Let us turn in our Bibles to Nehemiah chapter 3. Nehemiah chapter 3. I'm not going to read the whole chapter. I'm going to pick parts of it. I'll tell you when I change the verses and I'll do the reading today, just to save your tongue from being broken by some of the names that are mentioned here in this chapter. But Nehemiah chapter three, I'll read the first eight verses and then pick a few after that. Hear the words of the Lord and may God bless it to our hearts. Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren, the priest, and built the sheep gate. They consecrated it and hung its doors. They built as far as the Tower of the Hundred and consecrated it, then as far as the Tower of Hananel. Next to Elijah, the men of Jericho built, and next to them, Zakkur, the son of Imri built. Also the son of Hasenah built the fish gate. They laid its beams and hung its doors with its bolts and bars. And next to them, Meramoth, the son of Uriah, the son of Chaz, made repairs. Next to them, Meshulam, the son of Barakiah, the son of Mesheb, Zabel. made repairs. Next to them, Zedok, the son of Bena, made repairs. Next to them, the Tekoites made repairs, but their nobles did not put their shoulders to the work of their lord. Moreover, Jehoiada, the son of Pasea, and Meshulam, the son of Besodea, repaired the old gate, and they laid its beams and hung its doors with its bolts and bars. And next to them, Melathia, Gibeonite, Jadon the Meronithite. The men of Gibeon and Mishpah repaired the residence of the governor of the region beyond the river. Next to him, Uzziah, the son of Harhaiah, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs. Also next to him, Hananiah, one of the perfumers, made repairs, and they fortified Jerusalem as far as the broad wall." Verse 14. Malchijah, the son of Rechab, the leader of the district of Beth Hecharim, repaired the refuse gate. He built it and hung its doors with its bolts and bars. Moreover, the Nethanim who dwelt in Ophel made repairs as far as the place in the front of the water gate toward the east and on the projecting tower. After them, the Tokoites repaired another section next to the great projecting tower as far as the wall of Ophel." That is the word of the Lord today. I know it's an interesting section to hear a sermon from, but I'm sure there are lots of things here that will be an encouragement to you. May God bless our time here. Working together for God's kingdom and a most appropriate topic with Nana making her profession of faith today. Brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ, it was time to repair the walls of Jerusalem. Without walls, there was imminent danger to man. Robbers, thieves, anyone could walk in and out, steal secretly or rob openly. And without walls, there was dishonor to God. Sacrifices were lacking. So the Jews had to get to work immediately, and they also had to do this work well. It couldn't be rushed. It had to be done properly, and hear about this today. Our headings are all worked, and then second, all worked in unity, and then third, they're built strong walls. Our goals are that the glory of Christ would compel each of you to know who you are. That's the first thing, know who you are, and then second, to work in unity using the specific gifts so the church of Jesus can be repaired, and become a better bride of Christ. First, all worked. Now there was a notable inclusion of men from all levels of society to help rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. The walls that were broken down when Jerusalem was taken captive in 586 BC by the Babylonians. Now consider some of those who were involved and the different levels of society from which they came. Our text says the high priest started. This is the man who was in the closest position to God on earth, but yet, because of the pressing situation, he had to get his hands dirty. There was a sense of urgency and all had to work. And what a good example this was for the other people. He wasn't above getting his hands dirty when the time was necessary. You see that in verse 1, Elijah the high priest rose up with his brethren, the priests, to build the Sheep Gate. And he was the first one likely to have started. What is also, not only got his hands dirty, but he didn't wait for others. Even as a high priest of God, he started. And what is even more notable is where he started. He started at the sheep gate. And this was not an accident that happened. This was on purpose. The sheep gate was the gate from which the sheep would come in to be sacrificed. Remember, Jerusalem didn't have a lot of grass. They had to come from outside of Jerusalem where the sheep would be, and then they would be sacrificed. So this was important access for the priests. But then he did something else. He consecrated the walls. They were going to start, and the first section of wall that they rebuilt, they stopped and praised God for it. They thanked God that the wall was being built. It didn't say, look, we've got to put our security first, he thought about the glory of God, and so there was a special consecration ceremony of the first part of the wall that was rebuilt. After the high priest, the people from outside of Jerusalem are mentioned. So it wasn't just local people. People came from the outside to help. They were going to work together because what happened in Jerusalem influenced the whole nation. So in our text, we see people from Jericho, Gibeon, Mizpah, and Zenoa. Let's read together verse 2 that is mentioned next. Next to Elisha, the men of Jericho built, and next to them, Zachor the son of Imri built." Jericho wasn't near Jerusalem. It was farther in the northeast, and they went there. They came from there to help build because they knew how important this was. The delicate hands of the goldsmith. You know, you have to fashion and carve things. And the delicate noses of the perfumers who had to get the perfume just right. That did not excuse them from staying away from rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem either. They had to participate in this. Verse 8, let's read this one together. Let's begin. Next to Him, Uzziah, the son of Harhiah, one of the goldsmiths, made repair. Also next to Him, Hananiah, one of the perfumers, made repairs, and they fortified Jerusalem as far as the broad wall. What a good section they built. Not only the perfumers and goldsmiths, but civil leaders got involved. And not only civil leaders, but they had their children with them. And not only did they have their children with them, they had their girl children with them. Their daughters were there to help. You know, the normal thing is for the children of important people, if you come from a foreign country, you know, they're treated as princes and princesses. Here, it didn't matter who they were, they got involved because this was security for the whole nation, this was about the worship of God, and they all got involved. Civil leaders in their important positions, you know how bureaucrats can be. They all came and helped together. After them were Levites and priests. They were involved as well. Look at verse 17 and 22. Let's read this one, these two together. After him, the Levites. Under him, Rahom, the son of Bani, made repairs. Next to him, Habiah, leader of the district of Calah, made repairs to his district. And after him, the priests, the men of the plain, made repairs. Even the priests? And even the servants of the priests, the Levites, they were involved as well. You know, normally if you're the priest, you would say, that's your job over there, Mr. Levi. Levi, you go and do the work and I will supervise. No, they got involved along with their servants. But not only the servants, there were also some other servants. They were called the Nethanim. We read that verse earlier. These were the Gibeonites. Remember, Joshua made a deal with them when they did not check them out to see if they were part of the visiting people from far away, but they were local people and they got in trouble. And they made an agreement, a vow to take care of them. Well, these were the people. Because the Israelites found out they were deceived by the Gibeonites, they made them into people who would cut lumber and carry water. They made them indentured servants. So these were the servants of the Levites who were the servants of the priests. Everyone got involved here. By the way, this water gate in the wall of Ophel was discovered in 1867. This was the gate from the palace to the Gihon Spring to collect water. And that's where the Gibeonites or the Nethenim would carry water into the, for the service of the palace. Then there were also farmers. You see the mention of the Tekoaites twice. Well, they were farmers. One of the famous prophet from Tekoa is a man named Amos. the shepherd and the raiser of Sycamore figs. And they were involved as well in the rebuilding of the walls. But more importantly, as we find a variety of people being there, there were some common duties to all men. Some did different sections, but there were some duties that all had to do. And they all had to do this voluntarily. There was no payment for this. I always, when I read this, went back to some years ago, when we asked someone to do some updating of our website, the first response was, how much does it pay? That's the first thing that could come out of the mouth. How much does it pay? You know, there's sometimes we do things for others. We just do things to others because God has been good to us and we want to help others. These were all volunteer workers. You see, at a time of great danger, every man had to become involved. And in fact, one of the characteristic things that everyone had to do at this time was to carry arms when they were working. They had to be ready to fight because they were facing opposition. So all had to be ready to fight. Look at Nehemiah chapter 4, verse 18. And let's read this together. Every one of the builders had his sword girded at his side as he built, and the one who surrounded the trumpet was beside me." So they were ready for battle even as they built. Some might be carrying water, but they had their weapons with them. Some might be cooking food for the people who were working, but they had their weapons with them because that was an important part of protection. More, among them, there was division of labor. Some were building, some were carrying stone, some were fetching water, some would be mixing the mortar that they would use to put the bricks together or the stone to build the walls. And some of them even had dirty jobs. Look at one of them in verse 14. Let's read together. Malkijah, the son of Rechab, leader of the district of Beth-Hakarim, repaired the refuse gate. He built it and hung its doors with its bolts and bars. You see the term refuse gate? That's exactly what it was. The offals from the sacrifices, the sewage, the garbage, were taken out of this gate, and somebody had to be there. And you know, smells don't disappear. I understand it took several hundred years for a fish market in London, a Roman fish market, for the smell to go away. Imagine what was happening here. And yet, somebody had to do that job. We all had different jobs to do. because the work was essential. Not everyone could do everything. Some couldn't carry the stone on their backs, but they could do other things as well. That's the point of this. So what can we learn for our situation? Five lessons. First of all, whatever you are doing for God's kingdom, ask God to bless it. That's where the priests started. They built the walls, they consecrated it to the Lord, thanking God for it. Don't try working in your own strength. Whether you're teaching your children, whether you're reading your Bible, whether you're sharing the gospel, ask God to bless it. And it doesn't have to be a big prayer, just say a quick prayer in your heart, for the Lord will hear your internal prayers as if you were using a loudspeaker. Second, when God blesses something you do, give Him the thanks for it, for all the thanks rightly belong to Him. All are required to work for the kingdom. Now we're getting a little personal. Even the most important people, your high level of education, your important job, your high salary must never prevent you from serving in the kingdom of the Lord Jesus. That's why a pastor is not above doing diaconal work. A person who may not be ordained as elder deacons can still save a marriage by listening to others and giving good advice. We've all got work to do. And all are required to work for the kingdom. Fourth, some common types of work all men are to do. Now, not all men are pastors. Not all men are elders. Not all can be mothers and fathers, regardless of what the government tells you these days. But there are some things that everyone must be able to do. The Apostle said that everyone must be able to give the reason for the hope that he has. Everyone. That means you must be able to tell anyone about Jesus. Every one of you should be able to do so. What should you be able to say? Is it that difficult? No. You should learn, though, if you're not sure. Talk about how God is holy, talk about how man is sinful, and talk about how Jesus Christ fixed the problem. That's a simple, easy way to do it. Or as you have in your catechism, look at your sin, look at your salvation, look how you are to serve. guilt, grace, gratitude, sin, salvation, service, somehow you ought to be able to do so. And that is common to everyone. Some tasks you can't do, some tasks everyone should be able to do. And that's what we're seeing as they rebuild this. And this was not written simply to tell us they built nice walls. It was a picture of the kingdom of Jesus Christ. It was a picture of the safety that must come through your work and the progress in the kingdom as well. Fifth, so there are specific gifts and callings that each one has. So know your gift. Some people have the gift of generosity. Or the gift of hospitality, inviting people to your home. Or the gift of evangelism. Some people are better at this than others. Or the gift of apologetics, where you can defend the faith against questions that might come. Or you might have the gift of friendliness. Some people are just so full of kindness and sweetness that people come into the church and they know you will go talk to them. That's a gift. Not all should be friendly, but some are extra friendly. They have a special gift. Some are very comforting. They know the right words to say or learn sometimes not to say anything, but to comfort somebody who's going through a difficult time. Maybe they lost a loved one and they can go and sit with that person and cry with them. Or maybe one of the best gifts that we need to have is the gift of listening. Listen to people talk. Most of the times, people know the answer to their problems. They just want someone to listen to, this is a gift every husband should have. You don't have it, ask God for it. Start developing it, because it's a wonderful gift to be able to have. You see, what does our catechism say? We all must use our gift for the good of the other members And not only of the members of the church, but potential members when people come in. We talked about that yesterday, last night in the devotional from James chapter 2. You don't go after people who will give you some benefit when they come to church. You go after people who need Jesus Christ, who will join you in the worship of our God. That's why Jesus didn't go after all the rich people who could advance his cause. He went after fishermen and tax collectors and prostitutes. He showed the love to them. The second thing we need to see is that all worked in unity. So there are all kinds of people in all levels of society doing all different kinds of work with some in common. But all of these people work together. And you say, how do we see that? Well, you see it by that phrase, next to. There's a beautiful order and description of that order of the families when they rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem. You see that phrase, next to, next to, next to. They were not on top of each other trying to take over different spots, but they work in coordination with each other. You see, unity is not everybody doing the same thing. I mean, what would happen if everyone's a pastor? What would happen if everyone's an elder, everyone's a deacon, everyone? There'd be chaos. There would be nobody to care for. If everyone's a doctor, who would be the policeman? Who would be the fireman? We have to have that distinction. But unity is having the same goal and working towards that same goal. And here, each family had to stick within its own area so they could complete the task faster. And that's why you see the phrase next to, next to, next to so many times. They didn't try to rob a job from somebody else. And notice the details. more to show that they were doing this, all the details of how they were doing it and where they were doing it. Why does the Bible give details? To verify truth. There's a historical benefit. You know, if somebody wanted to make this up, they'll say, oh yeah, and everybody worked together and the temple, the walls were built and the temple was fixed up and everything's good. When you see all these names mentioned, the details confirm the historicity of something. And this was also written so that the names of the people would be mentioned to honor the ones who worked. Their names weren't mentioned for no reason. God was honoring them. We are remembering the names of these people. How many years now? 2,500 years ago, we still remember their names for the good work that they did in helping to rebuild the city. On the other hand, look at what comes next. There were a few people who did not work together with the rest of the people to help rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. And Nehemiah recorded their names for their shame. Look at verse five, and let's read this together. Next to them, the Tuqoits made repairs, but their nobles did not put their shoulders to the work of their Lord. By the way, the Tuqoits built a second time. When they finished that job, they went and helped others. but they're nobles. They thought they were too big. Why would we get our hands dirty with those poor people, those ordinary workers? Or maybe they just wanted to say, we'll do our job, we need money, we want more money, we don't have time to contribute to the general good of the communion of the saints, so we will not be bothered by them. And their names were recorded. These nobles of Tekoa were wicked. There was another case, too, in verse 30 that we didn't read. There was a man who had six sons, but only the sixth one helped. Can you imagine? Here is Hanun, the sixth son of Zalath, who helped. No mention is of his brothers. No honor came to them because they had no time for the work of the kingdom. These men even repaired the house of a governor on the east side of the Jordan River. Maybe this man would have helped, was a friend of the Jews, or maybe he helped Nehemiah when Nehemiah was coming from Persia back, or they even helped others who helped them. That was unity, because they had one goal in mind, rebuilding the walls. What can we learn from this second point? First of all, all kinds of gifts are necessary for the kingdom of God to thrive. And each one must work in his area of calling, not try to overstep the position of others. See, again, unity is not doing the same thing. Unity is working together with your different gifts for the same goal. And that goal is building Christ's church and repairing her walls. We have to admit, and I hope you see now, that the church is broken. The walls have been torn down. There's a little distinction between the world and the church, where compromises have infiltrated the church and it is weak. And we need to use our different gifts to strengthen back the church. Second, Matthew Henry wrote, he said, united force, this is an encouragement to unity, united force will conquer that which no individual dares venture on. One man can't look at the big challenge and say, I'm going to stop it. I'm going to fix it myself. You need others. We say it in English, many hands make light work, that unity is essential for success. Third, Pray that it will not be recorded in the annals of heaven that you did not play your part in the kingdom because you were too proud or too busy or too covetous even to have someone over at your house for a meal. or to help someone who's poor, or to take time to offer a kind word to someone who's struggling, an encouragement to somebody who's feeling down. Let it never be recorded that you say, well, we pay the pastor, let him do the work. Let not that be registered in heaven for you, but that you have played your part like the names of these men who were faithful with their families from all different levels of society, how they worked for the good of the kingdom. And then not just what is written in heaven, but let me ask in a more personal level, what will people remember about you in this life? What will be written next to your name? What will be on your tombstone, even more personal? He was really selfish. He had no time for others. He advances himself. He sacrifices children. Or this was a man who loved God and loved his neighbor. And he showed it, because love is not some feeling that we have inside. You get butterflies when you see somebody you're attracted to. Love is work. Will it be written that you love God, and you love your children, and you love your wife and your husband in real ways, not just talk? And then we look at the conclusion of it, the third point As they worked together, doing all kinds of work, and they worked in unity, they built strong walls. And we see some hints of this, because we have the account in the end, but we also see in the description that Nehemiah gives. This unity and organization of the labor were written to show that this was sound construction. This was not done in a haphazard way. And the repeated phrase of the materials that were used also conveyed to us this idea that this was a well-built wall. What did they use? Beams and bolts and bars that showed this was a solid construction. They were in a hurry for sure, but they had to do things properly. You know, it's easy. I've seen where they've done some buildings in India where people literally went, a few men, in the walls of the house, and they pushed the whole wall down. And all the bricks kept tumbling down because there was no foundation. And the mortar they used was not real mortar. It was mostly sand. So everything just fell down. About, I think, maybe 15 years ago, there was a major earthquake in China. The schools that were built 300, 400 years ago were still standing. But the new school buildings that were built fell, and hundreds of children were killed in school because they were using quarter-inch steel instead of three-quarter-inch steel. They didn't build it right. People died as a result. But here we're seeing they were in a hurry, but they couldn't hurry the wall. They had to take their time. And you see it with the building of beams and bolts and bars. This was made to last. This was made to provide protection. This was meant to preserve worship, and it had to be done right. What can we learn here? First of all, don't water down the gospel. Don't do it in order to bring people in quickly and build up the numbers of the church. That's common. That's common. You spend 15 minutes with somebody, and you want to bring them in. We had a thing where I was trained as a young, wild Pentecostal. You had like five to seven or eight minutes, and you could get confession out of people that they became Christians. Most of them, no. You try to hurry up the gospel. How do you explain somebody's sins in five minutes? It'll take a lot longer to cover my sins. Don't rush it. Take time with the gospel. That's where the church will be strong. It's got to be built on the foundation of Jesus Christ, understanding the holiness of God. How long will that take to understand? Quite a bit. The sinfulness of man, how we've broken all God's law and thoughtward indeed. The work of Jesus Christ, why he had to be God, why he had to be man, why he had to be born of a virgin, why he had to obey in his life, why he had to suffer and die, why he had to be buried, why he had to be raised up, why he had to ascend into heaven, why does he have to come back? All of those things are essential for the gospel. It is easy to rush when there's a sense of urgency and to sacrifice strength. And sometimes this urgency is based upon a false premise, because they're always saying, Jesus is going to come back next week, next month, the next year, very, very soon. And so they rush the spreading of the teaching of the gospel, because they're in panic. When you understand doctrine, when you understand the elect can never be lost, when you understand you need to give them the full gospel, you will take your time. You'll not be lazy because some people use that as an excuse for not sharing the gospel. But you must not rush. Second, no one use the tools at your disposals to repair the church of God today. You have different jobs. Everyone has a job here. Some of you will have to know your Bible really well if you're going to be able to preach the gospel and do apologetics. Some will have to learn to use good companion books with the Bible. Learn to have good commentaries and reference materials. Attend theology class. You'll learn more. You'll grow in your understanding of scriptures. Study arguments that people make so you can address those arguments. Encourage discipline. Discipline in the home. Discipline in the church. Pray and support your elders and preachers and pray and support those preparing to be elders and preachers. Learn to live a balanced life so you will have time for kingdom work. That's one that's really, really important in our times where people get so busy because they have so many material and earthly expectations that they have no time for the work of the church. They're tired when they're done. They don't have time to teach their children, their wife, or help in the work of the church. That's part of life, is to live that balanced life. See, that's what Solomon got in trouble with for decades in the middle of his life. He got so busy with work, and he said, everything I've accomplished in this time was useless, vanity. The only thing he did was to come back to God in Ecclesiastes 5, and then you see it summarized in Ecclesiastes 12. What is the sum of it all? To fear God and to keep His commandments. That's the foundation. That's the center. But if work takes over, you've lost your way, and you're not going to be helpful to the cause of the kingdom. Now we get even more personal in this third application. What makes you work for the kingdom? Why would you do this? Why would all of these people give up their time to build these walls? They could say, look, I have private security. They could say, look, I could go some other place to live. Or I need to make money. I've got to feed my kids. You don't know how much education costs. What made them do this? You work this way because you know who you are. Who are you? You are the redeemed of God. You have his mark put upon you. Your name's written in the Lamb's Book of Life. That's the foundation of you investing your time and money and energy in building up the Church of Jesus Christ. You're not confused like the world. The world doesn't know who a man or a woman is anymore. The world believes a man can be pregnant. Others believe that they can be a man in the morning and a little schoolgirl in the afternoon. They believe they can pick what they want to be and deny biology. But look at the problem that causes. Is a man able to lift as much as a man is able to lift? If you see you're in a fire and you're stuck and you can't move, who do you want to see coming in to pick you up and drag you out of there? You surely don't want to see a woman coming to do that because generally women can lift less than men. You want a big, strong firefighter who will throw you on his back and lead you out. You see, the problem is if a woman then identifies as a man and she decides she's going to be a fireman, How does that work? You see the implications of denying the reality of what we have? You have to know who you are, and that's why it's important to know who you are as a Christian. Their lives will lead to chaos. They are living in self-deception. And the more they deceive themselves, the more the chaos will come to them. But you are the Lord's. He died for you. You know your purpose in life. It's clear. Whatever you do, you do it for the glory of God. Order is good because order facilitates growth. Everyone within his function, he gets prepared for the task, and he builds the church of Jesus Christ. Let's conclude. In the rebuilding of Jerusalem's walls, everyone, high or low, rich or poor, man or woman, ordinary or extraordinary, had to work and they had to cover all the different jobs that were needed. And they had to do this work in a united way, doing the different jobs with the same goal. And when it was all done, The walls were strong, and when the walls were strong, the people had a place to worship God and wait for more of God's blessing when the Messiah would come. Brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ, be ready to serve. You may have to set aside some of the busyness of your life to do so, but God will reward you. Nothing you give up for God is a loss. Never. Be ready also to work together for the kingdom of Jesus Christ. That's the privilege we have today in seeing another one joining the church to work for the kingdom of God. You stand behind Nenna and let her join with you to do the work of Christ so that this church will be built up, so the kingdom of Jesus will be built up ultimately. And then develop the skills. If somebody's gonna be a bricklayer, you want him to know about mortar, and how much water, and how much cement, and how much sand, so that building will be strong. And that means you need to study, some of you, if the Lord is calling you in an area. That's one of the blessings of being a Reformed church. We send our people off to seminary, you send them to study. In many places, you just split with the pastor. You start a fight with him and you become your own pastor. That's not how the kingdom of God should work. You have to develop the skills because the church depends on you. You need to build strong walls. And finally, if you're like Sanbalat, Tobiah, and Geshem, and you oppose God's kingdom for financial or political gain, you will go to hell. If you join the people of God, there is hope for you. But how do you join the people of God? To join the people of God, you have to see the hopelessness of your life and the consequences of your sin, and then receive the life and death of Christ as your own. When you do that, God will adopt you as His child. Let us pray. Bless your words, Father, to our hearts today. There's much to consider, but Lord, help us that we will play our part. Thank you for blessing this church with much unity. We pray that now we will take that unity and put it to work to advance the cause of Christ, to help each other, to encourage each other, to share the gospel with the lost. Hear us then. and make us more like the children that you wish us to be. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.