1 00:00:07,440 --> 00:00:09,680 Well, here we are in Nehemiah Chapter 13. 2 00:00:09,680 --> 00:00:12,280 We've made it to the end of this wonderful book. 3 00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:16,239 How relevant has it been for us in 2026 as we've studied? 4 00:00:18,080 --> 00:00:21,720 And that title tonight is finishing well, leaving a legacy 5 00:00:21,720 --> 00:00:25,400 that last. The big idea, as we see in this 6 00:00:25,400 --> 00:00:29,480 passage as Nehemiah 13 and the end of the book shows us that 7 00:00:29,480 --> 00:00:32,720 finishing well isn't about the fairy tale ending that we 8 00:00:32,720 --> 00:00:35,720 typically think, but it's about knowing God's call for our 9 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:38,280 lives. What that is, what it is that 10 00:00:38,280 --> 00:00:41,600 you and I as Christians are to be about and to be busy with. 11 00:00:42,120 --> 00:00:46,440 And then to guard that with integrity and leave and trust 12 00:00:46,440 --> 00:00:50,240 the results in the hands of God Almighty so that we can hear. 13 00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:53,000 And this is what I think we all desire to hear at the end of our 14 00:00:53,000 --> 00:00:57,400 days, whenever they may be. Well done, my good and faithful 15 00:00:57,400 --> 00:01:01,440 servant. I don't know if you've ever been 16 00:01:01,440 --> 00:01:04,640 reading a book or invested in a great story. 17 00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:06,960 And then you've come to the ending and you've gone, wait, 18 00:01:06,960 --> 00:01:09,800 that's it. And you've been disappointed by 19 00:01:09,800 --> 00:01:12,120 the ending. You've been invested in certain 20 00:01:12,120 --> 00:01:14,720 characters and the narrative arc that they've been on. 21 00:01:15,200 --> 00:01:17,200 And then you've been dissatisfied as you've read 22 00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:19,200 that. And you've, I remember as a kid 23 00:01:19,200 --> 00:01:23,320 reading a series that I'd been invested in and, and I felt so 24 00:01:24,200 --> 00:01:27,320 upset by the ending that I, I nearly put pen to paper. 25 00:01:27,320 --> 00:01:29,280 This is back when remember pens and paper. 26 00:01:30,440 --> 00:01:33,680 And I nearly wrote to the author to complain about the ending. 27 00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:36,120 I didn't go that far because I thought, well, where am I 28 00:01:36,120 --> 00:01:40,440 actually going to send it? But we've grown up on fairy tale 29 00:01:40,440 --> 00:01:44,160 stories and the old and they all lived happily ever after, you 30 00:01:45,200 --> 00:01:48,080 know, and that's, that's kind of what we see as they, they waltz 31 00:01:48,080 --> 00:01:51,480 on off into the sunset and live their best life ever. 32 00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:54,800 And some people like those and, and those stories appeal to us 33 00:01:54,800 --> 00:01:57,560 in many respects. And after all, it, it is the 34 00:01:57,560 --> 00:01:59,440 grand meta narrative of the Bible. 35 00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:02,720 You know, at the end of the book that we all live happily ever 36 00:02:02,720 --> 00:02:07,360 after with Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, that all the 37 00:02:07,360 --> 00:02:10,080 difficulty or the trial or the struggle that we encounter now 38 00:02:10,080 --> 00:02:13,200 does cease, does end and we long for that. 39 00:02:13,200 --> 00:02:16,000 But Nehemiah 13 and and so ends the book. 40 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:19,520 And as I say, the study, it's not necessarily a happy ending. 41 00:02:20,440 --> 00:02:22,840 If you've read ahead, you'll know what I'm talking about 42 00:02:23,720 --> 00:02:26,040 because what has happened since we last left off? 43 00:02:26,040 --> 00:02:30,280 There's there's been a few years of absence as Nehemiah, remember 44 00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:33,840 that he's been on borrowed time. He'd asked King Artaxerxes that 45 00:02:33,840 --> 00:02:37,880 he was the the cupbearer in the Persian Empire of to to leave 46 00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:41,160 the capital in Susa and to head into Jerusalem because God had 47 00:02:41,160 --> 00:02:45,160 put a burden, a calling on his heart to go and help repair and 48 00:02:45,160 --> 00:02:47,360 rebuild the wall. And he'd functioned as governor 49 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:50,640 in Jerusalem, we're told, in the book of Nehemiah for some 12 50 00:02:50,640 --> 00:02:55,400 years and given so much time and energy and, and resources of his 51 00:02:55,400 --> 00:02:57,640 own, trying not to be a, a burden on to others. 52 00:02:57,640 --> 00:03:00,680 And there's been great revival that's come into the land as a 53 00:03:00,680 --> 00:03:02,840 consequence. And God's been moving and doing 54 00:03:02,840 --> 00:03:06,280 a work and, and the people have come covenanted and, and signed 55 00:03:06,280 --> 00:03:10,080 a contract and will obey God's decrees and, and God's words 56 00:03:10,080 --> 00:03:12,040 come out and they've been living and it's just been this 57 00:03:12,040 --> 00:03:14,360 wonderful thing. And last week we left off with 58 00:03:14,360 --> 00:03:17,600 this idea that praise so filled the city of Jerusalem that even 59 00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:19,880 the neighbouring nations heard it. 60 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:22,440 It's a beautiful wonder, wonderful picture. 61 00:03:23,240 --> 00:03:26,480 And so there's been this gap now as we pick up chapter 13 that 62 00:03:26,480 --> 00:03:28,960 looks like that Nehemiah had had to go back. 63 00:03:28,960 --> 00:03:32,000 Maybe he was called back by King Arctic Xerxes to fulfil his 64 00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:34,640 duties and he'd been absent for a number of years. 65 00:03:34,640 --> 00:03:37,960 And some suggest that it's anywhere from two to seven years 66 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:41,480 that he's been absent from being the governor in Jerusalem. 67 00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:45,760 And so he he then returns. Maybe he finds a reason to come 68 00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:48,800 back to Jerusalem and is given permission to do so. 69 00:03:49,440 --> 00:03:52,320 And yes, the people that rebuilt the walls and yes, they'd 70 00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:55,160 repented in tears that we'd we'd seen. 71 00:03:55,480 --> 00:03:59,480 But now what we're going to get to in Nehemiah 13 is remember a 72 00:03:59,480 --> 00:04:03,760 fellow called Tobiah who'd been one of the enemies of Nehemiah 73 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:05,720 all through it. We'd encountered this guy called 74 00:04:05,720 --> 00:04:09,600 Sam Ballot and another Tobiah. Well, Tobiah actually has an 75 00:04:09,640 --> 00:04:14,360 abode, a resident in the very temple that has been set aside 76 00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:19,640 for him and the Levites who had been employed with the giving of 77 00:04:19,640 --> 00:04:23,520 the tithe and offering unto the the ministry of, of, you know, 78 00:04:23,800 --> 00:04:26,240 the sacrifices and the worship of God in the temple. 79 00:04:26,640 --> 00:04:29,920 They had to leave and return to fields and eking out in 80 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:32,880 existence because nobody was bringing the tithe in. 81 00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:35,080 So they're like, we've got mouths to feed. 82 00:04:35,080 --> 00:04:38,280 We've, we can't make ends meet here in the church when no one's 83 00:04:38,280 --> 00:04:39,960 bringing things in. So we've got to go back. 84 00:04:39,960 --> 00:04:43,040 And, and so they, they'd return to serving in the fields and 85 00:04:43,040 --> 00:04:46,360 there was no one really servicing the temple anymore and 86 00:04:46,360 --> 00:04:48,520 the sacrifices of worship that was needed. 87 00:04:49,600 --> 00:04:53,600 The Sabbath had become just another shopping day for them 88 00:04:55,040 --> 00:04:57,800 instead of resting and honouring the Lord on that day. 89 00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:00,800 Then commerce and trade was being brought into the city of 90 00:05:00,800 --> 00:05:03,880 Jerusalem and it was functioning like any other ordinary day. 91 00:05:04,640 --> 00:05:09,400 And worst of all, we read and see of God's people marrying the 92 00:05:09,400 --> 00:05:14,480 very nations that once tried to destroy them, giving their sons, 93 00:05:14,480 --> 00:05:16,840 giving their daughters to to marry them. 94 00:05:16,840 --> 00:05:20,000 And it tells us in Nehemiah that their children did not even know 95 00:05:20,120 --> 00:05:22,920 the language of the Bible anymore, but they couldn't read 96 00:05:22,920 --> 00:05:26,000 it. So it's not a happily ever 97 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:29,920 after. It functions as a warning to you 98 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:33,480 and I as we read this. And yet right in the middle of 99 00:05:33,480 --> 00:05:37,280 all of this that Nehemiah returns to you think if you were 100 00:05:37,280 --> 00:05:39,920 Nehemiah and you'd invested all that time and energy and 101 00:05:39,920 --> 00:05:41,600 resource and you'd come back to this. 102 00:05:42,920 --> 00:05:46,240 If it were me, I know I'd I'd turn my horse right back around 103 00:05:46,240 --> 00:05:50,040 and go. I give up, but he refuses to 104 00:05:50,040 --> 00:05:52,120 quit. And there's something that we 105 00:05:52,120 --> 00:05:55,440 see in Nehemiah that we're going to learn from tonight. 106 00:05:56,760 --> 00:06:00,440 He gets angry, but it's a righteous anger and will 107 00:06:00,440 --> 00:06:03,400 distinguish the difference. There's a God centred anger 108 00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:07,840 that's biblical that we see and he acts and sets the wheels in 109 00:06:07,840 --> 00:06:10,440 motion, brings judgement on to the people again. 110 00:06:10,680 --> 00:06:14,800 We'll see him throwing furniture out into the street, rebuking 111 00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:17,440 leaders. We'll read of him pulling hair 112 00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:22,440 of shutting gates out, and then he cries out to God in this 113 00:06:22,440 --> 00:06:26,080 chapter a few times. Oh, God, Remember Me, Remember 114 00:06:26,080 --> 00:06:29,840 Me God. So as we close our Nehemiah 115 00:06:29,840 --> 00:06:33,640 series tonight in this chapter, this chapter want us to see it 116 00:06:33,640 --> 00:06:37,680 as a gift that God gives to you and I for any of us who want to 117 00:06:37,680 --> 00:06:42,560 finish. Well, I know how many times I've 118 00:06:42,560 --> 00:06:46,960 seen people start well. And you know, we, we have a lot 119 00:06:46,960 --> 00:06:51,600 of that in Christianity. People make a profession of 120 00:06:51,600 --> 00:06:55,120 faith and start coming along to church and reading the Bible and 121 00:06:55,120 --> 00:06:56,560 they're all excited and passionate. 122 00:06:56,560 --> 00:07:00,360 And then before a long time and days after days, weeks, months, 123 00:07:00,360 --> 00:07:02,360 years. And then it's like, oh, where's 124 00:07:02,360 --> 00:07:04,000 so and so? What happened to so and so? 125 00:07:04,000 --> 00:07:06,560 And, and the story is not that they finished well. 126 00:07:08,400 --> 00:07:11,400 We go to the athletic arena and you'll often see, particularly 127 00:07:11,400 --> 00:07:13,560 in children's carnival carnivals, I'm coming from a 128 00:07:13,560 --> 00:07:17,840 school background and being the MC many times at carnivals, how 129 00:07:17,840 --> 00:07:21,280 many kids on a big, big race will burst out of the blocks and 130 00:07:21,760 --> 00:07:23,680 running down the straight and everybody's cheering. 131 00:07:24,120 --> 00:07:26,480 And then what? They get gassed, they get tired 132 00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:29,080 and they tank and they don't finish well if at all. 133 00:07:29,960 --> 00:07:33,640 And we want our Christian lives to be those that have this 134 00:07:33,920 --> 00:07:37,080 perseverance and durability that finishes well too. 135 00:07:37,080 --> 00:07:41,440 As I said at the beginning, have at the end of our days, God say 136 00:07:41,440 --> 00:07:45,560 to you and I well done, my good and faithful servant. 137 00:07:47,240 --> 00:07:51,080 So we're going to glean from the wisdom that we see here in 138 00:07:51,200 --> 00:07:53,760 Nehemiah and we'll learn from others mistakes. 139 00:07:54,920 --> 00:07:58,160 We'll learn from others wisdom and we're going to see three 140 00:07:58,160 --> 00:08:01,000 things through this chapter. For you and I, if we're desirous 141 00:08:01,040 --> 00:08:04,640 of, of doing that, of finishing our lives well, of, of leaving a 142 00:08:04,640 --> 00:08:09,720 lasting legacy #1 know the calling that God has given you 143 00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:15,640 #2 guard that calling with uncompromising integrity. 144 00:08:16,800 --> 00:08:20,360 And thirdly, trust the results. Give the results to God. 145 00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:24,000 Keep praying all through it. As you're faithful to that call, 146 00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:28,560 Remember Me God. So Nehemiah 13 verses one 147 00:08:28,560 --> 00:08:32,559 through to 8 As we consider this first point says on that day 148 00:08:32,559 --> 00:08:35,000 they read from the book of Moses in the hearing of the people. 149 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:40,520 Now on that day is in reference to from verse 4 onwards, hearing 150 00:08:40,520 --> 00:08:43,039 of the people and in it was found written that no Ammonite 151 00:08:43,039 --> 00:08:45,760 or Moabite should ever come into the Assembly of God. 152 00:08:45,920 --> 00:08:49,880 If you know your Bible, in the book of Genesis, we understand 153 00:08:49,880 --> 00:08:54,320 the origins of the Ammonites and of the Moabites and then of what 154 00:08:54,320 --> 00:08:57,600 the Ammonites did in particular and in the Moabites all 155 00:08:57,600 --> 00:09:01,760 throughout Israel's history and of how it was that they were 156 00:09:01,760 --> 00:09:04,720 such a nemesis to Israel over the years. 157 00:09:05,040 --> 00:09:08,000 You can read into that yourself and be a student of the Word 158 00:09:08,960 --> 00:09:12,200 because they had not met. Verse 2, The children of Israel 159 00:09:12,200 --> 00:09:15,000 with bread and water, but hide balaam against them to curse 160 00:09:15,000 --> 00:09:16,280 them. We see that story in the book of 161 00:09:16,280 --> 00:09:19,600 Numbers. However, our God turned the 162 00:09:19,600 --> 00:09:23,040 curse into a blessing. So it was when they had heard 163 00:09:23,040 --> 00:09:26,040 the law that they separated all the mixed multitude from Israel. 164 00:09:27,120 --> 00:09:30,880 Now before this liarship, the priest, having authority over 165 00:09:30,880 --> 00:09:34,040 the storerooms of the House of our God, was allied with Tobiah, 166 00:09:35,280 --> 00:09:37,200 and he had prepared for him a large room. 167 00:09:37,200 --> 00:09:39,440 Verse 5. Where previously they had stored 168 00:09:39,440 --> 00:09:41,960 the grain offerings, the frankincense, the articles, the 169 00:09:41,960 --> 00:09:45,480 tithes of grain, the new wine and oil, which were commanded to 170 00:09:45,480 --> 00:09:48,440 be given to the Levites and singers and gatekeepers in the 171 00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:52,960 offerings for the priests. But during all this I was not in 172 00:09:52,960 --> 00:09:57,000 Jerusalem, for in the 32nd year of Arctic Xerxes, king of 173 00:09:57,000 --> 00:10:00,280 Babylon. Now Babylon was not the empire 174 00:10:00,280 --> 00:10:03,240 at the time, the Persian Empire was, but Babylon retained that, 175 00:10:03,240 --> 00:10:07,120 that name as as probably the capital city, and where a lot of 176 00:10:07,120 --> 00:10:09,840 the, the jurisdiction and time would have been spent by Arctic 177 00:10:09,840 --> 00:10:13,040 Xerxes as well. I had returned to the king. 178 00:10:13,520 --> 00:10:15,920 Verse 6. Then after certain days I 179 00:10:15,920 --> 00:10:19,680 obtained leave from the king, and I came to Jerusalem. 180 00:10:19,680 --> 00:10:24,840 Verse 7 discovered the evil that Elias ship had done for Tobiah 181 00:10:25,480 --> 00:10:29,080 in preparing a room for him in the courts of the House of God. 182 00:10:30,320 --> 00:10:33,920 So the enemy of Nehemiah, the enemy of God's people is very 183 00:10:33,920 --> 00:10:38,440 comfortable in the the middle of the congregation of God's people 184 00:10:38,440 --> 00:10:40,760 in room. A spacious room has been made 185 00:10:40,920 --> 00:10:45,000 for him to just set up shop and feel like he can pull the 186 00:10:45,000 --> 00:10:47,560 strings and and rule the roost, we would say. 187 00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:53,200 And Nehemiah verse 8, it says it grieved me bitterly. 188 00:10:54,600 --> 00:10:58,280 We'll stop there. I want to take you back to 189 00:10:58,280 --> 00:11:01,120 chapter one in Nehemiah. For those of you that have been 190 00:11:01,120 --> 00:11:04,120 here, you would know this, but you'll remember and I'll tell 191 00:11:04,120 --> 00:11:07,480 you if you don't. Nehemiah's life had a very clear 192 00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:11,920 North Point compass direction, a focus for it. 193 00:11:11,920 --> 00:11:16,120 It heard word of what was going on in Jerusalem, of how the 194 00:11:16,120 --> 00:11:18,720 walls were in ruin, and it grieved and burdened his heart. 195 00:11:19,720 --> 00:11:23,080 And he spent months praying and fasting before God. 196 00:11:23,080 --> 00:11:27,800 And God did a work in Nehemiah's heart that effectively said, 197 00:11:27,800 --> 00:11:30,960 Nehemiah, you're the solution to this. 198 00:11:30,960 --> 00:11:35,280 I'm going to call you to bring about the rebuilding of 199 00:11:35,280 --> 00:11:38,960 Jerusalem, to make my name great in the land again. 200 00:11:39,840 --> 00:11:43,000 From the very first chapter, the rebuilding of the walls of 201 00:11:43,000 --> 00:11:46,040 Jerusalem and, and restoring the spiritual life of God's people 202 00:11:46,040 --> 00:11:52,240 became a core, a focus, a priority, a goal for Nehemiah. 203 00:11:52,720 --> 00:11:56,680 It was a, a God given burden. It was a God given calling upon 204 00:11:56,680 --> 00:12:00,040 him. And now when he returns and, and 205 00:12:00,040 --> 00:12:02,800 there's been anywhere from, like I say, he'd spent 12 years 206 00:12:02,800 --> 00:12:06,040 ruling as governor and anywhere from two to seven years on top 207 00:12:06,040 --> 00:12:12,040 of that, he doesn't now return wandering around going, oh, what 208 00:12:12,040 --> 00:12:16,440 am I going to do about this? As he arrives on the scene and 209 00:12:16,680 --> 00:12:20,600 and encounters what we've just read, he immediately goes back 210 00:12:20,600 --> 00:12:25,480 to setting the priority of this is what God has called me to. 211 00:12:26,120 --> 00:12:29,240 This is what I'm to be about. And this, by extension, is what 212 00:12:29,520 --> 00:12:33,840 God's people are to be about. And again, look what he finds. 213 00:12:33,840 --> 00:12:37,600 The people had made 4 solemn promises to God in the covenant 214 00:12:37,600 --> 00:12:40,120 in chapter 10 that they agreed with, and they'd broken every 215 00:12:40,120 --> 00:12:42,800 single one of them that we see in chapter 13 here. 216 00:12:42,840 --> 00:12:44,720 They said, we'll submit to God's word. 217 00:12:45,160 --> 00:12:46,920 We'll obey everything that's in it. 218 00:12:46,920 --> 00:12:50,520 And so in the first few verses of Nehemiah 13, we read of 219 00:12:50,520 --> 00:12:53,440 something that they were breaking in this chapter. 220 00:12:55,360 --> 00:12:57,320 They said, we'll separate from the world. 221 00:12:57,320 --> 00:13:00,640 We won't intermarry with the, the races. 222 00:13:00,640 --> 00:13:03,640 It wasn't a, a racist thing. We we looked at that. 223 00:13:03,640 --> 00:13:06,040 It wasn't an ethnic thing. It was a thing of worship. 224 00:13:09,160 --> 00:13:10,960 They said, we'll support God's work. 225 00:13:11,360 --> 00:13:12,880 Remember, they had made that promise. 226 00:13:12,880 --> 00:13:17,520 We'll not neglect God's house. They said that phrase, and yet 227 00:13:17,520 --> 00:13:21,560 they've so now neglected God's house that the spacious room 228 00:13:21,560 --> 00:13:24,280 that should have been storing their offerings is empty. 229 00:13:24,280 --> 00:13:28,840 And so Tobiah goes, Could I come in there and set up shop? 230 00:13:29,520 --> 00:13:31,680 Yeah, well, it's empty, so go for it. 231 00:13:33,280 --> 00:13:35,520 They said. We'll keep the Sabbath day as 232 00:13:35,520 --> 00:13:39,400 holy. Every single one is broken. 233 00:13:40,320 --> 00:13:42,240 The Ammonite. Tobiah is living in a temple 234 00:13:42,240 --> 00:13:45,680 storeroom versus 4 to 9 verse 10. 235 00:13:45,680 --> 00:13:48,720 The Levites and the singers have less left their posts because no 236 00:13:48,720 --> 00:13:50,960 one is bringing the tithes. Look at what verse 10 says. 237 00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:54,360 I also realised that the portions for the Levites had not 238 00:13:54,360 --> 00:13:58,160 been given them for each of the Levites and the singers who did 239 00:13:58,160 --> 00:13:59,840 the work had gone back to his field. 240 00:14:01,680 --> 00:14:05,280 Merchants are selling on the Sabbath right outside the gates. 241 00:14:05,280 --> 00:14:09,720 In verse 15 to 22 we can read that. 242 00:14:09,720 --> 00:14:12,600 And those days I saw people in Judah trading wine presses on 243 00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:16,160 the Sabbath, bringing in sheaves, loading donkeys with 244 00:14:16,160 --> 00:14:19,280 wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of burdens which they 245 00:14:19,280 --> 00:14:21,280 brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. 246 00:14:21,280 --> 00:14:24,600 And I warned them about the day on which they were selling 247 00:14:24,600 --> 00:14:28,520 provisions. The 16 men of Tyre to the north 248 00:14:28,520 --> 00:14:31,600 dwelt there also, who brought in fish and all kinds of goods and 249 00:14:31,600 --> 00:14:33,960 sold them on the Sabbath to the children of Deuteron in 250 00:14:33,960 --> 00:14:36,560 Jerusalem. And then I contended with the 251 00:14:36,560 --> 00:14:39,240 nobles of Deuteron, said to them, What evil thing is this, 252 00:14:39,240 --> 00:14:42,080 that you do by which you profane the Sabbath day? 253 00:14:42,880 --> 00:14:46,160 Did not your father's do thus? And did not our God bring all 254 00:14:46,160 --> 00:14:48,360 this disaster on us and on this city? 255 00:14:48,800 --> 00:14:51,920 Yet you bring added wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath. 256 00:14:53,040 --> 00:14:56,120 So it was at the gates of Jerusalem, as it began to be 257 00:14:56,120 --> 00:14:59,160 dark, Verse 19 before the Sabbath, that I commanded the 258 00:14:59,160 --> 00:15:02,480 gates to be shut, and charged that they must not be open till 259 00:15:02,480 --> 00:15:05,080 after the Sabbath. And then I posted some of my 260 00:15:05,080 --> 00:15:07,920 servants at the gates so that no burdens would be brought in on 261 00:15:07,920 --> 00:15:11,080 the Sabbath day. Now verse 20, this is how 262 00:15:11,080 --> 00:15:14,760 accustomed they were to functioning and, and, you know, 263 00:15:14,760 --> 00:15:17,520 selling their wares and so on. It says now the merchants, verse 264 00:15:17,520 --> 00:15:20,680 20 and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged outside Jerusalem 265 00:15:20,880 --> 00:15:23,600 once or twice. Well, this is strange. 266 00:15:23,880 --> 00:15:26,760 Well, we'll just wait and we'll do it again next week and see if 267 00:15:26,760 --> 00:15:29,400 it sticks out. But no, Nehemiah was consistent. 268 00:15:29,720 --> 00:15:33,560 And you're not coming in. And I warned them, verse 21, and 269 00:15:33,560 --> 00:15:36,080 said to them, why do you spend the night around the wall? 270 00:15:36,600 --> 00:15:39,080 If you do so again, I will lay hands on you. 271 00:15:44,880 --> 00:15:48,960 From that time on, they came no more on the Sabbath, and I 272 00:15:48,960 --> 00:15:51,520 commanded the Levites that they should cleanse themselves verse 273 00:15:51,520 --> 00:15:54,640 22, and that they should go and guard the gates to sanctify the 274 00:15:54,640 --> 00:16:00,800 Sabbath day. Later verse 23 to 28, we see in 275 00:16:00,800 --> 00:16:03,960 this passage, like I said, that Jewish men have been marrying 276 00:16:03,960 --> 00:16:09,920 women from surrounding nations like Ashdod, Amon and Moab. 277 00:16:10,760 --> 00:16:13,240 And as I mentioned, their children weren't even conversant 278 00:16:13,240 --> 00:16:16,200 in the Hebrew language and so the scriptures weren't 279 00:16:16,200 --> 00:16:18,400 accessible to them. They couldn't understand God's 280 00:16:18,400 --> 00:16:22,760 word. Again, what would you do in such 281 00:16:22,760 --> 00:16:25,360 a situation? How would you react? 282 00:16:25,360 --> 00:16:29,400 How would you respond? Nehemiah, He doesn't panic. 283 00:16:30,880 --> 00:16:32,360 He doesn't pivot to a new vision. 284 00:16:32,360 --> 00:16:33,840 Go. Well, that obviously didn't 285 00:16:33,840 --> 00:16:36,880 work, so maybe I was wrong and let's try something else. 286 00:16:38,440 --> 00:16:41,240 He knows what God has called him to. 287 00:16:42,240 --> 00:16:47,400 He knows the goal. He knows the burden that has now 288 00:16:47,400 --> 00:16:50,520 become his call. Rebuild the physical city. 289 00:16:51,040 --> 00:16:53,760 Rebuild the spiritual health of the people. 290 00:16:54,560 --> 00:16:58,800 What does Nehemiah do? Rolls up the sleeves and gets 291 00:16:58,800 --> 00:17:01,400 right back to it. All right, here I go again. 292 00:17:02,680 --> 00:17:06,440 We got to sort some stuff out. He throws to buy his furniture 293 00:17:06,440 --> 00:17:11,000 out on the street. The end of verse 8, he stations 294 00:17:11,000 --> 00:17:13,359 the Levites again. He says sanctify yourselves. 295 00:17:13,359 --> 00:17:15,880 Get get up, get busy about the work. 296 00:17:16,240 --> 00:17:17,920 He shuts the gates on the Sabbath. 297 00:17:18,640 --> 00:17:21,280 He makes the men swear to stop their mixed marriages. 298 00:17:21,280 --> 00:17:24,319 And as you read that, what goes on there is, you know, it's in 299 00:17:24,319 --> 00:17:27,760 fact, let's read it was 23 to 28 because it's it's pretty 300 00:17:27,760 --> 00:17:30,360 amazing. You know, we, we saw Paul get 301 00:17:30,360 --> 00:17:32,920 pretty firm this morning out of the book of Acts. 302 00:17:33,240 --> 00:17:36,480 Nehemiah gets firm here with these men in those days. 303 00:17:36,480 --> 00:17:40,640 I also saw verse 23, Jews who had married women of Ashdod, 304 00:17:40,640 --> 00:17:43,760 Emon and Moan, half their children spoke the language of 305 00:17:43,760 --> 00:17:46,760 Ashdod, could not speak the language of Judah, but spoke 306 00:17:46,760 --> 00:17:49,040 according to the language of one or the other people. 307 00:17:49,720 --> 00:17:53,520 So I contended with them and cursed them, struck some of them 308 00:17:53,520 --> 00:17:57,280 and pulled them out, pulled out their hair and made them swear 309 00:17:57,280 --> 00:18:00,880 by God, saying, you shall not give your daughters as wives to 310 00:18:00,880 --> 00:18:03,200 their sons, nor take their daughters for your sons or 311 00:18:03,200 --> 00:18:06,560 yourselves. Man, if Nehemiah did that today 312 00:18:07,280 --> 00:18:11,760 and it happened in a church, the Internet would blow up, wouldn't 313 00:18:11,760 --> 00:18:14,280 it? Can you believe what happened to 314 00:18:14,280 --> 00:18:16,320 this pastor and this church and so on? 315 00:18:18,200 --> 00:18:19,840 Did not Solomon? He gives reasons. 316 00:18:19,840 --> 00:18:22,760 Verse 26, King of Israel, sin by these things. 317 00:18:23,440 --> 00:18:25,880 Yeah, among many nations, there is no king like him. 318 00:18:25,880 --> 00:18:28,560 In other words, if it even happened to Solomon, how do you 319 00:18:28,560 --> 00:18:31,080 guys think you're not going to be exempt from the consequence 320 00:18:31,080 --> 00:18:33,840 of it? Who was beloved of his God, and 321 00:18:33,840 --> 00:18:35,480 God made him king over all Israel. 322 00:18:35,480 --> 00:18:38,720 Nevertheless, Pagan women caused even him to sin. 323 00:18:39,360 --> 00:18:41,920 Should we then hear of your doing all this great evil 324 00:18:41,920 --> 00:18:44,800 transgressing against our God by marrying Pagan women? 325 00:18:47,480 --> 00:18:50,480 Verse 28, one of the sons of Joy, the son of Elijah of the 326 00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:53,040 high priest was a son in law of Sam Ballot. 327 00:18:53,040 --> 00:18:55,080 There's that other fellow, the horonite. 328 00:18:55,080 --> 00:18:59,600 Therefore I drove him from me. And so the guys who had caused 329 00:18:59,600 --> 00:19:03,000 so much problem early on in Nehemiah have now just settled 330 00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:06,160 in. Amazing. 331 00:19:08,600 --> 00:19:14,560 Now for us as Christians, we need and we ought to know the 332 00:19:14,560 --> 00:19:19,360 God given call for our lives, what it is that is to be our 333 00:19:19,360 --> 00:19:21,880 focus, our priority, what we're to be busy about. 334 00:19:23,600 --> 00:19:26,360 And why do we need to know that? Because if you want to hear at 335 00:19:26,360 --> 00:19:29,160 the end of your days, well done, my good and faithful servant, 336 00:19:29,160 --> 00:19:32,120 you want to know what am I supposed to have been faithful 337 00:19:32,120 --> 00:19:37,600 about and busy about and focused on and what does well look like? 338 00:19:40,040 --> 00:19:43,040 Nehemiah's goal wasn't about popularity or comfort. 339 00:19:44,240 --> 00:19:49,280 It was obedience to God's call. And you, you know our goal as 340 00:19:49,280 --> 00:19:52,880 followers, Our Calling as followers of Jesus Christ is 341 00:19:52,880 --> 00:19:57,360 this and it's up on the screen 2 scriptures that should be 342 00:19:57,640 --> 00:20:01,760 cemented in our minds for us to focus on as followers of Jesus. 343 00:20:02,640 --> 00:20:07,280 Love God with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength. 344 00:20:08,480 --> 00:20:14,120 Love your neighbour as yourself. It's called the Golden Rule, 345 00:20:14,120 --> 00:20:16,360 isn't it? And hand in hand, without the 346 00:20:16,360 --> 00:20:20,000 Great Commission, go therefore we have that written on the 347 00:20:20,000 --> 00:20:24,160 surfboard as you exit this building to remind you of the 348 00:20:24,160 --> 00:20:27,200 priority of of what we're to be busy and to be focused on and 349 00:20:27,200 --> 00:20:29,800 Our Calling. Go therefore, make disciples of 350 00:20:29,800 --> 00:20:33,800 all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, the 351 00:20:33,800 --> 00:20:36,840 Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all 352 00:20:36,840 --> 00:20:39,640 that I have commanded. That's what Jesus said. 353 00:20:41,120 --> 00:20:46,040 So that's the finish line, that's the the target, the goal. 354 00:20:46,040 --> 00:20:48,800 That's what we're aiming for. That's what we're to be focused 355 00:20:48,800 --> 00:20:50,800 on. Nehemiah had a calling. 356 00:20:51,320 --> 00:20:54,680 Nehemiah had a goal. You and I, we have a calling, we 357 00:20:54,680 --> 00:21:01,920 have a goal, we have a focus. Now most of us, I think we find 358 00:21:01,920 --> 00:21:04,960 ourselves in Nehemiah. We start strong on this. 359 00:21:07,280 --> 00:21:10,280 Like the people of Jerusalem, we sign the covenant. 360 00:21:10,280 --> 00:21:14,680 We rebuild some walls, you know, marriages or, you know, 361 00:21:14,760 --> 00:21:20,920 integrity or in our witnesses. And then life happens. 12 years 362 00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:24,560 passed by, 15 years passed by, 19 years passed by. 363 00:21:25,800 --> 00:21:28,920 We look up and we wonder, man, how have I drifted? 364 00:21:28,920 --> 00:21:32,760 How have I gone away from this call, this focus, this priority, 365 00:21:34,600 --> 00:21:37,200 you know, and the details and the specifics of our call that 366 00:21:37,200 --> 00:21:39,960 we have in the Golden Rule and the Great Commission. 367 00:21:40,080 --> 00:21:43,200 They differ for each and every one of us, but that's where it 368 00:21:43,200 --> 00:21:46,280 stands. And Nehemiah here, I think his 369 00:21:46,280 --> 00:21:52,000 example should grip us and rest our attention because Nehemiah, 370 00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:57,520 he's probably in his 60s at this point in time, in age, and yet 371 00:21:57,520 --> 00:22:01,720 he still burns with the same goal and focus on that call that 372 00:22:01,720 --> 00:22:04,560 God had placed upon him all the way back in Nehemiah chapter 1. 373 00:22:04,560 --> 00:22:08,160 And because of that conviction, because of that purpose, that 374 00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:11,600 understanding of the God given direction for his life, what 375 00:22:11,600 --> 00:22:13,440 does he do? In the chapter we've read of it, 376 00:22:13,720 --> 00:22:17,240 he contends with people, he challenges them, he calls them 377 00:22:17,240 --> 00:22:20,960 out, he warns them, he cleanses them. 378 00:22:21,360 --> 00:22:23,680 It's a priority. He sees the danger and the 379 00:22:23,680 --> 00:22:27,080 potential damage and already the damage that is happening in 380 00:22:27,080 --> 00:22:30,960 their midst. So the question for you and I 381 00:22:30,960 --> 00:22:35,720 tonight is this, do you, do I know the God given call, the God 382 00:22:35,720 --> 00:22:41,160 given goal for your life? As we've been studying through 383 00:22:41,160 --> 00:22:47,560 Nehemiah, what has God been calling you to do, to change, to 384 00:22:47,560 --> 00:22:52,120 stop, to live out, to trust him in? 385 00:22:54,280 --> 00:22:56,920 There's been plenty, I think that as we've gone through 386 00:22:56,920 --> 00:23:00,240 chapter by chapter, I know in my notes I've written down copious 387 00:23:00,240 --> 00:23:02,360 things. Man, God help me change in that. 388 00:23:02,360 --> 00:23:06,520 God guide me and Holy Spirit, empower me to trust you and to 389 00:23:06,520 --> 00:23:11,800 honour you in this way. So maybe as Nehemiah has ended 390 00:23:11,800 --> 00:23:14,960 for us this week, take some time to put pen to paper to write 391 00:23:14,960 --> 00:23:18,200 that down. Your God given call in one 392 00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:22,200 sentence. Lord, what would you have me do 393 00:23:23,160 --> 00:23:32,720 in my marriage, in my work, in my family, in my neighbourhood, 394 00:23:33,760 --> 00:23:38,120 in my church? How am I to fulfil the Golden 395 00:23:38,120 --> 00:23:40,320 Rule? How am I to fulfil the Great 396 00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:43,760 Commission? How am I to be busy about and 397 00:23:43,760 --> 00:23:48,080 focused on the call that you have upon my life? 398 00:23:49,480 --> 00:23:53,360 Maybe take that sentence, put it in a prominent place, put it on 399 00:23:53,360 --> 00:23:57,960 the dashboard in your car, put it on your desk at work, have it 400 00:23:57,960 --> 00:24:00,480 pop up on your phone to constantly remind you. 401 00:24:00,720 --> 00:24:04,480 This is what God has called me to do, to focus on, to be 402 00:24:04,480 --> 00:24:07,120 reminded of it. Because the point we can see and 403 00:24:07,120 --> 00:24:10,480 learn from with Nehemiah here is if you don't know the goal, if 404 00:24:10,480 --> 00:24:14,200 you don't know the call, then all of these things will come 405 00:24:14,200 --> 00:24:16,120 and you'll just go, well, what's the point? 406 00:24:16,520 --> 00:24:20,840 I give up, I surrender and you'll never know if you've 407 00:24:20,840 --> 00:24:24,360 finished. Well, there's a big difference 408 00:24:24,360 --> 00:24:28,520 between an athletic event where you're running a 1500 metres and 409 00:24:28,520 --> 00:24:31,840 running just a a random jog around the stadium. 410 00:24:33,320 --> 00:24:36,360 Could you imagine an athlete in the Olympics when everybody else 411 00:24:36,360 --> 00:24:39,360 is running the 1500 metres? He's just doing laps in the 412 00:24:39,360 --> 00:24:44,720 middle and just then meanders on up into the stadium, exhausted, 413 00:24:44,720 --> 00:24:48,240 spent, fatigued. Wow, how did I go mate? 414 00:24:48,560 --> 00:24:50,000 You weren't even running in the race. 415 00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:54,200 What are you talking about? Oh, but I'm tired and I spent my 416 00:24:54,200 --> 00:24:57,760 thing. And yeah, but it's not what 417 00:24:57,760 --> 00:25:01,160 you're called to do. And so you and I, we need to 418 00:25:01,160 --> 00:25:04,120 know the God given call for our lives because then now the 419 00:25:04,120 --> 00:25:07,960 second point is the guarding and the calling that we have been 420 00:25:07,960 --> 00:25:12,000 given, it has to have some uncompromising integrity 421 00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:14,560 attached to it. And Nehemiah does this and we've 422 00:25:14,560 --> 00:25:17,600 seen this all through it. He doesn't wring his hands now 423 00:25:17,600 --> 00:25:20,360 and seeing all of this stuff going on and then pray vaguely. 424 00:25:20,360 --> 00:25:23,200 He he acts very courageously and with integrity all the way 425 00:25:23,200 --> 00:25:25,840 through it. Verse 8:00 and 9:00 We, we 426 00:25:25,840 --> 00:25:29,040 considered it already. He personally evicts Tobiah. 427 00:25:29,040 --> 00:25:34,760 And Can you imagine the crowd gathered and the iPhones out 428 00:25:34,760 --> 00:25:38,880 filming it, you know, putting that up on everybody's Instagram 429 00:25:38,880 --> 00:25:41,960 feed and all of that stuff that, you know, social media again, 430 00:25:41,960 --> 00:25:44,360 would be blowing up. Oh, he's thrown out the chairs 431 00:25:44,360 --> 00:25:46,520 now. Oh, the T VS gone out the window 432 00:25:46,520 --> 00:25:49,680 and all of that stuff, you know, as people would have narrated if 433 00:25:49,680 --> 00:25:53,040 you put it into modern situation, This is quite an 434 00:25:53,040 --> 00:25:59,800 event, you know, And verse 25 and verse 30 and all of the acts 435 00:25:59,800 --> 00:26:04,640 that he does, this is the same man who 12 years earlier had LED 436 00:26:04,640 --> 00:26:08,480 with wisdom and with prayer. Now he's older, but his 437 00:26:08,480 --> 00:26:11,520 integrity has not softened. Why? 438 00:26:11,960 --> 00:26:14,680 Because what we've seen all the way through Nehemiah is that he 439 00:26:14,680 --> 00:26:19,480 lived his life above reproach. There's no one who could hang 440 00:26:19,480 --> 00:26:21,840 anything on Nehemiah. Nehemiah, who do you think you 441 00:26:21,880 --> 00:26:23,840 are that you're thrown out to buy us stuff? 442 00:26:24,400 --> 00:26:25,960 Who are you to tell us what to do? 443 00:26:26,160 --> 00:26:28,640 There was no one who was able to do that because there was no 444 00:26:29,000 --> 00:26:31,760 indication of compromise in Nehemiah's life. 445 00:26:32,840 --> 00:26:35,720 He held on to the calling that God had for him, and he lived 446 00:26:35,720 --> 00:26:37,800 his life above reproach, with integrity. 447 00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:41,640 Remember how earlier in the book, back in Chapter 6, when 448 00:26:41,640 --> 00:26:46,280 the enemies tried to lure him out and get him distracted from 449 00:26:46,280 --> 00:26:49,120 the tasks that he was through compromise. 450 00:26:49,120 --> 00:26:53,040 And he, he immediately spotted it as a means, as a mechanism 451 00:26:53,040 --> 00:26:56,720 that they were going to try and hang suspicions on his character 452 00:26:57,880 --> 00:27:01,160 and smear him in that way. And now here in Chapter 13, he 453 00:27:01,160 --> 00:27:05,520 can confront the compromise in their lives because his own life 454 00:27:05,520 --> 00:27:10,200 is not compromised. Now, as an aside, I, I'm 455 00:27:10,720 --> 00:27:13,280 cognizant of this fact that there's some of you probably 456 00:27:13,280 --> 00:27:16,480 sitting here and you've forgotten everything else that 457 00:27:16,480 --> 00:27:20,080 I've said because you hung up on Nehemiah's anger that we're 458 00:27:20,080 --> 00:27:24,120 seeing in the passage and go, oh, that's a bit like, wow. 459 00:27:25,400 --> 00:27:28,920 And as I've said and kind of hinted at, if, if a pastor were 460 00:27:28,920 --> 00:27:32,240 to do that in the church today, wow. 461 00:27:34,760 --> 00:27:39,560 I want us to see the heart behind His anger and I want you 462 00:27:39,560 --> 00:27:44,720 to see and understand that there is a place for that emotion of 463 00:27:44,760 --> 00:27:47,280 anger in our lives as Christians. 464 00:27:48,760 --> 00:27:50,720 Question for you, does God get angry? 465 00:27:51,640 --> 00:27:54,160 Bible tells us that God is slow to anger. 466 00:27:55,040 --> 00:27:57,040 Question for you, Did Jesus get angry? 467 00:27:57,600 --> 00:28:00,640 He did. He overturned the tables in the 468 00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:03,560 temple and man, that was an event. 469 00:28:04,400 --> 00:28:08,920 So we read that and he said my house should be called a House 470 00:28:08,920 --> 00:28:12,040 of prayer. There's something called 471 00:28:12,040 --> 00:28:14,840 righteous anger. We see it through the Scriptures 472 00:28:15,400 --> 00:28:18,000 and that's that's usually the difference because most of the 473 00:28:18,000 --> 00:28:21,760 time, in fact, 9 times out of 10, when I get angry, it's a 474 00:28:21,760 --> 00:28:24,920 selfish anger. And my family could tell you 475 00:28:24,920 --> 00:28:27,960 that. But there is something called a 476 00:28:27,960 --> 00:28:31,600 righteous anger, a righteous indignation. 477 00:28:32,400 --> 00:28:35,560 It's the same fire that we see in Jesus when he overturned the 478 00:28:35,560 --> 00:28:39,920 tables in the temple in John 2. Nehemiah here was angry. 479 00:28:39,920 --> 00:28:42,480 Why? Because the House of God was 480 00:28:42,480 --> 00:28:46,120 being defiled. God's people were drifting from 481 00:28:46,120 --> 00:28:49,600 God's commands and God's ways. And the witness to the nation, 482 00:28:49,600 --> 00:28:52,640 where once they were hearing music and sounds and songs of 483 00:28:52,640 --> 00:28:57,000 praise, are now coming in and going what's on the market today 484 00:28:57,000 --> 00:28:59,440 on the Sabbath day and the temple. 485 00:28:59,440 --> 00:29:01,520 Oh, that. Isn't that Tobiah's house? 486 00:29:03,080 --> 00:29:06,600 No longer was there this recognition of Jerusalem being a 487 00:29:06,600 --> 00:29:10,040 certified sanctified holy city where God was worshipped and 488 00:29:10,040 --> 00:29:14,720 honoured? Paul tells us in one Corinthians 489 00:29:14,720 --> 00:29:17,320 11 verse 31. He says, Speaking of the 490 00:29:17,320 --> 00:29:20,280 judgement that he was giving out when we member studied through 491 00:29:20,280 --> 00:29:23,840 Corinthians, he says, but if we judged ourselves rightly, we 492 00:29:23,840 --> 00:29:26,360 would not be judged. In other words, what Paul had to 493 00:29:26,360 --> 00:29:29,920 do and what Nehemiah did there is because in Nehemiah's day and 494 00:29:29,920 --> 00:29:32,120 because in Paul when he was addressing the issues in 495 00:29:32,120 --> 00:29:34,320 Corinth, because the people weren't rightly judging 496 00:29:34,320 --> 00:29:37,120 themselves, holding themselves accountable to God's Word, 497 00:29:37,320 --> 00:29:40,800 somebody from the outside had to come in and bring in judgement 498 00:29:41,680 --> 00:29:43,160 and set the course of right again. 499 00:29:43,160 --> 00:29:45,920 And that's what Nehemiah does here. 500 00:29:45,920 --> 00:29:49,120 He comes in and he sets the course again. 501 00:29:50,440 --> 00:29:54,400 He had to come along and do the judging for them and notice that 502 00:29:54,400 --> 00:29:57,520 in that there's something beautiful, I think in in this 503 00:29:57,520 --> 00:29:58,640 here. He does it all honest. 504 00:29:58,760 --> 00:30:01,440 Honestly, he could have taken bribes off them, looked the 505 00:30:01,440 --> 00:30:04,840 other way like many other leaders do and did. 506 00:30:06,040 --> 00:30:08,160 But Nehemiah always lived with integrity. 507 00:30:10,360 --> 00:30:13,880 Tobiah in the Temple. Nehemiah says that's not 508 00:30:13,880 --> 00:30:15,840 happening on my watch Out you go, buddy. 509 00:30:17,240 --> 00:30:21,040 Tithes being diverted, right? Let's restore that. 510 00:30:21,960 --> 00:30:25,160 The Sabbath being profaned. Nehemiah says the gates are 511 00:30:25,160 --> 00:30:27,560 shut. There's no commerce happening in 512 00:30:27,560 --> 00:30:31,120 the in the in the Sabbath. We're going to worship God and 513 00:30:31,120 --> 00:30:34,800 honour him. And there needs to be times in 514 00:30:34,800 --> 00:30:41,520 our lives where we see things in us that make us angry, 515 00:30:43,280 --> 00:30:50,720 righteously angry areas of sin and compromise that are bringing 516 00:30:50,720 --> 00:30:55,520 destruction, that are breaking our fellowship with God. 517 00:30:57,320 --> 00:31:02,880 For example, how many of us are tolerating little Tobias in our 518 00:31:02,960 --> 00:31:06,960 lives? Our our life is no, you're not 519 00:31:06,960 --> 00:31:09,000 that you are the temple of the Holy Spirit. 520 00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:13,400 How many little Tobias have a place of prominence in our 521 00:31:13,400 --> 00:31:20,240 lives, a secret habit, a shady business deal going on, a 522 00:31:20,240 --> 00:31:25,400 relationship that pulls us from God, and we let it go and we let 523 00:31:25,400 --> 00:31:30,760 it develop and we let it become prominent, and it pervades and 524 00:31:30,800 --> 00:31:33,240 encompasses all of us. Bless you. 525 00:31:34,920 --> 00:31:38,680 Nehemiah's example convicts us in that way, doesn't it? 526 00:31:40,480 --> 00:31:43,600 Because we know when we see the cost of compromise and we know 527 00:31:43,600 --> 00:31:46,760 it in our lives and, and here you know what the, the, the 528 00:31:47,080 --> 00:31:52,400 damage the, the potential is, is that unless Nehemiah intervenes 529 00:31:52,400 --> 00:31:56,920 as he does, the people have got a one generation away from total 530 00:31:57,040 --> 00:31:59,600 assimilation with all of the nations around them. 531 00:32:01,320 --> 00:32:03,880 If they continued in the way that they were, but for 532 00:32:03,880 --> 00:32:07,000 Nehemiah's intervention, there would be a whole group of 533 00:32:07,000 --> 00:32:09,640 children growing up who did not even speak the language, who 534 00:32:09,640 --> 00:32:13,080 knew nothing about God. And they would just merge with 535 00:32:13,080 --> 00:32:15,760 and blend with all of the nations around them and the 536 00:32:15,760 --> 00:32:17,640 people of God would cease to exist. 537 00:32:18,680 --> 00:32:25,320 That's what's at stake. So Nehemiah deals harshly with 538 00:32:25,320 --> 00:32:31,000 it in your life, ask are there any areas of compromise that 539 00:32:31,000 --> 00:32:36,000 need a harsh dealing with that need a Nehemiah to come on and 540 00:32:36,000 --> 00:32:41,800 pull out by the hair and grab by the beard and curse and throw 541 00:32:41,800 --> 00:32:45,720 out furniture off. That's preventing me from loving 542 00:32:45,720 --> 00:32:48,200 God with my heart, soul, mind and strength. 543 00:32:49,160 --> 00:32:52,200 That's preventing me from being busy about the Great Commission 544 00:32:52,200 --> 00:32:54,920 of going out into all of the nations and preaching and 545 00:32:54,920 --> 00:32:59,000 teaching the good news of Jesus Christ and of all the commands 546 00:32:59,000 --> 00:33:01,120 that He has revealed in His Word that are important. 547 00:33:02,240 --> 00:33:04,640 Maybe for you it's in an area of your finances. 548 00:33:05,680 --> 00:33:09,520 Maybe it's your entertainment. Maybe it's your dating life, 549 00:33:10,080 --> 00:33:13,040 maybe it's your work. You could look at the categories 550 00:33:13,040 --> 00:33:15,520 that we have here all throughout Nehemiah and particularly in 551 00:33:15,520 --> 00:33:18,080 Nehemiah 13 as a good port of call. 552 00:33:21,080 --> 00:33:24,040 Are you stealing from God if you look at your money? 553 00:33:24,920 --> 00:33:28,760 Can you stand before God and say I'm being a wise steward of what 554 00:33:28,760 --> 00:33:31,560 you've provided? Or should I be? 555 00:33:31,560 --> 00:33:36,240 Or should you be angry about not being a blessing to others or 556 00:33:36,240 --> 00:33:42,040 the Sabbath taking an opportunity to rest in God, of 557 00:33:42,240 --> 00:33:43,920 going to church as we are tonight? 558 00:33:43,920 --> 00:33:47,680 Of reading your word, of praying, of enjoying your life 559 00:33:47,680 --> 00:33:51,440 with God? Or are you just working yourself 560 00:33:51,440 --> 00:33:55,440 all the time and truth is, you'll break if you don't take a 561 00:33:55,440 --> 00:33:59,320 break in Sabbath? How about if you're single? 562 00:33:59,320 --> 00:34:04,880 If you're, if you're dating, if you're looking for someone, are 563 00:34:04,880 --> 00:34:07,200 you looking for someone who loves the Lord, who serves the 564 00:34:07,200 --> 00:34:10,800 Lord, who honours him? Are you acting with integrity in 565 00:34:10,800 --> 00:34:13,360 that? If you're married, how? 566 00:34:13,360 --> 00:34:16,760 How is your marriage? Anything in your marriage that 567 00:34:16,760 --> 00:34:19,920 you should be angry about that needs changing? 568 00:34:21,480 --> 00:34:23,560 How about your kids and your parenting? 569 00:34:25,520 --> 00:34:28,840 Should you be angry going? I haven't been present as much 570 00:34:28,840 --> 00:34:31,840 as I need to be. I haven't been loving as much as 571 00:34:31,840 --> 00:34:34,280 I ought to have. I haven't been serving and 572 00:34:34,280 --> 00:34:36,679 honouring in the way that I ought to be. 573 00:34:36,679 --> 00:34:39,719 I haven't been as generous or I need to forgive. 574 00:34:39,719 --> 00:34:46,520 I haven't been available. Then maybe tonight some decisive 575 00:34:46,520 --> 00:34:50,600 steps need to be taken, some Nehemiah action. 576 00:34:52,159 --> 00:34:56,159 Confess it, cut it off, make it right. 577 00:34:57,480 --> 00:35:01,720 And the point of all of that is, is guarding the goal that God 578 00:35:01,720 --> 00:35:07,760 has given, the call that God has placed and being protective of 579 00:35:07,760 --> 00:35:12,040 that with integrity. And what you'll be amazed with 580 00:35:12,120 --> 00:35:15,360 if that becomes a priority and a focus, just as with Nehemiah, 581 00:35:15,360 --> 00:35:17,600 God honours that. And here's our last point. 582 00:35:17,880 --> 00:35:21,520 Because in all of this action, Nehemiah, the fear of man could 583 00:35:21,520 --> 00:35:24,200 have taken over him. What will people say? 584 00:35:24,200 --> 00:35:27,160 What will people think? What will they do and how will 585 00:35:27,160 --> 00:35:29,200 they react? And will there be a riot in the 586 00:35:29,200 --> 00:35:31,120 streets? Will people just up and leave 587 00:35:31,120 --> 00:35:33,800 and exit Jerusalem? And will there be a mutiny on my 588 00:35:33,800 --> 00:35:35,320 hands? All of those questions running 589 00:35:35,320 --> 00:35:37,760 through my mind. And so Nehemiah gives the 590 00:35:37,760 --> 00:35:39,320 results to God and keeps praying. 591 00:35:39,320 --> 00:35:42,280 Remember Me. Remember Me four times in this 592 00:35:42,280 --> 00:35:45,840 chapter he prays the same simple prayer, Remember Me, O God. 593 00:35:45,840 --> 00:35:53,160 Verse 14, verse 22, verse 29, verse 31, Ernest, he doesn't 594 00:35:53,160 --> 00:35:54,320 pray. Lord fix them. 595 00:35:57,600 --> 00:36:02,240 He says, Lord, Remember Me, Remember what I've done for your 596 00:36:02,240 --> 00:36:05,600 house, for your people, and show me mercy. 597 00:36:05,640 --> 00:36:10,360 Oh God, Remember Me with favour. And he leaves and trusts the 598 00:36:10,360 --> 00:36:13,240 results to God. Think of what we've learned 599 00:36:13,240 --> 00:36:16,120 about Nehemiah and that we've seen over the journey through 600 00:36:16,480 --> 00:36:19,600 this book. He's done everything that he 601 00:36:19,600 --> 00:36:23,000 can, and he's done everything that he can here in this chapter 602 00:36:23,000 --> 00:36:26,080 to try and fix what he's arrived on the scene to discover. 603 00:36:26,600 --> 00:36:28,920 Like I said, he's thrown furniture out, he's pulled hair, 604 00:36:29,080 --> 00:36:32,520 he's shut gates, and now he entrusts the outcome to the 605 00:36:32,520 --> 00:36:36,880 Lord. That is the mark of someone who 606 00:36:36,880 --> 00:36:42,480 knows how to finish well, trusting God, resting in God to 607 00:36:42,480 --> 00:36:46,760 take care of the results. Nehemiah, he's, he's given so 608 00:36:46,760 --> 00:36:48,080 much. He's effectively, if we were to 609 00:36:48,080 --> 00:36:51,240 put it into modern day terms, given millions of dollars of his 610 00:36:51,240 --> 00:36:55,880 own money throughout the years. Here he's given 12 years of his 611 00:36:55,880 --> 00:36:59,960 life way back in Nehemiah chapter 1 and two, he risked his 612 00:36:59,960 --> 00:37:03,600 own life by coming before King Artaxerxes with the request that 613 00:37:03,600 --> 00:37:05,960 he had to go to Jerusalem in the 1st place. 614 00:37:06,600 --> 00:37:09,960 He could have been beheaded with such a request. 615 00:37:11,600 --> 00:37:14,760 He's been open for character assassination all through 616 00:37:14,960 --> 00:37:18,160 committing his hand to the work and and the task before him. 617 00:37:18,320 --> 00:37:20,920 There's been literal assassination around the corner. 618 00:37:21,040 --> 00:37:23,160 You name it, Nehemiah has faced it. 619 00:37:25,360 --> 00:37:30,120 And still the people drift. Talk about giving so much for 620 00:37:30,120 --> 00:37:31,800 people and they just take it for granted. 621 00:37:34,000 --> 00:37:37,120 And you would think he would be well within his rights to be 622 00:37:37,120 --> 00:37:41,720 bitter about that, to dust his hands off them. 623 00:37:44,040 --> 00:37:49,960 He could have gone well, I'll build a monument to myself at 624 00:37:49,960 --> 00:37:52,840 least that'll remind everybody of who I am and what I've done. 625 00:37:53,360 --> 00:37:55,280 And there's a statue of Nehemiah, you know. 626 00:37:56,000 --> 00:37:58,560 Instead he simply says, God, I give it to you. 627 00:37:59,120 --> 00:38:04,160 Remember Me, Remember Me. And he in that was living for 628 00:38:04,160 --> 00:38:06,920 the day when he would hear Well done, my good and faithful 629 00:38:06,920 --> 00:38:10,480 servant. So here's the big idea again out 630 00:38:10,480 --> 00:38:13,840 of Nehemiah 13. Nehemiah 13 tells us that 631 00:38:13,840 --> 00:38:18,120 finishing well means knowing the call, knowing the goal, guarding 632 00:38:18,120 --> 00:38:21,920 that with integrity, leaving the results, trusting that to God 633 00:38:22,640 --> 00:38:25,240 whilst praying God, Remember Me, Remember Me. 634 00:38:26,400 --> 00:38:29,560 But I want to give us, as we finish this book, some other 635 00:38:29,560 --> 00:38:34,520 lessons by way of reminder that Nehemiah has taught us to just 636 00:38:34,720 --> 00:38:39,040 galvanised that in our knowledge as we wrap up this chapter in 637 00:38:39,040 --> 00:38:44,440 our series on nehemiah #1. It's never too late to do what's 638 00:38:44,440 --> 00:38:47,520 right. You know, even though God's 639 00:38:47,520 --> 00:38:51,000 people had messed up again and again royally through this book, 640 00:38:52,160 --> 00:38:56,720 it did not disqualify them from service or ruin their 641 00:38:56,720 --> 00:39:00,360 relationship with God. And many times we can think that 642 00:39:00,360 --> 00:39:03,720 we can feel that I was having a conversation with somebody this 643 00:39:03,720 --> 00:39:07,240 morning along those lines. You know, no matter what you 644 00:39:07,240 --> 00:39:13,640 have done, if you repent, God is able to renew and rebuild and 645 00:39:13,640 --> 00:39:17,800 watch what God does in rebuilding your life of 646 00:39:17,800 --> 00:39:22,280 dedication unto Him and service. There's a second lesson that we 647 00:39:22,280 --> 00:39:24,440 learn and that is don't play around with sin. 648 00:39:25,480 --> 00:39:28,480 Nehemiah always through this book and certainly in this 649 00:39:28,480 --> 00:39:31,920 chapter, dealt with sin decisively and abruptly. 650 00:39:33,200 --> 00:39:36,160 I think many times we underestimate our sinfulness and 651 00:39:36,440 --> 00:39:42,280 overestimate our goodness. Don't flirt with sin, don't get 652 00:39:42,280 --> 00:39:45,480 cosy with compromise, Be vigilant. 653 00:39:45,760 --> 00:39:50,680 Romans 12 verse 9 says hate what is evil, cling to what is good, 654 00:39:51,760 --> 00:39:56,360 and let our definitions of good and evil be derived from God's 655 00:39:56,360 --> 00:39:59,840 Word, not from what the culture around us says. 656 00:40:00,400 --> 00:40:03,600 Not from what our best friend says, not from what we heard, 657 00:40:03,600 --> 00:40:09,120 but from what God's Word says. Thirdly, remember who God is, 658 00:40:10,080 --> 00:40:13,200 that He is great and awesome. Remember that passage that 659 00:40:13,200 --> 00:40:15,880 Nehemiah reminded them about who God was? 660 00:40:16,560 --> 00:40:19,160 That means that He is large and He is in charge. 661 00:40:19,880 --> 00:40:24,440 He is also good all the time, even when bad things happen to 662 00:40:24,520 --> 00:40:28,160 us. He is good and He is gracious. 663 00:40:29,160 --> 00:40:32,720 He doesn't treat us as we deserve, but always grants us 664 00:40:32,720 --> 00:40:36,280 grace and fresh starts for His mercies anew every morning. 665 00:40:37,840 --> 00:40:40,400 Fourthly, cultivate a lifestyle of praise and prayer. 666 00:40:41,120 --> 00:40:44,960 God is desirous of all of us to worship Him with reverence and 667 00:40:44,960 --> 00:40:47,720 with joy, and we've seen that again and again throughout this 668 00:40:47,720 --> 00:40:51,760 book. Move out of your comfort zone. 669 00:40:52,160 --> 00:40:54,040 We saw that last week in particular. 670 00:40:54,040 --> 00:40:57,040 I think many of us, we're way too comfortable with the way 671 00:40:57,040 --> 00:41:00,480 that we're living, and we tend to default to just the path of 672 00:41:00,480 --> 00:41:04,480 least resistance in life, to what is predictable, what is 673 00:41:04,480 --> 00:41:07,520 easy. And God wants us to be available 674 00:41:07,520 --> 00:41:10,560 to him. And when he asks us to do 675 00:41:10,560 --> 00:41:14,000 something that stretches us, let's be ready to move and go. 676 00:41:14,000 --> 00:41:18,400 OK, God, that's uncomfortable. But I'm going to trust you with 677 00:41:18,400 --> 00:41:20,160 the result and the consequence of that. 678 00:41:22,240 --> 00:41:24,000 Don't let difficulties derail you. 679 00:41:24,000 --> 00:41:26,520 Number six. You know, we saw that Nehemiah, 680 00:41:26,520 --> 00:41:28,840 he, he knew the call that God had upon him. 681 00:41:28,840 --> 00:41:31,840 And there were hard times and difficult times that came upon 682 00:41:31,840 --> 00:41:33,920 him and he did not bail out on them. 683 00:41:34,400 --> 00:41:36,560 Check out and go. I didn't sign up for this. 684 00:41:36,560 --> 00:41:40,080 It's, it's all too hard. No, Nehemiah knew what it was 685 00:41:41,360 --> 00:41:43,800 that God had called him to. And those tough times came, yes, 686 00:41:43,800 --> 00:41:47,440 and they'll come for you and I, but instead let them drive you 687 00:41:47,440 --> 00:41:50,960 closer to God. So we certainly see that happen 688 00:41:50,960 --> 00:41:55,640 with Nehemiah 7th. Say yes to God's priorities and 689 00:41:55,640 --> 00:42:03,480 no to the devil's distractions. I believe the promises of God 690 00:42:03,480 --> 00:42:10,000 and act upon them. And lastly, allow God to use you 691 00:42:11,120 --> 00:42:15,680 for whatever reason. And think of all that God has at 692 00:42:15,680 --> 00:42:19,720 His disposal, all that God is able to do in His infinite power 693 00:42:19,720 --> 00:42:24,280 and might with the angelic beings that he has, the 694 00:42:24,280 --> 00:42:26,320 seraphim, the cherubim, and so on. 695 00:42:27,080 --> 00:42:33,600 God takes great pleasure in using you and I, and he loves to 696 00:42:33,600 --> 00:42:36,480 use those who are available to Him. 697 00:42:37,280 --> 00:42:40,160 So you don't have to be a super St or a spiritual giant. 698 00:42:41,240 --> 00:42:46,720 Instead, claim what God has promised and say here I am Lord, 699 00:42:46,720 --> 00:42:53,880 I'm listening, I'm your servant. Help me to do that which you've 700 00:42:53,880 --> 00:42:57,000 called me to do. Love you heart, soul, mind and 701 00:42:57,000 --> 00:42:59,480 strength. Love my neighbour as myself. 702 00:43:00,240 --> 00:43:01,960 Be faithful to the Great Commission. 703 00:43:02,280 --> 00:43:05,760 Go out in whatever ways that you are specific to my life and 704 00:43:05,760 --> 00:43:09,120 share of who you are and let me trust you with the result of 705 00:43:09,120 --> 00:43:12,040 that. In all of this, as we've been 706 00:43:12,040 --> 00:43:14,520 studying, Nehemiah has been focusing on about leaving a 707 00:43:14,520 --> 00:43:16,360 lasting legacy, about finishing well. 708 00:43:17,360 --> 00:43:19,880 But the greatest legacy isn't any of those things. 709 00:43:20,680 --> 00:43:24,240 The greatest legacy that you and I possess and have is Jesus 710 00:43:24,240 --> 00:43:28,000 Christ. Nehemiah, all the way through, 711 00:43:28,000 --> 00:43:31,080 has been pointing to the great rebuilder that is Jesus. 712 00:43:32,920 --> 00:43:35,000 Jesus came to the same city, Jerusalem. 713 00:43:36,320 --> 00:43:40,960 He saw the same compromise in the people of Israel of the day 714 00:43:40,960 --> 00:43:44,280 in the 1st century. He cleansed the temple with 715 00:43:44,280 --> 00:43:48,440 righteous anger, and then he went to the cross to deal with 716 00:43:48,760 --> 00:43:54,840 the root of all our compromise, our sin, And he rose, and he now 717 00:43:54,840 --> 00:44:00,480 lives in us by his Spirit to enable you and I to finish well. 718 00:44:02,560 --> 00:44:06,840 And so today, if you've drifted, if you're wondering how your 719 00:44:06,840 --> 00:44:12,320 story will end, hear the invitation out of Nehemiah come 720 00:44:12,320 --> 00:44:15,440 to Jesus. What you'll see is that Jesus 721 00:44:15,440 --> 00:44:19,400 specialises in fresh starts. Amen. 722 00:44:20,440 --> 00:44:23,160 Lord, thank you for this wonderful book of Nehemiah. 723 00:44:23,160 --> 00:44:29,160 We've been so grateful for the study that you've taken us 724 00:44:29,160 --> 00:44:35,840 through. And thank you for the many 725 00:44:35,840 --> 00:44:39,760 people that throughout the past few weeks have been a part of 726 00:44:39,760 --> 00:44:46,320 this study and the work that you're doing in our lives as a 727 00:44:46,320 --> 00:44:50,960 church, as your people, as individuals, and in our homes, 728 00:44:50,960 --> 00:44:53,920 in our marriages, in our families, in our workplaces. 729 00:44:57,800 --> 00:45:03,600 Specifically, as we've studied tonight, help us to know and to 730 00:45:03,600 --> 00:45:08,800 understand the call, the God given direction and task and 731 00:45:08,800 --> 00:45:13,600 purpose for our lives. We would be devoted and 732 00:45:13,600 --> 00:45:20,080 dedicated to honouring you in that and in your grace and in 733 00:45:20,080 --> 00:45:24,720 your enabling. May we so live to honour you 734 00:45:26,200 --> 00:45:28,000 that we would hear those wonderful words. 735 00:45:28,000 --> 00:45:30,000 Well done, my good and faithful servant. 736 00:45:31,680 --> 00:45:36,360 For any tonight who need a refreshing of your Holy Spirit, 737 00:45:36,360 --> 00:45:40,760 please grant that to them. For any here tonight who need to 738 00:45:40,760 --> 00:45:45,040 know and enjoy your forgiveness and your mercy and grace, pour 739 00:45:45,040 --> 00:45:48,960 it out abundantly. We thank you for your great 740 00:45:48,960 --> 00:45:50,960 love. We thank you for your great 741 00:45:50,960 --> 00:45:55,240 power, and we again present ourselves to you. 742 00:45:55,240 --> 00:45:56,720 And it's in the mighty name of Jesus. 743 00:45:56,720 --> 00:45:59,760 We pray these things, God's people said, Amen.