In this sermon, the preacher discusses the presence of thieves in the house of God in our generation, stealing the presence of God. He references Nehemiah chapter 13 verse 19, where the gates being down allowed merchandisers to come in. The preacher emphasizes the need for pastors to stand in the gate and ask, "Who is on the Lord's side?" He warns against false teachings and practices, such as selling handkerchiefs for healing, selling books for transformation, and offering pre-prepared sermons for pastors. The preacher emphasizes the importance of building a Christian life based on the Word of God and seeking intimacy with God. The sermon is a call to those who care about the honor of God and the need for God's word in this generation.

My message this morning is from the book of Nehemiah, and it's called, A Call to Those Who Care About the Honor of God. A call to those, that's Nehemiah chapter one, if you find the book of Psalms, go back three books to the left of Psalms and you'll be in the book of Nehemiah. A call to those who care about the honor of God. Father, I thank you, Lord, for the strength and the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Oh God Almighty, if ever there was a generation that needed to hear from you, it's this one. If ever there was a time, Lord, that you've got to unlock your word, it's now. I ask you, God, to come and just grip this frail body, be the air that I breathe, God, be everything, Lord, in this church, in this word today, God, and I'm asking you, Father, in Christ's name, move us forward as a body and as a church age, move us forward into that which God has intended for us. Help us, Lord, help us, God, to be able to hear your word. Help me to deliver it. We acknowledge, Holy Spirit, your presence. We acknowledge your right to everything that happens in this sanctuary today. We acknowledge that without you, the word will just simply fall to the ground. You're the only one who can lead us into the truth and make the truth a reality in each of our lives. Help us, God, today. Guide us. Be our strength, and we will give you the glory. We thank you in Jesus' mighty name. Nehemiah chapter 1, a call to those who care. Do you care about the honor of God? Now, this morning, as I was praying about this word again, I felt that this will be a definitive day for some in this sanctuary. There's going to be a moment. There is a moment that comes into every Christian's life where you begin to realize that God is calling me to somewhere and something higher than where I am right now, a purpose deeper than that which I have considered or my life to this date has brought me. I can remember the day, sitting in a church service, where I didn't know the fullness of it, but I became aware that God had called me. I was sitting in a sanctuary, and I wasn't even fully aware of what the preacher was preaching. I just remember that God was calling me, and I didn't know where it was going to lead. I remember getting out of my seat and going to an altar and falling on my knees and weeping before God because I knew his hand was on me. Folks, I believe that's going to happen to some in this sanctuary today. If your heart is open, you're going to be taken far. You come in here expecting just to be encouraged, to have a time of fellowship with believers, and to worship God. It's going to end up being much deeper for your life than that. Praise God. Thank you, Lord. Nehemiah chapter 1. The words of Nehemiah, verse 1, the son of Hekeliah. It came to pass in the in the twentieth year as I was in Shushan the palace, that Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burnt with fire. And it came to pass when I heard these words that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven. And I said, I beseech thee, O Lord God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments. Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee, both I and my father's house have sinned. We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandest thy servant Moses. Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandest thy servant Moses, saying, If you transgress, I will scatter you among the nations. But if you turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them, though there were of you cast out to the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there. Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand. O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name, and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man, for I was the king's cupbearer. Now Nehemiah is the type of any person here today, in this sanctuary, going about your business, and you've seemingly secured yourself a good position in society. Nehemiah was a cupbearer to the king. Now this was the Medo-Persian empire that had conquered the Babylonian empire, but this is quite a few years after that conquest. Nehemiah finds himself in the king's court, obviously being cupbearer to the king, there's great provision there, he's secure in life, he's probably got a nice house, and he has access to people of influence and authority, and he has most everything that somebody perhaps in his particular position in life could want. But suddenly becomes aware that his life is called to a higher purpose. And I'm telling you, if the Holy Spirit is upon you, there is a day in every life that you become aware that we are called to a higher purpose, than just to eke out a living, or just to seek a place of comfort, or perhaps just to go deeper and farther in God, and honoring God than we've ever gone before. And the evidence is this sudden burden that comes to the heart. It happens suddenly, unexpectedly really. You can be in the prayer closet, and suddenly this burden comes. You can be walking to work actually, you can be on the subway, you're thinking about the things of God, and suddenly this burden comes to your heart. It's the Holy Spirit revealing to you, I've called you to something. Did you know today that you are called to something that will glorify God? You are, you are. Corporately yes, as a church we're doing things that are bringing honor to God and the earth. But you are individually called, and I am individually called for something in this life, and in this earth, that will bring glory to the name of Jesus Christ. Nehemiah firstly recognizes that his life had fallen short of what God had intended it to be. Listen to what he says in verse 6. Let thine ears be attentive, and thine eyes open, that you may hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now day and night for the children of Israel, thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, for which we have sinned against thee, both I and my Father's house have sinned. You see, Nehemiah says, God, if you're not being honored in the earth, and if I'm not part of the solution, then I'm part of the problem. If I'm not fully consecrated to you, if I'm not willing to be and to do everything that you've called me to be, Lord, then I'm just lumped in with everything else that is causing this testimony that I hear about, where the wall is down, and the gates are burnt, and the people are in affliction, and the testimony of God through his people has become a reproach in the earth. Would you agree with me today that in great measure, the testimony of God has become a reproach in this generation? Would you agree that there's very little fear of the Lord left in his house anymore? Very little awe, very little reverence for God, and should it not cause you and I to be concerned? Should we not be as David was when he came into the camp of Israel, and everyone is polishing their armor, and sitting there afraid, and nobody can take on this giant that is menacing their society? And David said, is there not a cause? Should we not be concerned? Should we not say, Lord, you're not being honored in this? And David, that was David's chief concern. This voice that was raised up against, and mocking the testimony of God through his own army in Israel, was mocking the glory of God. It was mocking the honor of God, who creates all things and holds them by the word of his power. And David was concerned, and he said, is there not a cause? This is the second part. I've become aware that in all of this, what's really at stake is the honor of God. Verse 3 says, the remnant that are left of the captivity in the province are in great affliction and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates are burned with fire. It's the honor of God. If I'm not being everything that God is calling me to be, then there's something of the honor of God that is missing through my life. And it's my heart's cry, and I believe it's the heart cry of many who are here today, that I've finished this course of life that I have, like Paul saying, I've run a good race. I've finished my course. I've kept the faith. To be able to put your feet up in your bed as it is at the end of life, and bless your family, and say, God, thank you for what you were able to do through this failed vessel. Thank you, Lord, that you gave me the power to never say no to you, and to believe that you could sustain me through every door that you caused me to walk through. And everything that you said that you wanted to do, I never shrunk back in unbelief. I never looked at the giants. I never looked at the impossibility, but I looked at the God who calls things that are not as if they are. And I walked with him and brought honor to his name in the earth. Praise be to God. Do you know the potential that's in this sanctuary today to do good for God and to bring honor to his name? Do you know if we fully followed what God has for each of our lives, the potential in the mission field, the potential in the house of God, the potential in the places that we travel in our day-to-day journey? Nehemiah said the wall, the report that came to him is the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down. And the wall represented the dividing line between those who choose to dwell where the true worship of God is and those who don't. The wall was down. You can just picture it. It's a physical type of what happens in the spiritual realm. When the wall is down, anybody can just come in and pretend to be worshiping God. Anybody can come in and say, hey, I'm part of the program, whether they are or not. The wall is down. I want to tell you in the book of Acts chapter 5, the wall was up because when two liars came into a worship service, they both died in the presence of a holy God. Folks, I want to tell you something. Fraud can't exist when the wall is up. There's a line of demarcation between those who are gods and those who are not gods. When the wall is up, it speaks of a separation to God and it protects us from unscrupulous religionists who are speaking or sneaking in under the covering of false piety only contribute to the weakening of the true worship of the church. Jesus said in John chapter 4 verses 23 and 24, the hour comes and now is when the true worshippers shall worship the father in spirit and in truth for the father seeks such to worship him. God is spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. Now let me try to explain this as clearly as I can in spirit and in truth. If you and I are hungry for the things of God, we opened this book and we begin to let this book examine our present condition and we see that truth is here and my life is here and for me to attain to this place of truth that God is to my heart in the natural is not possible. Paul the apostle said that I know what to do but how to get there and how to do it. I don't know how to perform it. Paul said I live in a body of death. How will I ever be delivered from this body of death? Then he said thanks be to God through Jesus Christ my Lord. So truth is here, my life is here and so the only recourse I have is to call out to the presence of God within me through the Holy Spirit. Christ when he died on the cross made a way for God in the person of the Holy Spirit to indwell this human vessel and you and I became the temple of the living God and because truth is here and I'm here I now call out to the Holy Spirit and say Holy Spirit I don't know how to get to where I'm supposed to be. You've called me to forgive my enemies for example or forgive those that have hurt me or harmed me and I see it in the scripture but I can't get there on my own. I call to you Holy Spirit, Spirit of the living God, you've got to take me now from where I am and you've got to bring me into line with the truth. And then when we do allow the Holy Spirit to bring our lives in line with the truth then suddenly we come into the house of God and we are worshiping him now in spirit and in truth. Lord our worship is simply this God it was impossible I never could have gotten there on my own. Oh praise God folks that's you see when the church loses that it all becomes now we're turned to hymn number 384 and we're going to sing verses one five and seven and we're going to do this three times and everything becomes so methodical and predictable because there really is no worship in spirit and in truth. When people are walking in truth you don't have to tell them how to worship. When people are walking in truth worship worship worship just comes in the temple. It is natural to worship. It is natural to lift your hands. It is natural to say oh God thank you for what you've done. Thank you God for what you're doing in my life. Thank you Lord that yes I'm not everything that I need to be but I'm I'm leaving behind what needs to be left behind. I'm pressing forward to the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. I'm changing from image to image and glory to glory by the spirit of God within me. Hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah lamb of God. I praise your name Lord. I bless you God. I bless you Lord. Hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah. Nobody has to teach you how to worship if you are walking in spirit and in truth. Praise God. The children will worship. The aged will worship. Everyone who's walking in truth and empowered by the Holy Ghost will be able to worship. Oh hallelujah to the Lamb of God. Thank you Jesus. Nehemiah 1 3 he says and the gates thereof were burnt with fire. Merchandisers had free access to the holy places. That's every generation that turns from the true worship of God opens its doors to merchandisers. It happened in Jesus day when he came into the temple in Jerusalem. It happened in Nehemiah's day and it's happening in our day. You imagine in that day walking into the temple area and it would be just like a bazaar literally like a street fair going on. One man is saying hey over here over here a hundred dollars get your holy water right out of the well in Bethlehem and all you got to do we'll send it to you in a little vial a hundred dollars just a hundred dollars and you drink it guaranteed to cure every ailment and there'd be others over there hey a sale special this week holy handkerchiefs all you got to do is send us 75 bucks and we'll send you a holy handkerchief and you lay that handkerchief of course there's tears now you lay that on your sick child or your sick grandmother oh and the healing power of God is just going to emanate and flow through this handkerchief to your loved one and your your sick one and there's another man over there says hey hey look over this way send me a thousand dollars and I'll send you two books two books for a thousand dollars and by the words that are in these well it's not a bible they're holding up by the words in these books your life will be transformed you'll become a brand new person and then you pass by another booth and he says hey pastor are you tired you tired of seeking God you tired all the hard work in the house of the Lord you tired of all the difficulty you tired of trying to move the church forward hey we got a package just for you one year of pre-prepared sermons and all the video gizmos that go with it and we guarantee you that you will have more ties you'll have an increase in your attendance and instead of going into the prayer closet saturday night you can go to the golf course instead on saturday oh pastor turn over here turn it over here it's everything you've ever longed for everything you've ever dreamt for we're living in that generation folks an absolute an absolute street fair of thieves have come into the house of God in our generation stealing the presence of God nehemiah in nehemiah chapter 13 verse 19 now when the gates are down merchandisers can come in remember it was in the gate of the camp in exodus 32 26 that moses stood after the people had made a tragic error in building their own god and worshiping it and moses stood in the gate the scripture says and he said who's on the lord's side and all the sons of levi gathered themselves together with him i'm telling you i feel something burning in my heart again in this generation there's a voice that God is raising and pastors all over now the world they may not be in big pulpits of big churches but there's a voice that God is putting into the ministry again and they're standing in the gate and saying who is on the lord's side who is on the lord's side nehemiah chapter 13 verse 19 it came to pass he said when the gates of jerusalem began to be dark before the sabbath i commanded that the gates should be shut and charged they should not be open till after the sabbath and some of my servants said i at the gates that there should be no burden brought in on the sabbath day verse 20 so the merchants and sellers of all kinds were lodged without jerusalem once or twice the buyers and sellers you see they never give up trying to get into the temple then i testified against them and said unto them why do you lodge about the walls if you do this again i will lay hands on you now he wasn't talking about praying for healing here and from that time forth they came no more on the sabbath nehemiah was able to lock them out because the gates had been put up again the gate the narrow gate that gate where jesus says i am the door by men by me men come in and out and find pasture nehemiah again chapter 13 verses four to nine tell us that flesh was occupying the place that had been set apart for holy purposes verse four it says and before this elias elias the priest having the oversight of the chamber of the house of our god was allied unto debiah in other words there he had a secular friend perhaps a government official a leader and he had made a place for him in the temple and he had prepared from a great chamber where aforetime they laid the meat offerings the frankincense the vessels the tithes of corn new wine and oil which was commanded to be given to the levites to the singers and to the porters and the offerings of the priests but in all this time was was not i at jerusalem for in the 2 and 30th year of the king of babylon came i unto the king or after certain days i obtained leave of the king and i came to jerusalem and understood of the evil that elias shibb did for tobiah and preparing him a chamber in the courts of the house of god and a grievingly sore therefore i cast out all the household stuff of tobiah out of the chamber and i commanded and they cleansed the chambers and thither brought i again the vessels of the house of god with the meat offering in the frankincense now this really says this flesh was occupying the place that had been set apart for spiritual things folks what a tragedy if we let flesh begin to govern the house of god if we throw out the holy things if we throw out the the meat offerings represented obedience the frankincense represented worship and prayer the vessels represented the reverence of god the corn wine and oil represented the complete provision of god in christ which was to be given to the priests and ultimately presented back to god himself and yet all these things get thrown out folks all the miraculous goes out when we let flesh come in and begin to govern the house of god when we let men's ways take over the ways of god men's reasonings take over the leading of the holy ghost when we let strategies and committees begin to govern the people of god instead of being led by the spirit and the truth of almighty god we throw out the holy things of god and we make room in the temple for carnal men who have no place there they don't belong in the house of god and nehemiah knowing the wall was down knowing the gates had been burnt with fire comes into the temple and thank god for the courage of this man the very same thing that christ did when he went in the temple in jerusalem he took tobiah and tobiah was a man of influence and authority and took his furniture and took his stuff and threw it out of the house of god and brought back into the house of god those things that were to be given and provided for those that were leading the people those that were leading in worship were to have this provision of god but carnality will take it out of the house of god nehemiah put his life on the line and returned to jerusalem with authority from the king and i want to tell you something today the day you decide to get up no matter what kind of a mess is going on in the name of god and you decide to get up and rebuild as it is or let god rebuild this testimony of christ in your life you are walking into any place that you go with the authority of the king behind you you have the authority of the king nehemiah came back into this place where it's just an absolute religious mess that's going on in spite of ezra's reforms in spite of the things that had happened it was just so utterly incomplete because strangers were allowed access into the temple nehemiah came back and he began to tell the people he said listen i've not come on my own the king has sent me and i have authority from the king to begin to rebuild and as he began to share this burden with the people many began to rise up to the task and said if the king has sent you and if you have the authority of the king that means we have the authority of the king and they said we will rise up and build and all the gates of the wall people began to rise up and rebuild again now you ask me the question how do we do this today how does this apply to me now this is an old testament example of a of a physical wall that began to be rebuilt and physical gates that began to be put back on their hinges and so if if this is what has happened in my life if if my walls are down if if my gates are burnt with fire if i if i have no discernment if any stranger that comes along gets my attention and affection that should belong to god then how do i begin to rebuild the wall how do i begin to set these gates back on their hinges now i want you to picture with me all of these families that began to build and they began to build at various gates in various portions in the wall some began to the scripture says began to build where their homes were they had a home close to the wall so that's the spot that they chose there were families involved there were rulers involved there were people from that had part of a religious heritage involved in this too as well and they had to begin by picking up that which had been cast down that which had been destroyed that which had been rendered as it is ineffective it had originally had a purpose in the wall but through various conquests had been left in a rubble in the streets isaiah talked about a day in chapter 59 verse 14 where truth has fallen into the street and you see we begin to rebuild what god intended our lives to be by picking up truth and applying it to our lives in places where it's fallen into the street i want to tell you something there's a lot of truth in the street outside the doors of this church between the door that you used to come in and broadway there's a lot of discarded truth a lot of people have sat in this sanctuary and others like it and truth has been proclaimed and but we have a tendency to be kind of selective in our obedience in this generation you say well maybe later and so we take the truth that's been revealed to us and just get outside the door now we would never do this here we'd never deny in the presence of god that we have no intention of building our lives with this truth but we get outside the door and we drop it how many times have i or any other pastor in this church said listen if you're living in fornication you're not going to heaven if you continue in that lifestyle and many people know you know this today so now you have this block of truth in your hands it's up to you now to know what you're going to do this with this when you leave the doors of this church today how many times have we stood here and said thieves don't go into the kingdom of heaven i don't care how you plan to pay it back i don't i don't it really doesn't matter thieves don't go into the look in revelation thieves dwell outside the city liars dwell outside the city and so we are responsible for what we do with what we know that's how the wall begins to be rebuilt again if there's an area in your life that you are not willing to embrace the truth and call out to the holy spirit as we said earlier to bring your life in line with that truth then you leave yourself wide open to the handkerchief guys and the holy water guys and all the rest of them can come in and get you because you've got a huge hole as it is in the wall that god wants to build around you the only defense against it is you and i have to embrace the truth we know we have to walk in the truth we know we have to love the truth and jesus said you'll know the truth which applies in intimacy or an intimate embracing and the truth will set you free we're to be a free people we're to be a people of joy we're to be a people who have the absolute total provision of god in our lives we're to build a life that agrees with the word of god oh folks you've got to be in this book you can't build a christian life on emotion and you'll never build it on tapes you've got to get in this book and you got to say lord show me jesus show me myself show me my path show me my heart show me my future god show me show me in this book and bring my life in line with your word why wouldn't you want this for what possible reason would we want to allow ourselves to be vulnerable to an enemy that is much more powerful than we are when god says if you will embrace this it will set you free there'll be a provision around about you he said i'll be the wall about you i'll be the gate that protects you i'll be everything to you if you will come to me we have to begin to rebuild this wall by removing in our homes the rubble that has held closed the doorway to the closet of prayer when you go home today that place that you should be praying what is there in what's in its place i think there's a lot of people have a television set in front of the door of your prayer closet folks there are some things that have to be removed there are some things that have to be taken out of the way and you and i've got to realize in our generation i'm called to pray now i'm not called to pray formula prayers i'm called to just pray i'm called to just go to god and if all i can do is go ah that's what i'm called to do i'm just called to talk to god i'm just called to go into your presence lord and you don't have to speak a hundred miles an hour when you go into the prayer closet take a breath stop for a minute let the holy spirit speak to you be honest with god don't go in with your king james language go into the prayer closet and say god i'm having the worst week of my life my kids are a mess and god i don't know what to do but i do know that you know what to do and if you will open the door to me if you will lead me to believe if you will give me faith and establish the steps that you promise that you have placed before those that are righteous god i will walk in it and i know that i will live in victory i know god that victory will be mine don't just pray the problem when you go in the prayer closet make sure you pray the solution as well too many people just go in and it's just a 20 minute wine session that's all it is just a wine and if you've ever had kids that do that you know how utterly annoying that is go in and pray the solution not just the problem because god knows the problem so all you're doing is telling him something he already knows if you feel the need then by all means but then move to what god speaks move to what the word speaks move to what god is already speaking in your heart lord lord i'm a i'm an angry person but god you say the fruit of the spirit is love joy peace long suffering so god i'm choosing to believe that as a higher reality than where i'm living right now and then what i'm fighting with now and then what's what's governing my life now so lord i'm trusting now by the power of the holy spirit you're going to take me there and you're going to bring my life in line with that and god as you do i promise i'm going to bring it back to you for your glory i'm going to bring it back for your glory i will be kind lord i will allow you to love others through me i will allow this fruit of god to be birthed in and through my life and your name will be brought to glory in this human vessel and thirdly we begin to rebuild this wall by calling by example our children into the work of god we we do it we don't do it by just study alone we don't do it by just telling we do it by example in nehemiah chapter i love it chapter 3 in verse 12 i believe it is nehemiah's talking about all the people in chapter 3 who are who are rebuilding they're rebuilding they're rebuilding all along this wall that's round about jerusalem and then he gets to verse 12 and he said next to him repaired shalom the son of helohesh the ruler of the half part of jerusalem he and his daughters i love that here's this man on the wall and you can i don't i don't know how many daughters i do know there's more than one and there they are working with them and nehemiah is is surveying this wall and it's it's not just men involved in this it's men and their children it's men and their families it's women and their children women and their families they're all involved in the rebuilding of this wall that is down and this this loss of the glory of god and whatever it is that has brought the name of god into reproach in their generation they are rebuilding it and folks just start where you can if your family will only pray with you for five minutes then start by praying for five minutes but start somewhere and do by example don't tell your kids what to do show them what to do put your hand to the plow first if you're telling them to be kind or be obedient then you be kind and you be obedient to those that are over you in authority lead by example in this generation and and realize that that our children are not going to follow just what we say the modern day uh much of the modern day religion is an evidence of that because there's such a lack of young people in it now today they're not going to just follow what we say but they're going to follow what we do and who we are in god he and his daughters now the interesting thing is that malachi the prophet was a contemporary of nehemiah that means he was there at exactly the same time in in the same place and he was also prophesying to this religious system that nehemiah was endeavoring to rebuild and i wonder i wonder i wonder sometimes did malachi did malachi see these people on the wall or did he at least hear the report of them rebuilding and is that what gave malachi the vision of our day where people are going to return and discern and turn the young to following god did did god take malachi from that moment to our time and did he see these people rebuilding the wall did he see men with their children did he see families coming together for something that is going to bring honor to the name of god again and did suddenly the holy spirit take him into our day where malachi he says it this way in chapter 3 verses 16 to 18 then they that feared the lord spoke often one to another and the lord hearkened and heard it and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the lord and thought upon his name they shall be mine saith the lord of hosts in that day when i make up my jewels and i will spare them as a man spares his own son that serves him then shall you return and discern between the righteous and the wicked between him that serves god and him that serves him not for behold chapter 4 the day comes that shall burn as an oven and all the proud and all that do wickedly shall be stubble and the day that comes shall burn them up says the lord of hosts that it shall leave them neither root nor branch but unto you that fear my name shall the son of righteousness arise with healing in his wings you shall go forth and grow up as the calves of the stall you shall tread down the wicked and they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that i shall do this saith the lord of hosts remember you the law of moses my servant which i commanded him in orab for all israel with the statues and judgments behold i will send you elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the lord and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children and the heart of the children to their fathers lest i come and smite the earth with a curse i do feel in my heart that malachi had to be aware of this he had to be aware of this rebuilding and i believe that somehow the holy spirit took him to our day to speak about another time another society another moment in history where the walls are down the gates are burned with fire the merchandisers have access to the house of god carnal men are living in the temple but suddenly there's going to be a people arise and they're going to begin to build according to the way god says his house and his temple is to be built they're going to come back again to the word of god they're going to come they're going to leave this altar of self-seeking and personal indulgence and they're going to come back again to the altar of god they're going to cry out to the lord say god almighty make my life a testimony in the earth come oh god and work in my life come and lead me in line with the truth that you reveal in the holy scripture and by the spirit of god make me that kind of a person in this generation these men and women's hearts will begin to understand what it's all about it's not about living for ourselves it's about others their hearts are going to turn to this next generation their hearts are going to turn to the fatherless in their society to the widow to the orphan to the poor the oppressed the afflicted the addicted their hearts are going to look back and say god almighty i'm going to be used of you to call these into the work of god my life is going to count for your glory i believe with all my heart that malachi saw our day he saw this day we're living in and i call out to you with everything god has ever planted within me it's time church of jesus christ to rise up and build again build the wall put the gates back on their hinges it's time for you it's time for me to go deeper and farther in god than we've ever gone before to say lord i'm tired of being led by every passing stranger that's trying to sell some new thing in the name of god i'm tired of it i'm going back into the book mighty god and i'm going to believe you for the power to rebuild in my life what everyone else says can't be built i'm going to trust you god you're going to put my feet in front of each other you're going to so work your kingdom inside of this physical temple that this temple will become a place of prayer and glory again in my generation hallelujah to the lamb of god hallelujah you've got to believe this folks you've got to believe you've got to believe it's time to rise up and build now researchers tell us that the wall was made of bricks that were made of clay and they're mixed with reeds and they were fashioned in the sun amazing we're created of clay and truly we're fashioned in the sun the the typology is amazing i love because you see i read my bible looking for jesus in every line because it really is all about him and his church all through the old testament obviously through the new it's all about christ and his church the old testament is really a shadow play of you and i and our relationship with god in jesus christ isaiah chapter 42 and verse 3 speaking of jesus christ in this chapter talks about his coming talks about his power talks about his work and he says these incredible words a bruised reed shall he not break now remember the wall is built with clay mixed with reeds and hardened in the sun a bruised reed in other words will he not cast away he'll not cast you aside if you come to him in spite of your condition or failure he'll gather you up with his hand and strengthen you by his spirit and make you a part of the living temple of god through which jesus christ will be glorified in the earth god says no matter where you are i will not cast you away if you come to me if you come to me i will do something so powerful in your life so miraculous that my name will be glorified your children will look at you and it might even be a situation where your children are no longer at home but god says i will do something so powerful in you that they will look and have to consider again the ways of god and the kingdom of god i will so change you from the inside out your life will be a life of continual praise you'll get up in the morning with only the words thank you jesus on your heart thank you god thank you god you'll go to bed at night thank you lord thank you jesus thank you now you'll even thank him if you failed in the daytime say god i failed but thank you tomorrow is a new day of mercy tomorrow is a new change tomorrow is a new door tomorrow is new strength god thank you that you covered me in my failure and now you'll take me forward in your strength it'll be a constant life of praise you'll come into this sanctuary or wherever you're from sunday morning and it doesn't matter if half the choir can't get here because of the traffic it doesn't matter if the band's on key or off key it really won't matter anymore because you've got such a presence of god in this living temple you will lift your hands and give him glory oh god father will you touch your church in this generation will you touch your bride god almighty will you give us the courage like nehemiah had to get up and go forward and all that that meant to him and all that it cost him and all the opposition he faced but yet in 52 days that wall was miraculously rebuilt even the enemies of god had to acknowledge that this was the hand of god even those who hated the fact that he had come for the benefit of god's people had to acknowledge that this was the hand of god oh jesus the christ of god would you lift your church again god out of the ashes would you lift your bride lord out of despondency god almighty would you build up the wall of discernment around about your people again my god would you have the gates of the heart put back on their hinges that your bride did not be giving her affection to every passing stranger and every merchandiser of the gospel my god would you touch your church again oh jesus would you give us the courage to believe for the impossible to get up god out of wherever we are and head to where you're calling us father i pray god for those who are captivated in sin today god give every person in this sanctuary uncle who can hear my voice the power and the courage to get up out of sin and to begin to walk towards the calling of holiness in god through jesus christ my god help those who are weak to understand that strength comes from christ and from christ alone help the despairing god help those who are struggling in their mind help those who have bought the lies of the enemy that they can only go so far and no farther oh jesus oh jesus the christ of god would you cause your temple to live again would you cause your people to rejoice again would you cause holiness to be in your house again would you unlock the prayer closet again would you cause men of faith and women of faith to stand in the pulpits oh god of your church all across the nations lord would you do a work so far beyond us oh god we call out to you today in the name of my god my god my god my god calm oh god help us to discern again help us to return to you help us god to care about the next generation help us god to escape lord those who are planting the seeds of selflessness in the hearts of so many of god's people help us lord to follow the footsteps of christ oh god almighty i thank you for this with all my heart i praise you and i give you glory for what you're about to do in jesus mighty and holy name hallelujah now we are going to worship for a moment my altar call is very simple today you are in one place and god is calling you to another and it could be just with an issue of truth that you have you have neglected to let the holy spirit build into your life i want to suggest to you that's part of the reason why your discernment may be lacking can be an issue of morality or honesty an issue of character that you've not let god deal with you've justified this really open door in your life to deception it's time now to agree with god it's time to say lord your ways are right and my ways are wrong it's time to pick up that stone the truth and let the holy spirit build that into you as part of your character is it painful yes sometimes it's very painful is it difficult as a matter of fact it's impossible without the holy spirit you can't do it but you see you don't have to do it you let god do it that becomes your testimony you put one foot in front of the other you you just simply walk in obedience to god and no matter how many times you fail at getting this right every time you fall the lord says i'll pick you up again and every time he picks you up you'll become stronger and also this all the call today is for those who are in the position i was when i was about 25 or 26 years old you just simply realize that god's calling you to something you don't fully know what it is but something has happened in your heart maybe even today and you say in your heart god my life is destined for more than this i feel it in my heart i don't know what it is but i know you're calling me so i will get up and go i will i have the king's authority that what you call me to do you will accomplish if that's your heart today any of these things as we begin to worship and stand would you make your way to this altar please in the annex you can step between the screens if you don't mind and the balcony you can go to either exit main sanctuary just come here meet with god now meet with god there'll be no formula prayers here today meet with god talk to god during this time of worship let god deal with the issues in your heart tell him you're willing to pick up the truths that you've left in the street let the word of god dwell richly in your heart come move in closer let there be room for those that are coming now for those that have come to this altar today physically and there's others you've come in in heart now from the time the burden came on nehemiah and he was given the authority of the medo-persian king there was a journey involved of coming back to a place that he or not back in his case but of going to where he needed to go and so there is a journey you you've got to go back into this book and you you've got to get your truth here that governs your life so there's a journey involved then when he saw what needed to be done and it summoned the strength to do it it took 52 days now that was a miracle so the whole point of this is this is not instantaneous in some cases some people are going to walk away completely free of perhaps a lifelong of a certain struggle but in other cases there's a journey but your journey will lead you to victory never give up along the way never quit never say this is too hard god's called you to do it it will be done and what he's called you to be you will be by the power of christ within you i thank you father for the incredible advance of truth and victory in the hearts of your people today oh jesus i ask lord only one thing that in this final hour that we're living in that your name be glorified through your people in this city and around the world and father we thank you for this we bless you for it in jesus mighty name now if you have embraced truth there's there's going to be joy come into your heart it's a it's a journey but there's got to be a joy and an anticipation of victory so could you take a moment as we worship and just thank god that you're going to live on you're living on the victory side you're going to know it