Amen. Thank you, Brother Charles. Well, it's been a minute since I've been in the pulpit here at Harvest, but it is good to be home and good to be back. And if you're happy you're saved tonight, would you say amen? So we're in Nehemiah chapter 6 tonight. Nehemiah, many of you will remember, was the cupbearer to the king of Persia. Though Nehemiah had this position, God had put it on Nehemiah's heart to go to Jerusalem and to rebuild the walls of that city so that the city itself could eventually be rebuilt. In Nehemiah chapter 1 beginning in verse number 3, we see a little bit of background here. And they said unto me, the remnant that are left of the captivity are there in the province are in great affliction and reproach. And the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire. Nehemiah, he says, and I came to pass that when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept and mourned certain days and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. God had given, put on Nehemiah's heart to do something great for him. You know, we ought to praise God that He gives us burdens and opportunities to serve Him and others. Amen? You ever thought about what a privilege it is to serve the King of Kings? I mean if I were the king of the universe and I were looking for people to help me out, Alan Holmes wouldn't be high up on my list. I got to be honest. And yet the king of the universe gives us the opportunity to serve him. How many of you believe tonight that God is not done? How many of us believe tonight that, I mean we really believe it, I know the world's getting bad and I know politics and this and this and yada yada yada, but how many of us really believe tonight that God is not done? I love what Jesus said, Matthew 16, 18, he said this, Thou art Peter and upon this rock, look what he says, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. By the way, I still believe the Lord Jesus is building his church. I still believe that God is still doing great things. And I still believe that God desires to use His people to accomplish those great things. I love the truth of verse 3. Then I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work so that I cannot come down. Why should I leave? Why should the work cease whilst I leave it and come down to you? Tonight, I want to look at this verse, look at this passage. I want you to be encouraged tonight. I want us as a church to be emboldened tonight, learning some things about doing a great work for God. Let's look at the passage together beginning in verse 1. Now it came to pass when Samballot, and Tobiah, and Geshem, the Arabian, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had builded the wall and that there was no breach left therein, though at the time I had not set up the doors upon the gates, that Samballot and Geshem sent unto me, saying, Come. Let us meet together in some one of the villages in the plain of Ono." But Nehemiah said, oh no, because they thought to do be mischief. And I sent messengers unto them saying, I am doing a great work. Why should the work cease whilst I leave it and come down unto you? Let's talk tonight about doing a great work for God. Number one, I want you to note tonight the simplicity. of this work, the simplicity of this work. Nehemiah was absolutely clear on what God had given him to do. God had sent Nehemiah to build the wall. And I'm going to tell you, there is a beauty to this simplicity. I want to tell you in love tonight, life doesn't need to be as complicated as we make it. Come on now. Life doesn't need to be as complicated as we make it. The Christian life doesn't need to be as complicated as we make it. And if you and I are going to do this thing of doing a great work for God, then we maybe need to start by knowing what that work is. So think with me tonight as a church. What is the work that the Lord has given the church? I think the work that the Lord has given the church is threefold. First of all, our job is to exalt the Savior. We are to lift high the Lord Jesus Christ. Whether we eat or drink or whatsoever we do, we're to do all to the glory of God. As a church, we are to exalt the Savior. What else are we to do? We are to edify the saints. We are to build up one another. God gifts us to do that. The gifts that the Holy Spirit gives us are for the profit of all. We are to build up one another. What else are we supposed to do as a church? We're to exalt the Savior, we're to edify the saints, we're to evangelize the sinners. We are to be a light for the gospel of Christ to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth. May I submit tonight that the work that God has given the church to do is really a pretty simple thing. Exalt Jesus, edify the saints, evangelize the sinners. I want to be clear tonight. Harvest Baptist does not exist to build our own earthly kingdom. We exist to build His eternal kingdom. And it is my heart as pastor that every single thing that we do is directly related to the work that God has given us to do. Think tonight with me. Think tonight, we're going to have a school business meeting, talk about the Christian school. Why do we have a Christian school? Because it is a part of the work that God has given. God has told us as Christians to what? To bring up our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. And I think that in today's day and age, you have a harder and harder time doing that through the public school system. And so what do we do? We as a church, the Lord has led us to create a school to come alongside the families and the parents of our congregation and do what? Help them bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. What are we doing? We're pointing people to Jesus, amen? What are we doing? We're building up the saints. What are we doing? You know, occasionally we have young people or even families come through and they're not saved. What are we hoping to do? We're hoping to reach them with Jesus Christ. And so why do we have a school? We have a school because it is the work that God has given us to do. Why do we do small groups and Sunday schools and breakout sessions? Why did we have things this year on marriage and how to teach the Bible and how to study the Bible? Because in every area of my life, I ought to be trying to more closely follow and resemble Christ every day. And so why do we have these? Because we want to build up the saints. Why do we have a Christian radio station? Because we want to exalt Jesus. We want to build up the saints. We want to evangelize the sinner. Why do we do what we do? Why do we do Harvest Recovery? We want to reach people. We want to help people. We want to show people that Jesus truly is the truth that sets you free. Everything we do. Why are we going to spend six and a half days probably in sweltering heat at the Sandusky County Fair? Why? Because it's a part of the work that God has given us to do. Hear me, church. We do not exist to build a crowd. I'm going to tell you, if we want to build a crowd, there's a whole lot, there are much easier ways to do it than what we're trying to do. Amen? We don't measure success and failure by mere quantitative numbers. We are not here to build a crowd. We are here to see Jesus build His church. Bless God, if we're going to do a great thing for God, we cannot afford to forget the simplicity of what we have been called to. I think of the work of the church. What about the work of the Christian? Let me ask you, Christian, what has God given you to do? I'm going to tell you, in today's day and age, isn't it really easy to spend a whole lot of time, a whole lot of focus, a whole lot of money, a whole lot of energy, doing things that are fairly unrelated to the work that my God has given me? What does God call me to do as a Christian? Well, first of all, I'm going to follow Christ. I'm going to tell you, I ought to weigh the things and people that I let in my life by how they helped me follow Jesus Christ. or hinder me from following Jesus Christ. I am to follow Christ. If I am not following Christ, I am not doing the simple work that God has given me to do. What am I to do as a Christian? I'm to follow Christ. I'm to grow to be more like Christ. How does that happen? Read your Bible. How does that happen? Pray. How does that happen? Fast. How does that happen? Go to church. How does that happen? Exercise your spiritual gifts. How does that happen? Humble yourself. Submit yourself to the Spirit of God on a daily basis. It's really not that complicated. I'm to grow to be more like Christ. I am to show Christ and share Christ with others. I am to help others follow Christ. Parents, grandparents, I'm going to talk about it more in a minute. That is the essence of parenting. That is the legacy you want to leave as a grandparent, is to help your family Follow, know, come to know, and then follow Jesus Christ. What's the work of the Christian? To follow Christ? To be more like Christ? To show and share Christ? To help others follow Christ? The Bible is pretty clear, I'm to honor and obey the authority that God has allowed in my life. The Bible is pretty clear. I'm to seek to live a quiet and peaceable life. I'm to use my spiritual gifts to help build up others. The work that God has given us to do is really not that complicated. But isn't it easy to get distracted? Isn't it easy to get drawn away? Isn't it easy to get kind of set on other pursuits? And boy, if we're not careful, here's what I found in my life. I say, well, you know what? I'm going to let these other things go, because I'm just really, really busy in this season doing A. But once A is done, then I can really get back to what really matters. Anybody ever use that logic before? Yeah. All right, I'm the only one. You bunch of liars. John just told you where liars go too. When I get done with A, I'm gonna get back, I'm gonna get my parole, I just gotta get through A. But what happens? I get through, I no sooner get through A, and B happens. And I tell myself, you know what? It's okay, it's okay. Because once I get through B, then I'll get back, I'll get things in order right after I get through B. I'm pretty sure I'm on like X, Y, or Z at this point. But isn't it easy? And we live our life that way. It's easy to get distracted. You know, Nehemiah could have taken up the invitation to come. He could have seen it as an opportunity to stick it to his enemies or to try to reason with his enemies, to create a coalition, to find greater ease, to find greater influence in the region. Nehemiah could have looked around at all of the other things that needed to be done. This city was in ruins. Nehemiah could have been distracted with a million different things and a million different people and a million different directions. But Nehemiah knew the work that God had given him to do and he embraced the simplicity of that work. Doing a great thing? The simplicity of the work. I want you to look at verse 3 again. You with me tonight? Say Amen. Nehemiah said, and I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease whilst I leave it and come down to you? I want you to note tonight, secondly, that not only do we see the simplicity of this work, but we also see the significance of this work. Nehemiah said, I am doing a great work. there was a great significance to the work that God had given him to do. And I think sometimes we get it in our head that, you know, maybe if what God had given me to do was more significant, that maybe I would have more clarity and purpose in my life. Maybe if I had a more visible gift, maybe if I had a more prominent place, maybe if I had a thing on a grander scale that I could be a part of or do for the Lord, Well, if I had some sort of spiritual significance in my life, then my life would have clarity and purpose. But I'm going to tell you, ladies and gentlemen, when we take that line of logic, we honestly miss the point. We miss the point. Scale and visibility is not what made Nehemiah's work great. What do you think about this? What was Nehemiah doing before he was a wall builder? He was a cupbearer, but not just any cupbearer. He was a cupbearer to the king. Not just to any king. He was the cupbearer to the king of Persia. The king of Persia was basically a world empire at that time. So he was a direct employee of the king of the world. And he left that position to go stack bricks in some burnt out backwater ruins of a city. You see, scale and visibility isn't what made Nehemiah's work great. What made Nehemiah's work great is the same thing that makes our work great. The work is great because it is God's work. The work is from Him. The work is done through Him. The work is done for Him. And it is a great work because it is for a great God. You've got to get this tonight, because if you miss this, you miss the whole crux, all right? Why is it a great work? It's a great work because it's for a great God. So let's talk about it a little bit. Can I remind us, first of all, God gave you that family. That's God's work. That's great work. Being a godly husband, being a godly wife, that is great work for a great God. Being a godly parent, that is a great work for a great God. If that is the work God had given you to do, you have no greater work. than the work that our great God has given. If you're a grandparent tonight, that is a great work given to you from a great God. God gave you that family. Think about it this way, God gave us this church. And I don't care if you're a greeter, a Sunday school teacher. I don't care if you text out encouraging notes. I don't care if you're a prayer warrior. I don't care if you're a musician. I don't care if you're a singer, a preacher, a teacher. It doesn't matter what you do. Maybe you're one of those behind the scenes who just loves and helps people. Maybe you're one that goes out every week and knocks on doors. Maybe you're one and nobody really knows and you go to those nursing homes and retirement homes and assisted livings. You go to the jail. You do those things that nobody else sees. Hear me now, whatever God has given you to do, it is a great work because it is from a great God. And you do it through a great God. And you do it for a great God. God gave us this church. God gave us this community. God gave us our gifts and opportunity. The greatness comes not from the scale and visibility, but from the source from which the work came. Hear me, Christian. God has given you a great work. God has given you a great work. You say, well, preacher, I don't do anything. Well, if that's the truth, change that. Change it tonight. But if it's simply that you don't think it's great because it's not visible, because it doesn't get roundly applauded, I implore you, don't believe the lie of the devil. You have been given a great work by a great God. I'm going to make this statement. There is no such thing as a small service in Jesus' name. Jesus said this in Mark 9 verse 41. Look at this. Whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name because you belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward. So Jesus here states the claim on an unrevocable reward based on what? A cup of water. But boy, isn't that encouraging? There is no such thing as a small service done in Jesus' name. I could name names, and I'm sure I'll leave people out and get myself in trouble, but I was thinking even this afternoon as I was preparing this, one of the people who has been such a blessing and encouragement to me for many months now, but in recent months in particular, has been Miss Pauline. When she's able, she's here. She's not running around trying to catch all the visitors. She's not at the door greeting people. What's she doing? I come over and I say, Miss Pauline, how are you? And she, that smile right there. That smile right there. You can't see it, but I've seen it. You've got to see it after the service, all right? And she talks about how glad she is to be here. And I tell you, every time I see this lady, she encourages my heart. I guarantee you she doesn't feel well. I guarantee you that if I felt like she did, I wouldn't be here half the time. And yet, she does a service in Jesus' name. And it's not a small service, it is a great service. Praise God, hear me. Whatever God has given you to do, it is a great work for a great God. Here's what happens. When we begin to see that, when I begin to see my parenting responsibility as a great work given from a great God, or my greeting, or my music, or my ministry, or my fellowship, or my spiritual gift, whatever that may be, when I begin to see what God has given me as a great work, I'm gonna tell you, it shifts your perspective. I love what Nehemiah said. He said, I am doing a great work so that I cannot come down. He didn't say, well, I gotta finish this first. Nehemiah's wasn't a have to do it, but a get to do it. And when you and I begin to see the earthly lens through the lens of the eternal significance, it changes things. Nehemiah knew the significance of the work he had been given. It was way bigger than laying bricks. Want to do a great work? See the simplicity of the work. It's really not that complicated. See the significance of the work. The work you have is great because it was given by a great God. Simplicity of this work, the significance of this work. Finally, I'll read it one more time, verse number three. I sent messengers unto them saying, I am doing a great work. So that I cannot come down, why should the work cease whilst I leave it and come down to you? I want you to see finally the steadfastness in this work. You want to do something great for God, you have to be steadfast in the work. You read the book of Nehemiah. Nehemiah had to persevere through many difficulties. to do the work that God had given him to do. They tried to entice him. They tried to intimidate him and bully him. In verse number 4, he says, Yet they sent unto me four times after this sort. They didn't give up. They tried to intimidate and bully him. When that didn't work, they lied about him. You look at verses 5 and 6. They wrote a letter to the king which talked about how Nehemiah and the Jews think to rebel. That king, they're really trying to build this wall so they can build an army and they can rebel against you. They tried to intimidate and bully. They lied about them. They tried to diminish the work he was doing. In Nehemiah 4, in verse number 3, they laugh at the work, saying, a small fox could knock down this wall. They did everything they could to discourage Nehemiah, to cause him to disobey God. I'm going to tell you tonight, church, that if you and I are going to do a great work for God, we're going to have to persevere. Because real fruitfulness only comes with faithfulness. It's garden season. A lot of you have them. That's why vegetables keep showing up at either entrance. That's a great thing. Keep it coming. I remember when the kids were little and you would see the first, the flower would fall off and you would see the tiny, tiny tomato. And I remember the first year, man, them kids, as soon as you could see, that's a tiny, tiny tomato. Look, mama, a tomato. Well, it would have been, but not anymore. You see, some of us, we get frustrated because the fruit's not ripe. It takes time, ladies and gentlemen. It takes faithfulness. It takes care. Fruitfulness only comes with faithfulness. Doing the work that God has given you isn't easy. Having a godly marriage isn't easy. Raising godly kids isn't easy. Being involved in a church isn't easy. Living for eternity isn't easy. It's not easy, but praise God it's worth it. Amen. Now I want to show you this. Look at verse number 15. Nehemiah finished the wall. He said this, Nehemiah 6, 15. So the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day of the month. in 52 days. They built this wall in 52 days. I'm going to tell you, that's impressive. 52 days. Nehemiah finished the work that God had given him to do. But here's what I want you to know as we close tonight. They finished the wall in 52 days. But God was not done doing great things. See, the book doesn't end in chapter 6, does it? No, the book goes through chapter 13. There was much left to be done. I love what it says in the book of Joshua towards the end of Joshua's life as they had conquered the promised land. Now Joshua was old and well-stricken in years, and the Lord said unto him, Thou art old and well-stricken in years. Thank you, Lord. Look what it says. And there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed. You see, God had Moses and Moses led them and Moses died. But here's the thing. The work of God didn't die when Moses died. God called Joshua. And Joshua led and saw great victories and saw great work being done. Now Joshua's getting old. But here's the thing. The work's not done just because Joshua's getting old. God is not done. So if you and I want to do something great for him, if you and I want to part in the great work that he is doing, we have to be steadfast in what God is doing today. And we have to commit ourselves to be steadfast in what God desires to do tomorrow. Hear me church, we've seen God do great things. But nowhere in this book are we ever called to circle the wagons and hold the fort until Jesus comes. What are we called to do? We are called to press on and work until Jesus comes again. Jesus by his own testimony in John 9 verse 4 He said I must work the works of him that sent me while at his day Why because the night cometh when no man can work there is coming a day when that is true But until that day we press on amen why because God's not done God's not done doing great things I love what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15, 58, in light of the coming of Christ. What? Be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. For as much as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Nehemiah finished the wall. Nehemiah 6, verse 15. But God wasn't done. Here's the thing, church, don't fear what's next. Sometimes we finish a wall. And yes, sometimes our work may change. Sometimes we grow up, or sometimes we grow older, and yes, our role may change. But if you and I want to be a part of the great things God are doing, here's what we have to commit to. We have to commit to being steadfast in this work. That though our work may change and though our roles may change, that I realize God's not done and I want to be a part of His great work until He calls me home. So preacher, I want to be a part of God's great work. Don't look past the simplicity of the work. You need to know what God has called us to. You need to know what God has called you to. Don't look past the simplicity of the work. Don't look over the significance of the work. What God has given you to do matters. It matters. The place that God has placed you matters. Don't give up steadfastly doing the work. God's not done, amen? God's still doing great things, amen? God still desires to use His people to accomplish those great things, amen? May you and I, like Nehemiah, tell the world, tell the flesh and anything else that wants to distract us or pull us down, I am doing a great work for a great God. So that I cannot come down, why should the work cease while I leave it and come down unto you? Lord, help us do a great work for you.