Blueprints For Victory

I will offer you some context to the scripture from which we read. King Cyrus had commissioned for the return of some 50,000 Jews back to the city of Jerusalem. These are the children and grandchildren of those who were taken captive when Jerusalem was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. He herded them like cattle and drove them to a foreign land with the singular hope of so diluting their doctrine that he could eventually dissolve their identity as the people of God. But prior to that destruction, when Nebuchadnezzar had set kings to rule over that ancient city of Jerusalem, God raised up a young prophet by the name of Jeremiah who foretold of a coming destruction and an impending 70 years of captivity. The Lord does not hold back a word of correction, but neither does he withhold hope. He assured them that after 70 years he would come again

and visit his people and restore them to their land. It's the word of Jeremiah 29 and 11. For I know the thoughts that I think towards you say at the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you an expected end. And this is that end. They have returned out of captivity and as they come to this city that they love so dearly they have but one goal to rebuild that holy temple. This is the story of the Old Testament book Ezra which precedes Nehemiah in your Bible. The writing of Ezra records the construction, the rebuilding of that temple that took 20 years to complete. It was dedicated in 516 B.C. And as those Jews gather with great celebration at the re-institution of sacrifices in that holy building, word comes to this young Nehemiah. Well no doubt he is joyful at what he hears. The fact remains the city is without walls.

The glory of this temple no matter how great it may be remains in jeopardy without boundaries. The absence of a wall is a constant reminder of their ever present vulnerability. Yes, the work that has been completed as noble there is much we could say about the beauty of this magnificent temple but I would tell you boundaries are the necessary component to maintain dominion. Let me jump from history and make a brief application. It's not my sole focus here this morning but I do feel restrained, commissioned to tell you that all that you have lived your life for can be lost in a moment if you don't have a boundary. If you didn't hear what pastor preached here last Sunday or if you have heard and you are yet to obey I urge you to listen and act immediately because all that you have lived for years of faithfulness

decades of prayer can be lost in a moment without a boundary. While the temple was beautiful it is this reality that comes to the ear of Nehemiah that the city lays in waste the walls are yet to be rebuilt and here is this young man whose name literally means the comfort of God working as a cup bearer to King Art Exerxes the Persian ruler. The work which Ezra has written about has made its way to Nehemiah and yes he is thankful as all Jews are that their temple has been rebuilt but there is something weighing so heavy upon his heart he is burdened at the state of the city. It is the absence of the boundary that weighs heavily upon him and with a burdened heart he makes his way to the king seeking permission to be sent back to the city to rebuild these walls

and this is precisely what happens. By royal decree the king sends him not only with permission but with the resources that are necessary and he returns to that ancient city of Jerusalem with one purpose to rebuild the walls and the world would wonder at what happened next. In a mere 52 days let me just throw this in here if you have any interest in architecture and construction and you think the feats of the modern day are impressive just go study how quickly they built the Empire State Building and then look up how long it took them to build the World Trade Center but then let's go to Nehemiah and consider that in a mere 52 days 42 different working parties come together to build a wall that stands 50 feet high at a circumference of 4 miles at a rate of 504 feet per day.

I'm sorry Mike Hedges but not even you can do that. It is the recognition of this most amazing reality that summons this question this morning how in the world do you build a wall like that? How is it possible to lay 504 feet of block work at 50 feet tall some 8 to 15 feet thick how in the world without the absence of computers and engineering and modern machinery that we know and enjoy. How do you build a wall like that? I've got the answer. Are you ready? The same way you build every kind of wall brick after brick after brick after brick God did not violate the principle of process I'm going to tell you how the wall was built it was built brick after brick and brick upon brick at about time they laid one brick down someone was climbing up the wall with another brick to lay on top

I come today to tell you what the blueprints for victory are in your life there is no shortcut to success if you are going to walk in the victory that God has for you here's how you're going to do it brick after brick day after day week after week there is no substitute for faithfulness in the kingdom of God if you want growth in your life if you want victory in your life here's how you're going to do it you're going to wake up tomorrow morning and you're going to put another brick on the wall and you're going to get off work Wednesday night and you're going to be in midweek Bible study and when you've clocked 40 or 50 hours and your back is aching and you're tired next Sunday morning you're going to roll out of bed put on the pot of coffee and show up on time for church

because the only way the wall gets built is brick after brick after brick there's no shortcut to this thing you hear this preacher there is no man, there is no woman that can stand in this pulpit with a word in their mouth and violate the process the only way this happens is when we commit to live faithfully before him but somewhere in the midst of the mundane God strengthened them he made them more efficient he made them more effective and I preach to you today that the miracle is in the mundane it's not in a special speaker it's not in a certain conference or in a particular venue the miracle is in the mundane it is in the daily faithfulness of serving God it is in that seeing thing that is seemingly so unspiritual but so necessary when you sit down in that chair and you open up your Bible

and pastor is not preaching and the choir is not singing but it is that daily consistency I want you to hear me today this is not complicated consistency is the key and so Paul would write to the church at Corinth therefore my beloved brethren be he steadfast and unmovable this is the resolve that is necessary to be who God intends us to be to experience the fullness of all that has been prophesied over our church there must be a resiliency there must be a resolve that regardless of what comes against me it does not matter the circumstance I have determined prior to the problem that regardless of what comes I shall not be moved so it is that we war against spiritual forces attitudes and mindsets that hinder us from prevailing over the opposition in its many forms the scripture would speak in Nehemiah 4

of San Bala in Tobiah who when they heard that the wall was being built were raw filled with great indignation and the Bible says they mocked the Jews they speak before the brethren in the army of Samaria this question what do these feeble Jews will they fortify themselves will they sacrifice will they make an end in a day will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned Tobiah the Ammonite stands by him and says even that which they build if a fox was to go up he shall break down their stone wall and I submit to you today three tactics that I am persuaded of God are warring against people in this house the first was fear for this is the human response to the manifestation of anger when they come against the people of God with great indignation

and mockery in their mouth it provokes fear in the hearts of God's children now they stand staring into the eye of the accuser who asks them this question what do these feeble Jews and all of a sudden irregardless of the fact that they have been succeeding at 504 feet per day at 50 feet high and 8 to 15 feet thick regardless of all that has happened now the reality of the words the proclamation of a feeble nature has infiltrated their ear and their mind and now they are insecure of themselves it is insecurity and now they have to hear that accuser make the proclamation if even a fox was to run atop of that wall it would fall down and crumble it's doubt it's uncertainty fear insecurity and doubt these are the mind games that the adversary uses to war against us to blind us to our progress

to cause us to grow weary in the battle and all of a sudden we are thinking things like this who me? I could never teach a bible study oh God would never use me in the gifts of the spirit I could never baptize somebody and listen I must confess I'm preaching with a little bit of knowledge because I've had some conversations with some people in this church in the past couple months who if I told you their names it would shock you pillars in the house of God who have said things to me like this I've always wanted to go up in the altar and pray for people so elder why don't you? I don't know I just don't think I can I'm telling you such a damn me I'm rebuke it it's the lie of the enemy it's the tactic of insecurity and not too far behind that

comes that lying voice of doubt that starts whispering in your ear and you start thinking things like this well what's the point in praying anyway does it really matter if I just miss one Sunday or if I don't read my bible for a few days is God really real? just preaching really accomplish anything? I preach to you it's the mind game of the adversary it's the old spiritual tactic that he's been using from the very beginning but I come here today in the authority of the Holy Ghost to tell you there's victory for us but the first key to your victory is to establish consistency in your life you what the bible says of them? just a couple verses later their response to the adversary the bible says so we built the wall for the people had a mind to work I know the enemy's got a big mouth

but what he doesn't know about me is I've got a made up mind I already determined regardless of what comes I will be consistent I'm preaching to somebody today faithfulness is not an option if you neglect to be faithful you will forfeit your victory and you will surrender your future the way in which you will conquer is through consistency in your life and the bible would say that these men conspired all of them to come and to fight against Jerusalem and to hinder it I know we sit today in a beautiful building and there are many parallels of which we could draw and I will draw some there is much to rejoice at but I want you to see this an organized effort to hinder the progression of God's people and the very next verse says verse 9 nevertheless we made our prayer unto God

I have not come today to bring you profound revelation but it's one that's easier said than done the solution I offer today is simple but it's spiritual and while it's simple, simple is not always easy the answer to the problems no matter the manner in which they come is prayer I'm going to say it again because I don't want you to miss the profoundness of this statement in the simplicity of it the answer to every problem in your life no matter the manner in which it comes is prayer that means if you're sitting in this sanctuary this morning staring down a diagnosis that you hoped you would never hear the answer is prayer if you walked into this church today and put a little money in the offering knowing you've got bills that you don't know how you're going to get out of I preach to you today

the solution is prayer if you've got pain in your body if the enemy is attacking your family I offer you a sure try proven solution call prayer prayer is the answer to everything it's the answer to your infirmity it's the answer to the attack it's the answer to your bills prayer is the answer to every problem I want you to hear me today prayer is the source of our power and prayer cannot merely be our focus at the onset of a new year it is imperative that it be the work of our lives or when Joshua encounters those people of Gideon those Gideonites there's something inside of him that's not at peace with the story he hears it doesn't feel right he knows that this is not of the Lord but the peril of that story was prayerlessness the Bible would say of this man

while greatly used of God on one hand in this instance asked not counsel at the mouth of the Lord even here amidst his own uncertainty he did not pray and the error was costly and I say that if we are not careful prayerlessness will become our peril too we can do a lot without prayer I don't think most people sitting here today probably realize the amount of production that goes into a service like this we can produce church and not pray oh God help me right now you can get up on a keyboard and not pray you can hide behind an instrument and not pray you can be in the sound booth and not pray and God forbid you can stand in a pulpit and not pray but I can tell you with the pure conscience last night when my wife walked upstairs she said do you need anything

I said yeah she said what can I get you I said no I need God to help me my alarm went off at six o'clock this morning and I got out of bed and went down to my living room I told God God I need you to help me church I want you to hear me today we can master the mechanics of church and not pray and God forbid that that be told of us I don't want it to be said of my life or our church that the peril of new life fellowship was we ask not counsel at the mouth of the Lord we can do a lot without prayer but I tell you God won't do a lot without prayer he waits for us he calls for us as I consider the great burden of prayer that has moved upon this church

I don't know if you've been here the last two Wednesdays but if you haven't I remind you of the necessity of consistency because there's been something moving in here on Wednesday nights and as I was sitting there Wednesday night when pastor set the mic down and began to cry out to the Lord I was thinking oh God I feel the burden of prayer right now it's like I could hear the Lord speak these words into my spirit this is not a burden this is the great privilege of prayer do you realize how fortunate we are to enter into the presence of God they prayed when the enemy came against them they prayed and I preach to you that regardless of the problem in which form it may come to your life the solution is you find a place of prayer you get down on your knees

you pace back and forth in your living room you come to the church prayer room and you lift up your voice open up your heart to God preaching to somebody today the solution is simple I don't know what kind of answer you've been looking for but you don't have to look far you just have to do it how long for the day how long for the day when we walk in here on a Sunday morning because I remember when we walked to that western wall in Jerusalem I remember coming through the security compound you could hear the roar of prayer before you could ever see the people listen this idea of vocal prayer it's not a Pentecostal thing it's a Bible thing and how long for the day when we walk in here on a Sunday morning and the sound is the loud cry of

sincere voices that are reaching after God well I know you just lost your job on Friday but thank God you knew the solution and you came to prayer on Sunday I know there's pain I know you've got another test hoping for a different report than the last one but oh thank God you were part of a church that knew how to pray so it is not coincidental to me that the very next verse the Bible says and Judas said the strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed and there is much rubbish so that we are not able to build the wall you see prayer was an avenue by which they could deal with the adversary and not be hindered but now they are awakened to the reality that there's some rubbish in the way that they have to remove quite literally this rubbish is the ruins

of the old walls it lays before them has an ever present reminder of what once was but even more than a discouraging memory it is a burden and a hindrance to the building that is at hand I want you to hear me rubbish hear me is the unsettled conviction rubbish is the unresolved issues of your life and it stops the work of God rubbish is that unnecessary stuff that cutters your mind pollutes your spirit and it confuses your purpose simply put rubbish is carnality you say but preacher I'm here I thank God you're here but words without surrender are worthless religious action with the wrong attitude is nothing but vain routine and there is no such thing as godliness without submission the apostle said this because the carnal mind is enmity against God it is not subject to the law of God neither indeed can be

the carnal mind wars against God and I must caution you today because carnality is the origin of all compromise first you forfeit your faithfulness and church becomes optional it's not a big deal that I miss Wednesday because I did come on Sunday and that's the bigger service right best we may pray but ask a miss as James said being consumed by our own lust oh we pray and we pat ourselves on the back but we just pray for what we want and not what he wants and we deceive ourselves or perhaps at worst we don't even pray at all I preach to you today I caution you against the ever encroaching carnality that seeks to find place in our lives that carnality that unsettled conviction that unresolved issue that rubbish must be removed if the building will go forward that rubbish is carnality and carnality must

be dealt with or what about complacency I would submit this is the product of carnality and complacency is the enemy of God's work in your life hear the prophet Amos woe to you who are complacent in Zion and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria you notable men of the foremost nation to whom the people of Israel come hear it woe to you who are complacent in Zion who feel secure it is a false sense of security that you have derived by your physical location by your geographical coordinates I want you to hear me today I know I'm preaching a word that's a little bit in your face but if I could make application today woe to you who are complacent in new life to who feel secure in your sanctuary seat well it must be okay I'm here I'm in the building I'm glad you're in the building

that's one part of consistency but I fear because you can be in the building with your body but not with your heart I'm preaching to somebody today who's struggling to get in that vein of passion that pastor bleeds out of this pulpit every week I'm talking to somebody who hears it and you want to be a part of it but something's just not clicking I came to tell you why today the complacency you are trapped by is because of the carnality you entertain there's rubbish in your life there's unsettled conviction unresolved issue and pastor's showing up I got a brick I got a brick to put on the law I got another brick Wednesday Bible study I got another brick I've been praying for you I got another brick for your life but there's so much rubbish in the way the building can't go forward

I'm talking to somebody in the Holy Ghost today I hope to God you hear me this is not what I intended on preaching carnality it's the origin of all compromise it's that little undelt area and it starts growing and growing and growing and now all of a sudden you've not been a church in a long time you can't even tell me the last time you opened your Bible in your own home you can't tell me the last time God spoke to you personally how does this happen how is it that we might deceive ourselves to think all is well because I'm in the building but God doesn't have my heart it's a false sense of security it's the mindset of complacency and now this is where I really felt that God started dealing with me what I'll say will be relevant to everybody in this house

but I would like the ears of every man to be attentive to my voice passivity never leads to power and passivity was the air of Adam in the Garden of Eden and it is the air of many men whose families falter contrary voices enter the garden of their home and rather than deal with the serpent they become passive in the moment and they tolerate a voice that modifies and manipulates the forever settled Word of God I don't know who I'm preaching to but I know what the Lord was dealing with me about and I'm calling the men of New Life Fellowship today to rise up out of the bondage of carnality but eight weeks ago I started praying that God would raise up spiritual men in this church and I'm not saying there's not none I'm not diminishing the good men and the elders but I preach in a lot of churches

I'm going to tell you most of our churches are dominated by women women lead in worship women lead in prayer and men are just kind of well until it's Super Bowl Sunday or until we're playing basketball and then I'm trying to figure out why in the world was there no display of emotion in the altar like there was over the sports game I'll tell you what it is it's carnality it's complacency it's passivity I think it was a Monday morning the first time I prayed that prayer and on Wednesday night Danny Brown walked up to me said brother McLeod I'd like to have coffee sure let's have coffee and we sit down at a little coffee shop not Java hope he said brother McLeod I just I want spiritual fellowship I want to talk about the Bible he said I've got nothing against all I didn't ask your permission Danny I hope that's okay

he said I just I've got nothing against sports and I've got nothing against all that but he said I just want to talk about the things of God I said Danny I just started praying for this two days ago Mike Hedges we were sitting up in that wall it's barn yesterday and we're sitting there with all that fellowships going on and he's sitting at a table with tears running down his cheeks talking to me about the Sunday brother shock called him out and said God's got something for you he said I just I just wanted I just this is what I'm talking about I don't want I thought sense of security because I've got a good career or I do some no no no I want to know God I'm preaching to man this is what God's put on my heart it is time for the men of this house to rise up

and be men I don't know if I should tell this stuff publicly but I'm here now can I be honest with you I don't have it all together I struggle with the management of technology in my house but I can tell you one thing about the moment I see that thing becoming an idol I told Jeff Hutterger this week what I did I watched the influence of that thing on my five year old son yeah I know Haley said what are you doing I said I'm about to tear down an idol and I took that iPad you said that cost money I know it cost money and I walked it down to my basement and I picked up that beautiful but well used leather blue S-wing handle and I beat that iPad to pieces I know some of you think I'm crazy you really did that

yeah I did that cause I'm not going to preach to you something I'm not willing to do come on man man up drive the carnality out of your house drive the complacency out of your family Carson this is who we are I'm not always going to be perfect but I'm not going to preach to you something I'm not willing to do oh god help me right now when you get a little bit later Nehemiah 14 the bible says they set guard over the lower or exposed places of the wall read it in another translation it says the unfinished place wait a minute how in the world can you have a wall four miles around 50 feet high 8 to 15 feet thick and the man of god said there's a place unfinished this is what I'm talking to this church about right now world can we build this beautiful sanctuary

and there be an unfinished area I come to tell you what the unfinished area is the bible said Reagan they set guards over their families and the word of the lord came he said it's time to fight fight for your sons fight for your daughters fight for your wives the word of the lord was to the head of the household and this is what I've come to tell you yes I thank god for this beautiful building but this building is done but there is an unfinished area and the unfinished area of this house is not brick and mortar it's not steel and sheet rock the unfinished area of this house is our families and if we're not careful we might believe the lie of the enemy that because this building is done and we're in the chairs we have this false sense of security and we become complacent

and where complacency live carnality grows friend that is a dangerous place to be that's what I'm preaching today to every dad every husband in this house every man every grandfather I'm preaching to the men of new life fellowship it's time for us to rise up and lead could you just lift your hands to him here's what I'd like us to do every father every husband in this house I'm inviting you out of your seat into this altar because I've never seen the blueprints for this building not the ones you have but I do come to you today with some blueprints if we're going to build in the spirit what needs to be built I hope I hope you'll receive this as the word of the Lord regardless of who I am or my personality men I call you to faithfulness I call you to prayer

get a couple more chapters into the story of Nehemiah the Bible said when the adversary realized that the wall had been built the construction was done Nehemiah is on the wall he sends word comes to him hey why don't you come down off this wall meet with me in the valley let's let's negotiate a little bit here Nehemiah says you send word back to him I'm doing a good work and I will not come down and so I say there is no room for negotiation for the corner it's settled there's one God his name is Jesus the only way a man can get to heaven is to be born of water and spirit to repent of their sin be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost settle but that is the starting line

not the finish line and it's the area in between that we falter in the battle listen to me I'm talking to you men in the Holy Ghost the enemy will attack your mind to keep you from not exercising your God given authority when you need to and you'll think well I don't know I'm not a smartest pastor I can't teach like he can listen you're the priest of your home you were called by God to be the head of that household if you get into a place you don't feel like you have an answer you can seek help don't be afraid to say I don't know let's find out together when I started praying this about 8 weeks ago Jeff Hutterger I hope you don't mind me throwing you in the bunch but we had breakfast Thursday morning like it was the same thing I just got a change

I said Jeff what kind of preacher would I be if I discourage you to go against a greater conviction in your life it's our job it's our job because while the wall is built even one breach one unfinished hole that's all the enemy needs I don't know about you but I don't want to shout about a building that I think we might pay off this year will I watch my family fall apart that's your house drive the serpent out of it if that snake is coming through the speaker of your child's iPhone smash the iPhone if that comes through a TV on a wall get rid of the TV how different it might have been if when Adam heard a conversation he would not have been passive but he would have exercised his power and so I invite the men of this house to lift up your hands

lift up your voice and I want you to exercise your power come on dad I know you've been battling I know it's been a struggle but there is still time to recover come on don't be afraid to lift up your voice you did it when you were at your child's sporting game can you do it for your child's salvation come on no negotiation no negotiation settle the conviction resolve the issue this is who we that's it granddad keep praying grampy that's the solution I know you don't always see it's work immediately I know sometimes you've got to build a memorial before God but keep praying keep praying keep praying it's powerful it's effective here's what I'm going to invite you to do I know it's going to require a little moving around but if your wife is here if your children are here I want you to get together with your family right now

children, spouses you may have to get up out of your seat meet them in an aisle or come to the altar I want you to get together with your family come on I love you I love our church I thank God for this building but I don't want to rejoice about paying off a mortgage well I live through the misery I've losing my family we've got to set a guard over our house the wall had been finished but the families were vulnerable if you're here and you don't have a spouse or children why don't you find a brother man to man lady to lady come on you don't got to wait on me you got to lift up your voice just pray there's no program here this isn't in the production of the service come on dad come on mom it's not over yet your prayer

can still change the outcome yes come on war war fight for the sanctity of your home fight for the future of your family