(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

All right, amen. So we're in Nehemiah chapter number five. Keep your place there because we're going to come back to it, but go to Romans chapter number six. Romans chapter number six. And so I've got a leadership sermon for you guys this morning. And more specifically, we're going to be talking about the subject of ownership and authority and how those two relate. And in case you're wondering what ownership is, it basically means being accountable to like maybe an initiative or a project, a job, a department, something along those natures where you accept responsibility for any shortcomings that may go on during that process here. And this is a trait that's largely missing in today's society. Chances are you guys at work, you probably have worked for somebody or you will work for somebody who's in a leadership position, but yet they lack ownership. Everything is your fault. Everything is everyone else's fault except for their own, right? And you can see right away how this can apply to everybody in here. Okay. And I'm going to show you that because everybody in here is a leader. Romans chapter six. Look at verse number 17 and I want to show you why we need to be concerned with this subject of ownership. Look at verse 17, Romans 6, 17 it says, but God be thanked that you were the servants of sin, but you have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered unto you. What is he talking about there? He's saying, Hey, don't forget you guys are blessed because you're saved by grace through faith, not of works lest any man should boast. Verse 18 he says, being then made free from sin. Remember we are made free from sin, not because of our own doings, but because the Lord Jesus Christ has bought that gift for us. He has made us free from sin and the, and there's something that you need to pay attention here to in the last part of the verse. Look what it says. It says ye became the servants of righteousness. So what happens? You get saved, you get made free from sin. God creates a new person inside of you, which we call the new man because that's how it's written down in the Bible and the byproduct of that, the result of that is that you are the servant of righteousness. Think about that. Everybody in here who is saved, you are a servant of righteousness because you bear the new man. As long as you have a pulse and you're able to get up and you're able to walk around and communicate and live your life, you may not realize this or not, but it is automatically a position that you now have that is filled with righteousness. Everything that you do, people are going to look at. When you go to work and people find out that you're a Christian, that you're a believer, now all bets are off. They're going to watch every single thing that you do, every single thing that you say. And just because of that, you are automatically enrolled in a program of leadership. You are automatically enrolled with the responsibility, I guess, to maintain that. And you have to own that because it's not going anywhere. If you mess up, that's a black eye for all of us. That's a black eye for the body of Christ. Now go back to Nehemiah chapter number five. I'm going to continue on here. And so like I said, you are automatically enrolled in a position of what's called, we'll call it righteous authority. It's also called moral authority. I'm going to explain what that means. There's all different types of authority. If you ever take a leadership course, they're going to teach you about, let's see, there's legal authority, right? Also called positional authority. For example, a police officer, you're driving down the road, you see the red and blue lights go on and you have to pull over. They have a certain authority. They can influence your physical movement because they have that legal power vested in them by the government, right? You have to obey that. Everybody gets that. Everybody understands that. That's an easy position to kind of get though, right? Anybody, not anybody, but most people can go and get an elected position or you can get hired as a police officer, get some level of authority and make people do certain things. We understand that. But now with that, there's also what's called expert authority. So if you guys have been around long enough, you've probably worked with somebody who's not necessarily in a position of authority, like a boss, a CEO, a manager, or something like that along those lines. But yet they're very good at what they do, right? They have very good expertise. And so because of that expertise, they're able to influence people's decisions that they work with, right? Not a bad position to be in. And then there's what we've already referred to here in Romans chapter six, which is how we're the servants of righteousness that automatically enrolls us as moral authority figures. Because people look to us and they say, oh, church, Bible, God, oh, you're a Christian. Okay, well, let's see how you act. Let's see how you respond to this joke. Let's see how you respond to these things. What do you think about this issue going on in the world today? And so you have the opportunity to influence people based off of your fundamental truth that you learned from the Bible and that you understand because you now are indwelled with the Holy Ghost. And then sometimes people call that reverend authority. And then the last one, I guess they would say is what's called punitive authority, the ability to punish people. So some parents like to adopt this role, right? And sometimes we have to like, hey, if you do this, you're getting a spanking, right? We all have to exercise punitive authority sometimes. So there's a different kind of authority. Let's say you are surrounded outside by a bunch of Black Lives Matter people, right? In Antifa. And they're like, you know what? We want some stuff from you. We would like to influence your behavior. We don't want you to go to church. We don't want you to do this. If you go inside that building, we're going to harm you. And you whip these guys out, right? And you realize, you know what? The human skull cracks at six and a half pounds of pressure. Human bones crack at eight and a half. These can generate 1600 pounds per square inch. So instantly with something like this out, what does that mean? You've got punitive authority. This is a game changer. This is instant, not instant gratification. This is instant authority. I mean, think about it. You know, it's not too often you see something like this out there, right? You whip this out and it looks like you know what you're doing. You know what? That's a game changer. You've instantly earned authority with those people because now they're thinking, how's this going to go? I mean, you know, think about this. I mean, this is distance here. This is confusing. This can hurt. And they know that. The human mind understands what this could do. So that's just a quick example of how you can gain authority very quickly, right? But that's not really what we're talking about today. We're going to talk about moral authority or what we're calling righteous authority and why that's important. So, see again, what is authority? The definition is basically authority refers to accepted power. That is power that people agree to follow, right? Now in our lives, like I've said, it's we're all subject to different positions of authority. We all have a boss. We all have somebody that we are accountable to. You go out and drive on the streets. You're accountable to the sheriffs of police department for certain actions, right? They can pull you over. They have that authority. Now, have they earned your respect? No. And that's hard, right? That takes a lot of work. Like I said, it's easier to gain a position, like to become a manager, to become a boss, to become a police officer, you know, to become some kind of positional leader. That's a little bit easier. But what is hard is to gain and maintain a position of moral authority. That's where it's difficult. But if you can learn how to do that, you can influence and change your environment for the better, okay? Without having to pull out the nunchucks. And I want to show you something here. And if you think about this, we talk about this a lot. We're all ambassadors. We're all servants of righteousness. We're all kings and priests. We're all, I mean, I don't care if you're Uriah's age or you're the oldest person in this room, you have a responsibility to maintain and to try to work on your influence, how you influence other people, because you're the servant of righteousness. You have that inside of you and that message needs to go out and it needs to turn the world. And people look to you, whether they like it or not, they look to you for the right ways of things to be done. So you're there in Nehemiah chapter number five, look down at verse number 14. It says, moreover, from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah. So we learn right off of the bat here in Nehemiah chapter five, that he was appointed to be the governor of Judah. That is a position or yeah, that is a positional authority, okay? He has the right, he has certain things that he can do. He has certain benefits that he can reap if he wants to do that. He has authority. He can go in there and say, hey, this is how it's going to be. Here's the new law. Here's what you're going to do. He can just say those things and the people have to obey him, right? But is that wise to just stop there and be okay with only that type of authority? And the answer is obviously going to be no. Look at the rest of the verse. From the 20th year, even unto the two in 30th year of Artaxerxes the king, that is 12 years, I and my brethren have not eaten the bread of the governor. Okay, go to Nehemiah chapter number two. And so what he's telling us there is, hey, even though I've got this position, which automatically comes with authority, he's saying, I realize there has to be more. I want to earn the credibility. I want to earn the respect of the people. And I want the people of Judah. I want God's people to do the right things because they want to do it. Not because I have a long stick, not because I have the punitive authority that comes with my position, right? And if you know anything about Nehemiah, you know what he's known for. He's known for accomplishing a lot of work for rebuilding the wall in a very short period of time. He's known for jump-starting the economy. And we're going to talk about the surroundings here and what it's like during Nehemiah's day here in a moment. But he's basically a hero, if you will. I mean, he basically went in there because he decided a long time ago to take ownership of the people of God and of himself and of his actions and of the actions of people he'd never even met before. He's taking ownership of the mistakes and the sins that his forefathers committed. So instead of blaming them, he decides to take ownership and he winds up turning the nation upside down. And we're going to see that. And we're going to learn the benefits of being able to do that same thing in our own lives. Nehemiah chapter number two, look at verse one. It says, and it came to pass in the month Nisan in the 20th year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him and I took up the wine and gave it unto the king. And then he says this, now I had not been before time sad in his presence. You have to understand what's going on here. Nehemiah is a Jew, right? He is a Hebrew person. And you guys understand the story. We talk about it all the time, how the nation of Israel was split. Israel first, they went off into captivity by the Assyrians. And then later on the Babylonians came in, they conquered what was left, which was the nation of Judah, carried them away. And then the Persian, the Medo-Persian empire came in and destroyed the Babylonians. And now they are basically the world power. And what you have here is you have a Hebrew guy who is in a very, a very prestigious position. He's the cup bearer to the king of the world's empire. Now think about that for a second. How responsible, how, I guess, how much moral authority do you think he had in order to get that position? Because don't you think that it would be probably wise, I know if I was the king, I wouldn't trust somebody outside of our group to give me my drink, especially during that time. Because he knows that there are people out there that want to kill him at any given time. Any leader knows that. I mean, think about it, even down to the parental level, there's always somebody that's trying to undermine what you're trying to do to your children, whether it be a family, an extended family member, somebody at work, a friend, a neighbor, there's always somebody attacking people in leadership positions. But yet Nehemiah must have been such a good solid Bible believing Christian, if you will, to where he was entrusted with this position. And if you study out the role of a cup bearer and what they were supposed to do, they were actually supposed to take a sip of the drink before they would give it to the king to prove, hey, there's no poison in this, this isn't tainted. So obviously this guy has lived a life in a certain manner that has gained him trust, credibility, and respect where he earned the position as a cup bearer to King Artaxerxes. So don't just read over that and like, oh, it's no big deal, he's just some little servant. No, it's beyond that. I mean, this was a good job. Probably comfortable, right? Because I mean, the king's not necessarily living out in the ghettos and the streets and suffering here, is he? And he's kind of reaping the benefits of that culture and what surrounds all of what goes into being a king. Now look at verse number two. He says, wherefore the king said unto me, why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? This is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid. Keep your place there and go to Esther chapter number four. One book over to the right in your Bible, Esther chapter number four. So why was Nehemiah scared here? Why was he sore afraid? The Bible is saying he is very afraid. So he sat in the presence of the king. The king notices it. Hey, he's like, hey man, you don't have a stomach ache. You're not sick, right? Something else is going on. Why are you sorrowful? Why are you mourning? What's going on here? Why the bum attitude? And the Bible tells us that he was sore afraid. Why is it that he was afraid? And I want to show you that here in the Bible, Esther chapter four, real quickly, look at verse number one. It says, and when Mordecai perceived all that was done, Mordecai rent his clothes and put on sackcloth with ashes and went out into the midst of the city and cried with a loud, bitter cry. Kind of similar to the way Nehemiah is feeling, right? But notice verse two, and came even before the king's gate for none, don't miss this, for none might enter into the king's gate clothed with sackcloth. So go back to Nehemiah chapter two. So it was law during the Medo-Persian empire that you could not be sorrowful or of just a broken heart in the king's presence. They did not like that. In fact, they didn't like it so much that they made it law. Hey, if you're going to rent your clothes, if you're going to be all upset, if you're going to come in here full of just problems and issues and negativity, we don't want anything to do with it. Leave it at the gate before you come in here. It's the law of the land. And if you know anything about the Medo-Persian empire, when they made a law, they did not alter it. They did not change it. It was the law. It was a done deal. This is a big thing to these guys here. And so that's why Nehemiah is afraid because it's against the law during that time to be sorrowful in the king's presence. Now you've got to ask yourself, why in the world is that? And here's why. And this is the bottom line for this sermon. Don't miss this. Here's the bottom line. Morale. Okay, listen to this. Morale is the measurement of success for leaders, and you have to own that. Morale is the measurement of success for leaders, and you have to own that. However you're feeling right now in your position, whether you're a mother, you're a father, you're a teenager, you're a young child, or maybe you own a company or whatever the case is, however the people that are underneath you that look up to you are feeling is your responsibility and you have to own that. See, that's the difference between somebody who earns moral authority, righteous authority, versus somebody who just gets a position. And Nehemiah understood that, but also the kings of Medo-Persia, they understood that as well. But the problem is they understood it so much, they just made it a law, right? Because think about that. They understood this. They understood the importance of morale, the morale of their people. In fact, when you read Esther, what did Ahasuerus get in trouble for? What causes divorce? Throwing too big of a party, right? Wanting to please all the people for too long. He failed to please his wife. You know the history. You know the story there. It ensued in divorce, right? Morale, that's where it's at. And you obtain and you lift morale by taking ownership and building what we call righteous or moral authority by taking a hard stand and accepting responsibility. This is how you do it, right? In our country today, our leaders, they're not worried about moral authority at all. They probably don't even really understand what that means. What does that tell you? That tells you that this nation here is so much more righteous than ours ever is, or their nation was more righteous than ours is today, present. Do you think Donald Trump, do you think the Rothschilds, do you think Obama or these Supreme Court justices, do you think that they're really concerned about the morality, about the spirits of our nation, how happy you are? No. Especially the fundamental community. They couldn't care less. In fact, if they could eradicate us from the face of the earth, they would do it in a heartbeat. And so that's really what the sermon boils down to. You need to understand, we need to understand that our morale depends on how we lead our lives. It depends on how we accept responsibility for our actions and the things that we've done and the things that we intend to do. So we're going to spend this sermon learning how to increase that. And you're going to do it, like I said, through ownership. You know, I mean, think about it. Nehemiah here, he's, in chapter one, we read that he gets a report on how things are going in Jerusalem. And they're not going well because of guys like Sanballat and Tobiah. They're destroying the works of God. They're just being a pest. And they're causing the nation to just be in turmoil. I mean, the wall is burnt. The economic situation there is just terrible. You know, people are poor. It's just a bad deal. And Nehemiah hears this, and he kneels down, and he weeps, and he prays to God, and he asks for help. And he's willing to even risk his own life in the presence of the king to show him that he's sad. And we're going to see how this turns out for him. We're going to see how God turns this around for him. Now go to Nehemiah chapter five, real quick. Now I've got another little example for you. So go to Nehemiah chapter number five. So I said, morale is the measurement of success for the leader, and you have to own it. So I'm going to explain what this is here. All right. So I've told this story before. Maybe I haven't told it fully here, but I used to work at the shipyard. You guys know that. I used to work on a lot of sensitive projects. Well, I was working on the submarine project. It was one of the last projects that I did before I left. And we put this fast attack submarine into dry dock. It's a very important deal. My job and my crew's job was to make sure that the reactor is cooling before all the water gets pumped out of the dry dock. In fact, this job is so important and so critical that the president of the United States is on standby and actually receives a physical phone call from our people saying the reactor is safe. It is okay. We're good to go. You can rest your head and go to sleep now. And you want to talk about tensions. You want to talk about tempers flaring up. You want to talk about people eyeballing you and watching you. I mean, see me after the service and I'll try to put it into a better perspective. Now there was some people that were above me that did not like me for various reasons. I'm sure you can tell why. Okay. They didn't like me. Now for this day, I got a good crew of people that knew what they were doing. We got the reactor and we got the submarine in. It got on its blocks. We got everything set up, ready to go. I want to say about a month later, two months later, they started taking people away from me and replacing those people with people that were new, people that were kind of known to be lazy and people that did not necessarily get along with each other. And to top it all off, they kept me short handed. Now, I mean, when that thing sets down on its blocks, the work has begun. Okay. The reactor's cool. Now that is my responsibility to ensure that that thing is always cool, that it's safe. If there's a fire, we've got our stuff in there ready to go to put it out. I mean, this is a very, very, very big deal. And for these people to do that was a slap in my face. It was a slap to my entire crew's face. And it was starting to show. It was starting to show on my face. And one day I went to this meeting. I was having some problems. I was having some issues getting some things done because the work stacks up, but yet my team and my leadership had failed me. They had failed to send me the right people, the people that I needed to get the job done. And so, you know, this Admiral's like, you know, he's like, hey, you know, when are you going to be able to get this service for me? And I'm like, you know, I don't know. And he, he just takes me aside. I mean, think about this, an Admiral. An Admiral makes enough money to buy a brand new vehicle every other month. Okay. These people have some power. And he gave me a lot of advice. And I'm going to mention this in another sermon because the stuff that he taught me has changed my life. I mean, I'm telling you, it's some good stuff. But one of the things that he told me was that I have to get people to buy into ownership. And then once I can do that, then I can establish what's called, you know, he didn't call it moral authority, but that's basically what it was. He's like, you have to get them to want to do that. And so in order for you to do that, he's like, you've got to create an environment that they want to come to work to every day that they can feel proud and that they can feel like they have something to look forward to. And actually, once they feel that, then they can decide, you know what, now it's time for me to own this thing. So I started thinking like, man, how in the world am I going to do that? Well, the guys built this little slingshot here. Now this isn't the original one that they built. They used one cord and then some, some three inch duct tape. Okay. And I was like, what are you guys doing with that? I'm like, I don't know. I just thought it'd be fun. You know, they were supposed to be working and this is what they built. Okay. I'm like, that thing sucks. You need at least a three fold cord. Okay. And I started thinking, you know, these guys like to play games. They love to play Angry Birds. They love to play video games. All right. And I said, you know, let's make it like this. And this, this is the best tape you can get is the three inch duct tape. It's, it's hardcore. And I thought, Hmm, we've been having a little bit of beef with the carrier crew, right? We've been having some issues about different things and just trash talk. You know, they were in a trailer right next to us and they'd opened up the window and say stuff to us. And, you know, we'd say stuff back to them. And I figured that's it. That's the enemy for now. You know? And then everybody else, I was like, that's, that's what I've got to do. I've got to make them feel like, like, like we suck. Like, like everybody's watching us. Like, like we're under attack. And then maybe, just maybe they'll have something to rally behind and get their butts to work. Cause it was hard. You know, I don't know if you guys understand how government workers are, but once you're a government worker, you're in a position of basically laziness. If you want, once you get these jobs, they pay well and you don't have to do anything. These guys could literally sit down in a chair all day and there was not a whole lot I could do about it. So I had to figure out a way to get them off their butts. So we made this slingshot here and yours truly, this is wrong. Okay. I decided, you know what? I'm going to make a real live game of Angry Birds. So what I did is I took some rubber gloves cause we had endless supply of gloves, all sorts of stuff. We started taking rubber gloves and just wrapping them up and making tape balls. Okay. And I said, you know what? Let's see how far we can shoot this thing. Right? And so this will represent the tape ball. All right. And so I would have two guys. So like I'd have Moses here. You hold this, right? And I'd have another guy here and I'll put this in here, right? And I'd lean back and shoot it out the window. One day I hit somebody and he started like screaming and I figured, ah, it's just a soft little tape ball. And they just started laughing. You know, they loved it. And so I was like, all right, well, you know, once you guys just, you know, don't kill anybody. All right. But just own this game. These guys went crazy with this stuff. I mean, they started making like Angry Birds figures and then shoot nose out the window. No joke, right? One Saturday, I had a critical job. I had to get a bunch of stuff done. You know, I'm like, you guys just sit here for a minute. I got to go get some paperwork. I'll come back and brief you. I come back. I get them all ready to go. And I don't know what's gone on for the past hour while I was gone. Right? So I'm like, I get them all set up. I take them. We're getting ready to go to the boat, come downstairs. And this one or two, there's like two guys and like four girls that come up to me like, hey, you guys been shooting stuff out the window? I was like, what? What are you talking about? Because at this time I didn't know. And he was like, yeah, well, these tape balls just hit me and we had a real bad day and we'll just beat the crap out of you right now. And I was like, well, let's go do something, you know? And again, this is a while. This is not, not wrong. Not okay. Right. But I, plus I knew he wasn't going to do anything. So I was like, you know, get, get out of here. And then my crew was like, oh, what's up? You want to say something? You know? And then they started getting crazy. And at that point, I'm like, all right, hey, we got to stop this here. All right, calm down. I say, hey, just get out of here. You know, I don't want to talk to you. And they're like, okay, well, I just thought maybe it was you guys that got calmed down. And then we're walking down the pier and I'm like, did you guys shoot these tape balls? I'm like, oh yeah, you know, we did. I was like, oh, okay. But that fired these guys up so much. And again, there's better ways to do stuff than this. Okay. But they went and they literally got all the work done for that day. And they, I mean, it was just that little act there, you know, hey, we're the crew that shoots people with duct tape balls, right? And then after, after, and I'm going to show you guys how far this thing can shoot. It's crazy. But after that, they made it a habit. They started calling it hunting, right? They knew if they got all the work done, they would come back at three o'clock. I would let a couple of people go early. It was just how I did stuff, right? I had to increase them around. And then the people that were left, they would be hunters. And so what they would do is they would watch for people sneaking out and leaving early and then hit them because we knew they couldn't do anything because they're supposed to be sneaking out and not leaving early. And so, you know, just that little act, that little stupid game there, I was willing to risk getting in trouble. And there was a few times with us, you know, my boss calls like, are you guys shooting tape balls at people? I'm like, yeah. He's like, man, can you try not to get caught? You know? All right. Just, just, just calm down. You know? So that's just how it was there. That was the nature of the job, right? You do that out in the corporate world and you're probably gonna get fired. But in my world, there wasn't going to happen. You get hit with a tape ball. It's just whatever, dude, suck it up, right? Somebody might call you and be like, hey, quit being an idiot. But just that action there, right? Raised the morale of my crew. And then we started to have success. Then they started to take ownership of that. But that all, just that little act of owning that game, I started to notice they wanted to start taking ownership of other things. Hey, I know I've only been here six months, boss, but I want to learn how to do the paperwork. I want to learn how to translate that paperwork into a real project. I want to learn how to do this and do that. And it really was a huge game changer in my life. And it actually helped facilitate a lot of success. And I get more into detail about that later on. And so morale is the measurement of success. And as leaders, we have to own it. If you're sorrowful, if you're in a bad mood, if you're like in this funk, you know what? You need to own some of that. I realized that we get wronged all the time. We do. People do us dirty a lot, right? But you know what? We've got to own that. And by doing that, by accepting that responsibility, you're opening yourself up now to work on things that need to be worked on. And you're able to show, you know what? I can accept responsibility. And that is huge in the eyes of your followers. That is huge in the eyes of people that are watching you. Because they're like, you know what? That's not just some other phony. That's not somebody who's just exercising their authority because they're in the position. That's somebody who actually cares about me because they're willing to accept responsibility, which means what? Sacrificing your feelings sometimes, right? Nehemiah is willing to sacrifice his position to be sorrowful in the king's presence so that he might get the opportunity to give a request. So let's move on here. Nehemiah chapter five, look down at verse number one. It says, and there was a great cry of the people and their wives against the brethren, the Jews, for there were that said, we are sons and our daughters are many. Therefore we take up corn for them that we may eat and live. Some also there were that said, we have mortgaged our lands, vineyards, and houses that we might buy corn because of the dearth. And so I talked a little bit in the beginning of the sermon about the economic conditions during this time. And so you have to understand that before Nehemiah went back there, before he brought his people, before he really got involved in what's going on in Judah during this time, the economic situation is terrible. People are poor. The heathens that are surrounding them are basically extorting them. They're charging them taxes. They're raising up the food prices. And it's just a nightmare. And it's just an utter nightmare. And Nehemiah actually does something to solve that. And then some other people come in to try to undermine that. And I'm going to show you that here. Look at verse four. There were also that said, we have borrowed money for the king's tribute and that upon our lands and vineyards. And so this was kind of what was going on during that time, right? These governors and these kings, they'd come in and be like, hey, you got to pay this much tax. They couldn't pay it. And so they would basically use their land and their goods as collateral. And then they would come in and foreclose on it. And then they controlled everything. They controlled the price of the food. They controlled the situation. And that's, I mean, you can see that going on in our day, right? I mean, there's nothing new under the sun literally here. Verse five, yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children. And lo, we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, right? So it's even getting so bad that they're losing their children to being servants of these heathen nations because they can't afford to pay the taxes and the king's tribute. It says, and some of our daughters are brought onto bondage already. Neither is it in our power to redeem them for other men have our lands and vineyards. Here's the first point that I want to make this morning. And that is ownership increases responsibility and awareness. Ownership increases responsibility and awareness because these people are crying out because of the distress that they're in. Everybody see that? They're like, hey, we're losing our land. We're losing our food. We're losing our freedoms. We're losing our children. In Nehemiah, what is he doing? He's aware of this. He's paying attention to this because he doesn't have the mentality that a renter often has, right? And we rent. I'm not trying to knock people that rent, but sometimes, you know what? There's a big difference in people that decide, you know what? I'm going to own this even though it's not my responsibility. I'm going to own this even though it's not my building. I'm going to go rent a car but I'm going to treat it like it's mine. For example, Jessica, you know, and the girls, they went to Sacramento last weekend and the lady at the rental car place gave him a free upgrade and gave him a Dodge Charger. You know, they walk outside and they're like, whoa, what manner of vehicle is this? You know, I don't have to step up to get into it. It actually goes when you press the gas pedal. And she was explaining to me kind of the process of signing the paperwork because I've rented a whole lot of cars in life and, you know, and she was talking about how, like, you know, they make sure that you read the paperwork. Like, hey, if you do this, for example, if you don't bring it back with a full tank of gas, guess what? They're going to take it out of your backside. You're going to pay. You're going to pay more than what it costs for a full tank. I mean, you're going to pay a hefty fine. If you damage it, I mean, if you do anything to it, you're going to pay. And you know why they do that? Because they understand the mentality that people have that are just renters, okay? So what they do before you rent their vehicle, they try to instill and force upon you a certain level of ownership because they want to protect their investment. And that makes sense. It's their vehicles. I get it. I understand it. You know, I often go into homes of people that are renting and they're trashed, just trashed. They got a refrigerator with, like, seven or eight different problems. And they're like, oh, we just want the door handle fixed. I'm like, that's the least of your problems. Like, the rest of it we can just live with. It's not ours. We don't care. And then it just, you know, it just never ceases to amaze me. It's like, wow, this is how some people view other people's things. You know, it's like being a hireling. We're going to talk about that in a minute too. But ownership increases awareness and responsibility. You see, people that have that rentership mentality, they don't often see all the problems for what they really are. So the people that say, oh, I just want the door handle fixed, that's why we called you, even though it's not really cooling properly. You've got ice growing literally out of the back of your refrigerator and it's going to cause some major issues. Well, we don't want to keep having you come back and taking time off work. We really just want the door flap fixed. That's all we want. And it's like, you don't get it. You can't see. You're going to wind up losing everything. You're going to lose all your food. And it's going to be your fault because you neglected this. And they just don't get it because all they can focus on is it's not mine. It's not mine. It's just temporary. I don't care. And that mentality is what destroys people. That is exactly how you're going to lose credibility. If you find yourself in a position where you're working for somebody like that, or God forbid, maybe a parents like that or something, you're going to have a really rough time. But the person that owns something, what do they see? They see all the little problems, right? Those of you that own a house, I'm sure you walk around and you'll notice a split in the wall that wasn't there last week. You'll notice the faucet that drips, hopefully. You'll notice these little problems because you realize it's your responsibility to take care of those things and what could happen if that goes unchecked. And so when you take this position of ownership, it really opens up awareness. You see what's going on. That's exactly what Nehemiah is doing here. In fact, go to Nehemiah chapter number one, and I'll show you this. And we'll come back to chapter five, but go to Nehemiah chapter one. It says, verse number one, the words of Nehemiah, and it came to pass in the month Chizlu, in the 20th year, as I was in Shushan, the palace, that Hanani, one of my brethren came, he and certain men of Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity and concerning Jerusalem. And they said unto me, the remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down in the gates of a burned with fire. Now, is that Nehemiah's fault? Not at all. Was that his brethren's fault? Not at all. But look what he does here. Look at verse four. And it came to pass when I heard these words that I sat down and blamed everybody that was under Zedekiah's reign. I blamed everybody that didn't listen to Jeremiah, that didn't listen to Isaiah, that didn't listen to Ezekiel. Oh wait, I'm sorry, it doesn't say that. And then I sat down and wept and mourn certain days and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven, verse five, and 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. So what did he do? He took ownership of the situation. He said, we're to blame, we have not followed God's commandments. That's why we're in the trouble that we're in. And what's going to be the result of that mentality? It's going to be vastly different than if he would have just said, well, forefathers, man, it's all their fault. And it was. It's not a false statement. But he actually takes ownership of this and he decides, you know what, I'm going to seek God's help. And he's not just putting on a show here because it says that he weaves. He feels for these people. He takes those people as his people because they are his people. He's taking responsibility. He's like, he understands the way to rebuild, the way to even begin rebuilding and to get this job done is to just take ownership, take responsibility for the problems that are already there. Not just focus on who's to blame, but just accept that responsibility and become aware of what resources we have and what we need to do to fix that problem. Go over to chapter number two and look at verse number four. Nehemiah chapter two, look at verse number four. And so now after this process here, he's in the presence of the king. We've already talked about that, but look what he says. Verse number four, then the king said unto me, for what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven. What is he doing here? He's seeking help. He's seeking authority. Verse five, and I said unto the king, if it please the king, and if thy servant have found favor in thy sight, that thou would ascend me unto Judah, unto the city of my father's sepulchres, that I may build it. He's asking for legal authority from the king to go build the nation that was conquered because his forefathers decided it was more important to worship Moloch and false gods than it was to worship the God of heaven. And he realized, you know what? This is our fault. Every great prophet in the Bible, they have one thing in common. Actually, they have several things in common, but one of them is ownership. They decided to not just dwell on who's to blame here. They decided to accept some level of responsibility, which increases their awareness, and then they start to see avenues to go down, to get help, to actually fix the problems. You see, the guy at work, when you're working for somebody who's just a dirt bag, morale is usually going to be pretty low. That's okay, because now you've got the opportunity to turn that morale around and get people aware that, hey, you know what? There is a way that we can still accomplish our goals, accomplish our work, and get stuff done. You have that because you're the servant of righteousness. You have joy in your heart that the world doesn't have. And you know what? You need to be ready to give an answer for that at any given moment, and that's Bible. Go to John chapter number 10. John chapter number 10, and I'll just tell you, because you already know what the result is, he gets a promotion. So the king says, you know what, Nehemiah? No problem. I'm going to promote you to governor, and I'm even going to send you with some resources to help the people out and to jumpstart the economy. Why did God give him that position? Why did God give him that request? Because he decided to own it. He says, please grant me these things that I may go and build it. He accepted responsibility for the project, and you know what? That's what God's looking for. That's what any leader is looking for. They're looking for people who say, you know what? I own this. I want to help. I want to do something about it. I don't want to just freeload. I don't want to just be a renter. I want to actually own this. When they see that, you know what? That's the person that gets the benefit. That's the person that gets the responsibility, and then that's the person that increases in awareness and gets stuff done. That is how it works every single time. Jesus even teaches this principle here in John chapter 10. Look at verse number 10. He says this, the thief cometh not, but for to steal and to kill and to destroy. I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly. Verse 11, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. Why is that? Ownership. What does that do? It builds credibility. It gives him that moral authority on top of his positional leadership. Verse 12, but he that is an hireling and not the shepherd whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming and leaveth the sheep and fleeth and the wolf catcheth them and scattereth the sheep. So a hireling is basically a person that just works for a paycheck. Just somebody who just does something for a paycheck. They don't care about the investment. They don't care about anything else other than getting their money. So when a problem comes up, they bounce. And you know what else I like to call them? Managers. You know, there's a big difference between a manager and a leader. Anybody can be put into a managerial position and say, hey, stack these over here, make sure it gets done. And then you're the manager. You have the authority from your boss. You can go in there and say, hey, you, you, you, you come here, go do this. But it's much easier if you've earned their respect. You've earned their trust. You've established credibility because you want to own the company's mission. You want to own just more than what your job is. Now you're not a manager anymore. Now you're a leader. Now you've got a group of people that want to take these stacks of whatever it is and move them over there. And you'll get twice, I'm serious, you'll get twice the amount of work done out of people if you can just learn to develop moral authority, righteous authority. You already have that position if you're saved, according to Romans chapter six, because you are the servants of righteousness. So you might as well just learn to own that thing and do it. You say, I can't get my children to do what I want them to do. We're going to talk about that in a moment as well. We need to make sure that we are not hirelings or have the attitude of a hireling because Jesus is saying, hey, these people are garbage. You want to see what a hireling is? Go to a Catholic church. As soon as the pedophiles come in, they're like, well, it wasn't me. It wasn't me. It wasn't my fault. I didn't do it. Although most of the time I did. Fortunately, this is the way it is. You want to see what a hireling is? Go to the Nazarene College and I'll show you what a hireling is. Go to this bozo Episcopalian church over here. I'll show you a hireling. Somebody walks in there and tries to tear their little flock up, which isn't really a flock. Guess what? It ain't my fault. These people that came in here and tried to do me harm, they just don't love. They just don't understand co-exist. They're not interested in the truth. They're not interested in the fundamental mission of the Bible. And that's just a fact that I know that's harsh, but that's reality. That is truth. You need to own the mission. That's where it's at. Go back to Nehemiah chapter five. The hireling fleeth because he is in hireling and careth not for the sheep. So you say, how do I know if I'm taking ownership? Well, do you care for the sheep? Do you care for the mission? Do you care for the objective? Do you care about this church? Do you care about reaching other people? Do you care about edifying the brethren or do you just care about yourself? Nehemiah chapter five. Let's move on here and look at verse number six. Nehemiah chapter number five. Look at verse number six. Point number one was ownership increases responsibility and awareness. Let's look at number two here. So Nehemiah five, look at verse six. So after hearing the news of what was going on with the people, look at how Nehemiah responds because he's aware of the emotions and the feelings of the people. Verse six, and I was very angry when I heard their cry and these words. Remember, Nehemiah is not a hireling. He decided a long time ago that he was going to be a person of ownership who decided to own the mistakes that their forefathers had made and the sins that they had made. Verse seven, then I consulted with myself and I rebuked the nobles and the rulers and said unto them, ye exact usury, every one of his brother and I set a great assembly against them. So he's basically saying, hey, you rich Jews, right? Cause it's these rich Jews and these nobles of the time, you know, they said, well, this is great. The heathens, you know, and these, these, these Persians, these Babylonians, they're not taxing the people anymore. Now's their chance. Let's go get them. Let's go. Let's go exact usury of our brethren, which was a violation of the commandments that you can read in Exodus and Leviticus. It was wrong for them to do that. You know, it's wrong to loan your brother something and expect interest in return. That is an unbiblical concept. That is not right. And that's what these Jews were doing here. Verse number eight. And I said unto them, we, after our ability have redeemed our brethren, the Jews, which were sold unto the heathen and will ye even sell your brethren or shall they be sold unto us then held they their peace and found nothing to answer. And so Nehemiah gives us some insight on what he did to jumpstart the economy. What did he do? He used his own money that he had his own resources that he got from King Artaxerxes and said, you know what? I'm going to free you from these debts and these bonds that you're into the heathen nations. And he literally jumpstarts the economy when he first goes back. Now people have money that they can spend. They have a vision. They have a place to go. They know what the objective is. And here comes these Jews and these nobles and they're like, let's take advantage of this. Now you got money to spend. Hey, you know, how about I loan you some money and you just pay me a little bit interest in return. It's good to go. It's not the same. It's not that 5.4 you're paying the heathen. Ours is 3.2. It's good to go. We're doing you a service because we're brethren. But the fact is they were putting them back into bondage and Nehemiah is reminding these people, Hey, with my own money, I'm not the one that got these people into debt. I'm not the one that enslaved my brethren. I bailed them out. He didn't have to do that. In fact, as governor by his position was ordained by the Persians. He was entitled to certain benefits. He was entitled to food and tax from those people. And he decided to forego all of it. He said, I'm going to one up that because I want you to realize that I own the mission here, that I own this objective here and I want you to want to work. And so to do that, he raised morale by bailing them out of all of their student loan debts that they had, all of their car loans, all of their mortgage, all their credit card expenses. He paid those off. I mean, think of that as ownership. That is extreme ownership. If you ask me, that is somebody who cares. And that's somebody who knows how to get the people to do what they may not even want to do. Because if you really study the attitude of the people during this time, they were big. There were a couple of generations removed from that initial group that got led into captivity. And so they're kind of getting used to being into captivity. They're kind of growing up with these Persian ways and these Babylonian things. And they're kind of okay with it. And Nehemiah is trying to get these people to see, no, this is not really for us. We need to get back to the things of God if he's going to bless us, if we're going to continue to be a light in the world. And he realized that and he sees that, but let's keep reading here. Verse 9, also, I said, it is not good that you do. I want you not to walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the heathen, our enemies. So he's reminding them, hey, what these heathens did, that was a reproach. And you want to go and act like them. You're making us look stupid. You know, he's like, I got a blessing from Artaxerxes here to rebuild this nation. And you want to turn it into the same system that they have. Why am I even here? Why even try? Why even start this? And they couldn't answer him a thing. Verse 10, I likewise and my brethren and my servants might exact of them money and corn. I pray you let us leave off this usury. And so he's telling them, hey, even I lend these guys food, even I lend them things, but I don't do it for usury. I don't do it for interest. I don't do it to gain a profit off of those people because I care about them. And because that is not what God wants. Verse 11, restore, I pray you to them, even this day, their lands, their vineyards, their olive yards and their houses, also the hundredth part of the money and of the corn, the wine and the oil that ye exacted of them. So he's saying, hey, you guys need to give them back all that stuff that you took from them. You need to give it back to them. That's not right what you're doing. So point number two is this, ownership can require sacrifice at times. I mean, think about it. A good way to tell whether or not you're really owning something, whether it's your job, whether it's your children, whether it's your own more or welfare and wellbeing is to determine how much are you willing to sacrifice for what you have? Are you willing to give up time to spend with your children? Are you willing to give up a little bit of overtime at work to spend that time with your children, to raise them right and to give them something that they can grow up with and think back, hey, you know, my father, you know, my mother actually cared about me and actually took the time to spend with me. And that's what I remember. You know, when I talk to people a lot about their childhood, they don't remember the new Xbox or the RC vehicle that they got so much as they remember the time that they spent with their parents. They, you know, you know, what sticks out the most is what their parents sacrificed for their children. You know, what stands out most about Nehemiah to us is the sacrifice that he made for the people because guess what? He didn't make those mistakes. He's not the one that got them into that bondage. It was other people, but he was willing to bail them out. And now he's sort of doing like a second bailout here and not a bailout like our government does. Okay. Those aren't bailouts for the people. Those are bailouts for rich people, completely different. So number two is ownership can require sacrifice. You just have to understand this. If you want to be a good ambassador, if you want to be a good king and a priest, it's going to require you sacrifice a little bit of your time to come to church, to see how your brother and sister is doing, to read your Bible and to do all the things that's a reasonable service according to the Bible. It's a sacrifice. Jump down to verse number 14. Verse number 14. He says, Moreover, from that time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the 20th year even unto the two and 30th year of Artaxerxes the king that is, 12 years I and my brethren have not eaten the bread of the governor. Think about that. He spent this 12 years earning what? Righteous authority, moral authority. You see, Nehemiah understood. You know what? I've got the authority to take bread, to take meat, to take food from the people, but I'm going to give that up. What does that do in the eyes of the people? Instant authority, not just positional, but moral. I believe 100% that when we knock on people's doors, whether they like us or hate us, or just right down the middle of the road, especially on a Saturday, you know what they're thinking? They got to be thinking, you know what? This person actually sacrificed some of their Saturday morning, some of their Thursday evening to actually be out here when it's hot or when it's cold or when it's raining to actually try to share something with me. It does something to those people. They might not know anything else about what we want to say, but they know that we care. We've had people, we do have people all the time. In fact, this happened a month ago when it rained. Was it July? Remember that over in Meridian? Yeah, we were just walking the street and this guy like chased us down. What are you guys doing out here? What's going on? You go to church. This is weird. It's raining. You're out here on a Thursday, and that impressed him. He didn't get saved, but it made an impact, and you never know what that could do later on down the road because now he realizes, wait, you're not a Jehovah Witness. You're not a Mormon. What's up here? What's going on? And he's like, wow, Christians actually take the time. He's kind of telling us, I thought Christians mostly just did the Christian thing, kept to themselves. You actually care what these people think? Good luck. Good luck. But look at verse 15. He says, but the former governors that had taken, I'm sorry, but the former governors that had been before me were chargeable unto the people, and had taken of them bread and wine beside 40 shekels of silver. Yea, even their servants bear rule over the people, but so did not I because of the fear of God. You see the institution during this time of a governor was not biblical. That was something that the Medo-Persian Empire instituted. You're not going to go through the bottom and be like, oh, okay, here's the qualifications to be a governor. No, it was the king, and then they had judges, priests, that sort of thing. They had their laws, the Old Testament laws to be governed by. This whole governor thing is kind of new, and the Persian kings were like, hey, okay, you're the governor of this area. Take 40 shekels or whatever it is from the people. If they can't pay it, take the lands, confiscate, do whatever you got to do to get that, and take the bread. Nehemiah is reminding these guys, hey, your former governors, they did that, and they were entitled to that. I'm different because I actually fear God, and though I've been given that right from the government, I don't want to execute it because God's law is above the government's law, and so part of ownership also is sacrificing, right? He's sacrificing the benefits that he's entitled to from his nation, but he's also sacrificing his position with the nobles and the rulers, which can be a dangerous thing because they have a lot of money, and they have a lot of pull with the people because people often view other people with money as leaders, and that's not always right because sometimes people get money. In fact, a lot of times people get money in dirty ways. I mean, think about it. You want to look to Sir Evelyn Day Rothschild for leadership? You better be very careful. You better be very careful because a lot of those people are extremely satanic, and just people we don't want anything to do with, but anyways, look at verse 16. He says, yea, also I continued in the work of this wall, neither bought we any land, and all my servants were gathered thither unto the work. Here's point number three. Here's what Nehemiah understands about righteous authority, about moral authority. It takes 12 years to build, and you can lose it in a second. Here's point number three. You can literally go from hero to zero in about 60 seconds. You're always one bad decision, one bad event away from losing all that credibility, and Nehemiah is like, I am in this for the long haul. This isn't just a fluke. He's like, I've been at this for 12 years, and I'm going the distance, and what was the result? The result was that the people looked to him. They realized, okay, he is actually for us. Would you imagine if a politician did that for us? We would definitely view that person differently than how we view the politicians we have now. A lot different. So ownership gives you credibility, and ownership will also give you authority. Even if you're not in a position to exercise some kind of a process authority or legal authority, if you can just build that respect, you're a person that takes ownership, people are going to look to you for answers, and then you can sway the culture in your family or at work. Go over to chapter six real quick. Chapter number six. We're almost done. Chapter number six, and look at verse number 15. So Nehemiah is like, you know what? If I would, at this point, after 12 years, after bailing them out, after being for the people, after working on the wall with a hammer in one hand and a sword in the other, because that's how the times were, they were literally having to have people work while other people stood by with spears and swords in case the enemy were to come in and try to stop what was going on. Conditions were terrible, but he got it done in record time because of moral authority. And he's saying, I didn't want to exact what was entitled to me by the Persian empire because that would be a bad decision and that would make me go from this moral authority position to just basically a zero, literally in a second. As soon as he were to step on the scene and say, you know what? I've been at this 12 years, I bailed you guys out. I'm going to go ahead and exact the bread and the shekels and all these things from you. Now what are the people going to think? Oh, it really all was about that almighty dollar in the end. And he would lose all that credibility that he spent 12 years, more if you actually study his life working for him. Look at verse 15, Nehemiah 6, 15. So the wall was finished in the 20 and fifth day of the month, the lul, in 50 and two days. And it came to pass that when all our enemies heard thereof and all the heathen that were about saw these things, they were much cast down in their own eyes. For they perceived that this work was wrought of our God. Think about that. What was the result of his sacrifice of years? His years of sacrificing how he felt, his position with the king, his money, his resources, his time with his own family. If he had, I mean, he had to leave his place of comfort in order to build the wall, in order to get Jerusalem jump-started again, and to get Judah going. He had to sacrifice a lot, but he realized, you know what, if I lose the morale of the people, this isn't going to get done as fast as I want. Sure, you know, he could have passed the torch on to the next guy and said, hey, you just, this is all you got to do. Just show up there and tell people, hey, the yoke is heavy now. I'm going to chase you with scorpions, kind of like Rehoboam did, right? And you're going to just do this because I said so. I'm in charge and you're not. Now, I've said that as a parent before, and I can tell you from experience, it's not the best way to get work done. The reason they were able to get so much done under the adverse conditions that they were able to do it is because they understood that morale is the measurement of success and you have to own that. If your family is messed up and you're a mom and you're a dad, you need to realize you have some responsibility in that. You have a lot of responsibility in that. You need to own that. Once you decide to own that, then your eyes open up and you say, this is what's wrong. This is wrong. And you can then begin to work on those things. Go to chapter eight real quick, real quick. Last verse, chapter number eight. So chapter number eight, you get to read about Ezra and he basically preaches a sermon. He causes the people to actually understand the Bible, understand the bigger picture. And they're excited in verse 12. It says, and all the people went their way to eat and to drink and to send portions and to make great mirth because they had understood the words that were declared on to them. So not only did they do this building in record time, they actually finally got the big picture from the word of God. Now they've got somebody who's able to teach the word of God and cause them to understand it. And it brings them great joy. And as God's people, there's something great about being able to understand the Bible, understand these truths. So I just want to leave you with this challenge. We need to show people the joy that's inside of us. We really do. We need to realize that we own that because we are the servants of righteousness and morale is the measurement of success for leaders. And you have to own that. You have no choice. You absolutely have to own that. But my question to you is mothers, fathers, teenagers, children, what are you doing to own that? You need to think about that. What are you doing to own that? Are you sad? Are you in perils at work? I know I am. And you know what? This guy right here has got to own that. I have to make the decision in my heart to own that. And so what are you going to do with this? You have the power to turn that culture around, whatever it is. The only problem is it's going to take some sacrifice and it's going to take some hard work. You're going to have to build credibility. You're going to have to realize that you're in this for the long haul like Nehemiah did. See, when he was in Art of Xerxes presence, I bet he realized, you know what? This is going to take a lot of time, a lot of resources, a lot of money, and a lot of effort. And you know what? Everybody's situation is different. Everybody's family situation is different. Everybody's work situation is different. Everybody's life is different. And you have to assess that and take into consideration, what am I willing to sacrifice? Am I just blaming everybody else or is there something that I can own up to and take as my own and get that responsibility going, which is going to increase my awareness and then lead to solving the problem? And I think you'll be surprised at how God rewards that. I mean, how did God reward that? He rewarded them with protection. He rewarded them with physical success. They were able to actually complete this project. And then in chapter number eight, we realize he gives them the best gift of all, which is the joy of understanding the things of God. You know, nothing's more sorry than just basically walking up to a Christian that you know is saved and they're just not interested in the things of God. That's sad to me. It's like, man, you're missing so much. Your life could be so much better, even in the worst trials and tribulations that you go through. It could be so much better if you were to just own your mistakes, own your problems, and then just give it to God and let him work those things out. That's exactly what happened to Nehemiah and in his day. And you know what? If we can get that, if we can understand that and apply that, guess what? It's going to be a different world. It's going to be a different church. This community is going to be a different community. And God's going to cause our influence to go even further. And that's what we want. We want people to know about us. We want people to come here. We want people to listen to us out in the community. We're going to do that by owning that righteousness, which means studying it and learning about it and saying, you know what? If it brings me hate mail, if it brings me issues from my own family and from my neighbors and my coworkers, I'm willing to eat that. I'm willing to stick my neck out there for that because that's how we get the job done. Let's bow our heads and pray. Thank you so much, Lord, again, for this great truth in the Bible. I just pray that you would help us to all take ownership of the things that we need to take ownership of and give us that success, Lord, that we strive for. And please also just continue to give us the endurance that we need to actually do these things, Lord. They're easy to say, but very hard to carry out. And I just pray you bless the fellowship after the service and the soul winning, Lord. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.