The Village Church
Cotton Candy - Audio
We are in our last week of Nehemiah. So we're going to finish up this book. It's been a great few months going through it together. So we're going to finish it up today. So Nehemiah chapter 12, we're going to begin in verse 43. Here's God's Word to his people. And they offered great sacrifices that day and rejoiced. For God had made them rejoice with great joy. The women and the children also rejoiced. And the George Jerusalem was heard far away. On that day, men were appointed over the storehouses, the contributions, the fresh fruits, the tithes, to gather into them the portions required by the law for the priests and for the Levites. According to the fields of the towns, for Judah rejoiced over the priests and the Levites who administered. And they performed the service of their God in the service of purification as did the singers and the gatekeepers. According to the command of David and his son Solomon, for long ago in the days of David and Asaph, there were directors of the singers. And there were songs of praise and thanksgiving to God. All of Israel in the days of Sarribable and the days of Nehemiah gave their daily portions for the singers, the gatekeepers. And they set apart, that was before the Levites. And the Levites set apart, that was for the sons of Aaron, chapter 13. On that day, they read from the book of Moses in the hearing of the people. And it was found written in the book of the law that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God, for they did not meet the people of Israel with bread and water, but hired valum against them to curse them. Yet our God turned the curse into a blessing. As soon as they heard their law, they separated from all the Israel, all those of foreign descent. Now before this, Elijah the priest, who was appointed over store chambers of the house of God, who was related to Tabaya, prepare for Tabaya, a lowest chamber where they previously put the grain offering, the frankincense, the vessels, and the tiles of grain, wine, and oil, which was commanded to the Levites, and the singers and gatekeepers, and the contributions for the priest. While this was taking place, I was not in Jerusalem. For in the 32nd year of art at Erksey's King of Babylon, I went to the king. And after some time, I asked to leave for the king, and came to Jerusalem. And then I discovered the evil that Elijah had done for Tabaya, preparing for him a chamber in the courts of the house of God. And I was very angry, and I threw all the household front of Tabaya out of the chamber. And then I gave orders, and they cleansed the temple and brought back the vessels of the house of God with the grain offering in the frankincense. I also found out that the portions of the Levites have not been given to them, so that the Levites and the singers who did the work had fled each to his field. So I confronted the officials and said, "Why is the house of God forsaken?" And I gathered them together and set them in their stations. Then all of Judah brought the tide of the grain and wine and oil into the storehouses. And now, pouring the treasure of the storehouses, Shelemiah the priest, Zodot the Strive, Padayo the Levites, and the assistant hanging the son of Metania. But they were considered reliable, and their duty was to distribute to their brothers. Remember me, oh my God, concerning this, do not wipe out my good deeds that have done for the house of my God, for his service. In those days, I saw in Judah people treading wine presses on the Sabbath, bringing in heaps of grind and loading them on donkeys, and also wine and grapes and figs and all kinds of loaves, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And I warned them on that day when they sold food. The Tereons also who live in the city brought in fish and all kinds of goods and sold them on the Sabbath to the people of Judah in Jerusalem itself. Then I confronted the nobles of Judah and said to them, what is this evil thing you are doing, profaning the Sabbath day? Did not our fathers act this way and did not our God bring all this disaster on us in this city? Now you are bringing more wrath and Israel about profaning the Sabbath. Verse 19, "As soon as it became to grow dark "at the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, "I commanded the doors to be shut "and gave orders that it should not be opened "until after the Sabbath. "And I stationed some of my servants at the gate "that no lo may be brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath. "Then the merchants and the sailors, "all kinds of wages lodged outside of Jerusalem "once or twice, but I warned them and said to them, "Why did you lodge outside the wall? "If you do so again, I will lay my hands on you. "For that, from that time on, they did not come on the Sabbath. "Then I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves "and come and guard the gates. "Keep the Sabbath day holy." Remember this also in my favor, O God. Spare me according to the greatness of your steadfast love. In those days, I also saw the Jews who had married women of Ashtah and Ayman and Moab, and half of their children spoke the language of Ashtah, and they could not speak the language of Judah, but the language of each people. And I confronted them, and I cursed them, I beat some of them, and pulled out their hair. Man, damn I, you're a tough guy. And I made them take an oath of name of God, saying, "You shall not give your daughters to their sons, "or take their daughters for your daughters to their sons, "or take their daughters for your sons, for yourselves. "They're not King Solomon. "They're not the Solomon and King of Israel's sin "on the kind of such women. "Among many nations, there was no King like him, "and he was beloved by his God. "And God made him over all of Israel. "None nevertheless, point of women made him even sin. "Shall we not listen to you, "and do all this great evil and atrociously "against our God by marrying foreign women? "And one of the sons of Jorah Haddah, "the son Elijah, the high priest, "was the son-in-law of Sam Ballot, the hard knight. "Therefore, I chased him from me. "Remember them, oh my God, "because they had desecrate the priesthood, "the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites. "This I cleansed them from everything foreign, "and I established the duties of the priests and the Levites, "each in his work, and I provided the word offering "and the point at times and for the first fruits. "Remember me, oh my God, for good. "This is God's holy word. "Let us pray. "Father, your word is true, your word is life-giving, "your word brings encouragement, it strikes us, "it brings conviction, it rebukes us, "it minishes to us in the places "where we need to be ministered to. "And so I pray you give us our ears and hearts "to humble ourselves before your word. "It your spirit, Lord, your holy spirit, "who lives in all of us, who are believers, "that he will take what is said this morning "and apply it to all of our hearts. "And Jesus name my pray, amen." In the 32nd year of King Order of the Earthseas, Nehemiah went up to the king. He left Jerusalem. We don't know when he actually left, we don't know how long he was gone, but we know it did take him 55 days to travel, to meet the king, and it'll take him another 55 days and return to Jerusalem. So he will ease gone for at least 110 days. So in his absence, when he was left Jerusalem, what was gonna take place when he left? Were the people still gonna be faithful to all the things they said that we're gonna do in chapter 10, things we talked about last week? And when he returned, when Nehemiah made that long journey back to Jerusalem, what would he actually find there? What was he gonna see when he came back? Because we know during his time in there, God did great things through Nehemiah. Didn't he? We've been in this book of Nehemiah for a long time, and we saw God do awesome things through him. The wall was restored. We saw worship. We saw the people being brought together. And we also saw last week that people take oaths of faithfulness to God. Nehemiah was there when they did that. He was there in chapter 10 when they said, we're gonna be faithful to the covenant relationship. You remember the pledges they made? What did they say? Are we pledged to be faithful to God's word, right? They pledged to be faithful to the Sabbath. They pledged to be faithful to support God's house. And they pledged to be faithful and not intermarrying with people of the lands. We're gonna do these things, Lord, we promise. They took oaths, they took oath to do it. You see, the people's desire, but what we saw last week, the desire to be faithful to God, everybody should have that desire. Because it's an overflow to what God is doing in our hearts. It's an overflow, it's a response to what he's done for us. It's an overflow of a heart, as I said last week, that has been shaped by God. And Nehemiah himself witnessed this overflow in the lives of these Jews. He was there in these verses, he was there. He was there when seeing them actually live out their faith, seeing them being obedient to the covenant relationship. Before he witnessed the king, the people were doing well, basically, before he left. They were doing the thing that said they were gonna do. And this is what we see in the last part of chapter 12 in the beginning of chapter 13. We see moments of faithfulness from the people. The first thing we see is they were faithful to worship. These verses, in the context of these verses here, verse 12, verse 43 of chapter 12, and verses one through four, chapter 13, they're in the context of the dedication of the wall. As we know, the wall was already built, but they have not dedicated yet. But here in chapter 12, the whole congregation has assembled again together. There's one body, one person for this dedication. The word says they celebrated dedication with gladness, with thanksgiving, with singing. It was worship taking place in Jerusalem. It was a time to acknowledge and praise God for being in Jehovah-Jahra, right? Because they know that it was through God's work and helping hand that they were able to accomplish what they did with the wall, that they just didn't do it themselves. They had all, remember, they had all these things against them to help to prevent them from doing their work, internal stuff, external stuff. But yet the Lord made a way and the work got done in spite of that. And this time and this service here is them acknowledging God as Jehovah-Jahra, our provider. Look at what you're doing for us. Look at what you're doing on your people. Thank you for blessing our efforts. And in chapter 12, verse 43 says, they offered great sacrifices that day and rejoiced for God had made them rejoiced. The women and the children also rejoiced. The joy of Jerusalem was her far away. That's gonna be awkward when they listen to that on tape. The people were enjoying the covenant relationship with God. I think that's what we see in these last parts of chapter 12, they were enjoying God. They were communing with them and fellowship with them and resting in Him. The joy of Jerusalem was heard all around because the Lord has done in them. So they were faithful in worship. Secondly, they were faithful to God's house. Nehemiah witnessed the people being faithful, doing the thing they said that we're gonna do. On that day, men were appointed over the storehouses of contribution to first fruits and the tithes. Remember in chapter 10 that people said, we were gonna give these things to God's temple, right? You remember that? We're gonna give our tithes. We're gonna support the priests and the gatekeepers and the leavites. And here in chapter 12, we see they did that because there are people over these things, watching over the tithes and gifts and making sure the leavites and the singers got their portion of those gifts. So Nehemiah's witnessed this. He saw the people supporting God's temple, supporting the house of God, giving out of their abundance and tithes and offerings. The first four to four says, for Judah rejoiced over the priests and the leavites who ministered. They rejoiced over their leaders and supporting their leaders and supplying their needs so they found joy in it. It was not considered a burden. They found joy in it. Thirdly, they were faithful to God's word. Nehemiah witnessed this before he left. In chapter 13, verses one through three, it says, on that day, they read from the book of the law of Moses in the hearing of the people. And in it was found that no ammonite or more about should ever enter the assembly of God. So they listened to the word, being preached and read to them. And the word said, this shouldn't happen. And the people applied it to their lives. They just didn't hear and let it go out in one ear. They said, well, the word says this, so we're gonna apply it. So they separated from themselves, all those are foreign descent. The point here that the people were striving to let God's word be at the center and let it order their steps. These verses here, chapter 12, verse 43, all the way to chapter 13 shows us that Israel had moments, moments when they were faithful. To the things that said that we're gonna do in chapter 10. And what if the book of Nehemiah ended right here? What if that was the last thing that Nehemiah did? Well, we'll be like, man, that was a good ending. Nehemiah was a success, he turned the people around. But we know the book doesn't end there. We still got the rest of chapter 13. And I love the fact that it doesn't end there because it doesn't give us the picture. The Israel was gonna be 100% faithful to all the things that said that we're gonna do. Because we got the rest of chapter 13. So in his absence, when Nehemiah left, all these things were going on supported the temple, prayed worship, provided for the priests, listening to God's word, reading God's word, these things were taking place. Then in the 32nd year of King on the earth sees, he's left to go back to the king. Then after some time, he asked Eve to go back to Jerusalem. And the questions are, what is he gonna find? What is he gonna see taking place when he got, when he arrives back in Jerusalem? We know when he first came into Jerusalem, he saw all kinds of stuff. And you would think all these things he did, all the reforms he did, you would think when he came back for the second time, those things would still be taking place. Will they? Will those things still be taking place? We'll see. All believers suffer with what I call CCC. Well, you say CCC, but what do you mean by that, Alex? Be patient, I'ma tell you. CCC stands for Cotton Candy Commitments. Cotton Candy Commitments. And Cotton Candy Commitments, or use those commitments you make at youth camp, or the Christian Conference or some workshop where you're in this Christian environment that only lasts for a couple of days and you're all emotionally involved in that you make all these commitments. For example, when I was in college, I was involved with the campus ministry. And every year in December, we always had a Christmas conference in Orlando, Florida. And my last one there, and at this conference you got praise and worship, you had this talks all week, you bring in all these different speakers, and you have all these college kids with all these different campuses in the South, but off the stage or the Southern, you know, some schools in Atlanta. And so, each campus breaks up toward the end of the week to have share time to reflect about the week. And in our share time, this young lady that I went to school with, she doesn't burst out into tears. I mean, she was just crying, crying. Then she said, "God, he's calling me to be a missionary. "I'm gonna be a missionary." It felt good at the time, that commitment. But she's not a missionary today. But at the time she said that, it felt right. It felt like a good commitment, but it was just cotton candy. And what do you think about cotton candy? It's way smells and tastes good, but how long does it really last when you put it in your mouth? Not very long. Do it tastes good and smells good at the fair, but it's gone just like that. It dissolves very quickly. Similarly to that, it's our faithfulness God to God. It's cotton candy faithfulness. Eventually it does dissolve into unfaithfulness. It does. It does. And we all know that's true. But we all live on the illusion. We all live on the illusion that one day, my faithfulness is gonna be more than just cotton candy. And I'm telling you, then it ain't ever gonna be more than that. Even the things that overflow from your heart, even the times when God is producing all these things in you, you still can't fall. No one is above falling. No one. Okay, how long you've been a Christian? Everyone can fall. It's just cotton candy. It doesn't matter how many books you read, how many sermons you listen to, how many conferences you go to, or how many Bible states you go to, that ain't gonna change. It's always gonna be cotton candy. Always. And when Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem, that's what he saw. That faithfulness had dissolved, man. Gone to unfaithfulness. All the things they said they were gonna do they were no longer doing when he got back. It had dissolved into unfaithfulness. And the first thing we see is that the faithful support of God's house had dissolved. You know, in chapter 10, verse 39, the people took their oaths to God and said, "We were not gonna elect your house, God. We're gonna support it." And for a period of time they did. So a period of time they did. But when Nehemiah got back, he saw that the people's faithfulness and that had dissolved into unfaithfulness, that people and their leaders. And the first thing he discovered was the priests, Elijah, for what he had did, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of God, had been unfaithful in his responsibility. He had been unfaithful. How is that? He actually allowed to buy an enemy. One who tried to stop the work to move into the temple of the God, into God's house. So he moved into a place where they kept the grain off from the frankincense, the velsus, and the tiles of the ground and wane and all. He was living in that chamber. In the temple of God. And if you know anything about Israel, like Old Testament, only certain people were allowed in the temple. Definitely not an enemy of God was allowed inside the temple. But here you have Tabaya. I am a knight living in God's house. He is set up shop like a little critter in God's temple. And near my response, he was angry, a righteous anger. He says out throughout all Tabaya's furniture. And then he made reforms in how they took care of the temple. He cleansed the chambers and they brought back the velsus of the house of God, all the grain offerings and the frankincense. He did all this stuff to try to bring reform to it. You see, he calls out what this priest did because it was evil. He held him accountable, basically. And there is accountability in the church and in the Christian life. And don't confuse accountability with people being judgmental. Some people do that. Don't judge me. There's a difference between accountability and judgment. And people who don't want to be held accountable will always call, will always say you judging them. Stop judging me. People who don't want to be held accountable will always say you judging them. But if you love a brother and sister, you will keep them accountable and you will be able to receive accountability. We are all accountable. None of us are beyond falling. If Nehemiah didn't really care about these people, he wouldn't have did the things he's doing here in chapter 13, called him out for the things that they're doing wrong. Because he could have said, "Oh, you're letting Tabaya live there, sweet. Let's just have a party." Because he loved them, cared about the people. He called them out for their sin. You can call people out without judging him. Accountability is a good thing. And it's always done in love. And with an awareness of one's own brokenness. Accountability is a good thing. And it's always done in love, with an awareness of your own brokenness. And if you have that attitude, you won't come off as an arrogant jerk. You come in with humility. I'm broken too, brother. I'm broken too. If my life starts to dissolve into great depths of unfaithfulness, I need brothers who love me, who be willing to call me out on it. Because if you don't call me out on it, you don't really love me. Cut me because you love me. You see, there's a Christian love is different. That's accountability there. If you love me, then you hold me accountable and I'll do the same for you. I'll pull you to the side, say, "Brother, this is what I see. This is what I see." And you have to freedom do the same for me because I need it. So Nehemiah held the high priest accountable for falling short on his job. And the next thing that takes place with the temple is that the temple servants were forsaken. They didn't get their portions 'cause the people weren't bringing them anymore. And because of that, all the priests, the Levites, the seniors, the gatekeepers, they all had to leave and go to their own field. Because the folks were not bringing the grind and all the things to the temple. Because if they didn't bring that stuff, the temple servants didn't eat. So they fled the temple. And so the temple was not being taken care of. If they fled the temple, guess what? Worship was not taking place. If the temple servants fled the temple. St. knows no singers, no gatekeepers. So the house of God was forsaken. You can't do that. The leaders were not there. They were all in the field, tending to their field so they could provide for themselves. Nehemiah says in verse 10, I found out that the portions of the Levites have not been given to them. So the Levites and the singers who did the work have fled each to his field. And so you know, if they're not in the temple, certain things are not taking place. Certain things are not getting done. And once again, Nehemiah dealt with this, unfaithfulness. He confronted those who were responsible for oversight of this, the officials, called them out on it, confronting them, not in a condescending way, but again, holding them accountable for lack of their leadership. Just like he did with the priests. And then he puts reforms in place. He gouged the officials together, gouged the leaders together, placed them in the station. And then he made sure all of Judah brought in their gifts, their ties, into the storehouse. And then the third thing he did was he appointed reliable leaders over the storehouses. Men who had a good character. You know, if someone's reliable, they're dependable and trustworthy. That's what he did. Men who are dependable and trustworthy, he placed over the storehouses. And he gave them clear responsibility. Your responsibility is to make sure your brothers get their portion from their ties and offerings. You make sure they get it and you give it to them. Be faithful there, be good stewards there. And even though he made these reforms, Nehemiah has to know that still was not a guarantee that if he left again and came back, things would not have dissolved again. He had to know that. And in the prayer that he praised, he had communicated that. What does he say? Remember me on my God, according to this. Do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God, for his service. That's what that prayer communicates. He knows, he knows that the Lord doesn't preserve it. It's going to dissolve into unfaithfulness again. Don't wipe it out, Lord. Don't wipe out these reforms, Father. Keep them going for your glory, for your house, for your kingdom. Let it stand, Father. Let your hands be over it. So God's house was forsaken. Next, the Sabbath, the Sabbath was forsaken. Remember in verse chapter 10, for the people say, Lord, Lord, when the people of the lands bring goods and any grind on the Sabbath to sell, we will not buy them. This is what they said in chapter 10. When they come, we are not going to buy. And then here in chapter 13, where are they doing? They're buying as much as they can. And with no conviction. Y'all understand that the bigger problem here is that people are doing these things with no conviction. Living in it, with no signs of conviction for the things that they're doing. There is no conviction. And then my came call them out on it. Hey, brother, what are you guys doing? What are you guys doing? No, don't you remember what our forefathers did? How they were profane the Sabbath and what happened to the cause of that? Don't you remember all the things? We talked about in chapter 9. And here you are doing it again, doing the same things they did. And we know why they're doing them 'cause they're no different than their forefathers. And we are no different even. The people were doing what they made an oath not to do. And again, he confronted those. He confronted the nobles of Judah, held their accountable. And then he made more reforms. This time the reforms were, he closed the gates on the night before the Sabbath. He put his servants in charge of the gates to make sure no one got into Jerusalem on the Sabbath. And then he dealt with the merchants. He was strong with them, said, "If you come out here again, I'm gonna lay my hands on you." No, I'm not a violent person, but that's near my approach. And then eventually, they got it. They didn't come back on the Sabbath day. What does that communicate? Don't compromise on your standards and your beliefs. Stand firm. Don't compromise to the world. Don't give in to what the world says. Stand firm on what you believe the Bible teaches. And this is what that communicate. That whole city, I believe, communicates that. We don't respond. The world does not dictate how we live. God's Word does all the time. Well, can you give me a better example? I'll give you a clear example. Politics don't shape my real God. My real God shape my politics. That's what I mean. There's a difference. This stands above anything in the world. This shakes the way of your life. He shakes the way of your people. He shakes the way of your government. He shakes the way of your politics. He shakes the way of your everything. Everything. Everything. And what gets us in trouble is when this is no longer shaping us. Y'all have heard me say this before. No, this is new stuff, but we always forget it. Just like they forgot it. And part of my job is to keep reminding you the things that you're gonna forget when you leave here today. This shapes us. Not the world. And what the world values. Fourthly, he dealt with the Levites who were responsible. Some of the Levites were the gatekeepers. And they fell on their job. And so he said, you need to purify yourself and get up to the gates and guard the gates and honor the Sabbath. And stop letting people in. This is basically what he tells them. Purify yourselves and guard the gates. And then he closes the end in another prayer. Remember this too, I'll still, my God, in my favor. Spread me according to the greatness of your steadfast love. I love that prayer because I think near my nose that in me and in himself, he don't really keep the Sabbath like he should. So why would he pray, Lord, spare me according to your great steadfast love? 'Cause he knows. He's just like them. And so he's praise, Lord, in your faithfulness. Spread me and spread your people because of our unfaithfulness. Let us be convicted. Let us go to repentance when we fall short. So there's two things that were unfaithful in. The Sabbath keeping, the house of God was forsaken. And then thirdly, the problem in a marriage. As we know, chapter 13, chapter 10, verse 30, that people made an oath to God. We would not give our daughters to the people of the land. And we would not take their daughters for our sons. They, we're not gonna do it. But as we know, that was cotton candy too. Because they're doing it now. Doing it in a marriage again. They have fallen back into it again. And you may ask, you say, what's the problem with the in a marriage? What's wrong with it? The people, the kids were not speaking the language of Judah. And more than that, these folks have worshiped other gods. And so they were gonna lose their religious identity. That's the problem. That's what Nehemiah was concerned about. Because if Noah was King Solomon, King Solomon started out well. Then he started marrying all these women. He started worshiping the gods of his many wives. That's what the problem was. Christians don't marry folks from other religions. There's no, I mean, there's no compromise there. There's no meaning debating that. We cannot be unequally joked. And that's in the Bible. You mean you gotta go to theology or go to the good coordinates for that? Christians don't marry folks from other religions. Christians don't marry non-believers either. That's clear in Scripture. I don't care what the denomination go to, or what church they go to, they ask a standard. And we don't compromise them. 'Cause one god is gonna have a say in those marriages. And what was happening here was the gods of the nations that were having a say. The gods of the children of them, the mother of God was having a say. And it was killing their religious identity at the people of God. They were losing it. And Nehemiah and I want that to happen. So he confronted them. He said he cursed them, pulled out their hair. Now, I'm not gonna do any of those things, but Nehemiah did so. But nonetheless, the point is, Christians marry Christians, it's the point. Christians marry Christians. So in all the things that the people took oaths in that could not keep, their faithfulness eventually dissolved into unfaithfulness. It was cotton candy. It was here one moment going to next. And when you reflect on all these reforms and the Nehemiah made, you know, what comes to your mind? When you look at all the things he just did here. See, the book ends with him correcting the people. And this should communicate some of those this morning. We have to accept the fact that your faithfulness to God, man, it's cotton candy. And at any moment, it can dissolve into unfaithfulness. And you know, you said, aren't we to grab fruit? Yes, we are to grab fruit as Christians, but it's fruit that is produced in us, through the Holy Spirit. You're not producing the fruit. We think we are because of good works we do. It's produced in you. You do the good works because it was been done in you. That's the difference. It's produced in you. One commentator says, the church can take nothing for granted. The church can take nothing for granted. It is never reformed once for all. Because like the reformers of the 16th century, New Well, always needing to be reformed. Listen to that. The church always needing to be reformed. We never reformed once for all the people of God. We always need reform. We always need it for the rest of our life. And when you become a Christian for the first time, the rest of your life is gonna be spent with God reforming you, molding you into his image. You don't think just because I give him a lot of the crisis, all of a sudden, man, it's gonna be good. It's gonna be no struggle no more. All these things that's gonna quickly change, it doesn't work that way. It's a lifetime where you've been changed and reformed in the image of Christ. And this is what near my 13th shows us. We're never gonna get to a place where we have arrived. As a church, as Christians, as parents, as spouses, you're never gonna get to that place where you don't need mercy, where you don't need that cat grace. You gotta rest in his arms. Stop fighting to get out. [BLANK_AUDIO] Accept the fact that we have freedom to struggle. That's something that a friend told me when I was in college, when I was going through my battle with depression and just struggling to believe I was a Christian. Because I was fighting to be free. And he told me we have freedom to struggle, Alex. Freedom to struggle. Freedom to fall short. Freedom to mess up. But the enemy of that is the illusion that one day, if I continue to work hard enough, I'm gonna actually be free from the struggle. And that's what I was living by Christian life, trying to be free. 'Cause we don't wanna struggle no more. But what we don't realize, that on this side of glory, you will. I don't care what the health and wealth gospel says. Prosperity gospel says, some of us are gonna struggle. Some of us are gonna be poor. Some of us are gonna get sick. Some of us are gonna get diseases and die. I mean, that's just reality. That's just reality. And does it mean God doesn't love you? Just the fact we live in a broken world, people. We live in a broken world. So, it's lost my train of thought. That's the reality of the Christian life, the cycle. What we read about in chapter nine, were the people of Israel and their forefathers, the up and down cycle, it's still in place. Except that. Amy Carmichael says, an acceptance lies peace. An acceptance lies peace. When you accept that this is a Christian life, you can have peace here and you can have peace in the valley. Because you know that's just the way it is. We want it all to be up here. And then they're ever gonna be up here all the time. You have moments when it's up here. You have moments when it's down here. An acceptance lies peace. I'm reading a book right now called First Things First. Yes, it is a self-help book, but it's got some good illustrations in it. So, I'm gonna steal one a day. So, as I was reading this week, I came across a description that sometimes that there's a good picture of the Christian life for many of us. One of the authors in the book has a friend who is a psychologist. And this psychologist and his professional peers is sometimes worked with rats and mazes. The author said they were put a rat at one end of the maze and a piece of food at the other end. And they were watched as the rat bump around until he eventually finds the food. The next time they put him in, he bumps a little less. He'd get the food a little faster. And after a while, he got where he would just zip through the maze and get the food real quick. And then they took the food away. And for a while, each time he'd keep going to make it a beeline for the end of the maze. But it wasn't too long before he figured out the food wasn't going to be there, and so he stopped. And the psychologist says, this is a difference between rats and people, the rats stop. You not realize when you became a Christian, Jesus took away your sin. He took away your concept of self-righteousness and gave you his. But some of us are like that rat still trying to run to our own. Still trying to get on. I'm telling you, it ain't there no more. You don't have to work for your own righteousness. You don't have to continue to live and sin. He set you free. Well, we run through the maze of life, trying to get something that's not there. It's gone. Be a Christian through his righteousness. Stop trying to earn it, trying to attain your own sense of self-righteousness because it's not there. We know that, we know what these people don't know. Something I said last week, we have the finished story. Christ has given you all that you need. Chapter 13's here ends with Nehemiah confronting the high priest. Because his servant in a marriage with Sam Ballet's daughter. And when I read that, why did he put that that way? Why did he in the book talking about how the priesthood has been desecrated? Why? The desecrated priesthood, the covenant of priesthood and the Levites have been desecrated because of this in a marriage. I realized that, as we saw a couple chapters back, we talked about how the office of king and the office of prophet was broken. He ends the book now with the office of priests, broken. That pushes us forward. It pushes us forward to the fact that we still need a greater priest, basically. A greater priest. Someone who will not falter. Someone who will not fall down the job. A priest who is perfect. A priest who doesn't fall short. A priest who is not sinful. And we all know that is Jesus. A priest who does not have to make sacrifices for his own sin because he is sinless. And if you know, if you read the book of Hebrews, you know that that high priest is Jesus. He is our prophet. He is our priest. He is our king. And he fulfills all those offices. And he gives you his righteousness. He takes your sin as your priest. He died for it. He takes it. And he gives you his righteousness. You gotta learn to rest there. Sleep there. Drink of it. Bathe in it. Whatever you need to do to wrap your mind around that. And then you can stop running through the maze of life trying to earn what you already got. What you already got. As his people, as his bride, as his beloved, you have all of his attention, all of his affection, all of his love. So you can stop eating the cotton candy of your own faith from this and just accept his, that he is giving you. His righteousness and his love. Let us pray. Father God, I pray that you'll help me stop running. Trying to find my sense of righteousness and my role as a pastor. The things I do as a pastor. Help me to not try to find my identity and who I am. The things that I do for you, the Lord help me to embrace, help all of us to embrace and to rest in what we have in Christ because of his life, his death, his resurrection. That we are righteous in your sight. That even the things we do, even the faithfulness that we do show, don't last forever. Because Lord, we still struggle with sin. And it's okay, Father. The question is, are we convicted when we fall? That should be the question we have when we struggle with sin. Am I convicted? Or do I find no conviction when I fall or live in sin? Can't convict us, Father. And allow us to hold one another accountable in love with awareness of our own brokenness. I know, Father, that you love your church. You die for your church. And I pray your blessings of your people this morning. I pray for those of who may be here who don't know you. I pray that your spirit will be working in their hearts that there will see the need for a Savior, that Jesus, Lord, is there for them. Bring them into your kingdom. Allow them to receive Christ, Lord. I pray for those who are struggling to believe the gospel. Help them to know, Lord, that there's grace and forgiveness. And help them to repent. Help them to rest. And Lord, be with us this week. Be with our families. Be with our kids. And thank you so much for all your blessings. Christ, name our prayer. Amen.