Nehemiah (part 1)

Now before we turn to the book of Nehemiah, we're going to go to the New Testament, please to the book of 2nd Corinthians and as you know, the book of Nehemiah is dealing with the the truth and the principle of separation and separation as we're considering the the idea of securing the bulwarks of testimony a separation for the Christian is is absolutely vital and we're going to notice the difference between isolation and Separation and really the the great truth and the beauty of how God has designed Separation for us and we're going to go through this this book. There's 13 chapters We've got more to deal with today than both of our brethren had to do combined yesterday So there's 13 chapters versus 12. So obviously we're not going to get through every chapter every verse and so on so there's five themes that have been on my mind of as we've been looking at this and we're going to just try to follow them through because they are very important themes when it comes to the New Testament and we're going to look at this this book of Nehemiah as an application to the believers life and to assembly preservation Always remember this that the assembly is only going to be as strong as the believers in it All right, we cannot separate the two so well, we might bounce in and out between individual and assembly and application, but that's okay and Another thing before we get started is this we're going to try to look for Christ He's in every he's in every chapter of your Bible and so for maybe you younger brother Maybe you're like me and most Bible readings your three verses behind and and then everybody's moving on and you're still thinking what you can say if we move on and If any brother here has a thought about the Lord Jesus Christ raise your hand.

We're going to stop Because he is the pre has the preeminence and if we get anything out of this reading about the person of Christ It'll be the best Right. So that's what we're going to be looking for. We're going to look for our preservation.

We're going to be looking for the Person of Christ and the purpose of really Christian living so 2nd Corinthians in chapter 6 We're going to begin at verse number 14 I'm reading this to get down to to verse number 17 But we're started verse 14 2nd Corinthians 6 14 Be not an equally yoked together with unbelievers for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness and what communion hath light with darkness and What Concord hath Christ with Belial or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the Living God as God hath said I will dwell in them and Walk in them and I will be their God and they shall be my people wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate saith the Lord and touch not the unclean thing and I will Receive you and we'll be a father unto you and ye shall be my sons and daughters Saith the Lord Almighty now back to the book of Ezra and Chapter 10 where our brother Dan left off yesterday. There's important verse in Ezra chapter 10 We'll read at verse number 10 and Ezra the priest stood up and said unto them you have transgressed and have taken strange wives to increase the trespass of Israel now therefore make confession unto the Lord God of your fathers and do his pleasure and separate yourselves from the people of the land and from the strange wives and all the congregation answered and said with a loud voice as thou has said So must we do Nehemiah in chapter 1 the first one of our themes Today is going to be leadership and we're going to look at the workmanship And these are these are broad themes and we're going to try to encompass as much as we can when we get get to each one be leadership and then workmanship and then penmanship and fellowship and Worship and that will that will take up probably more than the time That we have I was an older brother told me one time you when it comes to the things of God You can either be a smear or you can be a blob and we don't want to be either one a smear is when you're spread so thin you don't do anyone any good a Blob is when you don't get anything done. You're all in one spot and you're no good to anybody So we're going to we're going to try to be Holy Spirit guided today We're going to look for the Spirit to guide us into into the truth that we are with so much needing today So leadership, first of all, we're going to read and I think what we'll do is We'll read about one of these themes and to discuss it and then read about the next one Because if we take the time to read all of them at one time We'll probably forget the first verse when we get to the last verse So we're going to read about this man Nehemiah and we're going to consider him as a man that God has raised up to be a leader and For the people of God for for his day really so Nehemiah in chapter 1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hekaliah and it came to pass in the month Shizlu in the twelfth year as I was in Shushan the palace that Hananiah one of my brethren Came he and certain men of Judah and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped Which were left of the captivity and concerning? Jerusalem and they said unto me the remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down and the gates thereof are burned with fire and it came to pass when I heard these words that I sat down and wept and mourned certain days and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven and Said I beseech thee O Lord God of heaven the great and terrible God that keepeth covenant and mercy For them that love him and observe his commandments Let thine ear now be attentive and thine eyes open that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant Which I prayed before thee now Day and night for the children of Israel thy servants and confess the sins of the children of Israel Which we have sinned against thee both I and my father's house have sinned We have dealt very corruptly against thee and have not kept the commandments nor the statutes nor the judgments Which thou commandest thy servant Moses Remember I beseech thee the word that thou commandest thy servant Moses saying if you transgress I will scatter scatter you abroad among the nations But if you turn unto me and keep my commandments and do them Though thou were though thou were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of heaven Yet will I gather them from fence and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there Now these are thy servants and thy people whom thou has redeemed by thy great power and by thy strong hand Oh Lord I beseech thee let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant and to the prayer of thy servants Who desire to fear thy name and prosper? I pray thee thy servant this day and grant him mercy in the sight of this man for I was the king's cupbearer Now drop down to chapter 2 Nehemiah is now before the king is he has prayed for four months and now he's before the king and his face is sad and He knows that the king is going to address him verse 4 then the king said unto me For what does thou make requests so I prayed to the God of heaven and I said unto the king if it pleased the king And if thy servant have found favor in thy sight that thou will send me unto Judah Unto the city of my father's sepulchers that I may build it and the king said unto me and The Queen also sitting by him for how long shall thy journey be and when wilt thou return? so it pleased the king to send me and I set him a time and we'll stop there for now and The theme of leadership runs throughout the book It doesn't just stop with Nehemiah as you go toward the end of the book We're going to go through the middle of the book We're going to find an example of poor leadership.

You've got the nobles who would not set their shoulder to the work of God They they they had no desire in the in the reality of separation and building this wall We go on further and Nehemiah appoints a successor. His brother is going to take over and and they're going to Watch over the the people of God and so on so though there might be brethren who bring in different Aspects in different parts of the book on leadership. That's okay We won't cover it extensively no doubt, but let's learn a little bit About the leader Nehemiah when it comes to a leader of the people of God There is really there's really a tremendous responsibility We come to the book of Hebrews in chapter 13 and it says there whose faith follow So a leader is one who goes before and God's people see what the what the man is doing and they follow him And so this is what we're seeing here is a very clear example of what a spiritual leader is He's not doing it for his own power He's not doing it for his own glory He's there solely for the benefit of the people of God We're going to see in this man really qualities of an elder a New Testament elder We're going to see in him different qualities that we can relate to in the New Testament but the reality is this this man has a heart a Heart for the people of God and I think my brother would agree with me this might be The greatest issue that we have in local attest testimony a local testimony Is lack of leadership That's a very solemn statement and I'm sitting here with pretty much Overseers, I know in every assembly in Wisconsin and Iowa.

This isn't this isn't an offense to you but the reality is this when our elders are gone who's going to take the place and So for you young men This is for you someone is going to lead the people of God and If it's not a godly man There'll be nothing left so I take this to my own heart as As a man who is in a public sphere But for you dear brethren that are overseers. We pray for you and God bless you There's there's overseers that were here last year they're not here to this year Good men That are leaving a big void. And so this is this is pertinent to every generation but the day and age in which we live we're looking here to define what a leader is to see by example and That our hearts may be stirred like this man Nehemiah and we started in chapter 1 and He has a care he asks a question and that's how it starts to find out what's going on How the people of God are how do they fare back in the land? We would see in Nehemiah a man who He wasn't a specialist in one particular thing as such it was a man who wore many hats we see him first as a servant of the king and He's dutiful in in secular work.

He's dutiful. Then we see him as a sojourner who would go the distance in the things of God So he's faithful in that then he's a surveyor And he's diligent in that as he surveys the walls and so on then he's a soldier We'll see him as a soldier defending the work and as a supervisor Overseeing the work and in that I take it He was determined and then finally as a statesman who governed the people and he was a man that was marked by dignity so he wasn't some kind of specialist only a marriage counselor or Only a psychologist or a Christian or a children's man and that sort of thing he was well rounded out in the things of God and Those are the kind of men that God used very good God uses Near my I was just gonna say at the same time. He wasn't trying out things He was looking to meet needs and he came he was known as a man who came to seek the welfare of the people So that that would go along with your statement about heart Here's one who has a concern his very name right consolation of the Lord right right so in his secular job He would have learned something very important that that really every Christian needs to learn He was the cup bearer, so I would take it that he would be he would be responsible For the safety of what was in the contents of the cup He would have learned that he is His life is on the line He is replaceable He is not the end-all and the be-all but really he is he is the one that if there's poison in the cup He's gone, and he learned that his life didn't consist of his secular job It wasn't everything to him, and I think the sooner that we as believers Realize this that our life doesn't consist of of just the things for here and now and for the boss but He he faced fear he faced trial he faced conflict he faced death threats But it didn't it didn't shake him because he had already learned the lesson that it's all for God and none Of self and so this is this is key if a person is going to be a leader for God And we can we'll find examples down through here.

It's not about me. It's about them So so brother Brandon, we've stepped we've stepped away from the first return Not first phase that went back under Zerubbabel and Joshua We've stepped away from the second under Ezra the likelihood is that both Ezra and Nehemiah would not have been born When Zerubbabel and Joshua went up So these were men that were born in Babylon the interesting thing here is that even though this man was born in Babylon Wasn't part of the first phase of the return Still his heart was with the sanctuary and the people of God and he's linked to a family That is trustworthy in the things of God. He gives us our His pedigree is given Nehemiah the son of Hakeliah and then verse number two Hananiah That's not just one of his brethren in the sense of an Israelite.

This is his brother in the flesh So his father and his pedigree is given His brother has the same interest in the things of God and one of the great things about assembly life It can also be it can also be a problem in assembly life. But here's the positive The father is linked in a very positive light. His brother is linked in a positive light He himself is linked in a positive light and what they have in their mind is the sanctuary and it's the city It's the walls and it's the gates and the very sanctuary city of God is what they have in their mind Isn't it wonderful that these men having never seen the original only been born in Babylon That yet in their in their heart There is something for the things of God You would think being born in Babylon and all the influence of the world and all of the influence of that place That there would be no thought for the things of a God who couldn't defend his own city But there is Right, it's it's it's really quite remarkable.

So one of the things Brandon I wanted to highlight there is isn't it a very positive thing? that two generations past There were some of our family members linked to assembly life In a former generation the last generation there were some of our family members linked to assembly life Isn't it the same today? Some have been born since your grandfather and my grandfather were in assembly life and yet God is still carrying on and one of the great features of assembly life is families and God uses families for the furtherance of Testimony and for the glory of his name. I Count not my life to be dear to me I thought that was a lovely thought that you had in just in relation to the cup bearer And helps us think about this this principle of leadership What an amazing job in the sense that he knew for the sake of the king and he was working for the king He knew that he could lose his life Potentially at any moment any day? And it wasn't that his life wasn't dear to him But he had given up his life in a sense for the good of the king now That's leadership and that's the Apostle Paul, isn't it? I count not my life to be dear to me Paul had given up his life in order that he might live for Christ So he had finished with himself and God had finished with him and he was living for Christ for to me to live is Christ and that's what good leaders do isn't it? They've given up their lives their own lives as it were living for self and ultimately they want to bless Bless the Lord and bless God's people The other side is that he's not he's not against planning Obviously, we're gonna look at that but in a very real sense then based on that he's living life on a daily basis Yeah, that's important too, right? So could I ask Brandon some some wonder? was this a 24-7 job or It some have suggested that there likely would have been a number of cupbears In in the society the king would have entrusted of a variety of men So this man Nehemiah on particular times it would have been fallen to his to his Stewardship to be in the presence of the king and we've got a date at the beginning of chapter 1 and now we've got a date Again in chapter 2 the beginning of chapter 2. It's very possible that this man knew I'll be in the king's presence on this date Mm-hmm, and he also knew I will be in the king's presence then on this date and he knew this is my opportunity Mm-hmm, and I've got to take the opportunity when the opportunity presents itself how it will happen That's the big thing. He's waiting for because he knows if I'm sad in the presence of the king.

I lose my life But he's waiting on the providence of God as a good leader would he's prayed for these four months He's waited for the opportunity Now the opportunity has come and he steps into that void and uses isn't that a very valuable Principle for ourselves. Well, absolutely one of one of the features of a leader is in dealing with a matter He will make diligent inquiry. Mm-hmm as to the facts I mean, we'll see that later on when he when he's inspecting the walls, but even here in chapter 1 He has the opportunity Evidently has had an ongoing concern about Jerusalem the state of things there and in now he's opportunity to diligently inquire So he's learning he's willing to learn He's willing to learn and then that produces within him a longing.

I noticed verse 4 here I sat down and wept and mourned certain days and fasted and prayed to the God of heaven Longing and then is leaning as you come into the prayer there in verse 8 is it as he begins to speak to God and he recounts what he has learned and He's expressing his longing as he leans in prayer upon God all features of a man who will be a leader His heart wasn't one-dimensional. His heart wasn't one-dimensional toward the brethren. Mm-hmm His heart was it was horizontal But we can tell through the attitude in the words of his prayer that his heart was vertical to God and that's absolutely vital To have the relationship and the honesty that we see in this leader when it comes before the throne of God He's not afraid to identify with the people's sins and he wasn't even there Right.

He's not looking down on these people and all of their disobedience. He's identifying personally with it. He is he is He is absolutely open he's not hiding anything from God He's pretty much open all the way through except for in chapter 2 when he's sneaking around looking at the at the walls But that's that's investigative work and even a good overseer is not going to be be telling everybody what what they're looking into right, he's gonna have the count he's gonna have confidence in him, but He's he's praying to God and he's bearing his heart And God loves that Mm-hmm He has no resources in himself and he knows that and he's calling upon the great and terrible God So so very basically to start off with a leader has to be if he's going to be a good leader He has to be a good listener And he says when I heard I wept right there's men, you know They're not listening and how can you really assess how can you deal if you don't listen and people know when you care? Because you're willing to listen and you're willing to take the time Nehemiah had that hard for them And when he does listen and when he does here he takes that need immediately into the sanctuary to present that before the Lord and William you were just talking about a man here who is Cautious and considerate he assesses the situation and that's what you get in chapter 2 Yes, so he's taken it into the sanctuary and then before he does anything in chapter 2 He very carefully considers the problem and the situation The rebuilding of the walls are going to be necessary.

And what I love about chapter 3 is Nehemiah's not there. Mm-hmm. See what he is that he is there obviously he's not mentioned So you say that's a remarkable thing, you know, he's been listening.

He's brought this before the Lord into the sanctuary He's carefully assessed the situation This is what needs to be done come to chapter 3 when all the work is being done. Nehemiah is not mentioned Now he was the leader he was behind it all he organized it all surely But that's sometimes what a good leader does They actually can fall back into the background and allow others to come to the fore and encourage their exercise So nice to see that. Mm-hmm so so as Much as he prays here Brother Brandon, he he recognizes that he's not alone Because in verse number 11 He speaks about the prayer of thy servant.

Mm-hmm, and then he actually then indicates on to the prayer of thy servants So as much as it was a burden on his heart He was also aware there are others at the same time and there's a burden on their heart for the same thing So there's a number and a group here and they have have a collective interest in the furtherance of testimony Leadership is going to be required It will be it will be put into the hands of this one man But even with that one man there were others interested in the furtherance of this work for God and I take it That's a very essential principle that as much as there are leaders There will be others that will be linked to leaders in the furtherance of God's work So a leader then is not a one-man band again We'd see that in Daniel, you know, whenever whenever his life was on the line with the wise men of Babylon He went to his friends and they collectively prayed and laid it out before the Lord I would be sorry. Sorry. No good.

I was just gonna say I'd be quite a prayer meeting Yeah, they would pray like their life depended upon it We're gonna notice more the workers a little later on right? They're gonna get into that right now the individual characteristics of the leader Maybe you could help us out verses 6 and 7 heat. There is confession here And even though he's in the palace and this is going on far away he identifies himself with the problem So I'm thinking of Peter the elder the elders which are among you I exhort so elders are among the people There's a recognition of unity with the people, right? Say a little bit on on the aspect of why is he confessing? Well, I mentioned that he wasn't there when to commit any of the sins that brought him into captivity He's he's really In a sense. It's a sense of fellowship with his people It's really the first introduction of fellowship in the book.

The second one is when the other servants prayed, right? So he is They are God's people he knows his identity even though he's not there He identifies himself with the people of God and it's undeniable and he's not ashamed of it So he's not above them right he's among them. Amen. So again in chapter 9, you'll see that prayer chapter 9 Chapter 9 is one of the classic prayers of the Bible, right? Nehemiah chapter 9 Ezra chapter 9 is another one Daniel chapter 9 those three chapters make a note of that if you're making notes check them out Classic prayers of the Bible and each one of them are taking on board as a personal burden the sins of the people Just your point Frank.

So so with that regard as well Is there a sense then because a leader has been called by God into that position that there is a sense of corporate Responsibility that falls on the shoulders of the leader He is being held accountable because the Lord has brought him Into that position of leadership and then because he's been brought into the position of leadership He's able to confess the sins of the people. It would be a very valuable thing Brandon I don't know how you feel about this, but sometimes I feel in assembly life There's not as much of this as there should be It used to be on some of our conference cards We would the conference card would say that people were invited. They're invited for ministry They're they're invited for prayer and they're invited for confession of sin And we have it in that prayer of Daniel confession of sin We have it in this prayer and it would be a very valuable thing amongst us as God's people if we were willing corporately to confess our sin to the Lord Because on the background of that God begins to bless in each one of those occasions when his people return Confess their sin under his blessing then as a result just Then I suppose in the seven churches isn't there? Because on each occasion the Lord is calling calling these saints to repent in a corporate sense apart from two apart from the two Yeah, just Ezra You know Ezra chapter 9 very interesting that Ezra when he makes his prayer of confession on behalf of the people All he does is he confesses that sin and says we've been guilty of these sins We've committed these sins thou art a righteous God stop He stops and say anything else So he doesn't cry for forgiveness He confesses that sin, but he does not cry for forgiveness because there can't really be forgiveness on In a corporate on a corporate basis until that people repents of their sin and he's not making excuses So all that leader says is we've sinned thou art a righteous God you're right to judge us full stop But the behavior of that man and the leadership of that man and the confession of that man drew others with him And there were others who felt the weight of that burden and they joined with him and then all the nation is coming and they're Repenting and they're turning and then God is blessing and so so leadership and then they do something about it Right, I was just thinking in connection with that I saw a little while ago It was a magazine announcement for a conference in Lurgan back in 1897 a three-day conference now listen to this three-day conference two days for prayer Confession and Thanksgiving and one day a ministry.

They tell me What day would you go to that conference? So the point is in this room today As the people of God Do we have a problem With sin Now we go to a Bible reading and we can get information and Lot of us go away from a Bible reading or any conference it never changes us My prayer for six months has been that this would change my life and everybody here We have to be honest Do we have a problem? The answer is that if we do Because your heart is the same as my heart and we're gonna get to the to the to the rubbish gate It's gonna be a busy gate All right, so let's go on we're running out of time in our first section But I want to touch his act of his leadership when it comes to the king He asked for letters. It was mentioned yesterday. Why he goes with a with a with the guards and so on He would have likely understood that in a day gone by By his experience that there was a search for letters before and if those letters weren't found before there was a problem for the work and Ezra's day and So I see it as this man now is learning from the mistakes of others or from the or from the maybe the good the providence of God to others to be ready Because in the work of God it's going to be challenged and he's going to now try to build these walls There's going to be reproach.

He's not ignorant to that He's expecting that and he wants the reality that as he travels he can be as efficient as efficient as possible And he'll have every right To the timber and every right to passage and every every hindrance removed by the decree of the king And so that when the accusations come he can rely back I know what is already written and this this would actually fit into the penmanship category. We'll just touch it now We won't touch it later But the penmanship is not so much who is writing it but the clarity of the different writings in this book The king made it absolutely clear that this man was to have every resource and Everything that he needed to do the job that was that that he was sent to do now you and I have the same We have every resource that that that we need For the building of the walls of separation in our own life and in the assembly life and every resource that we need to thrive Spiritually as the people of God we have it according to the Word of God We don't have to wonder about it, we don't have to guess about it. We just have to find it.

It's there So in verse 8 chapter 2 here verse 8 He would get a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king's forest That he may give me timber and make beams for the gates of the palace Which appertaineth on to the house and for the wall of the city and so on Now someone was indicating Yesterday I thought along these lines we will build the wall But Persia will pay for it That's what we have here Hallelujah Say before we go to the next one of the workmanship anybody find Christ in these first two chapters I Thought of the cupbearer right the Lord Jesus You know nevertheless, and I thought this cup right passed from me And here is one and he was willing and it did bring him into death What a comparison what a contrast to the one who? Saw beyond that and he says I've got a job to fill is what I'm doing But that was the very reason he did come to be that come He saw the need and he was willing to go to meet it something that was being brought out He saw me ruined in the fall Love me notwithstanding all I thought of the different cups that Nehemiah would have had over the years And I thought of the different cups of the Lord Jesus There was a cup that he was to drink There was a cup that he sipped of and he would not drink yes And there was a cup that burned his throat and the vinegar the different cups that the Lord Jesus I think I think everything blends into one on a long long weekend like this But I think almost everyone here will will remember brother John this morning I think in worship was reminding us of Nehemiah who was in the palace Now was that last night knows last night wasn't it in the gospel? Nehemiah who was in the palace and that's exactly the Lord, you know He began in the palace, but saw the need and came out to meet us in our need and comfort comfort of Jehovah That's his name. We've mentioned that already Christ is the comforter, isn't he the Spirit of God is another comforter But Christ is the comforter and he came out of the palace to meet our need There is a practical lesson I don't want to move from the Christ a logical lesson But before he gets the letters here from this King, there has been another letter that he referenced from a different King I'm back in chapter 1. I don't intend to take you back Brandon, but he mentions the law of Moses That's verse 7 of chapter 1 verse number 8 of chapter 1 the word of thy servant Moses So a good leader will go first To the Word of God. Mm-hmm And when the Word of God is secure then what they will want is to be absolutely sure about what they're dealing with and One of the ways in which that this this material was absolutely secured was in a letter And so there's not no hearsay about this.

It's not something that's a theory. Oh, it's not up there It's not something that they can't prove. This is all Documented here it is presented and it's a great thing for leadership When things can be documented when they can be placed before the Lord's people everything's secured but based upon God's Word All right, we're going to go to chapter 3 and we're going to go to the to the workmanship before we read there we need to The walls of separation are going to be built.

We need to define what separation really is and In the day and age in which we live It's not isolation Isolation would be building the walls with no gates, right? You'd be stuck in there and you couldn't get out So that would be isolation. The reason that that God calls us to be separate is to preserve us from defilement to preserve us from sin That we that we might be able to enjoy the uninterrupted Presence and blessing of God. It is a tremendous beautiful thing one illustration which is Is it's simple, but it was very good.

You see a fish in a fishbowl And that poor fish. He's only got 18 inches to live his life right He was so he would like so much so much to get out of that that confined area So he jumps out He dies Right the illustration was the guy that was given this illustration. He actually took the fish out He threw it across the room at his buddy right See fish aren't able to survive Outside of the of the walls of separation and neither is the Christian You see we we are a new nature we are not the natural man and We will be defiled and we will become useless for God in the sense that we will not be able to function for him Will still be saved Can't lose our salvation, but we we are not usable anymore So so why what was the purpose of these walls a dual question What was the purpose of these walls as we're stepping into chapter 3? Why build the walls the second question that comes brother Brandon is why didn't they build the walls first? Okay, so the First there was nothing there, right? So if you're going to build a wall with nothing inside When wouldn't go too good There's all there's multiple reasons really in a practical sense if you got to get rid of Got to get rid of all the rubbish you want to build a wall and carry the rubbish around The other one was there was no temple there right and The third one is actually twofold walls or for preservation and for safety, but they're also for distinction Right.

There's a difference and so that's it's a safety aspect and it's an identity aspect for the building of the wall So that do we have that right in the first few verses of chapter 1? The people that are left of the captivity. They're in great affliction and reproach And as a consequence then this man knows there's something I can do to help them because of the affliction That they're facing if there's a wall built it will mean there's less affliction Mm-hmm, and as a consequence their security their safety their separation all involved with the wall What then was the reproach that they were bearing I? Take it that they were God's people mm-hmm and gathered with the sanctuary in mind And because the sanctuary was there the reproach was there linked to this house All right And then they're in an affliction because they're linked to that and wouldn't it also be that the God of Israel is Really what brought that reproach upon them as well right himself identification with himself So would that be a reason why the walls were built second because you begin with God? All right, and so like the Thessalonians they turned to God from idols right so you have that separation aspect in two dimensions right separation to and separation from right So you remember the children of Israel when they lived for God and they wanted to be separated from God it actually got to the Point where the world didn't even want them Pharaoh said get out get out. We don't even want you right You're messing up our party right, so that's a very important aspect of for younger ones Don't join in you know stay Separated to God, and and you'll have less of a problem in the sense that they won't want you around either We can see from the enemy's perspective even when we get to Ezra chapter 5 for them It was the taxes the damage to the king and that's why the whole letter was sent So that's from the enemy's perspective they didn't want the house of God Now from Nehemiah's day the wall would create more of a not easy access to interrupt Very good, okay, we've got to move on times going so chapter 3 we come in now to the building of the walls There's different ways we're going to look at this here We won't take time to read the whole thing But we'll just we'll just go down through this and we'll touch the gates on the way by and if someone has a detail or something of that that they would they would like to Comment on that's great So what's taking place is they're starting at the north side at the Sheep Gate, and they're going to work their way counterclockwise Down around so Elias of the high priest rose up verse 1 and his brother and the priest and they builded the Sheep Gate They sanctified it and set up the doors of it even to the tower of Mia they sanctified it unto the tower of Hanaleel So tell us about the Sheep Gate I Was gonna say that's where we all come in You know My sheep hear my voice We are the sheep of his pasture what I notice here is on this gate.

There are no no mention of locks and bars Right it's open the doors open for all Yep So that's exactly what I was gonna say Brandon Just allow me to say we've been speaking about the walls, but if we're going to mention the gates gates of course speak of access and we've said There is separation but not isolation So the gates speak of access, but they also speak of administration Mm-hmm and very often in the Bible, you know, the gate of the city was the place of government it was the place of administration and if we're thinking about the assembly and this just ties in with what we were talking about earlier on House Of God, so you go back to Genesis 28 and Jacob says this is gate gate of heaven He says so the administration of heaven on the earth, and that's what the assembly is You know, we are responsible to administer the things of God here on the earth So the gates very nicely tie in tie in with the assembly in that respect. We should also just mention ten gates here But ultimately in the book of Nehemiah there will be twelve gates because there are two other gates that are mentioned later on in the book But only ten here and twelve, of course is the number of administration and why is there only ten here? Well, because perfect administration is coming in a future day. That's the kingdom of Christ.

So they're not twelve gates here There are ten gates here, but ultimately in the book there are twelve So go ahead John. No, no after you so at every gate what would be there? I mean, is there is there a keeper at every gate an inspector at every gate a judge at every gate? No, not necessarily you thinking about the administration well just practically so if you were gonna go out yeah Okay, someone would be there. Yeah to guard the gate keep in watch.

All right, keep in watch Yeah, so as we go down around these I just had a thought this morning. I was thinking of the Lord Jesus he said I am the door and I was thinking of the Lord Jesus as we go down through here You're gonna see a really a pattern for for Christian living and assembly living It starts at the Sheep Gate and it goes all the way around if and we won't spend a lot of time on it But we will mention it But it challenged my heart that if the Lord Jesus is at every gate And I'm gonna go out of this and I'm gonna go to this gate and I'm going to and I'm gonna have to come in That gate. I don't have to come in that gate, but I come in another gate, whatever but What an inspection The Lord himself I'm not just a man who's responsible for the gate, but the Lord himself and so and so when we get to the fish gate Which is next I'm going out past the I was thinking this going out past the Lord He says I'll make you fishers of men Come back in.

What does he say bring the fish which you have caught right? He's gonna inspect them. He's gonna see him He's gonna look at him. He's he's he's going to and you know, how does that affect your behavior when you're outside the city? Knowing that when you come in you're gonna have to face the keeper You're not gonna be you're not gonna be sneaking any invasive species in there Nothing plays no poisonous fish to give to the people right? So when the fish are brought in then 1913 there was a separation between between the good and the bad Right and we notice here that in connection with this gate and a verse 3 chapter 3 verse 3 there were locks and bars So so there was a sorting out there.

There was a Protection applying it to the assembly that there's a need in reception for the protection of the assembly So back to the sheep gate It seems the Lord always seemed to come in through the sheep gate when he come into the city Is that true or is that my imagination? He did in some context. We definitely know that John's gospel. Mm-hmm, but it doesn't everything in Christian life begin at the sheep gate And then we can see the fish gate it begins with the sacrifice of Christ The the sheep the reason why it was called the sheep gate is because it was through that gate that the sheep were being brought in for sacrificial purposes to the temple and so we get the Lamb of God which beareth away the sin of the world as A consequence of that then the fish gate is open.

That's availability for all of us Then the next one brother Brandon is the old gate and that will take us back to first principles And once we get back to first principles, then humility will be required. That's the valley gate Once we get humility, then there's going to be sensitivity. That's the dumb gate now I don't want to go through them all but there's there's so many practical Principles about personal life and about assembly life that can be unpacked from each of these gates So really when we go we go around these we should apply these to ourself It's almost like the two roads chart in the gospel.

You're going to be located when you're coming around this wall Right if you've just been saved just come in through the sheep gate And then there's there's the the fish gate and the old gate and then it's learning and then it's the low place in the valley And it's it's it's circular in a sense But before we leave the sheep gate the Lord is the keeper of the gate the Great Shepherd Who's bringing in the sheep? It's the under shepherds The leaders right if we're going to apply it to the assembly and there's Ian there's a little inspection there, isn't there? You'd see the quality of the sheep that are being brought in some of them are a little skinny Some of them got it. Some of them are a little shaggy The Great Shepherd is there so it's it just ties in with the leadership aspect now into the the workmanship So earlier in the book he didn't start with a sheep gate You alluded to the fact he went out by night Mm-hmm, and he started chap. We're back in chapter 2 I don't want to take you back.

But when he when he started in chapter 2, he started at a different gate. Isn't that true? It's true verse number 13. It was the valley gate and then the dung gate And so in one sense when it came to leadership, he knew that there was humility that was needed first Then he came to the dung gate because there's things that I have to go out But here in this chapter is very different And so we start with a sheep gate and move from the sheep gate when we come to the dedication, it'll be different again I don't know Brandon whether in this chapter Just just tell me whether you're only interested in the gates or you're also interested in in the work of these individuals The details of the work.

Yeah, just because we're right here at the beginning of the chapter and it's emphasized all the way through Isn't it notice it begins with a high priest by the way, which is interesting in itself, isn't it? But verse 2 we have mentioned this yesterday verse 2 next unto him Verse 4 next unto them verse 8 next unto him and you've got that all the way through So here are the people of God within the city and they are all shoulder-to-shoulder They are all laboring with one another Common purpose common goal in order that the wall might be built and I think we mentioned this yesterday If one of those Saints or if one of those are the people of God don't pull their weight And a bit of the wall is lacking or a bit of the wall isn't rebuilt repaired Whatever then that undermines the whole thing and how good that we as folks in an assembly fellowship We can labor together in unity for one common purpose and that's the glory of the Lord Jesus So we're working with one another so often we're working against one another aren't we very sad We should be working with one another and encouraging one another in the work. So so all of these gates then represent unity diversity But also necessity because they're not here just for decoration These are spiritual lessons that are functioning within the collective gatherings right of assemblies the the place of administration So that's important to recognize that we cannot omit any of these gates, right? That's I think sometimes we put maybe precedence over one or the other that's why I'm saying they were equidistant equilateral whatever maybe not Equidistant, but they were equal in the necessity of them all right and the wall is only as strong as its weakest point, right? Yeah, right. That's the idea Yeah, right so the chain is only as strong as its weakest link the wall is only as strong as its weakest point and So what you got to notice they're all building at the same time and Nehemiah is not over everybody's shoulder telling them how to do it He's not micromanaging what's going on there's a there's some truth in that when it comes to assembly life Everybody has their own gift given by God everybody has their own personality and these people aren't going to build at the same speed and They're not going to they're they're not going to be doing the same motions.

They're not like robots doing all the same thing They're doing it Their own their own speed their own rate their own through with their own gift and their own talents even but the point is this They're doing it for their own protection Right So they're gonna do it right And they're gonna because everybody's protections But with especially the ones that we might as well mention it now those that whose houses were upon the wall. Yes, right I Think most of us let's put ourselves in a house upon a wall We bring stuff into our homes that we'd never bring into the assembly, right This is this facts of life. This is a reality where we are and so we bring it into our home Then it's inside the city Right.

It's already in It's there. We've let it in we brought it in and it's there like the older brother And we used to tell us about the TV if they knew that we were carrying TVs and meeting It would have been a shocker Right, but the reality is this that the our our collective safety Is in the greatest danger? By the walls of our own house. Yeah So so that that's a very practical thing Brandon because verse number 10 over against his house verse number 23 against their house verse number 23 by his house verse number 28 Over against his house verse number 29 over against his house There's a little bit of a difference mind you when you get to verse number 31 over against his chamber But just to can I can I ask you then on what you've mentioned about the house? Are we learning that these men built against their houses because they understood if I build the wall of separation Here that will protect my family in the house.

Is that what we're learning? Is that the principle that I see you drawing out for us? It's a it's a it's a double benefit protects my house first Protects the rest later. Yeah Very very practical because if you were building a part of the wall somewhere else on the city Next to the house of somebody you didn't particularly get on very well with well You might not do a good job on purpose But you're building over against your house and the point you keep emphasizing we need to keep emphasizing an assembly is only as strong as the homes of The Saints that make up that assembly now that is absolutely critical Because we sometimes think or maybe we don't think like this We sometimes think we can just turn on a little spiritual tap when we get to the assembly and there's been nothing spiritual at home But when we get here we can we can turn on the character and the charm and use the right kind of language and all That sort of stuff all starts at home. That's where spirituality begins doesn't it in the Sanctuary? Oh, but there would also be influence too, right? So one thing you go back to the the Passover and if you were looking in all of their homes They were all doing the same thing, right? They were all eating feeding on the roast lamb.

They were all in preparation, right? So if you were to look into their home, they're all building building building Inconsistency with what God wanted. Let's take that on a practical level You've got ten families in an assembly and there's one a family or whatever and their kids are all involved in sports And they're all involved in this and they're all involved in in Entertainment and they're going to the dance school and they're doing this other families in that assembly Look, and they said well Johnny does it, you know, their parents allow it there So what are we building that the building should be also done with a with the focus on a work for God? Mm-hmm how to work for ourselves. We're brazing our families for God.

We're building for God What was it only man who built this wall their daughters to us, right? No, we have that in the end of verse 12, right? We have a man here he and his daughters and that's in connection with the old gate, right? I noticed you mentioned John the old gate was suggest fundamental truths sound doctrine. Mm-hmm and Paul wrote to Titus and he talked about adorning the doctrine of God our Savior And we were hearing this morning of sisters adorned adorning themselves a modesty because that supports sound teaching Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, was it just same principle again that house right if you have all the divisions We said we said was it only the men was it only the unemployed? Who were working on this? Oh, no The two that I like personally is verse number eight.

There's one of the goldsmiths That's right. But the one that's really precious is the apothecaries the fineness of Christ and the fragrance of Christ and So if any of our brethren are wearing fragrance today, you've got scripture for So verse 30 with verse 31 again, you've got the goldsmiths I mentioned twice aren't they and then verse 31 the merchants the point is this and it's a very practical point, isn't it? sometimes business life Secular life can take over So that we're not laboring in the assembly as as we should and as we could not these men Right these men had had a particular employment and so on but they were still engaged in the work of the Lord What's your question Tom I Think the point that Tom is making is that the high priest built but he didn't built along his own house, right? so What one of the practical things that's been raised about that is there was failure in the priestly family at the end of the book One of the things that have been raised brother. Brandon is there's no locks and bars where he was building at the beginning And maybe if there had been locks and bars associated with his work at the beginning There might not have been failure with his grandson when it comes to the end of the book if that had been taken into account Is that good Tom? I Have no clue.

I mean, I don't I don't know. Is there something that you know? Even though we're part of this world outside of it, so you might be doing the same thing Appreciate that. Thank you Is there a possibility Brandon that the order given to us is because this is the order that is expected in Christian life Because we're going to reach the muster gate Inspection at the end our brother Dan has mentioned there's two gates that are not mentioned here The prison gate isn't mentioned here And the reason why the prison gate is mentioned is the prison gates have been opened for us The gate of Ephraim is not mentioned here.

The reason for that is there's no Ephraim is linked to idolatry and idolatry is left out of here They're back to the the former things back to the principles of of God So then let's go around these gates just very briefly and quickly and outline what you're talking about John So that we might maybe there's someone here and you you're in the valley gate and you don't know what to do next right, so we had the sheep gate and that speaks to us of Salvation and then the for some if the fish gate is the idea There's a nice thought when a person's first saved. There's no greater evangelist than the one who's first saved The joy of their salvation the joy of the Lord and they go to reach others, but then they need to learn the old paths right, they need to be taught and taught the doctrine and So they've got the old gate and then you're tested on what you learn right, so you're brought into a place of testing you're brought into to really the valley gate and Some someone has noticed the distance between the gates Sometimes it's longer. Sometimes it's shorter and it kind of has a Nice thought to it, but you're at the valley gate You're being tested and the next gate you end up is is that the dung gate? What happened in the valley? It was revealed to us.

What was what was the problem? And so now we find out from God what the problem is what what the hindrance is. It's got to go and Just before we go there Some thoughts about Christ as we talked about him in the sheep gate and the fish gate and the old gate What is it we need to learn about the Lord Jesus way more than what we learned at Salvation He's there at the old gate and you go out past the Lord and out through the old gate and you're getting the dot you're learning About about Christ you're learning about his person. You're learning about his character.

You're learning about his deity You're learning about his glory. You're learning about the ancient of days And you're learning the doctrine of the New Testament and you're learning you're learning about baptism and you're learning about fellowship and you're learning about Consecration and separation where we are now and you're come back in from that And now you're in the valley gate and you think of the Lord Jesus there at the valley gate. I Thought there the valley of the shadow of death and the Lord Jesus there he's There's nothing he hasn't been through Now we go through there he's been through it all and he can relate as you're going out into it and He can relate when you're coming back from it and you see the keeper of the gate and you keep it's almost like you nod when you got the lesson and You move voluntarily now to the dung gate and there's the Lord again What are you gonna do? You're carrying out that garbage He might say something like this That load you're carrying there cost me an awful lot And that's sin that you've had in your life for a long time And you go out past him and he looks at you and he said that cost me dearly And you take it out and you dump it and know what you don't do You don't grab someone else's garbage and bring it back in.

You're not going to get in There's a young there was a man saved some years ago in tent meetings at home and He asked the gas station clerk what the meetings were about and she said I don't go there the people are all crazy so the man stuck through the cornfield and Across a little creek and he come in and he sat there in the meeting and afterwards He said I can I you guys aren't crazy or just normal people and he kept coming to the meetings He drove his car the next time instead of sneaking through the corn and one night. I asked him I said Bob Have you been saved? He said yep, and he kept walking on by Bob's pretty rough guy So next time I next night I said Bob have you been saved he said I told you last night I was saved. I said we didn't tell me what happened.

He said let me put it this way for you He said Paul and Dan and they're the two city City maintenance guys in our little village of 450 people. He said every Tuesday Paul and Dan go around and they pick up everybody's garbage But he said it doesn't do me any good till they stop by my place and get mine Isn't that a wonderful picture of salvation? Provision for the whole city, but it doesn't do the individual any good until it's his own garbage Then he said this and then they take it away Why would I want to run after it again? This is the dung gate We take it out and we leave it out there So we don't have to go back to the valley gate. We'll be back to the valley gate soon enough But the dung gate and there's the Lord and the price it was paid and then you go up around the corner.

What's next? But the Lord didn't need to take anything out via the dung gate In his own perfection. Yeah, we can see the perfection of the Lord Jesus that he never had to carry anything out through that So in the in this thought of restoration, that's what the whole book is about restoration and the dung gate removing corruption It's followed then by the fountain gate because in dealing with corruption, it doesn't end there It doesn't end with just removing it there needs to be cleansing to follow right? So if we confess our sin, he's faithful and just to forgive us or I cleanse us from all unrighteousness So it's followed by the fountain gate and then the water gate, which would be a source of refreshment We need refreshment for our souls, too We get the water gate a little bit later Won't we chapter eight because when we get to chapter eight, it's the most interesting thing The fountain gate perhaps might suggest to us the energy of God's Spirit John 7 yeah shall be in him a well of water springing up and Then associate it with the Spirit of God then we get the Word of God as we see it at the water gate in chapter 8 And that will keep leading us on in Christian life Brandon Yeah So is that kind of a theme through the scriptures that the moving water is a picture of the Spirit and the still water is That of the Word of God, right? Yes. Yes So the horse gate The horse gate tell us about that it's for horses What did horses speak of speak of war Might be energy strength power.

Yeah need for power need for speed No, not speed You need power brother It's always looking towards the East Gate, isn't it brother Brandon one of the things I did mention is that You don't mind me going to the East Gate. Do you know? Oh, no. Yes Well when we get to the East Gate It doesn't say with the East Gate what it said about some of the former gates over against his house over against his house over against his house when we get to the East Gate verse number 30 says over against his chamber and The idea of the chamber is it was just a gate Just a lodging place for the night.

You say why was that because this man he was waiting for the Sun rising from the east And so it's a lovely picture of the Lord's coming for us And after the coming of the Lord Jesus, then we get to the muster gate There will be inspection at the judgment seat of Christ and we can see that picture being brought out But this man he was building in expectancy. The Sun is going to rise at the East Gate Yeah so we'll just speak about the Lord for a minute and Just to build on some of the things you've been saying Brandon the old gate I like to think Maybe the oldest gate of Jerusalem and maybe a gate that was left from the original city the old city Now when is the first time in Scripture that you read of Jerusalem? Well, that's in relation to Melchizedek who was king of Salem. So that old gate I just like to think in my mind and maybe it's a bit imaginative, you know maybe this was a gate that Melchizedek was associated with of course Christ is priest after the order of Melchizedek and yet you think that One day Christ came to Jerusalem and whether he ever went through the old gate or what? I don't know But when Christ came to Jerusalem, he was older than Melchizedek.

He's an eternal person He's from everlasting and he's come to the old gate Isn't that remarkable and then just these last three gates because John started to raise it I think those last three gates in particular speak of a coming Christ, don't they? So when you think of the horse gate you think of Revelation 19 You think of heaven being opened and Christ is coming out on a white horse and he's a sovereign then it's king of kings So when you think of the horse gate, I think of Christ as the sovereign when you think of the East gate You think of Christ as the Son of Righteousness arising with healing in his wings so the sovereign is coming out of heaven the Son of Righteousness will arise with healing in his wings and then the Mifcad gate as I call it this gate of Muster and inspection and judgment. Well, that's not so much Christ as sovereign or as the son su n But that's Christ as the Son of Man the one who's going to exercise judgment and authority on the earth So I like to think of those last three gates in relation to his coming just a comment on the on the East gate in Particular you mentioned the chamber in the upper chamber That were introduced to one aspect of the Lord's coming, right? And then we we read in Ezekiel that the glory of the God of Israel came from the east to fill the house upon the manifestation of Christ and you've mentioned the The Son of Righteousness arising and so on so both aspects of his coming mentioned there So which gate was closest to the Golgotha or which gate did the Lord go out? For the Norse I take it which would be the sheep gate What was your thought? Honest question. I couldn't find anything distinctive.

I'm not sure. Yeah. Yeah, so maybe you guys