you
Welcome to church this morning. I
Trust that you're ready to sing some praises to the Lord, so let's turn to him number 459
459 and will begin my singing fairest Lord Jesus 4 5 9 fairest Lord Jesus
And if you're able please stand 4 5 9 fairest Lord Jesus
Oh
my soul
oh
All right great singing I'm gonna ask brother Jason could you open or prayer?
Together in your house, and we love you this morning
I just pray Lord that you just be edified and blessed by our service and Lord praying to speak of pastor Kevin as it proves
Your word this morning Lord, and we thank you Lord again in Jesus name
Okay our next hymn is hymn number 180 180
I'm saying isn't the love of Jesus
Something wonderful 180 isn't the love of Jesus something wonderful
There will never be a sweet story, a story of the same as love divine
Love that brought him from the realms of glory, just the same as sin for soul like mine
This is the love of Jesus, something wonderful, wonderful, it is wonderful
Oh, this is the love of Jesus, something wonderful, wonderful it is to me
Boundless as the universe around me, reaching to the Father so away
Save and keep in love, it was that found me, that is why my heart can truly say
Isn't the love of Jesus something wonderful, wonderful, it is wonderful
Oh, is the love of Jesus something wonderful, wonderful it is to me
Love the other human completely, the love of God in Christ our heavenly being
This will be my theme in every making, for everything in love of God will be
Isn't the love of Jesus something wonderful, wonderful, wonderful
Oh, this is the love of Jesus, something wonderful, wonderful it is to me
Amen. Next hymn is hymn number 113. 113. 113. Wonderful piece, wonderful piece.
113 and then we'll have our Bible reading.
Far away in the depths of my spirit tonight, grows a melody sweeter than some
In the last two my strains it increasingly falls, hold my soul like an infinite calm
This peace, wonderful peace, coming down from the Father above
Sweep over my spirit, forever I pray, in leather the skillows of life
What a treasure I have in this wonderful peace, buried deep in my heart of my soul
So secure that no power can hide it away, while the years of eternity roll
This peace, wonderful peace, coming down from the Father above
Sweep over my spirit, forever I pray, in leather the skillows of life
I am resting to my tenderness, wonderful peace, wrestles with me in Jesus' control
For I'm kept from all danger by night and by day, and His glory is flood in my soul
This peace, wonderful peace, coming down from the Father above
Sweep over my spirit, forever I pray, in leather the skillows of life
And it beings when I rise to that city of peace, where the author of peace I shall sing
That watchful sound which no ransom will sing, in that heavenly kingdom shall ring
This peace, wonderful peace, coming down from the Father above
Sweep over my spirit, forever I pray, in leather the skillows of life
I'm so lucky with that comfort for rest, marching round the rough pathway of time
Make Jesus your friend and the shadows divine, go accept this peace, so sublime
This peace, wonderful peace, coming down from the Father above
Sweep over my spirit, forever I pray, in leather the skillows of life
As we return to the book of Nehemiah, we are up to our last chapter in this book, Nehemiah chapter 13
And Brother Matthew is going to come up for the reading, Nehemiah chapter 13
Nehemiah chapter 13
On that day they read in the book of Moses in the audience of the people
And therein was found written that the Ammonite and the Moabite should not come into the congregation of God forever
Because they meant not the children of Israel with bread and with water, but hired Balaam against them, that he should curse them
Howbeit our God turned that curse into a blessing
Now it came to pass, when they had heard the law, that they separated from Israel all the mix of altitude
And before this, Elisha the priest, having the oversight of the chamber of the house of our God, was allied unto Tobiah
And he had prepared for him a great chamber, wherefore time they laid the meat offerings, the frankincense, and the vessels
And the tithes of the corn, the new wine, and the oil, which was commanded to be given of the Levites
And the singers, and the porters, and the offerings of the priests
But in all this time was not I a Jerusalem, for I in the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon
Came I unto the king, and after certain days obtained I leave of the king
And I came to Jerusalem, and understood of the evil that Elisha did for Tobiah
In preparing him a chamber in the courts of the house of God
And it grieved me sore, therefore I cast forth all the household stuff of Tobiah out of the chamber
Then I commanded, and they cleansed the chambers, and thither brought I again the vessels of the house of God
With the meat offering, and the frankincense
And I perceived that the portions of the Levites had not been given them
For the Levites and the singers that did the work were fled every one to his field
Then contended I with the rulers, and said, Why is the house of God forsaken?
And I gathered them together, and set them in their place
Then brought all Judah, the tithes of the corn, and the new wine, and the oil unto the treasuries
And I made treasurers over the treasuries, Shelamiah the priest, and Zadok the scribe
And of the Levites, Padiah, and next to them was Hanan the son of Zechar, the son of Matania
For they were counted faithful, and their office was to distribute unto the brethren
Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and wipe not out my good deeds that I have done
For the house of my God, and for the offices thereof
In those days saw I and Judah some treading wine presses on the Sabbath
And bringing in sheaves, and lading asses, as also wine, grapes, and figs
And all manner of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day
And I testified against them in the day wherein they sold victuals
Their dwelt men of Tyre also therein, which brought fish and all manner of ware
And sold on the Sabbath unto the children of Judah and in Jerusalem
Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said unto them
What evil thing is that ye do, and profane the Sabbath day?
Did not your fathers thus, and did not our God bring all this evil upon us and upon the city?
Yet he bringeth more breath upon Israel by profaning the Sabbath
And it came to pass that when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the Sabbath
I commanded that the gates should be shut, and charged that they should not be opened till after the Sabbath
And some of my servants sat high at the gates, that there should no burden be brought in on the Sabbath day
So the merchants and the sellers of all kinds of ware lodged without Jerusalem once or twice
Then I testified against them, and said unto them
Why lodge ye about the wall? If ye do so again, I will lay hands on you
From that time forth can they know more on the Sabbath
And I commanded the Levites that they should cleanse themselves
That they should come and keep the gates, to sanctify the Sabbath day
Remember me, O my God, concerning this also, and spare me according to the greatness of thy mercy
In those days also saw I Jews that had married wives of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab
And their children spake half in the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak in the Jews' language
But according to the language of each people
And I contended with them, and cursed them, and smote certain of them, and plucked off their hair
And made them swear by God, saying, Ye shall not give your daughters unto their sons, nor take their daughters unto your sons, or for yourselves
Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? Yet among many nations was there no king like him
Who was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel
Nevertheless, even him did outlandish woman cause his sin
Shall we then hearken unto you to do all this great evil, to transgress against our God, in marrying strange wives?
And one of the sons of Jodah, the son of Elisha, the high priest, was son-in-law to send Balak the Horonite
Therefore I chased them from me
Remember them, O my God, because they had defiled the priesthood, and the covenant of the priesthood, and of the Levites
Thus cleansed I, them from all strangers, and appointed the wards of the priests and the Levites, every one in his business
And for the wood offering at times appointed, and for the first fruits, remember me, O my God, for good
Let's pray. Dear God, thank you for this day, and for this word
Please bless Placius Paul, as he preaches for us, and let us all listen. In Jesus' name, Amen
Alright, amen, thank you for that
So as I said, we are up to our last chapter in EMI 13, and it's so disappointing when we read this chapter
Because leading up to chapter 13, everyone's excited, they've recommitted themselves to the old covenant
They're saying, hey, we put ourselves back under the curse, etc.
We're not going to intermingle with the heathen of the land, and we're going to take care of the house of God, and dedicating the walls
I mean, it's so exciting, the last few chapters, then we get to chapter 13, and it ends on a downer
So look at verse number 1, it says in EMI 13 verse 1, on that day, they read in the book of Moses, before I keep reading it
It says on that day, and as you're reading through this, it might just seem like it's a continuation probably of what we just read in chapter number 12
But there is some time that has passed between Nehemiah 12 and 13, in fact, Nehemiah is not even on the scene
He's disappeared, okay, well he hasn't disappeared, he's gone back to Persia, he's gone back to report to the king of Persia
I'll show you that in a moment, and because he's done that, and he's been a great leader, he's been a blessing, he's been motivating people to get back in the Lord
Hey, when you lose your leader for an extended period of time, things can go backwards, and we see this definitely take place here
So let's continue there in verse number 1, it says on that day, they read in the book of Moses, in the audience of the people
And therein was found written that the Ammonite and the Moabite should not come into the congregation of God forever
Now, if you can quickly just go to verse number 6 in the same chapter, I just want to show you that Nehemiah is not on the scene
Verse number 6 says, but in all this time was not I at Jerusalem, okay
For in the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerci, king of Babylon, came I unto the king, and after certain days obtained I leave of the king
So he's gone back to Persia, he's gone back to report, he's a governor, he reports back, you know they're under the authority of the power of that day
And then he gets leave, he's able to return back to Jerusalem, and this is what takes place in this chapter
And because, as I said, because Nehemiah's been away, things have gone backwards
And so the title for the sermon this morning brethren is, when you drop your guard, when you drop your guard
And it's not Nehemiah's fault, it's not like he intentionally wants to desert Jerusalem and the people and the work that's been done there
He's got responsibilities, he's got to go back to the king of Persia to report
And unfortunately there just weren't enough strong men to continue this positive trajectory that they were going
And then when Nehemiah left, of course things have gone bad
Now, I want us to take the lesson that we read here, that we see here in this chapter, and obviously apply it to our lives
Because the Bible tells us in 1 Peter 5 verse 8, it says, be sober, be vigilant
Be vigilant is to keep a vigil, to watch, hey be careful, be sober
Because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion walketh about, seeking whom he may devour
And so yeah, Nehemiah couldn't watch, couldn't physically watch, had to go back to Persia
Hey, but for us, we're also commanded to watch, to be vigilant, because we have an adversary, we have the devil
Who's roaring, walking about, roaring about like a lion, seeking whom he may devour
And brethren, it's so true, you know, if we drop our guard, if we stop watching, if we don't be careful brethren
Satan's going to find a foothold in our lives and can really tear it apart
So we want to be careful and take the lessons that we see in this chapter
Let's keep going to verse number 2
And by the way, we just said, okay, the Ammonite and the Moabite, these were other Canaanites
They were not allowed to intermingle, they were not allowed to participate in the holy practices of the congregation and temple worship
Verse number 2, because they met not, this is why they're not allowed
Because they met not the children of Israel with bread and with water
So there was a time when they needed sustenance, they needed bread, they needed water, they went to the Ammonites and the Moabites
And they would not help them out, okay
Not only that, it says, but hired Balaam against them, that he should curse them, how be it our God turned the curse into a blessing
Now it came to pass, when they heard the law, that they separated from Israel all the mixed multitude
So this is, it starts good, alright, we found out Ammonites, Moabites, we should not have anything to do with them
In fact, the Moabites, they hired Balaam to curse us, alright, now if you remember the story
In fact, Balaam tried to curse Israel, but God would not allow it, changed basically his mouth
And he ended up blessing Israel, instead of cursing them
But eventually, Balaam ends up with a plan of bringing heathen ladies into Israel
And it ended up, a mixed multitude, people sleeping around, community fornication, etc.
And of course, that process would lead people's hearts to turn against the Lord God
And so God did not want the Ammonites or the Moabites involved in the temple worship, alright
So yeah, okay, they read this in the Bible, they read this in the book of Moses
Alright, we need to separate ourselves from these people
But notice what happened before this, it says in verse number 4
And before this, it says
Now that name should ring a bell, Tobiah, if we've been going through this series
Remember, Sanballat and Tobiah were like the main enemies against Nehemiah, against the Jews
Well the priest, hey, he's got a friendship with Tobiah, alright
And we'll find, we'll keep going there, look at verse number 5
Look, these are things that are part of the temple worship, okay
So inside the temple, there was a room that had the meat offerings, the frankincense and the vessels
And the tides of the corn, the new wine and the oil
Which was commanded to be given to the Levites and the singers and the porters and the offerings of the priests
So in the temple, okay, there's a room for all of these things
All of these things for sacrifices, the tithes, the receiving of the offering, all of this so the Levites can sustain themselves
Well, Elisha, the priest, takes that room and converts it, renovates it into a room for Tobiah
Hey, Tobiah, you can come, hey, you as our enemy, you know, it wasn't an enemy to him
But an enemy to Nehemiah, you can come and stay in this room, this big room
We'll renovate it, we'll make it your place for you to stay when you come to visit us in Jerusalem
Right there in the temple, alright
Now, if you can please go to Nehemiah chapter, keep your finger there, go to Nehemiah chapter 2
Why is this important? Go to Nehemiah chapter 2, verse number 19
Why is it important that we mention this? Because in Nehemiah chapter 2, verse number 19
It says, Nehemiah 2, 19, it says
And when Sanballat the Horonite, look at this, and Tobiah the servant, so we know Tobiah, the Ammonite
Okay, and Gershom the Arabian herder, they laughed us to scorn and despised us
Okay, so we learn that Tobias and Geshom as well here, they're enemies of Nehemiah, enemies of the Jew
But Tobiah is what? An Ammonite
Okay, and what did we read earlier in verse number 1, Nehemiah, you can go back there if you want
Nehemiah 13, verse number 1, it says
On that day they read in the book of Moses in the audience of the people, and therein was found written
That the Ammonites and the Moabite should not come into the congregation of God forever
What have they done? They've taken the enemy, they've taken Tobiah, they've taken an Ammonite
And not only is he mixed amongst the congregation of the people, but in the temple, they made a room for him
Hey, come and stay with us, completely rejecting and the opposite of what God's word said in the book of Moses
So you can see what's happening, alright, as Nehemiah's gone off, the enemies have crept in
Now, what lesson can we take out of this? Well, number 1, you know, the house of God in the New Testament is the local church
Okay, and again, for us it's New Life Baptist Church
Now, what is church for? What is church for? I'll just quickly read to you from Ephesians 4-12
It says, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ
Reverend Church, the congregation, it's for God's people, it's for the saved
Again, it's for the perfecting of the saints, it's for those that are saved
You know, Tobiah, he's not a saved man, he worships false gods
And then he's decided, hey, can you make me a room or whatever agreement they made?
He's gone into the house of God and he's dwelling in the place, he's living right there amongst the people
And he's not saved, okay, he's got a false god
And again, contrary to God's word, he's there in the midst
What can we take out of this? Number 1, that we do not tailor church for the unsaved
Church is for the saved, alright, you know, I don't come behind this pulpit preaching the gospel message every week, week in, week out
You say, well we should preach the gospel, yeah we do, every week, the community is hearing the gospel
Every week we're going out preaching the gospel to the lost, hey that's important
But when it comes to God's house, it's to be tailored for the believers
It's for you to grow, for you to mature, for you to gain knowledge in the word of God
You know, we're not going to dumb down the preaching so we can reach the unsaved, no, it's for the perfecting of the saints
Alright, again this is why we don't have a musical up here
This is why we don't have a show and we don't have, you know, ladies dressed up in miniskirts dancing on this stage
So we can just bring in the godless here
And this is why we don't just have some bar and, you know, serve in some alcohol so we can just reach the alcoholics
Look, church is not for the unsaved, it's for the saints
And so the lesson we see here is that Tobiah wants to come and infiltrate
You know, he wants to have an impact on the worship of God, of course it'll be a negative one
Alright, so you know brethren, you know, again, ideas, how can we grow the church
Let's never have a mindset, look, is it good to grow a church, is it good to have ideas to grow a church, of course it is
But let us never have a mindset and say well we can grow the church by making this a place to serve the unbelievers
Now are unbelievers able to come in here and be part of church and of course, you know, this is a public place
You know, people are able to come and visit as they want
But listen, if someone comes in that's unsaved, I'm not going to change their message and go well I was going to preach to the saved
Now I better preach to the unsaved
No, that's not how it's going to be
Hey, but when the opportunity presents itself, we're going to give that person the gospel
Hopefully they get saved and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ
But again, church is for the saved
You know, the children of God are the priority for the congregation
And again, we look at this story, Nehemiah's gone off and they say well how can we bring in the lost
How do we bring in the Tobiahs, you know, the enemies into the congregation
And completely going against the word of God
Now, I'll just quickly show you why, you know, Tobiah has actually been able to infiltrate the church
If you can go to Nehemiah 6, just a reminder here, go to Nehemiah 6 and verse number 17
Nehemiah 6 and verse number 17
It says moreover in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters unto Tobiah
And the letters of Tobiah came unto them
So again, remember the nobles of the land, they just stayed, they're friendly with Tobiah
Verse number 18, look at this
For there were many in Judah sworn unto him
So he had an allegiance, he had some loyalty in Judah
Because he was the son-in-law of Shechaniah, the son of Arar
And his son Johanan had taken the daughter of Meshalem, the son of Berachiah
Also they reported his good deeds before me and uttered my words to him
And Tobiah sent letters to put me in fear
So Tobiah had married one of the Jews, okay
And his son had also married one of them, okay
He had married into the Levites
And so hey, you know, this is how I infiltrate
I'm going to insert myself into the religious leaders, the Levites who serve in the house of God
You know, these infiltrators, they just find a way to do it again
What is the mistake that's taking place here?
The priests, the people of God allow their children to marry non-believers, okay
This is why Tobiah has such influence
This is why he's able to, you know, let's just desert all this room that Nehemiah had set
So Ezra, I should say, had set up for the people of God for taking care of the needs of the Levites
And just make me a room there, you know
And they gave into this
You know, we've got to be careful that our children marry believers, okay
It's going to cause problems, unforeseen problems that you can't realise at this point in time
But let's keep going there in Nehemiah chapter 13
I just wanted to remind you why Tobiah has such influence
Why he's able to get that room for himself
Verse number 6
But in all this time was not I at Jerusalem
For in the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes, king of Babylon, came I unto the king
And after certain days obtained I leave of the king
I mean, I feel bad for Nehemiah, he's going to come back and he's going to find out what's taking place
I mean, he's worked so hard
He's dedicated himself to the service of God
Hey, you know, we can see he was not after money
He wasn't earning as much as other governors in the past
He just had a love for God, he just wanted to serve God's people
He's going to come back and be disappointed
Verse number 7
And I came to Jerusalem and understood of the evil that Eliashib did for Tobiah
In preparing him a chamber in the courts of the house of God
Alright, so we see again the infiltration
And brethren, point number 1 that I have for you today
That when you drop your guard, this is what's going to happen
And anyway, I'm talking about church, but I'm also talking about our own personal lives
When we drop our guard, enemies will infiltrate
Enemies will infiltrate
You know, there are people I have no doubt that want to infiltrate this church
Okay, and lead us down a bad path
Lead us away from preaching the Bible
Lead us away from standing true to the commandments of God
You know, when we're not watchful, when we're not vigilant brethren
Enemies will infiltrate
You know, I know of good churches
Which should still be good churches
But have been infiltrated by the enemy
I know them, I've seen them
I've been part of them
I've seen people in the church
And they hold prominent positions
But they're not even saved
Or they preach a false gospel
You know, and they're not people of God
And you just wonder how are you in the church
How have you taken such a prominent position
Why does that take place
Because we drop our guard
We're not watchful
And brethren, this is so important
Point number one is enemies will infiltrate
When you drop your guard
Now keep your finger there, please go to Jude verse 11
Let's go to Jude in the New Testament
Jude, and the book of Jude was written
To warn us against false prophets, false brethren
That creep into churches
Alright, look at Jude 11
Jude verse 11
Jude verse 11 says
Woe unto them
For they have gone in the way of Cain
And ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward
And perished in the gainsane of Corey
So we know, just one thought there
They ran greedily after the error of Balaam
Hey, Balaam's already been mentioned there in Nehemiah 13
Okay, and we see that yes, some people
You know, they just want to take on a position
They want to be a prophet of God
Hey, but they want to curse God's people
Tobiah's got no business being in the house of God
Okay, but he's infiltrated
And he's been welcomed
And they've fixed the room for him
They've given him a prominent position
And brethren, you know, sometimes false prophets
Or false brethren, they just want a prominent position
They're looking for a position
Look at me, you know, I'm somebody
I've made myself somebody, but you're not even saved
People creep in like this
And we have to be careful
Drop down to verse number 16 in Jude
Verse number 16
These people start to reveal themselves
Because it says here in verse number 16
These are murmurers, complainers
Brethren, when you're in church
And someone just keeps complaining
Someone just keeps murmuring
Oh, the pastor keeps preaching this
Oh, the building should be this or that
Oh, we're not doing X, Y, and Z
Oh, the people of God
Oh, sister's son
Oh, brother's son
Such a horrible church
You know, that should make you realise a few things
I don't think we're dealing with a safe brother here
Potentially
I'm not saying safe people can't complain
I'm just saying, like, that should, you know
The book of Jude is written so we can be aware
When we start to see these things develop
You know, these are red flags that develop
And you can start to identify people like this
You know, let's keep going there
It says murmurers, complainers
Walking after their own lusts
You know, they don't care about the word of God
I just want to live life how I want to live
I don't care what God's word says
I'm just going to proceed and follow after my own desires
Look, and their mouths speak of great, swirling words
I mean, they know how to talk the talk
Right? They just sound like
Oh, man, look how majestic of a believer
Christian you are
Look at the great words that come out of your mouth
Having men's persons
And this is where you're going to be careful
I've got to be careful of this as well
Having men's persons in admiration
Because of advantage
So they flatter you
Okay? They flatter you
They say, oh, you're so great
You're not like the rest of the church members
You're, you know, you're such a great person
And sometimes people come up, pastor, you know, that's a great preaching
And I appreciate that when you say that
But again, don't go overboard
And don't be so careful
I'm never going to say any compliments to pastor
If I appreciate his sermon
Don't take that approach
Because then I think, like, no one likes me
Hey, if I hear some good feedback
That, hey, you learned something
It's been a blessing to you
Hey, I love that
Because it gives me motivation to keep preaching
I know that it's doing something, right?
But at the same time, when someone just speaks flattery
And I've had it said
You're the only pastor in Australia that preaches the truth
God, I don't think so
Are you kidding me?
I'm the only pastor in Australia
That's crazy
You know, when people say those things, you know, they're infiltrators
They come in
You know, and they're looking for prominence
Or they might be looking for finance, financial gain
Again, it says there
Having men's persons in admiration because of advantage
They're trying to take advantage of a church situation
Okay
And again, Tobiah's taking advantage
I've got a position
I've got a house
I've got a place to stay
And I'm sure, in the back of his mind
He's thinking, this is really going to bother Nehemiah
You know, I'm going to get back to Nehemiah
When he comes back from Persia
He's going to say, I've set a place
I've set a base there
In the temple of God
Enemies will infiltrate
Can you please turn to Romans 16
Turn to Romans 16, verse number 17
Romans 16, verse number 17
Look, when someone is clear
And again, please be careful
You know, Christians can be pretty wicked
Did you know that?
If you're a believer, you can be pretty wicked
Whatever sins you've done before you got saved
You know, as a believer, you can do those same sins again
You know, you can be pretty wicked
I'm not quick to just throw people under the bus
I'm not quick to just call someone out
A reprobate, or a false brother, or a false prophet
You know, I try to give people the benefit of the doubt
You know, and if I ever do something wrong
Brethren, please give me the benefit of the doubt
Because we're human beings, alright
But we've just got to be careful
You know, when we see the warning signs
When we see the red flags
When we see multiple of these things
You know, so, what do we do?
When we find that we've got false brethren
Or there are false prophets in our midst
What do we do?
Well, Romans 16, verse 17 says
Romans 16, 17
It says, Now I beseech you, brethren
Mark them which cause divisions
And offences contrary
To the doctrine which ye have learned
And avoid them
They have nothing to do with them
For they that are such
Serve not our Lord Jesus Christ
But their own belly
And by good words
Good words and fair speeches
Deceive the hearts of the simple
Brethren, have you ever been deceived by fair speeches?
I know I have
I know I've had people say nice things about me
And I think, oh, that was good
I've been deceived sometimes
But you know, when we're deceived
By these kinds of words
The Bible says we're simple
Hey, we need to learn
Hey, all of us have the ability
To be flattered
And think, oh, that person thinks highly of me
And then you're backstabbed
Okay
Hey, but then you learn for that process
You learn for that process
The next time
You know, when someone speaks too much flattery
When someone holds me up too much
Has fair speeches
Look how great of a Christian I am
That should be now a red flag for us
When, you know, when it's excessive
When it's exaggerated
You know, but it says to avoid them
You know, if we have people in church like this
You know, and they reveal themselves to be false
They reveal themselves to be contrary
Causing divisions
Then we get them out of our church
They're kicked out of church
Alright, that's what we do
We mark them
We avoid them
We have nothing to do with such people
Now go back to Nehemiah 13 and verse number 8
Nehemiah 13 verse number 8
It says in verse number 8
And he grieved me sore
Yep, he's so angry
Okay, that Tobiah's staying there
Therefore, so what does he do?
Therefore, I cast forth
All the household stuff of Tobiah
Out of the chamber
Alright
So he walks into Tobiah's room
Gets all Tobiah's stuff
And throws it out
Alright
He displaces him
Because you're not staying here Tobiah
You get out of here
He kicks him
Yeah, he marks him
He avoids him
He kicks him out of the congregation
He kicks him out of the house of God
That's exactly the right thing to do
Okay
Nehemiah does exactly what we even read about in the New Testament
You know, casting such people out of the house of God
Be careful
Enemies will infiltrate when we drop our guard
Look at verse number 9
Then I commanded
And they cleansed the chambers
They even start cleaning the whole place
Okay
We want no like
We want no speck of Tobiah's dust even in this place
Let's just clean up the whole place
Alright
Clean it up
And thither again
Sorry
The Lord brought I again
The vessels of the house of God
With the meat offering and the frankincense
Because we're going to bring this room back to the original plan
For all the offerings
The tithes
All the stuff
The offering
You know
All the things necessary
For the worship of the house of God
He brings it back
But he does a major cleanse
You know, he doesn't even want to buy his fingerprints in this place
Okay
So Nehemiah does the right thing
But again
Point number 1 brethren
When you drop your guard
Enemies will infiltrate
Okay
Let's go to point number 2
Verse number 10
And I perceived
That the portions of the Levites
Had not been given them
So of course because
This room had been changed
He starts to realise
He perceives
He starts to contemplate
Then that means
If they've not been holding all the
All the offerings and the tithes
That must mean the Levites are going without
That must be the natural
Progression of such things
Okay
Had not been given them
Look at this
For the Levites
And the singers
That did the work
Were fled everyone
To his field
So they all leave
They're not being provided for anymore
From the house of God
So they go and they go and become farmers
Okay
They go and work the field
Instead of working in the house of God
They say look we can't provide for ourselves
Okay
This Tobias come in
And he's taken over the place
Alright
So they just fled
And they've gone to start
You know
Planting seeds
Or raising animals
Whatever they were doing
For the land that they had
Okay
Let's keep going
Verse number 11
Then contended I with the rulers
And said
Why is the house of God forsaken?
And I gathered them together
And set them in their place
Alright
So Nehemiah has got to fix it all up again
And we already saw
One of the titles for the
One of the chapters that I did for Nehemiah
Was don't forsake the Lord's house
And again it had to do with the lack of provisions
And again this has taken place
Nehemiah's gone
And they no longer decide to take care of the needs
Of the Levites
And the singers
The singers were also being paid
A certain amount
Being taken care of
By the
By what's being given
The house of God
So
Again
You know
I've said it so many times
But I don't care
This is God's word
This is what it says
Alright
You know
When I talk about giving to God's house
It makes me uncomfortable
You know
I'm not going to say that anymore
When I preach on this topic
I'm not going to say
It makes me uncomfortable
But I want you to know
That it makes me uncomfortable
Okay
Cause I have no desire
To strip you
From everything you have
And just live on your
You know
Your goodness
Alright
But we are commanded to give to the house of God
Okay
We are commanded to tithe
Alright
And I'm not going to apologise for that
I'm not going to feel guilty about it
Okay
Because this is God's word
Alright
Point number two brethren
Is when you drop your guard
The provision to God's house will stop
You will stop giving
What you need to give
Alright
You might even stop giving completely
When you drop your guard
Okay
Let's keep going there
Verse number 12
It says
Then brought all Judah
The tithe of the corn
And the new wine
And the oil unto the treasury
So they weren't doing it
Okay
And he's got to fix this
He's bringing back the Levites
He's bringing back the singers
Hey we've got to provide for these people
You know the house of God
Is to worship the Lord
It's to get the work of God done
Verse number 13
And I made treasurers over the treasuries
So now we're setting new appointments
Hey I need Judah to be in charge of the money
Okay
Cause I don't want this to happen again
You know basically it's Nehemiah's approach right
Shalomai the priest and Zadok the scribe
So he's naming the people here
And of the Levites, Pedahiah
And next to them was Hanun
The son of Zuchar
The son of Mataniah
Why?
For they were counted faithful
And their office was to distribute unto their brethren
So he puts people in charge
Okay
You know it's your responsibility to make sure
The Levites, the singers, they're provided for
So it sets these people in their place
Now verse number 14
Is really interesting to me
I'll just read it to you
It says remember me oh my God
Now this is the first of the three
Remember me oh my Gods
That you'll see in this chapter
Remember me he says
So he's doing all these things
Now he prays to God
Okay Nehemiah
Remember me oh my God
Concerning this
Okay
That he set this back in order
And wiped not out my good deeds
That I have done for the house of my God
And for the offices thereof
Now why is he praying to God
In the midst of fixing all these things up
And why is it always the same thing
You know
I wanted to name this sermon originally
Remember me oh my God
Okay
But I thought of a different approach here
Because it comes up three times
And when we start looking at the rest of the chapter
You'll see the reason he's doing this
Is because there's obviously a push back
There's obviously resistance
You know
Nehemiah's come in
And he's changing it all over again
I mean obviously people are not happy
Tobiah's not happy
Okay
I mean the people that have set up this arrangement
The people that had stopped providing for the Levites
And the singers
They're obviously not happy
Nehemiah's really messing the place up for them
But Nehemiah's just trying to get things right with God
Obviously there are people turning against Nehemiah
At this point
And again when people turn against you
You know where you go
You go to the Lord
Remember me oh my God
Because God look I got people
I'm just trying to do what's right Lord
Can you keep
You know please place your eyes upon me
Lord there's resistance
There are people pushing back
You know there are people making accusations
There are people trying to hurt me Lord
Because remember me
I'm considering this and wiping out my good deeds
That I have done
Because look I'm just trying to do what is right Lord
I'm trying to do what is good
So please keep that in mind
Okay
And what else is
Look
Sorry I'll just read
Verse number 14 again
Remember me oh my God
I have not out my good deeds
That I have done for the house of my God
And for the offices thereof
Nehemiah says look there are two good things that I'm doing
Doing good things for the house of God
And for the offices
And brethren you know
We learn a few things here
Because he doesn't want his good works to be wiped out
In that sense
Okay
Because don't forget every good service
Every good deed that we do
Okay
As saved people
We get rewarded for that
You know we'll be blessed by the Lord God
To be rewarded in heaven
Laying up treasures in heaven
And you know we've spoken many ways that we can
Earn rewards for the Lord God
But I want you to notice
Two things that we can keep in mind here
Hey the good deeds that you do in the house of God
You're going to be rewarded for
Alright
So please you know
If you can serve in this house
If you can serve in this church
Just find something to do
And I appreciate everyone
That does something
You will be rewarded by God
Okay
God will remember the good deeds that you have done
And you will be blessed for all eternity
Guaranteed
Okay
Please you know
If there's something that you see
That you can just do
Alright
I use these examples
But you know
You can come up with whatever you want
You know
If you walk past
And you see
A piece of paper on the floor
You see some rubbish on the floor
Please don't take the view
Oh which kid did that
Ah
There's a pool of other kids at it again
Huh
Look
There's a good deed to be done
There's rubbish on the floor
I want rewards in heaven
I can just pick that up and put it in the bin
There are hymn books just laying around
Hey I can pick up those hymn books
And send them where they need to be
Alright
You know what
Someone did not flush the toilet
Hey you know what
I'll just sit there and
I'll just flush that toilet for them
Whatever good deeds Brevin you do for this house
For God's people
You are going to be rewarded for
Not only the good deeds that you do
But it says
And for the officers thereof
You know
In a New Testament Baptist Church
We have two officers
The office of a pastor
And the office of a deacon
Okay in this church
We haven't got a deacon
But we have a pastor
You know the good that you do for me
And you've done lots of good things for me
I'm not saying do more good things
I'm saying
Whatever nice things that you have done for me
And again a lot of people have done nice things for me
You're going to be rewarded for that in heaven
Do you know that
Okay
And so Nehemiah
He cares for the officers in the house of God
In the New Testament church of God
The house of God
There are two officers
You know if you're able to do
A good deed for your pastor
Or when we have a deacon
Or you're from another church
And you have another pastor
You know please be considerate
For those that hold officers
Because you will be rewarded for God
By God
For the good that you do for them
Let's keep going there
Verse number 15
Oh by the way
The pushback
You know the resistance
You know
Again what's he doing
He goes look
Bring back the tithes
Bring back the given
Of course there's going to be resistance to that
You know how I told you
I feel bad about it sometimes
I feel like
I don't know
I just don't want to preach these things
I think Nehemiah is feeling the same thing
He's like well I got to tell you again
Bring the tithes
You know
Take care of the needs of the people
That work in the house of God
You know
And of course there's going to be resistance
People don't want to necessarily give away
You know
From the hard-earned
And give it to the house of God
Or you know
This is something that you do
Not in the old man
Because the old man doesn't want to
Definitely doesn't want to do such things
It has to come through the new man
But Nehemiah
He learned man
You know
If I preach on giving to the house of God
There's going to be resistance
People are going to push back
People are going to think
I'm just about the money
Right
But look
These things need to be preached
Okay
It's in the word of God for a reason
Let's keep going there
Verse number 15
In those days
So I in Judah
Some treading wine presses on the Sabbath
So what are they meant to do on the Sabbath
They're meant to rest
They're not meant to work
So he starts walking around Judah
And he sees people making juice
Making new wine
Okay
And bringing in sheaves
So they're bringing in things into the city
And laid in asses
Okay
They're using beasts of burden
And also wine, grapes and figs
And all manner of burdens
Which they brought into Jerusalem
On the Sabbath day
Is that the right thing to do?
No of course not
Sabbath day was a day of rest
And I testified against them
And against them
In the day wherein they sowed victuals
Man this place has fallen apart
Not only the house of God
Now people in Judah
You know they're just busy
Working on the Sabbath day once again
Okay
They're not keeping the Sabbath
I mean Nehemiah
He's gone for just a
I don't know how long
Probably not that long
Okay
And they just
They're doing the complete opposite
Of what they said they would do
Verse number 16
There dwelt men of Tyre also therein
Which brought fish
So the fishermen from Tyre
They're coming in
They're bringing fish on the Sabbath day
Selling fish
And all manner of ware
And sowed on the Sabbath
Unto the chin of Judah
And in Jerusalem
Look at verse number 17
And I contended with the nobles of Judah
Not only does he have to set right
The rulers in the house of God
Now he's got to set right
The political leaders there
Okay
The rulers of Judah
And said unto them
What evil thing is this
That ye do
And profane the Sabbath day
Tell you what
We're just spying and selling
It's just an extra day
And Nehemiah says
Look it's a wicked thing
It's an evil thing that you have done
Profane the Sabbath day
Did not your fathers thus
And did not our God bring
All this evil upon us
And upon this city
Yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel
By profane the Sabbath
He says look our forefathers did this
They profane the Sabbath
They did not keep the rest
And God did the evil upon us
That was the captivity into Babylon
Don't you remember
Alright
Don't you remember
We agreed to God
That we would keep the Sabbath now
We would not make the same mistakes
As our forefathers
Hey brethren
They dropped their guard
Isn't that what the title of the sermon was
When you drop your guard
Alright
And if you can please go to
Nehemiah chapter 10
Just keep your finger in Nehemiah 13
Go to Nehemiah 10
Just as a reminder
Nehemiah chapter 10
Verse number 29
It blows my mind
Because in Nehemiah 10
We saw that they recommitted themselves
To the old covenant
They said
Yeah we're not going to
Profane the Sabbath anymore
Let's read it
Verse number 29
Nehemiah 10 29
They claved to their brethren
Their nobles
And entered into a curse
And into an oath
To walk in God's law
Which was given by Moses
The servant of God
And to observe
Look at this
And do all the commandments
Of the Lord our God
And his judgments and his statutes
And that we would not give our daughters
Unto the people of the land
Nor take their daughters
For our sons
Look they said
Look we will not allow our children
To marry non-believers
Verse 31
And if the people of the land
Bring where
Or any victuals
On the Sabbath day
To sell
That we would not
Buy it of them
On the Sabbath
Or on the Holy day
And that we would leave
The seventh year
And the exaction
Of every debt
So they said
Look even if people
Try to sell to us
On the Sabbath day
We're not going to buy
Anything from them
But what do we see
Nehemiah comes back
And they're buying things
From people
You know from those
That are selling
On the Sabbath day
Okay
Now just a reminder
What does the Sabbath represent?
The Sabbath rest
Represents our rest in Christ
It represents our salvation
That salvation is not by works
Alright
Six days they were allowed to labor
Six days they were allowed to work
But on the Sabbath they were to rest
Because salvation is not by works
Salvation is simply resting
In what Christ has done for us
So look profane in the Sabbath
It's not about a day
Or what was so special about the day
The day represented salvation
It represented the gospel message
That salvation is not by works
But by simply resting
On the finished work of Jesus Christ
And so by profane in the Sabbath
What are they actually doing?
They're profane
The symbolism
Of the free gospel message
That is without works
Think about that for a moment
Okay
It symbolizes
That hey
You're profane in the Sabbath
You're profane in the gospel
You're profane in salvation by grace
Through faith and not by works
I'm going to quickly read to you
From Hebrews 4.4
You don't need to turn there
Just Hebrews 4.4
It says
For he spake in a certain place
On the seventh day on this wise
And God did rest on the seventh day
From all his works
Even God rested on the Sabbath
That's why we have the Sabbath, right?
And so the seventh day of course
Is the Sabbath day
And then it says in verse number 5
And in this place again
They shall enter into my rest
Seeing therefore it remaineth
That some must enter therein
And they to whom it was first preached
Entered not in
Because of unbelief
So how do we enter into rest?
By belief
By believing
You don't enter into rest
If you don't believe
Salvation is believing on Jesus Christ
His death bear a resurrection
That's it brethren
We trust Christ and Christ alone
Faith alone on Christ alone
Is salvation
So how do we bring this to
What we're trying to learn
When we drop our guard, brethren
They drop their guard
They profane the Sabbath
But when we drop our guard
The gospel will be profaned
If we drop our guard
There are so many gospels
Out there in this world
There are even other gospel messages
Even in independent fundamental Baptist churches
Because why?
Why does this happen?
Because they let the enemies creep in
They let people come in
Preach in other gospels
What other gospel, Pastor Kevin
Has been preached in independent
Fundamental Baptist churches
When they pass
It stands up behind the pulpit
And says you've got to repent
Of your sins to be saved
That is another gospel
Salvation is not how you clean up your life
Should we repent of our sins?
Of course we should
But that's not how you get saved
Should we get baptized?
Of course we should get baptized
We're a Baptist church
But that's not how you get saved
Should we go to church?
Of course we should go to church
But that's not how you get saved
You get saved by resting on Christ
His finished work
It's not you cleaning up your life
It's not you turning from sins
Once you're saved
Then go to church
Then get baptized
Then repent of your sins
Clean up your life
Live a holy life
But none of those things
Get you saved
It's only Christ's finished work
That gets you saved
But I've seen it
I've gone to church
I've gone to independent
Fundamental Baptist churches
Where half the congregation understands
Salvation is by faith alone
On Christ alone
And the other half says
No, you've got to clean up your life
No, you've got to repent of your sins
And yet that phrase repent of your sins
Does not even exist in your Bible
It's not in your King James Bible
Okay
Now does the Bible mention repentance?
Of course it does
Repent ye and believe the gospel
So go from not believing the gospel
Repent from that
And believe the gospel
Trust Christ alone for salvation
That is true salvation
It is resting
I mean could you imagine salvation being
By repenting of your sins
Could you imagine
Alright
Think about all the sins you struggle with
Okay now you've got to overcome all those things
Turn from all those sins to be saved
Who can do it?
That requires perfection
We don't go to heaven because of our perfection
We don't go to heaven because of our righteousness
We go to heaven because of the perfection
And righteousness of Christ
Okay
We receive the imputed righteousness of Christ
When God looks at us as saved people
He sees us through
The righteousness of Jesus Christ
That's salvation
It's resting on what Christ has done for us
Reverend when we drop our guard
And again
Look could it happen to this church?
I feel like it can't
But it's happened to other independent Baptist churches
You know where the passage is not clear on salvation
You know that they muddy the waters
Because they want to appease two crowds
They want to appease the saved
Faith alone
They want to appease the infiltrators
No you've got to clean up your life to be saved
Okay so they say things like
Well you've got to stop going God's way
No sorry you've got to stop going your way
And start going God's way to be saved
What does that even mean?
What does that mean?
Stop going your way and start going God's way
Okay if my way was to trust in my works
And now I need to go God's way
Which is Jesus I'm the way the truth of life
Then amen I agree with that
Okay
But it's so vague
That even those that think you've got to turn from your sins to be saved
Will say yeah you've got to stop sinning
And keep the commandments to be saved
Because he appeased that crowd as well
And so it's just this grey message
Cloudy message
You're not even sure what to do to be saved anymore
You know and man
Why does this happen?
It breaks my heart when I see it in independent Baptist churches
It breaks my heart
Okay but why did this happen?
Because they dropped their guard
Okay and the third like I said to you
The third point that I have for you brethren in this chapter
When you drop your guard the gospel will be profaned
They profaned the Sabbath
They mixed it with works
Yeah that's what happens in churches
They mix the gospel with works
Okay and so we need to be careful
We need to be vigilant about these things
Look I tell you the truth
As long as I'm the pastor of this church
We're never going to have a false gospel creep into this church
I promise you that
Okay but am I always going to be the pastor of this church?
I don't know
Unless Jesus Christ comes back in my lifetime
I guess I will
Okay but we don't know
We don't know what the future holds or how things develop
You know
We need to be careful about whoever we allow to preach behind this pulpit
And if there is a future pastor of this church that won't be me
We need to make sure that this person
Is not someone that is profaning the gospel message
Okay
Nehemiah 13 verse number 19
It says
And it came to pass
That when the gates of Jerusalem
Were shut before the Sabbath
So this is on Friday night
I commanded that the gates should be shut
I love Nehemiah
Do you think he's making friends here?
He's not making friends
Okay
And charged that they should be open till after the Sabbath
Okay so you can open them on Sunday
And some of my servants
Set eye at the gates
That there should be no burden
Sorry that there should no burden
Be brought in on the Sabbath day
Nehemiah doesn't even
Trust the keepers of the gates
So he sends his own servants
You guys keep watch
Don't let these people open the gates
So the merchants and sellers of all kind
Of where
Lodge without Jerusalem
Once or twice
So on the Sabbath they're like okay they'll definitely let us in
So they just gotta camp out
In front of the gates of Jerusalem
Okay just waiting
Nehemiah can't keep this up
These people they want their products
They want their products
And we're definitely going to make sales
We're definitely going to make a profit
Out of these people on the Sabbath day
It says verse number 21
Then I testified against them
And said unto them
Why lodge ye about the wall?
If ye do so again
I will lay hands on you
From that time forth came they no more
On the Sabbath
Nehemiah has to threaten those people
That they're trying to sell
Hey you try this again I'm going to lay my hands on you
I don't know if he's going to beat them up
He's definitely going to arrest them or something
So he says look you hang around here
I'll take care of you
I like Nehemiah
He stands up for it right?
He stands up for the word of God
He threatens the merchants
Verse number 22
And I commanded the Levites that they should cleanse themselves
And that they should come and keep the gates
To sanctify the Sabbath day
This is the second time he says these words
Remember me oh my God
And again he's praying to God
I can only see push back
I can see definitely a resistance
People turn against Nehemiah
Come on Nehemiah it's not that bad
You're hurting our prophets
You're hurting our pockets
Of course they're going to turn against Nehemiah
So he goes back to God
Remember me oh my God
Please remember me Lord
And spare me according to the greatness
Of thy mercy Lord I need your mercy
I need your help
Alright so I love it because
You see the strength of Nehemiah
But you see the weakness of Nehemiah
Like you see him against these people
Against God's word he stands up
But then when he's alone with God he just turns to God and prays
God I need your strength I need your mercy
Help me Lord okay because he's just a man
He's just a normal man like you and I
And again I love these stories
I love them all the time because
Sometimes we see great men of God
And we think can we really live up to them
Man look at the example they were
Look how they stood for the Lord God
Look at their great faith but then you see the great weakness
And their great need
And brethren the reason they're great people
Is because they serve a great God
The reason they did great works
Is because they were strengthened by the hand of God
It's not by their own flesh
Nobody can do great things in their own flesh
We need God's help we need his spirit
We need his power to do great things
So I hope you're encouraged by this you know
Slowly not much you know with God's help
You can do great things you can be bold
And stand for his word
So this is the second time
Remember me
And again why
They profaned in the Sabbath
And why you know
Once the gospel has been compromised in a church
It's very hard to fix
It's very hard to fix okay
And I have friends that are in churches
That they recognise
They say to me
And they're my friend they don't call me pastor they just say Kevin
They just say look
I'm worried about my church
This person that I thought was brother
So he's not even saved
And he's got this position and authority
He's teaching in this capacity
My pastor's saved but this man's not saved
Or this man's saved but the assistant pastor's not saved
Or the assistant pastor is saved but the pastor's not saved
And the gospel the tracts we hand out
They're confusing
They don't teach it clearly
They don't teach that it's all been paid by Christ
They teach you got to play your part as well
And you know
And again some of these friends
They've pushed back and they've met resistance
You know there's been conflict
There's been problems
Arising and trying to clean up the gospel
What did Nehemiah say to the Levites
Clean yourselves
We need to clean ourselves over this matter
You know we're not going to profane in the Sabbath anymore
It's so hard
You know one of the main reasons we don't want the gospel to be profaned
Or to be corrupted in this church
Because once it is it's hard to clean
There's going to be a push back
There's going to be resistance
These enemies they creep into churches
And they take power and control for themselves
So he goes to God
God help me I need your help
Can you please
No actually
I've got a passage here but I'm going to preach that in the afternoon
So I don't want to double up
Nehemiah 13 verse 23
Actually you know what I'll just read it to you
Before we read Nehemiah
Verse number 23
I was going to read to you from 2 Corinthians 11
2 Corinthians 11
I'll just read it to you
Paul says to the church in Corinth
But I fear, lest by any means
As the serpent beguiled Eve
Through his subtlety
So your mind should be corrupted
From the simplicity that is in Christ
Simplest salvation is simple
Trust Christ alone
It's simple
Paul is concerned
He's fearful that the church is going to be corrupted
By the devil
By the serpent like Eve was corrupted
Then he keeps going in verse number 4
For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus
Whom ye have not preached
Or if ye receive another spirit
Which ye have not received
Or another gospel
Which ye have not accepted
Ye might well bear with him
Paul says to the Corinthian church
You're so carnal, you're so babes in Christ
That if someone comes and preaches another gospel
You're going to put up with him
Nehemiah says
Look I walked away for a period of time
And to buy our enemy
He came into the congregation
And you bear with him, you put up with him
So false gospels brethren
We can't allow them in our church
We can't
They come in brethren
We let false brethren come in
They start preaching another gospel
Clean up your lives
To be saved
They start preaching that stuff
It's almost too late
The corruption is deep
And it's hard to remove
Nehemiah is trying to clean this place up
No profane on the Sabbath
No selling, no buying on the Sabbath
And then he goes to God
He's got to go to God for help
There are enemies against him, there are people that are not liking
What he's doing
Alright, verse number 23, Nehemiah 13, 23
In those days also
So this is a new problem that he finds now
In those days also saw either Jews
That had married wives of Ashdod
Of Ammon and of Moab
And their children
Spake half in the speech
Of Ashdod
And could not speak in the Jews language
But according to the language of each
Of each people
So what do we see? Intermingling
People allowing their children to marry
Non-believers
People that worship the false god
To the point they can't even speak
The children are the product of this marriage
They can't even speak Hebrew
Why is that important?
Because at that time the scriptures were written in Hebrew
If you wanted to know what God had to say
You'd have to know the language
You'd have to be able to read the scriptures
They weren't able to speak even Hebrew
They weren't able to speak in the language
Of the people who worship false deities
You can see what happens when you marry a non-believer
As much as
You might think
You can sway your family
To righteousness
The non-believer is going to have a greater impact
On your family life
Okay
Verse number 25, look how Nehemiah responds
And I contended with them
And cursed them
And smote certain of them
He strikes at them
I mean Nehemiah is so angry about this
Look
And plucked off their hair
Did he do it to all of them?
Let me read that again
And I contended with them and cursed them
And smote certain of them
So he didn't go around just punching up everybody
That married a non-believer
Just certain of them
I'm assuming the certain are those that are pushing
For this intermingled marriage
Plucked off their hair
And made them swear by God saying
You shall not give your daughters
Until their sons
Nor take their daughters
Until your sons
Or for yourselves
Please be careful young people
We've got a lot of young people in our church
Nothing wrong with dating
Nothing wrong with trying to find someone
That you want to marry one day
Make sure they're a believer
Please
Make sure they're a believer
He's doing these things, right?
But I'd like to do that
That'd be nice
Obviously I won't do such things
But please, please be careful
If Nehemiah was walking around, you'd be careful
Let's keep going there
Verse number 26
Actually that's point number 4
Point number 4 is when you drop your guard
Your children will marry unbelievers
They will make friendship with this lost world
And verse number 26
Nehemiah says
Not Solomon, king of Israel
Sinned by these things
Yet among many nations
Was there no king like him
Who was so beloved of his God
And God made him king over all Israel
Nevertheless
Even him
Did outlandish women cause to sin
Even the great king
Solomon
The king of Israel was at his greatest
At its peak
With Solomon as king
But even he
Marrying, obviously many
Lost women, they caused him to sin
His heart was
Drawn away from God
And he made space for these false gods
That his wives worshipped
Alright, verse number 27
Shall we not then hearken unto you
To do all this
Great evil
To transgress against our God
In marrying strange wives
And one of the sons of Joedah
The son of Elishib the high priest
Was son-in-law
Look at this, to Sanballat
The horror knight
Therefore I chased him from me
So what do we see, Sanballat was the other enemy right
Sanballat and Tobiah
Well Sanballat's son had married
The daughter of Elishib
The high priest
I mean the guy with the highest position
As the religious leader had given his daughter
To an unsaved man
Okay, you can see how badly things
Have gone, okay
I think again we see the example
Of the religious leader, if he doesn't care
About his kids marrying non-believers
Then why would the rest of them do it
Reverend I care, my kids, pay attention kids
We've got to set some type of example
Here brethren, you know
My children, let's make sure
The time for marriage will come
You know we pray for these things
You know God will help in this area of life
You know, we find a believer
You marry them
I like this man, he's unsaved
I like this girl, she's unsaved
If you like him that much
Give them the gospel
Honestly, if you care for someone so much
Get them saved
Give them the gospel
Let them hear that salvation
Is simply resting on Christ
Oh but if I tell them that they won't like me
Good
You don't want to be influenced
By this unsaved world
People that hate the Lord
Make sure you yoke yourself up
With believers
So Tobiah had intermingled
Married into the Levites
Sanballat had married
His children had married into
You know, the high priest family
And look what it says in verse 29
Remember them
Oh my God, now
Remember me? Now it says remember them
Okay, oh my God
Because they have defiled the priesthood
And the covenant of the priesthood
And of the Levites
Alright, so as Nehemiah is praying to God
He says remember me?
For the good that I'm doing? Now it says Lord
Remember them for the evil that they're doing
Lord can you judge them? Can you do something?
Can you step in?
You know, so these people aren't victorious
These people have stopped influencing
The lives of others
Verse number 30
Then cleansed I them from all strangers
And appointed the wards of the priests
And the Levites
Everyone in his business
He goes look, if you're going to serve in the house of God
If you're going to serve in this capacity
You've got to be a believer
You've got to be one of the Jews
Okay, anyone else? You're out
Get out of the temple, get out of this place
Verse number 31
And for the wood offering
At times appointed
And for the first fruits
Remember me, oh my God, for good
So this is the third, remember me
Oh my God, for good
Do you think he had a push back? Do you think he had a resistance?
Telling people to stop marrying unbelievers?
You know, of course he did
Okay, but again, he's gone to God
He says God remember me for the good that I'm doing
And brethren, in conclusion
Can you please go to 2 Corinthians chapter 5
In conclusion, 2 Corinthians chapter 5
2 Corinthians chapter 5
And verse number 10
Again
Nehemiah says
Remember me and God, and remember them
Okay
Brethren
You know, we are all called to serve the Lord God
We're all called to be cleansed
You know, we're all called to be
To keep the gospel clean
And not to intermingle
And get married to non-believers
You know, we're all called to be watchful and not allow
False brethren to come into our church
Okay
But you know, we're all serving the Lord
You know, we serve God in this house, we serve God in our families
We serve God in our jobs
And I want you to remember here in 2 Corinthians 5
10, 2 Corinthians 5 10 it says
For we must all appear
Before the judgment seat
Of Christ
And that everyone
May receive the things done in his body
According to that he have done
Whether it be good
Or bad
Brethren, even though we are saved
We are still going to one day stand before
Jesus Christ, the judgment seat of Christ
And we're going to be rewarded
For what we have done in our body
Hey, if we've done good, he's going to reward us
That which is bad
And again, bad is not sinful
Okay, because our sins have been paid for by Christ
It's already been judged in Jesus Christ
We're not going to stand before God because of our sins
Sins have been taken care of
But bad in a sense is like
Things that were not profitable
Alright, things that have no eternal value
You know, we're going to be judged for that
And there's going to be no reward for that
Hey, but for the good that we've done, we're going to be rewarded
The reason I wanted to end on this
Is that we are each going to stand before Christ
One day, okay
Nehemiah says, remember me Lord
For the good that I have done
And brethren, whatever you do for the Lord
You know, focus on your service for God
Alright
Not on what other people are doing
Well, I'm not going to serve God because
Sister so and so
You know, I'm not going to come to church because
Brother so and so
Brethren, forget
Lord, remember them
And Lord, remember me
Brethren, you prioritize your service for God
Regardless of what anyone else is doing
You do that which is right
Oh, but family so and so
They don't care if the kids marry non-believers
Well, don't worry about them
Okay, you serve God
You make sure that your children
Know how important it is for them to find
A safe spouse
This is something the Lord's going to look down upon
And bless them and reward them
For doing that which is good
You do that which is good
Look, Nehemiah's come back from Persia
He sees all the corruption
I can understand why Nehemiah would just go
I give up
You guys want to be wicked, so be it
He goes, you know what, I'm going to do what's good
Nehemiah says
I'm going to step in and where I can
Where I can have an impact on
I'm going to fix things for the good of God
Brethren, even if this whole church becomes corrupted
You keep serving Jesus Christ
You serve him
You're going to stand before him one day in judgment
You know, so please focus on your service of God
Not on what other people are doing
Or what they're not doing
Alright, let's end in a word of prayer
Heavenly Father, Lord, thank you for Nehemiah
Lord, for the whole book
Lord, great lessons that we can learn through this
Lord, I thank you for Nehemiah's faithfulness, Lord
And the fact that there were times that he was weak
And struggling, Lord, and he turns to you
For help and for God and for mercy
And Lord, I just pray that
We will do the same, Lord, that we will not do things
In our own strength, Lord, that we will do it for
The new man, that we will do it for the Holy Spirit of God
And Lord, that we will be
Strengthened by you, Lord, to
Do great things for you
Lord, help us not to be distracted by this world
Help us not to be distracted when even our own
Brethren, brother and sister, Lord, are doing things
That are wrong, Lord, I pray you'd help us
To just do that which is right, Lord, knowing
Full well that we're going to stand before Jesus Christ one day
And be rewarded for what we've done for him
And Lord, just protect this church
From false gospels, from false Jesus
False spirit, Lord, and help us
To continue to serve you all the days of our life
We pray these things in Jesus' name, Amen
Alright, brethren
Please take your hymnals and let's turn to hymn number 70
Let's end with Will Jesus Find Us Watching?
Will Jesus Find Us Watching? Hymn number 70