Please turn to the book of Nehemiah, chapter 1. We will read the first four verses.
The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah.
And it came to pass in the month Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace,
that Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men out of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, that were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.
And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.
And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.
Nehemiah, chapter 2, verses 17 and 18:
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.
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, when all our enemies heard thereof, that 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.
Shall we pray?
Dear Heavenly Father, as we are before Thee and before Thy Word, we just pray that Thou wilt give us the right spirit, the right attitude, that we may be those who tremble at Thy words, who love Thy Word, and desire to do Thy Word.
We do commit this time into Thy hands and trust Thy Holy Spirit to grant us wisdom and revelation unto the full knowledge of God. And to Thee be glory, in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
This morning, we are in the book of Nehemiah. Now, Nehemiah is the last of the historical books of the Old Testament. The historical books of the Old Testament begin with Joshua, and they end with Nehemiah.
Now, probably we will say, “Is not Esther after Nehemiah?” But timewise, Esther is before Nehemiah. So, from the time of Joshua to the time of Nehemiah, it roughly covers 1,020 years of history.
Lots of things happened during that time. We find during that period how the children of Israel conquered the land of Canaan under Joshua, and how they lived through over four hundred years under the judges.
Then we find the kingdom was established under Saul, David, and Solomon. Then the kingdom was divided into two, from the time of Rehoboam to the time of Hoshea.
Then we find the northern kingdom was taken into captivity, and the single kingdom of Judah continued on from the time of Hezekiah until the time of Zedekiah. After that, we have the captivity into Babylon for seventy years.
And thank God, after seventy years, we find there was a return: a return under Zerubbabel, a return under Ezra, and a return under Nehemiah. So actually, you will find it is a very long and interesting history.
Now, even though Nehemiah is the last of the historical books in the Old Testament, yet we find Nehemiah actually is the beginning of God’s special dealing with the city of Jerusalem and His people.
Why? Because we find that in the book of Daniel, in Daniel 9, I suppose you all remember, as Daniel was seeking the Lord about this matter of the ending of the Babylonian captivity, the Lord sent His angel to Daniel and declared His thought, or His plan, for the city and for the people.
But it was much more than Daniel prayed for or expected, because God said He had set apart a time in history: seventy sevens.
Now, the word weeks actually is not in the original. In the original, it is seventy sevens, because seven is a week. So that is the reason why we have seventy weeks, but it is actually seventy sevens.
God has apportioned out of history seventy sevens for the city and the people. And within that seventy sevens, God was going to close the transgression, make an end of sins, make expiation for iniquity, bring in the righteousness of the ages, seal the vision and prophet, and anoint the holy of holies.
And these seventy sevens begin with this:
Know therefore and discern, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the anointed one, the prince, shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: it shall be built again, with street and moat, even in troublous times.
And after the threescore and two weeks shall the anointed one be cut off, and shall have nothing: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and even unto the end shall be war; desolations are determined.
So, in other words, you will find these seventy sevens commenced with the word going forth to rebuild the city of Jerusalem. We find that this decree was given in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes Longimanus, and that is the time that Nehemiah received that order to go back to Jerusalem to build the wall and to build the city.
So the seventy sevens begin with the return of Nehemiah to build the wall of Jerusalem. Then you will find, in troublous times, the wall and the city will be built. And after sixty-nine sevens, the Messiah will be cut off.
The word cut off is a very strong word. In other words, the Messiah does not just go away, but He will be literally cut off. That is the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus.
So we do find that the book of Nehemiah is very, very important, because it not only concludes the history of the Old Testament, but it commences the special dealing of God with the city and with the people.
Now we know that there are altogether three returns recorded in the Bible. The first return was under Zerubbabel.
There you will find that in 536 BC, Zerubbabel and about fifty thousand people returned from Babylon into Jerusalem, and there they built the temple.
Then, after that, we find a second return under Ezra. He returned in the year 458 BC, and with him a few thousand people. He went back to beautify the temple; that is, to strengthen the temple service.
Then, after that, we find the third return under Nehemiah. Nehemiah returned in the year 445 BC, and his return was to build the wall of Jerusalem and to strengthen the city life there.
So altogether, you find these three returns.
Now, brothers and sisters, we do know that the history in Old Testament times is used for our admonition. In other words, you find that the history of the people there is a type of the history of God’s people today.
So here we find God’s people also need to return. We believe that we live in this time of recovery. Now, in the recovery of God’s people, you do find there are these three distinctive aspects.
We are told in Scripture, in 1 Peter 2:5, that we are as living stones, being built up together to be a spiritual house. In other words, we are the temple of God.
But we find that, as with the children of Israel when they were in the land of captivity, they did not have the temple of God. All they had were synagogues. But God’s heart was to see His house recovered, because it was only in Jerusalem, there in that temple, that He put His name.
And it was there only that people could offer sacrifices for the remission of their sins. But unfortunately, we find most people who were in captivity were content to live in the land of captivity. Why? Because they lived for themselves.
But only those whose hearts were for God were willing to be uprooted from the land in which they sojourned, and went back to Jerusalem—to a land of ruin—and there to build a temple for the name of the Lord.
So we do find that the same thing is true with us today. Today there needs to be the rebuilding of the house of God. Living stones have to come together on the ground of purity, on the ground of Christ alone as the foundation, and be built up together to be a habitation of God, that God’s name may be magnified.
Then we find there is the second aspect: the temple service has to be recovered. It was recovered under Ezra the scribe.
Brothers and sisters, how true it is that it is not only that we are the habitation of God, but we are also a holy priesthood. This holy priesthood has to be recovered.
Today we find in Christianity there is a distinction between the so-called sacred and the laity. We find that there is a certain group set apart to serve God, and the rest are laity, common people.
But, brothers and sisters, we find that all believers are priests, and we all are supposed to be a holy priesthood to serve the Lord together. That is something that has to be recovered in our days.
Furthermore, we find the church is not only a temple of God, and it is not only a holy priesthood. We find the church is a city that is built upon a mountain, which cannot be hid.
That is what the church is. You find that in Matthew 5:14. Christ said, “A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Let your light shine and be known to the world.”
So, brothers and sisters, we know that God’s people today are also a city. It is a walled city.
Now, a city is a unit under one government, a fellowship, and a testimony. A city is the coming together of a people under the divine government of Christ. A city is the fellowship of the saints, the saints living together in unity. A city is a testimony, because it is to be known to the world as the testimony, the vessel of the testimony of Jesus.
Now, brothers and sisters, we find that the house needs to be recovered, the priesthood needs to be recovered, and the city—the testimony—has to be recovered. This we find signified in the book of Nehemiah.
The book of Nehemiah is almost like a personal diary. You will find that Nehemiah uses the personal pronoun all the way. In other words, it is a history of his own life.
Yet you find that life is so intertwined with the history of God’s people that it becomes the last book of history in the Old Testament period. Now, Nehemiah means “the comfort of the Lord,” and certainly we find how God raised up this man to be a comfort to God’s people.
We do not know too much about the past of that man. All we know is that Nehemiah, the son of Hacaliah, lived during the time of Artaxerxes Longimanus. He lived in Shushan, the capital, and we know he was the cupbearer.
Now, brothers and sisters, evidently Nehemiah came from the royal family of Judah. But we must remember that at that time they were under foreign rule. In other words, they were slaves. Yet Nehemiah became the cupbearer of the king.
Now, the cupbearer is not a waiter in our modern sense. Actually, the cupbearer was a very high official in the court. Why? Because during those days, under the monarchy—under that kind of absolute monarchy—you will find that the king or emperor was always afraid of being murdered.
That is the reason why he had to have someone in whom he could place his confidence. Usually, that man was his companion, his friend, someone he could trust, and someone who loved him to the point of being willing to die for him.
That is the reason why, in the old days, you had the cupbearer. Before the king would drink the wine, the cupbearer would drink it first before he handed it over to the king. If there was poison, then the cupbearer would die for the king.
So, in other words, you will find the cupbearer was one who was very close to the king. Here you find Nehemiah, in God’s providence, even though he was a slave, yet he was the king’s cupbearer—a confidant of the king, very close to the king.
Of course, he lived a very comfortable life in the court of Shushan. Yet you will find this man’s heart and concern were somewhere else.
Even though he was in Shushan, in the Persian court, and lived a very comfortable life and occupied a very high position, yet his heart was somewhere else. His heart was with the people who returned from captivity to Jerusalem to stand for the name of God.
He was not able to go before that time, but his concern was there. He did not forget his brethren who were trying to stand for the name of God on this earth merely because he lived such a comfortable, privileged life. His heart was there.
So, one day, when his brother Hanani and some of the people came back from Jerusalem, he inquired of them, “What happened with the people there?”
He was told that the people of the captivity who had returned and still remained were in deep trouble. They were in tribulation, in affliction, and in great reproach.
As a matter of fact, you will find that after the remnant returned to Jerusalem, they were able to rebuild the temple and resume the temple service. Yet, because Jerusalem was still in ruin—the walls were destroyed and the gates were burned—there was no protection whatsoever.
The enemy around them could come in day or night to molest them, harass them, and attack them. They were in great distress. They were without any protection whatsoever, and life, of course, was very difficult in that place.
So because of that, you will find that even though there had been two returns, many of those who returned had left and gone back to the land of captivity because it was too difficult.
But fortunately, there were still some who remained there. They were struggling to maintain the name of God in that barren land, in that unwalled city. But these people were in great affliction and great reproach.
When Nehemiah heard about it, he was so deeply touched. He wept before God. He sat before God, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven.
The news came to him in November or December of that year, and he prayed for several months, waiting upon God. He did not rush into anything on his own, but he sought the Lord. He prayed to God. He offered himself to God.
It was not until March or April that God opened the door for him. He was serving the king at the table, and when he lifted up the cup to the king, the king noticed that there was sadness on his face.
So the king said, “You are not sick. Why are you sad? There must be something in your heart.”
Nehemiah was frightened, because this was a very frightening thing. If the king noticed there was something in your heart, he might suspect that you wanted to murder him. That would be a serious thing.
Nehemiah had never shown that face before the king, but he could not help it anymore because his heart was so burdened. Quietly, he prayed to God. He lifted up his heart to God, and he told the king, “How could I be happy when my city, where my fathers were buried, is in ruin?”
The king said, “Ask what you want.” Nehemiah asked the king for permission to go back to Jerusalem to build the city. The good hand of the Lord was upon him, and he was granted that permission.
So that royal decree commenced the special dealing of God with the city and with the people.
Brothers and sisters, when we read the story, are we touched by the Spirit of God that the same thing is happening in our day?
Most believers today are still in the land of captivity. Most believers today are building their houses, building up their businesses. Even though they do worship God, yet they worship according to what they think God should be worshiped, according to his or her own delight—like the synagogue system in the old days.
Is it not true, even in our days, that there are very few of the remnant who are willing to leave Babylon—that is, confusion, not only confusion in the world but confusion in the Christian world—to return to the purity and simplicity of Christ Jesus?
And there, to be built up together under the name of the Lord Jesus.
Is it not true that there are few among God’s people today who have seen that holy priesthood and who are willing to serve the Lord, each according to the gift and grace that God has given, instead of just letting a few serve God for them?
Is it not true, even today, that God’s people are not separated from the world? There does not seem to be a wall separating the world from the church.
Is it not even today that there are very few who really live under the divine government of Christ? Is it not true, even today, that very few of God’s people know the fellowship of the saints—how to live together in love and unity?
Is it not true, even today, that the testimony of Jesus does not spread forth, that the world does not hear Him, does not see Him, and does not notice Him? Is it not true that the same thing is here with us today?
Brothers and sisters, where is our heart? Where is our concern? Are we here just living for ourselves? Are we here just building our own houses and building up our own businesses?
Are we here worshiping God? Yes. Loving God? Yes. But is it according to his or her own delight? Do we serve God as a holy priesthood? Are we a city built upon a mountain that cannot be hid?
Brothers and sisters, where is the testimony of Jesus in this world? You remember the prayer of our Lord Jesus in John 17. Oh, how He prayed that we may be one, as He and the Father are one, that the world may see that He was sent by God.
Brothers and sisters, how divided are God’s people today! Even though there are attempts to bring God’s people together, that ecumenical movement is external. It does not work. It is not a real thing.
How can we really be one as He and His Father are one unless we are separated from the world? In the prayer of John 17, you find, on the one hand, the yearning of our Lord is that we may be one. That is the testimony He desires of us.
Yet how can we be one if we are not separated? So He said again and again, “You are not of the world. You are in the world, but you are not of the world.”
Brothers and sisters, today, as we look at Christianity, you can hardly see the demarcation between the world and Christianity. Where does the world end? Where does the church begin? You do not know. There is no wall.
Because there is no wall, brothers and sisters, those who desire to be the house of God, those who desire to serve as a holy priesthood, are continuously being assaulted and attacked. They have no protection. They are in affliction and reproach.
This is the day when there needs to be Nehemiahs raised up by God. Brothers and sisters, how we need to see where our heart is. Is our heart there with ourselves, seeking our own welfare, or is our heart with the tiny little group of people who are struggling to stand for the name and testimony of Jesus?
Where are we? Are we concerned for the testimony of Jesus?
If we are concerned, do we weep before God? Do we pray before God? Do we offer ourselves to Him, that by His grace we may be used of Him for the building of the wall of the church?
The wall is of tremendous importance. Brothers and sisters, you find in the beginning, in Genesis, God put Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. It was a beautiful garden with all the trees and fruits, yet there was no wall.
It was a garden, but no wall. Why? Because that wall was Adam and Eve. God wanted Adam and Eve to be the wall of that garden. So God said, “Watch it. Watch it. You are the wall. You are to prevent the enemy from coming in. You are to preserve that which God has done.”
But unfortunately, we find Adam and Eve failed. They did not watch. So the enemy came in and destroyed the work of God.
But, brothers and sisters, throughout the centuries God has been building that wall with His redeemed people. That wall cannot be built by God alone, because it belongs to the new creation. It has to be built with us. God is building that wall.
Until one day, when you come to the end of the Bible, you find the holy city, the New Jerusalem. What a city it is! It is a walled city, and that wall alone is one hundred and forty-four cubits. We have never seen a wall that tall. In other words, there is perfect separation. The wall is built.
So today you find God is building that wall with His people. What is that wall that you see in Revelation? It is a wall like a jasper stone, a precious stone, crystal clear like jasper.
In Revelation 4, when John saw the vision of God on the throne, he saw One like a jasper stone and a sardius. So here you find jasper speaks of the life of God, of the nature of God. That wall is to be built with the life of God. That is the separation.
Brothers and sisters, we need to be separated from the world. But what separates us? It is not rules and regulations.
Rules and regulations may be able to keep us outwardly, but rules and regulations do not keep us inwardly separated. The children of Israel could come out of Egypt and cross the Red Sea, and yet in the wilderness their hearts were still in Egypt. They were thinking of the garlic, the leeks, and all the things in Egypt. The world was still in them.
Brothers and sisters, what separates us from the world? It is the life of God. As the Holy Spirit begins to build up that life of God within us, you will find automatically that life will separate us from whatever is of the world.
That wall will grow taller and taller and taller until it is complete and perfect. But a wall is not just a separation. The wall is a protection; it is a preservation, because it keeps all that is within the wall.
All that is within the wall is being kept because of this wall. How we need to see this, that we may be kept because of that wall around us.
Nehemiah, when he saw the situation there, his heart was burdened. He saw the real need of the remnant who remained there in Jerusalem. What they needed was to see that a wall was built. So he prayed, and God answered his prayer. He went back to rebuild the wall.
As he went back, on the third day, without saying anything to anybody, he rose up in the night to survey the ruin. He went through the wall and saw how the wall was in great waste and ruin. He surveyed it all by himself.
After he did that, the next day he gathered those who were there together and said, “See in what distress we are in. It is because we have no wall. So let us come and build the wall.”
Brothers and sisters, he so inspired the people that they said, “Let us rise up and build.”
Brothers and sisters, we need to have a deep concern for the city—the holy city, the New Jerusalem, the church. We need to have a deep burden for the testimony of Jesus.
But the burden alone is not enough. We need to have a vision—a vision of the real condition of the people today.
Sometimes it is because we lack that vision, the vision of seeing what is really missing. We do not know what is missing. Sometimes we think everything is rosy; everything is okay.
We are so used to our environment that we become accustomed to it. That is a problem with human beings. Well, it is the genius of human beings that you can get accustomed to anything, but this is also the danger.
Because we are so accustomed, we see things around us so often that we do not notice them anymore. In other words, these people who remained in Jerusalem saw the ruins every day, but it did not mean anything to them anymore.
Now, is it not possible that we are in the same way? We are so accustomed to the ruins of God’s people and to the weakness of God’s testimony that we get accustomed to it. It does not mean anything to us anymore.
Oh, how we need a vision. How we need to see in the night, as it were, how terrible and great the distress and ruin are. If God should give us a sense of that, I do believe that He will give us a desire to rebuild that wall.
That need has to be shared with all God’s people, that we may all rise and say, “Let us build.”
Now, in this building of the wall, in Nehemiah 3, you will find it is very, very interesting. Nehemiah had a burden. Nehemiah went back to build the wall. But this was not a work that could be done by one person.
You will find that this building of the wall had to be done by all the people there. Everybody had to be involved. It was a work too great for anyone.
Brothers and sisters, in this building of the wall of the testimony of Jesus, everyone has to be involved—not only the rulers of half the city, not only the high priest and the priests, but everybody.
You find the goldsmiths, the perfumers, the servants, and the children. Certain people rose and built with their sons, and certain people rose and built with their daughters. Everybody was involved in the building of that wall.
A person who deals with gold deals with small but precious things. But when he begins to deal with the wall, with all these stones and all this rubbish, it is a very different work.
I pity especially the perfumers, because their noses were so important. Yet with all the dust, it might affect their noses. But they did not mind, because God’s testimony was more important than their livelihood.
Not only the men, but the women, the sons, and the daughters—everyone had to come in and build, because each could only build that portion which God had given to him or to her. If anyone did not build, there would be a hole there, and the enemy could come in.
The names of all the men were mentioned there. God noticed. You find the nobles of the Tekoites thought it was beneath their dignity. They let their servants do the job, and they would not put their necks into it. God noticed it.
You find some of them loved the Lord so much that they built a second piece, another piece. When they built the wall, the works were all different. Some were building the tower, some the gates, some in the valley, and some at the corner. The works were all different.
But whether it was difficult or easy, they worked together as one man until, in fifty-two days, the wall was built.
Brothers and sisters, is there not a lesson for us today? Do not let your brothers and sisters put their necks into that work while you stay aside as if it is beneath your dignity.
Brothers and sisters, if any one of us should not do our portion, not only will that wall have a hole there, but you will find that even in the book it will be recorded.
When they built the wall, they built it in great difficulties. Why? Because their enemies were not happy with it.
The Samaritans, the enemies, mocked them. When mocking did not work, they conspired to attack them. So you find the people had to work with one hand on the load and one hand with a sword.
When the attack did not work, the enemy tried to do something within them. The rulers and officers were hard on the people, and the people had to sell their sons and daughters to them as slaves. Because of this, murmuring came about, and that had to be straightened out.
More than that, when that did not work, the enemy tried to accuse Nehemiah. They said he was building the wall because he wanted to be king. They even bribed the prophet and prophetess. Think of that. They prophesied falsely.
But thank God, Nehemiah knew what he was doing. He would not let go of the work. He would not be threatened. He would not be diverted. He and the people continued on until the wall was built.
Why were the enemies so afraid? Because when the wall was built, the enemy could not do anything to God’s people again. They were finished. That is the reason why the enemy was so furious about this building of the wall.
When the wall was finished, they were afraid. They knew it was the work of God. Dear brothers and sisters, who is afraid today? Are we, or are the enemies?
If the wall is built, if the testimony of Jesus is rebuilt, we need not be afraid. The enemy is afraid. They are defeated. There is the building of the wall.
But not only must the wall be built. That is in Nehemiah 1 through 7. From Nehemiah 8 through 10, you will find that after the wall was built, Nehemiah gathered the people and had Ezra read the Book.
The men and women, and all the children who could understand, were there listening to the Word. The Word was explained to them, and when they listened and understood, they wept because they knew how they had sinned against God.
They knew the situation they were in was because of their unfaithfulness to God. They had to be comforted and told, “Now this is the day that we should rejoice because of the mercy of God.”
They read the Word, they kept the Feast of Tabernacles, and the people renewed their covenant with God. They covenanted to do what God wanted again. They decided and determined to serve God.
They put upon themselves even beyond what the law required. They not only brought their firstfruits to God, but they put upon themselves that each would pay a third of a shekel for the service of the house. They also offered wood offerings voluntarily, that the fire would continue to burn in the house of God.
Brothers and sisters, you find there was a revival of first love toward God.
If our heart is upon the building of the wall—if our heart is to see separation, unity, and testimony—then, brothers and sisters, we find how the Word of God will work upon our hearts.
Every recovery that we know in history is related to God’s Word. Recently, I was reading a huge book on the Reformation. Probably it is the best book on the Reformation—not only the Reformation in Germany, but in Switzerland, France, and England.
Again and again, in that book, it says the Reformation came because of the Word of God, not because of anything else. It was the Word of God that prepared the way. It was the Word of God that was the foundation of the Reformation.
Of course, we know that is true. An open Bible—that was the cry of the Reformation.
Brothers and sisters, the Word of God—how important is the Word of God! Oh, how we need to read the Word of God, to listen to it, to have it explained to us, not only by man, but by the Holy Spirit.
As we are touched by God’s Word, then our first love will be renewed.
Brothers and sisters, have we left our first love? We may go on outwardly as usual, like the church in Ephesus—its labor, its work, its understanding, even its discipline—yet it had left its first love.
The Lord said, “I have this against thee, that thou didst leave thy first love.” What the Lord is looking for is first love.
Brothers and sisters, we need a reviving of first love, and that first love comes by the Word of God.
Oh, the Word of God is unto salvation to all those who believe. May the Word of God become such a power in our midst that our first love may continually be aflame and stirred up.
So you find they made a new covenant. They made a covenant with God to love God and never to forsake the house of God. That is from Nehemiah 8 through 10.
Thirdly, from Nehemiah 11 through 13, Jerusalem was big, but there were very few people. So you find all the leaders stayed in the city.
One out of ten was chosen by lot, and every one out of ten would move into the city to stay. Anyone who volunteered to come to the city and stay would be blessed. In other words, the city life had to be strengthened.
The city life had to be strengthened. Brothers and sisters, how good and how pleasant it is for the brethren to dwell together in unity.
Here you find not only a wall that separated them from the world and became their testimony to the world, but you find they together were being built up. They strengthened one another. They watched for one another. They encouraged one another. They loved one another. They were concerned for one another.
They were not just living far apart, each seeking his or her own interest. Here you find they moved together and lived together as one people under one government—the divine government of God.
Not only worship and service have to be recovered; the corporate life of the church must be recovered.
Brothers and sisters, we in this country are also brainwashed that all we want is to be independent. We want to live independently. Now, it is good in one sense, but in another sense, we find it is a great hindrance.
What God desires is that we are individuals, yes. We will remain as individuals. Our individuality is the gift of God. God never wants us to be uniform—yes, monotonous. God wants variety.
Yet, brothers and sisters, our individualism must go. We cannot be so independent to the extent that we are not related to our brothers and sisters.
We need to be related to one another. We need not only to say to the Lord that without Him we can do nothing, but we need to say from our hearts that without our brothers and sisters, what can we do?
Now, God will say, “Without us, He can do nothing.” But are we humble enough to say the same thing?
We are so independent, as if we are living miles and miles apart. I am not talking about physical miles. We need to move in, in our spirit, into that city, to strengthen the corporate life of the church.
We need to be related to one another. Of course, there are private matters. We do not mean to say that everything in your life has to be registered, regimented, or governed. No, no, that is not possible.
Yet, brothers and sisters, there needs to be a spirit of relatedness, that we may pray for one another, that we may seek the mind of the Lord together, to strengthen the life of the city.
So here you find in the book of Nehemiah the recovery of the testimony. In the recovery of the testimony, you find these three things:
When these things are being recovered, you find that recovery is complete. So may the Lord help us. Shall we pray?
Dear Heavenly Father, we do thank Thee that Thou art calling Thy people to return to Thy original desire and thought. We do praise and thank Thee that there is a return to worship and a return to service.
Lord, there is also the need of a return to testimony: that Thy people will no more be divided from one another; that Thy people will be separated from the world and yet be one together; that Thy people will really have a corporate life that will glorify Thy name; and that our first love will be renewed among Thy people.
Lord, we are looking for it. We are praying for it. And we do offer ourselves to it.
We pray that Thou wilt, by Thy mercy and grace, stir our hearts, that we may be used of Thee for such recovery. It is for Thy own glory. It is for Thy great name. In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.