Richmond, Virginia — December 3, 1973
Ministry through Brother Stephen Kaung
The desire of our hearts is that we may know You, because knowing You is eternal life. Lord, we pray that this morning, as we gather here in Thy presence, Thou wilt manifest Thyself to us.
Lord, if Thou shouldst hide Thyself, we would never know You. It is just beyond our ability to know You. But how we praise and thank You because You have said to us, “Thou wilt manifest Thyself to those who love You.”
Lord, even if our love is feeble, wavering, and uncertain, Thou knowest. We will tell You as Peter did, “Thou knowest.” We cannot measure our love toward Thee; we do not know. We only know Thou knowest.
So, Lord, do manifest Thyself to us this morning through Thy Word, by Thy Spirit, that we may truly be one with Thee—in Thy love, in Thy purpose, and in Thy will. We trust ourselves to You for this morning. We praise and worship You in Thy most precious name. Amen.
Will you please turn again to Nehemiah, Chapter 2? We will read from Verse 9.
And I came to the governors beyond the River, and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent with me captains of the army and horsemen.
And when Sanballat 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.
So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days.
And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God put into my heart to do for Jerusalem; neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon.
And I went out by night by the valley gate, even toward the dragon’s well, and to the dung gate, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire.
Then I went on to the fountain gate and to the king’s pool; but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass.
Then went I up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall; and I turned back, and entered by the valley gate, and so returned.
And the rulers knew not whither I went, or what I did; neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work.
Then said I unto them, Ye see the evil case that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach.
And I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me, as also of the king’s words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for the good work.
But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they mocked us, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do? Will ye rebel against the king?
Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, He will prosper us; therefore we His servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.
Turn now to Nehemiah, Chapter 6, Verses 15 and 16.
So the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty and two days.
And it came to pass, that when all our enemies heard thereof, all the nations that were about us feared, and were much cast down in their own eyes; for they perceived that this work was wrought of our God.
Last night, we started by saying that the history of the children of Israel is recorded in the Bible for our admonition. In other words, what God did with them, in them, and through them was all for our learning.
In God’s great mercy, He allowed those who were in captivity to come back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple and also to rebuild the wall of the city of Jerusalem. Even though this took a long period, within one hundred years, yet through the mercy of God, that was what God was doing with His people: to restore, to rebuild the temple, and to rebuild the wall.
This was to restore the testimony of God on earth. Oftentimes, when we think of the restoration of the testimony of God, we think only in terms of the rebuilding of the temple. But the rebuilding of the temple, though necessary, was not the full restoration.
The testimony of God in that period was not fully restored until the wall and the city were rebuilt.
Why? Applying this to our situation today, we know that God is doing the work of recovery—the recovery of the testimony of Jesus on earth. That is why God’s people must come out of Babylon, which is confusion, and return to Jerusalem, which represents the simplicity that is in Christ.
Two things must be restored among God’s people. One is the life of God’s people with God. That is represented by the rebuilding of the temple, because the temple is the house of God. God’s name was set upon that house, and God was to be worshipped and served in that house.
So, on the one hand, the life of God’s people with God must be recovered. The name of the Lord Jesus among His own must be restored, and He must be worshipped and served by His people. But that is only one side.
There is another side that must be restored, and that is the rebuilding of the wall and the city of Jerusalem. In spiritual application, that represents the restoration of the life of God’s people one with another.
A city life represents the growing together of the people in unity. Those who dwell behind the wall of the city form one unit, as it were. With that kind of life, they present a public testimony to the world.
So, brothers and sisters, not only must our life with God be restored as a people, but our life with one another must be restored before we can have a public testimony in the eyes of the world.
You remember our Lord Jesus in His prayer in John 17: that we may be one, as He and the Father are one, that the world may know that God has sent Him.
The life of God’s people together—dwelling together, built up together as one body in unity—is something that must be recovered. That is the meaning of the wall, the building of the wall.
Today the wall lies in ruin. There are many breaches. There are no gates. Everything is open—scattered, exposed, with no separation, no protection, no unity, and no testimony. That is the condition of God’s people today.
Oh, how we need people like Nehemiah: people who have concern, who have burden, who are willing to give themselves to prayer, and who are willing to give themselves for this one thing—the rebuilding of the wall.
That is what we fellowshipped about together last night. I do not think we can go back completely, but I want to bring you to the point where we are going to continue this morning.
Under the good hand of the Lord, Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem. But when he came back, immediately he met opposition. Why? Because Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard that someone had come back to Jerusalem to seek the welfare of the remnant.
They were angry about that. Now, who was Sanballat, and who was Tobiah?
Sanballat the Horonite was a Moabite. Then Tobiah, the servant, the Ammonite—you know, Tobiah was a Jewish name. Yet he was called a servant, an Ammonite.
Tobiah was a Jew. As you read the Book of Nehemiah, you find that his son married the daughter of a priest, and his daughter was married to a Jew. In other words, he was a Jew, but somehow he sold himself to be a slave—probably a slave to an Ammonite.
He was so morally and spiritually degraded, such a renegade, that he became an Ammonite. Here you find Sanballat, the Moabite, and Tobiah, a Jew so degraded that he literally became an Ammonite. They were the enemies of Nehemiah.
The Moabites and the Ammonites, we know, came from Lot. Lot, in his time, was rescued out of the city of Sodom. Yet, after the Lord took him and his two daughters out, something happened. Out of that terrible experience came the Ammonites and the Moabites.
In New Testament terms, Lot was a believer. He was not an unbeliever; he was a believer. The Bible even calls Lot righteous. Yet he loved the world, and the result was the flesh.
The flesh is always afraid of the spirit. It is the desire of the flesh that the spirit should be weak. Whenever you seek the welfare of the suffering remnant and try to make them strong, that is what Sanballat the Moabite and Tobiah the Ammonite fear.
They would rather see the Jewish remnant in a very weak condition, because when they were weak, then these enemies were strong. Whenever the condition of the Jewish remnant became strong, the Moabites and the Ammonites lost their control.
It was the desire of Sanballat and Tobiah to see the Jewish remnant always weak. You may have the temple, but you cannot have the wall, so that they can come in at any time and do anything to the escaped remnant as they wish.
Therefore, when they heard that Nehemiah had come back to seek the welfare of the despised remnant, they were angry.
Brothers and sisters, applying this in a general way, the flesh within us and the flesh around us are always opposed to the strengthening of the spirit. Anything that strengthens our spirit is something our flesh resists.
That is why the Bible says that the Spirit strives against the flesh, and the flesh lusts against the Spirit. They are always opposing each other, because they cannot both be strong. When one is strong, the other is weak.
So here you find a direct conflict. As soon as Nehemiah returned, the conflict began, and the conflict continued.
Whenever our spirit is burdened by the Lord for something that will accomplish God’s purpose, the flesh within us and the flesh around us will begin to strive, trying to put it down. Therefore, there is always a conflict.
Anything that is of God, anything that seeks the welfare of the escaped remnant, anything that tends to build up unity among God’s people, anything that seeks to fulfil God’s purpose, will be contested. Do not think that it is a smooth thing or an easy thing.
Not only will the flesh around you rise up and strive; even the flesh within you will rise up and strive. That is the first thing you find, even before Nehemiah began to build anything.
Immediately after Nehemiah returned, the conflict began. For three days he did nothing. Then, on the third night, he rose up secretly with only a few men. In the night, he went out without telling anybody.
He did not tell the Jews, the priests, the rulers, or the nobles. He told nobody. But he went out to view the wall and the condition of the wall at night.
Brothers and sisters, seeing the ruins of the wall in the night must have been desolate—so desolate, so disheartening. He saw the breaches, the walls in ruin, and the gates burned with fire. Yet he went through the whole area and viewed it.
He did not tell others what God had put in his heart. He simply did it by himself. That is the second thing you find in the Bible.
You know, brothers and sisters, it is one thing to have heard reports of the ruin of the city. Nehemiah had heard from his brother Hanani and others who came back from Jerusalem. He heard of the affliction and reproach, of the walls being in ruin and the gates being burned.
Everyone who has concern for the condition of God’s people today has heard these things. It is nothing strange. Everyone who has a heart and even a little concern about the condition of God’s people today cannot help but hear that God’s people are scattered and divided—without separation, without a wall, without protection, exposed to the enemy, and weak.
Everybody knows it. But there is a difference. We all know that the condition of God’s people today, in relation to one another, is not normal. We all know that. Probably we talk about it. The problem is that we talk too much.
Nehemiah did not say anything. He did not talk about it. Do you know one thing? If you are really burdened, you cannot help but be silent. If you can talk so freely—or, may I put it this way, if you can gossip about a thing—you are not deeply burdened.
Nehemiah did not say anything to anyone for three days. Only in the night did he go out to view the ruins. As he viewed the ruins, God began to form in him a plan for the rebuilding of the wall.
What does it mean for us today, brothers and sisters? In a very general way, everybody knows that God’s people are not built together. Everybody knows it, and many people are talking about it, yet nothing is done.
What we need is, without talking to anyone, to go to the Lord in the night—that is, in secret. We should bring the condition of God’s people before Him and seek to know what He wants to do. That is what we need.
You will see an even more desolate picture than you have heard. To see it and to hear it are quite different. You may see a more desolate picture, because seeing the city in ruin in the night under the moonlight is frightening.
But, brothers and sisters, as we bring God’s people before God in prayer—do not talk to anybody; go to the Lord—you will see that the condition of God’s people is more desolate than you have heard.
Yet, at the same time, God will give you a plan as to how to fill the breaches. Discernment is necessary for ministry. If we do not see, we cannot help.
We need discernment. We need to see a situation and see it through. The problem today is a lack of spiritual discernment among God’s people. Even though we say we have seen it, often we have only heard it. We have not truly seen it.
How we need to go before the Lord and really see everything with God’s eyes. Brothers and sisters, what you see will kill you. But thank God, because you have seen it before God, you are able to minister to others.
Spiritual discernment is the first step to spiritual ministry. Again, I want to say that discernment is not the basis of fellowship, but discernment is the basis of ministry.
You cannot base fellowship on discernment, because if you base fellowship on discernment, it will break fellowship. Suppose God has shown you something more than your brother, and you try to base your fellowship with your brother on what God has shown you. You will not have fellowship.
Fellowship is based on life, on love. But discernment is necessary—not for criticising your brothers and sisters, but for ministering to your brothers and sisters.
That is what Nehemiah had. He had to know exactly where the breaches were. He had to know where the gates had been burned. He had to know every situation as it was: no pretence, no hiding, no blindness. He had to see these things.
But when he saw these things, God showed him what to do. Brothers and sisters, what we need today are people who have vision and discernment. We need vision for what God wants to do, and discernment to see what is actually here.
This is something very much lacking today. Lots of good things are going on, but when you come to the root, you find that everything is on the surface. There is a lack of vision—the vision of the wall—and a lack of discernment concerning the breaches in the wall.
These two things are not contradictory. These two things are actually one. On the one hand, we need to see God’s purpose. On the other hand, we need to be acquainted with the real situation. These two things will create in us a work that is of God.
The next morning, Nehemiah gathered the princes, the rulers, the priests, the Levites, and the people together. He began to share his burden with them.
He told them, “You see the city lies in ruin. Because you live here, you know it. But nothing is done. Everybody is complaining, but nothing is done. Let us rebuild the wall.”
He told them of the good hand of the Lord upon him. By encouraging them, they all said, “Let us rise up and build.” So they started.
Brothers and sisters, this is spiritual leadership. What is leadership? Leadership is one who has seen first, who has been given a burden from the Lord first.
But after he has seen and received the burden, he is not one who does it all. That is not spiritual leadership. Spiritual leadership, on the one hand, is one who sees first; yet, on the other hand, he is able to share what he has seen with God’s people and bring them to do the work together.
Some people can only do things by themselves. That is not leadership. Leadership is the ability to inspire people to do the work. He has to set an example, that is true, but he is not the one who does it all.
He is able to bring others to hear the burden and to catch the burden. He is able to impart his burden to other people, and he is able to inspire them to join in the work of God. That is spiritual leadership.
This is not something that you can manufacture or arrange. It is something that has to come out of vision and burden. It is something that has to come from God.
When God raises up leaders who are able to hear His burden and able to lead the people together in the work of God, thank God, you have leadership. This is very necessary in the building of the city—that is, the life of God’s people together.
So here you find the people rose up and built.
You know, the third chapter of Nehemiah is probably a chapter that you may skip in reading. The whole chapter tells us that so-and-so and his brothers rose up and built a section of the wall from here to there; then another family built another section; and so on. The whole chapter is like that.
When you come to that kind of chapter, perhaps you skip over it. It may seem too monotonous. But, brothers and sisters, if you read carefully, Nehemiah 3 tells you how the work is done.
It is important to know that a work should be done, but it is equally necessary to know how it is done. The wall of Jerusalem must be built, but how is it to be built?
God’s people must be built up together. We are not to be scattered. We are not merely to be held together. We must be knit together and built together into a wall. But how is the wall to be built? That is what you find in Nehemiah 3.
The building of the wall is not a work done by one person, or even a few people. It is a work that has to be done by all.
For me to be built up together with you, I need you to be built together with me. It is not just one side. Those people of God who have shared the burden and the vision should join together in building the wall of Jerusalem.
Everyone has a section to build, and all these sections are joined together. All the breaches are filled.
You notice those people mentioned in Nehemiah 3. Some were priests, even the high priest. The work of the priest and the high priest was in the sanctuary. The Bible says that priests should not wear anything made of wool when they serve, because they should not sweat.
In other words, when you come to serve God in the temple, there should be no sweating—nothing of the flesh, not even the zeal of the flesh. There must be quietness in waiting upon the Lord, and the energy of the Spirit, as typified by linen clothes rather than wool.
But here you find the high priest, who had to appear before God in the sanctuary in holy service, now putting his hands to the building of the wall—hard, rough work.
Some were goldsmiths. They were accustomed to delicate work. To be a goldsmith, you cannot ordinarily do something like building a great wall. You are doing something very small and very delicate.
Yet you find these delicate hands working with plaster, working with stones, and filling the wall. Some were perfumers. They must have had a very keen sense of smell to be good perfumers. Yet here they were among the dust and dirt of building the wall.
No matter what their occupations were, they joined together in the building. I think there is a lesson for us. In God’s providence, we may have different occupations. Some may be housewives, some may work in offices, and some may be in school.
Our natural, earthly occupations may be different, but there is one work in which we work together: the building of the wall of Jerusalem.
No matter what our occupation is, we are together in restoring the life of God’s people as one body, as a city. We all join in the work.
You also notice that usually it is “so-and-so and his brothers” who worked on the wall. Yet, in one instance, you find “so-and-so and his daughters.” He had no sons, but he had daughters, and the daughters were building together with him.
Whether you are sons or daughters, you are all workers in the building.
Everyone was given a section, and all these sections were different. Some were building a straight section, which was easier. Some were building corners, and you know that when you build corners, it is more difficult and has to be reinforced.
Some were building on ascending hills; that was difficult. Some were building in valleys. In the building of the wall, you have hills and valleys, straight lines and corners—a variety of works.
Yet everyone was given a section by God. Do not say, “My work is in the valley; therefore, I will not do it. I want to do the work on the hills.” According to what God has decided, according to His pleasure, we are given a section to build.
If we are not faithful, that section will become a breach. But thank God, they all worked.
God notes that in seven cases they built a second piece. In other words, as you find in Romans, let us serve according to the proportion of faith. God has given each one a measure.
Paul said that he did not go beyond his measure. We are each given a measure. You cannot do everything, but you are given a measure. According to the proportion of faith, let us be faithful in fulfilling our part.
In seven cases, they did a second piece. In other words, if we are faithful in what God has given us, God will enlarge our measure. You may be given a second piece.
These people were so faithful. They were not merely fulfilling their duty, saying, “I have fulfilled my duty; that is enough.” They applied their hearts diligently to the work, and God saw fit to give them another piece.
Oh, may the Lord make us so faithful that we may be given another piece.
But in one instance, the nobles of the Tekoites would not put their necks into the work. They were given a piece to do, but they thought that the work was dirty and beneath their dignity. So they refused to put their necks to the work.
But thank God, the Tekoites did not follow the example of their nobles. The common people put their necks into the work, and they did it so well that they were given another piece.
God notices everything. In one case, He says that they did the work earnestly. God notices how you do it.
Brothers and sisters, I can only point out a few things, but the whole chapter is full of spiritual applications. The life of God’s people, as one body and as the growth of a city, needs to be recovered.
But in the restoration of this life, everyone has to build according to the proportion of faith. If we are faithful, the breaches will be filled, and finally the wall will be finished.
In the process of building the wall, as the Bible says, Jerusalem shall be built in troublous times. In other words, they did not have an easy or peaceful time to do the job. They were contested from the beginning to the end while they were building.
Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the servant the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian heard that the escaped remnant were building the wall, and they mocked.
The first thing from the enemy is mocking. They laugh and say, “What are these few people doing? They are trying to build a wall. They want to rebel against the king. Even if they build a wall, if a fox climbs upon it, the whole wall will collapse.”
But Nehemiah heard it. He did not argue with them. He went to the Lord and said, “Lord, You hear what they say.” Then he continued to build. They have no portion, no right, and no memorial in Jerusalem.
Brothers and sisters, if anyone today is burdened with the building together of God’s people as one, you will hear much mocking. People will say, “For two thousand years nothing has been accomplished. Who are you that you think you can do it?”
They will say, “What you have done cannot even stand against the foxes. The whole thing will come down.” Are you going to listen to that? If you listen to it, your hands will be weakened. You will stop building. You will say, “There is no use.”
Just in the last few days, I was in Columbus, Ohio, and we talked. I was told about some who had a vision of the church. They plunged themselves into it. They wanted to build the church, but because of frustration and dissolution, finally some of them said, “It cannot be done.”
These were not novices. These people had been used by God—gifted, talented, leading many to Christ. Yet I was told that when these men of God came together to seek the Lord’s face, some among them said, “It is hopeless. It cannot be done. God’s people will continually be divided. It is just impossible.”
That is the mocking of the flesh. Nehemiah did not listen to it. He did not argue with them. He simply went to the Lord, asked the Lord to strengthen his hands, and went on.
So they continued, and all the breaches were filled, and the wall rose higher and higher. When the enemies of the Jews heard about that, they were angry—really angry.
They said, “We will go in and attack. We will kill the people so that the wall cannot be built.”
Those who lived outside the city of Jerusalem, near these enemies, heard the rumours. At that time, very few Jewish people lived in Jerusalem; most were scattered in surrounding villages and cities. They were close to the enemies, and they heard the threats.
Ten times these people sent messages to Nehemiah and said, “We have to stop. We cannot do it because the enemies are going to attack.”
So Nehemiah gathered the people together and said, “Let us guard. Let us fight. Remember the Lord.” When the enemies heard that they would not give up, they gave up that plan.
But from that time onward, those who laboured had, on the one hand, the building work and, on the other hand, a spear. Those who laboured wore swords girded to their sides, while Nehemiah’s servants held spears and swords, watching.
In other words, they worked with watchfulness. Nehemiah and his servants, during the whole time of building the wall, never took their clothes off.
Brothers and sisters, to rebuild the wall is a difficult task. How can God’s people be built together? There is assault by the enemy from all sides to weaken our hands.
We must build with one hand on the wall and with the other hand on the spear. In other words, a spiritual battle is going on all the time.
If we are not watchful in prayer, the enemy will attack and we will be defeated. Therefore, the Lord said, “Watch and pray.”
This is not the time when we can take off our garments and rest. This is not the time when we can take off the whole armour of God. Once the church puts on the whole armour of God, the church cannot take it off until the devil is overcome and the Lord returns.
Because of such faithfulness, the work went on.
But, dear brothers and sisters, that was not all. You expect attacks from Sanballat the Moabite, Tobiah the Ammonite, Geshem the Arabian, and the army of Samaria. You expect them to attack.
But a more subtle attack came from another direction. It came from the brethren, from the remnant themselves.
Because the taxation from the king was so heavy, some people had to pledge their fields in order to obtain grain for their families. They had to borrow from wealthier brothers, especially the nobles.
These wealthy brothers charged heavy interest. Some even had to sell their daughters and sons as slaves to their brethren. Remember, they were there for the testimony of God, yet in their midst the nobles and wealthy ones began to oppress their own brethren.
Of course, murmuring arose. The people said, “We cannot live anymore. We have sold our daughters and sons in order to get grain. We have mortgaged our fields. We work for our brethren, and we cannot redeem them.”
When Nehemiah heard that, he was very angry. He gathered the people together and said, “How can we do this? Give back what you have taken. We are brethren. We cannot exact usury from our own people. Where is our testimony?”
If this situation had not been corrected, they could not have built the wall. The people were divided. The people were against one another.
Thank God, by His grace, those who had exacted usury said, “All right, we are willing to give back.” The people rejoiced before God.
Brothers and sisters, you may expect attack from outside, but sometimes a more subtle attack comes from within. Even among those who work together, you may find division: one brother oppressing another, a lack of concern and love for one another.
If the Lord has put us together to build the wall, and we insist on our rights, there will be no building.
Even if it is our right, we do not go by rights; we go by love. Paul said, “I do not use my rights. I have a right, but I do not use it.”
It is only when we learn to love one another instead of insisting upon our rights that we can really be built up together.
Thank God, they overcame this problem. So in fifty-two days, the wall was completed. These fifty-two days were almost like fifty-two years, but thank God, it was done. It was done.
Dear brothers and sisters, I do believe that, no matter how difficult it is, no matter how turbulent it may be, if this is what God wants—that His people should dwell together in unity—it will be done.
But it requires much patience, much faith, and much faithfulness. So I do hope that this will encourage us.
I think it is probably better to stop here. Let us pray.
Oh, heavenly Father, it is the desire of Thy heart that the life of Thy people with one another should be built up, that we may be a testimony to Thy name.
Lord, Thou knowest the condition of Thy people today. Lord, we praise Thee because Thou hast exercised many hearts in this area. But, Lord, the conflict is great. The enemy is at hand. There is much weakness in us.
Lord, can it be done? Will it be done? We pray that Thou wilt raise up hearts like Nehemiah—those who set their faces toward Jerusalem, whose hearts are upon Thee, whose hands are upon Thy work, and who will not give up until it is done.
So, Lord, do encourage us today with Thy Word and bring us forward in the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem. To Thee be the praise, the honour, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.