We continue our study in the book of Nehemiah, and in particular I'd like us to look at the sixth chapter. In this chapter we have seen that there have been a number of plots that were raised up against Nehemiah, and I'd like to use them as an illustration to us of some of the things which we face as Christians too. but then draw that into the context of our New Testament understanding and upon what is pressed upon our hearts by the teaching, not only of the Old Testament, but the New Testament. Paul writing to a young minister, Timothy, It says that all scripture is given for instruction and therefore as we look back into the Old Testament we should be asking ourselves this question, well what is this to teach me? What am I to understand by this? I trust that we have seen as we have been exploring together the book of Nehemiah that there are many lessons which we can apply to ourselves. Even though there are two and a half thousand years between us and the life of Nehemiah and the society in which we live is in so many ways very different to the life that Nehemiah and those who lived at his time endure day by day. We do not tend flocks of sheep and of goats, nor do we dress olive trees, and we are not engaged in building up stone walls. Yet for all the dissimilarities, there are many similarities which we can apply to our own condition. So often in our Christian experience, though we have set before us a particular desire to live godly lives and to do that which is right before the Lord and to have a good witness before the world. We find that there are so many pressures that come in upon us and try to get between us and what we know to be right. And if we feel those pressures day by day, not perhaps on a Sunday morning as we join together in worship when this is a day of rest, but the moment we set foot in our offices or on our place of work or place of study or wherever it is God has called us to on a Monday morning, immediately those pressures come in upon us. We should look to the word of God and consider what God has set before us so that we can pattern ourselves on the examples that are set there for our instruction. I'd like us, first of all, to see the three ways that are spoken of, particularly in this chapter. There are others too, but focused on three particular ways in which Nehemiah was troubled by those round about him. First of all, there was delay. Our three points for consideration are the attack of the enemy of our souls, delay, distraction and discreditation. he was delayed, distracted, discredited, or at least those who were opposed to him sought to employ these ruses against him. First of all, we saw that in Nehemiah's encounter with Sanbalat and Tobiah, they first of all sent sort of an emissary to Nehemiah to say, come on down to the plain of Ono and we'll have some talks together. We've been at enmity, but these things are past, you've built up the wall, you're just about completed, it's time for us to be friends. well the place that they were speaking of was some distance removed from Jerusalem if you are at all familiar with the geography of even modern day Israel the place that they are speaking of is just outside Tel Aviv for Nehemiah to go from Jerusalem therefore down to the vicinity of Tel Aviv would have been for him a day's journey and then presumably there would have been sometimes taken up in talking and deliberations and there would have been then for the day's return journey a minimum therefore of something like three days or more. And that would have been a delay to the work of the kingdom. Perhaps you too have experienced something of that delaying tactic. It's not necessarily that what is being proposed to you has some great sin or demerit attached to it, but it is something that is delaying you from getting on with what God has called you to do. Perhaps as we examine our own hearts and lives before the throne of grace, we are able to see, looking back over many years, that we have felt something of a call to do something. It may not have been something of a dramatic nature in terms of the call that a missionary might receive to go overseas. Perhaps there are just some things that you know you need to attend to, things that you need to attend to in your own family, in your own immediate friends and circumstances, and you've been putting it off. You've found other things to do, and some of those things to do have been worthy in and of themselves. After all, Nehemiah could have argued to himself that to have discussions with those who are, or were at least, enemies seemed like a worthy cause. But Nehemiah identified what it was in reality. It was a delay to the work. He would not have been able to do what God had actually called him to do. You and I need to have eyes which are open to see that sometimes the things that are presented to us, it's not that the devil is necessarily dragging us off to some place of great and notorious sin. It may just be that He's quite content not to lead us into sin, but just to delay us in doing what God has set before us to do. The second thing that we see in the life of Nehemiah as it's portrayed to us in this particular chapter is that there was an attempt made to distract him from the work, to take his mind off with other concerns. when the emissary came with their repeated appeal to go down for discussions to the plain of Ono and each time he said, no I'm not doing that, I've got more important things to do. At this time they came, they say you know when there's a letter going about and it's going to go to King Artaxerxes and well the plan is this, that King Artaxerxes will know that there's a rumor going about that you're about to proclaim yourself King of Judah and you better deal with that one. Well how often likewise have we found ourselves distracted, feeling ourselves under pressure to deal with some particular event which has been brought before us. This seems like an important thing to deal with. After all, he lost the favor of King Artaxerxes. King Artaxerxes was the one who sent him to this place. And if the king were to hear that he was proclaiming himself the king of Judah, that would be obviously an act of outright rebellion. It would be a betrayal of the trust which Artaxerxes had placed in him. You could see, therefore, that there was great pressure upon Nehemiah to do something about this. But the response of Nehemiah is plain. He has the work which God has set before him. What you have said you just made up out of your own heads. I'm not even going to waste my time in responding to it. You see the attempt to distract him from the work, to cause him to defend himself. And then thirdly, there is this story of how a priest, who evidently, later on in the story, we get the understanding that the priest was actually in the pay of San Balaton to buy. He poses as, am I a spiritual friend? He asks him to come to his house, and he says, you know, the people are trying to kill you. Let's go into the temple, and we'll lock ourselves away, and you'll be safe there. Now the pressures that we can see in each of these three things. Pressures to make friends with those who were once the enemies opposing the work of the kingdom. Pressures to make sure that those who could intervene and stop you from doing the work are kept sweet. Pressures to save your own life when people are trying to take it away. But Nehemiah doesn't give in to this. He sees right through this so-called prophet. and says, no I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to appear as though I'm one who's running away, frightened for my own life, wanting just merely to save my own skin. Well we could have examined in greater detail each of these different ways in which the devil was trying to undermine the work of the kingdom and in particular to pull Nehemiah away from the work of leadership. However, if we just read through it and we have these three patterns before us, the delay, distraction and being discredited, what is altered is the way in which Nehemiah responded to these ways in which he was being pulled away. And I would give you three brief headings for his response. There was discernment, there was dependence and there was duty. Discernment, Dependence and Duty. The emissary came to Nehemiah and he perceived that though they had this rather charitable disposition, come let us be friends, okay we've had our differences in the past but let's see if we can work to overcome it. He discerned that although that was what they were saying, in their hearts there was something really quite different going on. were seeking to kidnap him, or worse, if he'd gone to that meeting perhaps he would never have come back. They would have ambushed him on the way, perhaps he would have just conveniently fallen amongst robbers on the route down from Jerusalem. Perhaps something else would have overcome him on the way. There is nothing told to us even in the verses of scripture which gives us an indication that Nehemiah had learnt from some other source that they had plotted against him. And there is obviously nothing in the correspondence itself and yet Nehemiah discerned that they were after no good at all. It may be that as we face difficulties during the course of days, something comes to us to delay us from doing what we know the Lord would have us do, dealing with an issue in our own family, dealing with some issue at work perhaps, a relationship with an employer or an employee, something that presents itself and would delay us from dealing with what would have us do. How do we know whether this is something which we need to give our attention from, or how do we have the discernment that Nehemiah had? Well the word of God does give us guidance on that. In James chapter 1 we are told that if any man lacks wisdom let him ask of God who gives to all men liberally and he will receive it from him. If we find ourselves somewhat perplexed in our place of work or perplexed with an issue at home, we're not quite sure, now is this what God would have us do? Is this a distraction or is this a task? Well we need to have that biblical discernment. How do we go about acquiring that? We acquire it by being close to God. God is the one who gives discernment to us, to be able to perceive things which are underneath the words that are spoken. When I look into a person's eye and I hear the words but something tells me that he is not speaking truthfully. How do I know that? Well, difficult to be able to say I can write down precisely. Here is what he said and here is what he did. We may not have such an obvious proof But something witnesses in our spirit that here there is something I need to be on my guard about. Men are not necessarily always good and upright and honourable. We may desire to see that, we may hope to see that. But the word of God gives us the honest picture of what goes on in a man's heart. A man's heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. We should not be surprised when people that we are dealing with in business prove to be false. They don't keep their word. They have no intention evidently of keeping their word. We hope, we look for people to be honest and upright and yet we find time and time again, well are we disappointed? Do we grow weary with humanity as though we lose faith in people? If our hearts and minds are guided by the word of God we should say, well you know as a Christian My faith was never in humanity, I've never believed in the basic goodness of man. That's not what the word of God teaches me. The word of God teaches me the right, just contrary to that. I never had faith in humanity, to lose it in the first place. Now if I find any goodness or any honesty at all, I wonder at that and I thank God for his pouring out of common grace, his pouring out of the grace of God. If we lack discernment, then let us go to God, let us keep close to God, so that we are able to see things which are hidden from the natural eye. How did Nehemiah have that discernment? Well, there's one thing that seems to me to come out, not just in this chapter, every chapter we've read about Nehemiah, how often this man prayed. The entire book began with Nehemiah praying. He hears something from his brother and immediately goes to the throne of grace. He gives himself over to a time of prayer, not just for a brief moment, but for months. He labors in the place of prayer. He gives himself to fasting, and to yearning, and to pleading, and to crying before the throne of grace. And a moment comes when he's in the presence of the king and he shoots that arrow prayer that we saw in chapter 2, and then as the pressure comes upon them, as they're building up the walls, they pray to God and they post it to God. Again and again and again we see the life of Nehemiah that he was one who turned free. In this chapter 2, when the enemies of Nehemiah and of God's people come with their plot to discredit him before the king and to distract him from the word. Or when the false prophet is raised up to try and get him to run away to the temple, we find Nehemiah there upon his knees, he prays, Lord help me, give me understanding, strengthen my hands. You know when they speak about the weakness of the people, I recognize that it's true. But here's something that I know, that although the hands of the God's people are weak, the hand of God is strong. And that's what will bring the results, that will bring the glory. And then thirdly in the life of Nehemiah we see this discernment, dependence, duty. He was where he had to be. Now that seems a simple statement, and yet how often do we neglect that simple truth, the responsibility of duty. To be where God expects you to be, to be where you are required to be. in the place of duty. That's what Nehemiah's response is. He wanted to run away to the temple and lock myself away so that... My name becomes a laughing stock. Worse than that, people would despise the leadership. Instead of showing courage and fortitude and being willing to stand out publicly and risk things, why all the laborers who engaged upon the work, they labored with a sword in one hand and they labored with a trowel in the other. Why? Because they wanted to build up the work. Clearly they were under threat of attack. And now you think that because there is some threat made against me that I will run away after the workers have worked so faithfully and at risk to their own life? No, he says, I will be where I have to be. Now, let me press this upon you in terms of making application of the Word of God. Where is the place of duty for you? How many times has it been that sin has got into your life? Why? Because you have been where you know you ought not to have been. You weren't in the place of duty. You weren't doing what you know God had called you to do. And instead of being faithful, it might have been being faithful as an employer, or faithful as an employee. It might be just going about your regular employment day by day, Monday through Friday. There are things that you are called upon to do, and yet You have taken some time off to yourself and you have in effect cheated your employer. Because you have not been where you ought to be. We as Christians have a responsibility to give a faithful account of ourselves. Far be it from us as Christians to give an example to the world as those who know always the way in which to get out of doing work. Or to find new ways of cutting corners and doing things that are discreditable. Or be it from us to do that. Rather, let us be the very model of those who are dutiful, who are faithful, who are reliable, who are dependable. I may not understand why he goes to church, but one thing I know about this individual is that he is dutiful. He does what I tell him to do. I don't tell him to do something and then come back the next day and find he has busied himself about something completely different. It may be that he has been busy and diligent doing something, but it's not what I've told him to do! I can't rely upon him to do what I ask him to do! Now, says Nehemiah, you want to distract me from the work, you want to discredit me in the eyes of other people, but I will be found to be dutiful. I will be where God appoints me to be. So we see the enemy of our souls wants to delay the work, or he wants to distract us from the work, or he wants to discredit us in the eyes of others. Here are the biblical antidotes for these things. Discernment, the wisdom that comes from walking closely with God. Dependence upon God in prayer, and being dutiful, being where God wants us to be. But certainly let me also give to you an example set before us in scripture. We look to the Lord Jesus Christ. We recognize that in the life and ministry of Jesus there are many things which we have to stand back in awe and wonder. This is the work that God has done. We have no part in it. We can't contribute to it. We can't extend it. We can't add to it in any way. We just simply have to be those who are humble recipients. We receive the work of salvation that Christ has accomplished on our behalf. We receive it as those who have no contribution to make to it. And yet we also find in Jesus, not only our Saviour, but our great example also. And that's what the writer to the Hebrews brings out in the twelfth chapter. It is not just that we look to godly men in the Old Testament, but through them we also would look to the example supremely that is set for us in the person of Jesus Christ. Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, then the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us." First of all, I'll give you three further subheadings. There's diligence, and there's durability. And then finally we'll look at the third thing which brings us our greatest understanding. First of all, diligence. Young people, let me use an illustration which I think you might be able to understand. weather has turned warmer and over the course of the summer you're probably looking forward to going swimming when it gets particularly hot, the temperatures up there in the 80s and 90s, nothing nicer than to be able to put your swimsuits on and go out, splash about in the cool refreshing water. Some years ago I had to do a swimming test, now some of you know I have been in the naval reserve for many years, almost 30 years. And in all that time, I suppose I must hold the record, I'm the only person, I think, to have failed the swimming test three times. 30 years in the Navy and I've yet to pass the swimming test. Perhaps I might pass before one day I retire, I don't know. One time I went to Dartmouth, which would be the naval equivalent in Britain of likes of West Point or Indianapolis for the American Navy. And a huge swimming pool, so big it had a curve on it because it went over the horizon. A humongous swimming pool. And of course they said, right, you're going to do your swimming test now. As fast as I've been preparing, all ready to go, the first thing they said to me is, put on that boiler suit. If you don't know what a boiler suit is, it's one piece, and it goes right down to your ankles, over your shoulders and to your sleeves. It's a one piece suit, and you put it on. Boys and girls, the next time you go out swimming, if your mum and dad say it's okay, only if they say it's okay, put on a shirt and a pair of trousers, and try to swim in a shirt and a pair of trousers. If you've ever done it, you'll know how difficult it is. Swimming with clothing on, you're making all that effort, it takes you a lot more effort, and you get half the distance. What Paul is saying here in Hebrews, listen to it again, wherefore seeing that we are encompassed about the so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us. Go into your swimming pool and try to swim fully clothed. You'll find that it takes a lot of effort to get nowhere. And that's what the writing of the Hebrews is warning us. Put up aside everything that will hold us back. The sin that so easily entangles. It's like swimming fully clothed. Roderick says, put these things off. If you are swimming with your clothes on, it will slow you down. You will take more effort to go a shorter distance. It's what my friends in America called a double whammy. Now I'm not quite sure what a double whammy is, but I'm sure it must be appropriate right now. Not only do you take more effort, but you get less far. Set aside these things of sense. Set them aside. That's what Nehemiah was doing. He had discernment, and he had dependence upon God in prayer, and he had a sense of duty. He set aside everything else. There was an example set to us in the person of Jesus Christ as one who was diligent. He had before him what God wanted him to do, and nothing distracted him from that task. There was diligence. Boys and girls, mums and dads, fathers, uncles, aunts, grandparents, every one of us, listen to God's word. He is warning us, encouraging us, urging us to say, you know, that sin which seems so attractive, it will sap your strength and it will slow you down. Sap your strength and slow you down. Be diligent in attending upon the means of grace. Secondly, there is durability. Durability, looking unto Jesus, the awesome finisher of our faith. He endured the cross, despising the shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. And here's a verse I've always particularly loved. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself. lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Consider him. Durability. Twice that's mentioned in those two verses. He endured the cross. He endured the contradiction of sinners. Look to Jesus, the author and the finisher of faith. And how should you look towards Jesus when you see him upon the cross? And he endured that. And he endured that for my sake because why? He was enjoying the cross because there the punishment of my sin was poured out upon him. All the demerit, all the shame, all that is entailed with our guilt because of sin is poured out upon Christ Jesus. He enjoyed it all. He bore the weight of God's justice against my sin. consider Jesus. But it wasn't just the justice of God poured out upon Jesus, it was the wickedness of men. In the King James Version, that gripping phrase, consider him who endured such contradiction of sinners. Contradiction of sinners. Remember there was a boy in my class at school many, many years ago. He was one who always liked to get under the skin of his teachers. If he could possibly say something to annoy them, he would. Eventually one of the teachers just lost her temper with this boy. She said, you know everything I say to you, you always contradict me. Quick as a flash he says, no I don't. There are some people who are like that. They just want to say things to annoy and irritate the whole time. Here was Jesus, the faultless son of God. Nothing in his personality to provoke this response. Day after day, the wearisomeness of men opposed to goodness. You think you have a hard time of it from time to time because there is somebody in your place of work who just needles you the whole time. Consider Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith, who endured such contradiction of sinners against himself. Finally, what is it that should stir our hearts and minds to live the Christian life, not only on the Lord's Day, when it is, dare I say, somewhat easy to do it. We're here in the company of the God's people who are of like mind and of like heart. We love the fellowship dearly in the Lord. We enjoy their fellowship. There is no particular strain upon us in being in the company of the saints, but going out into the place of work tomorrow and dealing with ungodly men and women People who have no thought for the things of God, that becomes more of a test, more of a strain. We'll listen too to the words of God, because our third point is here. We've had diligence, tunability. The third thing I would put before you, and perhaps the most important thing of all, of all that we might look at this morning, delight. Who for the joy set before him. endured the cross, who for the joy set before him. We don't customarily talk about our heavenly reward as though we were looking forward to all the good things that God's going to give us and that's the reason why we are Christians in this world. But here, just for a moment, there is something of a glimpse set before us of our eternal reward. Jesus was conscious of that. Now the precise nature of that joy we cannot really even begin to guess at. We can point perhaps in its direction but we certainly cannot encompass it by our ability in our minds or with our words. But what the scripture is telling us is that Jesus had an eye to eternity. He saw the cross looming up before Him, beyond the cross. There was an eternity of fellowship with the Father that He looked forward to, that He embraced with delight, whom for the joy He set before Him. He was looking forward, eager in anticipation to a day when the cross itself would be a thing of the past, and He could look forward to being with God the Father, and when He could be with all the redeemed, all the elect. and rejoice in their fellowship. As we are told in the book of the prophet Isaiah, he saw the travel of his soul and was satisfied. He said, these are my people. I delight in them. I rejoice in them. These are mine. I give my life for them. You know, he had that view to the future. Even in the context of the cross, He set the cross in the context of eternity. The Son of God, seeing all the burden laid upon Him, sees beyond that and says, Ah, for the joy that is set before me, I endure the cross. And even those men who by their constant biting at His heels, their yapping round about Him as troublesome doves that might gather round our feet, yapping and barking and annoying and irritating, a contradiction amazes us. But that is the joy that is set before us. Consider Jesus, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, due to the contradiction of sinners. Nehemiah faced opposition. And that opposition seemed to be just not ending. Ever since he arrived in Jerusalem, there doesn't seem to be a moment in the history of Nehemiah that we've been looking at in these chapters. One sinner comes out again and again. We've looked at the opposition that has come in so many different ways. We've got a new chapter before us today and we see new problems arising for Nehemiah and his leadership. Never without that constant pressure. You and I might feel something of that pressure day by day. We look forward to a day when we will have none of those pressures. I think in one real sense we'll never be without some obstacles. Not while we breathe in this world. Does that mean that we fall into utter despair that there is no end to our burdens, no end to the the difficulties that we face, those thorns in the flesh, difficulties in the place of work, difficulties with income, difficulties with employment, difficulties with family, difficulties with friends, difficulties with neighbors. And if we don't endure all of these things, at least we're able to recognize that we have some of these all of the time. Consider Jesus. who for the joy that was set before him. Yes, we do face difficulties, there are burdens that are ours, but let's set them in the context of eternity. A day will dawn when all the burdens of this world, all the contradiction of sinners will be brought to an end. Let's have an eye upon eternity. And while God is pleased to cause us to remain in this world, let us exercise godly leadership, each one of us. Not just those who are called to the eldership, those who serve presently on this session, but each and every one of us, as parents, giving a godly lead to our children. And even you children, think to what extent your friends look to you and will do what you do. Do you lead your friends in a way which is a godly way? We will see, if you have not already seen and identified in your own life, delay to the work, or distraction, or people desiring to discredit you. The antidote, as we have seen from Nehemiah, is discernment, dependence and duty. And from Hebrews, diligence Durability, delight. Delight yourself in Christ. It has a way of putting all other concerns in perspective. Let's pray together.