Well, already, this meeting tonight, the sermon and the song is just, I mean, it's just something that you, it's priceless, just a blessing. Yeah, Kleenex. I meant to get my eyes first. Well, you can't get everything right, amen. Let's turn in our Bibles to Nehemiah chapter two. Nehemiah chapter two. I really, really appreciate that message from Brother Martin. I was taking notes as fast as I could, but it's quite a thought. When a preacher gets up and he says he's gonna share a few little thoughts, Better get your notepad out. Nehemiah 2, and we'll begin reading with verse 11. And tonight, let's all stand together while we read to give you an opportunity to stand up and show a little extra reverence, maybe, to the reading of God's Word at this point in time. And before we read, Nehemiah 2, beginning in verse 11, I want to preach on this subject tonight, a leader led. a leader-led. And I'll just tell you, this is the second time I've preached this message, not that it really matters, but when we made the transition of pastor at the church where I pastored in Wildwood, Missouri, and it was a sweet transition, everything's gone great, there was a lot of prayerful preparation put into that on my part, the church's part, and God was just in it all the way. in the successor there. And my last sermon in that church, I wanted to kind of do the best I could to do a little more to pave the way, give the church a some thoughts, things to think about as the new pastor assumed his duties, and also to be of some encouragement to the pastor. And I hope this will be an encouragement to pastors tonight and edifying and educational to church members. So before we read, let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we come to you tonight. We thank you for your blessings. Lord, what a wonderful life. How great it is to be saved. And Lord, we're thankful that you so loved us, that you gave your only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. And we're thankful that we know that we're among the whosoever tonight. And we thank you for your so great salvation. We thank you for this service. We thank you for the church and the pastor here. putting forth the effort they have to have this service for all of those that have come out to have a part in it for the kindred spirits and the minds, the common minds about the things of God, your work. Lord, we pray that your Holy Spirit will continue to make himself known. And Lord, that you'll take complete control of this service tonight of every heart. and do away with any fleshly inhibitions that might be present about responding to the messages and to the convicting of your spirit. Lord, may everyone go home tonight saying that it has been good to be in the house of the Lord. And we pray you'll bless this message in Jesus' name we pray, amen. Nehemiah chapter two and verse 11. It's the story of Nehemiah, he's going back Back to the land. Tragic times have been upon the land and God has moved his heart and he arrives finally at Jerusalem. The Bible tells us, he said, so I came to Jerusalem and was there three days. And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me. Neither told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem. God still works like that. Neither was there any beast with me save the beast that I rode upon. And I went out by night by the gate of the valley even before the dragon well and to the dung port and viewed the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down. Brother Martin has reminded us of some things that sadly characterize our day spiritually. Things broken down. Nehemiah said, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire. Then I went on to the gate of the fountain and to the king's pool, but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass. Then went I up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall, and turned back, and entered by the gate of the valley, and so returned. And the rulers knew not whether I went or what I did, neither had I as yet told it to the Jews or to the priest, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work. Then said I unto them, you see the distress that we're in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire. come and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem that we be no more a reproach. Then I told them of the hand of the Lord of God of my God which was good upon me. as also the king's words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work, but When Sambalat the Horonite and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshum the Arabian heard it, they laughed us to scorn and despised us and said, what is this thing that you do? Will you rebel against the king? Then answered I them and said unto them, the God of heaven, he will prosper us. And therefore, we his servants will arise and build. But you have no portion, nor rite, nor memorial in Jerusalem. Please be seated. Now I want us to notice three, four things in this passage of scripture. And we'll walk through it together, but I want us to notice when we look at this account, we see first the arrival of Nehemiah to Jerusalem. Then we see the assessment that he made. In other words, he got to the place where he needed to get, amen? A lot of us need to do that. We might think we're at the place, we might act like we're at the place where we need to be, but we're really not. God has a place for us to get where we need to be. And then he made an assessment. When we get where we ought to be, we'll step back, take a real honest evaluation with no denial or dishonesty, anything like that. And we'll step back and take a long look at ourselves and make an assessment of the situation. And then the third thing you see in this passage is the announcement that Nehemiah made. He made a declaration. After he had assessed things properly, he made an assessment. And then the last thing you see is what you can always expect. When something like this is going on, a great venture, a great work is in progress, you can just expect this. It's all through the Bible. You see it again and again. Life teaches this. You can expect animosity. Anytime you're trying to do something for God, you can expect trouble to show up. Amen. And the thing is, it doesn't stop, it just goes on. Just face it. This is the way it is. Trouble and hardship is going to pop up again and again and again when you least expect it. Don't act surprised. when it happens because it's gonna happen. And don't let it bowl you over when it happens. It's what's going to happen. And it happened with Nehemiah in this great, great work of God that he set out to do. Now let's look at this arrival of Nehemiah. We'll look a little bit at the background of it. I couldn't help but think more deeply on this part of the message when Brother Martin was preaching about that. that spirit, what kind of a spirit? I started questioning myself about my spirit. You know, Brother Mark, when he was preaching, I thought about this. That's not an easy sermon to take because it requires some thought, some effort, some soul searching. And those even who are closest to the Lord Jesus have a problem with their spirit. And one of the biggest problems is really being able to discern James and John had this kind of problem. What spirit they're really of. They thought they were of one kind of spirit, but the Lord said, you know not what spirit you're of. How true. So many times God's people really don't know what spirit that they're of. Thank God for a man with a spirit like Nehemiah. And you see that spirit revealed in chapter one. Chapter 1 is one of the most touching passages of scripture in the Bible. We're brought into the presence of Nehemiah there in Shushan, the palace, and he gets this message from one of his kinsmen, verse 2, Hananiah, who comes back and gives him this bleak, dreary report. how terribly sad it was. He begins to describe the state of Jerusalem and the walls, what a terrible mess it all was. Talk about reproach, it was a reproach. And how it fared with the few people that were left there behind. And here's what it did, it brought Nehemiah to his knees. Now Nehemiah was in a place of comfort. You gotta be careful about a place of comfort, it might keep you. from getting to the place where you fall to your knees. And then you see, Nehemiah, and the first thing you see in chapter one, you see a heart that has been prepared in the man of God. A heart that has been prepared in the man that God would use for this tremendous, impossible-seeming work in Jerusalem. But God had a man he was gonna use. And God had prepared the heart in that man that he was going to use. No telling how many pastors are here right now. There's one sitting over there, I'm as sure as I can be, that would be representative of many pastors who are here. God prepared your heart a long time ago for the work that you've been doing for many years. God prepared the heart of Nehemiah. We see two things about that heart. Number one, it was a heart that was burdened for the people and the work of God. Simple as that. Read chapter one. This is what he was burdened about. He was burdened for the people and the work of God. Here's a true man of God here. He's not all excited about his career prospects, ministerially speaking. Amen. He has a real heart for the people and for the work of God. And I just want to insert this little parenthesis here. What I'm preaching here, so much of it applies to the women who are also involved in God's work at the side of their pastor husbands, and also the rank and file of women in a church like this and churches that are represented here. Thank God. Did you ever notice in the New Testament how much it says about the women in the church? their place in the early church. Well, Nehemiah had a heart that was burdened for these people in the work of God, and he made an inquiry. Now, what that tells us in verse 2, when these men came back from Jerusalem, they weren't the first ones to speak, Nehemiah was. He asked them how things were. You know why he did that? Because he cared. He's the first one to inquire because Nehemiah cared about the things of God. And so you see him in verse 2, the Bible says that he made his inquiry of Hananiah and the others that were left of the captivity, cared. He asked some questions. He wanted to know how it was. Paul said he had to care for all of the churches. A real man of God is like that. And then you see something else about his burdened heart. It was also the result of what you see in verse three, after he made that inquiry, the information that he heard. Listen, the reports right now are pretty bleak for the spiritual, spiritually speaking, for God's work, for churches. I mean, it's a pretty, compared to what, the way things have been in the past. And so he made this inquiry, and he gets this information. Here's what it did to his burdened heart. It broke his heart. You can carry a heavy burden on your heart, but that doesn't mean it's broken. That step, that's stage number two. When the burdened heart becomes a broken heart, that's when God steps in. That's when God really moves in because God is moved by a contrite heart. Amen? That's what the psalmist said again and again and again. God hears the prayer of those who have broken and a contrite heart. In verse four, here's what you see. You see Nehemiah weeping, he's mourning, and he's fasting. His heart is so broken for the work of God. And then in verses five through 11, he begins to pray one of the greatest prayers in the Bible. I mean, he is crying out to God. Check that out in the Bible where it talks about people crying out to God. They don't care what anybody thinks. They're uninhibited about it, they're desperate, and they're crying out to God. You remember the last time you cried out to God? Some of you know what it's like to cry out to God. We don't do it as much as we should. But sometimes there are things that drive you to just cry out to God. That's what Nehemiah's doing. He's a leader that is being led. And you see his heart being prepared, a man like this. When the heart is prepared like this, you're gonna get a lot of help. Amen. And he started getting help. Proverbs 16 and verse seven says, when a man's ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him. Well, I could tell you some stories about that. We had some enemies pop up when we were in our last church building program. We had two inspectors that said it out loud, we don't even like churches. They did everything they could to stand in the way. And I thought they'd never give us a permit. I don't have time to tell you all the story, but they gave us a permit, and I was just sure when they left that day after signing off on that permit, I said to my assistant, I said, they're probably scratching their heads all the way home in that pickup truck, wondering why they did this. I'll bet they scratched their heads until their fingers were full of splinters. Amen. You get a lot of help. if you're doing the work of the Lord with a right heart and a right spirit. In chapter two, God really starts helping them. He goes to this pagan king and the pagan king, you read about it in verse five and six, he says, can I go to Jerusalem? And the pagan king gave him leave to go. but it didn't stop there. You're reading verse seven, not only did he give him leave to go and do this work, verse seven says he gave him letters, basically, that would give him anything he wanted. And he didn't stop there. In verse eight, the Bible says, he provided him with all the lumber he'd need. Isn't that something? God is really getting busy. for this burdened, broken-hearted man who has the work of God and the honor of God first place in his heart. And he just got attention from this pagan king. And you see in verse one, what brought this attention on is what the king was able to see. Even a pagan king, blinded to the gospel, could see this. It came to pass in the month of Nisan in the 20th year of Artaxerxes, the king, that wine was before him and I took up the wine and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been before time sad in his presence. Read the rest of the verses. The king noticed Nehemiah's countenance. The king took notice. And then you see in verse three and four what was said when the king had seen what he saw. The Bible says, and he said unto the king, let the king live forever. Why should not my countenance be sad when the city, the place of my father's sepulchers lieth waste and the gates thereof are consumed with fire? And he probably sobbed and his voice was broken as he said it. And it even moved the king. And the king gave him that leave to go. And the king had those letters of safe passage and everything else written for him. And the king instructed the keeper of all of his forests, give him all the timber that he needs and see that it's delivered forthwith. He got all of this assistance that he requested, everything. And more, God is able to do what? Exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. Amen. Have you ever had God answer a prayer exceeding abundantly above all that you ask or thought? Amen. You thought, boy, I wasn't expecting this. I was expecting God maybe to come up with a little wheelbarrow blessing for me, and all of a sudden I heard beep, beep, beep, beep, and a big dump truck started backing up to the windows of heaven. Amen. Our God is able. There's nothing our God cannot do. He is able, doesn't matter what the politics are, doesn't matter what the economy, none of those things matter because our God is able. He is able to do exceeding abundantly above what we'd even ask or think. I know that's true. I know that's true. I'll tell you the night I got saved, I got saved because I believed God was able to save me and he wanted to save me. But I didn't know. I didn't know. I look back now and I say, who knew? I was glad to be saved. But God started, he's been pouring blessings out on me for nearly 50 years. Amen. Our God is able to blow our minds. with his blessings. That's what he did for Nehemiah, but here's why he did it. Because Nehemiah's heart was prepared before he ever got to Jerusalem. But he gets to Jerusalem, and you see the assessment that he made. Now, this is a leader being led. You pastors, I'm sure, Brother Hanks, so much of your ministry reminds me of mine years ago. You come, you pastors can relate to this, Brother Cardy, Brother Tharp for sure. You come on the field and you look around, you're making an assessment. You're just trying to look it over and see what is here? What's the potential? What are the challenges? What are the obstacles? And you see Nehemiah doing this. Now church members need to understand these things so they can understand their pastors. Look at the discretion, number one, the discretion that Nehemiah used when he assessed that situation. He kept it all to himself for the most part. You know why he did that? Because there wasn't anybody else really that would really understand. That's not a put down, it's just a fact. People just wouldn't understand. You've got a vision of what you want to do, and if people knew what was on your mind, they would think you'd lost your mind. Amen! Maybe years later, they'll come to you and say, Pastor, I never told you this, but when you finally told us what your real vision was for the church, I thought you'd lost your mind. I was concerned about you. I thought it's not going to happen. Nehemiah used discretion. Look at verse 12. You see this discretion, it's seen in when he conducted his assessment. This is a beautiful phrase. He says, and I arose in the night. I arose in the night, laid it out before God. Here it is. God, I need some help in really assessing this, because you see things that I don't see. You know about things here that I don't know about. And so I'm reminded of that when I see Nehemiah arising in the night, a quiet time, a private time. And then when you see who he took with him, in verse 12 he said, I and some few men with me. Thank God when you're beginning a work, taking a pastorate or planting a church, thank God for the few men who are really with you. I mean, they're the ones, the few women, they're the ones who show up when the congregation looks like a handful of hickory nuts in a shoe box. Amen. And there's so few there, but they're always there. And they're doing whatever they can to support the man of God and the work that's going on there, being a part of it. He took some few men with him. I still didn't confide in those men. In verse 12, he goes on and says, neither told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem. It might have scared him. Amen. They might have questioned him. But so you not only see the discretion that he used, but you see the detail with which he assessed the situation that was before him. Detail is important. God's words tells us don't despise the small things. Amen. Every little thing counts in God's work. Amen. People's feelings count. The preacher's attitude counts. His appearance counts. His giving attention to everybody that needs it or think they need it. Amen. If they think they need it, my attitude's always been if they think they need it, they need it. Amen. Every, all the details count. That's why in a church like this, you know, you go to some churches and everything's, things are sloppy. They're out of place. The place is not clean. You go to the restrooms, there's no paper towels or worse. Amen. Things are not done properly. Details count. When a leader's being led, don't you think God is gonna make him pay attention to details? Amen. In terms of details, he saw things that needed to be restored. Look at verse 13. In verse 13, it says, I went out by night, and I viewed the walls of Jerusalem that were broken down, and he said they were consumed with fire. Now, you know what he, Concluded there, there's something that needs to be restored. There are things that need to be restored. Not everything needs to be trashed. Not everything needs to be dumped when you go to a new church. But there's things that just need to be restored. He saw that. And I'll tell you, we got some things that need to be restored today. You know what they are? The old paths. The old paths don't need to be restored, but we've got to get the brush and the trash out of the old paths. Amen. The old paths have been cluttered up with brush and artificial things and junk and discards and debris of every kind is cluttering up the old paths that many people are still looking for and asking for, the good old paths. the good old gospel path of faith and repentance to be saved. Amen. The good old glory hallelujah path of praising God in the congregation. Bear this in mind. God says, the Bible says that God inhabits the praises of his people. When the praises of God in a church go up, if the praises of God go up tonight, God will get in them and come down. Amen. We need a revival of praise. Genuine praise, not worked-up praise, not orchestrated praise, not pretended praise. Real, uninhibited praise. And that doesn't come where people are grieving the Spirit. Some of God's best people sit in churches and at invitation time they grieve the Spirit. Amen. They don't respond to the Spirit. They sit there or stand there. I'm telling you, there's the least bit of inclination to go to the altar and just thank God for that. You ought to do it. Otherwise, it's hindering and grieving and quenching the Spirit. And it all militates against praise and the Spirit of God getting into things. He saw things that needed to be restored. Tell you, old landmarks need to be made visible too. There are landmarks. Amen. God pronounced a woe on those who move the ancient landmarks. You gotta watch the landmarks. Sometimes they get moved and people don't really notice it's happening, it just happens. That's why you gotta go out and check now and then, make sure the landmarks are in place. Amen. Make sure you find the landmarks. That's something we really need today, a restoration of. Then in verse 14, this man being led by God, what a leader, what a... Next to Joshua chapter one, this is probably the greatest chapter on leadership there is in the Bible. He also saw, in verse 14, there were things that needed to be removed. Amen, think about this. Things in churches that have no business in churches at all. They never should have got in there. They shouldn't be allowed to stay there. They need to be thrown out of there. Verse 14 said, then I went on to the gate of the fountain to the king's pool, but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass and continues with the story. There was so much junk and debris accumulated. You know, we're always saying, stay with the stuff, stay with the stuff. Somebody said to me, a young preacher not long ago, this year, said, he was telling me about what he was burdened with and where he was and everything. And he said, but I know that I need to stay with the stuff. I said, that's right, stay with the stuff. But make sure it's stuff, make sure it's not junk. We're not under any obligation, brethren, to stay with junk. Either get rid of the junk or get away from the junk, because it'll always be junk. And some people spend their whole lives protecting anything that threatens their junk. Amen. He saw some things that just needed to be removed. There was so much clutter, even the mule he was riding couldn't get through. That's the way it is in a lot of churches today. There is so much junk. It crowds out the preaching. It crowds out the programs. I used to do this, Brother Hanks. I used to, in fact, I wrote a little booklet on it just for myself. And it was a youth ministry book. And I said in that, every now and then you just need to step back and look at every program that you got and see what in the world does this, what does this really have to do with evangelism? With really, and reaching lost people and edifying the saints. Or has this program just degenerated into some kind of entertainment on its way to becoming a tradition? There's a lot of junky stuff in churches that are cluttering the ground. So Nehemiah saw things that needed to be removed. Now he couldn't move around the rubbish. In chapter four, he says this about the rubbish. He didn't say this, but some of the leadership, the people, the main people came to him and they said this. You can hear them sigh. There's so much rubbish so that we're not able to build. You know what Nehemiah said? Nehemiah was a plain spoken, simple person. Nehemiah said, just get rid of the rubbish. The rubbish is things that maybe once served a purpose. You hear me? There are some things that once served a purpose. Now they're rubbish. We got things in our houses, things in our closets, things in our garages that once served a purpose. But now they have no purpose. They're rubbish. They're like an eight-track tape player. They're junk. They don't need to be around anymore. They're not even good for a paperweight or a bookend. They're just rubbish. There's things like that in churches. They once had a purpose. They don't have a purpose anymore. They're like that big, that great big ball that was hanging up in the church auditorium, Brother Farp. Remember that ball? What'd they call it? A disco ball. Had it hanging up in the church. Yeah, a great big one. Great big one. And they loved it. Certain people loved it. The new pastor they got said either get that down after he told them twice to get it removed, or he said I'll be up in the balcony tomorrow and shoot it down with my rifle. The next morning it was gone. It might have served some kind of purpose as a big Christmas ornament, I don't know what it was. But it outlived its purpose. We're not talking about getting rid of doctrinal beliefs now. or spiritual, scriptural standards. See, people got it backwards, Brother Matthews. They're getting rid of the wrong things and keeping the wrong things. Amen. Things that can change. There's some things that happen on platforms have to be changed. Amen. You go there, they've always done this. They have six people come up. One does this little thing, another does that little thing, another does this one. They have Ted Max amateur hour for those of you that are old enough to know what I'm talking about. Everybody's got a special, you know, and there's no time for the preaching. And those things need to be removed. In verse 16, And the rulers knew not whether I went or what I did, neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest," listen to this, that did the work. Now the principle here is secret silent work was going on involving what Nehemiah said, my God has put on my heart. Amen. That's what really counted right here at this point. Nobody knew what was going on. but something was going on. Sometimes we don't even know what's going on. Amen. Don't despair. If you've got a heart for God and His work, there's more going on than you think. You say, nothing's going on here. I've preached and prayed and preached and prayed. It doesn't seem like anything's going on. But there's more going on than you realize. Amen. Well, Nehemiah made his assessment, and then he made an announcement. And his announcement came in the form, number one, of a challenge. Look at the challenge that he presented to the people. And it was this kind of challenge. It wasn't a scolding challenge. It was an encouraging challenge. I heard a man say one time, I believe in the power of negative thinking. A lot of preachers do. But there's not much power in negative thinking. An old preacher named William Ward Eyre said, flatter me, and I may not believe you. Ignore me, and I may not forgive you. Encourage me, and I'll never forget you. Amen. We all want to be better, get better, real good in the encouragement business because everybody needs it. Everybody needs it. Nehemiah encouraged them in this way. He challenged them in terms of what they needed to do. Look at the first part of verse 17. Then said I unto them, you see the distress that we're in. See how honest he is, straightforward, transparent. He says, how Jerusalem lieth waste and the gates thereof are burned with fire. Come and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem. There's something encouraging about that. He's including them all in on it. We're in this together. You know, the secret, if I can call it that, of the power of the early church in Jerusalem is found in words like this, they were all together in one accord. They were of the same mind. They were of one heart. Boy, you get a church like that where the pastor and the people are all together of one mind, of one accord, and their heart is beating in sync. Amen. How exciting things are going to happen in a church like that. He challenged them in terms of what they needed to do and he challenged them in terms of why they needed to do it. Some of us had this discussion this week. It's important for people to know why. It doesn't hurt parents to tell their children why they expect them to do and not do things. Amen, look at the wisdom of Nehemiah, the leader being led here in verse 17. He tells them what they need to do. And then he says, and here's why. He says that we be no more reproach. You know why we need to get back to separated living? And I'm saying this to preachers tonight, doing preachers wives. We need to get back to separated living. We need to get back to straight doctrinal preaching and teaching and not be ashamed of it. Amen. Because of the reproach that we're in. You say, well, I don't think we're in reproach. Think again. Amen. So he told them why they needed to do it. He challenged them and You see the confidence that then provoked them. They had confidence and it provoked them. He told them what they could do. One of the old preachers said this, he said, don't let life discourage you. Everybody who got where he is had to begin where he was. Isn't that profound? In Philippians chapter four and verse 13, Paul said, in prison, I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me. We need to really believe that. Throughout the core of our beings, ladies and gentlemen, that we can do all things through God, through Christ, which strengtheneth us. He told them what they could do, and here's the bestest part. Then he told them what God could do. Verse 18, then I told them, then I told them of the hand of my God, which was good upon me. Isn't that great? He said, let me tell you what you can do. Now I wanna tell you what God can do. Because really he's doing it right now. His good hand, is upon me." He told him about the hand that he felt and the help that he had already had. Amen. He said, as also the king's words, he said, and I told him also the king's words that he had spoken. And he told him about the help that he'd gotten from God already. Here's something to remember. Where is The power of Elijah. Where be the miracles of Elijah? Well, they haven't gone anywhere. God is still on his throne. Elisha asked for a double portion. Count them up, do the math, crunch the numbers. He got a double portion. Amen. God's miracles are not a thing of the past. They're not storybook stuff. They're not history. These people have confidence now. It's been provoked in them. You see the singleness of their hearts. This is it, this is it. This is Pentecost stuff here. This is early church stuff. Verse 18, and they said, let us, not you ones, not them, let us rise up and build. That's the spirit of Acts 2 and 46. The Bible says, and they continuing daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart. Singleness of heart should characterize a church. Then you see the strengthening of their hands. You see the singleness of their hearts and go on in verse 18. And you see that, so they strengthened their hands for this good work. That's scriptural. Ecclesiastes 9 and verse 10, whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, what? Do it with all thy might. Put your hand to it. And notice that he called it a good work. He was careful to tell them, hey, this is a good work. I know it's dirty work, but it's a good work. I know it's hard work, but it's a good work. Let's never forget this. We are involved in the goodest work on the planet. Amen, it doesn't get any gooder. Amen, just to be involved in it, just to be a part of it. Amen. I'll just jump ahead. Things are going great here. Nehemiah. The people, they're all together, and then up pops, hmm, Sanbelat. Does it make you think of anybody? Does it make you think of anybody, Brother Fart, Brother Hanks, Brother Carty, Sanbelat and Tobiah, and Mrs. Sanbelat and Mrs. Tobiah, and some of the kids? They pop up, and in verse 19, you see the animosity that was demonstrated. You know who demonstrates animosity in church or out of church? The heathen. That's what heathen do. Amen. Sister Starr, that's what heathen do. Not spirit-filled Christians. Heathen demonstrate animosity towards the work of God. You know, in verse 19, he said, but when San Palat, Tobiah, and Geshem, the Arabian, heard it, those Arabians, they never change, they laughed us to scorn. They used scorn, their animosity included scorn. You can't do this, we can't afford this, it can't be done. When I announced at church years and years and years ago in Flint, We're going to buy 12 acres of property and get off this dead-end dirt road. That's what we want to do. One of the men popped up and said, we'll have a gorilla on our back. You're getting ready to put a gorilla on our back. Talk about finances. And people looked at him then like he was crazy. They used to think he was one of the seers of the church. But when people get their hearts together, They begin to recognize things, they get some discernment about them. So they did this, they used scorn and then the enemy, and we're facing all of this today in America. There's never been more hostility toward fundamental Christianity now, so we need to take note. Next thing they did in verse 19, they used scare tactics. Scare tactics. They despised us and said, what is this thing that you do when you rebel against the king? That was a threat, that was a scare tactic. The devil used scare tactics on us. Remember when you got saved and you started raising your kids for God and your neighbors or your relatives said, you're gonna ruin your kids. You'll ruin them, they won't be able to cope in the real world. If you raise your kids like this, meanwhile their kids are doping, They got piercings all over their body. They're tattooed from head to foot. Amen. They're like the inside of a tackle box. They got so much metal in them. And yet their parents are telling you that you're ruining your kids. Scare tactics. When you're trying to do a work for God, building a church, raising a family, having a great marriage, And then here's the answer that Nehemiah delivered. I say this about Nehemiah right now in closing. What a man. Amen. God's still looking for men. God is looking for real men. Our problem is that we're in a state right now where a lot of people are clueless as to what a real man is. Amen. Listen, this cross gender, this gender blender stuff, That's not an accident. We've got men in churches. When you want the man's opinion, if the wife wants his opinion, she'll give it to him. Amen. I thank God that the churches I've pastored have been filled with men. Everything I said on steroids about women and their worth and their value and their preciousness in a church, what would we do without them? But churches are not to be run by women, they're to be run by men. Amen. And I'll tell you who they meant the loudest there is the women. Women want to be married to men. Most of them do. The ones here do. Nehemiah assured old Sam Palat and his pals that their work in Jerusalem would prosper. Look at verse 20, he didn't care what they said. He said, then I answered them and sent them in the God of heaven, he will prosper us. I know you don't get it, doesn't matter if you get it. God will prosper us right here in Jerusalem. And then he assured them, that the work in Jerusalem was something in which they'd never be allowed to participate. Well, they want to participate in it. They want to get into a church like this and sing in the choir if you'll let them, sing specials. They want to take the pastor out for coffee and tell him how to really get it done. So foolish. Verse 20, he said, therefore, we his servants will arise and build, but you have no portion nor right. Listen, the unsaved have no right taking any part in God's work. Now, I'm not trying to start a fight with anybody. That's why I don't believe in church of the bizarres. I always thought from the time I was 23 that there was something bizarre about a church having a bizarre. And I'm talking about having something in the mall where you're selling your cakes and pies and your doilies and potholders and all of that, and you've got a sign up there, whether it's a car wash or a bazaar or a bake sale or a rummage, a sign, your church. If you want to have something like that, don't bring a church in on it. Sell your stuff and then give it to the church. But don't make lost people that they have any part or portion in anything about the Lord's work. There's a principle right here. In Deuteronomy 23, verse 3 through 6, God said, an Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord. That's tough. Even to their 10th generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the Lord. You know, the problem was Sanbalat and Geshem and Tobiah. Same problem the Arabs got today. They're trying to horn in on land that God gave to Israel. Amen. They had no business there. They still have no business there. Amen. And they have no business in the work of God. We are engaged in a great work and we need to be leaders led in whatever capacity the Lord has put us in. Amen.