Nehemiah 8-13 | From Rubble to Revival | Philip Anthony Mitchell

hi and welcome to the victory Church podcast we're so glad you could join us if this ministry has impacted you in any way we'd love to hear all about it please send us an email at share and victory Church ATO dot org we pray this message will speak to your heart I'll take all of you for being here this morning if you are a guest we want to welcome you to victory Church and welcome you to our 11:30 gathering so thankful that you choose to be with us here this morning if you're watching us on YouTube or on podcasts or on our victory Church ETL app we want to welcome all of our online family or watch us from cities across the country and from countries around the world we're so thankful that you are tuned in to what we are doing here in Atlanta at Victory Church this is the final week of a prophetic teaching series called Nehemiah and for the last seven weeks we have been walking through the Old Testament book of Nehemiah and today we will conclude that series by doing a quick flyover the last six chapters of the book of Nehemiah will walk through chapter 8 through 13 together today in our time Nehemiah chapter 8 I just want to read you a portion of this text we were jumping to the proclamation of God's Word when the seventh month came and all the Israelites had settled in their towns all the people assembled as one men in the square before the water gate you told Ezra the scribe to bring out the book of the law of Moses which the Lord had commanded for Israel so on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought out the law before the assembly which was made up of men and women and all who could understand he read it aloud from daybreak until noon and she faced the square before the water gate in the presence of the men the women and others who could understand and all the people listened attentively to the book of the law as with the scribe stood on a high of wooden platform built for the occasion beside him on his right hand with all these godly men verse five as we opened the book and all the people could see him because he was standing above them and as he opened and all the people stood up and Ezra praised the Lord the great God and all the people lifted their hands and responded amen and amen and they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground then the Levites all these godly men instructed the people in the law while the people were standing there they read from the book of the law making it clear and given the meaning so that people could understand what was being read then Nehemiah the governor Ezra the priest and scribe and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all this day is sacred to the Lord your God do not mourn do not weep for all the people have been weeping as they listen to the words of the law Nehemiah said to them go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks and send some to those who have nothing prepared this day is sacred to the Lord Nehemiah commanded the people do not grieve for the joy of the Lord it is your strength I want to tag this last message the tag of our series from rubble to revival spirit of the Living God we thank you for your presence us in this room right now pretty would move and breathe on our hearts as we sit and listen to the proclamation of your word a prayer you give us revelation and insight from your word that you would speak to all hearts directly from the pages of your word we Bree brought all the more closer to your word as a result of our time here together we come against every distraction and find every spirit but the Holy Spirit thank you Lord for this time we have together to worship you freely and to enjoy the proclamation of your word now a time together be blessed in Christ's name I pray amen and they men will help me honor the worship team to bed [Applause] I want to start this message and close out the series by drawing your attention to one word and the word is brokenness brokenness unspoken reality for many people who are far away from the grace of God an unspoken reality for many people right now in this room brokenness when Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem 445 BC he did not only find the rubble of a broken wall but he found the rubble of broken people and broken lives and in a very real sense beyond the people in our text every single person in this room every person watching this message all of us are broken in some capacity we are broken first because of original sin that theologically we all arrived here broken there is no man nor woman no matter their fame stature or financial socio-economic status who is not broken as a result of original sin we are broken no matter how well we mask that no matter what our titles and position is no matter what office we hold right now we all are broken because of original sin no matter how strong we preach or how strong we sing even the person with the microphone right now is broken because we all arrived here broken there is only one person who walked the earth who was not broken and he died on the cross for you and me besides from the brokenness we have from original sin we are all on the mean I said we all many of us are struggling with areas of brokenness there is much brokenness represented in this there is much brokenness watching me right now across YouTube in podcast brokenness from insecurities that us deep in our soul self-hatred that we have when we look in the mirror there many of us delivered brokenness because we feel unloved or unworthy here many of us dealing with brokenness because of some season from our past or some scar that we have was something that we're dealing with shame that we don't like to talk about there's brokenness in this room from people who don't feel loved from people around them the abandonment of mothers and fathers betrayal of people that we love their brokenness in this room from people who are struggling with disease and sickness and crying out and still have not found reprieved is the brokenness of people who aren't just weary and tired from life there's the brokenness in this room from people's minds who are overwhelmed with thoughts of their past and we sleep but we don't get rest we wake up tired because our minds have been going all night there's the brokenness of hearts in this room the brokenness of identity the brokenness of gender the brokenness of marriages the brokenness of relationship if we were just right on a car and just be honest for just a moment man this room right now is replete with brokenness so was the condition of God's holy people imagine a people who God created to represent his name in the earth people he set apart from every other people group on the world the Jewish nation of people who were supposed to be the name of Yahweh a people who could not understand that through the laws God had given them all he wanted to do is show people in the earth what God was like through a people group and so he gave them promises and he gave them commands and he put his name on them he delivered them from slavery with a mighty hand with signs and wonders and one of the greatest deliverances the world has ever known these people the Jewish nation a great and mighty ethnic group of people who God Almighty Yahweh Jehovah sealed them as the chosen people first to carry his name and his glory in order so that other people groups can see that there is a God in heaven and we see him through this people group but they would fall prey to the same things we fall prey to they will fall in love with other things other than God we do that well that on the throne of their heart they would evict God from the throne of their heart and they would fall in love with other gods and they would make love affairs with idols and all men of other kings and nations and as a result of that for hundreds and hundreds of years the people of God would just drift from the presence and the laws of God until they find themselves in a state of utter brokenness and disaster a good window into the condition of the lives of the people of God in the days of Nehemiah could be found in the Old Testament book of Malachi who unnamed my son after his name means a special messenger from God when we open up the Bible to the four chapters in Malachi and we read them what we see in the four chapters of Malachi we see the state of the Jewish people during the days of Nehemiah because Malachi and Nehemiah were contemporaries they were alive at the same time and so the Ministry of Malachi as he's preaching to the people of God gives us a window into the condition and the state of the Jewish race in the days of Nehemiah he would be the last person to preach watch so deplorable was the state of the Jewish race man this will be the last person God sends to preach to them before God would go silent for 400 before the birth of Jesus the people's lives were so broken and such in a deplorable state they were what my wife would call a hot mess we see God's heart reaching out to them in the book of Malachi and one verse in particular that stands out to me Malachi chapter one and verse six when God cries out to them and he says a son honors a father and a servant honors his master and he cries out to these broken people who have strayed away from him in sin and debauchery and rebellion he cries out to them he said if I am a father where is the honor do me if I am a master where is the respect do me says the Lord God Almighty man you say you love me but you worship other things more than me you say you love me but you love other things more than me was I not the one that delivers you from Egypt yet you made a golden calf get that glory how many times do God moving on behalf and something else gets the glory man was I not the one that delivered you from slavery and then you gave something you fashioned the glory was I'm not the one that fed you when you was in the wilderness and you gave something else for glory was I'm not the one that protected you fed you gave you clothes kept you let you by day led you by night but you keep giving other things the glory you give your job the glory you give your husband the glory you give your wife the glory you give your preacher the glory y'all know what I'm talking about you give your house to glory you give your car the glory you give your bank account the glory I am the one behind all of your blessings but every time you open your mouth something else keeps getting that glory and God after hundreds of years of dealing with the people or pursuing their sin and their flesh and other gods and they are sleeping with other lovers they are full of adultery and abomination he breaks his silence with the Prophet Malachi and he cries out to the minister if I am your father if I am Jehovah Jireh if I am Yahweh if I am your God then where's the honor that's do me if I am your Lord where is the honor to me when I look at your posts when I look at your social media when I look at your lifestyle when I look at your relationships if I am the God you claim to serve where is the honor do me where is the respect do me it's like the Prophet baby said put some respect on my name y'all are so far away from me you so love your sin you so love your rebellion you so love your ways man if I'm the God you say I am he said to them where is the honor due me they stopped they sacrifices they stopped their worship there was desecrating the temple the priests or the preachers were morally corrupt they were stealing money it was worth holding the tides God told those priests and those people you were robbing from me because you was withholding the time that belonged to me he called them thieves he cursed those priests and some people preached us wrong right they think man they their God wanted their tithe and made him to give their time so God cursed them that's not what the text said in Malachi he said you're already cursed because of your sin and your giving was an invitation for me to lift you from that curse people preach that rule to try to manipulate people into time they ain't giving said if you don't tithe they're gonna be curse that's not what the scripture says that's what we need Bible teachers he said your whole nation was already cursed and me said give me that time was an invitation for me to lift the curse that was already on you he says not a foul and disrespectful people and so by the time the amaya shows up to Jerusalem these are the people he sees people who are far away from God in their rebellion and sin and their idolatry and adultery's broken disgraceful shamed they crawled back to Jerusalem after 70 years of captivity they even know their own identity sometimes you can go through a season so painful you lose your own identity you come out they not even knowing who you are has anybody ever been through something so painful that it even stripped you of your identity I know what it is to go through something so painful that you come up the campus wondering who am i I gotta go back and reclaim my identity but you go you could give yourself away in a bad relationship so long strip you of your identity you come I thought I was better than this I can't believe I love you I can't believe I'm in a relationship with you I can't believe I'm laying down with you how good girls get stripped of their identity by bad boys and how good men get stripped of that didn t buy bad women sometimes you can go through something so long and so painful that that thing can strip you of your identity the Jewish nation carried off captive to a foreign country taught them their language their cultures their ways like Christians in the world get stripped of the identity doors of their culture their ways their language now they can't tell the difference between the church in the world because we are relinquishing our identity doesn't want to talk to me in this room we can't tell y'all apart not act the same way now post the same way now live the same way not talk the same way we can't tell y'all apart the world stripping the church in America of its identity when the last time I read the scriptures we the church is supposed to be a holy people a royal priesthood that word holy don't mean I flew in and me apart set apart I walk around like I'm set apart I love others like I'm set apart I preach like I'm set apart I'm gonna work like I said apart I sit in my cubicle like that set apart I pray for my neighbor like I'm set apart I love my enemies like I'm set apart so they were stripped of their identity their language their culture their persona they were a other disgrace is what Nehemiah found broken bruised bewildered tired weary some of y'all can't even speak the language yet he gathers these beep paper people to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem this is powerful the same way Jesus gathered people the world would never choose to be the first apostles to build the Christian Church I love the fact that God likes to choose people that he will perfect [Applause] we say he did not come to seek those who don't need a doctor he came to those who are not well there was these broken people that Nehemiah rally to do a great cause because you don't have to be a perfect people to do something great that God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things the man we preach about worked a government job he'll use a stay-at-home mom to do something great as these people at Nehemiah rally to build a wall watch this and the wall was built you heard that last week watch no more rubble of bricks now the only rubble that remains is the rubble of human lives the builders with broken lives the wall is constructed but their lives are deconstructed the wall is tall but the people are short the wall is strong but the people are weak and the loving leader does not leave them in that condition he could've just stopped and said let's celebrate the wall is up but because he can't deeply about the people he said now that we dealt with the rubble of the broken walls now let's deal with the rubble of the broken lives and so how does nehemiah help broken people how does the broken people in this room get helped another lover another bad relationship more money an increase at the job on your salary a bigger house will fix my brokenness now a new car will fix my brokenness nah let me go 20 inch rims on my joy that'll fix my brokenness a new wardrobe will fix my brokenness some man to love me to make me feel affirmed is gonna fix my brokenness now you'll get the man and still be broken at night while he's laying right next to you boo more bundles is gonna fix my brokenness more J's is gonna fix my brokenness isn't this what we do we keep adding on life with all these things and then wake up and we still broken I keep laying down next to stuff and waking up empty I lay down next to new things and wake up empty my iPhone 11 still left me broken [Applause] because the truth of the matter is everything we try to lay down with we think it's gonna fix us we just have it for a little bit of time and we realize it still leaves us broken so how did a loving leader help the broken people who just rebuilt the walls how do you help broken people Nehemiah chapter 8 verse 1 when the seventh month came and all the Israelites had settled in their towns all the people assembled as one man what does that mean that they came out together watch in unity in unity the psalmist wrote in Psalm 133 how pleasant and good it is for brothers dwell together in unity it's like oil that was poured on Aaron's bread and ran down his beard why because there is an anointing of power that comes from God when people are unified that's why if the enemy wants to dismantle a couple he just bring discord if he wants to dismantle a cause he just bring discord if he wants to dismantle a church he will just bring discord if he can't get the Shepherd he would just dismantle the unity in the body that's why I take discerning people to recognize wait a second this is the devil behavior and where there are wise discerning Christians what they fight for unity even if it means I confront you so that we can have unity Lena we need to talk about this see you miss that Lena we need to talk about this because you've been mad at me for like half the day I'm confronting you so we could come back to unity I don't like that right and we're real mature we fight for unity and we mature we check our old selves and say I'm not gonna be involved in this because I'm not gonna dismantle the unity [Applause] but if it comes down it won't be because of me or my mouth or my ways or my actions oh my god stop on my disco or my bitterness mature believers check that in their own heart because they understand the cause watch this is greater than community they miss that because the cause is greater than community pass I don't understand why are we all in this room together our cause brought us together what do we find when we come together for course community friends but then when we unwise we start choosing friends over the course so now a bad relationship can make me toxic and I choose that over the course not remembering that it was the cause that created [Applause] it was the course that created community but when we are foolish rituals community over the course when we are wise we check our relationships to Mitchell we fight for unity so we can gather like they did as one man with one language we exist to lift up Christ and retrieve the loss and power people we won't stop spreading the gospel until [Music] [Applause] [Applause] so they told Ezra the priest these people are broken we need to fix their lives they don't need no counseling what do they need answer describe bring out the book of the law as well these people are broken bring us the Word of God the people are broken bring us the Word of God bring us the law of Moses the Pentateuch the first five books of the Bible let's check them Genesis reminds us that God is a creator he is the origin of all blessings and things exodus remind us that when we were enslaved in Egypt it was God who delivered us with a mighty hair Leviticus remind us that you told preachers to be holy and you gave commands for the people to live righteously numbers remind us that when we was on the way to the promised land we got cute and rebelled against you so you made us go around the wilderness for forty years killed a group of people and then you gave us a second chance because he's the god of another chance anybody thankful for the god of another chance if you're thankful for the god of a second chance give them about 15 seconds of pray the second chance got a second chance [Music] give us Deuteronomy remind us of all of your blessings Deuteronomy chapter 28 watch give us that word Nehemiah recognized the brokenness of the people and his response to their brokenness was the Word of God what do you use to remedy your brokenness what's his name what's its name when I'm hurting at night sometimes I don't need a pill I need a song I don't need a bottle I need a song I don't need a book I need a son I just need a song I need this scripture that says Psalm 34 the Lord is near to the brokenhearted and he raises those who are crushed in spirit that'll do more for you than a bottle any day [Applause] [Music] I'm not not gonna sip every now and then but Psalm 34 would do more for you than a bottle of Grey Goose stop trying to act all holy let me try this again I said a song would do more for you than a bottle of Grey Goose ain't that right baby I'm not not gonna sip but some of us we numb ourselves with vices and still wake up broken at some point time we got a real life that vices will never satisfy our brokenness that healing must come from the Word of God you've been to how many counselors you finish how many bottles you smoked how many blunts and you come down off that high and you're still broken and at some point time I look to that thing but dust on the shelf and then tears at 11:45 at night see I'm telling you my own life while your wife is in bed behind you you open it up to proverbs and psalms and although I can't read myself out of my circumstance I could read myself into peace I read myself into piece I read myself into encouragement I read myself into strength I read my tears from tears of sorrow I transformed them into tears of joy I read my confusion into clarity I could read myself into fire and notice what the text says give me back my text it says bring out the book of the law the word out is powerful we ain't gonna do this in the temple we're gonna do this outside under the pavilion of God you know why cuz they don't matter if you gather in a building that the Word of God is not being preached how many people every Sunday in America are gathering in buildings where the Word of God is not being preached they need to come out from out of there and they said give me the Word of God then we want the Torah over the temple oh they missed that we want the word of our structure what good is our structure if we don't have the Bible what good is the temple if we don't got the Torah man bring out the Word of God and read it to us verse 2 so on the first day of the seventh month as where the priest brought out the law before the assembly which was made up of men and women and all who can understand and he read it aloud from daybreak until noon from daybreak until noon from daybreak until noon he read that joint from the time the Sun came up until it was 12 noon for six straight hours he read the Bible to them we can't even handle a service for an hour hour and a half god forbid we go two hours at three hours god forbid I know you gotta get out and I know you were in a rush man we'd be rushing to get back out there into the devil's camp man these people stood there for six hours and said read to us the Word of God we want all of the word and notice the text they say as for preach to them his words because we love the doctrines of men and we love people that make us excited and we love your 4 o'clock a.m. Revelation humble I to give a damn about your 4 o'clock a.m. revelation if it can't be supported I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I gotta stop saying that word I'm sorry I'm sorry don't nobody give a darn about your 4:00 a.m. revelation if it can't be supported by the Word of God we love people that always got opinions you preach this stuff from Google that can't be supported from the Word of God you know what we need an America Bible preaching and teaching the law somebody said give me the word that's a we should demand of America's preaching give us the word is what we should demand of our pastors give us the word is what we should demand of our children's workers give us the word are we making fans are we making disciples you can't make disciples without the word you can't make a church healthy without the word and large don't mean healthy there's a lot of large churches that are sick and anemic because we got sermons without the word that's why I'm an expository teacher take you through the Bible lie upon line precept upon precept I'm gonna give you the word even when it ain't sexy they did that for six hours verse four as where the scribe stood on a high wooden platform who I love this built for the occasion and beside him to his right hand the right hand is the hand of favor on his right hand was all these godly men it says watch they built a platform for the occasion this is our first pulpit so why the pastor got to be up there this is the way they was doing it they built a platform for the occasion why so everybody can see and hear the word of God but I like the fact they said they built a platform for the occasion watch that means they prepared to hear the word of God ooh you missed that they prepared to hear the word of God let me ask you a question do you prepare your heart on Sundays to hear the word of God or do you just drag in here so callously saying impress me preacher no my wife and I are listening to worship music on the way to the gathering because we're building a platform for the Word of God they built it with wood we built it with our spirit we build a platform in our hearts to prepare ourselves for the preaching of the word of God I they're nasty and I ain't going in there with this drama I'm gonna listen to this on the way there let me get my heart right let me build a spiritual platform in my car to prepare myself to hear the word of God something changes when you come in with anticipation because you built a platform to hear the Word of God to people can hear the same sermon and be differently impacted because one person prepared themselves through here's the word it'd be stuff like on the way to church I'll be praying like Lord give me a word when I get there God put a word in my pastor's mouth let him say something that's not even in this outline for me and you start building a platform in your heart to hear the word of God why because the Word of God is alive it's active so as is being preached it might hit different people different ways and speak directly to your area of need because you came and saying God speak to my heart today you can build a spiritual platform to prepare yourself to hear the word of God he did that with 13 dudes on his right hand saying hey man I can't do this alone I need goons with me I need real men and God with me I need people who are mature full of wisdom and the Holy Spirit who could hold me down in the ministry because we understand the cause as much greater than ourselves so he had 13 dudes on his right hand why that we can't do this by ourselves pride makes this thing we could do ministry on our own verse 7 the Levites all those godly men watch instructed the people in the law while the people were standing there so once he had a teaching team he wasn't a ball hog he was a man because pastor Phil wasn't preaching on Sunday Azra had the book but other men are teaching also met my cravings is preaching i'm math eric is breech and i'm mad elder milton is preaching up mad like the Word of God is chained to one man's mouth and so Ezra was not the only person teaching Oh Tiana but these other thirteen dudes was also teaching and he used a teaching team to mature the people in the Word of God because it's good to have other voices sometimes some mature us in the Word of God verse 9 then Nehemiah the governor Ezra the priest and scribe and the Levites who were instructing the people together said to them all watch this day is sacred to the Lord your God do not mourn do not we I want to tell somebody who was crying last night do not mourn tonight and do not weep your circumstance may not change but your perspective can change even right now Who am I talking to have God before you who can be against you you are the head and not the tail you want the first enough to last you are above and not beneath I'm just pouring the Bible to you I want to tell somebody go for tonight don't weep and don't more he said for all the people have been weeping as they listen to the Word of God why would they be crying as they listen to the Word of God as we read to them the Scriptures what they realized I am broken as he read to them the Word of God they realized I'm broken they realized they were in sin they realized they had rebelled against God they realized these seventy years we were in captivity it was because of our rebellion we we did not know God created us as his holy people we did not know he put his seal on us we did not know he delivered our ancestors from slavery we did not know he sold signs and wonders into heaven we did not know he gave us all these promises we did not know that we was ratchet before him man there's something about the Word of God to read the human heart to make us realize I did not know I was broken in this area man the Word of God says to forgive I did not know having unforgiveness was wrong the Word of God says to love your enemies I did not know having bitterness and resentment was wrong the Word of God says be faithful I didn't know being unfaithful was wrong and as they heard the word of God like we hear the word of God and should do two things to us the weight of God's Word should make us see our brokenness and the weight of oolagah of gods were to make us reach out to the only person who can fix our brokenness which is the author of the scriptures a loving father does not just break you and leave you a loving father will break you and then repair you so the word breaks and repairs what it is a sanctifying agent like antiseptic on a tub that's what good Bible teaching does it steps on my toes and it empowers me in the same message you'll miss that all together that's what good Bible teaching does it confronts me and it grows me it challenges me and it comforts me and gives me cos and it gives me hope somebody say I'll say glory that's what the scripture does you missed that somebody shout out shall glory that's what the scripture does when we read it when it's properly taught it makes us say ow but an appointment of the person that says met glory verse 10 then Nehemiah said to them everybody go watch and he said rejoice and he choice food why because this was the first day of the seventh month this was the beginning of the Feast of Trumpets a time of celebration everybody watch then he said go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks oh my god this is so powerful and send some to those to those who have nothing look what he said I want you to go and have a good time and remember the people that don't have why because there is joy and generosity that's what another sermon right with Holden makes people miserable see people are miserable giving makes you feel lifted you should try it sometime help somebody one of the greatest things you ever do with your life and I've taught this to the church that teaches to my family is give bring value to the lives of others without expecting anything in return give value brave value to the lives of others without expecting anything in return be a giver so watch wait oh so everybody watch this verse is important it is a bombshell go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks and send some to those who have nothing this day is sacred to the Lord and he says to them do not grieve for the joy of the Lord is your strength he said the joy of the Lord is your strength I want to preach this he said the joy of the Lord is your strength he said don't grieve don't be sad don't shed another tear today he told them he said the joy of the Lord is your strength this verse is so powerful and it's so needed because it reminds us that we all grow weak and tired sometimes but it tells us where our strength comes home and says the joy of the Lord is our strength and joy is not happiness happiness a joy of two different things happiness is connected to happenings that things have to be right for me to be happy joy is an inner state of being it's a quiet assurance rooted and who God is what he has done what he is doing and what he will do joy is not going to get to anything that's movable so it's not connected to anything you can touch not house not card not anything sometimes we feel all that euphoria when we get things that's new we think that is joy that's happiness joy you really know you have joy when you're going through pain and you still have joy it was the Apostle Paul who wrote an entire book called Philippians an entire book four chapters about joy from a Roman prison we know you got joy when you're going through hell and can still give God praise so he said the joy of the Lord is your strength watch this is important for the believer because this tells us for those of us who are followers of the Lord that our joy our strength is connected to joy our strength is connected to joy our strength is connected to joy our strength is connected to joy I'm gonna tell I'm gonna help you your strength it's gonna you feel weak you need joy you feel tired you need joy you lose vitality you feel joy lunch your strength in this room is connected to joy that's why the devil will do everything he can to take joy away from you you think he's after your stuff nah he's after your joy he just attacked he just will attack things that are attached to you to try to rob you of joy because if we can get your joy he will have your strength what and when we are weak we are vulnerable and we make bad decisions pastor what about that bombshell you've been reading this for years Tomo will enjoy the Lord's my strength and so you've been thinking your joy your strength give me the text it doesn't say your joy is your strength I'm not to mess up your whole theology because all your Christian life you thought your joy was your strength the text says do not grieve for the joy of the Lord is your strength the joy of a person is your strength pastor I don't get it the joy of the Lord is your strength his joy is my strength the Lord's joy is my strength his joy is my strength that's both the joy he gives and his personal joy is my strength then if I'm wise the next question I asked myself is what is his joy well the right of Hebrews tells us what was the joy of the Lord he said for the joy set before him Jesus endured the cross scorning its shame and then sat down at the right hand of the Father that the Lord looked at the cross and he had joy what was his joy delivering you from your sin was his joy reconciling you to himself versus joy saving you was his joy rescuing you what's his joy and touring the clothes for you what's his joy what Denis joy is that I know that I'm loved I know that I'm saved I know that my name is written in heaven I know I belong to God I know no matter what happens to me in this life so it's when I'm going to hell in my home in my mind and in my heart and hell in my circumstance I get a flashback of my rescue I get a flashback of the love of God I get a flashback of the clause and then I find strength and who God is and what he has done for me and what he's doing right now and what he's gonna do why is that important pastor Phillip why because nothing can move that no circumstance can move that no loss of a job can move that no loss of a business can move that no betrayal can move that no loss of a friend anything in this life [Music] when I'm depressed I get a flashback of the cross and I find joy remember my heart is heavy I get a flashback of the cross and I find joy but I'm shedding tears I remember the one who died for me and I find joy when I'm hurting and I'm bruised I'm weary and tired when I want to give up hang on to the hem of his garment even if he gives me just enough strength to make it through the night come on laughter I had some real people in this room sometimes you can be so hurt but you need [Music] that's enough strength to get to a night [Music] and right in the middle of your tears you can still have joy and find the strength to get up from the floor and walk out into your day [Music] the joy of the Lord is my strength and nothing or no one or no devil in hell [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] somebody shout hallelujah anyhow [Music] hallelujah anyhow [Music] [Music] it may hurt me but it won't take my joy it may leave me but it won't take my joy I may lose it but it will not take my joy and may inflict pain but it will not take my joy for when I'm weak and I'm tired and I'm wearing and when my food has been my tears [Music] when Mosu I spend my tears [Music] [Music] maestro tawa I remember what the scripture says that the righteous run into him and are safe my son my wind my fire my grace my piece my portion when no one else is around I can still have the joy of the Lord [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] francha stata sit down let me finish [Music] I don't have time to get into everything else so I'll just give you a flyover of the last five chapters [Music] how do people respond - here in the book of the law in Chapter nine the people confess their sins before God and in Chapter nine is the longest recorded prayer and all of the Bible Ezra praise from verse six all the way to 38 he prays a prayer of honor to God and repentance in Chapter ten they make an oath unto God saying that God we will keep our vows unto you for you have done we return back to you because after you have felt and tasted the Grace and the goodness of God the only thing left to do is to repent and turn back to him so they turn back to him and Ezra and Nehemiah and the people and the Levites they all confess an oath to say God we will turn back to you at the bottom of chapter 10 they confess they often then chapter 11 in Chapter 12 the city is empty is not a lot of people so they go outside the city and they bring in a tithe of all the people outside of Jerusalem to settle the city Nehemiah makes new reforms of policies and new families populate the cities in the bottom of chapter 12 verse 27 and 40 I've read to you one verse chapter 12 verse 27 that says at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem the Levites were sought out from where they live and they brought to Jerusalem to celebrate joyfully the dedication with songs and thanksgiving with music and cymbals and harps and lions verse 28 the singers were also brought out together from the region around Jerusalem and the villages and all these people and if you go on to read they put together two choirs and the choirs go up on the wall and they sing loud and then in verse 43 chapter 12 verse 23 said on that day they offered great sacrifices and rejoicing because God had given them great joy and the women and the children also and the sound of rejoice in Jerusalem could be heard from afar away somebody let the devil hear your rejoicing right now from afar well I read that to you before I closed nehemiah went through hell and high water opposition demonic attack sites on the inside fights on the inside he made sure the wall was finished much and now they celebrated on top of that wall here is the principle you must learn to celebrate every victory because life is full of battles celebrate your victories pop a bottle of wine and champagne go to a restaurant love on somebody when God gives you a victory stop and celebrate it because this life is filled with battles it's filled with trials it's filled with hardship and filled with problems and so every time you have a victory from God you need to stop and celebrate that victory [Music] why because God knows how to massage the pain of one circumstance with the blessing of another and so now they celebrate at the wall he's massaging all of nehemiah's pain with the blessing of a great victory because sometimes God is love will massage your pain from one circumstance with the blessing of something else he can massage the pain of one season with the blessing in another season some of you you cried in one season he's gonna massage that with blessing in another season those who sometimes sow in tears the Bible says they will reap in joy I prophesied of somebody in this room to come into a massage the pain of your past [Music] so how do I close the message the rubble of the brokenness of the lives of people how did Nehemiah help them he moved them from rubble to a spiritual revival with one thing the Word of God it was the word that moved them from rubble to revival from brokenness to being whole and it's the same word they had is the same word I hold in my hand right now that moves us from rubble to revival Luke the spark of revival in your heart any time you want to when you get a hold of God's Word you can spark a revival in your home anytime you want to when you get up all the regards word you know what we need in America we need a return to the preaching of God's Word give me that camera we keep talking about revival and we keep singing about revival and we keep wearing t-shirts about revival if America will be revived it must return to the preaching of God's Word and it must start with the pulpit we keep preaching garbage and self-help and lying to people with the doctrines of false revelations that's why we have services and our people remain broken and sick and anemic this nation is in trouble that we have more resources they need the other nation on the face of the planet and if we will see revival we must return preachers to the preaching of God's Word America had revival once the first Great Awakening it was born of the back of gospel preaching the Second Great Awakening it was born of the back of gospel preaching go research it for yourself in the 1700s two times this nation had a mass outpouring of God's Spirit and again in 1949 with the Ministry of dr. Billy Graham the preaching of the gospel and God's Word our streets our cities our homes our churches a broken nation a broken American Church why because we have abandoned God's Word when we put it out of school go check the trends of what happened in school when we stopped prayer go check the trends of what happened when we stopped prayer keep moving it from society keep taking it out of the buildings keep taking it out of schools keep taking keep taking keep legalizing and ain't legalizing the word shut them up muscle dissolves don't preach that you know what will bring revival in this land the preaching of God's Word during the first or second great awakening you know where all people heard was Jesus came Jesus taught Jesus lived Jesus died Jesus raised Jesus at the right hand of the Father Jesus Jesus Jesus the teachings of Jesus the word of Almighty God they had time for men's opinions men preach pot they prayed themselves hot they preached sound doctrine they preached hell they preached the cross they preached heaven they preached sin they preached repentance they preached the love of God Almighty and it brought revival this will bring revival and will turn the ruble in this room of broken lives and to revive in the middle of the night revival early in the morning revival late at night revival the middle afternoon revival in my ear pods revival how do I close this series I challenge you after this you could take this or leave it I'm telling you to be wall builders listen to me look right at me I know this is not sexy and our culture look right at me all of your busyness all of your ambition all of the things that you're doing the scripture tells us when it's all said and done only one thing is gonna remain for everything we're doing now is gonna be tried by fire and the only thing that's gonna be rain is not the business you built all the websites you built or the whatever you built the only thing that's gonna remain is what we have done for the kingdom this is what the scripture teaches us over and over and over and because we don't preach that we got busy believers who are not fruitful who are gonna be in shock when they stand before Jesus on the day of judgment and if you're saved you're not going to hell but you might miss out on the rewards that God has for you because you're so busy but you're not fruitful pastor how can we be busy you can be busy or I'm sorry how can we be fruitful you can be fruitful if you spend the rest of your life at least building three things number one build the church the thing that Jesus died and created the thing that he gave to carry this message in the earth the organism that bears his name watch the thing he said he was coming back to get he didn't say he was coming back to my job he the sames come back from my house my car or anything else that you're building he said I'm coming back for a bride I'm just quoting you the Bible he said I'm coming back for a bride what is that pastor I'm coming back for people that belongs to me so if anything we should be investing our time and money in we should be building the Christian Church spreading the gospel winning souls and multiplying disciples a portion of my life should be invested in building the Christian Church not just victory for church I pray for the church I give to the church I serve at a church I believe in the church I definitely sin' it is the work of jesus christ in the earth he is the head he calls us his body you want to be fruitful build your faith the testimony of your life what are people gonna say about you when you die when they put you in a box like two weeks ago I just went to my father's grave site [Music] transition three months after this church was born he never got a chance to see his son make it this far and I stood over his grave and I remember man he was a godly man and he was a generous man and he was a kind man he was a giving man he loved God he had a Bible with tents and candle wax all over it what is gonna be your testimony when somebody stands over you here is a ratchet woman who cared about nothing but starting up strife or here was a godly woman here was a godly man here was a man that gave his life for the cause that was much bigger than him it was a woman that gave their cause for a life they gave their life for a cause that was bigger than what is gonna be the the build your faith build the testimony of your face build it up in the world build it up in prayer building up a community build up in church and if anything else you should build the last thing is build a legacy [Music] build a legacy there's a lot of things you can do over in life you could get another house you could get another car you could get another job you could get another investment there is one thing you cannot do over and that is life Hebrews 9:27 sentence appointed to a man to live once and then the judgment there is no do-overs we get one shot look at me make it count [Music] make it count my brothers and sisters man [Music] we got so many people playing Church and playing Christianity that another man later for all that garbage man man live for something stand for something build something be about something man make the world life you have Celt and so what about your past it's not about where you started or what's behind us about how you finish and I said if somebody today man finish well I know you got brokenness from your past I know you made mistakes I know you messed up a whole lot and it don't matter how old you are if Moses can be called at 80 doing the Lord's work at 80 died at 120 [Music] whatever days you got left and watch you don't even know how much you got left talking to my young millennial church because you're skin tight you think you got all the time in the world you got to wait till you eighty to get right I'm telling you right now we just went through the book of a great man who's gonna watch be remembered forever why he was just working a regular job and had a burden changed the whole trajectory of his life you read about a man over 4000 years later who just worked a regular job and had a burden for God what will be your legacy what is your burden what are you building [Music] what are your sons and daughters gonna say about you [Music] what good is a psalm or sermon or a church attendance if I leave nothing behind worth talking about build the church war builders build your faith build the legacy let's not nehemiah be the only builder at Victory Church we got 700 builders and we gonna build for the glory of God I said we gonna build for the glory of God who's with me I said we gonna build it's about 700 over there we go but the glory of God we don't got time to play around I said we gonna build for the glory of cars [Music] eternal God and ever wise father come Leena you great and mighty be the creator of heaven and earth but give of life they give up Grace anointing and calling you who delivered sons and daughters from the oppression of sin and Protestant to the kingdom of light you who are reconciling of people to yourself all across the awaken in this room your sons and daughters in this hour God I pray you would turn the rubble in this room to revival by the power of the Holy Spirit in your word I pray in the name of Jesus you would open our eyes come and burden us in our hearts with your burdens I pray we will shed your tips I pray we would feel your grief Capri we turn away from playing around and making a mockery of your neck and father pray all across this nation come and these last days the Church of Jesus would rise up preaching the gospel of Jesus teaching the word of Jesus winning souls multiplying disciples fighting for unity and pressing forward rescuing the lost and those separated by their own rebellion [Music] god I pray oh yes I feel this in my spirit for everyone under the sound of my voice that not only will they be wall builders yes I pray every single one of us would arrive in heaven empty having poured out everything you play inside of us every book every song every sermon every idea every child every ministry every idea every podcast everything oh yes god I pray you will ruin us out and then every person under the sound of my voice my spiritual family victory Church the gathering of conquerors I pray we will take territory we will conquer we will spread the gospel multiply disciples we will venerate your name and we will come before you empty having squeezed out everything you put inside of us to do [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] Jesus name I pray [Music] and the people of God said amen I named them we truly hope this message resonated with you and encouraged you in Christ if this ministry has been a blessing to you please support the spread of the gospel by visiting us online and choosing the giving option that works best for you and again thanks for tuning in and we look forward to singing

Channel: Victory Church

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Id: Bg9Af6txZOk

Length: 79min 58sec (4798 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 16 2019