:38,160 --> 00:22:40,000
He's not, it's not the first 
time we've heard about him, 

462
00:22:40,200 --> 00:22:42,080
right? 
Heard about him earlier in the 

463
00:22:42,080 --> 00:22:44,000
book. 
Now he's coming and he's being 

464
00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:49,240
more vocal and that and then 
he's then he's up like he's 

465
00:22:49,240 --> 00:22:51,560
going to like try to attack them
physically and we're going to 

466
00:22:51,560 --> 00:22:53,240
sneak up on him and take him by 
surprise, right. 

467
00:22:53,240 --> 00:22:54,560
That's come, that comes up 
later. 

468
00:22:54,680 --> 00:22:59,760
Yeah, yeah. 
And then we need to expect the 

469
00:22:59,760 --> 00:23:01,520
opposition. 
So like I think that's a good 

470
00:23:01,520 --> 00:23:03,480
lesson for us. 
Like you said, application, like

471
00:23:04,520 --> 00:23:07,080
if we are going to do that, we 
can be like for whatever we're 

472
00:23:07,080 --> 00:23:10,800
doing, gospel ministry, out 
giving evangelism, like 

473
00:23:10,800 --> 00:23:14,120
evangelism at the park, whatever
we're trying, whatever 

474
00:23:14,120 --> 00:23:17,000
initiative we're taking here as 
far as just thinking about our 

475
00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:18,840
discipleship initiative we 
talked about last week. 

476
00:23:19,040 --> 00:23:22,440
Yeah, like expect opposition, 
expect people to not understand 

477
00:23:22,440 --> 00:23:24,360
what you're trying to do. 
Yeah, right. 

478
00:23:24,520 --> 00:23:26,480
Expect to have to provide more 
clarity. 

479
00:23:26,640 --> 00:23:29,840
Expect to have to convince 
people and then ask the Lord, 

480
00:23:29,840 --> 00:23:32,600
OK, Lord, this is what we feel 
like you want us to do. 

481
00:23:34,200 --> 00:23:37,520
I'm expecting opposition and we 
need you to work in their 

482
00:23:37,520 --> 00:23:39,560
hearts, right? 
We need you to like convince 

483
00:23:39,560 --> 00:23:42,920
them because at some point we 
can't like we can't do it so. 

484
00:23:43,160 --> 00:23:46,320
Well, even like, you know, use 
the example of a discipleship 

485
00:23:46,320 --> 00:23:50,120
group, or let's just say you've,
you've maybe not always come 

486
00:23:50,120 --> 00:23:52,800
faithfully to church or come 
faithfully to Bible study, or 

487
00:23:52,800 --> 00:23:55,120
you've never been in AD group 
and now you commit yourself to 

488
00:23:55,120 --> 00:23:56,280
do it. 
We're going to come to church 

489
00:23:56,280 --> 00:23:57,120
every Sunday. 
Yep. 

490
00:23:57,400 --> 00:24:01,000
Well, guess what? 
The kids are getting sick and 

491
00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:04,640
this starts to happen and the 
tire just went flat on the car 

492
00:24:04,640 --> 00:24:07,800
and like, and I'm not going to 
get into the whole, you know, I 

493
00:24:07,800 --> 00:24:09,560
think there's spiritual warfare 
and some of those things. 

494
00:24:09,560 --> 00:24:11,360
I'm not going to get into the 
whole like, you know, we don't 

495
00:24:11,360 --> 00:24:13,440
need to find a demon under every
rock sort of thing. 

496
00:24:13,840 --> 00:24:16,080
But the point is it's like 
things are going to start to 

497
00:24:16,080 --> 00:24:18,960
happen where it's like now 
you're going to be tempted to be

498
00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:21,880
like, wow, maybe I'll just miss 
D Group this week or or maybe 

499
00:24:21,880 --> 00:24:24,680
I'll just miss this, you know? 
And there's times to do that, 

500
00:24:24,680 --> 00:24:25,600
right? 
There's times where it's like, 

501
00:24:25,600 --> 00:24:27,480
you know what, sometimes the 
issue is so pressing that you 

502
00:24:27,480 --> 00:24:30,720
just need to do that and staying
home with the kids because 

503
00:24:30,720 --> 00:24:32,120
they're sick. 
Yeah, that's going to happen 

504
00:24:32,120 --> 00:24:34,160
every once in a while too. 
But I'm just saying it's like, 

505
00:24:34,440 --> 00:24:35,760
that's sort of the opposition, 
right? 

506
00:24:35,760 --> 00:24:37,040
And you need to press through 
that and go. 

507
00:24:37,040 --> 00:24:39,440
It's like, no, I committed to 
doing this. 

508
00:24:39,440 --> 00:24:42,040
I committed to D Group and I'm 
going to be faithful to go. 

509
00:24:42,360 --> 00:24:44,840
Yeah, it is a conviction, right?
That's the thing you have to 

510
00:24:44,840 --> 00:24:49,160
like, you have to have in your 
mind like a, like a, like a deep

511
00:24:49,160 --> 00:24:51,200
conviction. 
This is what I think the Lord is

512
00:24:51,520 --> 00:24:52,600
asking me to do right now. 
Yeah. 

513
00:24:53,320 --> 00:24:57,000
And then to live on your 
convictions is to say, no matter

514
00:24:57,000 --> 00:24:59,760
what comes, I'm going to make 
progress in this area. 

515
00:24:59,760 --> 00:25:02,200
And that doesn't mean you're 
going to do it perfectly, but 

516
00:25:02,200 --> 00:25:03,880
you're going to make progress in
this area. 

517
00:25:03,880 --> 00:25:07,400
Like I'm going to like if you've
got this conviction that you're 

518
00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:12,320
going to fight against the world
and not allow your family to be 

519
00:25:12,320 --> 00:25:15,760
sucked into media 24/7, like 
whatever, whatever type of 

520
00:25:15,760 --> 00:25:20,960
media, TV, social media, 
whatever, you can't, you can't 

521
00:25:20,960 --> 00:25:23,880
give in at the first weakness. 
Like you can't give in to your 

522
00:25:23,880 --> 00:25:26,800
kids, which you think might be 
the hardest thing, but I think 

523
00:25:27,280 --> 00:25:29,400
hardest thing in that situation 
would be your family like 

524
00:25:29,400 --> 00:25:31,360
yourself, like it would be for 
me. 

525
00:25:32,480 --> 00:25:34,520
Is this a conviction or not? 
If it's not, then you're not 

526
00:25:34,520 --> 00:25:35,600
going to do it. 
You're not going to follow 

527
00:25:35,600 --> 00:25:37,680
through. 
But if it is, you feel like it's

528
00:25:37,680 --> 00:25:39,200
from the Lord, you're going to 
follow through. 

529
00:25:40,440 --> 00:25:44,880
Because we know that when we're 
conviction about things, you're 

530
00:25:44,880 --> 00:25:47,600
picking a side. 
Like that's the thing about 

531
00:25:47,600 --> 00:25:51,240
convictions is like, I have this
strong conviction that this is 

532
00:25:51,240 --> 00:25:52,120
right. 
Yeah. 

533
00:25:52,120 --> 00:25:55,240
Well, there's somebody out there
that thinks it's wrong, right? 

534
00:25:55,240 --> 00:25:56,960
There's always going to be 
somebody on the opposite side. 

535
00:25:56,960 --> 00:26:00,840
And so we're never going to be 
able to, like to make happy 

536
00:26:00,840 --> 00:26:03,040
everybody when you're conviction
about something, right? 

537
00:26:03,040 --> 00:26:04,720
And especially if you're 
fighting against the world. 

538
00:26:04,720 --> 00:26:06,040
Yeah. 
Because it's hard. 

539
00:26:06,360 --> 00:26:08,400
That's a battle. 
Absolutely, anyway. 

540
00:26:09,080 --> 00:26:11,160
Well, I think it's even good to 
be thinking about, you know, 

541
00:26:11,240 --> 00:26:13,680
maybe maybe there's opposition, 
maybe there's stress, maybe 

542
00:26:13,680 --> 00:26:17,560
there's tension in your life 
regarding who knows what, right?

543
00:26:17,560 --> 00:26:19,040
But maybe that's an opportunity 
for you to go. 

544
00:26:19,040 --> 00:26:20,760
Like I made the point before 
that it's like when you're 

545
00:26:20,760 --> 00:26:23,960
really convinced that God wants 
you to do something, that gives 

546
00:26:23,960 --> 00:26:27,280
you the boldness to continue 
pushing through it, trusting in 

547
00:26:27,280 --> 00:26:29,760
God, praying for him to give you
strength because you're 

548
00:26:29,760 --> 00:26:33,240
convinced that it's his will. 
But if you're not and you're 

549
00:26:33,240 --> 00:26:35,640
going through a really difficult
season and you're under pressure

550
00:26:35,640 --> 00:26:38,560
and you're under stress and you 
feel overwhelmed, maybe that's a

551
00:26:38,560 --> 00:26:41,440
sign that you need to slow down 
and something needs to come off 

552
00:26:41,440 --> 00:26:41,800
the. 
Plate. 

553
00:26:41,800 --> 00:26:43,760
Oh, that's a good point. 
And maybe you need to slow down 

554
00:26:43,760 --> 00:26:46,360
and go. 
Maybe I shouldn't have been 

555
00:26:46,360 --> 00:26:48,000
doing that in the 1st place. 
That's a good point. 

556
00:26:48,000 --> 00:26:51,200
Maybe I've been piling on and 
doing too much like something 

557
00:26:51,200 --> 00:26:54,280
that I will often tell people 
like every once in a while we we

558
00:26:54,280 --> 00:26:56,400
really need positions filled 
here at the church or we need 

559
00:26:56,400 --> 00:26:58,320
people to do different things. 
And so I'll. 

560
00:26:58,680 --> 00:26:59,960
Every once in a while, every 
once in a. 

561
00:26:59,960 --> 00:27:03,240
While we always need people to 
help, we'll, we'll message a 

562
00:27:03,240 --> 00:27:04,840
bunch of people, I'll text 
people. 

563
00:27:05,120 --> 00:27:07,280
And when I'm talking with 
someone, I'm always very 

564
00:27:07,280 --> 00:27:12,160
intentional go I, I don't want 
you to sacrifice your personal 

565
00:27:12,240 --> 00:27:14,880
life like 'cause often times 
you're, you're messaging people 

566
00:27:14,880 --> 00:27:17,440
that are already serving in one 
or two areas or whatever. 

567
00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:21,120
And so I'm always very 
intentional to say you are the 

568
00:27:21,120 --> 00:27:23,440
only one who knows your 
boundaries. 

569
00:27:23,440 --> 00:27:26,480
You're the only one who knows 
how much is on your plate. 

570
00:27:26,880 --> 00:27:29,560
And I don't want you to say yes 
to something just because you 

571
00:27:29,560 --> 00:27:32,240
want to say yes to it. 
You need to look at your life 

572
00:27:32,240 --> 00:27:35,840
and you need to evaluate like, 
you know, I, I appreciate people

573
00:27:35,840 --> 00:27:38,120
who, who share, share this with 
me that it's like when I'm going

574
00:27:38,120 --> 00:27:42,000
to add something, I, I perfectly
consider what else needs to come

575
00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:43,840
off. 
That's how intentional I am with

576
00:27:43,840 --> 00:27:46,120
my schedule. 
And I think that's, I think 

577
00:27:46,120 --> 00:27:48,400
that's a really helpful way for 
people to be thinking about it. 

578
00:27:48,720 --> 00:27:51,800
You need to look at your life as
a plate and how much can I 

579
00:27:51,800 --> 00:27:53,520
handle, how much can fit on the 
plate? 

580
00:27:53,520 --> 00:27:55,680
And if something else is going 
to come on, that means something

581
00:27:55,680 --> 00:27:58,200
else has to go off. 
And I think if we thought more 

582
00:27:58,200 --> 00:28:01,000
intentionally about our life 
that way, we wouldn't be as 

583
00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:03,240
stressed and running around as 
we are. 

584
00:28:03,480 --> 00:28:05,440
But we just continually add 
things. 

585
00:28:05,760 --> 00:28:09,200
And I think some of it is guilt.
And that's why I'm very careful,

586
00:28:09,200 --> 00:28:12,400
as you know, as a pastor, to not
make people feel guilt tripped 

587
00:28:12,400 --> 00:28:15,120
into doing something because I 
don't want someone to be adding 

588
00:28:15,120 --> 00:28:18,000
stress into their life as though
I'm guilt tripping them into 

589
00:28:18,000 --> 00:28:19,960
doing something. 
It's like, no, this should be a 

590
00:28:19,960 --> 00:28:23,080
very intentional decision on 
your part to do something that 

591
00:28:23,080 --> 00:28:24,880
you feel like God is calling you
to do. 

592
00:28:25,320 --> 00:28:27,320
And that may mean you need to 
pass something else off. 

593
00:28:27,320 --> 00:28:30,080
So I guess I just mean to add 
that to say, maybe you're 

594
00:28:30,080 --> 00:28:32,880
running around and you're 
acting, you feel crazy and you 

595
00:28:32,880 --> 00:28:35,120
just feel overwhelmed. 
And maybe that's a sign that you

596
00:28:35,120 --> 00:28:39,360
know, you are you convinced that
that was what you, the Lord 

597
00:28:39,360 --> 00:28:41,560
wanted to do. 
And maybe it needs to come off 

598
00:28:41,560 --> 00:28:43,640
and and maybe you shouldn't have
done it in the first place. 

599
00:28:43,760 --> 00:28:47,120
Or, or maybe you filled your 
plate up with way too much 

600
00:28:47,120 --> 00:28:50,560
stuff, like of, of other things.
And you need to like, in order 

601
00:28:50,560 --> 00:28:52,960
to do this, you would have to 
remove 5 things, right? 

602
00:28:52,960 --> 00:28:55,680
Like, I think that's something 
that you, you just hit on like 

603
00:28:55,680 --> 00:28:58,920
something about like just our 
lives that are busy thinking 

604
00:28:58,920 --> 00:29:00,880
about. 
I don't know, maybe it's 

605
00:29:00,880 --> 00:29:03,160
something I've been thinking on 
for a while, but I think I've 

606
00:29:03,160 --> 00:29:07,240
told you this like I want to do 
less better. 

607
00:29:07,840 --> 00:29:10,800
Like I just want to, I want to 
do less things in my life and I 

608
00:29:10,800 --> 00:29:14,360
want to be able to do them like 
the best possible way that I can

609
00:29:14,360 --> 00:29:16,520
do them. 
And so like that what that 

610
00:29:16,520 --> 00:29:19,720
requires is, is taking 
everything that I do and putting

611
00:29:19,720 --> 00:29:24,480
it on the board and just saying 
and then wiping it clean and 

612
00:29:24,480 --> 00:29:26,800
then say what is the most 
important thing that I, that's 

613
00:29:26,800 --> 00:29:30,720
non negotiable has to sit here. 
You know, for me, it would be if

614
00:29:30,760 --> 00:29:33,960
I'm just thinking about like the
way I spend my time, Bible 

615
00:29:33,960 --> 00:29:36,320
reading, prayer, like my 
personal devotion would be up 

616
00:29:36,320 --> 00:29:38,560
there. 
Time with my wife would be up 

617
00:29:38,560 --> 00:29:41,160
there. 
Yeah, like specific time with my

618
00:29:41,160 --> 00:29:44,120
kids would be up there. 
Church would be up there. 

619
00:29:44,400 --> 00:29:47,800
But but those are the things 
like it can't be like all the 

620
00:29:47,800 --> 00:29:50,440
different things that I want to 
do, like hobbies even like the 

621
00:29:50,440 --> 00:29:53,000
things that we pile in just to 
try to keep up with whoever. 

622
00:29:54,040 --> 00:29:56,160
It has to go. 
Like it can't be, especially if 

623
00:29:56,160 --> 00:29:58,800
you want to serve like the Lord 
in something you have, like 

624
00:29:59,160 --> 00:30:01,800
you're going to have to 
eliminate maybe four or five 

625
00:30:01,800 --> 00:30:03,880
things from your personal life 
in order to do something. 

626
00:30:03,880 --> 00:30:07,040
And, and that takes a lot, man. 
And that that's, it's a hard ass

627
00:30:07,040 --> 00:30:13,080
sometimes because for family 
people like for parents, like 

628
00:30:13,120 --> 00:30:15,480
it's not just me that that can 
decide, right? 

629
00:30:15,480 --> 00:30:18,760
Like if you're single, you can 
decide whatever you want for 

630
00:30:18,760 --> 00:30:20,560
your life. 
You can make a change like that 

631
00:30:21,200 --> 00:30:23,280
and everything changes. 
It's fine. 

632
00:30:23,280 --> 00:30:24,840
It's pivot. 
No matter, no matter what, no 

633
00:30:24,840 --> 00:30:28,520
one's really impacted but you. 
But if you have a family, 

634
00:30:28,520 --> 00:30:32,160
you're, you're impacting 
everybody in your family. 

635
00:30:32,560 --> 00:30:35,160
But just want like, if you 
change, like, like I'm just 

636
00:30:35,160 --> 00:30:37,400
thinking about our schedule. 
If we change like two things, 

637
00:30:38,080 --> 00:30:39,600
like everybody's impacted, 
right? 

638
00:30:39,600 --> 00:30:42,360
Like the schedule's tight 
sometimes. 

639
00:30:42,360 --> 00:30:45,800
And so the more kids you add, 
the more tight it gets. 

640
00:30:45,800 --> 00:30:47,800
And so, yeah, anyway, it's 
something I've been thinking 

641
00:30:47,800 --> 00:30:51,360
about, but I would love to do. 
I, I would think that would be a

642
00:30:51,360 --> 00:30:54,760
good motto for even like the 
church, like like being involved

643
00:30:54,760 --> 00:30:57,240
in programs or whatever we're 
trying to accomplish, like do 

644
00:30:57,240 --> 00:31:00,320
less and just do it really, 
really well. 

645
00:31:00,880 --> 00:31:02,280
Yeah. 
And I think, I think that comes 

646
00:31:02,280 --> 00:31:07,160
down to the point of like I'm 
trying to trying to keep this 

647
00:31:07,160 --> 00:31:08,920
make sure we're still tied to 
Nehemiah 4. 

648
00:31:09,120 --> 00:31:11,120
I know. 
Well, I think, I think we are 

649
00:31:11,120 --> 00:31:13,520
though, like I think. 
What were they doing? 

650
00:31:13,560 --> 00:31:14,960
Right. 
They were convinced that 

651
00:31:14,960 --> 00:31:17,800
building the wall was the most 
right thing for them to be doing

652
00:31:17,800 --> 00:31:19,560
in that moment, right? 
And they were so convinced that 

653
00:31:19,560 --> 00:31:21,240
they were willing to face 
opposition. 

654
00:31:21,680 --> 00:31:23,960
And I think, you know, again, 
the sort of the point of this 

655
00:31:23,960 --> 00:31:27,160
podcast is really to give feet 
to like what we're doing it to 

656
00:31:27,160 --> 00:31:28,880
be more intentional with 
application. 

657
00:31:29,400 --> 00:31:31,840
And I think when you're thinking
about your life sort of to the 

658
00:31:31,840 --> 00:31:34,560
point that you're making about 
how busy we are and the things 

659
00:31:34,560 --> 00:31:39,040
that are priorities, I think we 
need to be asking ourselves what

660
00:31:39,040 --> 00:31:42,560
are the most important things 
that we can be doing. 

661
00:31:42,560 --> 00:31:45,080
There's countless things that 
you can be doing with your life,

662
00:31:45,080 --> 00:31:46,240
right? 
And like you said, once you have

663
00:31:46,240 --> 00:31:49,560
kids and you know, you add a 
sporting event or something like

664
00:31:49,560 --> 00:31:53,520
that and you know, one kid. 
Is music lessons anything? 

665
00:31:53,560 --> 00:31:55,640
Right. 
One kid stays after school to do

666
00:31:55,640 --> 00:31:58,040
this program at the school, and 
then other kids are involved in 

667
00:31:58,040 --> 00:32:00,680
this sport and it's like, you 
just realize how quickly your 

668
00:32:00,680 --> 00:32:02,480
time runs out. 
And like you said, it affects 

669
00:32:02,480 --> 00:32:05,240
the whole family. 
And so those things aren't bad, 

670
00:32:05,560 --> 00:32:08,800
but but they need to fall in 
line in the line of priorities, 

671
00:32:08,800 --> 00:32:10,720
right? 
That it's like, what is the most

672
00:32:10,720 --> 00:32:13,240
important thing, right? 
Because, you know, we would say 

673
00:32:13,560 --> 00:32:17,560
that it's more important for us 
to be, you know, spending 

674
00:32:17,560 --> 00:32:19,640
quality time with our wives, 
discipling our wives. 

675
00:32:19,640 --> 00:32:22,960
It's more important for us to be
spending time discipling our 

676
00:32:22,960 --> 00:32:25,240
children, teaching them how to 
be faithful and following 

677
00:32:25,240 --> 00:32:28,280
Christ. 
And so if, if sports or other 

678
00:32:28,280 --> 00:32:32,000
things get in the way of me 
doing the thing, that's more 

679
00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:34,880
important now we have to start 
asking hard questions and we 

680
00:32:34,880 --> 00:32:36,200
have to start weighing those 
things out. 

681
00:32:36,200 --> 00:32:40,400
Is it really worth it then, 
because I, I don't get to do 

682
00:32:40,400 --> 00:32:43,080
this right. 
So everybody has to, to work 

683
00:32:43,080 --> 00:32:45,280
through that yourself. 
And I think most times you can, 

684
00:32:45,280 --> 00:32:47,720
you can still make it work in a 
way that whatever. 

685
00:32:47,720 --> 00:32:52,120
I'm just, but you can't keep 
adding, you know, like, you 

686
00:32:52,120 --> 00:32:54,280
know, each kid has three or four
different things that they're 

687
00:32:54,280 --> 00:32:56,240
doing throughout the week. 
It's like, well, OK, now, now 

688
00:32:56,240 --> 00:32:59,200
you're just being crazy, right? 
Like you have to limit that so 

689
00:32:59,200 --> 00:33:01,440
that you can do things that are 
that are so valuable and 

690
00:33:01,440 --> 00:33:05,400
important. 
So like in Nehemiah, Nehemiah 

691
00:33:05,400 --> 00:33:09,520
came, he sat in the rubble and 
then he prayed and he decided 

692
00:33:09,520 --> 00:33:12,120
the wall need to be rebuilt. 
That was the most important 

693
00:33:12,120 --> 00:33:13,480
pressing thing that had to 
happen. 

694
00:33:13,920 --> 00:33:16,400
And they did it quick. 
They did the the low wall quick 

695
00:33:16,400 --> 00:33:18,600
and then they had the work had 
to continue right to make it 

696
00:33:18,600 --> 00:33:21,440
taller. 
Opposition comes. 

697
00:33:21,520 --> 00:33:23,840
So like, what would the 
opposition be like if we just so

698
00:33:23,840 --> 00:33:27,200
like our goal and whatever this 
thing is that our family chose 

699
00:33:27,480 --> 00:33:29,840
to be the most important thing? 
Like we would say it's 

700
00:33:29,840 --> 00:33:33,240
discipleship in our family. 
Then like the opposition comes. 

701
00:33:33,240 --> 00:33:35,440
It's like, OK, it's all the 
added things that come up in 

702
00:33:35,440 --> 00:33:38,040
life, the opportunities to do 
something that's not the main 

703
00:33:38,040 --> 00:33:41,480
thing. 
And so like, that's it. 

704
00:33:41,480 --> 00:33:44,320
They may be good things, like 
they they really might be good, 

705
00:33:44,320 --> 00:33:46,480
but they don't they don't like 
tie into the wall building. 

706
00:33:47,160 --> 00:33:50,760
And so I think that's, that's 
the point, like, like if it 

707
00:33:50,760 --> 00:33:52,920
doesn't tie into your wall 
building, like what you 

708
00:33:52,920 --> 00:33:56,360
prioritize for your family to go
back to your volunteering thing,

709
00:33:56,360 --> 00:33:59,560
that's OK to say no, right? 
But I would say, does your wall 

710
00:33:59,560 --> 00:34:02,680
building conflict what your 
church is doing and what your 

711
00:34:02,680 --> 00:34:05,600
church is like the the people 
who God has placed in your life,

712
00:34:05,640 --> 00:34:08,800
like pastors and ministerial 
people who like who are leading 

713
00:34:08,800 --> 00:34:12,440
the church, the church you're a 
part of, does it conflict there?

714
00:34:13,120 --> 00:34:14,800
And that's the question. 
I would either do some soul 

715
00:34:14,800 --> 00:34:18,040
searching, is my wall building 
in opposition to the wall 

716
00:34:18,040 --> 00:34:21,239
building at the church? 
And maybe that's a stretch, but 

717
00:34:21,239 --> 00:34:22,719
I don't, I don't know. 
I'm just thinking out loud. 

718
00:34:23,679 --> 00:34:25,920
I think that like we, we have to
re evaluate. 

719
00:34:25,920 --> 00:34:29,040
We have to constantly evaluate. 
Is this lining up with the goal 

720
00:34:29,920 --> 00:34:32,360
that I think God is doing in the
community right now? 

721
00:34:32,520 --> 00:34:35,600
I think it's fair because Paul 
says in First Corinthians 

722
00:34:35,600 --> 00:34:38,000
chapter 12 that we're a body. 
We're one body, right? 

723
00:34:38,000 --> 00:34:41,320
And so if you really consider 
that we're a part of this church

724
00:34:41,760 --> 00:34:46,080
and we're a part of one body 
together as, as believers and we

725
00:34:46,080 --> 00:34:49,120
are headed in one unified 
direction, doing 1 unified 

726
00:34:49,120 --> 00:34:52,199
thing, then it's like, it does 
stand to reason that, well, the 

727
00:34:52,199 --> 00:34:55,639
priority of the church then 
should be my priority, right? 

728
00:34:55,639 --> 00:34:57,920
And so, and those are hard 
things, right? 

729
00:34:57,920 --> 00:35:00,480
But I think all of us sense that
tension in every area, right? 

730
00:35:00,480 --> 00:35:02,160
Like, let's just dig working 
out. 

731
00:35:02,160 --> 00:35:04,680
For example, you might go, maybe
you started out a workout 

732
00:35:04,680 --> 00:35:09,440
resolution at the beginning of 
the year and you're like, you're

733
00:35:09,440 --> 00:35:12,600
just like, you know what, I want
to work out four days a week, 20

734
00:35:12,600 --> 00:35:14,600
minutes a day, whatever. 
It is OK. 

735
00:35:15,600 --> 00:35:19,080
Now if you have like a 
personality, not everybody 

736
00:35:19,080 --> 00:35:21,160
struggles with this personality.
Some people are like, once the 

737
00:35:21,160 --> 00:35:23,480
20 minutes are done, I'm like, I
couldn't get far enough away 

738
00:35:23,480 --> 00:35:25,400
from working out, right? 
It's done, it's over with. 

739
00:35:25,400 --> 00:35:26,640
I never want to think about it 
again. 

740
00:35:27,080 --> 00:35:29,640
But I think very quickly we can 
get into this mindset where it's

741
00:35:29,640 --> 00:35:33,840
like, oh, but now I need like 
bigger, better weights. 

742
00:35:34,440 --> 00:35:38,360
And now I want to improve my 
time and I want to improve my 

743
00:35:38,360 --> 00:35:40,360
weight. 
And like, now I want my biceps 

744
00:35:40,360 --> 00:35:45,120
to be a certain shape, a certain
diameter, you know, And it's 

745
00:35:45,120 --> 00:35:48,080
like now you have these goals. 
And it's like that's where the, 

746
00:35:48,080 --> 00:35:50,520
these, these goals, these 
outside opposition. 

747
00:35:50,960 --> 00:35:53,600
Well, now it's like, now it's 
not just 20 minutes of working 

748
00:35:53,600 --> 00:35:54,720
out. 
It's like, well, now to achieve 

749
00:35:54,720 --> 00:35:57,600
my goals, I'm actually going to 
have to spend a certain amount 

750
00:35:57,600 --> 00:36:01,080
of money on protein and now it 
affects my finances. 

751
00:36:01,080 --> 00:36:03,080
And but now I'm going to 
actually have to spend more time

752
00:36:03,080 --> 00:36:04,560
working out. 
It's going to take me an hour 

753
00:36:04,560 --> 00:36:06,800
every day. 
And now it affects family time. 

754
00:36:06,800 --> 00:36:08,680
And you just see the ripple 
effect of that. 

755
00:36:08,960 --> 00:36:12,440
And it's like, well, now this 
group of guys that meets in the 

756
00:36:12,440 --> 00:36:15,520
gym on Wednesday night at 7:00 
and they really pump the iron 

757
00:36:15,520 --> 00:36:17,640
and those guys are going to help
me get to the next level of my 

758
00:36:17,640 --> 00:36:19,640
fitness. 
And I guess I can't go to 

759
00:36:19,640 --> 00:36:21,560
Wednesday night discipleship now
because. 

760
00:36:21,920 --> 00:36:25,920
And so again, it's obviously an 
extreme exaggeration, like who 

761
00:36:25,920 --> 00:36:29,320
knows if that's but you see that
and, and it sounds silly, right?

762
00:36:29,920 --> 00:36:32,560
But each and every one of us has
been in a season where it's like

763
00:36:32,560 --> 00:36:35,680
you're tempted to give a little 
bit more to that hobby, right? 

764
00:36:35,680 --> 00:36:39,280
I'm, I'm tempted to follow a 
little bit closer with the stats

765
00:36:39,280 --> 00:36:41,600
of my team, right? 
And give a little bit more so I 

766
00:36:41,600 --> 00:36:43,080
know more. 
So the next time I have that 

767
00:36:43,080 --> 00:36:45,280
conversation with my buddies, 
it's like I can give a little 

768
00:36:45,280 --> 00:36:46,840
bit more insight from, you know 
what I mean? 

769
00:36:46,840 --> 00:36:49,720
It's like you just start to see 
that's the opposition, right? 

770
00:36:49,720 --> 00:36:51,680
It's like the world is gonna 
tempt us. 

771
00:36:51,680 --> 00:36:54,200
Satan is gonna use the world, 
the world, the flesh and the 

772
00:36:54,200 --> 00:36:55,920
devil are fighting against us, 
right? 

773
00:36:56,040 --> 00:36:59,080
And he's gonna try using the 
world to try luring us away from

774
00:36:59,080 --> 00:37:02,840
building God's Kingdom and to 
building our own kingdoms or 

775
00:37:02,840 --> 00:37:05,720
like, distracting us from what 
God is doing. 

776
00:37:06,000 --> 00:37:09,200
And it's so easy to get caught 
in those temptations, right? 

777
00:37:09,200 --> 00:37:11,680
And we're constantly having to 
evaluate what is the most 

778
00:37:11,680 --> 00:37:14,400
important thing, you know, as 
far as God is concerned. 

779
00:37:14,400 --> 00:37:16,160
For what? 
How I can be spending my time? 

780
00:37:16,280 --> 00:37:17,760
Right. 
And Nehemiah would. 

781
00:37:17,760 --> 00:37:21,960
Nehemiah's response would be 
always be on your guard. 

782
00:37:22,240 --> 00:37:23,720
Yeah. 
Knowing that the opposition's 

783
00:37:23,720 --> 00:37:25,840
coming, what did he tell them to
do? 

784
00:37:25,840 --> 00:37:29,240
He told them to arm themselves, 
arm yourself, keep your sword 

785
00:37:29,240 --> 00:37:31,680
handy as you work. 
Yeah, it's the sword and the 

786
00:37:31,680 --> 00:37:35,000
trowel. 
You, your hand is on your sword.

787
00:37:35,000 --> 00:37:37,000
In fact, like at the at the end 
of the chapters, like they 

788
00:37:37,000 --> 00:37:39,960
didn't even really like leave 
their swords when they got a 

789
00:37:39,960 --> 00:37:42,240
bath. 
Like they went to bathe, right. 

790
00:37:42,400 --> 00:37:44,160
Their sword was right next to 
them the whole time. 

791
00:37:44,240 --> 00:37:47,680
Yeah. 
And so like his, his response is

792
00:37:47,680 --> 00:37:50,840
so it's so your response, like 
to to your example there is like

793
00:37:51,520 --> 00:37:54,320
you have to constantly be a 
like, aware that the 

794
00:37:54,320 --> 00:37:56,120
opposition's coming and fight 
against it. 

795
00:37:56,120 --> 00:37:59,000
Like you have to be ready to not
go on the attack. 

796
00:37:59,000 --> 00:38:01,840
I think that's I think that's 
the wrong language. 

797
00:38:02,040 --> 00:38:03,960
I don't think Nehemiah is 
saying, hey, let's go attack 

798
00:38:03,960 --> 00:38:05,920
them, right? 
It was from a defensive 

799
00:38:05,920 --> 00:38:09,800
position, but it didn't say, you
know, allow it to the opposition

800
00:38:09,800 --> 00:38:11,960
to come and overrun you and 
overtake you. 

801
00:38:13,320 --> 00:38:16,400
It's like, Nope, allow the 
opposition to come and when they

802
00:38:16,400 --> 00:38:17,840
come, defend yourself. 
Right. 

803
00:38:17,840 --> 00:38:20,200
So like. 
So like when things come against

804
00:38:20,200 --> 00:38:24,400
your wall building, what are you
doing about standing your guard,

805
00:38:24,400 --> 00:38:25,800
right? 
So that's the other thing, like,

806
00:38:25,800 --> 00:38:30,080
so like put protections in place
in your life, the guardrails in 

807
00:38:30,080 --> 00:38:31,760
place in your life. 
All right. 

808
00:38:31,760 --> 00:38:34,560
What is the sword that I need 
for to in order to like defend 

809
00:38:34,560 --> 00:38:36,680
against the opposition I know is
coming? 

810
00:38:36,880 --> 00:38:38,160
I don't know what it is for 
everybody. 

811
00:38:38,280 --> 00:38:40,160
Yeah. 
I don't have like real world 

812
00:38:40,160 --> 00:38:42,400
examples but. 
Well, I think just to make the 

813
00:38:42,400 --> 00:38:45,800
application that that Jake did 
in Ephesians chapter 6, I think 

814
00:38:45,800 --> 00:38:48,320
is helpful because I know I've 
heard a lot of people say it's 

815
00:38:48,320 --> 00:38:51,040
like most of the armor that you 
know, Paul mentions in Ephesians

816
00:38:51,040 --> 00:38:54,960
6 is defensive armor. 
And the only offensive, you know

817
00:38:54,960 --> 00:38:56,760
weapon is the sword. 
Which is the word of God. 

818
00:38:56,760 --> 00:38:59,480
Which is the word of God. 
And I think when we as believers

819
00:38:59,760 --> 00:39:03,720
are in the word of God every 
single day, those those things 

820
00:39:03,720 --> 00:39:06,400
are easier to see, right? 
If we're not in the word of God,

821
00:39:06,400 --> 00:39:07,720
it's easier for us to be 
deceived. 

822
00:39:07,720 --> 00:39:10,800
But every morning when we're 
being sharpened by God's word 

823
00:39:10,800 --> 00:39:13,960
and it's dividing between our 
soul and our spirit, every 

824
00:39:13,960 --> 00:39:17,280
single day, it's like it's a lot
easier to see how Satan is using

825
00:39:17,280 --> 00:39:20,120
the world to try to distract us.
And we can be on guard and we 

826
00:39:20,120 --> 00:39:22,880
go, not today, You know, I'm 
not. 

827
00:39:22,880 --> 00:39:24,400
I'm not. 
I'm not going there. 

828
00:39:24,400 --> 00:39:26,440
I'm not doing that right. 
I'm committed to what the Lord 

829
00:39:26,440 --> 00:39:27,360
wants me to do. 
Yeah. 

830
00:39:27,920 --> 00:39:31,640
Yeah, that's true. 
The sword is our is our weapon 

831
00:39:31,960 --> 00:39:33,840
and the sword in our, in our 
case is the word. 

832
00:39:35,480 --> 00:39:36,840
Yeah. 
So where do you see? 

833
00:39:36,840 --> 00:39:41,680
And this is like maybe our final
question, maybe this is too much

834
00:39:41,680 --> 00:39:44,200
for for the podcast like to put 
on the spot, but where do you 

835
00:39:44,200 --> 00:39:49,040
see Christ in Chapter 4? 
Where do I see Christ in chapter

836
00:39:49,040 --> 00:39:51,560
4? 
I think we touched on it some in

837
00:39:51,560 --> 00:39:56,080
the beginning, like this, like 
idea that like their judgement 

838
00:39:56,080 --> 00:40:00,600
is coming, Like Jesus didn't 
come just to like to bring 

839
00:40:00,600 --> 00:40:02,080
peace. 
You know, he came to judge. 

840
00:40:02,120 --> 00:40:03,800
Yeah. 
And so I think that's part of it

841
00:40:03,800 --> 00:40:04,800
for me. 
But what would you say? 

842
00:40:05,400 --> 00:40:08,840
Well, yeah, I mean, I'm just so 
opposition to the work, right? 

843
00:40:08,840 --> 00:40:11,760
Like when you think of Jesus's 
life, I mean, he was convinced 

844
00:40:12,560 --> 00:40:14,600
of God's plan, God's plan for 
his life. 

845
00:40:14,600 --> 00:40:16,600
He knew God's plan. 
He knew where he was going. 

846
00:40:16,600 --> 00:40:19,320
You know, he set his face to 
Jerusalem and he knew what he 

847
00:40:19,320 --> 00:40:22,480
had to do and all through his 
life it doesn't matter. 

848
00:40:23,080 --> 00:40:25,560
Peter tried to get in his way 
and said, oh, it's never going 

849
00:40:25,560 --> 00:40:27,200
to happen. 
No one's ever going to kill you.

850
00:40:27,200 --> 00:40:28,760
And he says, get behind me, 
Satan. 

851
00:40:29,200 --> 00:40:31,520
We see Satan at the very 
beginning of Jesus ministry, 

852
00:40:31,520 --> 00:40:32,680
right? 
You know, here, here's a 

853
00:40:32,680 --> 00:40:35,600
shortcut to ministry success. 
If you bow down and worship me, 

854
00:40:35,600 --> 00:40:38,800
I'll give you all the stuff. 
Judas tried to try to do it. 

855
00:40:38,840 --> 00:40:41,200
Yep, everybody. 
You know, all the leaders, like 

856
00:40:41,200 --> 00:40:43,960
they tried to make him king, the
people tried to make him king 

857
00:40:43,960 --> 00:40:46,040
and you know, he sneaks out. 
He knows this is not the Lord's 

858
00:40:46,040 --> 00:40:48,360
plan. 
And you know, even himself 

859
00:40:48,360 --> 00:40:53,200
praying in the garden, you know,
if there's another way, I'll go 

860
00:40:53,200 --> 00:40:55,040
that way, but not my will, but 
yours. 

861
00:40:55,040 --> 00:40:58,280
You know, I'm paraphrasing all 
of these things, but I think, 

862
00:40:58,920 --> 00:41:02,080
you know, he was, he knew what 
God's plan was for his life, 

863
00:41:02,080 --> 00:41:05,600
that he was going to be the 
sacrifice for all mankind. 

864
00:41:05,600 --> 00:41:07,840
He was going to be the once for 
all sacrifice that was going to 

865
00:41:07,840 --> 00:41:10,120
make a way for people to come to
God. 

866
00:41:10,120 --> 00:41:13,880
And so his God's plan for his 
life was so much bigger than 

867
00:41:13,880 --> 00:41:18,520
himself, and he opposed he he 
stood strong, I guess, in the 

868
00:41:18,520 --> 00:41:21,760
face of all of this opposition, 
everyone trying to get him to 

869
00:41:21,760 --> 00:41:24,560
deviate from the plan, but he 
was committed to what God 

870
00:41:24,560 --> 00:41:26,440
wanted. 
Similar patterns to of Nehemiah.

871
00:41:26,440 --> 00:41:27,720
Nehemiah's life was patterned by
what? 

872
00:41:27,720 --> 00:41:28,880
Prayer and then action. 
And then. 

873
00:41:28,880 --> 00:41:33,800
So we often see Jesus going out 
alone to pray to make sure that 

874
00:41:33,800 --> 00:41:35,160
he's in alignment with the 
Father. 

875
00:41:36,120 --> 00:41:37,680
Yeah, dude, yeah, that's really 
good. 

876
00:41:37,840 --> 00:41:41,800
Lots of different ways to to see
the parallel. 

877
00:41:41,920 --> 00:41:43,520
Yeah, right. 
And it's in there. 

878
00:41:43,520 --> 00:41:45,520
So I always want to try to draw 
that out. 

879
00:41:45,600 --> 00:41:48,080
Like if we can, like when we're 
thinking about, especially in 

880
00:41:48,080 --> 00:41:50,240
your Old Testament, easier. 
It's way easier in the New 

881
00:41:50,240 --> 00:41:53,720
Testament to find Christ in in 
the text, but a little bit 

882
00:41:53,720 --> 00:41:55,880
harder sometimes. 
But I don't think it was that 

883
00:41:55,880 --> 00:41:57,160
hard. 
You can get it on the spot. 

884
00:41:57,840 --> 00:42:00,440
So you did a good job putting 
you on the spot. 

885
00:42:00,440 --> 00:42:02,040
Sorry. 
I think it gets easier the more 

886
00:42:02,040 --> 00:42:03,760
you do it right. 
I mean, I think the more, the 

887
00:42:03,760 --> 00:42:04,800
more you begin to think about 
it. 

888
00:42:04,800 --> 00:42:07,360
And, and again, there may be to 
explain the reason that we do 

889
00:42:07,360 --> 00:42:11,760
this is because Jesus, you know,
after rising from the dead, he, 

890
00:42:11,800 --> 00:42:15,560
he meet, he met these these two 
men on the road to Emmaus and 

891
00:42:15,560 --> 00:42:17,920
they're trying to figure out 
what all this meant, right? 

892
00:42:17,920 --> 00:42:18,920
They're like, Hey, what are you 
Jesus? 

893
00:42:18,920 --> 00:42:20,040
Like what are you guys talking 
about? 

894
00:42:20,480 --> 00:42:22,080
Where have you been hiding under
a rock? 

895
00:42:23,080 --> 00:42:24,160
They're like, where have you 
been? 

896
00:42:24,160 --> 00:42:26,480
And it's like, man, this Jesus 
was here. 

897
00:42:26,920 --> 00:42:28,960
He did all these miracles. 
He did all this teaching. 

898
00:42:29,520 --> 00:42:32,920
We thought he was the Christ and
then he died and then he was 

899
00:42:32,920 --> 00:42:35,520
buried, but then he was. 
Now we hear this report that 

900
00:42:35,520 --> 00:42:37,640
he's raised from the dead and 
it's like we have no idea what's

901
00:42:37,640 --> 00:42:39,840
going on. 
Like we're just so confused. 

902
00:42:40,120 --> 00:42:42,720
And then he just goes, man, you 
guys are just so slow of heart 

903
00:42:42,720 --> 00:42:46,200
to believe all that was written 
in the prophets in the law and 

904
00:42:46,200 --> 00:42:48,440
it beginning with the law, 
beginning with the prophets. 

905
00:42:48,440 --> 00:42:52,320
He showed him how all of the Old
Testament, what we call the Old 

906
00:42:52,320 --> 00:42:54,400
Testament, how it all pointed to
him. 

907
00:42:55,320 --> 00:42:58,800
It was all fulfilled in him. 
And so we get our, our 

908
00:42:58,800 --> 00:43:01,240
understanding of, of how now to 
read scripture. 

909
00:43:01,400 --> 00:43:04,920
Now we don't just read it like 
it's, it's just a, a good 

910
00:43:04,920 --> 00:43:06,880
history lesson that we learn 
from. 

911
00:43:07,120 --> 00:43:10,720
It's like, no, somehow, some 
way, this is now pointing us 

912
00:43:10,720 --> 00:43:13,440
forward in a way that it points 
to Christ. 

913
00:43:13,840 --> 00:43:17,120
And there's a fulfillment in 
Christ that, you know, Nehemiah 

914
00:43:17,120 --> 00:43:19,440
does an excellent job following 
the Lord's leading. 

915
00:43:19,440 --> 00:43:23,240
And you know, he, all of these 
stories are men and women who 

916
00:43:23,240 --> 00:43:26,160
stood up in the face of trials. 
And then we're faithful to what 

917
00:43:26,160 --> 00:43:27,920
God was asking to do in that 
moment. 

918
00:43:28,120 --> 00:43:31,040
But ultimately, it finds its 
fulfillment in Christ because 

919
00:43:31,040 --> 00:43:34,680
it's all pointing us there. 
And so Christ is the fulfillment

920
00:43:34,760 --> 00:43:38,040
of all the law, all the 
prophets, and it finds its 

921
00:43:38,040 --> 00:43:41,320
fulfillment in him. 
And now we don't need to build a

922
00:43:41,320 --> 00:43:43,560
wall anymore. 
We don't need to have a place 

923
00:43:43,560 --> 00:43:47,800
where we go so that we can 
congregate as a nation and be 

924
00:43:47,800 --> 00:43:50,440
protected from other nations. 
Our mandate is to make 

925
00:43:50,440 --> 00:43:53,480
disciples. 
And so we go forward in Christ, 

926
00:43:53,480 --> 00:43:55,440
you know, sharing the gospel 
with everybody. 

927
00:43:56,320 --> 00:43:58,560
And so and so it's helpful for 
us. 

928
00:43:58,560 --> 00:44:01,560
But I think the more that we do 
that, right, the more that I've 

929
00:44:01,560 --> 00:44:05,360
been encouraging people, it's 
like, you know, read, read the 

930
00:44:05,360 --> 00:44:09,040
Old Testament, understand what 
it's saying in the context of 

931
00:44:09,040 --> 00:44:11,160
what it's saying. 
And then when you're done 

932
00:44:11,160 --> 00:44:13,560
explaining that, now begin to 
think about, well, how does 

933
00:44:13,560 --> 00:44:15,800
this, how does this point me to 
Christ, right? 

934
00:44:15,800 --> 00:44:18,160
What can I learn about this and 
how does it point me to Christ? 

935
00:44:18,680 --> 00:44:20,760
And I think the more that you 
just, the more you do that, I 

936
00:44:20,760 --> 00:44:24,280
think the easier it gets. 
Maybe not always easy, but yeah,

937
00:44:24,440 --> 00:44:26,200
the more natural it becomes I 
guess is a better. 

938
00:44:26,200 --> 00:44:28,160
Way right. 
It's almost it's it's almost 

939
00:44:28,160 --> 00:44:30,680
impossible for a Christian to 
not read the scriptures as a 

940
00:44:30,680 --> 00:44:33,400
Christian. 
So like, like it just happens to

941
00:44:33,400 --> 00:44:36,840
start you start to see yeah, 
like as you're reading it as God

942
00:44:36,920 --> 00:44:40,560
opens your eyes to behold the 
wonderful things in his law he's

943
00:44:40,560 --> 00:44:43,360
showing you and it's all about 
him and it's all about his son. 

944
00:44:43,360 --> 00:44:45,320
And then how it all fulfils is 
exactly right so well. 

945
00:44:45,440 --> 00:44:48,400
And that's probably a really 
good point to bring up that we 

946
00:44:48,400 --> 00:44:51,320
never, never read Scripture in 
our own wisdom or understanding,

947
00:44:51,320 --> 00:44:53,120
right? 
Like we cannot understand it 

948
00:44:53,120 --> 00:44:56,160
apart from the Holy Spirit. 
And so if you want to see Christ

949
00:44:56,160 --> 00:44:59,040
more in the Scriptures, then be 
praying for that, be praying for

950
00:44:59,040 --> 00:45:00,520
the Holy Spirit to open your 
eyes. 

951
00:45:00,720 --> 00:45:04,040
Yeah, for sure. 
You're preaching Sunday? 

952
00:45:04,320 --> 00:45:06,640
Yes, Sir. 
Coming up, Nehemiah 5. 

953
00:45:07,120 --> 00:45:09,080
Nehemiah 5 you. 
Already got you. 

954
00:45:09,080 --> 00:45:11,280
Already got it done I guess. 
No, not done. 

955
00:45:11,840 --> 00:45:13,200
I got my outline. 
Awesome. 

956
00:45:13,320 --> 00:45:16,080
I'm looking forward to it. 
You have any kind of insight on 

957
00:45:16,080 --> 00:45:17,720
it yet? 
You can say no. 

958
00:45:18,200 --> 00:45:22,240
I, I I some it's, it's good. 
I mean I. 

959
00:45:22,440 --> 00:45:24,080
Am doing a great job putting in 
the spot. 

960
00:45:24,680 --> 00:45:27,880
It's really interesting how like
I think sort of the transition 

961
00:45:27,880 --> 00:45:30,120
for me is it's like, well now 
like we've had a lot of 

962
00:45:30,120 --> 00:45:33,680
opposition from the outside and 
you alluded to like some, some 

963
00:45:33,680 --> 00:45:35,600
opposition from the inside and. 
It's still grumbling. 

964
00:45:35,600 --> 00:45:37,720
Yeah, yeah, it kind of got shut 
down quick. 

965
00:45:37,720 --> 00:45:39,440
Exactly. 
And it's going to get a lot more

966
00:45:39,440 --> 00:45:41,120
pointed. 
And so now it's like now we 

967
00:45:41,120 --> 00:45:44,400
transition from outside 
opposition to inside opposition 

968
00:45:44,880 --> 00:45:47,160
and how they were causing 
problems themselves, right? 

969
00:45:47,160 --> 00:45:48,520
Like they were not helping them 
themselves. 

970
00:45:48,520 --> 00:45:52,720
And now we see problems like now
we're fighting within and just 

971
00:45:52,920 --> 00:45:56,360
once again being emphasized that
like God, God loves all people 

972
00:45:56,360 --> 00:46:00,280
and specifically people who are 
are vulnerable and oppressed and

973
00:46:00,280 --> 00:46:02,760
are in a position to be taken 
advantage of by other people. 

974
00:46:02,760 --> 00:46:06,080
God cares about those people. 
And you know, we need to be 

975
00:46:07,080 --> 00:46:10,120
diligent to care for them, to 
love them, to minister to them, 

976
00:46:10,120 --> 00:46:12,000
to protect them. 
Very good. 

977
00:46:13,040 --> 00:46:15,200
Well, that's awesome, man. 
I think we can wrap it on there 

978
00:46:15,280 --> 00:46:16,920
like right at that point. 
Is that OK with you? 

979
00:46:16,920 --> 00:46:23,680
Yeah, I enjoyed chatting about 
imprecatory prayer and it's just

980
00:46:23,680 --> 00:46:26,320
a fun thing to think about fun. 
It's not fun, but at the same 

981
00:46:26,320 --> 00:46:27,600
time it's it's interesting, 
right? 

982
00:46:27,600 --> 00:46:31,040
It's an interesting thing that 
happens in Scripture and also 

983
00:46:31,280 --> 00:46:34,960
how how it all points to Christ.
So I'll close in prayer today. 

984
00:46:34,960 --> 00:46:36,040
I'll put you on the spot so 
much. 

985
00:46:36,640 --> 00:46:39,680
I'll close this out in prayer. 
LMC, we are praying for you. 

986
00:46:40,520 --> 00:46:42,920
Let us know how specifically. 
If you have a quest, we'd love 

987
00:46:42,920 --> 00:46:45,520
to hear from you. 
Well, let me pray, Father, thank

988
00:46:45,520 --> 00:46:49,200
you for the book of Nehemiah. 
Thank you for my brother Joe 

989
00:46:49,200 --> 00:46:52,000
here and my brother Jake who 
preached the sermon on Sunday. 

990
00:46:52,000 --> 00:46:55,720
I pray that you would, that you 
would use your word to open our 

991
00:46:55,720 --> 00:47:01,040
eyes to understand the wonderful
things in your law because your 

992
00:47:01,040 --> 00:47:04,040
law points to you. 
And so we pray that you would, 

993
00:47:04,360 --> 00:47:10,560
would continually reveal to us 
in the Scriptures the truth of, 

994
00:47:10,680 --> 00:47:14,440
of Jesus and his and, and the 
grace that is shown through his 

995
00:47:14,440 --> 00:47:17,520
sacrifice. 
And Lord, I pray that we would 

996
00:47:17,960 --> 00:47:24,120
that we would be steadfast in 
our commitment to you, steadfast

997
00:47:24,120 --> 00:47:27,200
in, in wall building in the, in 
what you've given us the, the 

998
00:47:27,200 --> 00:47:31,320
task that you've given us to do.
And Lord, I pray that that we 

999
00:47:31,320 --> 00:47:35,240
would not be failures in that. 
So for your name's sake. 

1000
00:47:35,520 --> 00:47:38,800
And so, Lord, we pray this in in
Jesus name, Amen, Amen. 

1001
00:47:40,080 --> 00:47:40,720
Have a great day.