Persevering to the end

Introduction

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again! How many times have we heard this expression from others whenever we are trying something new or when something does not go our way? We see several examples of perseverance throughout Scripture whether it be the Israelites staying faithful in the midst of trails and tribulations or the prophets staying faithful to God while the people turned their eyes towards idols. We see in the New Testament that Jesus experienced these temptations and had His fair share of hills and valleys in His earthly ministry as well. He raised Lazarus from the dead and instead of declaring the day a national holiday, the people set out to kill Him (in ). Jesus did not get discouraged but instead looked ahead at what was to come: the cross. After the cross you might think that His work was finished, but His resurrection and ascension continued His ministry even though there were people constantly attempting to stir up opposition and controversy towards Him and His disciples. Following the ascension and being seated at the right hand of the Father, we might believe that Jesus’ work is finally finished, however we know that He is going to return again one day and bring about the new heaven and new earth.

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again! How many times have we heard this expression from others whenever we are trying something new or when something does not go our way? We see several examples of perseverance throughout Scripture whether it be

What we see in the life of Jesus and in the life of various prophets and apostles is that we will never arrive completely. Our work will never be done. We will never arrive. We will not reach a day this side of heaven where we can kick our boots off and say that the work is done and there is nothing more to be done! We see in that even though the people finished the wall, there was more work to be done. Let’s see what has to show us about persevering until the end.

Nehemiah 6 NASB95

1 Now when it was reported to Sanballat, Tobiah, to Geshem the Arab and to the rest of our enemies that I had rebuilt the wall, and that no breach remained in it, although at that time I had not set up the doors in the gates, 2 then Sanballat and Geshem sent a message to me, saying, “Come, let us meet together at Chephirim in the plain of Ono.” But they were planning to harm me. 3 So I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?” 4 They sent messages to me four times in this manner, and I answered them in the same way. 5 Then Sanballat sent his servant to me in the same manner a fifth time with an open letter in his hand. 6 In it was written, “It is reported among the nations, and Gashmu says, that you and the Jews are planning to rebel; therefore you are rebuilding the wall. And you are to be their king, according to these reports. 7 “You have also appointed prophets to proclaim in Jerusalem concerning you, ‘A king is in Judah!’ And now it will be reported to the king according to these reports. So come now, let us take counsel together.” 8 Then I sent a message to him saying, “Such things as you are saying have not been done, but you are inventing them in your own mind.” 9 For all of them were trying to frighten us, thinking, “They will become discouraged with the work and it will not be done.” But now, O God, strengthen my hands. 10 When I entered the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was confined at home, he said, “Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you, and they are coming to kill you at night.” 11 But I said, “Should a man like me flee? And could one such as I go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in.” 12 Then I perceived that surely God had not sent him, but he uttered his prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. 13 He was hired for this reason, that I might become frightened and act accordingly and sin, so that they might have an evil report in order that they could reproach me. 14 Remember, O my God, Tobiah and Sanballat according to these works of theirs, and also Noadiah the prophetess and the rest of the prophets who were trying to frighten me. 15 So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. 16 When all our enemies heard of it, and all the nations surrounding us saw it, they lost their confidence; for they recognized that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God. 17 Also in those days many letters went from the nobles of Judah to Tobiah, and Tobiah’s letters came to them. 18 For many in Judah were bound by oath to him because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah the son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah. 19 Moreover, they were speaking about his good deeds in my presence and reported my words to him. Then Tobiah sent letters to frighten me.

is over 70 verses with the majority including numbers and specific people groups, because of this we will summarize it in one point and spend the majority of our time on .

Persevering through Trickery (1-9)

As we see in the opening verses in chapter 6, there is good progress being made on the wall. The gaps were filled, the weak areas were strengthened. Progress was being made, but work needed to continue in order to complete the project. Sanballat and Tobiah realize that their window of opportunity to seize power in the area was coming to a rapid close. The only way that they would be able to capture the city once the walls and gates were completed would be to attack the city directly. To make matters worse, the Jews were protected by the Persian government with the documents that the king gave to Nehemiah whenever he left his court. Because of this blessing, the Jews were a protected people that would be very difficult to defeat upon the completion of the walls and gates of Jerusalem. This final push would be crucial. In moments like this in our lives, where we are nearing the completion of a very important season of our lives, we need what Nehemiah has: eyes that look at both the progress we have made while also looking ahead at the important work that remains ahead. You can’t celebrate until the work is over. The gates, according to verse 1, still need to be installed.

Have you ever seen videos of track and field athletes who compete in a race and begin to celebrate before they cross the finish line only to end up being passed by a fellow competitor? We generally laugh at these individuals, but what they have done is foolish. The finish line is right in front of them, yet they celebrate before the race is completed only to be passed by a competitor who finishes the race hard. We cannot do this in our Christian lives as well. We must realize that our work continues and our race is not a spring, but a marathon.

We see in verse 2 that Sanballat and Geshem sent Nehemiah a message telling him that they wanted to meet. Nehemiah knew these men, though, and he could see through their message. In verse 1 Nehemiah calls these men “enemies”. All along, Nehemiah recognized who these people were and that they were dead set on bringing destruction to the people of Israel. He knew that nothing good would come from meeting them in this manner. For us in 2019, are we realistic about our enemies? Do we recognize the fact that Satan loves to disguise his deadly lies as lovely truths? Whenever we are brought into a potentially vulnerable position, to we let our guard down or do we keep our guard up? We must seek to do this in order to keep ourselves safe. As we see from Nehemiah in verse 3, he understood that his work was far more important than meeting with his enemies. He simply said that he was doing a great work and could not afford to leave.

Why would Nehemiah say that this was a “great work”? This was a man who was cupbearer to the most powerful king in the world. A man who probably was a trusted advisor to the king and a man who would have had a relatively good idea of the things going on throughout the Persian Empire. Yet, he says that the work he is doing (rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem) was a great work. In the grand scheme of things in the world, rebuilding these walls was insignificant. There were mightier and more important cities in the empire than Jerusalem In the eyes of the world, this was not a great work, in fact it was not even something to write home about, however it was a great work because God’s name was at stake in Jerusalem. The walls were going to protect God’s people - that is why Nehemiah said that he was doing a great work.

What work are you doing? What work is our church doing? Would you say that it is “great work”? We know that we are tasked with making disciple making disciples. It might not look as mighty as sturdy walls around a city, but God’s name is at stake in this process as well and we cannot lose sight of that! Putting rocks around a city is not what made Nehemiah’s work great, it was God’s name, promises and people that made his work great.

If you are a student - God has called you to honor Him in your studies.

If you are an employee - God has called you to honor Him in your work.

If you are an employer - God has called you to honor Him in your companies work and in how you treat your employees.

If you are a spouse - God has called you to honor Him in your marriage.

It’s not about the kind of work, but it is about who it is for and how we do it - we must remember that as we go throughout our lives!

These men continue to send Nehemiah this message, however they now read it in public in verses 6-7 by spreading false rumors. Sanballat is trying to bully Nehemiah into doing what he wanted him to do. Because Nehemiah was rebuilding the wall and had offered hope to the Jews, maybe he was trying to make a power play as well. There was some truth in these rumors, however the majority of what is said in verses 6-7 is false… Have you ever had false information spread around about you? It’s not fun at all. How we respond to misinformation matters a lot. We should respond with grace and as Nehemiah does in verse 8. We reject these false rumors and continue doing what we were doing.

We should not be discouraged whenever an enemy of God approaches us with false information or a rumor. We should not believe something different, we are to remain faithful to what the evidence says. Scripture is truth and God’s Word tells us that the wisdom of God is foolish to a non-Christian. Because of this, we must remain faithful to God rather than man. We must constantly pray (as Nehemiah models for us time and time again). We must pray and then take action.

Persevering despite Intimidation (10-14)

Verse 10 brings about a new wave of challenges. Nehemiah realizes that this “prophet” was not from God. How can we possibly tell if someone is offering us advice that is from God or not from God? I have heard people say that whatever they keep coming back to in their heart is what God is telling them to do. Do you see the silliness of this line of thought? What if your hearts desire is to do something ungodly? Is that God telling you that it is ok? Of course not! Everything we do or think must be examined through the Bible first and foremost! If we want to know God’s will, we must know His Word. If you want to know if someone’s message is Biblical or not then you must evaluate their claims in Scripture. Are they saying what the Bible says or are they twisting Scripture to fit their agenda or worldview? This is the situation Nehemiah finds himself in here and because of his knowledge of Scripture, he is able to tell that this person is not of God. You could say that Nehemiah had the Spiritual Gift of Discernment. As verse 12 shows us, this false prophet took money to go against God.

He valued money more than God and he was attempting to lead Nehemiah astray. Can people in our world be led astray by money? Can preachers be led astray by the promises of earthly riches and success and fame? You’d better believe it! There are dozens of preachers that I’ve seen get caught up in the health and wealth and they completely sell out their messages in order to gain a large following or money or possessions. We must guard our hearts against this as Christians! We know that this is foolish based on verse 13 of this chapter as Nehemiah makes a bold statement against these people.

Nehemiah knows that the people of Jerusalem must act Godly while they are doing this task. It is not enough to be in the Lord’s house and conducting themselves however they see fit - they are still supposed to live according to God’s standards. Nehemiah understands this and he goes to the Lord in prayer in verse 14. We should do the same whenever we experience a time of suffering or whenever our faith is tested. We must remember that we are supposed to go to the Lord in prayer and present our requests to Him who knows our hearts. Here, in verse 14 we see Nehemiah pray that these people be remembered by God. Why would Nehemiah pray that God remember these people? He believes that there will be a judgment and that God will not let evil go away unpunished. He believes that God will do justice. He wants mercy for people who repent from sin and trust in God and he wants justice for those who oppose God. This should be our prayer as well. We should pray for mercy upon those who have turned to Jesus Christ in faith and we should pray that God’s justice to be done on those who have done evil and live in sin.

Persevering through the Project (15-19)

Verse 15 shows us the great news: The wall is completed in 52 days! They started working in August and they finished in October. is one of the most misquoted verses in Scripture and the basis behind some very dumb theological points and devotionals, however the point of it is true. If you are in line with God’s will, nothing is impossible. However if you try to do something and pray for God’s blessing midway because it is what you want, you can’t use to justify your actions. You can’t use to guarantee your victory over a health diagnosis. What is true, though, in and throughout Scripture is that we cannot overestimate the power of God. If God has called us to do something, truly, nothing can stand against us. This is the perspective of Nehemiah. God has been helping them all along and it was His will for them to succeed, therefore the hand of God was upon them and nothing could frustrate the purposes of God.

The wall being completed was a fulfillment of this fact. The work had been completed with the help of God. We don’t want to be a people who base our decisions solely on psychological and financial factors, we want to be a people who do things that can only be explained by the power of God. We don’t want to use our own gifts so that the glory can come our way but we want to trust on God’s power and guidance so that we can honestly say that the only reason that something happened was because of the power of God. This is what He has done in our lives as Christians, is it not? Only God can change a heart. You can love you kids, but you cannot save them from their sin, only Christ can do that. Only God can make sinners love one another and whenever this transpires in the church we must praise God. Just as was the case with Jesus Christ after He raised Lazarus, the work is not yet completed even though the wall is done. The nobles of Judah were trading letters with Tobiah. Tobiah was a non-Jew yet the leaders of Jerusalem were engaging in treachery. Because of this, we see in verse 18-19 that there were problems in the city. Intermarriage rears its head and Tobiah continued to send letters to intimidate Nehemiah and the people of Jerusalem.

Tobiah was living in unrepentant sin and he was opposing the work being done in Jerusalem. Because of this, Nehemiah uses chapter 7 to show who the true Jews are. Who is truly persevering through this project. There is much at stake here because God’s people have returned to the promised land. They are seeking the blessing that God made with Abraham in where God promised to bless all the nations of the world through his descendants. This requires the people of Israel to be a people who are set apart. They have to be holy because the Lord their God is holy. This is why the problem of intermarriage threatens everything that Nehemiah and the Jews are trying to do.

Persevering after the Project ()

This chapter is very long and full of information. We know that the walls are rebuilt, but who will populate Jerusalem now? Will they allow non-Jews to live in Jerusalem? No. They are a holy people and called to be a holy nation, 7:6 says that these people must return to his own town. As 7:73 says, all Israel settled in their towns. Nehemiah had a responsibility to protect these people as their governor, but he also had a responsibility to God for making sure that the people of Israel were living a holy life and following after God. This is a very difficult situation to be in as a leader. This genealogy list in is vitally important to identify the true people of God so that the city of God, Jerusalem, could be pure and holy.

This is similar to what we do as a church. We know that we are a group of sinners and we are far from perfect, however we have a responsibility to live a life in line with what Scripture says. We are to follow after Christ and seek first the kingdom of God! We want all members of the our church to know God. If people do not repent from sin, it shows that they do not truly know God. This is one of the most crucial points of church membership in the modern church.

We might want everyone to join the church so that we can all hear the good news and for good reason, however being a church member requires that we are a new creation and we seek to follow after the things of God rather than our own selfish ambitions and desires. This is something that we will all fall short at, but we must be a people who repent and confess our sin and turn towards God rather than continuing in our sin. Again, its about a lifestyle. Perfection is not attainable, but a Christlike lifestyle should be our goal as a follower of Christ.

Conclusion

What we do as a church is call people to join the true people of God by repenting of their sin and trusting in Jesus Christ to be their Lord and Savior! This is what we observed this afternoon at the river. Individuals who had repented of their sin, trusted in Christ as their Lord and Savior and sought to unite with our church in membership via baptism. The great news for us today is that because of Christ’s death on the cross, you can be saved and be a part of the people of God if you confess your sin and repent of it. The kicker is that we must turn from our sin. We must believe the Bible and be a part of the great work that God is doing. Sure, there are bigger churches out there, but what God is doing is life changing. He is doing great work and we should want to be a part of it as well!

If you are a Christian tonight, you must persevere through these difficult times. Through the adversity and through the persecution and keep doing this great work. Do not allow enemies to distract you from what God is doing! We must persevere to the end that we might be saved and point others towards our wonderful, merciful, savior!