talking about the need for continued revival and believe it or not we're not going to even finish tonight this chapter because there's a lot in here and I think it'd do us well to give full attention to this last chapter Remember, the greatest need of our church or any church is for revival, and that is a continuous spirit of revival. And it's not enough just to experience a revival or have a revival meeting and then slip back into our complacency and our lethargy or taking our ease in Zion. And we looked at that second law of thermodynamics that states things move toward the maximum state of entropy or disorder. And that is also a law, I believe, of the spiritual realm. We can see that because we live in a society that's spiritually and morally permissive. And aren't you thankful today? I was just thinking all the songs in the Bible that speak of being a soldier. We are called to be soldiers. And soldiers, as Paul said to Timothy, endure hardness. You know, it's a war. We're in a war. And you have to have that mindset that you're in a war. I know a lot of people don't like that mindset, but it's real. Because we war against the flesh. We war against the world. We war against Satan himself. And so we need to be on guard every day. We need to be in the Word of God if we're going to continue in a spirit of revival. And we're going to need to be fighting against our enemies and if we're going to continue in that spirit of revival. And that's a little bit what we're seeing here. Unfortunately, we're looking at the people of God who experienced revival in the book of Nehemiah. We know that Nehemiah had to go away back to the king Artaxerxes in the palace there. Look at verse 6. But in all this time was not I at Jerusalem. For in the two and thirtieth year of our desert season the king of Babylon came I unto the king and after certain days obtained I leave of the king. So now we see he's come back to Jerusalem. He could have been gone one or two years. We don't know exactly how long that was. But when he got back, he found that the people had backslidden. They began to violate, in violation of God's holy commandments. They were living in violation of God's laws. They went back on the commitments. We'll bring that up a little bit later. And they were no longer steadfast. You know, they were no longer maintaining that spirit of revival. Now, thankfully, Nehemiah was not easily discouraged. Amen. I think when we wrap up the book, maybe in the next week or so, we will see a little bit about his leadership and his his character but when he came back he had to deal with this sin and that's never an easy thing for anyone to do any leader to do confront sin confront ungodliness but he had to do that because god he had to get he had to maintain his call amen he had to be faithful to his call but then he knew the call of god upon the nation upon the people of god so he knew what god wanted them so he had to he had at times he had to confront sin And if not, could you imagine if he didn't do that, what would happen to those people, to the nation again, if he never stepped in? and so he was a faithful governor for 12 years now he's back and we're going to see that what is taking place and we were looking at these areas of compromise and last week we looked at the area of compromise of separation they were to maintain a separate life we looked at verses one and three where they were not to They were not to be involved with the mixed multitude. They were to be separated. And God already taught them those lessons in the past. But it's sad, you know, God teaches you a lesson, you go back. You forget what you committed to God and then, unfortunately, not only that, you suffer again. And you probably suffer worse when you go back and commit the same sins. And so this was the compromise in verses one to three. And today we saw very clearly that as a church, we also are called to separate from the mixed multitude. The mixed multitude are these people who are worldly and carnal and even lost. They follow the philosophy of Balaam. And this is where we are today, and it's not that we are going to isolate ourselves from the world, but the point is we're not going to imitate the world, amen? We need to maintain a position of separation, a position of holiness that God can even use us. And remember, I quoted two preachers of old Vance Havner said today, the world has so infiltrated the church that we are more beset by traitors within than foes without. Satan is not fighting churches, he's joining them. He lived from 1901 to 1986, so think about that time frame. He already saw what was coming, and it was calling out against that. Oswald Chambers said in his time today the world has taken so many things out of the church and the church has taken so many things out of the world That it's difficult to know where you are He lived from 1874 to 1917 and so don't think that This is something new that we're battling against, or this is something new that God's calling us to. This is the battle we're waging. This is the call of God. And if we're going to maintain that spirit of revival and vitality, spiritual vitality, then we have to be separate, separate from these things of the world. Amen. Now we move on to our second point in this chapter, verses four to nine. And I'm just gonna speed up here, because we went over this last week. Now we see compromise in the area of purification. It's sad, because we read this verse four, and who's the one responsible? And before this, Eliashib the priest, having the oversight of the chamber of the house of our God, was allied unto Tobiah. And he prepared for him a great chamber where aforetime they laid the meat offering, the frankincense, and the vessels, and the tithes of corn, the new wine, and the oil, which was commanded to be given to the Levites, and the singers, and the porters, and the offerings of the priest. But in all this time I was not at Jerusalem. He's recalling this. Remember we read this. For in the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes, king of Babylon, came I unto the king, after certain days obtained I leave of the king and I came to Jerusalem and understood of the evil that Elias ship did for Tobiah and preparing him a chamber in the courts of the house of God and It grieved me sore therefore I cast forth all the household stuff of Tobiah out of the chamber then I commanded and they cleansed the chambers and and thither brought I again the vessels of the house of God with the meat offering and the frankincense." So this is a compromising area of purification. This was supposed to be the house of God. Remember, we read a little bit about the Moabites and the Ammonites, that they were not allowed in the courts of the Lord unto the tenth generation. And here is Tobiah the Ammonite living in the house of God. It's like, how does this happen, right? You can really look around today and see churches that once were strong churches that once preached the Word of God, had standards of separation and holiness. Today, you would not recognize them. And thankfully, many of them are taking the name Baptist off their church, and rightly so. It's sad to see the name go, but we know that they're not Baptist by biblical standards, so why carry the name? It just creates confusion. So here we have this type of thing going on. He's living in the temple, but it's the high priest allowing him to do that. Isn't that where it starts and how it's so important to align yourself with the Word of God and to stay straight, amen? even as a preacher, a leader, because if not, you start compromising, you start bringing this in, bringing this person in to the Lord's church, and they're gonna be teaching this and that, different music, different standards, and what's gonna happen. The sad thing is, These were the fiercest opponents of Nehemiah. That's the other thing that must hurt, you know. Here's the Tobiah and Sanballat. Remember, they were the fiercest opponents to Nehemiah and the Jews when they were rebuilding the walls. And we're not going to take the time, but we could go back and see what was going on. In chapter 2, it talks about them. Chapter 4, chapter 6. These were enemies. And now, he's living in one of the storage rooms of the house of God. He's using it for himself. The high priest had given the enemy of Nehemiah a foothold in the house of God. Can you imagine? Now this man, Tobiah, was having more influence than Nehemiah because Nehemiah is God. This is what we call desecration of the house of God. Desecration of the house of God. Defiling the temple. Somehow we know that there's some, you know, how the enemy does it. They got entangled probably through marriage. You see what I'm saying? Get entangled and feel like you have to be loyal to this person because they're family now or you know them and your family knows them. So now you kind of got to bring them in. So Nehemiah returns. Remember, this is going on when he's gone. Now he returns in verses 6 and 7. And what does he have to do? He has to confront the sin. He has to confront the sin. And we do have to understand, brethren, that desecrating the house of God is a serious sin. Now, we need to understand what we mean by this. Because a lot of times we get this mixed up with the house of God. And we miss what God's really telling us about the house of God. You see, the house of God isn't the physical building. The house of God is the congregation. And you come together in a building. See what I'm getting at? That's today. And I want you to see that very clearly because it's a very serious offense And certainly, yeah, we're saying bring it into the house of God, and we understand bring it into the church house, but this is where we're meeting, so you're bringing it in here, and now we're meeting in here, so everyone's being defiled by these things. That's okay to say that and understand that, and I'm not against saying those things. I probably preach them myself. But I want you to understand in a very strict sense of the matter that we are to be sanctified. We are to be set apart for worship and praise of God and the study of God's holy word. So when we think of the church, It's not to be involved in worldly functions, amen? We're not here to be doing business transaction and trading and buying and selling. We're not here for dancing and partying and we're not here for bitterness and hatred and gossip and slander and profanity. We're not here for indecent and modest and moral dress and behaviors. Because we have to remember two things. Number one, that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Go to 1 Corinthians 6.19. We're going to look at two verses over here. And we need to be understanding that We're carrying the Holy Spirit of God with us in our bodies. Our bodies are made to be the temple of God. Verse 19, what? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own. You see, we belong to God now. Now everything we do, even our physical bodies, we must consider the will of God of what we are to be, how we are to act and how we are to speak, how we are to carry ourselves, how we are to dress and how, you know, our modesty and Our countenance and everything about us should be concerning because we're the temple of the Holy Spirit. Now we belong to Him. Thinking of that price, we preach on that in the morning. For you are bought with a price. We know what that price is. The blood of Jesus Christ. We're bought with the blood of Jesus Christ. Therefore glorify God in your body, look, and in your spirit. See, your body, your physical body, but your spirit is that inner man where you should not carry bitterness and anger and hatred. See, all those things that defile us inside are still a defilement and desecration of the temple of God. But not only is our body the temple, the church body is the temple of the Holy Ghost. Go to 1 Corinthians 3. And Paul was warning them. Remember, he's telling them, you know, I planted, Apollos watered, and every man take heed how the foundation is Jesus, and every man take heed. he was telling you know i'm a wise master builder i laid the foundation paul apollos came in peter comes in cephas remember they said no i'm of peter i'm of i'm of cephas i'm of paul i'm of christ i'm of apollos remember they had that division so this is carrying over in the whole book paul saying no we're just we're just laborers co-laborers with god And so when they understand brethren, the church, they understand this is their body. He taught him with the body of Christ and the body of Christ. And that's where we need to understand. We come together inside here. We are the house of God. When we come together in here, we are the body of Christ as a church. And then he says this to them. Verse 16 and 17. Know ye not, ye, plural, that ye are the temple of God, plural. He's talking to the congregation. You're the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy. You see how serious it is to desecrate and defile the house of God, the temple of God. You just wonder, you know, what it's going to be like at the judgment seat of Christ. Because all this built in, remember, the fire's going to come, try who's going to get the rewards. Well, it's all talking about building the church. Taking care of the temple of God. What's it gonna be like, you know, for those who desecrate and defile? We need to be very careful with God's house, amen? And if you continue with this same teaching in the Bible, we are the house of God. We are the house of God. Not a physical building. You, the church, are the house of God. And so, let's be careful. We are become the sanctuary in which the Spirit of God dwells. And God wants the temple to be holy, brethren. That's us. Amen? Our bodies need to be holy. Congregation needs to be holy. We need to be completely considerate of God's commands. And so this is a compromise, is it not? Can't you see the compromise? Go back to our text if you're not there already. How does Nehemiah feel? Amen? It says in verse 7, And I came to Jerusalem and understood the evil that Elisha did for Tobiah, and preparing him a chamber in the courts of the house of God. And it grieved me sore Therefore, I cast forth all the household stuff of Tobiah out of the chamber. Now, remember, when we think of the temple of the Old Testament, the glory of God resided there in the Holy of Holies. That's what I'm getting at. Yeah, they had to come into that place, the Holy of Holies. They didn't have the spirit of God dwelling in them like us. That's the change. So he comes in, and he casts forth all the household stuff to buy out of the chamber. Then I commanded that they cleanse the chambers, amen? And thither brought I again the vessels of the house of God. So we see he confronts his sin. He cleanses the chambers of the house of God. And he brings back in, remember, when Tobiah moved in there, they had to take out all the meat offerings, the frankincense, the vessels, tithes of corn and wine and oil. All that was removed. Tobiah comes in and lives in there. So we see he had to go cast forth all that stuff out of the house of God and the chambers, cleanse it. Obviously, that's all the purification, amen, the cleansings. and then bringing back the vessels into the house of God, the meat offerings and the frankincense and restore, restore what God wanted in his house. Isn't that what we ought to constantly be doing? Isn't that what revival is? Amen. We're casting out the things that don't belong in our lives and, you know, cleansing ourselves, purifying ourselves. In fact, we do this from week to week. We do it from day to day and we need to keep on. in this battle. Amen? But now we see another compromise and this is our last point tonight because of time. Verses 10 to 14 compromise in the area of cooperation and this has to do with financial support. What happens here? You see, remember what happened when it says that the tithes, remember, the tithes of the corn, all that, that were given to the Levites and the singers and the porters and the offerings of the priests, that was all taken out. And what they did is they stopped that. And the sad thing is, let's read our text 10 to 14, then we'll go back to the commitments that they made, and we read them before, and that was in the period of revival, what God does. He said, And I perceived that the portions of the Levites had not been given them. For the Levites and the singers that did the work were fled, everyone to his field. Brethren, this is... I'm gonna get ahead of myself, but I won't. Then I contended I with the rulers and said, Why is the house of God forsaken? And I gathered them together and set them in their place. Then brought all Judah, the tithe of the corn, and the new wine, and the oil unto the treasuries. And I made the treasurers over the treasuries. Shalamiah the priest, and Zadok the scribe, and of the Levites, Paddai, and next unto them, Hanan, the son of Zachor, the son of Mattaniah, for they were counted faithful, amen? And their office was to distribute unto the brethren. Now he cries out to God, Remember me, O God, concerning this, and wipe not out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God and for the offices thereof. So we see, first of all, what's going on here. They forsook their commitments. We have commitments. You have commitments. We all have commitments. If God saved us, if we're baptized members, if He puts us in the body, then we are all to be committed in cooperation, participation, in giving unto the Lord and the Lord's work. Chapter 10, we see how that all took place and do you know they actually signed a covenant. They put these things in writing, brethren. There's nothing wrong with that. We should be reminded of that. Chapter 10, verse 32, we made ordinances for us to charge ourselves yearly the third part of a shekel for the service of the house of God, for the showbread and for the continual meat offering. and for the continual burnt offering of the Sabbaths, of the new moons, the set feasts, and for the holy things, and for the sin offerings, to make an atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God. We cast lots among the priests, the Levites, and the people for the wood offering, to bring it into the house of God, and the houses of our fathers, at the times appointed year by year, to burn upon the altar of the Lord our God, as it is written in the law. To bring the first fruits of our ground and the first fruits of all of our fruit of all trees year by year unto the house of the Lord Also the firstborn of our sons and of our cattle and as it is written in the law the firstlings of our herds and of our flocks to bring to the house of our God and the priest that minister in the house of our God and that we should bring the first fruits of our dough and of our offerings and the fruit of all manner of trees, of wine and oil unto the priests of the chambers of the house of our God, and the tithes of our ground unto the Levites, that the same Levites might have the tithes in all the cities of our tillage. And the priest, the son of Aaron, shall be with the Levites when the Levites take tithes, and the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes unto the house of our God, to the chambers, into the treasures house for the children of Israel and the children of Levi shall bring the offering of the corn of the new wine of the oil under the chambers which are the vessels of the sanctuary and the priests that minister and the porters and singers now look at this we will not forsake the house of our God you see that commitment we're not going to forsake the house of God They made a covenant. Amen? There's things that they signed and this covenant that they made. And we know what happens. It's sad, but when we do not, and when they do not give, and if we do not give faithfully, the ministry will suffer. You can't improve on God's plan. I know everyone tries. They say, you know, well, there's no more tithing today. We're just going to give by grace. And then, you know, what's the grace? How does everyone define grace? You know, if I define it, grace giving should outdo the tithe. You should be given well over the tithe. if you're given by grace in the New Testament. That's why I say tithing is just the foundation. That's why we believe in offerings above the tithe, amen? Because we should be giving more than 10%. That's just the way it is. But you have all these tithes coming in, then you have the Levites, they have to take what they receive, then they have to tithe on it, amen? So don't think that, okay, the preacher gets paid but he doesn't tithe. No, preachers tithe, preachers give because that's God's plan. We all ought to be giving. We all ought to understand that everything we own is God's. And then every time you bring your tithe and you bring your offerings, you're recognizing everything belongs to Him. You're recognizing Him as the Lord and Sovereign of all things. It's good for us. And it's good for the ministry. Because here, now, if you remember what's going on in chapter 13. So he knew, while he was cleansing those rooms, that there were no tithes. There were no funds. There was no food. The people had stopped tithing. And so the temple workers were short of funds. So they broke their commitments. They became lax in their support. And what did the Levites have to do? That's what it says. Go back to 1310. Here's the result. Not only will the ministry suffer, But the ministers will suffer. And I perceive that the portion of Levites had not be given them for the Levites and the singers that did the work were fled everyone to his field. So instead of being able to stay in the ministry, they had to go out and work in their fields. That's what it says. And so the ministry is going to suffer. The ministers would be scattered. When? we compromise in this area. It still happens today. God warned them. He said, take heed to thyself that thou forsake not the Levite as long as thou livest upon the earth. That's pretty serious. Amen. And the Levite that is within thy gates, thou shalt not forsake him, for he hath no part nor inheritance with thee. So they were to take care of these Levites and God had this plan and we see it right here unfolding, not only here, but throughout the Word of God, throughout the whole Old Testament, even in the New Testament. You know, it's very clear. Paul was full time in the ministry and all these churches sent him offerings and You know, Jesus said, the labor is worthy of his hire. And really, and I hope you understand this, I want you to take it in the biblical context. It says that preachers that labor in the Word are worthy of double honor. That means double pay. I know, you know, a lot of churches like to keep the preacher poor, you know. That's not what God teaches. I'm not saying to get the preacher rich, but you should honor the preacher. And double honor means double pay. That's what that means. Just go read your Bible. I'm not making it up. So if you took the average salary of everyone in the church and double it, what is it? I'm not saying, I'm just saying, this is how we ought to think. This is what should be in our hearts because that's what God says. We shouldn't be stingy on these things. We should grow in these things, and God will bless us. And we're trusting him, and I know we are. And I'm not complaining. I just don't want you to, I said, understand it in the context. We are happy. We are being taken care of. It's not a complaint. I am telling you what the Bible says, and sometimes we have to do that, amen? And it's one of those subjects that it's hard to preach about money and tithing and giving because people can misinterpret the preacher and think, well, he's just doing that selfishly because he wants more. Right? No, I think every preacher that loves the Lord and understands the ministry just wants to stay in the ministry, just wants to do more ministry, just wants to do more for God with the money and, you know, add some things in the ministry to the church and build this and that and keep growing. You know, that's what it's all about. It's not building your own fortune. No one should be doing that. Now, Nehemiah, again, it's not easy when you think about this. Go back and look at the corrective measures that he had to take in chapter 13. And with this, we'll be wrapping up verses 11 on the first thing he does, he rebukes the leaders. Verse 11. He says, then contended I with the rulers and said, why is the house of God forsaken? And I gathered them together and set them in their place. So he had to start with the leadership. You know, why are you guys allowing this? And then he had to recall the Levites back. Amen. He had to recall the Levites. He had to bring up this restoration in verse 12. Then brought all Judah the tithe of the corn of the new wine and the oil unto the treasuries. Amen? And they basically... He's saying there, let's get these offerings up. Let's get them back. And let's get the men of God back in their place to serve God. Now, it wouldn't be easy. You know, these men had to make arrangements to move back to Jerusalem, because they had to go home in their villages. Now they have to go back, but this is what the ministry is all about. Amen? It's not necessarily, okay, well, let me make this easy decision. You know, I'm going to move from Africa, go to Pennsylvania, go to Texas. You know, this seems to be easy. Let me take that route. That's not what it's all about. And I don't advise you to be doing that in a three-month period, by the way. I thought Brother Wes, he's getting pretty personal in the prayer. He said, pray for his ear, and pray for his head, and Lord, I pray for his brain. I thought you were gonna keep going, brother. I pray for his sanity. You may wanna pray that. Thank you. Amen. So now he's challenging the people, bringing the men of God back, and then he's challenging them, amen, to bring the tithes in verse 12. He had to renew the tithes and offerings. Renew that. And remember, He's trying to get them. He says in verse 11, remember, they use the words, we will not forsake the house of our God. He says, why is the house of God forsaken? He's taking them back to that commitment. Amen. He knew what they said. He knew what was in their hearts back then in revival time. Thankfully, Brethren and and this is what God's people do when they're taught when they're God speaks They responded favorably. Amen They started doing this They began to support they began to bring their tithes and they began to take care of God's house and they began to provide the adequate livelihood for the priest and all the ministers the Levites and then verse 13 he says and I made treasurers over the treasury so he's going to replace the custodians amen he's got to get this all organized say hey these things were let go now let's get some faithful men in here so he chooses these men in verse 13 they were counted faithful amen and you look throughout the Bible God Says it's required in stewards. What does it say? I think that's one of the first Corinthians 4 to its required in stewards that a man be found faithful Amen Just be faithful God will use us amen so he's putting them back in their office to distribute unto their brethren and So here he is making all these steps Well, let's not forget how that he cried out to God. Amen. He cried out to God for God's help. I think this is where we all need to come back to because, number one, there's times of deep disappointment Could you imagine how he felt when he came back and he saw all this evil going on? It definitely was disappointing. Obviously, he probably felt inadequate to do the job. How am I gonna confront this? How am I gonna restore this? How am I gonna see You know, this brought back to where it needs to be, God, and he cried out for God's help. And we need to do that, brethren. If we're slipping back, we need to cry out for God's help. Remember me, oh my God, concerning this. Wipe out, wipe not out my good deeds that I've done for the house of my God and for the offices thereof. I think, you know, when you have to confront sin and you have to confront these things, then I believe as a leader, you could be struggling with, you know, now people aren't going to like me because I'm doing these things. Because I have to call you out or call this out. Now this is, you know, that's where, Everyone's happy with the preacher until he starts stepping on your toes. When it becomes a little bit uncomfortable. And I think that's where Nehemiah is. He's probably looking around and thinking, God remember me. Because these people may despise me after this. I'm confronting this person, this person, that person. And after this, you know, So he's crying out to God. But I think even from your position, my position, we all need to cry out to God. Where are we? Where are we in this area of separation? Are we compromising? Amen. Where are we in the area of purification? What are we allowing in our lives? The temple of God and the house of God. And are we compromising in this area of cooperation and giving and being faithful to our commitments? Let's follow this example. Cry out to God. Amen. Bring us back, Lord. Obviously, he was a man that maintained his revival. Amen. He didn't lose it. And I think that's what we need to be praying about tonight. Lord, help us keep our commitments. Help us maintain the spirit of revival. Help us, Lord, to be so faithful and really our good deeds in the house of God. Amen. Our good works and help us to be steadfast and to be faithful. That's what he's praying unto God. And he understood the offices. He said, you know what? I'm restoring these offices. I want your work to be done in a good, in a way that honors you. And brethren, that's all we, we're all trying to strive for the glory of God and bring things to God's level. You know, we're always falling back down here. Let's bring it back up to where God wants us. Amen. In the spiritual, in our service, in our giving, or in our separation from this world and the sins, don't look around and say, well, so-and-so does this and so-and-so does that, so I'm okay. No, Jesus is the standard. God is the standard. You're to be like Christ, not like so-and-so. And you're not even, you're supposed to go beyond even the preacher. Not that the preacher shouldn't, he should have that example, but you need to, he's not the perfect, Jesus is the perfect example. Looking unto Jesus, remember, looking unto Jesus. When we look unto Jesus, we look away from everything else. Looking unto Jesus. Let's pray, let's stand for a moment, every head bowed, every eye closed. Thank you for your attention. It's been a good day in the house of God. Father, we just come to you tonight. Father, you know our hearts. You know where we stand with you. You know our spiritual lives inside and out. You know our hearts, our thoughts. You know our ambitions and desires, our dreams, our vision. You know everything about us. And Father, help us tonight Father, we want you to work in our lives in such a way that we would not be compromisers, that we would not go back on our previous commitments and the covenants and our commitment to you and salvation and surrender and separation, sanctification, purification in our lives, holiness. Father, help us not to compromise in these areas. Father, we are soldiers. We're in a war. We're waging a war and help us, Lord, to accept that challenge, to put on the whole armor of God, to be the soldiers that you call us to be in our minds, in our hearts, the faith, the sword, the shield, breastplate of righteousness, Lord, that holiness, that righteousness. going about preaching the gospel, our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, help us to be constantly preaching. And Father, help us to remember, there's nothing covering our backs because we're not to retreat and run away. So Father, help us stay in the battle. as a soldier that you called us to be. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.