 Alright, amen. So Proverbs chapter one, that's one of my favorite from my favorite books in the Bible or chapters in the Bible. I just want to share that with you. A couple things we're going to go through. We're going to kind of dig into chapter one of Proverbs, look at what wisdom is, and then we're going to look at three ways that we can apply it to our life as Christians. Like Brother Jared preached this morning, we need to have a specific goal and a specific direction. And I believe seeking wisdom and then the three ways we're going to talk about applying it are going to lead us to living a victorious Christian life. And so we're going to look at those things. Let's pray before we begin. Dear Lord, thank you for this opportunity to preach. Lord, thank you for this church and the edification that brings us all. Thank you for the leadership here, Lord, and also thank you for our pastor. I pray that this be edifying and encouraging to those here, Lord, and speak through me, Lord. Your name we pray. Amen. Okay, so Proverbs chapter one, it's a proverb about wisdom, right? Verse one, if you're there, look down in Proverbs chapter one, verse one, the proverb of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, to know wisdom and instruction, to perceive the words of understanding, talking about wisdom, instruction, understanding. Verse three, to receive the instruction of wisdom, justice and judgment and equity, to give subtlety that's as simple to the young man knowledge and discretion. A wise man will hear and will increase learning, and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsel. The verse I want to focus on, that I'm basing the title of the sermon on, the title of the sermon is a net spread in vain. I want to focus on verse 17, surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird. And so we're going to look through wisdom and how we can apply it through that verse. Look down at verse seven, Proverbs chapter one, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. There is so in that fools despise wisdom, they despise instruction. And also equates that with the fear of the Lord, the beginning of knowledge. We can see fools despise the fear of the Lord, wisdom, instruction. Look over at verse 29 of Proverbs one. It says, for that they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord. So in that verse we can see that this is a choice that we make to seek the fear of the Lord or to look after the fear of the Lord. How do we get the fear of the Lord? What allows us to get the fear of the Lord? Turn with me to Deuteronomy chapter 17. We'll look at that real quick. Deuteronomy 17, the beginning of your Bible. So this is Moses given the law again and he knows that they're eventually going to want a king. So he's given a list of rules for the kings that will come into Israel, what they should do, how they should behave, how they're going to keep their heart right. Verse 15 of Deuteronomy 17 says, Thou shalt in any way set him king over thee whom the Lord thy God shall choose. One from among thy brethren shall thou set king over thee and thou mayest not set a stranger over thee which is not thy brother. So he's telling them God's going to choose the king and it's going to be somebody from among you. And it gives him a list of things that he should do. Verse 16, but he should not multiply horses to himself or cause the people to return to Egypt to the end that he should multiply horses for as much as the Lord has said unto you, he shall henceforth return no more that way. Now the thing he shouldn't do is neither shall he multiply wives to himself for 17, that his heart turn not away. Neither shall he greatly multiply himself silver and gold. Verse 18 is what I want to focus on. This king, one thing he's supposed to do, it says in verse 18, and it shall be when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom that he shall write him a copy of this law in the book of that which is before the priests and the Levites. So he's going to write himself his own copy word for word from the Levite priests, the line that they're having of the Old Testament at the time of what they had. And what is he supposed to do with it? Verse 19, and it, that copy shall be with him and he shall read therein all the days of his life. Why? That he may learn to fear the Lord his God. So how do we learn to fear the Lord by reading the Bible by making it part of our daily life, right? And it's a very humbling experience. You see how God feels about sin and how he deals with people and it's a very humbling thing to read what the Bible actually teaches. Verse 19, again, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God to keep all the words of this law and these statutes to do them. So there's some action that goes along with that. It's learning to fear the Lord but also keeping the statutes and doing them. Verse 20, that his heart be not lifted up above his brother and he turned not aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left. To the end he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children in the midst of Israel. So we can see there that the fear of the Lord comes from reading the word daily, getting into the Bible. That gives us wisdom, right? The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Flip back to Proverbs chapter one, please. Should have had you keep your place there but flip back there, please. I'll read for you Psalms 34, verse 11. It says, Come ye children, harken unto me and I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Okay, listening to the Bible, hearing it preached. That's how we get the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord will prevent us. What we saw in Deuteronomy prevents us from pride from our heart being lifted up. It keeps us humble. And it prevents us from falling into sin. We know the commandments and we know what we ought to do. Job 28, 28 says, and unto man he said, this is Job speaking, fear the Lord, behold, the fear of the Lord. That is wisdom. And to depart from evil is understanding. So again, showing what we see in Proverbs one, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, beginning of knowledge, wisdom, instruction. Let's look down at Proverbs one, eight. We'll continue on. My son, hear the instruction of thy father and forsake not the law of thy mother. For they, the instruction in the law shall be an ornament of grace under thy head and chains about thy neck. My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. The writer here is giving instructions to their children. Listen to the law and listen to the instruction that we give you. Verse 11, if they say, come with us. Let us lay weight for blood. Let us look privily for the innocent without cause. Let us swallow them up alive as the grave and whole as those that go down into the pit. We shall find all precious substance. We shall fill our houses with spoil. Cast in thy lot among us. Let us all have one purse. They're telling them, hey, come with us. We're going to murder people. We're going to rob people. And we'll split the plunder, split the spoil. Verse 15, my son, walk not thou in the way with them. This is wisdom. It's going to illuminate what wickedness is in our lives and how we ought to not walk with them. Refrain thy foot from their path. For their feet run to evil and make haste to shed blood. Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird. The first time I read through that verse, it seems kind of out of place. We're talking about people murdering and don't walk in their way. They run to evil. Surely the net is spread in vain in the sight of any bird. And it kind of struck me, and so I wanted to kind of lead into it. But what that verse is actually talking about is being wise as to what's going on around us, paying attention to our surroundings, to what's going on in the spiritual realm, as well as here on earth physically, being vigilant, being aware of our surroundings. Think about it as a hunting analogy or a trapping analogy. There in that verse specifically, it's trying to catch a bird. If you have a net that you're trying to catch on a bird, and the bird sees you laying the net, he's not going to fly into the net. He's going to fly away. I think about my boy, we have a lot of flies in the house, and so when I get home from work, we'll get our fly swatter and we'll go hunting flies, and by the time you get three or four flies, eventually they're all flying around and trying to escape because they know what's going on. They can see that coming and they can flee that. And that's a way that we ought to behave as well. We ought to see the nets spread for us and the traps that are out there for us and for others, and we ought to apply wisdom that we're seeking through the fear of the Lord to look out for those. The Bible uses us as a metaphor in birds in one other place. I'll read for you Luke 12 verse 24. Consider the ravens for they neither sow nor reap, which neither have storehouses nor barn, and God feedeth them. How much more are ye better than the fowls? Look, the net is spread in vain in the sight of the birds, but do we see the nets spread for us? Are we always aware of what's going on? And so this is, again, my first point, we've got to seek to be wise. Use the fear of the Lord. Use our daily Bible reading to seek that wisdom. But how can we use it? Number one, we can use it defensively to watch out for the nets that the devil and others spread for us. So turn with me to 1 Peter chapter 5, because there's many ways that we can get tripped up. And Brother Jared's talked about this before. Once we're saved, the devil can never take away our salvation. He knows this, but he would love to make us ineffective as Christians. He would love to take us out of the race, take us out of the running, not make us effective soul winners, as effective our testimony. We'd love to ruin our testimony, right? And we all know people that have backslidden and are no longer serving the Lord. They're saved and nothing can change that, but at the same time, we know that they're no longer effective for the kingdom, at least how they are right now. So 1 Peter 5, look down at verse 8, be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour. The Bible talks about spiritual wickedness in high places. Our weapons aren't of physical, they're spiritual weapons. And we can see that the devil's out there seeking whom he may devour. He's trying to pin us down and tie us up, right? And we know the ways that he works. Turn with me to Ephesians chapter 6. While you're turning there, I'll read out of 1 Corinthians 16. Fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. So there's some strength and some boldness that's going to be required in this defensive strategy and watching out for the wiles that the devil has. Ephesians 6, let me go there myself. Ephesians 6, look down at verse 11. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. The whole armor of God, it goes on to tell about it. We have the breastplate of righteousness. The feet shot with the gospel of peace. The helmet of salvation. The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Prayer and supplication in the Spirit. These are things that we ought to use to protect ourselves from the wiles of the devil. I grew up watching cartoons. You see Wiley Coyote. He's always trying to trip up the road runner so that he can have them for dinner. It's the scheming and the plotting and the things that that's how the devil works to try and trip us up. He doesn't want people from getting saved or to make us ineffective as Christians. Once we're saved, we're saved forever, but he wants to try and trip us up, right? So we've got to be aware of that and to fight against that or to stand against it. The Bible says there in verse 11. Notice that it says that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. It doesn't say you need to attack against the wiles of the devil or you need to push into the wiles of the devil. It says stand. Daniel chapter 6. Daniel chapter 6. Matthew, Ezekiel, Daniel chapter 6. And we're going to look at verse 10. They made a law that it was illegal to pray, right? Daniel's under the captivity and the king makes a law that it's illegal to pray. It says in verse 10 of Daniel chapter 6. Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house and his window's being opened in his chamber toward Jerusalem. He kneeled upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God as he did a four time. He just kept doing what he was supposed to be doing. He kept persevering in the things that he was supposed to do. And that's what we're called to do in Ephesians 6. We're called to stand, right? We're not to call it to necessarily advance or retreat. We're called to stand where we are supposed to stand. And that's how we can resist the wiles of the devil. James 4.7 says, Submit yourselves therefore to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you. God gives us. If we resist him, he will flee from us. In order to resist him, we need to know how he works. Matthew 4, the Bible just talks about the devil attempting Jesus. And the devil misquotes Scripture there. He misquotes Psalm 91 verse 11 and 12. Ye hath God says, right? This is how the devil works in Genesis 3. That's his first words that we see him speak. So we know the devil's trying to twist Scripture or to omit Scripture or lead us astray in those things. We had to use the whole hammer of God, the sword of the Spirit, the helmet of salvation, everything like that to fight against the wiles of the devil. So we need to be aware of those things. 1 Thessalonians 5, please turn there. 1 Thessalonians 5 1 Thessalonians 5 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 6 is therefore let us not sleep as do others, but let us watch and be sober. And sober not necessarily is meaning free from drunkenness, it does, meaning like a sobering thought, something that's of weighty matter, something that's a heavy thought, something to be taken seriously. That's how we ought to think, watch and be sober. It says watch, we gotta be out on the lookout. There's a thing that they use a lot, it's in military and law enforcement, it's called the Cooper color codes. Maybe some of you are familiar with it. It talks about, it uses colors, four colors to describe how we go about our daily lives. Are we aware of things, are we not aware, are we in trouble, how we're living in that moment. The four colors it uses is white, yellow, orange, red. Code white is somebody that's not paying attention. They're just on autopilot going about their day. This is when you drive to work and it takes you 20 minutes and then you try and think back on what you saw on the way to work and you can't think of anything because you're just going through the motions. This is not necessarily paying attention, this is just going through it. We've seen videos of people looking at their phones, walking on the street and they walk right into a telephone pole or something. This is somebody living in code white. They're not necessarily bad, they're just unaware of their surroundings. Code yellow is somebody who's just generally curious about what's going on around them. They're just paying attention. It's not the whole hyper-vigilant, scared and wondering where everything's at, it's just paying attention, living curiously. If we live in code yellow, if we're just curious of our surroundings, this is physical application to it. We have the opportunity to go to code orange. Say for example, if you're going to your car and it's late at night and you see a shadow behind your car because you're in code yellow and you're just noticing things and you notice a shadow behind the car and you are thinking about that as you're walking up to your car. That's code orange, you're deciding in your mind ahead of time if that shadow's nothing and if it's a bush then I'm fine. If it's something that jumps out at me, I'm going to run away or I'm going to do whatever you need to do. That's code orange. You're giving yourself time to think and to plan your next move. Code red is when you're taking action. If somebody's in code white and they just go in to unlock their car at night and somebody comes out and grabs them, they're immediately in code red. They're fighting or fleeing. There's no luxury of having the opportunity to think ahead of your actions. There's a lot of things to do for our own physical well-being. Keep an eye on our surroundings, what's going on around us. They're also good practice spiritually. Being in a church like this, it's pretty hard to be in condition white. We're having Bible preach status. We're going out preaching the gospel to people. We're hearing what the Bible says about sin. We're finding out how to clean up our lives. And that's a great blessing. The majority of saved Christians out there, they're living in code white. They're in some lame liberal church, and they're not really doing anything. They're not getting preached at. They're not aware of their surroundings. They're aware of the battle that's going on with them, spiritually around them. And we ought to strive to maintain condition yellow. I wouldn't necessarily say getting into code white is backsliding, but it definitely leads to that. You have the opportunity to slip and falter, and that's a way that the devil can slip us up. Now, this also applies. There's a rule that people talk about with this whole Cooper color codes. It's like the stupid rule, right? Don't do stupid things at stupid times with stupid people in stupid places. Just being aware of your surroundings. And that's more on the physical aspect of it. But spiritually as well, when we're out soul-winning, we need to make sure that we're aware of our surroundings. For safety's sake, but also for seeing who's walking down the street that might need the gospel, or finding somebody that's demon-possessed that we need to avoid that person for others that do need to hear the gospel. So anyway, we're watching out for ourselves. We're seeking the fear of the Lord. Seeking wisdom, that's the first point. And we're going to use that wisdom to watch out for ourselves. This would apply to our family members as well. We know the things that we struggle with in our own sin. We're familiar with that and we can probably spot the things that our spouses or our kids struggle with as well. In the spiritual application of these Cooper color codes, yellow condition is being plugged into a good church like this, reading our Bible, having a good prayer life, those type of things. But when we're in orange and red, these are when we're making changes, implementing changes, setting boundaries, separating in certain areas to secure ourselves that we don't have to have these issues pop up. Job 31.1, I made a covenant with my eyes, why then should I think upon a maid? We know what the Bible says about things like this, so we can guard and put up safeties to protect ourselves. Proverbs 23.31, look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his color in the cup, when it moveth itself right. This is something that a couple years ago, I didn't know that the Bible talked about this. And so, orange and code red is making changes, throwing stuff out, getting things set up right. And that's ways that we can apply the things that we learn in a conditioned yellow church to our lives. James 1.14, says, but every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed, then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death. So we got to strive to make sure we're fleeing from the temptations of the devil, fleeing from, again, James 4, submit yourselves to God, therefore to God resist the devil, and he will flee from you. We just need to stand. Stand where we're supposed to be doing what we're supposed to be doing. Mark 14.38, please turn there, actually. Mark 14.38, Matthew 14.38 This is all in watching out for ourselves. And this is kind of a defensive strategy, right? We're looking out for ourselves, our own family members. This is essentially what the verse is talking about. Surely in vain the net is spread in the side of any bird. We ought to be birds that can see the net spread for us and avoid them, right? And this is how we're doing that, by defensive. Mark 14.38, watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The Spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak. This is Jesus talking. Brother Garrett preached a good sermon on this while back. The Spirit is ready, but the flesh is weak. One thing, and kind of tying in with the Cooper color codes in the physical aspect of things, the flesh is weak, right? The flesh dwelled no good thing. That's our sinful man that we're stuck with till the day we die, right? We'll have the new birth, but we don't get rid of the flesh until we die, until we go to heaven, right? The flesh dwelled no good thing, but there is one benefit to still having the flesh with us. We still get to be here, right? We still get to be here and win souls. We still get to be here and be examples for our kids and our family members and hopefully our grandkids and great grandkids down the road, Lord willing. And part of that I think is, you know, the stupid rule, right? It comes, you know, this would apply to our physical lives, making sure that we're at least able to be here for as long as God lets us be here, right? Living a healthy lifestyle, those kind of things that we can, you know, not go skydiving necessarily, if that's something that, you know, yeah, it sounds fun, I'd love to do it, but something, you know, being smart, right? Being smart and making sure we don't endanger ourselves more than we need to be, so that we can be here witnessing for the Lord, okay? And that brings me to my third point. So again, we have seeking to be wise using the fear of the Lord. We have using that wisdom and defense of ourselves and our family members. But think about it, again, that's a defensive strategy, right? So if you have a baseball team or basketball team and they're the best defense in the league, but they have terrible offense, even if their defense can beat every other offense, they can never win the game, right? They can only tie. That's the best they can do is tie. And so like that, we need to have the fear of the Lord as well. Watching out for others is another way that we can use this wisdom that we get from the fear of the Lord and apply it to our lives spiritually, okay? Seeking to be wise and watching out for others. Turn to Ezekiel 33, please. Ezekiel 33. I'll read for you 2 Timothy 4. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of the ministry, do the work of an evangelist that says that's preaching the gospel, going out and telling folks the good news about Jesus Christ, right? That's watching out for others, right? We do this twice a week, Saturdays and Sundays is an opportunity to go soul winning. Knocking on doors, telling folks about Christ and the free gift that they can receive, right? If you're there at Ezekiel, look down at 33. Look down at verse 7. So, thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel, therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth and warn them for me. Okay? He's telling us if we're saved, we are that watchman. We're called to be watchmen. Before he's talking about setting up a watchman in place of the city, and if he sees a storm or destruction coming and he doesn't warn people, they're blood's on his hands. He's responsible for that. And here the Bible tells us, I have set thee, that's a personal you, not you plural, that's you singular, watchman unto the house of Israel. Therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth and warn them for me. Verse 8, when I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die, if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked of his way from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at thine hand. Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it, and he, if he did not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity, but thou hast delivered thy soul. This is soul winning. This is why we go out knocking doors to warn people. Soul warning, we call it. Because sometimes people don't answer. It's an opportunity presented to them to hear the gospel, to be confronted with the gospel. We're not trying to be confrontational or contentious, but to confront them with the gospel, to present it to them. And this is the way we watch out for others. Turn please to Daniel chapter 12. Daniel chapter 12. Verse, you guys all know really well, I'll read for you. Proverbs 11 30. The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he that wineth souls is wise. Okay? He that wineth souls is wise. That's why we're promoting soul winning, right? It's part of our culture here. Daniel chapter 12. If you're there towards the end of the Old Testament, look down at verse 3. We saw in Proverbs that he that wineth souls is wise. Daniel 12 3 says, and they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the stars that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever. I love in that song, victory through grace, they are the stars that forever, brightness kingdom shall shine. It's quoting Daniel 12 3. And it's a beautiful incentive to us as soul winners to get out and preach the gospel. There would be rewards for that, but we're out warning people. We're being the watchmen. We're just fulfilling what God commands us to do. The great commission. Go there, go ye therefore into all nations of the gospel to every creature. Turn please to Matthew 7, Matthew chapter 7. So we see in watching out for others that we need to watch for people that need salvation, right? And this is discerning when we're out soul winning. Who's receptive? Who's unreceptive? Who's willing to listen? Who's not? Who's hung up on some things and needs some coaxing it through? And who doesn't? Who's stuck in their ways and maybe a seed, right? Brother Jerry preached on the parable of the soul or the different types of people we might meet soul winning on Wednesday night. And we need to discern that. We need to look for the people that are ready to hear the gospel. They're willing to listen, right? We also need to be watching out for the person described in Matthew 7. Look at verse 15. Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves, right? We need to watch out for these people because they're trying to subvert. There's a thing called the movable middle, right? You see this in most, most things. There's an extreme one side and extreme the other side and then everybody else is kind of in the center. Two, three percent, two, three percent and everybody else is in the center. Well, think of it in terms of salvation, right? You have saved people, small percent. You have reprobates, small percent. And you have the people in the middle. Those are the people we're focusing on and we're protecting them from these people, right? We're aiming at them to get them saved and to get them on the correct path and they're seeking truth, hopefully, they're seeking truth. And that's what we're doing. Flip over a couple pages to Matthew chapter 10. Matthew chapter 10. Look down at verse 16. Alright, so when we're out there, this is something we need to watch for. Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves. Be therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves. Again, a call to be wise, a call to be aware of our surroundings, right? We can take the color code thing and apply it to soul-winning. We can be vigilant, be on the lookout, not be ignorant, not be laudita. No, we can be focused and looking for people who are receptive, looking for people. And we do this in our own personal lives, right? Friends, you might mention a Bible verse or bring something up to them and look to see who's receptive and approach them with the gospel, right? So again, seek to fear the Lord to seek to be wise. We're going to use that wisdom for defense to watch out for our own selves and our family. We're going to also use that wisdom to look out for other people, who need the gospel and people who are trying to attack the cause of the gospel. But one other way I want to point out is using wisdom to watch out for opportunities, okay? Opportunities. Turn please to Nehemiah chapter 1. Nehemiah chapter 1. So opportunities, this doesn't necessarily go exactly with the verse and Proverbs. Surely in vain a net is spread in the sight of any bird. That's more applying to, you know, nets that people fall into, cells, right? Or others around us, you know, unsaved people that need the gospel, this kind of thing. But I think we can apply that verse to be looking out and be prepared for opportunities that we can avoid a net, right? Or that we can jump into, say, a comfortable net, right? Better ourselves, better our situation. And one thing that kind of jumped out at me reading through Nehemiah a couple of weeks ago is just the situation and how he goes about it. Let's just buzz through here. We'll look at, Nehemiah kind of takes place at the same time as Ezra, right? They're still a part of the remnant of Ezra and captivity. Some of them's back in Jerusalem as we're rebuilding the temple. Nehemiah comes back to rebuild the wall. But Nehemiah, he's a cut bearer for the king, right? And it says here, let's look at verse 3. We'll kind of read through this to get a little bit of the context and see what Nehemiah does and why it's effective. We're going to apply that to our lives. And then to me, verse 3, the remnant that are left of the captivity that are in province are in great affliction of reproach. The wall of Jerusalem also is broken down and the gates thereof are burned with fire. And it came to pass when I heard these words and I sat down and wept and mourned certain days and fasted and prayed before the God of Heaven. This is Nehemiah's response. He's clearly upset. He's touched by what he hears that the walls are broken down, that the city is broken down also. They're of sore countenance because of this, right? And he's touched by that. So what does he do? He weeps and he mourns and he fasts and he prays, you know? This is his prayer in verse 5. 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 thy 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 servant, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee, both I and my Father's house of sin. So he's confessing his sins, right? He's saying, hey, look, we haven't been right. We've done these terrible things. Not just me, but our household also. We have dealt very corruptly in verse 7, against thee, and have not kept thy commandments, nor thy statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandest thy servant, Moses. Then he kind of switches gears. Remember I beseech thee, the word that thou commandest thy servant, Moses, saying, if you transgress, I will scatter you abroad into nations, but if you turn unto me and keep my commandments and do them, though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of heaven yet will I gather them from thence and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there. So he's saying, we've already been cast out of the land, right? The Mosaic Covenant was always if then, you know, if they keep my statutes and if they keep my laws, they will be in that land, they will be protected, they will be healthy, but if they don't affliction will come, they will be cast out, they will be taken over as a nation, right? And that's what's happened. Babylonian captivity, they're there, everything's kind of progressed to where Nehemiah is at, and they're still not fully returned to Jerusalem. And he's saying, remember us, and we're turning our hearts back towards God, and so he's hoping that that'll bring, he's asking God to remember that promise. Verse 10, now these are thy servants and thy people whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power and by thy strong hand. He says, who now hast redeemed, hast redeemed like present tense, he's already redeemed him. But they haven't been fully redeemed yet, right? Nehemiah is still in captivity, there's others that are still in captivity, he's going to go back and rebuild the wall, the wall's not been put up yet. And so he hasn't fully redeemed him, but as as Matt Mark 11, 24 says, and therefore I say unto you, what things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them and ye shall receive them. This is how Nehemiah is praying. He's saying, hey, you've already redeemed him. I know you can already do it, God. So when he's praying, he's asking for these things, believing that they've already come to pass, right? And that's a strong prayer, and you see that with that fasting, highlighting that. O Lord, verse 11, I beseech the 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. Okay, again, the fear of the Lord, that's what they're desiring to do. And what's that going to lead to him? Who desired 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 cup bearer. Okay, so he's serving the king. And we'll skip down to verse 2 of chapter 2. He's sad, right? He's touched by it, and he's never been sad in the presence of the king, the Bible tells us. But he is sad this time, and wherefore the king said unto me, why is that countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? This is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then was I very sore afraid. His emotions are hard to hide, right? He feels good convictions about these things, and so he's some sad countenance. The king picks up on that, and he said unto the king, verse 3, let the king live forever. Why should not my countenance be sad when the city, the place of my father's sepulchre lies, waste, and the gates thereof, or consume with fire? Then the king said unto me, for what does thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven, and said unto the king, if it please the king, and if thy servant had found favor in thy sight, then unto Judah, and unto the city of my father's sepulchre, that I may build it. So he asked permission from the king. The king says he's sad. What can I do to fix this? You know, hey, this is the problem. I want to go to the city of my fathers, and rebuild the wall. He's telling them what's going on. And the king said unto me, verse 6, the king also sitting by him, for how long shall thy journey be, and will wilt thou return? So please the king descend me, and I set him at my feet. The king asked him, well, how long are you going to be gone? So he's obviously saying, okay, you can go. And to tease through this, the point I'm trying to get to here is by praying earnestly, believing that it will happen, God is going to open up opportunities for us, if it's something that's pure of heart, right? Please turn to Philippians, keep your place there in Nehemiah, please, but turn to Philippians chapter 4. Philippians chapter 4, again Mark 11, 24, what things soever ye desire when you pray, believe that you will and ye shall have them. Okay, that's a promise. That's how we ought to pray for things. What things ought we to pray for? Well, if you're there in Philippians chapter 4, look down at verse 8. Finally, brethren, what soever things are true, what soever things are honest, what soever things are pure, what soever things are pure, what soever things are lovely, what soever things are good report, if there be any virtue, if there any praise, think on these things. Okay, he's asking for something that's in agreeance with God's will, and God's gonna bless if that is allowed to happen, right? So it's something that's coinciding with God's will. And so we see that, that's why he's being affected there, that's why he's getting that opportunity. But another reason he's getting that opportunity, flip back to Nehemiah 2. So we saw in verse 6, right? Please the king to send me, and I said at time, said him at time, moreover I said unto the king, if it please the king, let the letters be given me to the governors beyond the rivers that they may convey me over till I come into the city, and a letter unto Asaph, the keeper of the king's forests, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into, and the king granted me according to the good hand of my God upon me. Then I came to the governors beyond the river and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and horses with me. Immediately after getting permission from the king, he says, hey look, okay, I need, I need letters to the governors, I need this, I need this. He planned out in his mind what he needs to execute this plan, right? He's prepared. He knows what needs to be done in order to fix this. So not only is he praying earnestly, praying believing, praying for the right things to be done, for the will of God to prevail, he's preparing himself for an opportunity to jump open, that he's going to jump on that, and he's going to be able to accompany that, okay? These are things that we can use in our own lives, right? We need to be prepared to jump, be prepared to go. There's an old saying, there's a prepared place for a prepared person, right? Be prepared. Let's be ready to jump. Ways that we can apply this to our lives, right? A job. Say if we're looking for a job and, you know, we need to be prepared to start at any job, or to be able to get our resume ready. Do we have education that we require for skill? Like, you know, do we want to be a plumber? Let's you know, learn plumbing. Apprentice is plumbing. You know, be prepared to when an opportunity arises to be prepared to jump on that opportunity. You know, if we're looking for, if we're somebody who's single and looking for a spouse be the godliest Christian you can be, so that when an opportunity arises, when you meet somebody, you can jump on that, you know, jump into that open door that God has opened, right? Another way we can apply this is soul winning, right? If you're not a talker, if you're a silent partner, or if you haven't been out soul winning, and we want to get started soul winning, you know, memorize the verses, you know, learn the plan of education. Be prepared to where if an opportunity presents itself, that you can go out and be a talker, or be with, paired with a talker, that you can learn these things and go forth with it, right? Spiritual growth. You know, read our Bible so that we can be prepared for how the Bible is going to speak to us in our lives and apply preaching to our lives. And also serving in the church. If there's an opportunity to get plugged in in a good local church, if somebody's not plugged in, obviously we are in this church, but if somebody's not to jump into a position of being a church member and serving in a church in whatever way that is. So again, a net spread in vain, a surely in vain a net is spread in the side of any bird, right? The birds can see the net spread for them. How much better should we be able to see the net spread for us, right? We ought to seek the fear of the Lord. Use that to gain wisdom, right? And then use wisdom. Wisdom is an action verb, right? Knowledge is knowing, but wisdom is applying that to our generations, right? So how can we apply that knowledge using wisdom? Well, we can apply it to looking out for ourselves, looking out for our family members, looking out for our own selves in that we might get tangled up in setting up boundaries and separating from certain things. Also being in a good church like this, listening to hard preaching. We also ought to be looking out for opportunities, looking out, excuse me, for others, you know, preaching the gospel, to a lost world, right? Reaching those people with the gospel, and watching out for false prophets. And also we ought to be ultimately, or lastly, watching out for opportunities. You know, opportunities to serve, opportunities to be plugged in in church, whether that be promotions at work, jobs in general, you know, let's set ourselves up for success like Nehemiah did so that we can, when God opens the door, that we can jump on that and be ready to succeed in it. And honestly, I think that's why God answered his prayer. He prayed earnestly, believing but he was prepared, right? He knew what he needed to do to execute that and as soon as he had the opportunity, he took that. So Proverbs 1 verse 17, Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird. So let's use that again as we're going through Proverbs, thinking about how we can apply wisdom to our lives. Let's think about that verse and how we can apply it spiritually to our own lives and also physically, you know, the color codes type of thing, being vigilant, just being aware of our surroundings, spiritually and physically. Let's pray, let's close in prayer. Dear Lord, thank you for this time. Thank you for this opportunity to preach, Lord. I pray that this was encouraging and edifying to everybody here, Lord. Please help us get home safely, all of us, and bring us home safely back for the rest of the services this week and this next weekend. Thank you again for this church and the leadership here in our pastor, Lord. In your name we pray. Amen.