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in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Well,
let's turn to 123 then before we turn to God's Lovely John Newton hymn. How
sweet the name is that comes to sound in a believer's ear. It soothes his sorrows, heals
his wounds, and drives away his fear. One, two, three. How sweet the name of Jesus sounds
in a believer's ear. It soothes his sorrows, heals
his wounds, and drives away his fears. It makes the wounded spiritual
and calms the troubled breast. Manner to the hungry soul and
to the weary rest. and hiding place by never failing
treasury filled with boundless source of grace. Brother, friend, my prophet,
priest, and king, my Lord, my life, my way, my end, accept
the praise I bring. Hold my arm and hold my warmest
soul. When I see thee as thou art,
I'll praise thee as I ought. Till then I would thy love proclaim. with every breathing breath. And may the music of thy name
refresh my soul in death. Ten Boom, that lovely little
Dutch lady. And maybe you've read The Hiding
Place, or maybe you've seen the film of her life as a family
in the Second World War. They hid Jewish people in their
little watchmakers' home in Haarlem. in Holland. And I think one of
the first biographies, I think one of the first ones, you read
Gwen, wasn't it? And maybe you've seen little
videos of this lovely Dutch accent. And she spoke about Jesus. But
she was full of little pithy sayings. And one of the things
she said is, if you want to be distressed, look around at the
world. if you want to be depressed look
inside your own heart if you want to be at rest look at Jesus
that's true isn't it? it's a distressing world and
looking in is the quick route to depression but when we look
at Jesus Christ everything changes that's why the scriptures say
to fix your eyes upon Jesus the author and the finisher perfecter
of your faith so as christians we're to be focused the apostle
paul one thing i do and so we know these things we must fix
our eyes upon jesus i don't know if you ever find that you think
well i'm so down today or why is it well normally because we're
looking at the circumstances around us family problems things to do things you should
have done anyway we look everywhere and then we thought oh what am
I doing I must fix my eyes upon Jesus and so we are people who
are so easily distracted we lose focus and focus really I guess
is the thing we're looking at tonight dealing with distraction
And we have an enemy who seeks to distract us and wants to get
us down. If we're truly Christians, we
can't lose our salvation. We rejoice in that. We've been gripped. We can't
lose our salvation. But the next best thing the devil
will do is to so get us down that we are just no good to man
or beast. We'll deal with distraction. We're going to have a look at
the book of Nehemiah. because what we have a look at here this
was the key point a turning point if you like in the work and we
know the book of Nehemiah I'm sure here's this a young man
the people of God have been in captivity in Babylon And the
captives would be going back in stages. So one group has gone
back, and here's Nehemiah, this young man, still in captivity,
still in Babylon, longing to know how things were going. And
then the news comes that the people are in great distress.
The walls have been burned down, and things are not going at all
well. So he feels God really burdening him. to do something
about it. So we see him praying, the praying
leads to action, that's always the root isn't it? Prayer leads
to doing something and so he sees the king, the king gives
him permission and all the resources he needs to go back and start
building the wall of Jerusalem. So the book of Nehemiah is a
great book but there's something much more going on here than
the building of the wall, the rebuilding of the wall. This
is a book of revival. This is a book of God coming
to his people at a low time and building them up and reviving
them. And so this is a key time now because, and let me just
read those opening verses again because this is the, nearing
the completion of the building. Chapter 6, I've got the new King
James now. Now it happened when Sam Ballat,
Tobiah, Gesham the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard
that I'd rebuilt the wall and that there was no breaks left
in it, though at that time I'd not hung the doors and the gates,
that Sam Ballat and Gesham sent to me saying, come, let us meet
together in one of the villages in the Plain of Honour. but they
thought to do me harm. So I sent messengers to them
saying, I'm doing a great work so that I cannot come down. Why
should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you? But they sent me this message
four times. Well, maybe I'll just leave it
there. So here's Nehemiah. And we can see right from the
start, he's convinced of the need to stay focused. There's
an awareness about this man. He was a strong leader, discerning
man. and he knew exactly what was
happening now already he's had to deal with opposition so these
characters that are reappearing he's met with them early before
go back to chapter 4 beginning of chapter 4 and we can see here
that there is Sanballat there's Tobiah these are the enemies
of God And so looking behind this, this is satanically inspired
opposition. When Paul in Ephesians speaks
about that our battle is not only in flesh and blood, but
spiritual forces of evil in heavenly realms, opposition normally does
come in flesh and blood form, doesn't it? Demons can clothe
themselves. The devil uses flesh and blood
to oppose his work so often. And so, this discerning man,
he's had to deal with this obviously earlier. And so what we see here,
before they've used mockery, we have an enemy that knows very
well how to get to us, mockery and threats. When we come to
chapter 6 now, chapters 5 and 6 actually, we'll skate over
chapter 5 a little bit. But in chapter 5, what Nehemiah
has to deal with here is the problem of exploitation. It's a strange approach, and
yet we've got to see behind this. He's dealing with this whole
idea There's a great outcry, a great
outcry of the people and their wives against the Jewish. It's a bitter complaint about
hardship. And it's a formal complaint,
really. What they're saying, born in
1902, we're struggling to eat. This is a very practical problem
here. We're struggling to eat. Verse
3. We're mortgaged up to the hilt.
Verse 4. The taxation is a problem. It's
crushing us. Verse 5. The exploitation. Why should our children be slaves? while their children, that is
the nobles who are quite well off, have all they want. Aren't
we all want people? So these are really practical
problems. And when we apply this to the
church, there are sometimes very practical problems that come
to us, and yet they can be a force. When it begins to getting us
down, there can be a force behind it that really pulls us away
from bigger issues. were inevitably hard. This was a rebuilding program.
There was a cost to building this wall, to rebuilding the
city, but the poor was aggravated here by these wealthy people. They were exploiting the poor,
and these were God's people. The law was very clear, if we
go back to Deuteronomy chapter 23 verse 19, if I can just read
that out, this is what God has said, you shall not charge interest
to your brother interest on money or food or anything that is lent
out of interest. So the law was very clear, but
these people were exploiting their fellow, their brothers.
And so a real practical problem, money. And we're living in days
where there are hardships. These are wonderful days. I'm
hearing on the news all the time. I know it's relative. We look at some nations and they're
struggling. We look at a piece of bread of a collaboration. And I'm sure we're involved in
cash, which means poverty. And yet there are real people with
real struggles. And if we're not struggling ourselves,
we tend to think, well, it's not much of a problem, really.
And now this was just a problem here. There were those who were
doing okay, but they were being exploited and they were being
heartless and insensitive. And it's the age-old thing, is
that money can be a delicate Christian leaders, we feel a
little bit embarrassed, maybe it's our Britishness, the Americans
don't find it such a problem, but we can feel a problem, speaking
about money at times, and yet it is a big, not just a big practical
problem, but there is something about our view of money that
does affect us. I found that if a person is mean,
it affects the whole of their life. So a meanness when it comes
to money can be a meanness of heart, and it can blight every
area. I remember reading a Billy Graham
quote some years ago, and he said, if a person gets his attitude
right towards money, it will straighten out almost every other
area of his life. That's not true, isn't it? If
you're a generous person, it does seem, it's not just being
generous in money, there's a generous overflowing spirit. That's what
God is about at the end. Are we generous in heart? Are
we generous in our words to people? In our encouragement? Somehow
we can have that meanness. I think meanness is one of the
most overlooked, because we're living
in a culture that's being prudent. Let us be prudent, whereas we
need to be large-hearted and generous, as God is. But really,
positively, it does seem a bit negative. But generosity is a
wonderful quality, isn't it? And it's our duty to be generous,
overflowing people. Paul writes. Paul writes, about the collection
of the Lord's people, on the first day of every week, each
of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his
income. Now, there's something very wise
about that. We're getting near to, children, the poaching bear,
you were getting near that season, and all the emotional pressure. Now, they're great causes. you know, and that's good, but
it's not the best. That's why Paul writes to the
Grintheads saying, well, listen, get locked in to a pattern of
giving. And I'm sure you do this here,
that you have a system so you can give on a regular basis,
so you're not giving when you're, oh, I feel jealous today. ourselves into a pattern, a godly
pattern, where we set aside an amount of our money so that we
can give. And that can be a blessing to
the church and to the wider field. Now, why are we saying this? Well, it's because he was getting
near-my-down. This was a problem that affected
him and was affecting the work. And it shouldn't have been that.
He should have been able to look outward, and yet he was being
caught up with this eternal problem. And I know from my own church
leadership over the years, one of the greatest distractions
is when you have to deal with things in the church, one of
the most depressing things of all. So there's the internal
strife of great grief to Nehemiah. from the main task that he'd
been called to. But really, the rest of chapter
5 is dealing with how Nehemiah deals with this problem. So he
rebukes those who are guilty. Great courage in doing that.
Rebukes those who are guilty. And what is amazing, he's able
to point to himself as an example of generosity. So chapter 5,
verse 12. example and listen to this response. So they said, we will restore
it and will require nothing from them. We will do as you say. And then I called the priests
and required an oath from them that they would do according
to this promise. So this is great, isn't it? That people respond. This is
the leader's dream. What is the leader's dream? When
a message is preached and people say, we're going to do what you
say, what? Well, it's obedience. And so the man is encouraged
here. It's been a thorny issue to grapple
with. And yet the people respond well.
And they can get on with the main job. But it's distraction.
And the time and the energy, we know very well that there
were certain things that crop up in our lives. And we think,
if only I didn't have to deal with it. It's draining. There
were certain things that you know, and you work out your own
scenario. But certain things happen. And
I don't know what it is that I personally find. It's the family. What's the most demanding and
draining area of all? What gives us the sleepless nights?
What gives us the tossing? Well, the nearer it is to us.
Family issues are normally the most difficult issues to deal
with. So, what are we saying? Well, let's not get distracted.
Let's not take our eyes off the ball. At times, I've got a weird
mind, I suppose. At times, the Christian life
seems like we're rugby players. Now, if you're not a rugby player,
bear with me. I'm not either. But you've seen
them. They've got the ball under the
arm, and they're going for the goalpost. And as they go for
the ball, there's a hand coming out every possible direction.
Legs have been pulled here and there. But they're going on.
Now, doesn't the Christian life feel like that at times? We're
trying to fix our eyes on the goal. There's a hand here. But we've got to fix our eyes
on the goal, haven't we? And so here's Nehemiah. But there's more distraction
on the way. So we're going to get to chapter
6 now. Now what happened, we read this
just now. When Sambalat, Tobiah, Geshon,
Harub, and the rest of our enemies heard I rebuilt the wall and
that there were no breaks left in it, there was that time I'd
not hung the doors and the gates. Sambarit and Geshev sent to me
saying come let us meet together in one of the villages but they
thought to do me harm so that's the context then isn't it if
these things came alone we could probably cope with it but it's
when you get a cluster of things happening that we just feel oh
another thing to deal with so the Mechid has sent to Nehemiah
let's get together Now, as I say, under his leadership,
the wall is almost completed. This is the timing we see here. Now, Tobias and his cronies,
we know very well that they were opposed to the work. Here's people
saying, let's get together. But we know very well they were
against the work. But now they're saying, well,
let's cooperate. So they're asking him to leave
Jerusalem and to join them from a conference. This is a place
called Ono. This was located on the Sikors,
near the Gaza Strip. So we've seen that on the news
recently, haven't we? This is where Ono was, on that Gaza Strip. But Nehemiah has the discernment
to realize the power behind it. They sent this message. Notice
how adamant they were, how persistent. They sent me this message four
times and I answered them in the same manner. So it's a tactic
here. And what we're looking at here,
just to draw it out a little bit more, they were after a unity
when it was impossible for there to be unity. These were not on
the same team. And well, again, over the years,
we've had the same thing. People think, oh, let's just
get together. But we know very well that unless
we really are on the same course we can't do it unless it's a
unity based on scripture then we can't join together because
we have to come to the word of God are we really on the same
team are we really pushing for the same cause are we really
preaching the same gospel that's what it comes down to doesn't
it do we really have the same message And very often it's painful,
but we have to say no. We don't have the same gospel.
Sometimes it's another gospel. And so we hold on, even though
we're misunderstood. We're holding on to the fact
that, no, we can't. We can't join with you. And although
true unity is a beautiful thing, if it's not ordered according
to scripture, then we just can't go along with it. So here is
it, distraction. Come down and meet with us, but
we can't do that. But notice how the plot thickens. And so next there is slander.
Now, Nehemiah's had this before. But his character now is being
attacked. And they're cute. He wants to be a king. He's power
mad. And it hurts, doesn't it? When
people criticize us or we're misunderstood, it hurts. We immediately
want to jump and defend ourselves. He must have felt this. You want
to be the king of Judah. Well, he didn't. This man had
a real heart up to God. He wasn't doing this for himself.
And yet they're trying to smear Nehemiah's character and destroy
his reputation. How do you cope with criticism?
Or people misunderstand you. They misunderstand your motives.
It hurts, doesn't it? We naturally want to clear our
name. We naturally want to jump to
defend ourselves. And yet, when we look at the
Lord Jesus, we see he has a very different attitude altogether. I remember reading a lovely quotation
by A. W. Tozzi years ago. He said, if you take care of your character,
God will take care of your reputation. That's great, isn't it? What's
our job? Well, to make sure that we're
people of integrity. If we take care of our character,
God will take care of our reputation. So let people say what they want.
And it's hard. I read some years ago about a Sudanese
Spurgeon. Apparently, the Spurgeons, this
is Charles Spurgeon's wife, they kept chickens. And people accused
them of, I wouldn't say fed them in their own nest, but accused
them of just making mad. A little sideline going on here.
What they were doing was they were selling the eggs and they
wouldn't give them away. They were selling the eggs, there's
a little sideline going on here, but they were using the money
to support widows. But they didn't defend themselves,
they just left it with God, even though they weren't to be criticized
or misunderstood. So, how should a Christian react? How should we react when we are
misunderstood or we're criticized? Well, just four little points
here. Firstly, we take it to God in prayer. If someone criticizes
me, then I need to pray because actually they might have something.
They might be right. I am a sinful person. And so
pray about it. Lord, what they're saying, is
it true? Because sometimes we need to
sort ourselves out. Lord, it's true. Forgive me.
Give me grace to change. So we criticize, pray. Could
there be truth in it? So secondly, if there is truth
in it, put it right. And again, we leave our reputation
with God. Thirdly, thank God for the opportunity
to humble ourselves. Well, thank you. This is part
of your sanctifying process. You're dealing with me. And you're
purifying me. Thank you, Lord, for those who
are attacking me. What a wonderful opportunity.
and then fourthly we pray for grace to continue that's what
Nehemiah does in verse 9 isn't it? now therefore O God strengthen
my hands I love these little arrow prayers we get in Nehemiah
don't you? you know at times you just shoot up a little arrow
prayer O Lord see how they're treating me and you know isn't
that great we can do that we can just send up an arrow and
now O God strengthen my hands so there will always be pressure
if we're seeking to live with the lord there will always be
pressure pressure to make us give up and run we see this here
with us in verse 10 after like the house of shemaiah
the son of deliah the son of megetabiel who was a secret informer
And he said, Let us meet together in the house of God, within the
temple. Let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming
to kill you. Indeed, at night they will come
to kill you. And I said, Should such a man
as I flee? Notice that he's resisting the
devil. That's the New Testament take
on it. See, there are dark forces always
at work in our lives. Would it be wonderful if the
devil had holidays? Wouldn't it be nice? Or if he
did a five-day week, that'd be nice, wouldn't it? Or when we
had a holiday, yeah, you'd take the same time. Wouldn't that
be great? But this is a battle 24-7. our battle against the world,
the flesh and the devil and it is 24-7. He doesn't take pity
on us when we're getting older or when we're sick. Not for a
moment is there any let up. There are dark forces at work
to discourage us and to, if he could, to drive us to despair
and to bring us away from the source of power which is Jesus. to cut us off. We were talking
about spinach earlier, and we had some really in-depth conversations
on it. And there's no one old enough
to remember the old Popeye cartoons here, is there? Oh, come on. But do you remember those Popeye
cartoons? And the hero, poor old Popeye,
beaten up by Bluto, this great giant. What would he do? Well,
he'd eat all the spinach, you know, and sometimes suck it through
his pipe. as soon as he had the spinach, if you have never seen
it you think I'm mad but Popeye knew where his source of strength
was in the spinach now as Christians we know if only we can get to
Jesus Lord help me here that's where our strength is found and
the devil does all he can to keep us from that source of power
and strength so it's um It's keeping going, isn't it? It's
keeping going. I must admit, when I was a young
man, a young Christian, and a fairly young man as well, I used to
dream of being secretly martyred when I was young. wouldn't that
be glorious? To go out, you know, and be headlined
in the Bourbon Echo, evangelist, speared to death by angry pensioners
in Bourbon Town Centre, or, you know, some glorious headline,
and, you know, here I am in my seventies, still having to keep
going. Oh, Lord, it gets harder, doesn't
it? Wouldn't it be wonderful, you
know, and I just, you know, looking at some of the lovely biographies
there, Robert Morinowitz Shane, his work was done by his twenties,
Jim Elliot, you know, these sayings, it was over. And here we are,
still going, aren't we? Still at it. Isn't it hard, folks? Isn't it hard? But that's what
it is. We've got to keep going. Year
in, year out. I read recently of a young man
and his mom sent him to London to be a barber, to be trained
as a barber. And while he was there, he heard
George Whitfield preach. This was a few years ago. And
anyway, he was converted. By the age of 25, he's been called
into the ministry and got a really growing, successful church in
Cambridge. But it went to his head, and
he didn't do too well. He started to drift. He trusted
himself more than God. And he just drifted. He lost
his first love. And there was a scene I was reading of that
he faded into obscurity. And as an old man, he's traveling
by stagecoach. And there's a lady opposite reading
a book. And she's obviously moved by this. And she wants to share
it with this elderly man opposite. And it was the words of a human,
come thou out of every blessing. tune my heart to sing thy grace
streams of mercy never ceasing call for songs of loudest praise
lovely words but the man burst into tears and he said madam
i'm the poor unhappy man who wrote that hymn many years ago
i would give a thousand worlds to enjoy those feelings again
robert robinson to leave the God I love. Here's my heart, oh, take and
seal it, seal it for thy courts above." So, what am I saying? Keep going. We've just got to
keep going. It doesn't seem a very glamorous
thing, does it? But it's a glorious thing that we're keeping going. Our life doesn't seem spectacular,
but God is pleased by the way we just keep going. In our weakness, with all our
failures, we're still in the race, aren't we, saints? We're
still going. You're here tonight. Praise the Lord. We are still
going. So we pray, Lord, give me grace
not to be distracted. And even our very weakness brings
glory to his name, doesn't it? Well, let's pray. Lord, we thank you that It's
you, Lord, that gives us grace. We do believe in the perseverance
of the saints. And yet, Lord, you call us to
look to you to fix our eyes upon Jesus. Thank you, Lord Jesus.
You never waver. You never wane. And Lord, we're
even encouraged by the greatest saints in your world who had
their flaws and their failures and their dips. And Lord, we're
just the same. We're just like Elijah, rejoicing
over triumph one minute, then crying out for you to take our
life the next. Lord, we pray, just give us strength
today. Lord, that's all we pray, just
for today. Give us strength. because we know that when we
call upon you tomorrow we can ask you for grace for tomorrow
too so thank you that we're here tonight we realize Lord that
we're only here because you've kept us and so Lord we pray for
grace to love you to honor you and to even in our lowest moments
to recognize even these can bring glory to your name so hear us
Father we pray that we offer these things now in Jesus name Well, let's turn for our final
hymn to 432. This is one of my funeral hymns. I
can't give you the date. Sorry about that. I'll let you
know as soon as I get some indication. Give me the faith which can remove
and sink the mountain to a plain. It's a prayer, isn't it? Give
me the childlike, praying love which longs to build thy house
again. Thy love, let it my heart o'erpower and all my simple soul
devour. 432. Give me the faith which can remove
and seek the mouth Give me the childlike praying
love, which longs to build thy house again. Thy love, let it my heart o'erpower,
and all my sinful soul. I want an even strong desire. I want a calmly fervent zeal. To save poor souls out of the
fire To snatch them from the verge of hell And turn them to
a pardoning God and quench the brand in Jesus' blood. I would the precious time redeem
and longer live for this alone. to spend and to be spent for
them who have not yet my Savior known. Fully on this my mission
prove.
Dealing with false accusations.
| Sermon ID | 11423196357055 |
| Duration | 40:35 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday - PM |
| Bible Text | Nehemiah 6 |
| Language | English |
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