Okay, I was just informed that, you know, in Kelvin Meter, he had, as he told his sources, his parents had just been brought into the hospital. The medication was not working. So that seems to be the last reserve resort they had. So now they are bringing him to the hospital. So let's remember that for a minute. Gracious God, our hearts ring. Make our spirit bright and true. Salvation's joy. Make willing and make steadfast our will. Lord, we pray for you. a joy to overflow into our hearts whatever service we do, that we would be transformed by the power of Thy Holy Spirit, that we would love and serve the Lord Jesus Christ, that we would worship Him with a broken heart. Then, O Thou, O Lord, build up those broken walls, those broken walls of our woe and our sin. Restore them and make a beautiful, perfect, glorious city, dangerous, bright, and as we heard this morning, beautiful. Without Thee, we can do nothing. Thou hast said, not by my power, but by my Spirit. So Lord, we pray that Thou would strengthen us, empower us, comfort us, and heal us, and draw those who still are far off from Thee to this world. We do lift up the holy fire, the deities, I pray for you, for me, and I need not to be stupid. Hold them, strengthen them, bless them, bless Kelvin. Pray that it's possible to spare your life. If not, Lord, take it all. It's me forever with thee. Above all the sin, All those who are here, come and speak to us. May we hear the voice of Jesus. Let's read a few verses from Nehemiah 11 and a few verses from Nehemiah 12. I know some of you haven't had lots of sweet sleep, I hope. You don't need matches to keep your eyes open. We are going to read a little bit from the scriptures and we have an exciting topic to discuss, so I hope that it will excite you. So let's read the word of God, Nehemiah 11, verses 1-3. And then you move on to 12, 27, 31, and 37, 42. First of all, 11, 1, 2, 3. And the rulers of the people dwelled at Jerusalem, and the rest of the people also cast lots to bring one of ten to dwell in Jerusalem, the holy city, and nine parts to dwell in other cities. And the people blessed all the men that willingly offered themselves to dwell at Jerusalem. Now these are the chief of the province that dwell in Jerusalem, but in the cities of Judah dwelt everyone in his possession of in their cities, to wit, Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the Nephilim, and the children of Solomon's servants. And then you get a list of those who started to live in Jerusalem, a list of names. And we skip to 1227. 1227. And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, they sought the Levites out of all their places to bring them to Jerusalem to keep the dedication with gladness. both with thanksgivings and with singing, with cymbals, psalteries, and with harps. And the sons of the singers gathered themselves together, both out of the playing country, round about Jerusalem, and from the villages of Nef Tovati, and from the house of Gilgal, and out of the field of Diba and Asmaveth, for the singers that builded them villages round about Jerusalem. And the priests and the Levites purify themselves and purify the peoples and the gates and the wall. Then I brought up the princes of Judah upon the wall, and appointed two great companies of them that gave thanks, whereof one went on the right hand upon the wall toward the down gate, and you see somewhere else, verse 40, and so stood the two companies of them that gave thanks, brother, verse 38, where you see the other company on the other side. And then verse 37, we continue reading, And at the fountain gate, which was over against them, they went up by the stairs of the city of David, and the going up of the wall, above the house of David, even unto the water gate eastward. And the other company of them that gave thanks went over against them, and I after them, and the half of the people upon the wall, from beyond the tower of the furnaces, even unto the broad wall. And from above the gate of Ephraim, and above the old gate, and above the fish gate, and the tower of Hananiel, and the tower of Miah, even unto the sheep gate, and they stood still in the prison gate. So stood the two companies of them that gave thanks in the house of God, and I and half of the rulers with me." And the priests? Eliakim, Maasiyah, Meniyah, Maikiah, Elionai, Zechariah, Hananai with trumpets, Maasiyah, Shemaiah, and Eliezer, and Azzi, and Jehonah. These are difficult names. I still don't know. Melchiah and Elim and Ezer and the singers sang loud with Jezriah their overseer. Also that day they offered great sacrifices and rejoiced. Rejoiced for God had made them rejoice with great joy. The wives also and the children rejoiced, rejoiced so that the joy of the Lord was heard even far off. So, that's the reading for this morning. This is God's Word that we have considered, and let's now think about that together for a moment. So, here's the question that I want to start with. If I would ask any one of you this morning, would you like to be joyful? I guess no one will say, well, no, I'm fine without joy in my life. There's something with joy that clicks with us, that connects with us. We all want joy. We all say, yes, I want to be joyful. Now, the next question that I would like to ask you is, why are you looking for joy? You might answer, yeah, I want to feel good. about myself, about life, about things. I just don't want to be a pessimist. I just want to be a joyful person. We are looking for joy because there is some kind of void or hole in our heart that we want to fill. And we work generally hard to fill that. Now another question that I could ask you about joy is, where Where are you looking for your joy? We've had lots of experiences this week. Fun experiences. Nice. Maybe that's where you're looking for joy. You've come here, and that was what this camp was all about for you. Joy. My joy. Others look for joy to be admired, want to be admired and praised and approved by others. I want to be recognized as someone who is successful, as someone who is cool or funny or friendly. I want to be seen, not sidelined. Others look for happiness in stuff. Your new iPhone, whatever it is, new tablet, smart watch or car, truck, whatever. And you can talk hours about that kind of things. These kind of things. Or you seek it in relationships. I just want to be a social being. That gives me joy. I'm craving for these friendships. You want to share your life and enjoy your life with others. So my question is, what kind of joy are you looking for? Joy that comes through happy circumstances around you? Joy that makes you feel good? Joy that is thrilling, perhaps, or exciting? Those kind of joys, as you know, are quite short-lived. I hope, I pray, that you've come this morning with a deeper question. With a deeper question. Something deeper this morning. Something that is going to last. Something that is going to be satisfying. Something that, perhaps, is not so easily gained. And not so easily lost, either. Something that really comes from God. Spiritually. We're looking for that most. It's available. It's available. Something that looks much more like what we have been reading about. The joy that was there in Nehemiah's day. We read parts of Nehemiah 11 and 12. And if we understand that chapter apart from all those names and the genealogies, although There are a few verses that really stick out and that show you and me something of what this true and lasting and satisfying and spiritual joy was among those people. When you look at chapter 12, joy actually is written all over this chapter. We hear about singing, singers, songs, nine times in these chapters. Thanks, thanksgiving, seven times. Joy, gladness, rejoicing, and some related words appear seven times as well. The celebration of this chapter is really described with all those superlatives, to give us a heightened sense of joy. Verse 27, they keep the dedication with gladness, so they do it joyfully. Verse 31, there are these two great companies, two great choirs. Verse 42 shows us that the singers sang loud. And verse 43 says that they offer great sacrifices for the Lord, for the Lord had made them to rejoice with great joy. So, joy. There is this exuberant river of joy flowing right from this chapter. Ready to overflow, you and me. So don't put you on to ask, why? What was the reason that these people were so joyed? What were their circumstances? And what about me? What about me? Can I have that joy, too? Let's look at that for a moment. So first of all, the circumstances. So I would like to set the scene for a moment. Nehemiah takes place, as you know, third wave of exiles. So first of all, you had Zerubbabel. He came. with opposition built the Temple of Jerusalem. So that's built now, by now. Then came the second group, Ezra. He came and brought them back to the service of God. We can read that also in chapter 8. And what happens when Ezra is working? There's this revival that breaks out. And now this third wave of exiles here then, as we have been considering this whole week, rebuilding the wall under the leadership of Nehemiah. What have we seen so far? We saw that Nehemiah had permission from Artaxerxes to build the wall. He planned the whole thing. He promoted it. You see the leadership skills here. And he wisely also knew where his opponents were. That's what we have seen. And now, here in this chapter, what do we see? We see this gigantic, beautiful, sturdy, protective wall. You see it as Nehemiah's leadership coming to fruition. And we learn from Nehemiah 6 verse 50, that this wall then was finished, and it says there, the wall was finished 20 and 5th day of the month, Elo, in 50 and 2 days. And then chapter 7 shows a problem. Chapter 7 verse 4 says, this wall is standing there, right? Nehemiah encounters this problem. The city is empty. No one to live there. Now the city was large, in Nehemiah 7 verse 4, the city was large and great, but the people were few therein, and the houses were not built. What's the use having a temple, having spiritual revival, and no people in the city, building a protective wall? Also in light of what Dr. Berry said, everything needed to be there in place for the coming Messiah. What's the use? An empty city. No one wants to live there. Why? What's the problem? It seems that the people didn't like to live in Jerusalem because of Shambhala, Tobiah, facing hostility. Who likes that? Who likes that? And on top of that, it seems that people love their farms outside in the countryside. At least they had a sturdy, stable supply of food. And, you know, this is a holy city. This is a holy city, Chapter 11 says, and that limits your freedoms. I mean, commandments of God? And then those priests all around looking over your shoulder, or at least you can have that idea. They're looking over your shoulder. What are you doing? A holy city. In other words, moving toward Jerusalem was an act of faith. It's an act of faith. It would cost them something. But in chapter 11, what do we see? Things are changing. Chapter 11, what happened? That's where we started our reading this morning. People suddenly want to live in Jerusalem. I hope that's happened to you this week. You want to live for the Lord, first kingdom. They seem to be even eager to move look at first 11 11 verse 1 That's there. We see that they can't they are casting lots and one-tenth of the people is going to live in Jerusalem How do they respond it seems that they say here we are we would like to live in that city Willingly offered themselves to live in Jerusalem it says there What had changed? What had changed? It was this, revival. There was this amazing revival and this covenant renewal in which the people said, here am I Lord, I want to keep your commandments. Revival brought them their hearts to life personally as a people. It refocused their attention and they saw now that the service of the Lord was something to be desired. I hope you have seen that too. And what made that change? Well, we have seen Nehemiah was a man of prayer. Now, his prayers didn't change anything. But God listens to prayer, and that changed. And God was active. So here, behind all this, is God, the God of Nehemiah, who gives his good hand to be upon Nehemiah so that all this project, all his efforts come to fruition. That phrase is repeated many times, right? Behind all this is the good hand of the Lord. The Lord moves people. He says, he makes them say, okay, I want to live for him. Bible tells us, thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power. That's still the case. He makes people alive so that we want to move. So let's move a little bit closer to you and me. Fast forward, 2018, youth camp here, Camp Mishuana, you and me. We live in a society where being a Christian is rather easy. It doesn't cost us so much. Although we see that maybe in the future it's going to cost us a little bit more. We live here in the affluent Western hemisphere and we are born in a Christian family, right? So we are Christians. What does it mean for you and me to be a Christian? Right now, when you face the disapproval of people, maybe even of your friends, opposition, persecution, mockery, like Nehemiah. Do you then say with those people, I'd rather don't live in Jerusalem. I don't want to live in that holy city. It's not going to make me happy when people disagree with me and I'm just fearful. What does it mean for you and me to be a Christian 2018? When we have everything we need, we lack nothing, we can just, with a few clicks of the mouse, buy everything we want. Isn't that the same as saying, I'm happy to live in the countryside. At least I have a good supply of things I need, stuff. What does it mean for you and me to be a Christian when the world around us tells that life is all about you? Build your image. Sin? Oh, no big deal. Being a Christian is adhering to just some do's and don'ts, you know? Isn't that the same as saying, I don't care about a holy city? Holiness is not attractive to me. It limits my freedoms. I don't think it's going to make me happy. What does it mean for you and me to be a Christian? The answer, we are made alive to God, to the things of God, we have seen our sinful heart, and God has in His love touched our heart, and we want to give ourselves to Him. He has set us free from our sins and our selfishness and our selfish desires, and now we want to live for Him. He died on the cross. Jesus Christ died for me on the cross so that, what? I should no longer live unto myself. He died for me to make me willing to even, when needed, suffer persecution, opposition, mockery, suffer for His name. That's what we need. And now He moves me, moves you, to actions that reflect. Living in a holy city, willing to live with this inconvenience of opposition and threat, willing to trust the Lord to provide everything I need. He's the Lord. He can give me everything I need, really need. We think about many things that we need, but actually, do we really? and then willing to live by faith. Faithful living is one of the subtitles of this topic. Faith-filled living. Not by what I see, not by what I feel, not by what I can enjoy, but how can I serve God? Faithfully. And how can I love others around me? That's what it means to be a Christian. And all those things that we have heard, these particular applications of holiness this week, how do we change just in those days? God makes you alive. God changes your heart. He answers prayer. And He comes and moves you through the power of the Holy Spirit. And that lays the foundation for joy. That's the sturdy foundation for joy. A changed life by God. So my question for you, and I ask it to all of us, have we been changed? Have we been changed? Willing to come and bear our cross behind Jesus Christ? That's the basis for true and lasting joy. Let's move on to the next thing, joy celebration. So what's happening here? There's this process of the dedication of the wall going on, and so the groundwork is laid, the temples built, the Lord revived, the wall stands, the city is filled with people, and God shows that He's there. He's been moving, He's been hearing prayer. And so now it's time to celebrate. to celebrate, to look back and to see what God has done. And maybe you're doing that also now as we come to the end of this camp. You look back and see what God has done. And what they see is this amazing work of God, this amazing landmark. And how do they then celebrate? What do we learn? They dedicate the wall. That means they have this special ceremony going on. They inaugurate the use of this finished wall that they see in front of them. And then also, very interestingly, they do a purification. Did you notice that when we were reading that? They do a purification. They believed that the wall and the gates and everything in this holy city needed to be holy. They needed purification because they understood that this was a city in which God would be dwelling and present in this temple and they recognized God as a holy God. Do you do that too? God is a holy God. So this shows they recognized also their own sinfulness. Recognizing sinfulness, here's the lesson. Recognizing your own sinfulness is no obstacle for joy. Maybe you think so. It's not. It's not an obstacle for joy. Because they were still celebrating. They said, OK, yeah, we are sinful. Even the wall, we are going to purify that. And then they celebrate. Great. So they dedicate the wall. What do they do? They make two groups. Those two groups, and there's this choir of Thanksgiving's choir on the head of them. And then you have those leaders going, Ezra, Nehemiah, one side, the other side. trumpet-blowing priests follow, and a choir director, and another group of singers. And both of these groups start on one side and go on this wall, of which Tobias said, if a fox go on this wall, it will break down. That's what he said. But here they are, with this whole group of people going on one side, and another group on the other side, on both sides. And they meet each other then, at the prison gate, and then there is this joy of this dedication that just, when you listen to it for a moment and let it sink in, verse 43 especially, it shows that the joy of Jerusalem was heard far off. All the people surrounding Jerusalem were hearing it. That's how joyful they were, singing, praising, thanksgiving. I do, to see it, to sing along from your heart. It was different than the time of Zerubbabel. Maybe you remember that that time there were the young people only rejoicing and the old people were weeping when they built the altar, if I'm correct. But here is something like exuberant joy, no weeping whatsoever. There's Thanksgiving joy, music, All that. Why? Verse 43 says it as well. For God had made them rejoice with great joy. They looked to what God had done and they said, God has made us joyful. The joy is all about Him and what He had helped them to do. And this wall is about Him. And this city is about Him. This holy city. They were singing all about His goodness and now He protects them. He protects them. He is their Lord. He heard their prayers. He helped them. He made them willing to even live in Jerusalem. It's all about Him. All about Him. They rejoiced because they had come a long way. Bondage, liberty. Do you know something about that? Come a long way. Bondage, liberty. That will get you singing. That will get you singing. So they were rejoicing. Returning from Babylon, this temple, God in our midst, that temple was saying to them, revival. And this city filled with people, with a holy desire, and then this wall as a protection, and then God as a protection. What were they singing? Well, they could have been singing Psalm 48. A song and psalm for the sons of Korah, great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of His holiness. Holy city. Beautiful for a situation. The joy of the whole earth is Mount Zion on the sides of the north, the city of the great king. God in our midst. That's joy. That's joy. God is known in her palaces for a refuge. I can go to this God. I can flee to Him and be safe. And we have heard, so we have seen in the city of the Lord our Lord of hosts, in the city of our God. God will establish it forever. Verse 11, let Mount Zion rejoice, and let the daughters of Judah be glad because of thy judgments. Walk about Zion, and go round about her. Tell of the towers thereof. Mark ye well the bulwarks. Consider her palaces, that ye may tell it to the generation following. For this God is our God forever and ever. He will be our guide unto death. Joy. Go around this city and look at it. It's sturdy. It's strong. It's made sturdy and strong because of the work of Jesus Christ. He suffered and died. And tell this to the next generation. That's what we are about here in this camp. Tell it to the next generation. This God is our God. And He will guide us even into death. Serve this God. Serve this God with joy. He's our refuge. He's our helper. He forgives sins. Two lessons that we can take from this part of this topic. First of all, joy is always sweeter when it goes through spiritual struggle. That's what you see here. Have you experienced that too? Hardships, battles, struggles, maybe against your own unholiness in your life brings true happiness to your life. That's what we see here. They went through all this struggle to get here. and celebrate. And anticipated joy, even when we are going through trials and hardships, makes them even more bearable, don't they? You see that with the Lord Jesus. Hebrews 12 says that He, for the joy that was set before Him, despised the shame and endured the cross, sat down in the right hand of God. And what did he do? He endured contradiction of sinners against himself. So he had the same thing as Nehemiah. It's no new thing, right? Contradiction of sinners against... Maybe you are here still, contradicting God. I want to be living for my joy. Jesus Christ looked for the crown. He said, they will all live for my joy. And that's what you, if you know the Lord, and if you're in Jesus Christ, that's what you're doing. I'm living for the joy of the Lord. I'm living for the joy of the Lord. He's going to finish my faith. I'm going to follow in His footsteps. And that joy is coming one day. Perfect. It starts already now. Even when I struggle for holiness, even when I see those ugly sins still in my life, there's joy to come. Jesus went through hardships. through suffering to glory, and so it is for you and me. We go through hardship, the hardship of dying to yourself, dying to your sin, living in holiness, in order to have joy, eternal joy. Pain, trouble, agony, that's going to bring lasting joy. And the second lesson here is this. And it's a related lesson. Without holiness, no happiness. No true, lasting, satisfying happiness. Without holiness, no true, lasting, satisfying happiness. Holiness always precedes happiness. When we focus on what God has done and wants to be in the Lord Jesus Christ, That precedes our happiness. And when we give ourselves then to say, I want to live for this God, that precedes happiness. Do you realize that? They dedicate this wall because they are made spiritual life in revival. They have been moving. God has been moving on their behalf. They are purifying themselves. And then you have this happiness just bursting from these verses. So God requires everything in your life and my life to be holy. He's a holy God, as you know. And they even said, okay, let's purify this wall. Not that we have to purify all these things, but have we dedicated ourselves entirely to the Lord? Lord, here I am. Here I am. Use me. Make me truly joyful in the Lord. We were set apart in baptism. That pointed us to purification and our need. And that shows that without that, No holiness. This is a God who says, be ye holy because I am holy. You know why He says that? Because He wants us to be truly joyful. Truly joyful. He doesn't want us to give those fleeting joys that just are over when you're done with them. He wants to make us truly joyful. Therefore, that's why He says, be holy, for I am holy. He knows that's the best for you. He knows that's the best for you. And so, I want to ask you, have you said here, my Lord, completely, entirely, make me holy, so that I celebrate who God is. We will never be really happy unless we are holy. Maybe your question here is, I struggle with that. How can I be holy? I've tried to be holy. I hope you have. And you look back in your life and you say, I have failed miserably. I do. What do we need? We need this focus on Jesus Christ, who was the Holy One, who stood in our place, who as the Holy One suffered and bore the wrath of God on our sin and on our unholiness on that cross. His perfect holy life from the very start to the very end. That's where you need to look. and say, by faith, that's mine. That's what a power of the Spirit does. That's mine. That's mine. Jesus Christ then becomes your sanctification. You want to be sanctified. You want to be holy. And the Bible tells us Jesus is made unto us righteous in sanctification. Wisdom, righteousness, and sanctification. He's made unto you, then. Sanctification. He's your sanctification, and out of that sanctification, now you want to be holy. Through His Spirit. Without holiness, no happiness. Look to Jesus. Look to Jesus. Perfect. Holy. Spotless. Blameless. And through faith say and embrace, He's mine. He's mine. That lays the groundwork for happiness. It's going to be a beautiful building. Full of joy. For of our God. Second thing is joy's climax. What was the climax of their joy? They were purifying, preparing, anticipating some celebration. Was it their singing that made them so joyful? There was quite some joy there. What was the climax? Where do we see the climax? In these verses we see it very clearly. It's where the procession ends. Did you notice that when we were reading it? They ended in the temple. They came before the Lord and gave all these, they acknowledged there all the blessings they had received. And they offered, it says there, great sacrifices, abundant sacrifices to the Lord. And they rejoiced, where? In His presence. in his presence before the Lord. And that's where the joy came to the climax. Verse 43, also that day they offered great sacrifices and just listen to this amazing verse for a moment, and rejoiced. And God, for God had made them rejoice with great joy. The wives also and the children rejoiced. So the young people were included in this rejoicing. So that the joy of Jerusalem was even heard afar of. Five times it says here, joy, joy, joy, joy, joy. Great joy. Wow. In the presence of God. In the presence of God is fullness of joy. When it's repeated five times, we better stick up our ears and listen. This is really joyful. This is joy with hope. The joy of the Lord, Ezra said in Nehemiah 8.10, the joy of the Lord is our strength. So may I ask you, where is your climax going to be? When and why are you exuberant? When are you happiest? When God has answered your prayers, after hard work and hardships blessed by the Lord, when you see that the Lord is going before you, when you're dedicated to the Lord, when you seek to live in holiness, when you leave your sins behind, when you're among the Lord's people, when you're before the Lord in His presence, when you see in Jesus Christ everything is finished, when you lean on His promises, when you see His goodness, when you acknowledge that Christ is my perfect holiness, is that what makes you joyful? When you recognize the Holy Spirit now indwells me so that I want what God wants, is that what makes you joyful? Then you are truly joyful. That's the happiness, that's the spiritual joy that these people were having because they ended up in the temple before the presence of the Lord. Or must you say after this camp, I don't know what you're talking about really. I find my joy in other things. Those are not my joys. Do you hear that? My joys. Now, let me be clear. We can have lots of joy and pleasure in many things, and that's good. Those are gifts from the Lord. We've had lots of them this week. Blessings, pleasures, joys. Are you enjoying them in the presence of the Lord? In the presence of the Lord? Or do you say, I'm just enjoying them for myself? And the Lord is not really part of that. You're not really fully dedicated to the Lord. You have divided your life in certain parts. This is for myself and a bit for the Lord here and there on Sundays during devotions and when I need to look pious and stuff like that. Youth camps, perhaps. But the rest? My joys, my pleasures, for myself. Those have nothing to do with the Lord because you don't pray about them. If you say, they are my joys, you're not going to pray about them. You just take them. And when you're done, you're empty again. You need the next thing, right? You need another climax. And another one, because it does not fail you, it does not last, it does not satisfy. Let me tell you, joy is greater when the Lord is on our side, when the joy of the Lord is our strength. When, as this text says, God made them to rejoice. When after all the blessings we celebrate, we celebrate it before the Lord in His presence, bow before Him, worship, praise Him, adore Him, and see and look to the Lord Jesus Christ. When our thankfulness comes always returning to the Lord Himself. When our joys and blessings find their climax in the worship of the Lord. That's what happened here. And our joys and blessings bring this joyful praising, thanking from the bottom of our hearts. That's what we need. That's what I need as much as you do. And we are deeply rejoicing together with others. So that maybe even people who hear it and see it say, I want to have that. There seems to be something different. This person seems to live for something different. Holiness in Christ. And you can speak to people around you about it. The Lord has made me joyful. And you know I have a joyful prospect as nobody else. Only those who fear the Lord. I'm going to heaven to rejoice in Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior. And I'm preparing for that through holiness. Do you see how holiness, worship, and everything is connected to true happiness? It is. It is. Now we all like to have stories with a happy end, don't we? Is this topic, I'm challenging you, and I'm challenging myself, is this topic going to be, and this camp, going to have a joyful conclusion? Because when we read on, what we see with Nehemiah in chapter 12, the last few verses, we didn't read them, but here's the gist of it. He's doing everything to have this joy continue because, remember, we heard about the covenant. One of the things was that they are going to give to the service of the Lord generously, we heard this week, and that they would keep up the service of the Lord in the temple. And that's what Nehemiah is preparing the people to do. They are going to give their gifts into the service of the temple so that this worship could continue. This rejoicing in the Lord, before the Lord, with the Lord, and with the gracious God. And so Nehemiah says, you know, we are going to give unto the Lord, and he captures this word, the momentum that is there, and he encourages them to continue giving to the Lord. And here are some places where you can give your gifts unto the Lord. They have some places in the temple where they put all the gifts that go to the priest and to the worship of the Lord. And so he wants them to continue joyful. to be joyful, as they support the priests, the Levites, and the temple choirs, and everything. And the question is, is it going to continue? Because if you read chapter 13, Nehemiah's intentions were very good. And so we can have good intentions. The people's joy and the intentions were good, but the next time Nehemiah visits, what do we see? Everything that he had been fighting for in chapter 13 seemed to be turned upside down again. It seemed to be short-lived joy. We will hear that later today, I think. And that's their conclusion. That's their conclusion. What about you and me? Today is the last day of camp. I guess we have had lots of impressions, much to process, much to think about. What kind of joy are you and I going to pursue? Maybe I should ask it differently. What kind of joy have you been pursuing? Is it the shallow joy, the pleasures of the world and sin, that the world and sin give you the shallow securities of, yeah, food, good food, drink, fun, that's it. Do you understand how pathetic that is? One day Christ will come and say, you have been just enjoying yourself a little, I will take your joy away from you because, you know, I was the source of joy that you should have been rejoicing in. I was the God who gave you all these things to rejoice in. And that joy will be taken from you. Or, are you full of joy in the Lord, celebrating what He has done, His finished work? Full of desire, and full of zeal to really say, Lord, here am I in this life, and I'm going to live with falling and with rising, constantly looking again and again to the goal to live in the Holy World, the New Jerusalem. rejoicing in the face of Jesus Christ. full of happiness. You read it this morning during prayer. No more weeping, no more sighing, no more crying. There is this joy that comes from being in the presence of the Lord. Seeing Jesus Christ, the one who saved you, the one who delivers you, the one who led you through these difficult times and trials, and even led you to kill those sins in yourself. and who through His Spirit dwelled in you, so that you could leave them behind more and more, and live this holy life, and more and more find steady joy coming from the chapters of the Word, of your Bible, reading it, coming, streaming to you, overflowing to you, joy, lasting joy. Is that what you are going to pursue? Can you pursue that with all your heart because you will not be ashamed? Maybe you go through difficult and trying times, but it's lasting joy. It's joy that is worth living for. No, we don't see it now. The Bible tells us it's solid joy. The days of Nehemiah, their joy didn't last that long. Therefore, these last few chapters of Nehemiah, they do one thing. And I hope you do that too. They cry out for the Messiah, Jesus Christ. They cry out for Him, who through the Holy Spirit can come and do what we cannot do in our own strength, so that we live joyfully, so that we live faithfully. What did He do? Well, what He's doing, and what He's always been doing, He's building His temple from His people. And people are added as living stones to this temple, this perfect temple. He is also filling this temple with His Holy Spirit. And He's building this holy city worldwide. He's gathering His people. He's building His kingdom. He's writing the law upon their hearts so that they WANT to live holy. And to bring Him down. To break down. That's what Jesus came for. Do you remember which wall that was? Between the Jews and the Gentiles. so that all the nations can come and flow into this city. And there will be this amazing rejoicing one day, in God's grace, in God's mercy, this building, this greater city, the new Jerusalem that will come down from heaven. Are you part of it? Builder and maker is Jesus Christ. He is the architect. Are you heading for it? May you have all the reason to rejoice, even in the most difficult circumstances, even when you kill yourself. You're to rejoice because we are heading for eternal joy. Eternal joy with Jesus, because He makes you whole. He fills you with His Spirit. I will guide you to a place where you will enjoy every moment. It will help you to keep on those walls that keep you from seeing. Let's just begin. When able, pursue holiness. You will. You will. You will be happy. You will be happy. That's great. Lord, You said, Jesus Christ, the Holy One, rivers of joy, satisfying the empty void of our heart. Fill us. Make us like Jesus. For the joy that was set before Him, the joy that promised to splice the sheep, was for Him eternal joy. Lord, may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ fill each one of you. and help us to rejoice as we sing praises with those people. Let's sing Psalter 134. Yeah.