Shall we turn together to the book of Nehemiah, please? The book of Nehemiah. It's a real pleasure for me to be here this morning when Mr. Fred Meyer called me several weeks ago and asked if I could come to this conference. He asked if I would come and speak to the kids. So it's nice to see all of you kids here this morning. About this going to sleep business, as people sleep under my ministry, I only have myself to blame. At least I usually do that in a way. could be like the fellow who was preaching his audience to sleep and he saw one man who was sleeping quite soundly so he said to the person next to him hey wake up that fellow who's next to you there he found the sleep he said you wake him up you put him sleep so if I put you to sleep well it's up to me to wake you up now in Nehemiah chapter one before we read this however I'd like to make a an announcement there is a current issue of council just out. Now, a lot of you don't know what council is. It's a little paper that's put out. It's free. It's put out in minograph form. It has a new cover on it, however, this time. This paper is edited by Robert McClurkin with several others, some who are here at this conference as contributing editors. And we believe that this is going to be a very acceptable and valuable little paper, at least if the past is any indication of the future. I'm going to lay a few of the current copies and maybe a back number or two out on the table back there. And I would like to ask that you take a look at it. It is especially written with assembly people in mind. It isn't really a general purpose paper. We hope to deal in the future with some of these problems, as well as give a lot of encouragement to those who are interested in building up God's assembly. And so we'd like to make this announcement to you that if you haven't seen council, that you take a little look at the paper and if you haven't seen it and are not getting it either by direct mail or from your home assembly, feel free to take a copy along with you. But they will be in the mail. They are in the mail right now. So if you have been getting it, perhaps you will not take a copy with you because you'll be getting it anyway in a matter of a short time. There will also be another paper there that isn't nearly as important, but it is also serving quite a bit of use. It's a more general paper. It's called the Family Paper. I happen to be the editor of that, but we put it out also every other month, and we'll lay a few copies of that down as well. It's got articles in it for young people, more news items, the work and various types of ministry, which are really of a lighter character, more suited to the general public, and we always carry some gospel in it. The book of Nehemiah chapter Well, let's read chapter four in verse nineteen because I want to speak about different passages from the book. Verse eighteen, For the builders every one had his sword girded by his side and so builded. And he that sounded the trumpet was by me and I said unto the nobles and to the rulers and to the rest of the people, the work is great and large. and we are separated upon the wall one far from another. First thing I want to call our attention to this morning is that there is a great work at hand. That's what Nehemiah is saying. The work is great and the work is large. Now you will notice if you read down through the book of Nehemiah, and this would be a good exercise for us to do at our earliest convenience, read the book of Ezra and Nehemiah together because they really do belong together. Then if you want to go a little bit further in your reading, read the book of Haggai and Zechariah as well, for their ministry fits into this time. But we notice here that there is a great work at hand and it's a large work. And so we're going to want to try and find out what this great work is and what this large work is and how it relates to us today. The thing that we really want to find out this morning from our study of the Scriptures is to find out the kind of a man that God uses for a great work and a large work. because I'm sure that all of us are aware that when God does a work in the world today, He chooses to use us, four vessels as we are, but He has chosen to use us who are Christians to carry on His work in the world today. Now, we might have well used the angels to have done this. I'm sure that angels could have preached a better message than I can. I'm sure that angels could have done a better job at the Lord's work than I could ever hope to do. But for some reason or other, God didn't choose to use the angels. He has chosen to use you and I as Christians and I would like to think that we could be encouraged to see the great work and the large work and then find out what God expects of us in relation to getting that work done. Because believe me, though we are living at the very end time, just before the coming of the Lord Jesus, the work isn't getting any smaller and we can't lay down our tools yet. The work isn't finished until the Lord Jesus comes. But you will notice as you read through the book of Nehemiah, especially how many times this word, work, will come before you. It seems to be one of the key words of the passage. Every now and again as you read through this book, you will come through this word, work. So we can see that there is some emphasis on the work. You will also be impressed as you read through the book of Ezra and Nehemiah that there is also an enemy at large. It seems that we are constantly being faced up to the fact that there is an enemy at work. There is a work of God to be done and there is a work of the Lord that's being carried on, but it's still true today as it was back then and always has been. Someone has well said that there is never an Eden into which Satan does not come. It was true in the days of Nehemiah and it's still true today. Satan is always at work in opposition to anything that God is seeking to do in this world. And I was very thankful this morning when our brother got up and made special emphasis in asking the Lord to frustrate the enemy today. Because I'm sure he will be here at this meeting. I'm sure he is here. He attends every place where the Word of God is preached. And he's going to do everything he can to try to hinder God's purposes in this meeting today. He could very easily use me to accomplish his purposes. I'm talking about the enemy. I hope he won't. He could use you, your attitudes toward the Word of God, your attitudes toward this conference, your attitudes toward the Lord. And your conduct, of course, throughout these conference days can be a great deal of blessing or hindrance. And of course, God makes it a blessing and Satan will use it as a hindrance against the Lord. The other thing that we want to notice in our ministry this morning is what we've already introduced, and that is concerning the man. Will you look at chapter two and verse ten? Find out what kind of a man the Lord uses to do a great work. Chapter two and verse ten. When Sambela, the Horonite, and Tobiah, the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel. How do you like that for an introduction to a man? His name is Nehemiah, as you well know. If you've never read this verse before, and I'm sure that practically all of you have, your esteem for Nehemiah just absolutely mounts when you read a verse like that. Isn't that good? It says, here was a man who came to seek the welfare of the children of Israel. And I have to say, God bless any man who seeks the welfare of God's people. because that man is going to be a useful instrument in the hands of God to accomplish a great deal in the great work and the large work. I don't believe that anyone is qualified to do the work of the Lord, be he a preacher, an evangelist, a pastor, an elder, a Sunday school teacher, or a floor sweeper. I don't believe that anyone can really be qualified to do the work of the Lord very effectively, nor will he do it very joyfully unless he is a man who seeks the welfare of God's people. And this, of course, has to do with motives. Why do I do what I do? Why do I serve in the capacity in which I serve in my local assembly? Why am I up here preaching? Why do I go out with a gospel message? Because there has to be a concern for the welfare of God's people and a concern for those who are lost around us. Here was a man who had a concern for God's people. Look at chapter one in verse two. Hananiah, one of the brethren, came. Now this is after he had made his visit to Jerusalem. Perhaps I should say a little bit more about the situation here before we go on any further in our message for some of the younger people who might not understand the setting of Nehemiah. But read the verse now. Hananiah, one of the brethren, came. He and certain men of Judah, and I asked them concerning the Jews. I asked them concerning the Jews. Now look at verse ten. Verse eleven. Now these are thy servants and thy people whom thou hast redeemed. Put those two expressions together and you've got the real cause for Nehemiah's concern. He is asking his concern is about the Jews that dwell at Jerusalem. But in verse eleven, in his prayer to the Lord, he's reminding the Lord that these people at Jerusalem and these Jews are people who have been redeemed. Thy people whom thou hast redeemed. Verse ten, not eleven. This is the reason why Nehemiah is concerned for these people. Because they are God's people. And they are people whom God has redeemed. And these are the people who are doing the work of the Lord. Now just a little bit about the background of all of this. The city of Jerusalem is laying in a heap of ruins. The whole thing is rubble. It is a place where God has placed His name, as we will notice in just a few moments. But you know, to these people of Israel, seeing that Jerusalem was God's center, the place where God had placed His name, they never lost their appreciation and their high regard for the city of Jerusalem because it was the place where the Lord had placed His name. Some of these captives were carried off into Babylon, such as Daniel. But when Daniel prayed, he always opened his windows to Jerusalem. It could well be said that Daniel had more appreciation for the dust in Jerusalem than he did for the gold in Babylon. And I think this is very true. The same thing could certainly be said for Ezra and Nehemiah. Ezra and Nehemiah, who had been carried along with the others into captivity, weren't really impressed with the surroundings that they saw in their far-off land. They were out of the land of their nativity. They were out of the place that God had said He would give to the children of Israel and that forever, and He's still going to fulfill that promise, beloved. They were out of the city where God had placed His name, and they were carried off into other environments, but their heart remained in Jerusalem. And even though the enemy came in and destroyed that which had been done there for God, still their hearts were with the people of God and with the efforts in Jerusalem. After seventy years of captivity or thereabouts, it was permitted for these people who were exercised. And I wish I had time to labor that exercise point, but I don't. But it was the people who were exercised, who were permitted to go back to Jerusalem and begin to clean away the rubbish and build up that which had been destroyed. And so there were expeditions of people, Zerubbabel leading the first one, Ezra the second one, and Nehemiah the third one. This is where these men come into the picture. These men are going back with an expedition of God's people, those who are willing and exercised, those who are concerned about building up the work of God in Jerusalem, and they're headed back for Jerusalem, and when they arrive there, the work begins. This is where we come into the picture as far as Nehemiah is concerned. Now Ezra has been there, but Ezra began to build a temple. When Nehemiah came, he took a look at the walls. the walls which had separated Jerusalem from the nations and protected her from the nations around, and he saw that the walls were all a heap of ruin and rubble, and Nehemiah's concern was to build up the walls again, the walls with her gates. The walls to keep the enemy out and the gates to let the people of God in. You know, we used to hear a lot of ministry about the walls around God's people. We don't hear too much about those walls anymore. I don't know if they've gone so flat that we think we can't build them or what. And then, of course, there is always the danger of building the walls and forgetting to put in the gates. And I think we only have a balanced ministry when we remember that the walls must still be built today, but we must also have the gates, which are the means of admission for the people of God to go in and out in the service of the Lord and in happy fellowship. Now getting back to Nehemiah then, we find that Nehemiah is the man that God uses wonderfully here. First of all, because Nehemiah had a concern for the people of God. Is he justified in having this concern for the people of God? Let me ask you. Is he really qualified? He was so concerned that he was willing to sacrifice a good position in the king's courts. Because you will notice the last expression of verse eleven. He says he was the king's cup bearer. Everybody didn't get to be the king's cup bearer. This was a real honorable position. It was his portion to traffic in and out into the king's presence and carry him his wines and his drinks. That was the work of a cupbearer. Nehemiah had an honorable position, but you know, there was something that Nehemiah saw to be more honorable than a good position in this world. He saw that there was a work of God to do back in the city of God, and that was more important to him than honorable positions in this world. Might just ask you now as we pass along, how many of us would be willing to sacrifice some good, honorable position that we've got in this world if the Lord were willing and ready to call us away from it for something that might not look quite so attractive? I faced up to this one time. I was sitting very comfortable on a farm, making lots of money, at least all what I cared for, very comfortable, very happy and all. But the Lord one time came along and said, leave it, boy, leave it. I've got something else for you to do. And the work didn't look at all attractive to me when the Lord called me away from us. Because that was the last thing I wanted to do. Oh, sure, I was willing to preach. I wanted to serve the Lord. I was willing to go out and hold gospel meetings, campaigns. open air meetings, go out for a series of meetings. But this idea of going out and not having a stable income, as I thought at that time, not knowing where I was going to get my supplies from, that didn't appeal to me a little bit. But after a long tussle with the Lord, he finally said, leave it, and I will take care of your needs. And we've proved him for almost fifteen years now to be very true to his word. Nehemiah was concerned enough for the people of God that he was willing to sacrifice his position as a cupbearer, his concern for the Jews. We asked a minute ago if he really was justified in such a concern, willing to sacrifice that much. Aren't you a little reckless, Nehemiah? Don't you think perhaps you could do a service for the Lord by remaining in Babylon? After all, you can bear a testimony to the king and to all the royalties of his court, if you will stay here. I don't know if this thought ever crossed Nehemiah's mind or not. I have a pretty good idea. It might have. A man doesn't sacrifice a position like this without thinking seriously about it, I would hope. But no, for Nehemiah, his main concern was the welfare of the people of God. Are you concerned about the people of God this morning? I don't think I'm qualified to stand here on this platform and face you if I'm not really concerned about the welfare of God's people. It's in the nature that I'm concerned about the welfare of the Lord's people to help them along in the way, to encourage them, because there's lots of discouragement, sometimes to admonish them, sometimes to exhort them. And yes, sometimes our ministry sounds like that of review. So why? It's because of our welfare for the people of God. And our welfare is justified. Why? Because they are the people whom God has redeemed. That's why. This is the secret of Nehemiah's concern. He says they're the people that you have redeemed, Lord. They're your people. You've redeemed them. And I want to tell you this morning, dearly beloved, that every one of you are infinitely precious in the eyes of the Lord because he's redeemed you. And that's why I'm qualified to be concerned about you. Could I be the Lord's servant and not be concerned with the welfare of God's people? Do we not have a concern for your many spiritual problems? Do we not have a concern for oftentimes your very severe emotional problems? And I know that sometimes that doesn't just sound quite right because they don't think of preachers dealing with the people's emotional problems. But many of us have emotional problems that are so closely related to their spiritual problems that no psychologist or psychiatrist can touch them. Only the man who is concerned about the people of God can reach them in their emotional disturbances because they are spiritually related. I don't mind telling you that I think I have helped people in my ministry that psychologists and psychiatrists made a mess out. Because I was able to point him to the Word of God and tell him what the Scripture has to say. That's all. Not because I know anything about psychology, never had a course of it in my life, except what I've read to myself. But I know what, sometimes I know what the Scripture says on various subjects in relation to family problems and so on. What about your physical concerns? We're not in these, but every child of God ought to have a concern for the Lord's people in their physical conditions. And that's why we come to visit you when you're sick, even though sometimes perhaps I know we miserably fail, time just doesn't seem to go around. But we have a right to be concerned about God's people. The Lord has redeemed you, beloved. He thought enough of you that he was willing to go to the cross of Calvary, shed his light's blood, go through all the agonies of the cross. And the chapter in the book of Isaiah, which is so beautiful, I forget which one, forty-three I believe. The Lord promises the people of Israel, fear not, I have redeemed you. If you don't get anything out of my message this morning, except this one little thought, perhaps it'll be worth our time. The Lord says, I have redeemed you. Isn't that good? Aren't you thankful about that? I tell you, that's a wonderful thing. To know that he says, Fear not, I have redeemed you. I have called you by your name. Thou art mine. I don't know of any verses in the Bible that are really more precious than those. Wonderful. He dissolves our fears. He says, Fear not. He tells us what he's done for us. I have redeemed you. I've called you by your name. Think of the times when the Lord Jesus addressed people by their names. Mary? Mary? Simon and others. He knew people by their name. And I'm glad to know that he knows me this morning by my name. He's called me by my name. And he says, You're mine. So thank God for every one of us here this morning who are the people of God. The Lord says, You're mine. That ought to make you rejoice. I don't know if it does or not. Some of you look awfully unhappy about that. My brother had you smiling for a little while ago, but some of the smiles had disappeared. That ought to make you feel happy. Well, if it doesn't, we better go on and see if we can find something else. Nehemiah had another concern. Nehemiah had a concern about Jerusalem. Look at verses two and connect them up with verse nine. Let us read again. And I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity and concerning Jerusalem. Now look at the last expression of verse nine, just to connect up the thought here. I will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there. I've already touched on this, but let me emphasize it just again for a little moment. Nehemiah has a concern for the people of God, and he has a concern for the people in the will of God and in God's place. The people of Israel had their earthly center in Jerusalem, the place where the Lord has placed his name. Today the Lord has not placed his name so far as the New Testament church is concerned in any city. The Lord has not placed his name in any building. And he has not been pleased just to associate his name with any exclusive group of people. But I'll tell you where the Lord has placed his name today. I still am just old-fashioned enough to believe that Matthew chapter eighteen and verse twenty must have something to do with it. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, says the Lord, that's where I am in the midst of them. The Lord Jesus Christ places his name in this world, not in buildings and not in cities, but he places his name among the people of God who meet in his name and carry on his business during the time of his absence. For the Lord Jesus commanded his servants to do business in his name until he comes. And to do business in His name means you do it by His authority. The Lord's people gathered together. I'm not really too fussy about the name of the building. I'm not really too fussy about the shingle that hung over their head. This is really a lesser concern of mine. The thing that I am concerned is about how those people meet together and how they carry on. If they profess to be a New Testament church at all. The only thing I can see in the Scripture is that if we're going to be a New Testament church, we're going to have to stay close by the Word of God and do the things that the Word of God tells us to do. Not so much a concern of ours as to see if we do it like Atlantic does it or like Lyman does it or as some of the preaching brethren think it ought to be. The thing we have to do is to go back and search the Scriptures once again, such as in the Book of Acts and find out what God has to say about it. And if he leaves us any room for liberty, we may exercise that liberty. And if he tells us and lays down a blueprint, then we have no liberty at all. It's just to do what God tells us to do in his word. And this is the qualification for a New Testament church, meeting together in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and doing business by his command. And according to the blueprint that he sets down for us. And I don't mind telling you right here and now that I think that this is the greatest work in the world today. Now, of course, our choir recognizes there's another great work in the world today, and that work is the work of evangelization. Because the assemblies of God's people can't expect to exist and to grow if we don't have evangelization. There's enough cases in history around us to tell us that assemblies don't grow. Local New Testament churches don't prosper unless there is an evangelistic effort, and we need to become more evangelistic. I'm quite sure about that. But when we become evangelistic to the exclusion of our concern for the people of God and their growth and development after that, then again we have missed the both. So let us be sure that we have a concern that lies in these two principal areas. We have a concern for the unsaved. And beloved, if you don't have a concern for the unsaved this morning, I hope by the time we have left this conference that we have a deep concern for the unsaved around us because they need to be reached. They're hastening on to hell. And the Lord's coming draws near. And so as you sit and think about the awful realities of an eternity without Christ. I looked at the paper this morning as we picked up the Des Moines Saturday morning paper, a movie star found dead in their home. It's easy to brush that off and say, well, another one probably dropped into hell because that's where most movie stars go, not all of them. And then I caught myself. Is it just that easy to shrudge that off of our shoulders? Is it really that easy? You know, you can sort of, unbeknown to you, take the attitude, well, she's getting what she deserves. She lives that way. She died that way. She's paying the price. But it's pretty callous, you know, when you think about it like that. How much concern do I have? Oh, no. Not just only for those who are deep in sin, but how about those of our loved ones, wives, husbands, near ones, those around us? Do I have a concern for the lost? Do I have a concern for the community? But what about my concern for those lost ones after they are saved? I believe firmly, and I haven't changed my mind in a long time, I'm not sure if I ever will, I hope not. I believe firmly that it's our business, according to the New Testament Commission, to see that those ones who are saved are gathered into local New Testament churches and taught the things concerning the Word of God. Paul says... I have not shunned to declare unto you the whole Council of God. The Lord Jesus said in his commission that we are to teach them all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And I don't feel that my job is done when I have gone out just for evangelization. I feel that I must either leave those souls in the hands of competent teachers or I myself must devise some means of follow-up and see if we can guide them into the pathway of baptism. Guide them into a local assembly or a New Testament church, if you prefer to call it that, where they will be meeting together to remember the Lord and sharing all the responsibilities. Did you get that word? Responsibilities and privileges of the local New Testament church. I don't think my job is done until I have been satisfied as far as reasonably possible to see that this is being done. I hope now that what I have said up to this point is clearly understood. If I don't get any further, I hope, and I make no apologies for this, I hope that you see that I'm relating to the work that Ezra and Nehemiah did to the New Testament church today. It's a great work. It's a large work. And he calls for qualified men. He calls for qualified Christians. The work isn't all in the hands of the preachers and the pastors and the shepherds. The work of building up the local assembly is in your hands, beloved. It's in your hands if you are a member or a part of a local New Testament church. The work is great. It is so great that if you really become actively engaged in it, you probably won't have too much time for other types of work in this world which are also good in themselves. But sometimes, as Mr. McIntosh has said, the good can become the enemy of the best. When I run out of work in the local New Testament church, when I run out of work preaching the gospel, leading those souls into New Testament truth, visiting those who are discouraged, trying to build up the work of God as we've been talking about it. I say again, when I run out of work in this field, I might start to consider works in other departments, which in themselves, I say again, oftentimes are worthy as at least some seem. I don't know if you know what I'm talking about or not. Maybe I ought to get specific. Let's just take, for instance, CBMC. I've been at a few CBMC's meetings, so far as I was observed, it's a fine gospel effort. Now, I'm not saying anything about anybody here who goes in for CBMC, intervarsity fellowship, youth for Christ. This is not my business to stand up here on this platform and see how many people I can slay. I'm just going to tell you how I feel about it. And you can't blame me for that, can you? I say again, when I become so busy in the assembly of God's people that I... When I run out of work in the assembly of God's people, that's when I'm going to become visibly engaged in other areas, which, of course, as we say, have certain qualities which are good. But I see only one thing in a New Testament. I see a New Testament institution, the local church, and I have scripture for that. I haven't any scripture for going really beyond that, except in the field of evangelism. Now, that's just my own feelings about it. You can think that over, it's worth whatever you want to make of it. Nehemiah also had a great ability and I've got to close very quickly. I want you to notice Nehemiah's ability because he certainly was a man who took his work seriously. Remember now his qualifications? He seeks the welfare of God's people. Now what did this man have ability to do? He had an ability to encourage the Lord's people. To encourage them. Look at chapter two in verse seventeen. Then I said unto them, Ye see the distresses that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire. Come and let us build up the walls of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach. This word reproach appears quite often in the book of Nehemiah. Sometimes we use the word reproach rather unadvisedly, I do believe. Sometimes, you know, we talk about the reproaches of Christ. When they're not the reproaches of Christ, they're our own reproach. I don't think we can say that this is the reproach that the Lord laid upon these people. This is a reproach that their sin brought upon them. And sometimes because assembly local New Testament churches get in a bad way, they comfort themselves with saying, oh, well, we have to bear the reproach. That's true. But whose reproach is it? Is it a reproach for the name of Christ? Are we simply suffering as Christians or are we suffering our own reproach that our sins have brought upon us? Are we suffering for the way we have acted? Are we suffering for the things we have said and done? Let's be careful. We don't blame the Lord for something that our sin is to be charged with. But by the same token, sometimes the local New Testament church does look like it's going to fly apart. Sometimes we do have problems. There's no use in me standing up here even in the face of young people. I'm telling you that there are no difficulties associated with doing the work of the Lord. There's plenty of them. Plenty of them. You know why? Because New Testament churches are made up of people. And wherever you've got people, you've got problems. You've probably got just as many problems as you have people, only multiplied a few times. Someone has told me that whenever I find the perfect assembly for me to stay away from it, because I would spoil it. I think maybe that was good advice. Some people you know today are looking for the perfect assembly. If you're looking for the perfect group of Christians, you're going to have to wait. They're going to be gathered together someday, but it's going to be not on earthly scenes, but in the glory. I'm going to see the perfect assembly when the Lord comes. Never until then. And we're going to enter into an eternal worship meeting too, beloved. And our service will all be over, except as we come forth to serve him. Nehemiah had the ability to encourage the Lord's people. I wish that you could take from my message this morning a little bit of encouragement to go back to your local assembly, back to your responsibilities in your area. I know what you might say. You can immediately retaliate and say, yeah, but you don't know the situation. You don't know what things are like in our assembly. I'll ask you something. Are they worse than they were at Jerusalem? Do you think that anything could be more deplorable, more difficult than what the situation was at Jerusalem? Rubble, ruin, reproach. I don't know of anything that could be much more discouraging if you go back to a city like this and try to build up the work of God. Can you think of anything more difficult? Good up your loins, brother and sister, back to the work. Now I recognize that sometimes there are sins that need to be taken care of. This can be most difficult. But for those of us who are responsible, as ministers, elders, shepherds, overseers, call them what you will. We can't shut our eyes to the sin and say, get on with the work. You might have to do a little bit of scraping of the walls before you can really get on with the work. But that's part of the work too. Some assemblies today are dwindling and practically going out of existence. And the real reason for some of it sometimes is because there is sin amidst us which is unjust. And God doesn't smile at that. Nehemiah had the ability to encourage those people and Let us take that same encouragement. And then notice chapter four and verse six. Very quickly, last expression, for the people had a mind to work. There's Nehemiah. Nehemiah could encourage those people. He could get them enthused about this. That's a real leader. That's a real man who can encourage the Lord's people and get them in a mind to work. Sometimes this is why we suffer so much today because nobody has a mind to work. and verse fifteen. The last expression, everyone unto his work. Isn't that nice? Nehemiah, you're a good man. Verse seventeen. They which build it on the wall and they which bear the burdens. There's the burden bearers. With those that laid it, everyone with his hands wrought in the work. Isn't that good? Nehemiah, you certainly encouraged these people on, didn't you? And in chapter six and verse fifteen, you'll notice what it says, and the wall was finished. Oh, what a day of rejoicing when the wall was finished. Why? Because there was a good man who was able to lead on some other good men. And this man was an encouragement to the Lord's people. And he knew how to cope with the enemy. I got to close. But if you will notice, in the book of Nehemiah, especially as it involves the work of the Lord there, there were two dangers. There were dangers from within. among the people of God. There were dangers from without the enemy around about them. Go to Acts chapter twenty in your thinking. I can't take you to it right now. But in Acts chapter twenty, Paul was speaking to the elders at Ephesus, the last time they would see his face. And he told them about two dangers. He said, From within will certain brethren arise who will cause divisions and do havoc. That's my words, not his. And he says, and from without. He warned the elders of the Church of Ephesus to be aware of brethren who rise up within to do God's people damage. And those kind of brethren are still around today. They are. And it behooves us to have our eyes open for them. I do not believe that we are living in the day today when everybody can come to our platform in our local assemblies just simply because they've got some kind of a letter as their credentials. Now, the letter, of course, is scriptural, but sometimes, especially where there's cause for suspicion, I believe that we are right in examining a person closely because we could be in for a heap of trouble if we are not careful about the kind of men who come to our assembly platform. Sometimes right within the local assembly there are those who rise up and they soon have the whole thing torn apart because they gather a little click around themselves and oftentimes bring no end of divisions and strife among God's people. That's what the danger was in Nehemiah's time, dangers from within. And we always have to be aware of the dangers from without because the devil also has a vantage point in that area too. But I believe today perhaps our greatest danger is from that within rather than without. Though of course we can't ignore the other one. Nehemiah, God bless you. You know who I meant when I said Nehemiah? You. I hope you're a Nehemiah this morning. I hope you're a person who has a high regard for the people of God. I hope you're a person this morning that has a real, deep, genuine concern for lost souls. I hope you're a person this morning if you are acquainted with the scriptural pattern of the New Testament church. I hope this morning that you have a deep love and respect, one that is even willing to cause you a few sleepless nights as it did Nehemiah, one in which you're willing to sacrifice some earthly comfort and may be a good position. because the first thing in life is your love for the work of the Lord and to see it prosper because it's a great work and it's life. And the Lord is looking for people today who are willing to be you. He's looking for the Nehemiahs today with a concern for the Lord's people because they're the Lord's people. He's redeemed them. He's looking for people who have a regard for the place where he has placed his name, the New Testament Church, for us today. And I'd like to encourage you young people. Don't get discouraged. Sometimes the problem's not. Sometimes things are not as you say they ought to be. And we know that to be true. But you know, you and I are not in the business of tearing down something which has already suffered enough havoc. Our business is to be builders and to work together in the building up of the work of God. And may he encourage us in his great work. Thank you, Malo. Would you take your hymn book, look for number forty-one, we'll sing the last verse. And those of you that would like, why don't you stand up and stretch just a little, and our brother James Star will come and answer this and and seek you. Get some books. Right over here to my, how many need books? Let's see, get your hand up and we'll try to get you a book. Anyone else need a book? We should get, all right, back here in the back to do a, to some of you brethren, take, let's hear a couple of books here. anyway else. Blessed Assurance is in the hymn, and so those of you that would like once we stand, we'll sing that last verse, perfect submission, always at risk. Let's say together now, put some light to it. Churching by God, here with His goodness.