And the sermon text this morning is from the book of Nehemiah, if you will turn there in your Bibles, the book of Nehemiah. It follows the books of Chronicles and Ezra, then Nehemiah and Esther. Nehemiah chapter 3. Now as we read the whole of this chapter this morning I should say that some ministers would not read this portion of scripture maintaining that it contains merely a list of very largely unpronounceable Hebrew names and refers to places that are unknown to us today and describes them in some detail and yet I remind you that this is part of God's Word And as part of that inspired and infallible word it is important that we should read it and that we should understand it. A great chapter indeed that has many principles I believe to teach us this morning. Nehemiah chapter 3. Then Eliaship, the high priest, rose up with his brethren the priests, and they builded the Sheep Gate, they sanctified it, and set up the doors of it, even unto the Tower of Neah they sanctified it, unto the Tower of Hananiel. And next unto him builded the men of Jericho, and next to them builded Zechar the son of Imre. but the fish-gate did the sons of Hassi-Neah build, who also laid the beams thereof, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof. And next unto them repaired Merimoth, the son of Urijah, the son of Chaz. And next unto them repaired Meshulam, the son of Berechiah, the son of Meshes-Abiel. And next unto them repaired Zadok, the son of Baanah, and next unto them the Tychoites repaired, but their nobles put not their necks to the work of the Lord. Moreover the Old Gate repaired Jehoiada, the son of Passia, and Meshulam, the son of Besodiah. They laid the beams thereof, and set up the doors thereof, and the locks thereof, and the bars thereof. And next unto them repaired Melatiah the Gibeonite, and Jadon the Meronophite, the men of Gibeon and of Nisbeth unto the throne of the governor on this side of the river. Next unto him repaired Uzziel, the son of Harhiah of the goldsmiths. Next unto him also repaired Hananiah, the son of one of the apothecaries, and they fortified Jerusalem unto the broad wall. And next unto them repaired Rephiah, the son of Her, the ruler of the half part of Jerusalem. and next unto them repaired Jediah the son of Harumath even over against his house and next unto him repaired Hatush the son of Hashabniah Malkijah the son of Harim and Hashab the son of Pehathmoab repaired the other piece and the tower of the furnaces and next unto him repaired Shalom the son of Halohesh the ruler of the half part of Jerusalem he and his daughters and the valley gate repaired Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah they built it and set up the doors thereof the locks thereof and the bars thereof and a thousand cubits on the wall unto the dung gate but the dung gate repaired Malchiah the son of Rechab, the ruler of part of Bethchak Kekrem. He built it, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof. But the gate of the fountain repaired Shallan, the son of Colhose, the ruler of part of Mizpah. He built it, and covered it, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof. and the wall of the pool of Siloah by the king's garden, and unto the stairs that go down from the city of David. After him repaired Nehemiah, the son of Asbuck, the ruler of the half part of Bethsa, unto the place over against the sepulchres of David, and to the pool that was made, and unto the house of the mighty. After him repaired the Levites, Rehum the son of Benai, next unto him repaired Hashebiah the ruler of the half part of Keilah in his part after him repaired their brethren Bevei the son of Hanadad the ruler of the half part of Keilah and next to him repaired Ezah the son of Jeshua the ruler of Nisba another peace over against the going up to the armory at the turning of the wall after him Berech the son of Zabei earnestly repaired the other piece from the turning of the wall and to the door of the house of Elishab the high priest after him repaired Meremoth the son of Urijah the son of Chaz another piece from the door of the house of Elishab even to the end of the house of Elishab and after him repaired the priests the men of the plain after him repaired Benjamin and Asherb over against their house After him repaired Azariah, the son of Maasaiah, the son of Ananiah, by his house. After him repaired Binuai, the son of Henedad, another peace, from the house of Azariah unto the turning of the wall, even unto the corner. Pelel, the son of Uzziah, over against the turning of the wall and the tower which lieth out from the king's high house that was by the court of the prison. After him, Pedaiah, the son of Parosh. Moreover, the Nephilim dwelt in Ophel, unto the place over against the water-gate toward the east, and the tower that lieth out. After them, the Tekoites repaired another piece, over against the great tower that lieth out even unto the wall of Ophel. from above the horse gate repaired the priests, every one over against his house after them repaired Zadok, the son of Imah, over against his house after him repaired also Shemaiah, the son of Shekeniah, the keeper of the east gate after him repaired Hananiah, the son of Shelemiah and Hanun, the sixth son of Zelaph, another peace after him repaired Meshulam the son of Berechiah over against his chamber after him repaired Melchiah the goldsmith's son unto the place of the Nephilim and of the merchants over against the gate of Mithkad and to the going up of the corner and between the going up of the corner and to the sheep gate repaired the goldsmiths and the merchants well we have managed to read through one of the most difficult chapters in the whole of the Old Testament in terms of names and pronunciations. May God bless to us all that reading from his own inspired word. Now this morning, as a number of you realize, we have arrived at the fifth consideration and exposition of this amazing book of Nehemiah in the Old Testament. We have arrived at chapter 3 this morning. You will remember how we have considered the great opening of the book, bad news from a far country that reached Nehemiah as the cup-bearer, to great King Artaxerxes I in his palace in Shushan on the eastern side of the Tigris River, the winter residence of the Medo-Persian monarchs. and how he had learned of Jerusalem's desolation and destruction. Then we looked at his standing in the breach, that great magnificent prayer of Nehemiah in chapter one of the book. We then saw him prevailing with God and with men. as amazingly the great King Artaxerxes grants his cup bearer permission to leave Shushan and become the governor of the distant province of Judah. And last Lord's Day you will remember we looked at the glorious theme of the hand of God being upon this man as the secret of all his amazing and extraordinary success. We saw that the work was God's work the timing was God's timing and the place was God's place as the hand of God was upon this great servant of His, Nehemiah. Now I remind you again, congregation, that we are not looking at ancient history merely in this great book of Scripture. It has a powerful message to us all in this 21st century in which we live. We only need to look around us and see the contemporary situation of the church today As it faces so many challenges in an unbelieving and ungodly world, and as it faces so many assault even from within the church, we need to see God's people rallying to a great work of rebuilding Zion's walls. We ourselves need to be part of that work of great rebuilding of those walls. in the face of many kinds of external and internal opposition and pressure. Hence the importance of this book. It sets out the great principles of this challenge which transcend the time and the cultural gap of the centuries. But when you come to Nehemiah chapter 3 The temptation, surely, at least to some of us, is to pass over the reading of it and merely to summarize the great conclusion that the walls of Jerusalem were finally being built. But you see if we were to do this we would be despising the inspired and inerrant word of God and I want to suggest to you this morning that Nehemiah chapter 3 with its long list of almost unpronounceable names and unknown places to us is in fact one of the most important chapters of a whole book of Nehemiah. It is far more than a list of almost unpronounceable names. but a remarkable honor list an epitaph if you like enshrined in the sacred record of God's Word for the one deed that these many men and women did in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem their names will live on forever because they are recorded in the inspired Word of God it is an honor roll do you see and their example moreover is recorded to inspire the church in our day as well and there are great and wonderful principles to that end in this great chapter now before we consider this great third chapter of Nehemiah I need to backtrack into chapter 2 And so the division of my exposition this morning is first of all appropriating the resources, going back to chapter 2 verses 7-9, secondly accomplishing the reconnaissance, chapter 2 verses 11-16, and then thirdly as we come to chapter 3, administering the rebuilding. Because you see, through Nehemiah's thorough preparation for this work, and behind the extraordinary list of largely forgotten names and their accomplishments lie wonderful principles for building a work of God in our age as well now first of all and briefly on this point we see or have seen Nehemiah appropriating the resources for this great work you remember in chapter 2 verses 7 through 9 and you see we need to ask the question as we come to chapter 3 how did the great work of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem in this chapter ever come about? it did not just happen in other words because we've seen how Nehemiah prevailed with God and prevailed with the great king Artaxerxes because his royal permission was needed for Nehemiah's great task and what we need to realize you see, in terms of Nehemiah appropriating the resources there in verses 7 to 9 of chapter 2 is this that Artaxerxes would certainly never have given permission to Nehemiah for his journey and his governorship if he sensed any hesitancy or unpreparedness in Nehemiah In other words, if Nehemiah had come before Artaxerxes with what we would term a half-baked scheme, he would never have gained royal approval for his venture. And this is the striking feature of his appropriating the resources. He was a man of forward planning. he thought it all out, he knew exactly what his needs were and exactly what were the resources that would be required and so you remember we read there in chapter 2 in those verses that he was officially sent with Artaxerxes approval and blessing and letters of authorization for the work he was provided with a safe conduct and he was issued with the supplies that he needed authorization from the king's servant and master probably of the forests of Lebanon, Asaph, to provide the immense quantities of timber and building material that would be needed for Nehemiah's enterprise. Now why do I say that to you this morning congregation? Because we need to realize that chapter three would not be enshrined in the divine record if it were not for Nehemiah's forethought and planning. In the words of Matthew Henry, the great Puritan commentator, God's work, says Matthew Henry, is unlikely to be well done when, unless it is first well considered. And very true are those words of Matthew Henry. And we see Nehemiah coming with that great confidence that God has given him into the presence of the great Persian monarch, and exactly asking for what he really needed. He thought it all out prayerfully in the previous four months. He could even fix the timetable as we saw, as well as knowing the provisions that were required. And the same principle applies, you know, in any ongoing work of God today in our church and even in our lives. Do you remember the teaching of the Lord Jesus in Luke chapter 14? As he told the parable of the man building the tower, which of you intending to build a tower, sit up not down first and count up the cost, whether ye have sufficient to finish it. or you remember that other passage in Luke 14 as Jesus gave the parable of the other king going to war what king he says going to war, siteth not down first and consulteth whether with 10,000 men he is able to meet his foe with 20,000 men and whether he ought not to sue instead for an ambassage the principle of appropriating the resources And you notice that Nehemiah, unlike some of our pseudo-pietistic Christians of our age, he did not exclude the king's involvement, either materially or with regard to his protection. He had no hesitancy in accepting from a heathen king resources to do God's work. we need, you know, to review our biblical doctrine of the state, don't we, some of us, today? Because there is, it seems to me, a pseudo-pietistic view that many Christians hold, particularly in non-reformed traditions, where the state can have nothing to do with the church. We recognize the principle of Romans 13 that God has established all government, and that the state, indeed, should serve his interests and recognize its responsibility to do so. And Nehemiah shows us too, doesn't he, in appropriating the resources, the balance of God's sovereignty and human responsibility. He prayed to the God of heaven, the sovereign God, but he planned so carefully the carrying out of his great mission. recognizing that all depended finally on God's sovereignty there was no division and clash between it and human responsibility he needed both in order to succeed appropriating the resources while secondly accomplishing the reconnaissance and quite quickly on this verses 11 to 16 of chapter 2 again we need to ask the question How did the events of chapter 3 ever come about? And the answer is, Nehemiah's night reconnaissance, isn't it? Here is this man, as I said to you in our last exposition, a man outstandingly of action and organization and coordination, yet he was in Jerusalem for three days, apparently doing nothing. The record tells us nothing, and then his secret knight reconnaissance of the ruined walls of the city takes place. I love the words of C. H. Spurgeon. He knew, says Spurgeon, that raw haste is half-sister to delay. Wonderful insight. Raw haste is often half-sister to delay. And so, before he ever reveals his plans to his friends, he takes stock of Jerusalem's terrible plight, by night, stealthily and secretly, surveying the desolation, starting, as we saw, from the valley gate and going counter-clockwise. around the broken walls of Jerusalem by the Dragon Well and the Dung Gate and the Fountain Gate and so on until he has completed a full circle back to the Valley Gate again and we need to ask ourselves why was this so essential well obviously to gain the confidence and respect of the disheartened rulers and the people of Jerusalem they could so easily have risen up couldn't they and said who is this Johnny come lately what does he know about our situation and he was able to allay their fears that he knew it fully and deeply and agonized over it and he was not in this for his personal glory and his personal gain and obviously he did it so he would have first-hand knowledge of all the ruination of that great city of God and coming before the people they could see but his heart's concern was in the rebuilding of Zion remember the biggest obstacle congregation that Nehemiah faced was not in the end the actual rebuilding of the ruined walls themselves but it was the obstacle of the people's discouragement and inertia they had lived for 90 years saying it cannot be done they had accepted the status quo they've become dispirited and lackadaisical in their attitude to the ruination of God's great city. Hasn't this so often been paralleled in the church and isn't it true today that so many believers you know have grown used to the desolation and ineffectiveness of God's iron and their enthusiasm has been chilled and it's been replaced by pessimism. It just can't be done in our age. And a multitude will come up with reasons why not, why a work cannot be done or be undertaken. And there may even be resentment of a Nehemiah type of leader raised up by God. But above all else, Nehemiah's reconnaissance was necessary that he might discover and estimate the cost in sacrifice and toil. to repair the ruined city. It was an immense task. And Nebuchadnezzar's army, you remember, those many years before, had done its work well. The walls were in ruins. Jerusalem, a defenseless city, vulnerable to every kind of assault. Accomplishing the reconnaissance as the background to chapter 3. Do you see what we're saying? Many today fail exactly here, in counting the cost of following Christ, of serving in his church, of rebuilding the ruined walls of Zion. You may remember Jesus' response in Luke chapter 9 verses 57 to 62, the three men who came to him with very different backgrounds and said, Master, we will follow you wherever you go. and Jesus said to the first, if a man will follow me he must hate his father and mother and then come and follow me, that is to say he must love those domestic ties far less as binding than the binding tie to his new lord and master or you remember the man who said I will follow thee Lord but first let me go and bury my dead and Jesus said let the dead bury their dead but come thou and follow me for the third man who said to Jesus let me bid farewell to my family and Jesus said no man having put his hand to the plow and turning back is worthy of me do you see the picture Jesus is describing men who outwardly say yes Lord we want to follow thee but they failed to count the cost And you remember Jesus summarizing the whole situation, said to his disciples, so also whoever of you that does not forsake all that he has cannot be my disciple, counting the cost. But Nehemiah didn't make that mistake, did he? He thoroughly examined and surveyed the scene, he calculated the enormous sacrifice and dedication and effort that would be needed and he showed his own unreserved, absolute and total commitment to the task. He was living for something as we've seen that was bigger than himself. And his countrymen caught the vision and they were inspired and they said in those amazing words in chapter 2, let us arise and build an incredible response as amazing and remarkable as we see as that of the great Persian monarch himself again the words of Charles Adams Spurgeon Oh dear brothers and sisters says Spurgeon in one of his sermons wherever you see the cause of God in a sad state lay it to heart weep, lament and pray, feel that you have an interest in it, because of the Church's desolation, you are a part. And say, beloved brothers and sisters, by God's help, I will lay myself out for the progress of His cause in my day. Do you see what I'm saying? Nehemiah's appropriating the resources and accomplishing the reconnaissance were the essential background to the glorious chapter that now unfolds before us in chapter 3 so we come thirdly to the administering of the rebuilding chapter 3 in these 32 strange and very unpronounceable parts and verses of God's Word Now we need to remember as we come to the chapter that the walls around cities in ancient days were very necessary. We have long since, have we not, discarded walls around our cities. They are redundant. As one of the sayings is, something there is that doesn't love a wall. And it's very true. But in the ancient world they were of vital importance for protection and defense against enemies. stout gates with bars, strong impregnable high walls around the ancient cities and once those walls were demolished the inhabitants were vulnerable to every assault and attack of their enemies so in Jerusalem's case it was imperative that the walls of the city be rebuilt hence this amazing chapter as we've seen, chapter 3 Now at first it seems a long list, as I said to you, of almost unpronounceable names, men and women who would otherwise be long forgotten, yet they are given, you notice, a lasting epitaph in this portion of Holy Scripture, for their dedication to the rebuilding of Jerusalem's destruction. Whether it was the fish gate, or the valley gate, or the repulsive dung gate, whatever it was, it's a role of honor, my dear friends. And in this list of largely forgotten names and places, there is revealed a most extraordinary feat, moreover, of organization and concerted action with the most amazing results. Now there are three things that I want to say to you this morning from this chapter that instruct and challenge us profoundly. First of all, the concerted effort. Secondly, the cooperative endeavour. And thirdly, the commendable examples that are shown in this chapter. Now there's much more I'm sure that we could say about this chapter this morning, but this is all that we have time for. First of all, the concerted effort throughout this great chapter. We notice, do we not, immediately, Nehemiah's genius in planning out the work. If you study the chapter you'll find very quickly that he structured it around the nine gates of the city. working counterclockwise just as he took that night reconnaissance as we've seen counterclockwise it was methodically done as we would expect from this man Nehemiah beginning at the Sheep Gate in verse 1 and did you notice in our reading ending at the Sheep Gate in verse 32 working section by section by section of the wall till it was finished concerted effort. Now let me say several things about this the work first of all involved everybody didn't it? Nehemiah's good leadership is here in not going it alone but persuading and leading and encouraging all the people of Jerusalem and the surrounding towns to take part. Now did you notice as we read the chapter this morning nobody was turned away at least 39 different groups of workers are listed in this chapter by family units, by towns, by crafts, by trades, by callings the priests and Levites were involved, the rulers and commoners the gatekeepers and guards, the farmers and tradesmen the temple servants and even some women there in verse 12 doing man's work the towns around Jerusalem were also involved, nine of them are named in this chapter Jericho and Gibeon and Mishpah and Meronoth and Zenoah and Beth-Hakaram and Beth-Zur and Kila and Dekoa so the people came from different places and occupations and backgrounds yet all of them were laboring side by side and did you notice the recurrent phrase next to him or after him it's repeated no less than 32 times within these 32 verses beginning in verse 2 indeed here is as geographically and socially a diverse group as you could imagine or find yet all are united together in one great purpose and resolve. Every man or family was assigned some task to do, on the completion of which the wholeness and defensive strength of the wall depended. Concerted effort. You know, what does it say to us this morning? It's an abiding illustration, isn't it, of what needs to happen when God is at work still in His church today. One great united effort by God's people. Verse 6, the people worked with all their heart. Nehemiah tells us, even though the responsibilities were given to each group individually, nevertheless the task was borne corporately. and the chapter is magnificent in showing the people's willingness to work unselfishly and cooperate with one another. Now isn't it congregation? A picture of the church as Paul describes it for instance in Ephesians 4 verses 1 to 16 where part of that exposition of the doctrine of the Church says this, the whole body, joined and knit together by that which every joint supplies, causes the growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. Many parts of the body, but united in one body, joined and knit together, and it's only as each part of the body functions in its proper way that the body can grow, Paul says, into maturity in Christ. Oh my friends, today there are many contributions needed for building the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, the gates of Zion in our day. We need to become, if necessary, even hewers of wood and drawers of water in this great task. But it needs unity of effort. otherwise great gaps will appear in the walls. Isn't it Paul's great description also of the church? In 1 Corinthians 12 verses 4 to 6, the body is not made up of one part but of many. God has arranged the parts of the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If all were one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts. within the body. One great united effort by God's people. Now the second thing I want you to notice is the cooperative endeavor that the chapter describes in the 32 verses. The second outstanding feature following concerted effort we see cooperative endeavor. Each of the 39 groups of individuals listed You notice, had a definite place of work and task assigned, some more, some less, but the success of the whole depended on the faithfulness of the few. And I want you to look at, briefly, just some examples listed in the chapter. The priests, verse 1, began the work. The priest, even Eliaship, the high priest, led the van. and no doubt Nehemiah missed this because it was an example of decisiveness for the rest of the people why if our ministers are involved in this great work we also ought to be involved in it the people would have said and interestingly enough this is the only section of the wall there in verse 1 that is designated as being consecrated And you see it's significant because it shows when the priests laid aside their vestments and their robes and picked up the towel and the spade and the mortar and the cement, they regarded that work as equally being consecrated to God as their service in the temple. And it was symbolic to the people of the consecration of the whole work of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. they were rendering service not to Nehemiah or the Jewish nation alone it was above all else service to God and consecrated to Him do you see just as much as the sacred vessels of the tabernacle were consecrated in Exodus chapter 29 so these walls were also God's work destined for His service you know I say to you as families present this morning the temptation often is to regard your calling in business or it may be as a manager or in some other role in so-called secular society to regard your role as merely secular and not sacred and you know this chapter tells us that it's a false distinction and so many hold it alas in the church today that false distinction there is no distinction in the end between the sacred and the secular if we are about the work of God in the place where he has put us. We should seek to consecrate all that we do to God's work and service. Who knows whether a person right next to us in the office, by seeing our diligence and faithfulness, our honesty and our earnestness in our work, our conscientiousness before our employer, says, I have never seen this before. What makes this man or woman? behave in this unusual way, and it leads to the question, what is your faith? What is your incentive for living in this way? Then there were goldsmiths and perfume makers and merchants, verse 8 and verse 32 and so on, goldsmiths who were used to very delicate works, Can you imagine them picking up a towel and a spade and working with mortar and rough cement? Merchants who did not think their callings would excuse them? Did not believe that they could not leave their shops and their trades to do this work? All of them worked and slogged and labored in addition to whatever other responsibilities they may have had to carry out as well. surely they knew that whatever loss they suffered it would certainly be made up to them by the blessing of God the priests, the goldsmiths, the perfume makers, the merchants, the rulers of Jerusalem, verse 12, of Beth Hakaron, verse 14, of Mizpah, verse 15 Beth Zerah, verse 16, Keilah, verses 17 and 18 the rulers did not regard this menial work as below their station because it was consecrated work for God. Women even, verse 12, the daughters of Shalom now he may not have had any sons so his daughters who may have been of some real social standing in Jewish society rolled up their sleeves and joined in what was really men's work and they were not afraid to do it for the Lord doesn't it remind you of Paul's words to the two women in Philippians 4 verse 3 reminding them in their quarrel with each other how before they had laboured with him in the gospel Euodia and Syntyche laboured with him in the gospel again many repair sections near their homes we read is mentioned six times over in front of or beside or opposite his house And it was Nehemiah's wisdom again, wasn't it? Not only for economy of travel and commuting, but also enlightened self-interest. These families would be more earnest in building the wall that would protect their own dwellings that were nearby, and be safety for their own family property. Isn't that always the first place to start? Still, In the repair of God's house spiritually, congregation, isn't it good to begin everyone over against his own house? In our personal Christian lives we should begin there. In the church's needs in our age we should begin there. In evangelism, that's where we begin. You know, God's way of saving souls outside the glorious preaching of the Word of God and the Gospel of Grace, God's way of saving souls, is often the action of one soul upon another, isn't it? Everyone over against his own house. And then there were men from nearby towns, we read. Nine towns, as I said to you were mentioned. they were not inhabitants of Jerusalem themselves they had no personal gain from working on the walls of Jerusalem, they didn't live there from Jericho and Gibeon and Lisper and Sinoa and so on and it's interesting that Nehemiah wisely assigned them to work on sections of the wall where there were no residence homes nearby now in summary It's an amazing achievement of cooperative endeavor congregation. You know, I learned many years ago of that little saying about four people, everybody, somebody, anybody and nobody. Have you heard that saying? There was an important job to be done and everybody was asked to do it. Everybody was sure that somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but in the end nobody did it. Everybody got angry about this because this was really somebody's job. Everybody thought somebody would do it, but nobody realized that everybody wouldn't do it. It actually ended up that everybody blamed somebody, when really nobody had asked anybody. Amazing little catchment, isn't it? Everybody, somebody, anybody, and nobody. This was not the case in Nehemiah chapter 3, a glorious achievement of cooperative endeavor. Nehemiah was able to weld together such diverse groups in one unit, and not only kept them working, but working harmoniously. As we read, men and women, priests and nobles, goldsmiths and apothecary, merchants and traders all seizing the trowel or spade all wheeling and piling and building now my friends for what has to be done every servant of God is required in terms of his or her gifts to the utmost of his or her place and power As Matthew Henry says again, so fittingly, united effort will conquer that which no single individual dare enter upon. Oh my friends, we need this example so very, very much, do we not, in our time and our age? Now thirdly, as I draw to a close, there is the commendable examples in this chapter. You may have noticed some of them as we read the chapter with its unpronounceable names earlier. For instance, here is just three or four of them. Malkijah, verse 14. Do you notice he repaired the dung gate? Single-handedly? Now it wasn't nearly so glamorous a task as repairing the sheep gate which the priests did because that was the gate evidently through which the sacrificial animals came into Jerusalem. Here was something, nothing nearly so glamorous as that. But in its own place it was just as necessary. And as a service rendered to God it was just as acceptable. and his work you notice is recorded alongside that of the inhabitants of Zenoa in verse 13 who repaired no less than 1500 feet of the broken wall and all that Malkijah did was to repair the dung gate through which all the awful and refuse of Jerusalem was taken to be burned in the valley outside it was unpleasant, it was obscure, yet it's recorded in the annals of God's Word and we, likewise, should not despise even the most menial task in the house of our God another example, Derek, verse 20, did extra he diligently repaired the other section, says Nehemiah and he did so with an infectious zeal he's the only one recorded of in the chapter of whom it's said he diligently repaired and the word diligently in Hebrew incidentally comes from the word to glow or burn he was on fire for God he didn't just repair but he diligently repaired an extra section of the wall with infectious zeal and no doubt His vigorous example inspired others to take more pains and to hasten on the completion of the wall in the remarkable period of only 52 days. And God remembered it by recording it here. Hebrews 6 verse 10 God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love or Jesus addressing the church in Ephesus in Revelation 2 verse 2 I know your works and labor of love and patience Jesus says third example, others did more than their share Merrimoth, verse 4 and verse 21 built another section also and the Tekoaites, verse 5 and 27 did extra sections the more remarkable because the nobles of Tekoa, you notice would not put their necks to the work of the Lord, verse 5 where the position of those nobles as leaders should have put them in a higher and larger sphere of usefulness and influence than the ordinary labours they would not put their necks to the work of the Lord. You know, it reminds us, friends, that God will hold account on the Day of Judgement for not doing as well as for doing. Their record is here of not doing and though their work will still be done by others they will lose their reward and incur the displeasure of God well what about Nehemiah finally he's not mentioned do you notice there's another man called Nehemiah who's not related to our Nehemiah at all but Nehemiah is not mentioned in the chapter does it mean he did nothing? No! He did more than all. He was the overseer of this amazing project and we read that half of his servants worked and the other half stood guard in the following chapter that will come to God willing next Sunday. He was involved and after all it is Nehemiah who has left this glorious honor roll by individual names of all those that did their work so well under his oversight. Well to conclusion, this. Appropriating the resources, accomplishing the reconnaissance, administering the rebuilding. What great encouragement to you and to me this morning. My dear friends, this morning God's people, high and low, rich and poor, male and female, are a people of worth. The names of these individuals and families, the work they did has been kept in everlasting remembrance in this otherwise obscure chapter of God's own word. It is His glorious epitaph on lives that at this point at least were lived out for Him. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15 verse 58, Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast and unmovable always, abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. A glorious epitaph to a work well done. So our calling, wherever God has placed us, as we've been seeing, is to labor for the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. You know we're living in days when the attitude of many Christians is, let's do as little as possible for as much as possible. Isn't it? And if this had been the attitude of Nehemiah's builders, there would be no third chapter in this great book. We need to labor. to rid the church of its reproach. We need to labor in our witness to others. There is nothing so mighty as the confession of personal experience of God to others. We are to labor even, as we're going to see in the next chapter, against the enemies that are within the church. As one of the Christian poets says, though with a scornful wonder men see her, the church sore oppressed, by schisms rent asunder, by heresies distressed, yet saints their watch are keeping, the cry goes up, how long, and soon the night of weeping shall be the mourner's song. We have to remember, finally, that we have in our possession the one thing which will cure the world's woe, the gospel of our Lord Jesus, and possession involves responsibility. God has called us all to this great work. He has saved us in order that the word of God may spread through us to those around us. And no lassitude on our part, no indolence, no plea of timidity even, alters the obligation of a Christian man or woman to be a worker for God. Oh my friends, is there a man or a woman or a child to whom you have not yet spoken a word for the Lord Jesus in your place of business, in your home, in the community where you live? Is there? If not, it's time you began to take the trowel and the spade and build into the wall nearest you, by God's grace, some living stones into the true foundation. Nehemiah chapter 3, doing a great work. Thanks be to God. Let's stand for prayer. Our Heavenly Father, we thank Thee for this portion of Thy Word, though strange in many ways and unusual, for those great things that it teaches us still about doing a great work for thee. May these principles indeed be ones we meditate upon both this Lord's Day and in the coming days of this week to our encouragement and above all to that great work of by thy grace building yet other living stones into Zion's wall. For Jesus' sake we ask this. Amen.