In the old days people erected walls around cities Protection; Security; Safety; Righteousness; Fellowship At night the gates would be closed When an

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2 Neh.2:17 Then I said to them, "You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace." 18 I also told them about the gracious hand of my God upon me and what the king had said to me. They replied, "Let us start rebuilding." So they began this good work. 19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they mocked and ridiculed us. "What is this you are doing?" they asked. "Are you rebelling against the king?" 20 I answered them by saying, "The God of heaven will give us success. We his servants will start rebuilding, but as for you, you have no share in Jerusalem or any claim or historic right to it. (NIV)

3 In the old days people erected walls around cities Protection; Security; Safety; Righteousness; Fellowship At night the gates would be closed When an enemy attacked the gates were closed. The men lined the wall in time of attack to repel the enemy! Even spiritually God instructed the Israelites to refrain from mixing or inter-marrying with the heathen people! The Lord instructs us to be separated from the world, denying ourselves all ungodliness and fleshly lusts. Surrounded, preserved by a broad wall of nonconformity to the world, & separation from its customs & spirit Jas 4:4 don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.

4 I. The Wall of Individual Responsibility Rom.12:1-2 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-- this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-- his good, pleasing and perfect will. (NIV) Spurgeon Professors are no longer strict & Puritanical, questionable literature is read on all hands, frivolous pastimes are currently indulged, & a general laxity threatens to deprive the Lord's peculiar people of those sacred singularities which separate them from sinners. And they didn t even have TV in mid to late1800s!!! People believed in getting married BEFORE having sex!!! I wonder what Mr Spurgeon would ve said if he lived today?

5 We re living in an age of blame shifting (like Adam etc) Every political party blames others for all our problems! The ONLY way we can have a God-Fearing govt. will be if we pray now & continually & when we vote! If you want to know how bad it can become with ungodly people in control see Zimbabwe; Venezuela! Voting and Prayer are an Individual Responsibility! A man whose job was laying cobblestones in Paris at the end of 19 th Centaury. One day tired went home early There was a little hole he should ve completed before going home! That night a horse stumbled in that hole The driver fell and was killed! The dead man s family were destitute!

6 The only way for them to earn money was for the two daughters to become prostitutes! The mother died and the girls continued as prostitutes! Many men led astray marriages broken! Q. Who was responsible for this tragedy? The man who didn t finish his job of course! I would hate to face Jesus at the Judgement & have him ask: Why didn t you finish the job I gave you to do, Steve? How many lost souls could accuse us of not doing our job?

7 II. The Wall of Communal Cooperation Being separated from the heathen people around them, the Israelites could encourage one another in Faith The contamination of heathen temple prostitutes! The contamination of child sacrifices! Barbaric practices abound where God is not worshipped In 1Co.12 Paul teaches about the Spiritual Gifts given to members of His body that s us! & we need each other! 1Co.12:15 If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body.. v.27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. (NIV)

8 What is the Church? Richard Halverson, former chaplain of the United States Senate, said something about the church that is eminently apropos: "In the beginning the church was a Fellowship of men and women centering on the living Christ. Then the church moved to Greece where it became a Philosophy. Then it moved to Rome where it became an Institution. Next, it moved to Europe, where it became a Culture. And, finally, it moved to America where it became an Enterprise." Oh that we could become what the Church was in the beginning. See Act.2:44-47

9 Act.2:44-47 All the believers were together & had everything in common. Selling their possessions & goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes & ate together with glad & sincere hearts, praising God & enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. (NIV) Compare Karl Marx Conflict Theory - that due to society's never-ending competition for finite resources it will always be in a state of conflict. Communism: equalise by the State owning everything It can never work because they exclude God The Church is run by Elders - Communism is controlled by Dictators! Modern Dictators caused must suffering: Idi Amin; Robert Mugabe; Nicolás Maduro; Kim Jong-un! (Hitler; Stalin )

10 III. Fortifying the Broad Wall Neh.3:8 Uzziel son of Harhaiah, one of the goldsmiths, repaired the next section; and Hananiah, one of the perfume-makers, made repairs next to that. They restored Jerusalem as far as the Broad Wall. (App. 200m) Broad Wall could also be translated Double Wall. "formerly broken down by Joash, king of Israel [2Ch.25:23], but afterwards rebuilt by Uzziah [2Ch.26:9], who made it so strong that the Chaldeans, finding it difficult to demolish, had left it standing." Didn't need rebuilding - only to be fortified! God has built a Broad (Double) Wall between Believers and The Lake of Fire: GRACE & FORGIVENESS!

11 Born Again = already "Righteous" - Need to Fortify Faith; Refresh Relationships (with God & His people); Repair Cracks Therefore we should build a "broad wall of nonconformity to the world, and separation from its customs and spirit". The Holy Spirit helps us do just that! Leads us into all truth! Never forget we have each other! Each Israelite built/repaired the wall in front of his house In many areas they worked together without stife! The opposition was outside Ne 2:19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they mocked and ridiculed us. What is this you are doing? they asked. Are you rebelling against the king? In the same way Christian Principles will never be popular with the world We are NOT Politically Correct! Our objective is to be Right with God!

12 M. Henry: The walls of Jerusalem, in heaps of rubbish, represent the desperate state of the world around, while the number and malice of those who hindered the building, give some faint idea of the enemies we have to contend with, while executing the work of God Having chosen to make JESUS your SAVIOUR, & also your LORD, I believe you have the character (with Holy Spirit's help) to build/repair/restore this wall of separation from worldliness! Let s conclude with those words of C.H. Spurgeon: Surrounded & preserved by a broad wall of nonconformity to the world, & separation from its customs & spirit - also: we are nevertheless not in prison, nor restricted within narrow bounds; nay, we walk at liberty, because we keep His precepts

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