we resume this evening with Niyamaya
and this morning just briefly went through chapters 1, 2, 3
Niyamaya's commissioned to go and help repair
the walls and gates of Jerusalem, being given permission by King
Artaxerxes to do so. We saw very much with Nehemiah,
a man of prayer and a man of great organizational skills,
a builder and and a good motivator because in chapter three how
he motivated lots of people together to work on the wall and then we come to sort of chapter
four we mentioned briefly about some opposition which sort of
touched on this morning But as the rebuilding project gathers
momentum in his fourth chapter of Nehemiah, the Israelites face
opposition from neighboring groups led by Sambalet, Tobiah, and
Gishem. And these adversaries employ
tactics of mockery, threats, and intimidation to discourage
the Israelites and undermine their progress. But faced with
external threats, Nehemiah takes strategic measures to safeguard
the builders and encourages the people to stand firm and persevere. The chapter, this fourth chapter
of Nehemiah, highlights the challenges and hostility faced during the
restoration and Nehemiah's unwavering determination to overcome them. In verses 1 to 3 of chapter 4,
we have a first attack. is intensifying this attack now
is intensifying and we have that at the beginning of chapter 4
but the first attack is basically a non-violent attack verses 1 to 3 says but it came
to pass that when Sambhalat heard that we builded the wall he was
rough and took great indignation and mocked the Jews And he spake
before his brethren and the army of Samaria and said, What do
these feeble Jews? Will they fortify themselves?
Will they sacrifice? Will they make an end in a day?
Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which
are burned? Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by
him, and he said, Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he
shall even break down their stone wall. So we have Samballas' attack
where in verse 2 he basically ridicules the workers and then
we have Tobiah in verse 3 who ridiculed the work. He mentions about foxes breaking
down the stone wall the other day we had a fox in
our garden and they're very light-footed aren't they and the fox it went
on to the wall but the wall didn't fall over but here's a suggestion
well even if a light-footed fox went on the wall it would topple
over so there's ridicule of the workers and the work we see prayer and determination
from verse 4 hear O our God and as I said this morning very much
Nehemiah a man indeed of prayer and I like the expression in
verse 6 at the end for the people had a mind to work wonderful
isn't it to have that attitude, to have a mind to work, a real
desire and a fervor to serve God. Then in verse 7, but it came
to pass that when Sambalat and Tobiah and the Arabians and the
Ammonites and the Ashtodites heard that the walls of Jerusalem
were made up and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they
were very rough and conspired all of them together to come
and fight against Jerusalem and to hinder it. So the second attack
is a bit more aggressive. And when we think of Satan's
attacks, Satan, though he's defeated, he doesn't give up. He will try what he can. 1 Peter
5.8 says, be sober, be vigilant because your adversary the devil
as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour. So
he's prowling around seeing whom he may devour. And sometimes
we have that in perhaps in our Christian lives. And maybe there's
an area where we're quite strong spiritually. Satan attacks in
that way and doesn't get anywhere. He's always after a chink in
the armor and will try and find a weakness somewhere. I've experienced
it and I'm sure others have as well. Like a gotcha moment for Satan. but he is a defeated foe but
he is persistent and will prowl around so we need on don't we the full
armor of God verse 8 it's quite formidable
there it's saying about the the various enemies and we have like
Sambalat who is from the north Tobiah who was from the east
the Arabians who were from the south and the Ashtodites were
from the west so it was all angles and sometimes in our Christian
lives we we feel as though it's one thing after the other one one struggle one trial after
the other soon as perhaps something might have relieved, then something
else comes. And it's amazing to think, isn't
it, of Job, what he went through, one thing after the other. And
yet he remarkably and wonderfully blessed God. His wife wasn't
any help. Curse God and die. But Job said,
the Lord gave, the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of
the Lord. Isaiah 59 19 says so shall they
fear the name of the Lord from the west and his glory from the
rising of the sun when the enemy shall come in like a flood the
spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him and
sometimes we feel that situations are flooding in if you're in
a sort of a flood it's not it's just sort of that side and it's
dry that side it's all around you and you're flooded with water
And sometimes we feel as though experiences in life are like
that. We're overwhelmed. But may we know the spirit of
the Lord in those times. But really in the rest of the
chapter there is discouragement that is overcome Again, in verse
9, nevertheless, we made our prayer unto our God. He was Nehemiah,
this man of prayer, and set a watch against them day and night because
of them. And that's what we have to do,
isn't it, in the Christian? Watch and pray, lest you fall
into temptation. That's it, watching and praying. Yes, be on your guard, but pray. And there was sort of a discouragement
in verse 10 with Judah saying the strength of the bearers of
burden is decayed and there is much rubbish so that we're not
able to build the wall. And as I said this morning you
know Nehemiah was galvanizing all these people for the work
and now there's a bit of discouragement here. And that can be And if
something is internal, then perhaps a discouragement
is more felt if the discouragement is coming from within. But from verse 13 onwards, again
Nehemiah rallies the troops. And in verse 17, they which builded
on the wall, and they that bear burdens with those that laid
it, every one with one of his hands wrought in the work, and
with the other hand held a weapon. Now that sort of verse gets perhaps
the image of, you know, got a sword in one hand, and then a sort of trowel, a
tool in the other hand. But John Gill writes this, so
everyone with one of his hands wrought in the work and with
the other hand held a weapon which is not to be understood
strictly and literally for without both hands they could not well
perform either of the above works but proverbially signifying that
they were intent on both working and fighting and were ready and
prepared to do the latter, as well as the former, having weapons
lying by them or girt about them. Most commentators are of the
same mind, and it is a picture of the true Christian. We work
and fight, and often simultaneously. I am doing a great work, said
Nehemiah, as we read in Nehemiah chapter 6. And I'm sure this
idea of the sword and trowel is probably behind the Metropolitan
Tabernacle with their magazine. I'm sure they got it from these
words in Nehemiah. So as the Lord's people, yes,
we are to do a good work, not that our work save us, but as
a result of being saved, we need to fight we need to be on our
guard and we need to be aware of all the fiery darts of the
wicked that come towards us and then there's sort of in verse
19 I said unto the nobles and to the rulers and to the rest
of the people The work is great and large, and we are separated
from the wall, one far from another. Nehemiah realizing, yeah, you
know, there's not that unity now that perhaps there was. In
what place, therefore, you hear the sound of the trumpet? Resort
ye, live unto us. Our God shall fight for us. So he was a great motivator,
a great businessman indeed. But then into sort of chapter
five, I won't say a lot about chapter five. This chapter reveals internal
tensions within the community. And due to economic hardship
and drought, some wealthy individuals exploit their impoverished neighbors
through harsh debt practices. Nehemiah confronts these injustices
rebuking those who exploit their own people and calling for a
restoration of fairness and economic relief. His intervention reflects
his commitment to social justice and his belief in upholding the
principles of fairness within the community. I sort of originally entitled
this sort of group of sermons or thinking about Nehemiah as
the multitasker because we've seen very much, you know, such
a lot of good things about Nehemiah, very godly, prayerful man, this
cup bearer, obviously trustworthy because he was a cup bearer to
the king, you know, a builder, a good organizer, good motivator
and a diplomat and this was really needed in the fifth chapter and
I'm sure that we have said or heard said about situations I
thought things were going too well I'm sure we've we've heard
that things things are going along well I thought everything
was running along so smoothly, too smoothly. It was inevitable
that something would go wrong. And that sort of here happened
really with the internal conflict And that basically is the essence
of chapter five. And Nehemiah defends those who
are oppressed. And he's also generous as well,
which we see throughout the chapter. So things were going well. The Church of God, isn't it? as in my day with the rebuilding
of the walls under attack and so it is with the church today
we're under attack from the outside and also we can be within as
well So there is that situation and
we're all so familiar with that. The Church of God, yes, we're
under attack from outside and within as well. And often there's
tensions, isn't there, within fellowships. We're all made up of sinners
anyway. So none of us are perfect. I think it was Spurgeon said
or somebody wanted to go to a perfect church Spurgeon said well if
you find one don't go because you'll spoil it and that's true
isn't it it's very sad isn't it sometimes
these problems that there are I remember
years ago hearing I think it was a pastor was saying about
a church this happened quite a long time ago about 30 years
ago probably when I heard this story he went to a church and
the front there were two front doors one there and one there and the people who sat over there
would only go out and come in that door. The people that side
would only come in and go out that side. And so he went to
the church and he tried to sort of, how can I sort of meet them? So he sort of tried to stand
in the middle at the back to sort of say goodbye to them. But what an awful situation that
there are people like that in the Church of God and professing
believers. But as I say, we're all sinners
and it may be that we know the grace of God and that will dominate, that will prevail in
our gatherings. But here in chapter five, yeah,
there were problems, but a lot was to do with money. And we
read in Scripture 1 Timothy 6, 10, for the love of money, not
money itself, nothing wrong with money, for the love of money
is the root of all evil. because discontent broke out
and it really was to do with money. Many had large families
to feed. The result was that along with
the taxes they had to pay the king of Persia because they were
still within his kingdom, they mortgaged their possessions in
order to borrow money and release their children into the service
of their creditors because they could not pay back so that their
children could work off the debt. Creditors were their own brethren. The rich in community had lent
the money at considerable interest. The aristocracy getting all the
interest at the expense of the poor. The aristocracy getting
all the interest at the expense of the poor. there was this cry
against Nehemiah this great leader but he showed wisdom and leadership
and it did lead to peace in the fellowship and it's tremendous
to think about this character of Nehemiah you know when we How we need a kind of a Nehemiah
person. You've got an election coming
up. If we had a Nehemiah type person to vote for, that'd be
great, wouldn't it? If we had that kind of person
standing for being prime minister or locally even. And as we see, don't we, from
the wars that were broken and we see, don't we? But in the
church and in society in general, so much broken and so many things
that are in disrepair and so many things that are broken and
seem seemingly unrecoverable. indeed we need and we need to
pray don't we for good leaders in our day. But then we come to chapter 6. Despite progress the adversaries
persist. They're not given up in their
attempts to sabotage the rebuilding project. They spread rumors and
attempt to intimidate Nehemiah it's as though now we're going
for the main man we're going for Nehemiah seeking to distract
him from his mission. However Nehemiah refuses to be
deterred employing great wisdom and discernment to counter their
deceptive tactics. He displays unwavering courage
determination to complete the rebuilding effort, demonstrating
his resilience in the face of continued opposition. So the
building project is near completion but the opposition is hotting
up and we shouldn't be surprised. The Lord is doing a good work
in in a fellowship then we should not be surprised that Satan will
be wanting to disrupt things and we're told aren't we we're warned by Jesus these things
I've spoken unto you that in me you might have peace in the
world you shall have tribulation but be of good cheer I've overcome
the world not you might have but you will have tribulation. We have trials of course but
these trials can be not just personal but affecting more people. So the enmity against Nehemiah
and the workers was perhaps in a more open sort
of way and a verbal sort of way in the first place but this time
it's more subtle and we know about the subtlety
of Satan we just have that in Genesis 3 now the serpent was
more subtle than any beast of the field And we know what that
led to with the fall of man. So the great strength is subtlety. 2 Corinthians 11 3, But I fear
less by any means as a serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety. So your mind should be corrupted
from the simplicity that is in Christ. 2 Corinthians 11 13 and 14 For
such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves
into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel, for Satan himself
is transformed into an angel of light. So subtlety and deception
is a great tall of Satan and it's seen in the church but very
much in the world at large in scams and all these things that
we read of and people lose millions collectively through all these
things. The Nehemiah now is sort of singled
out for attack. So let's go to him. That's where we need to really
attack. Go straight to him. And there
were three attempts in this sixth chapter. And many years ago, I sort of listened
to a series on Nehemiah. This is talking probably about
35 years ago now. I've still got the notes. Malcolm
Watts went through them and so these three headings are down
to him. These three headings. These three attempts to ensnare
Nehemiah. The first one in verses one to
four is the attempt to distract him. Now it came to pass when Sambalat
and Tabar and Gisham the Arabian and the rest of our armies heard
that I had builded the wall and that there was no breach left
therein, though at that time I had not set up the doors upon
the gates, that Sambalat and Gisham sent unto me, saying,
Come, let us meet together in some one of the villages in the
plain of Ono. they fought to do me mischief
and I sent messengers unto them saying I'm doing a great work
so that I cannot come down why should the work cease whilst
I leave it come down to you and they sent unto me four times
after this sort and I answered them after the same manner so
there's a persistence there perhaps a bit of a play on words and
you come down to oh no to which Niyamaya said, oh no, I don't. Yes, what resistance he showed and what
discernment he showed, Niyamaya. Yet they sent him to me four
times after this thought and I answered them after the same
manner. It was the same answer each time. No, I'm not coming.
No, I'm not coming. No, I'm not coming. No, I'm not
coming. And it's very easy, isn't it,
to be distracted. We can find it's very easy to
be distracted. And I think of David. King David,
he was distracted, wasn't he, by a beautiful woman. Through
Samuel 11, it came to pass in an even tide that David arose
from off his bed and walked upon the roof of the king's house.
From the roof he saw a woman washing herself. The woman was
very beautiful to look upon. David sent and inquired after
the woman. One said, Is not this Bathsheba,
the daughter of Elam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? And David
sent messengers and took her. She came in unto him, and he
lay with her, for she was purified from her uncleanness. And she
returned under her house. And the woman conceived and sent
unto old David and said, I am with child. So he was distracted
in his viewing. He shouldn't have been. He should
have been fighting, but he was blazing around and then caught. He was distracted by this woman. And we all know what happened
then regarding Bathsheba and of course the demise of Uriah
the Hittite as well. We think of Peter. In Matthew
14, Peter answered the Lord and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid
me come unto thee on the water. And he said, come. And when Peter
was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water to go
to Jesus. So far, so good. But when he
saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid. Beginning to sink, he
cried, Lord, save me. Immediately, Jesus stretched
forth his hand and caught him and said unto him, O thou of
little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? And when they were
come into the ship, the wind ceased. So Peter then was distracted
by a storm. And we too can be distracted
by storms that come into our lives and things that trouble
us. And it's very easy for us to
sort of just focus so much upon them that we lose our focus upon
the Lord as Peter took his eyes off the Lord and looked at the
waves and got very scared by that. And so we too in life can
be distracted in that way by troubles that come into our lives. It can really really affect us
and may the Lord help us through those times and no doubt we've
all been there at some point and I'm sure that we've all been
distracted in life by other things not just
the trials of life but by perhaps beautiful things or people by
certain people might sort of sweep us off our feet or even
just a simple thing like a smartphone what a distraction that is a
smartphone for those of us who've got smartphones it's so easy
isn't it you sort of look through the smartphone and you look through
and suddenly things pop up that you didn't ask for and I didn't ask for these things
and these things pop up and then you're intrigued by them you're
sort of drawn into it you're intrigued by it and then you
sort of you read some comments you know something pops up and
you read comments I've been there myself as well with these. You've
got to be so careful, haven't we? Smartphones are very useful in
many ways, but we still have to be careful, don't we? There's
so many things or people, situations that can distract us. Then secondly,
we have the attempt to dishearten him. verses 5 to 9. Then when sent Sambalad his servant
unto me in like manner the fifth time with an open letter in his
hand wherein was written, It is reported among the heathen
and Gashmosephit that thou and the Jews think to rebel, for
which cause thou buildest the wall, and thou mayest be their
king, according to these words. And thou hast also appointed
prophets to preach of thee at Jerusalem, saying, There is a
king in Judah. Now shall it be reported to the
king according to these words. Come now, therefore, and let
us take counsel together.' Then I sent unto him, saying, There
are no such things done as thou sayest, but thou faintest them
out of thine own heart. For they all made us afraid,
saying, Their hands shall be weakened from the work that it
be not done. Now therefore, O God, strengthen
my hands. So sometimes things can dishearten,
they can be very telling when things are said that are untrue. It was said that Nehemiah was
planning a rebellion, that he was going to proclaim himself
as a king and he's got prophets to teach that, be a public enthronement Some ballad sent an open letter,
not in a silk purse, but an open letter which was sealed. It kind of just exaggerated things,
but it was all false anyway. And that can really hurt us,
can't it, when there are accusations that come that are untrue, things
that can really, really affect us and dishearten us. Psalm 42.5 says, Why art thou
cast down, O my soul, and why art thou disquieted in me? Hope
thou in God, for I shall yet praise him for the help of his
countenance. Psalms are lovely because they
often speak of how we feel so often, cast
down, really struggling, disquieted, not at rest at all. And that's why the psalms are
often so beautiful, aren't they? Because they can be so helpful
to us. But yes, there are many things
that can dishearten us, obviously trials and tribulations. But
sometimes when there are accusations and when there are things perhaps
said about us or to us that aren't true, they can be very personal
and, you know, it can really affect us. also reminded me of Elijah and
the great conquest of Mount Carmel and the prophets of Bel and that
sort of victory then when God showed that he was God and not
all these other and that Bel wasn't not a true God at all
not a God that God he was a true God but soon after that Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah
had done and how he had slain all the prophets with the sword
and then Jezebel sent a message unto Elijah saying so let the
gods do to me a more or so if I make not thy life as a life
of one of them by tomorrow about this time and then he flees doesn't
he and he said it is enough now O Lord take away my life So he,
you know, after the great conquest, the great time at Mount Carmel
where the Lord showed that he was God, suddenly he's reduced
to this by Jezebel again with these threats and things that
weren't true. That's in 1 Kings chapter 19. So we can be distracted by people and things
and circumstances in life we can be disheartened by the same. And the third finally is the
attempt to disqualify him in verses 10 to 14. Afterward I came unto the house
of Shemaiah the son of Deliah the son of Hetabal who was shut
up and he said let us meet together in the house of God within the
temple let us shut the doors of the temple for they will come
to slay thee Yea, in the night will they come to slay thee?
And I said, Should such a man as I flee? And who is there that,
being as I am, would go into the temple to save his life?
I will not go in. And lo, I perceived that God
had not sent him, but he pronounced his prophecy against me. So he
was a very discerning man, wasn't he, Nehemiah? For Tobiah and
some ballad had hired him. Numbers 1.51 says when the tabernacle
is set afore the Levites shall take it down and when the tabernacle
is to be pitched the Levites shall set it up and the stranger
that cometh nigh shall be put to death and Numbers 18.7 says
therefore thou and thy sons with thee shall keep your priest's
office for everything the altar and within the veil and you shall
serve I've given your priest office unto you as a service
of gift and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death
and Nehemiah was a non-priest he wasn't a priest and so here
is an attempt to bring Nehemiah into the house of God the holy place in the house of
God and that would then sort of disqualify him. Non-priests were not allowed
in the holy place and as Christians praise God
that we can't be disqualified. We can be distracted We can be
disheartened. But we can't be, if we are the
Lords, we cannot be disqualified. In other words, we can't lose
our salvation. If we are the Lords chosen before
the foundation of the world saved in time. If we are the Lords,
we can never be lost. The Lord will not turn around
at the end. and change his mind about us
and say well after all I've changed my mind about that person after
all I mean if God was like that then we have no reason to be
miserable and it wouldn't be any point us being here when
you think of disqualification You sort of think of perhaps
athletics, where people can be disqualified from a race, whether
it's running or cycling. And there's been some high profile
cases of that because they have a banned substance. They failed
a drug test, banned substance in their body. They had a performance
enhancing drug they shouldn't have in their blood. system and
it's been found and so they're disqualified but of course by
nature we've all got something bad in us anyway we're all sinners
aren't we we all sin comes short of the glory of God so therefore
on that basis then we should all be disqualified not allowed
into heaven but it's wonderful isn't it to
realize that we are sinners and if we confess our sins God is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness in 1 John 1 9 and John 6 speaks Indeed,
these words, verse 37, all that the father give of me shall come
to me. Him that cometh to me I will
in no wise or no way cast out. This is the father's will which
have sent me, that all of which he have given me I should lose
nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. That's
a wonderful thing, isn't it? And that should give us joy. to know that the Lord's people
none of us will be lost not in any age of time all those chosen
we don't know the elect of God that's known only to God it's
for us to realize that it's not for us to sort of say well am
I elect or not it's for us to is for us to realize, yeah, I'm
a sinner. I'm a hell-deserving sinner. I can't save myself by works
or even church attendance or being associated with whatever. No, my only way of salvation
is to realize that I'm a sinner, to confess my sins, and to know
that my only hope is the Lord Jesus Christ. who lived and who
died for me and for all his people. And John 17 speaks there again,
just some words there. While I was with them in the
world, I kept them in thy name. Those that thou gavest me, I
have kept, and none of them is lost. The Lord cannot lose any
of his people. That's wonderful, isn't it, to
know that if we are the laws, we won't be lost. We will have
trials and we will have times when we sort of struggle and
backslide. And that happens. but we cannot
be eternally lost. Those who call upon the Lord
God so loved the world that whoever believes in him should not perish
but have everlasting life. And our Lord doesn't change his
mind and he won't suddenly change his mind about his people. And it doesn't matter who we
are, we can come You know, we think of Paul and the kind of
life that he lived before he was saved. But he was convinced
of his salvation and where he would spend eternity. And then David himself, you know,
we read about David and about his sin. And yet in Psalm 51,
There he says, restore unto me the joy of thy salvation. It
doesn't say restore unto me thy salvation, just the joy of it. He lost the joy of it. And sometimes
that happens to us. If we do backslide and do things
we shouldn't, then we can lose something of the joy of the Lord. But if we are the Lord's, we
won't lose our salvation. So we read right at the end,
the war was finished and say 52 days it was done. Tremendous work. And I say, what
a tremendous character Niyamaya was, such a worker spiritually
and practically a great guy, we would say. How we need leaders
in the church and in government like that today. We long for
such people today. Sometimes we despair of the situation. The Lord is the one who can raise
up and bring down. As we saw this morning about
how God moved Artaxerxes so that he was prepared to allow Nehemiah
to go. And so we see it other times
with Cyrus as well. We read, and there's many times,
perhaps in history, we see the Lord at work, and not necessarily
through his people, because God is sovereign over all things. But the wars were rebuilt for
this time anyway. But we know with the Church of
God, that that will be built I say also unto thee thou art
Peter and upon this rock on his confession not upon Peter himself
but on what he said upon this rock I will build my church And
the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And the gates of
hell. And there's much persecution
today, isn't there? But the Lord will build his church. And that's a blessed thing to
know. To know that we're on the victor's
side, that we know the Lord Jesus as our saviour, as our friend,
as our keeper, and that we shall be forever with the Lord. And it's all of the grace of
God. It's not of our works. We do good as a result of being saved as an evidence
that we are the Lord's, but not in order to be saved because
Our righteousness is our good works. No good at all for gaining salvation. It has to be, may our faith be
in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. As he cried in
triumph from the cross, it is finished. It wasn't just sort
of weak words that he said like, I'm glad that's over. No, it
was a voice of triumph. It is finished. And may we know
that the Lord has suffered and died for us and that we are his. And may it be that if we don't
know that the Lord is ours, Even this night we may call upon his
name. What must I do to be saved, as
the Philippian jailer said? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved. Amen. Our final hymn is from Hymns
for Worship, number 162. Go, labour on, spend and be spent,
your joy to do the Father's will. It is the way the Master went,
should not the servant tread it still? Hymns for Worship,
number 162, tune 409. Lord, I had a heart spilt and
besplit, but you did him the Father's will. What can we say? Our labor runs its course for
naught. All that we know is happy gain. The world's dark night is hastening
on, Sweetly your Lucas hath awakened, It is the birth that souls are
one. ? Christ the Aaron's soul to win
? ? Go forth into the world, I pray ? ? Both hell and world,
dwell to come thee ? Soon you shall hear the quiet
ground's voice, The midnight cry of behold. Fight the good fight with all
thy might. Christ is thy strength and Christ
thy right. Lay hold on life and it shall
be thy joy and crown eternally. The blessing of God Almighty,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit be ours now and forevermore. Amen.