Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayer for attention to Nehemiah, Nehemiah chapter
two. And we'll read for our text part
of verse six, part of verse six. The last part of that verse,
for it pleased, so it pleased the king to send me, and I sent
him a time. I want to continue with The Lord's
Tale this evening with our series through the book of Nehemiah. We commenced last week with the
first chapter and the report that had been heard and how it
had so affected Nehemiah to hear of the state and condition at
Jerusalem. And so now in this chapter, we
have him brought there. We'd remind ourselves that the
time that this is taking place is some 71 years after the temple
had been rebuilt. It comes after the Book of Esther
and what happened there some 33 years after that. and 445
years before our Lord. was to come. And of course the
city, it had to be rebuilt, the temple had to be built, the beautiful
prophecies that were given, the glory of this latter house shall
be greater than the former was given as a prophecy by Negei. And we have also in Zechariah
the prophecy that there should be those boys and girls playing
in the streets of Jerusalem and a city was to be rebuilt in time
when our Lord and Savior was to come. We spoke of the looking
at the book of Nehemiah as the Nehemiah, the builder or the
rebuilder and This evening it is the sending
of the rebuilder and there are four distinct areas that I want
to cover. I want to look literally first
at what is being done through Nehemiah in the history of Israel
and not to forget that The Word of God, in one sense, is a history
book. Peter says of those who chant
the Church of God that they have followed cunningly devised fables
in making known the coming of our Lord. But the Word of God
records the history of Israel and real events, real men, real
histories, Real cities, cities being built, cities being broken
down, cities being rebuilt, those things that are done fulfilling
scripture, these things all make up the total of the inspired,
inerrant Word of God. And they all fit together most
beautifully and perfectly, although the Word of God has been written
over some 1,400 or so years. and by 40 or more authors, yet
the majesty of the whole and the fitting together of the whole
shows one author, the Holy Spirit, inspiring men to write what he'd
have them to write. And of course that then involves
the events that they were writing, all ordered by God. And the events
here in the book of Nehemiah are ordered by God, were ordered
by God. But not only to bring about a
rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem, but also to give us those types
and shadows as well of what the Lord would do in a spiritual
way. We looked last week at that Jerusalem
is a time of the Church of God, the state of the Church of God,
and our Lord coming to redeem his church, save it from the
fall, and to bring his people, because the church is of people,
not stones and mortar, and bring them to be in heaven with himself. So on to look at four areas.
Firstly, there's Nehemiah's commission and sending, which is in the
first six verses or so here. Then there is his coming, his
coming to Jerusalem. And then his inspection of the
city, which is very distinctly given and given before he makes
known, and that is the last heart is making known those plans that
he had for rebuilding the walls and the city. And throughout
this we notice also the opposition that he had. It's wonderful to
note the providences of God, that here is a man, Nehemiah,
in a kingdom and a palace that is not of God's people, but God
bringing about those providences that put it in the hearts of
those men to send and to bring about what God has decreed should
happen. So Nehemiah then is going about
his business in verse one, and taking up the wine, he was the
king's cup bearer, and he makes this note that up to this time
he had not been sad in the king's presence. It's a good thing,
isn't it, that the people of God, that their countenances
are noted and seen, and if we truly profess that we are the
people of God, and that we have blessings that many people do
not have, that that should show in our demeanor to others. Really, we should recommend the
grace. People should think, well, we
would desire to be. like that person, have their
happiness and have their joy and have their blessings, but
if they were to viewing someone that was always unhappy and murmuring
and complaining, then there's little there to recommend the
grace of God and the privileges and blessings of the Gospel,
truly those times the joy of the Lord is upon us. And it was
because that Nehemiah had not been sad in his presence that
now that there is something that has occasioned his sadness, that
the change of his countenance is actually seen. So the king
says to him, is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick,
and he traces it to sorrow of heart. Nehemiah said he's very
sore afraid. One reason may have been maybe
the king was suspecting that he knew of some plot, he knew
of some things that were going on, and could even suspect Nehemiah
as having a part in it. Very trusted position to give
the king the cup. Very easy to poison him if Nehemiah
wasn't on the king's side. For some reason, he was afraid
because the king had noticed this. But it was this countenance
that gave an opening. It gave him a door, gave him
a reason to speak before the King. The people of God should
look for those opportunities that are given in God's providence
to speak, and in this case, it was to speak what was upon their
hearts. The very opening had been that
it was sorrow of heart. I wonder how many of us, if we
had sorrow of heart, And it was shown and noticed by our employer
or someone around us that we would be honest and say why it
was so. Whether it was our own sin, whether
it was the state of the church, whether it was something that
we were going through, or would we think, well, we just make
out it's nothing, they won't understand, so we won't divulge
it. The Lord uses these things. In
Peter's epistles, we are told then to be ready to give a reason
of the hope that is within us to everyone that asketh us. This is to be with meekness and
with fear, but why do they ask? They see things we do that they
don't do, or that we don't do and they do, or it may be that
while they are or joyful with worldly pleasures, that we are
sorrowful. Our Lord says that the world
shall rejoice and ye shall have sorrow, that your sorrow shall
be turned into joy. There will be a difference in
the same circumstances and the people of God may be sorrowful
and the world rejoicing, And in other hands, times the people
of God rejoice and the world are in sorrow. And this gave
the opening. So Nehemiah says to the king,
let the king live forever. In other words, he assures him
he's no evil intentions at all. Why should not my countenance
be sad when the city The place of my father's sepulchres lieth
waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire." So all
he does is to tell him the state of Jerusalem, what he had heard. And he traces, he's able to see
God opening this up, because it is the king that then instigates
and asks him, What is his request? And there is Nehemiah right in
front of the king and he says, so I pray to the God of heaven.
You know, prayers don't need to be long prayers, sometimes
not even prayers, that those that are standing around us actually
realise that we are praying. The uplifting of the eye, the
spirit making intercession, Silent prayer, Lord help me. And I said unto the king, and
so he makes his petition, if it please the king, if thy servant
have found favour in thy sign, that thou wouldst send me. He wants to be sent, not send
someone else, but send me unto Judah. unto the city of my father's
sepulchres, that I may build it." Not someone else, yes. When
he came there, he was to employ many to be in that work building
the wall. But he says that I may build
it. The king doesn't turn to him
and say, what, you're going to build it single-handed? It is recorded here that Nehemiah
the type that he is, and we know later, of course, that in literal
way, others were used, but he says that I may build it. And
then in verse six, the king said unto me, the queen also sitting
by, he's not just on his own, there's witnesses, the queen
is there, no doubt many of the courtiers of the palace as well,
for how long shall thy journey be? And when wilt thou return? So pleased the king to send me. and I set him a time." So Nehemiah,
the king wants him to return, he is to return, wants to know
how long it's going to be decreed, there is a time factor in this,
and that time was set, and these beautiful words, so it pleased
the king to send me. What a wonderful answer, going
from being sad countenance, then fearing, Stating to the King
the condition and then at the end of that interview having
a commission being sent with the authority of the King and
the Queen and the court is a wonderful thing that Nehemiah
was given. And we see God's providence in
bringing about sending Nehemiah. And you might say from the start
of this chapter, Nehemiah has not put his hand to it. He's
seen the Lord go before. So there is now one that is coming
to Jerusalem that has the authority of the king over that realm. He has been set a time. He will not only go, but he will
return. And in between that time of going
and returning, he will rebuild and build again the walls of
Jerusalem. There's many lessons for us as
Christians and how we're to look for the Lord to go before us,
how we are to use prayer and when, how we are to take those
openings that are set before us and to make petition, though
we might feel that, well, there's not much hope of it being granted. But it's most beautiful when
we can look past Nehemiah and we can see our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ. Our Lord came to this world. He came with the full consent
and authority of heaven. His heavenly Father sent him. Not only did he come, but it
was also with that same commission that he was to do a work on this
earth, a work of rebuilding or reclaiming, redeeming the Church
of God. And then he was to return up
again into heaven. having completed and done that
work. And we can see a direct parallel
here. And it's before ever Nehemiah
went that this plan is in place, that this is done, not in Jerusalem,
but outside of Jerusalem, 620 miles away from Jerusalem. And
the decrees of heaven in sending forth the Lord Jesus Christ whose
goings forth are of old, not done on this earth, determined
in heaven. He set him a time. The time of
our Lord's coming was determined. The time of his sojourn here
below was determined. His 30 years, his three years
of ministry, the sacrifice at Calvary, the Gospel of our Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ established and commissioned, and then ascend
up into heaven. That plan, that purpose is God's. You must remember that the whole
design of the Word of God, it is pointing to Christ. And it's
not just looking at parts of the Word and saying, well, That's
quite interesting, or that fits along with the gospel account. It does fit along with it, but
it shows one beautiful plan and beautiful pattern. God's ancient
people were types, and many things that befell them and happened
were types and shadows. of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
especially their leaders and those that were used to deliver
them. Joshua a type, leading them into the promised land.
Moses a type, saying a prophet, shall the Lord thy God raise
up unto you of your brethren like unto me, him shall ye hear. And that was very clearly identified
by Stephen when he was dying the first martyr. And so we have
this warrant to look at these times, and that our faith might
be strengthened to know of the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ
from heaven. Many times when he was upon earth,
that authority was made known even with a voice from heaven,
and certainly in the many miracles that our Lord did, and of course
he fulfilled that. The work he did on earth and
then he did ascend up again into heaven. So when we look at Nehemiah's
commission and sending, we look past it to our Lord and Saviour,
Jesus Christ. And in that, just think of some
of the words that Nehemiah used. that thou wouldest send me, that
I may build it." The willingness, the love, the concern, the personal
application. You think of another type with
Judah when Jacob did not want to send or allow Benjamin to
go down into Egypt. He didn't know Joseph was the
governor there. He didn't want to lose his beloved
Benjamin. But Judah said, I will be shorty
for him. I will bring him again. If I
bring him not again, then I will bear the reproach forever. He would stand in his place.
It was a personal undertaking and we find a personal undertaking
here with Nehemiah and we see it with the Lord Jesus Christ
and we see the clear sending. The Father sent the Son, the
willing Son obeyed, the witness thou the Holy Ghost. To declare
that, that that is the work of the Father and the Son. And so we see the authority right
at the very beginning of this work to be done. If any work
is to be done, and to done in our hearts and in our lives,
it needs the authority of Heaven. And only God's work will stand,
not man's work. And we see it through this account
as well. And how necessary it was. What
if Nehemiah did not have this authority? But he did, and so
did our Lord. So then secondly, we have his
coming. And from verse 6 to 9, or verse
7, 8, and 9, we read how that he came to the
governors beyond the river. But before he comes and part
of that sending, then Nehemiah, he has two requests to the king. The first is that there be these
letters that are given to the governors beyond the river, that
they may convey me over till I come into Judah. So the river is the river Euphrates,
and we read later on that in verse nine, the king had sent
captains of the army and horsemen with men. So Nehemiah had protection
and care, and again, a letter of authority to take to those
governors where they were so that that authority that was
given in the palace, in the court, was known where Nehemiah was
to do the work. That was the idea of the letters. It wasn't just the letter to
the governors beyond the river. but also a letter unto Asaph,
the keeper of the king's forest. And the reason for that, again,
it was tied in with the work that was to be done, that there
was to be provision, timber, to make beams for the gates of
the palace which appertained to the house. That's not a palace
for Nehemiah. He wasn't going to be a king
there. The other timbers were to have a house that he should
live in. And then there was the timbers
for the wall of the city as well. So there needed to be a provision,
and that provision as well was requested and came with the authority
of the king. And so we read in verse nine
how that he came to the governors beyond the river and gave them
the king's letters. Thinking again, if we have a
work that is before us, If the Lord has wonderfully opened up
a way of providence, we've seen his hand, but how forward-looking
are we? This is before Nehemiah gets
to the city, before he has even seen exactly what needs to be
done. He is thinking ahead of this,
seeking the same authority, the same help, that he might be able
to fulfil the work that he was engaging on. Now when we think
of our Lord Jesus Christ, if he is to fulfil the work that
he is engaging on, the very manner of his coming to be made of a
woman, made under the law, that he should be made like unto his
brethren was absolutely essential. In his sufferings at Calvary,
in his perfect life of obedience, he could not have been done in
any other way but the way that he came, willingly, truly God,
and truly man. The Lord Jesus Christ, when he
came to this earth, God the Father did not leave him without witness,
equivalent to the letters here. The miracles that the Lord did
really before he ever did them. The miracle, the angels appearing
to the shepherds, the testimony of Simeon and of Anna, that regarding Zacharias and
John the Baptist, those things that were done. that was showing
that this child was a special child. We read Mary, she pondered
these things in her heart. The witness was not only in heaven,
but as soon as the Lord came to this earth, there was the
witness of heaven. There was the authority of heaven,
equivalent to these letters, and you might say, In all the
scriptures where they are fulfilled, those scriptures are like those
letters as well, that these things are done, that the scriptures
might be fulfilled. We remember that the sending
forth of our Lord Jesus Christ, we do not need to ascend into
heaven, we do not need to hear what went on, we are told that
The Lord says regarding his people, Thine they were, thou gavest
them me. But the witness is also on earth. And John in his epistles, John
1 chapter 5, he speaks of those witnesses in heaven and those
witnesses on earth as well. And that applies to many aspects
of salvation. You think of what the Lord said
of those that repented on earth. There is joy in heaven. over
one sinner that repenteth more than over ninety and nine just
persons which have no need of repentance. And there is a reflection
between heaven and between earth in many, many respects. But then we read here that when
he came, when Nehemiah came, then there was opposition. When
Sanbalat the Horonite and Tobai the Servant the Ammonite, that's
the Horonite also is of the children of Moab and Ammon, so it is the
children of Lot that were by Lot by incest and they are there
in that land. They heard of it, they heard
of his coming, I read this most solemn word, it grieved them
exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of
the children of Israel. What a solemn thing, that those
in this land were grieved that one was come to seek their welfare. But what a beautiful word when
applied to our Lord Jesus Christ. He has come to seek the welfare
of his people. The deriding words of the Jews,
this man receiveth sinners and eateth and drinketh with them. Our Lord Jesus was despised and
rejected of men. He came unto his own, his own
received him not. And we think of the opposition,
especially from Herod, when our Lord came, and all the children
that were slain, the hatred against the Lord. And so we have a type here. Nehemiah, he came. Our Lord Jesus Christ, he came. Nehemiah came with authority,
our Lord came with authority. Nehemiah came and there was opposition
and those that were displeased that he'd come and so it was
with our Lord as well. But the witness was not just
in the king's palace but at Jerusalem and the witness with our Lord
was not just in heaven but witnessed on earth as well. And so we have Nehemiah now in
Jerusalem. He has come. He is in a position. What does he do next? My third point then is his inspection
of the city. and of the walls which we read
from verse 12 through to verse 16. And what is remarkable on
this, he does it by night, he does it secretly, he does it
before and it's very clearly told in verse 16, the rulers
knew not whether I went or what I did as he makes this inspection
of the walls of the city and the city itself Neither had I
as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles,
nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work. He kept
it very, very close while he made that inspection. There's
many things in our lives that involve inspections, aren't there? He might inspect a work, We might
expect some in school work. We're used to, if we've got an
aged people's home, they have regular inspectors from the authorities
to make sure that the laws are being complied with and the home
is being run rightly. And Very often those inspectors,
they like a free hand. They like to just go around and
see for themselves what their condition is. They don't expect
that they be met at the door and they be hustled here and
there and told this and told that and everything is put a
different slant on it and to get this person's opinion and
that person's opinion When they come to the end, the report,
you hardly know whether it's the inspector's report or what's
been put into their head by the people that have pointed out
the good of this and the bad of that and influenced them. But no one could charge Nehemiah
being influenced by anyone else because he'd seen it exactly
as it was himself. And those that were there, they
had no say in it. He just saw it exactly as it
was. We have other instances of scripture
we mentioned here about those that were opposing here and the
mention back down to the days of Lot. When God was going to
destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, He didn't go straight down and just
destroy it. He sent the angels first to see
whether the report was as was heard. And those angels, all
they needed to do is to go into the city. They soon found out
the state of that city. The men of the city, they gathered
round Lott's door, banged on the door, and they wanted to
abuse them. They saw firsthand. They smoked
the people of the city with blindness so that they couldn't find the
door. take Lot and abuse him. They had a first-hand view of
the condition of Sodom and then it was destroyed. When Nehemiah
here is having a first-hand view of Jerusalem, but Jerusalem's
not going to be destroyed, it's going to be rebuilt. But the true condition in all
how bad it is, is known by Nehemiah. We think of how it's described
here. He goes out from one gate to
another and in and out through the city and past various parts
of the city. No doubt in some there is a significance
as to those places that he went in and out of. Some of them,
some people feel that the gate that he entered by, the gate
of the valley, is actually the gate that our Lord went out from
and to Calvary. But I'd rather just, rather than
speculate on that, view it that what is written is enough to
show he had a very thorough inspection of those walls and of all their
condition. In Jeremiah's day, the Lord through
Jeremiah, he tells the people of their sins and what he has
seen, and he says, I have not found it by secret, sir. The sin of Israel was so blatant,
so open, it could be so easy seen. But here it was and it
was seen and in the dark you might say, well surely it would
be easier to see it in the light time. But in a spiritual way,
man is in darkness. And it is in that position that
his true state is best seen in. And so here with these walls,
Nehemiah makes his inspection. We think of our Lord Jesus Christ
coming to this world. And we know, of course, that
one of the reasons why The years he did was to come to that 30
years and to work out a righteousness for us that his very life was
to be a life of righteousness for his people. But it was also
to see firsthand. We think of the parable our Lord
told of the owner of the vineyard that had servants and he let
it out to them and he went to a far country. And when he sent
then his servants to see how it was going. They beat one and
they maltreated another. And so that he sent his own son. They said, now here comes the
heir. Let us kill him and the vineyard
shall be ours. Our Lord was speaking of his
own coming and what they would do with him and how he would
be crucified and slain. But our Lord had a first-hand
view. How long shall I bear with you? How long shall I be with you? In due of the contradiction of
sinners against himself, he saw first-hand what came forth from
man, from the Jews, how they sought to trap him in his speech. He saw their hypocrisies, he
saw the true state of sin. Nehemiah had already heard all
of this, but he still came and saw it
personally. Our Lord knew what was in man,
but he still came personally and saw it all. They'd heard
about what was happening in Sodom, but they still came, personally. And so we see the true inspection
and true state that is seen first, and it's seen before the plan
is made known. Our Lord had those 30 years. Yes, we might say when he was
12 years of age then, Wist ye not that I must be about my father's
business? And when he was born, Anna pointing
to all them that look for redemption in Jerusalem, pointing to the
Lord Jesus Christ. But for the most part, he was in the shadows and not in the
forefront, no public ministry. until that time came, that he
was then to make known to his disciples, to Israel, what his
work was, what his commission was, and to teach and to preach. And one of his first, opening
up the book and showing the prophecies that were to be fulfilled in
his coming, especially that in Isaiah 61, the spirit of the
Lord God is upon me because the Lord hath anointed me to preach
good tidings unto the meek. He has sent me to bind up the
brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening
of the prison to them that abound. Our Lord began his ministry reminding
them of the prophecies of his coming, just what we've had this
evening as clear sending, the Lord Jehovah have anointed me
to preach, he has sent me to do these things. And so after that inspection
is seen, when we think of our Lord, no one could ever say that
he'd undertaken to redeem his people without knowing their
true state and condition. No one could ever say to Nehemiah,
Nehemiah, you have made known and said that you will rebuild
these walls, but you haven't seen it yet. You haven't seen
the extent. You do not know what is before
you. Before the Lord begins, while
we have the warning, who is he that will build a tower but does
not count the cost first, whether he have ability to finish it? He doesn't begin and then cannot
finish it. Sometimes we see that. Houses
around even this town have been in the same state of half construction
for sometimes years. And you think, they've run out
of money. and they're not able to finish it, they've got halfway. But not with their mind, not
with their Lord. And it is that there's a full
and right survey and knowledge first. Dear friends, you that
first have opened up to you, the desperate wickedness of your
heart, the state and condition of your soul, the sin that does
so easily beset you, how fallen, You are how corrupt your nature
is. Before ever the Lord devised
a way of salvation and redemption, he knew. And he knew before he
suffered at Calvary exactly what was in man. And before he began
a work of grace in your heart and mine, he knew exactly And he began that work knowing
that it would cost him his life. He knew at Calvary for whom he
laid down his life. And so we have this clear message
here that when the Lord begins, he knows already. And if Satan
is saying, well, The Lord didn't know half of your heart. He didn't
know what He was undertaking. You could point Him to Nehemiah
and say, does one of God's people act in this way? He's shown how
to examine and how to find out the true state of things before
He makes known what He is going to do. And really when God first
begins with a sinner and makes known what their true state of
things are is to their soul, brings them into conviction of
sin, and opens up the plan of the gospel to them, it is done
so knowing exactly what your soul is like, what mine is, and
what is involved in that redemption. And so then in our fourth point,
the actual making known of his plans for rebuilding. From verse
17, then said I unto them, there is a time when things are made
known, when the gospel is made known, the time when the Lord
begins a work of grace, the time when he shows the gospel and
shows the gospel plan. and it may be the sun this evening,
and you've had opened up to you something of the Gospel plan,
really the plan of salvation, how the Lord Jesus Christ was
sent, truly God and truly man, to redeem his people and to save
them, and that he is the way. And you look upon this and it's
gradually, you can see God's plan, But as far as your own
soul, it's still ruined. You're still a sinner. You still
feel the power of sin. You still need the Lord to work
in your heart, to deal with the condition of your soul. And that's
how it was here. But Nehemiah, he made this known. The first thing he says to them,
these nobles and rulers and the priests and the Jews, He says,
you see the distress that we are in. He says, you've got eyes
as well. You see it. Has the Lord ever
said that to you? You see it. You see the distress
we are in. You see the condition. Do you
see the condition in your soul? Do I see it in mine? Do we see
the condition of the Church of God? Do we see the condition
of mankind? Do we see the condition that
even God's people are end when they are backslidden and low
and far off. He says, you see it. But he says,
come, come, come and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem that
we be no more a reproach. What a beautiful, noble way,
that we be no more a reproach. that the church be the honour
and glory of the nations, that it be said, the Lord hath done
great things for them, and that we say, the Lord hath done great
things for us, whereof we be glad. The gospel word is come. The
gospel word is, O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself, but in
me is thy help found. The gospel word is not to just
ignore the state and condition of our soul, the church, Zion,
Jerusalem, but to acknowledge it. But to not say like Israel said,
later on in Jeremiah's day, there is no hope. We will go on all
in our own sinful and evil ways. No. Nehemiah, he says, come. And then after he's done that,
and he gives them this summary, let us build up the wall of Jerusalem. That is what he was to do. But
then I told them of the good hand of God which was upon me.
Beautiful thing, isn't it? We're able to tell the Lord's
people of the providential dealings of God. were able, like Abraham's
servant, to tell what had happened at the well. And Laban and Bethuel,
they say, the thing proceedeth from the Lord. When Nehemiah
was to tell how the king had brought up the subject, how that
he'd prayed, how the Lord had answered him, given him favour
with the king, the king had sent him, the king had given him the
letters, he'd given him the horsemen, He was there, he'd seen, and
he'd been able to survey the damage. All of these things is
a blessed thing when we can look over what the Lord has done and
see the Lord's hand. And it's good when we're able
to convey it to others and not be silent when we see what the
Lord has done, his timing, his provision, the favour that he's
given us in the sight of others. And you know, he said, the response
of Laban and Bethuel, the thing proceeds from the Lord. And what
do they say here? They said, let us rise up and
build. So they strengthened their hands
for this good work. It's good to strengthen one another's
hands, encourage one another. And every time a poor sinner
is able to say what the Lord's done in their heart, in their
life, in their soul, in providences, it strengthens the brethren,
it encourages them. And so this is where we're at
when we come to the close of this chapter, that they strengthen
in their hands, and to strengthen Nehemiah's hands, that this work
be done. But then immediately we find
again the adversary is another one added to them now, There's
Gisha and the Arabian, he's joined the other two. And they laugh
just to scorn. Wherever the true work of God
is, wherever it is even just beginning, there'll be those
that deride it and laugh and ridicule. Very soon we'll see
in this that the laughter is on the other side. But at this
stage, this early stage, it may be with you and I, while we still
feel things so broken down and so not right, but with the hope
of the Gospel and the hope of Christ, and yet we have Satan
or perhaps so-called friends or others trying to undermine
us and discourage us. May we think of what Nehemiah
had, the adversaries that he had, and how that he prevailed
over them all. And we think of our Lord and
the adversaries he had, the opposition he had, and he prevailed over
them all. God's children to the end of
time will have those oppositions. But what a beautiful answer they
gave in that last verse. Then answered I them, and said
unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us. Therefore we his servants will
arise and build. But ye have no portion, nor rite,
nor memorial in Jerusalem. What a solemn separating. We
can't help but thinking of our Lord speaking in John 10, saying
of the scribes and the Pharisees, Ye are not of my sheep, ye hear
not my word. But my sheep, they hear my voice,
they follow me. And then he says, I lay down
my life for the sheep. In other words, I don't lay down
my life for you that are rejecting, receiving me. You have no part
or lot in this at all. And that is what he said here
in Nehemiah. But dear friends, for you and
I, as we look to the blessing of the Lord in our churches,
in our souls, to revive our souls, to bless us, Lift us up from
the ruins of the fall and bless us with hope of his grace and
to be washed in his precious blood. Why it will prosper, the
God of heaven, he will prosper us. Every seeking soul, every
laboring servant, every evangelist, everyone that seeks to walk in
the ways of the Lord. The Apostle Paul says, I laboured
more than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God that was
with me. He testified of the Lord prospering
him in that which he was doing. The God of heaven, he will prosper
us, therefore we his servants will arise and build. The people
of God are encouraged in their seeking, in their waiting, in
their reforming, in their building. May we remember the commission
and what Nehemiah said here, that I may build it. May we never
have the thought that the Church of God, that God needs his son
and his people, that God is helpless without his people. He does not
have to use his people, but his plan is. that he does use his
servants. He did send forth his apostles. He chose them. And he does send
forth his servants. And he says, he that heareth
you, heareth me. And he that heareth me, heareth
him that sent me. And so in Nehemiah, we have a
type of our Lord. And in this chapter, type of
his authority, his coming. his inspection, his viewing things
as they really are, and his rebuilding plan, the beautiful gospel plan,
how often our Lord revealed how he should lay down his life at
Calvary, even at 12, wished ye not that I must be about my father's
business. May the Lord bless this word,
May we see through this passage through Nehemiah and have some
meditation on our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the Rebuilder of
Jerusalem. Amen.