I wonder what qualifications you have. That's a question, of course, that if you were applying for a job would be very, very much relevant. I always find, I confess, in some jobs that one of the essential qualifications seems to be now, in most instances, that you need to have a driver's license. For example, I saw an advertisement for a job as harbour master in Kilkeal, and one of the essential qualifications was you had to have a driver's license. Now, I'm not quite sure what sorting out boats and driving had to do, but there you were. That was one of the qualifications that were asked for in that job application. And it's very often the same, you must have a driver's license. Of course, very often you're asked for some academic qualifications, O-levels, A-levels, certificates perhaps, from a college that we used to call the tech, but has now a different name. And perhaps a degree, maybe a master's degree, some sort of academic qualification may be required. for a job. And of course perhaps for some jobs it may be some vocational qualification that you have that perhaps you've trained as a joiner or an electrician or as a plumber or something like that. And maybe for some specialist job you might be asked for some special qualification that not many people have. What qualifications do you have? A question that's often asked. But it's not just a case, as I'm sure we all know, it's not just enough for us to say, I have a qualification, I have this or I have this or I have this. Most often, you're asked for proof. You have to produce documents, certificates to prove what your qualifications are. Now you might say, what relevance has that to the passage of scripture that we have read tonight? Well, if you open your Bible, if you have it closed at the book of Nehemiah chapter seven, I hope that we will very quickly learn that we have an instance of this very thing of qualifications and proving. that you have them. Now here is a passage that I'm quite sure that many people do not pay much attention to. The great project of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem is complete. Complete in an amazingly short period of time. So that even those who opposed it Those who were the enemies of it had to acknowledge that God's hand was in it. And when we come to chapter 7, we find that they've gone a little bit further on, because now they're setting things in order, they're setting people, they've set up the doors, they're setting people to control the doors, they're organizing people to guard the city, everyone guarding over against their own house. But in the midst of this passage, Nehemiah decides that he's going to look up the genealogy. And so we end up with a whole list of names of people who came up out of the captivity and were involved in this work and who settled in the city of Jerusalem. Now we may not think that this passage is very important. But it's important enough for it to be put in the Bible twice. Because a little detail that we have in this passage is also recorded in Ezra chapter two. So if it's important enough to be in the Bible twice, then surely it has something to say to you and me. And so I want to bring you tonight to some of the latter verses that we have read together from verse 63 to verse 65. And we'll read those verses again. And so we read, and of the priests, the children of Habiah, the children of Kos, the children of Barsillai, which took one of the daughters of Barsillai, the Gileadite wife, and was called after their name. These sought their register among those that were reckoned by genealogy, but it was not found. Therefore, were they as polluted, put from the priesthood. And the Tearshatha said unto them, that they should not eat of the most holy things till they are stood up appraised with Urim and Thummim. What qualifications do we have? I'd like to make three observations tonight in the light of this passage that very much deals with qualifications and proof of qualifications. The first is this, that there is a priesthood to which every true believer belongs. You see, the issue that's highlighted in this passage, in Nehemiah chapter seven, concerning these people who are named, the issue is one of belonging. Do they belong? Are they qualified to belong to the Old Testament priesthood? It says, and of the priests, the children of Abiah, the children of Kos, the children of Barsilli, which took one of the daughters of Barsilli, the Gilead, to wife and was called after their name. The issue was, did they belong? to the Old Testament priesthood or not. Now I'm quite sure that all of us are very familiar with the fact that in the Old Testament there was a group and a company and a class of men who held the office of priest. And we will know that they were very important people in the spiritual life of Israel. especially in the tabernacle and in the temple. They served the Lord, they taught the people, they interceded on behalf of the people, and most importantly of all, they offered blood sacrifices, which were such a prominent feature of spiritual and religious life in the Old Testament. And we will also be familiar that with the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, that priesthood was abolished. And the book of Hebrews fully expounds all of that for us. It tells us that the priesthood of the Old Testament was only temporary. It was only a shadow. It was only a picture. and that the Lord Jesus Christ, when he came, was the reality. He was the true priest and the true high priest. And as our great high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ made a perfect sacrifice that never needed to be repeated. Perhaps the key verse in all of this is in the book of Hebrews. where you have the contrast drawn. In Hebrews chapter 10 verse 11 and 12, every priest standeth daily, this is the Old Testament priest, he standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifice, which can never take away sins. But this man, the Lord Jesus Christ, the reality of it all, This man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God. So there needed to be no more sacrifice for sin. Therefore, you no longer needed a sacrificing priest. And so Paul says, in the New Testament time, that God appointed apostles and the appointed prophets, and the appointed pastors, teachers, but no priest. And with all of these things, we are most assuredly familiar. But as the old priesthood, the sacrificing priesthood of the Old Testament is abolished, there is raised up a new priesthood, And that priesthood encompasses every true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. Peter says, ye also as lively stones are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices. And the Bible in many places speaks about what those spiritual sacrifices are. We are to offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually. We are to do good and we are to communicate with these sacrifices God is well pleased. And in Romans chapter 12 and verse one, we read that we are to present our bodies as a living sacrifice. So every believer, every believer, in the New Testament becomes a member of a priesthood. They offer themselves to God. They offer their prayers and their worship and their giving and many other things. They offer as a spiritual sacrifice to God. So in the New Testament, there is a spiritual priesthood. to which every believer belongs by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And that will be most familiar territory to many of us tonight. But the second thought is this, that if we belong to that priesthood, there will be evidence of it. You see, look at what we read in verse 64. These people who we read of, they're of the priests. But what do we read in verse 64 at the beginning? These sought their register among those that were reckoned by genealogy, but it was not found. You see, not only was the issue of belonging important. The issue was could they prove it? Could they prove it? Dissent to the people of Israel was always important. Hence, the Apostle Paul spoke about the fact that he was of the tribe of Benjamin. It was a very special thing for the people of Israel to be able to prove their dissent and their genealogy. And we will remember that the Old Testament priesthood was not open to everybody. In fact, it was the preserve of very few. Not only from members of the tribe of Levi, but those who were from the house of Aaron. So there had to be a link. You had to be able to trace a link back through the genealogies to prove that you were, in fact, a priest. Now, there was no problem. If you go back to verse 39, it speaks about the priests. There was no issue about them. They could prove their genealogy that they were genuinely priests. But when concerning these people in chapter, in verse 63, when the genealogy was searched, there was a problem, because no link was found. And there's a little hint here about why that was. They are described not as priests, but they are described as being of the priests. And that can only mean that here were men who were claiming to be priests. And they were acting as priests. But there was actually no evidence when it was looked into. There was no evidence. There was no proof. And I say this tonight, that if we belong to the New Testament priesthood, if we are those who belong by faith to Jesus Christ, there will be evidence of that. There will be evidence of that. It's not enough just to say, I belong to Christ. It's not enough just to claim that I belong to Christ. It's not enough to go through the outward motions as if we do belong. There must be evidence and there will be evidence that we truly belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. The first thing I would say about this is this. It's nothing at all to do with the family to which we belong. See, that was the all-important thing in the Old Testament. but not in the new. It's a great thing. It's a great thing to be brought up in a Christian family. I could not find words enough to describe how great a privilege that is. I know some young people may not think it's a privilege, but it is a privilege. It's a privilege. To be brought up in a godly home. To be brought up where you are brought to hear God's word and where you are taught God's word. What a privilege that is. What a privilege. We cannot overestimate that. But that in itself does not bring us to salvation because salvation is a to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not enough to say that my father or my mother has been brought to Christ. The question is, have I been brought? It's not enough to say my son and daughter have been brought to faith in Christ. Have I been brought to faith in Christ? That's the important thing. And I suppose we must say tonight that the very first evidence, and we're talking about proof and evidence of whether or not we really belong to Christ, that the very first evidence is that we can look to a time when we were really brought to seek the Lord Jesus Christ for ourselves. You know, there's a book in the Bible that speaks a great deal about this. And that's the book of James. And the book of James has a great deal to say about proof and evidence of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And if you have your Bible there, maybe I could ask you tonight to turn for a moment to it. James. and the chapter two. And James is putting emphasis on the fact that it's not enough to say we have faith, there must be proof. And if you turn to James chapter two, you'll discover what James tells us in this book. Verse 19. He says, thou believest that there is one God, thou doest well. The devils also believe and tremble. So what James is saying is there's different sorts of belief. It's not enough to say we believe. We believe what the Bible says. It's not enough to say that we believe that the Lord Jesus Christ lived. And that what the Bible says of him is true. He says even the devils believe that and tremble. They know that there is a God, they know his power. Something more than that. I don't know if you've heard of a man, I'm sure you probably have if you're interested in Christian books, a man called Guy H. King. He's a well-known author. And Guy H. King, in one of his books, tells the story of Blondin, the famous tightrope walker. And he tells the story that before a performance, he came to a boy that was standing in the crowd. And they said to him, do you believe that I can walk across that rope? And the boy said, I do. And then he said, do you believe that I could carry you as I'm walking across that tightrope? And the boy said, I do. He said, then jump up. I don't know whether he jumped up or not. Do you see, it's easy to say, I believe you can walk that, or you could carry me. It's a different thing. It's a different thing. Putting yourself in the hands of that man. James goes on to give us an illustration of faith, of two genuine cases of faith. The first one is Abraham. How do we know that Abraham had true faith? He says in verse 21, was not Abraham our father justified by works? Surely not. Abraham was justified by faith. What does he mean he was justified by works? He means that he showed evidence by his works that he had faith. And that evidence, of course, was that he believed God and he offered up his son, Isaac. And the other instance that we have is that, of course, of Rahab. Likewise, verse 25 also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works when she received the messengers. How do we know that Rahab had faith? because of what she did. There was evidence in her actions and in her life that she truly was a woman of faith notwithstanding her dark and black past. There was evidence and there must be evidence and when When they came to look into the matter about these men who said they were priests and they were acting as priests, when they came to look into whether or not there was any evidence, it could not be found. And the question we must ask ourselves today and tonight is, is there evidence? By the grace of God, is there evidence in our hearts and lives of the fact that we belong to Christ. Do we desire to follow the Lord? I'm not suggesting that we're perfect, for we're certainly not. But when we fall and stumble and sin, do we mourn over that sin? Do we desire to follow the Lord? Do we love to be associated with his people? Do we love to pray, to read the scriptures? Do we love to listen to the word of God being expounded? Is there evidence that we really truly belong to the Lord Jesus Christ? Because in the instance of these men, there was no evidence. But if a man or woman truly has come to Christ and has been truly saved by his grace, there must and there will be evidence that they are of the household of faith. And do you know what this passage tells me tonight? It tells me if there is no evidence, and if we do not truly belong to the household of faith, then that has no solemn consequences. See, if you look at verse 64, it says, because they were not found, therefore were they as polluted put from the priesthood. And that was a very serious thing. They didn't only lose their position and lose their prestige. Of course, the priests were dependent for their livelihood. Some of the sacrifices that were slain, part of that was for the upkeep of the priests. So they lost everything. But it's nothing in comparison. Nothing in comparison. to the loss for a man or woman, even though they may profess that they belong to Christ. If they truly do not belong to him, what a loss for the loss is eternal. I couldn't help but think this afternoon, as I was thinking about the service tonight, I couldn't help but think of the solemn words that the Lord Jesus spoke in Matthew chapter seven. Here's what he said. Not everyone, Matthew 7, 21, not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father, which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils. And in thy name done many wonderful works. Then will I profess unto them, I never knew you. depart from me ye that work iniquity. Solemn, solemn consequences for those who do not truly belong to Christ. I must finish with this final thought. There is one who infallibly knows those who belong to him. There's a very interesting footnote, verse 65, we read about the tear, You will know that that word, of course, means governor, perhaps even Nehemiah himself. He may still have been governor of the city at that time. But the governor said unto them that they should not eat of the most holy things. They shouldn't eat of the priest's portion of the sacrifices. Until there stood up a priest with Urim and Thummim. We don't need know a great deal about that, but in the book of Exodus, We read about the breastplate and about the Urim and Thummim. And through this, God showed to the high priest his will. So what the governor here, perhaps Nehemiah himself, what he said was, you are barred from acting as priests, you are barred from eating of the holy things, but If a high priest shall rise up again, who can infallibly know God's will, then he can pronounce upon that matter. Sadly, there is no evidence that such a priest ever again came upon the scene. But nevertheless, that was held out to them. If somebody can come and say, these men are really priests, then you may resume your duties and resume to eat of the holy things. If somebody rose up who would infallibly know, then that would change everything. And you know, today there is one who infallibly knows, and that one is the Lord Jesus Christ, our great high priest. apostle wrote these words, the lord knoweth them that are his. And let everyone that nameth the lord depart from iniquity. Of course that verse goes on to say, the lord knoweth them that are his. People can fool everybody. They can put on a pretense. They can put on a show. They can have everybody fooled. But the He knows how every man and woman stands, and there's a comfort in that tonight. There's a comfort in that. If we have truly come to the Lord Jesus Christ, then he knows. If in spite of all our struggles and battles, and maybe stumbling, if in spite of all that, we're really seeking to follow the Lord that he knows for he knoweth them that are his. There is a priesthood to which every believer belongs. There must be, there will be evidence if we belong to that priesthood. And there is one who infallibly knows those who belong to him. We trust in these days that many will be the number of those who can truly say, I belong and he knows that I am one of his.