p.m. Amen. Let's go to the Bible tonight and it's a long chapter. I'm not going to even read the genealogy tonight. We'll get into that next week and I'm not going to deal with the whole chapter tonight because I think we found some nuggets in these first four verses really the first three. But let's take our Bibles tonight. and turn to Nehemiah chapter 7 and we'll begin verses 1 to 3. Now it came to pass when the wall was built and I had set up the doors and the porters and the singers and the Levites were appointed that I gave my brother Hanani and Hananiah, the ruler of the palace, charge over Jerusalem. For he was a faithful man and feared God above many. And I said unto them, let not the gates of Jerusalem be open till the sun be hot. While they stand by, let them shut the doors and bar them. and appoint watches of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, everyone in his watch, and everyone to be over against his house. Now the city was large and great, but the people were few therein, and the houses were not builded. Let's go to the Lord in prayer and ask Him to bless this message. Father, again, we ask now for the power of the Holy Spirit. Father, I ask that you would fill me and control me and help me to deliver your word with the power and conviction of the Holy Spirit. Father, help us to understand the work that you're doing in the book of Nehemiah and how it applies to us today. Father, help us to understand that this great book, can prepare us for a great work as well. If we would just heed the principles and obey your word. So I pray tonight, Lord, that you would just challenge us and help us as we look into these few verses tonight. Just encourage our hearts as we are around the word of God. We pray these things in Jesus name. Amen. Now chapter seven of Nehemiah serves as a pivot in the book of Nehemiah. And I hope you see that tonight. Chapters one to six, if you look back on those, that's the restoration of the wall. And we looked at all the challenges there and the enemies and the distractions and so forth of the devil working through people to try to destroy that work. But then as you look forward in the book chapters 8 to 13 talk about the restoration of the people. So chapters 1 to 6 the restoration of the walls chapters 8 to 13 the restoration of the people. Now chapter seven begins with these three verses that we're talking about tonight. And these are precautions that Nehemiah is taking to guard the newly walled city. He had to guard it now from attack. And this is wrapping up the first part of the book. And then the rest of the book is talking about the reforms that's coming to the second part of the book when Nehemiah has to repopulate the city. So it would become a vital center for the spiritual life and national life of Judah. So the walls were completed, the gates were restored, and the enemy was chagrined. But Nehemiah's work was not finished. Just because the walls are built and the gates are in place, the work is not over. Because now, Nehemiah had to be steadfast. Amen? He had been steadfast in building the walls, resisting the enemy, but now he had to be steadfast in consolidating the gains, conserving the gains. And that is the title of the message tonight, consolidating the gains. And the New Testament, there's a kind of a verse the Apostle John challenges us with in 2 John 1, verse 8, he says, look to yourselves that we lose not those things which we have wrought. but that we receive a full reward. So look to yourselves. This is what Nehemiah is doing, that we lose not the things which we have wrought. Think about the great work, the great sacrifice that went into building the walls. Nehemiah didn't want to lose that. So now he has to make a plan. And we have to realize this, a city is much more than walls. and gates and houses. A city is a people. Now, we could say that the first half of the book, the people existed for the walls. Amen? They had to build the walls. But the second part of the book, now the walls exist for the people. And Nehemiah realized it's a time to organize the community so that the citizens could enjoy the quality of life that God had for them. God had great things in store for Jerusalem, just looking through the history. Because we know this, one day his son would come and walk the city streets, teach in the temple. and die outside the city walls. You see, God is involved in a great work here. So this chapter, like I said, we won't get through it tonight. The chapter records three important steps that must be taken by any leader in order to protect the people and the work that has been done. We need to consolidate the gains. So, number one tonight, we see in verses 1 to 3 that what is being done here, there's Nehemiah's enlisting leadership. Enlisting leadership. Verses 1 to 3. You see, Nehemiah, like all good leaders, realizes one thing. He couldn't do the job alone. No leader can do the job alone. And as an exemplary leader, he knew to be effective, he needed to delegate responsibility to other competent men. And that's what we're seeing in this chapter. This is Nehemiah looking out and choosing assistance, choosing co-laborers. So that's what we want to see tonight. He appointed assistants, co-laborers, those that could continue helping him in the work. And I want you to understand that what he looked for was not just administrative skills, although that is very important as we're learning about gifts, amen, the gift of ruling and having that ability to administrate, but really the main requirement that he was looking for was godly character, amen, godly character. And so we see the two assistants that he appoints. Look at verse two that I gave my brother. And it's it could be his very well, his blood brother Hanani. And then Hananiah, the ruler of the palace. We'll talk about that in a moment. Charge over Jerusalem, for he was a faithful man and feared God above many. Amen. Faithful. and feared God above many. So Hanani and also Hananiah who was in charge of the palace. Now the palace at this time was a fortress in the temple area. Guarding the north wall of the city which it which was especially Vulnerable to attack. That's why it's very important that he's putting his emphasis here on Hananiah now There were two other men That these two men would be working for this is back in chapter 3 turned back to chapter 3 in verse number 9 you have two men and that were over the districts of the city. So in chapter 3, starting in verse 9, you have Rephiah. It says, And next unto them repaired Rephiah the son of Hur, the ruler of the half part of Jerusalem. the ruler of the half part of Jerusalem. So you have Refiah, another reliable man, another faithful man. Then you in verse 12 of chapter 3, you have another man. And next unto him repaired Shalem, Shalem, the son of Helosh, Helohesh, the ruler of the half part of Jerusalem, he and his daughter. So there is another man. So you have four men here, Hanani, Hananiah, Rephiah, and Shalem. These are rulers. These are leaders. These are appointed assistants of Nehemiah. in the work. Now, what convinced Nehemiah to choose these men? We've already read this. There was two wonderful qualities in these men. Number one, they were faithful. And number two, they feared God. Let's talk about that for a moment. Go back to chapter seven. It says here in verse two, for he was a faithful man and feared God above many. Now the Hebrew word for faithful means to be reliable. It means to be truthful and firm. So these men having these qualities were men you could depend on. Amen. Hananiah was a man you could depend on. He spoke the truth. And if he promised to do something, he did it. That's what faithfulness and reliability is all about. When you promise to do something, you promise God. Amen. You're to fulfill your vows unto God. You promise other people you're to you're to fulfill that. And really, our lives on this earth will not count to anything for God if we're not faithful. Amen. I think of the message in the morning about our spiritual gifts. All of us are stewards of the gifts, amen, that God gives us and the time that God allots us on this earth. So you are a steward of the gifts and the time that God gives you on this earth. And Paul said it very clearly. in 1 Corinthians 4.2 that it is required in stewards that they be found faithful. Amen? Faithful, just like we're talking about here. I think of relationships. Faithfulness is also an essential ingredient in relationships. We know that Hanani was his brother and we could see that relationship. He could count on him. Amen. He knew him very well and he could trust him. Now think about relationships. If you do not trust someone, then you will not get close to that person. You will probably keep your distance. Why? Because you fear that they're going to take something you say and disclose it to other people or even distort it and hurt you. If you sense that someone is not truthful, you will not trust them. You will not get close to them. And so faithfulness is essential in the work of God. Faithfulness is essential in all of our life's relationships as well. And aren't you thankful tonight God is faithful? And what does that mean to us? God always speaks the truth and God always keeps his word. And the truth is, the more we draw close to God, the more we grow in godliness like him, we will also grow in faithfulness. So these men were faithful. But secondly, not only was he faithful, a faithful man, he feared God and it says above many. above many. I want you to think first of all when it says above many that the fear of God is a matter of degree. What do I mean by that? Some fear God very little and some fear God more and a lot and there's some degrees here. Now What is that? How do you grow in the fear of God? You grow in the fear of God as you grow in the knowledge of God. Amen. When you see who God is. And you realize who you are by way of comparison, you will fall on your face in fear, realizing that he could rightly cast you into hell for your many sins. Even when you know that He's been gracious to you through Christ and you've been saved, amen, you've been forgiven, you do not presume on the grace of God by becoming irreverent to Him. You remember that he knows your every thought and your every deed. So you seek to please him in all you do. So this is how you grow in the fear of God. And these men feared God above many, above many, because they knew who God was. So I think, again, if you if your life is going to make a difference on this earth. If you're going to be used of God and someone's going to choose you. Amen. God's going to appoint you to do something for him. You need to be faithful and you need to fear him. The truth is, if you truly fear the Lord, you will be faithful to the work that God has called you to do. Sadly, though. The fear of man brings a snare. Remember, some of these men, they were tested, were they not, by the enemies? By men coming in and threatening their lives and writing letters back to the king of Persia and accusing them of treason and so forth. If they would have feared men, they never would have feared God and continued faithfully in the work of God. So God is looking for faithful God fearing men and women who will have the courage and conviction to serve him come what may because don't think that the enemy is just going to say, okay, you built the walls. I'm done with you. I'm giving up. No, the enemy is never going to give up. Amen. So we see he appointed assistants. We need to enlist leaders. We need to enlist assistants and co-labors in the work of God that are dependable, that are faithful, that are reliable, that fear God and do not fear man. They're going to do the right thing because they fear God. And then secondly, he appointed gatekeepers and guards. How important this was, why? What good are strong new gates if nobody is guarding them and controlling who enters and leaves the city? Do we know anything about that in our southern border? What good are the walls if no one's controlling who enters and who leaves? Well, we know no one's leaving, amen, they're just entering. Now, the Great Wall of China, have you seen the Great Wall of China? Maybe you were there on a visit. I would not recommend that today, but if you had that privilege to see it or you have seen it in pictures, we're told that the Great Wall of China was penetrated by the enemy at least four times. And you know how? Each time guards were bribed. The guards were bribed. You see gates and walls are only as good as the people who guard them. Who guard them. And that's what we're seeing in verse 1. Now go to verse 1 and then we'll look at verse 3. It says, Now it came to pass when the wall was built, I had set up the doors, the porters and the singers and the Levites were appointed. There were some porters. These are gatekeepers. And they were given clear instructions on when to open and close the gates. What does it say in verse three? And I said unto them, let not the gates of Jerusalem be open until the sun be hot. So they weren't going to open the gates really early in the morning because everyone would be still sleeping and they would be vulnerable for attack. And it says, be open until the sun be hot and while they stand by, amen. and let them shut the doors and barred them, secure the doors and appoint watches. These are other guards. The watches were the ones on the walls. Amen. These were the ones overseeing parts of the city. So you had the gatekeepers and you had the watches. These are these watches were to patrol the walls at specific stations like guard duty. If you were in the military, amen, you had to keep watch over your specific area. Now a lot of these were appointed. We're going to learn. It says everyone over against his house over against his house. That's very important. If you're living there, if your house is there, would not that be in your best interest to be faithful, to be watchful, so that no one breaks into your part of the wall because your house is there? So many of the people who had worked on areas of the wall, back in chapter three, we could go back, were the ones who live there. Amen. That was very practical. Now, since they're finished with the wall and the gates, Nehemiah is saying, Okay, I want you to guard that very part of your city of the wall. So this was like a neighborhood watch, and the city was safe from outside attack. I want you to think about this. He appointed assistants, co-laborers in that work, men who were faithful, men who feared God. Then he appointed the gatekeepers and the watchmen over the walls. And what was their quality? Here's a third character quality. We see faithfulness, we see the fear of God, and then number three, watchfulness. Watchfulness. How many times do we find in the New Testament, I think of Jesus, watch and pray that you enter not into temptation. He said this in Mark 13 verses 34 to 37. He says, watch ye therefore, for you know not when the master of the house cometh at even or at midnight or at the cock crowing or in the morning, lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you, I will say unto all, watch. That's the message of Jesus. Mark 13, 34 to 37. What about Peter? We know what Peter says in 1 Peter 5, 8. He says, be sober, be vigilant. Because your adversary the devil as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour. We need to be on watch. All of us. We need to be on watch for the spiritual dangers. And we know Satan, as we've learned in these previous chapters, the devices of Satan. And we need to avoid falling into his traps, falling into the sins that are going to destroy us. I think of married couples. Are you being vigilant and watchful? He says this. Everyone in his watch and everyone to be over against his house. Are you watching your house as you should? Moms and dads, married couples, are you alert to the dangers that could destroy your marriage? How about the dangers that could destroy your children? I think as a church leader, I need to be very watchful about the dangers that could destroy God's church, the flock of God. And when are we to be watchful? Hey, they just had a great victory. The walls were finished. They did a great thing in 52 days and what God did, they set up the gates and what a wonderful victory. And do you know that it's in times of success that when you let your guard down? And this is a critical time to be on guard. The walls were built, the gates were in place. It would be easy to kick back and let down the guard. And that's when the enemy knows we're willing to do that or we're vulnerable to do that after times of victory. And that's when he's going to attack. Guard against your own house. Are we guarding the movies and the TV that comes into our home? Are we guarding what comes through our home computers? How about if your children are spending the night at a friend's house? Do you know what they plan on doing? Is there anyone supervising them? Do you know anything about that? Have you instructed your children and warned them about the spiritual dangers and how to call you if they need help? Listen, we need guards at the gates, amen? We need guards on the walls. That's what we need today. I think in the church, we need guards at the gates and guards on the walls because think about the devil, how he wants to come in. He's an angel of light and he wants to destroy the gospel message. We need to be warning others that the enemy is approaching. And I believe we need to test everything today with the word of God and by the word of God. There are many religions. And people like to talk about, well, I'm changing this religion, I'm going in here. But remember this, there's only one name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved, and that is the name of Jesus Christ. There's only one gospel, there's only one way to heaven, and we need to be on watch that People are not going to change the message. Amen. They're not going to weaken our motivation to get the message out. We need to get the message out. All of these things we need to be on guard for. We need to be watching. And so I ask you tonight, are you guarding the gates? Are you watching the walls where God has placed you? your family, your marriage, your children. If not, the enemy's gonna come in, and the enemy is gonna take over. So we've seen some godly qualities. What are they? Faithfulness, fear God, and be watchful, amen? Be on guard. These are the qualities that God wants in all of us as his church, as members of the church, as our family, as leaders in our family, as parents, whatever. walk of society that we're in. God wants us to be faithful. God wants us to be God fearing people. And God wants us to be on guard and watchful so that the enemy will not destroy us. Now, does this verse make a little more sense to you that I read at the onset of this message? If I can find it, I think I fumbled it here in my, here it is. Look to yourselves that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward. 2 John 8. Amen. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Father, tonight we want to thank you for Nehemiah. Thank you for his example of enlisting others in the work and the qualities that he found in them, that he looked for. And Father, we pray tonight that you would help us be a people that are faithful, a people that are God-fearing people. And Father, help us to be on guard, to be watchful, Father, help us to do the work of God that you called us to do and realize the enemy is out here sowing lies, sowing deceit, sowing false religion. And Father, the only hope for the people around us is the light of the glorious gospel of Christ should shine unto them. And Father, we know that's the answer for people's lives. It's the answer for their marriages. It's the answer for their personal lives. It's the answer for their families. It's their answer, Father, for their church and being in the right church and serving you in the right way. And we know the answer is Jesus Christ. So Father, help us to be faithful in these last days, to be standing strong, to be standing on guard, to be watching on the walls and also to be faithful in all that you called us to do and preach. And we'll thank you for these things, for we ask it in Jesus name.