Stay on Track

Well, today we will consider, like first consider, some of the challenges we face with staying on track as followers of our Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. By staying on track, I mean how do we stay focused? How do we stay zeroed in, moving to the goal and on target to the purpose that God gives to his elect? We are called to reign under Christ on earth as kings and priests in the kingdom of God, or to be sons and daughters of God in God's divine family. And so, as we all know, or should never forget or take for granted or forget what it means, we are to be seeking first the kingdom of God and God's righteousness – Matthew 6, 33. Are we staying on track with this priority God has given us? Now, to help us succeed in being worthy of receiving God's precious gift, this gift of eternal life, today we will take time to consider the example of Nehemiah. We're going to take the example of Nehemiah today. In particular, because there's a lot that goes on in the book of Nehemiah, but in particular, we're going to be studying, looking at the 52 days it took for him to rebuild the fallen walls of Jerusalem. So we're going to narrow the focus. My question in looking at the book of Jeremiah and thinking of this account that happened in history, how did Nehemiah stay on track? How did Nehemiah stay on track with God in order to accomplish such an amazing feat in such a short time of 52 days? 52 days. What I see is that Nehemiah did three things, at least three things. And what were they? I'm not going to tell you right now. I'm not going to tell you. But I will later. As we read Nehemiah's account and what happened in his life, I would like for us to consider and focus on three things he did that allowed him to stay on track with God. So I want you to pay close attention. And then at the end, you can match your thoughts with my words and we'll see how our thoughts compare. And so the title of today's sermon is, Stay on Track. Stay on track. That's something we can remember. Simple, simply in a powerful way. Stay on track.

So guess where we're going to turn as we begin?

Yep, Nehemiah. Let's turn to the book of Nehemiah. Nehemiah chapter 1.

And in Nehemiah chapter 1, are you turning? I'm waiting for the rustle of pages. We haven't, maybe you haven't turned there for a while. It's before Esther, it's before Job, it's before Psalms, it's before Revelation. Yeah, I'm teasing you. I'm teasing you. It's just good to be back with you. It's been a while since I've been here. In Nehemiah chapter 1, verse 1, we are introduced to Nehemiah. Nehemiah was the son of Ha-kaliah. I practiced it before coming up here and I'm going to trip on it again. Ha-kaliah, he was one of many Jewish exiles yet living in Babylon, though at this time Babylon, that area of Babylon, was under the control of the Persian kings.

In 445 BC, that's the year that this occurred in, from what scholars tell us, in 445 BC, the 20th year of King Artaxerxes I, Nehemiah hears the latest news about the Jews who had returned to Judah. And the news he heard was not good news. And so we read now, verse 2, we read, breaking into thought that Hanani, Hanani, one of my brethren, this was one of his brothers, actually, he came with men from Judah and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped, those who had survived the captivity and concerning Jerusalem. And they said to me, the survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down and its gates are burned with fire. And so it was, Nehemiah wrote, when I heard these words that I sat down and wept and mourned for many days. I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven. And so Nehemiah obviously clearly here we see that he was stricken with grief. Now consider it had been 140 years since Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed Jerusalem and the city yet remained without walls and the people were suffering and they were defenseless before their enemies. And so what we find here is that this devout man rightly turned to God. He rightly turned to God with fasting and prayer. And by his prayer, when we study it closely, we see that he has a plan in mind. He has a plan, it seems, of something he would like to do or wonders if he might do to help them. And so he takes it to God. Now the prayer he gives starts in verse 5 through 11, verse 11, but I'd like for us to look at the end. In verse 11, because it's here we get a clue that he's forming a plan. He's going to be praying about this. In verse 11, Nehemiah ends his prayer with this request. He says, O Lord, I pray, please, please let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, he speaking of himself, and to the prayer of your servants who desire to fear your name. And let your servant prosper this day, I pray, and grant him, again speaking of himself, grant him mercy in the sight of this man. Now who is this man? This man, his king, art his erses.

And then he tells us, and we can understand this, because then he tells us, for I was the king's cupbearer. Now the cupbearer to the king was a very important position in the royal court of Persia. Expositor's Bible commentary explains that not only did the cupbearer know the ways of the court, which is a very intricate and important thing to know if you want to be safe and out of trouble, and he also knows how to choose the best wines, of course, being the cupbearer to the king. But then quoting from the commentary, it says, he would have had, also he would have had great influence as one with the closest access to the king. He would have been able to determine who is able to see the king. That's the sort of position Nehemiah had at court. And then Eugene Morel, author of Kingdom of Priest, A History of Old Testament Israel, he adds this, he adds, that there had to be an implicit trust between the king and cupbearer, for the cupbearer could be bribed to slip poison into the king's cup or to do him other harm. So it was very much a special relationship we can understand that Nehemiah had with the king. But even so, even so we can see that he must have been a trusted servant, a trusted person. Nehemiah still knew that causing the king's displeasure and making a request could mean one's death. It was a dangerous thing to approach the king of Persia if he didn't like your idea, if he didn't even like the way you looked. We just don't know. And so Nehemiah, we see, was wise to seek God's help, wise to grant him mercy in the sight of this man, the king. Now if you read the text, you know, if he didn't pay attention, they could just, the next day he went and had a talk with the king. But that's not it at all. It's four months later, and I'm sure the whole time he was praying. It's four months later that Nehemiah, excuse me, Nehemiah got his opportunity. Excuse me. It is four months later that Nehemiah, I know that sounds terrible on television, on computer, sorry.

Four months later, Nehemiah got his opportunity to make his request to the king. And let's read about it now, Nehemiah chapter 2 verse 1. And it came to pass in the month of Nisan, four months later, in the twentieth year, same year, a king arteseroxes, when wine was before him, that I took the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had never been sad in his presence before, and therefore the king said to me, Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? But this is nothing but sorrow of heart, the king said.

And Nehemiah says, I became dreadly afraid. Remember what I said about the danger in being in front of a king. And I said to the king, May the king live forever. Why should my face not be sad, when the city, the place of my father's tombs, lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire? Well, this must have roused the king's interest. And the king said to me, What do you request? And so I prayed to the God of heaven. If you want an example of spontaneous prayer, here it is. And I'm quite sure it was a powerful spontaneous prayer, and we're going to see it's answered. And I said to the king, If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city of my father's tombs, that I may rebuild it. And then the king said to me, the queen also sitting there beside him, How long will your journey be? That's good news. How long will your journey be? And when will you return? And so it pleased the king to send me, and I set him a time. And so, just like that, after four months waiting, just like that, the king's loyal cup bearer became the governor of the province of Judah. And Nehemiah, of course, recognized God's favor in his life. That was quite an answered prayer. It seems, from what we see, and scholars tend to agree, he must have left immediately for Judah. He was a man on a mission from God, and he wasted no time. And then three days after he arrived in Jerusalem, he secretly inspected the city walls. And now, in verse 12, still in chapter 2, he writes, I rose in the night, I and a few men with me, and I told no one what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem. We get a sense into this plan he had was inspired of God. Now, Nehemiah likely went out at night, alone. Had to have been a moonlit night, I would surely assume. He likely wanted to see for himself the extent of the wall's destruction. He needed to know so he could start making his plans about rebuilding the wall. Now, scholars believe the wall Nehemiah rebuilt was some two to two and a half miles around, only two and two and a half miles around, still somewhat smaller than the original wall. But yet, to me, and I think he would agree with me, it still seems quite a monumental task to complete. And remember, as we'll see later, that he accomplished this in 52 days.

And it's in verses 17 through 18, chapter 2, where we read that he revealed God's purpose to the people. He had kept it close to himself, but he finally revealed it. Verse 17, and then I said to them, you see the distress that we are now in, that we are in. Notice how he says, we. How Jerusalem lies waste and its gates are burned with fire. Come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer be a reproach. And I told them of the hand of my God, which had been good upon me, and also the king's words that he had spoken to me. That would have been very encouraging to them. And so they said, let us rise up and build. And then they set their hands to do this good work. Nehemiah's words clearly inspired them to action. However, not everyone welcomed this news. There's always naysayers. In verse 19, we read this. But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite, and Geshim the Arab heard of it, they laughed at us, Nehemiah says, and despised us, and said, what is this thing that you are doing? Will you rebel against the king?

Well, what we find immediately is that their insinuations and their hostility by no means intimidated Nehemiah. Verse 20. So I answered them and said to them, the God of heaven himself will prosper us. Therefore we his servants will arise and build, but you have no heritage, or right, or memorial in Jerusalem. He made it very clear that who was to have a part in raising this wall. And so, arise and build the wall they did, and they would do it again 52 days. And Nehemiah 3 goes in some detail, describes the work that people did in the various parts of the wall.

They built different portions in different times, according to different groups, clans, families, various groups. And most of the people, and even Eliashib, the high priest, if you notice in chapter 3 of verse 1, he's the first one listed. He set the prime example for everybody. The high priest jumped in and got busy.

He helped to build the wall. However, it would be untrue to say that all the people pitched in. Verse 5, for example, tells us that the people of Tikoa, now that was the hometown of the prophet Amos, many...that was a famous hometown of the prophet Amos.

The people of Tikoa made repairs, but they're nobles, meaning they're wealthy people, the rich people of the town, did not put their shoulders to do the work of the Lord. So the wealthy ones deigned not to do manual labor. Nehemiah was not able to win everyone over from the Jews, and yet he still faced a lot of harassment and animosity from without. In fact, let's look at chapter 4 now. Chapter 4, verse 1 through 3. You notice again, Judah's enemies, how they kept trying to undermine the morale of the Jews.

They kept trying to discourage and tear them down. Nowadays, you should be aware of this. Maybe you're not. We call this sort of thing trash talk, and I don't think they're just being friendly here, but this is trash talk of a sort. Nehemiah 4, verse 1. But so happened when Sambalot heard that we were rebuilding the wall because they kept at it, they didn't stop, that he was furious and very adignant, and he mocked the Jews.

And he spoke before his brethren in the army of Samaria. He was the governor of Samaria, and he said, what are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day? Obviously, as he's saying, they're being ridiculous. Will they revive the stones from the heaps of rubbish? Stones that are burned? They're going to use burnt-out junk stones.

And now, Tobiya the Ammonite, he is the governor of Ammon, was beside him, and he said, whatever they build, if even a fox goes upon it, he'll break down their stone wall. Yeah, this is trash talk, isn't it? You've heard it. This is trash talk. But this just wasn't a one-time occurrence. I'm sure they kept this up the whole time, all the time, trying to wear them down, get them to give up. But Nehemiah placed their mockery before God.

Nehemiah did not take it lightly at all. These were God's people he was talking about, and God's city. He placed their mockery before God, and you can read about that in verse 4, but he trusted God to deal justly with them. And you will find, if you read the book, that we will not find evidence of Nehemiah mocking his enemies like this. He lived by a different way of life. Instead, Nehemiah spent his energy focused on building the wall.

Verse 6, and so we built the wall, and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height. For the people had a mind to work. They were zealous. They were eager. It's as if the more their enemies mocked them and tried to demoralize them, the more productive Nehemiah and his people became. And that's sometimes what happens when people try to be negative. It makes us resist and work even harder. But again, this infuriated the enemies. The more they tried to stop them, the more the Jews in Nehemiah worked, and the more they accomplished. Now, Nehemiah realized their threats were becoming worse. Their threats were not becoming... were going beyond words, I should say, becoming more physical, more violent.

And so he wisely worked to counteract their threats and to protect his people. And he set a watch day and night upon them. And they did not relent from building the wall, though. They never stopped. Verse 13, he writes, Therefore I position men behind the lower parts of the wall, at the openings, and I set the people according to their families. They're protecting their families. That makes some very good guards, very good watchmen.

According to their families with their swords, their spears, and their bows. And Nehemiah continually encouraged the people to do their part. But ultimately, as we're going to see, verse 14, their trust must be in God to fight their fights. Verse 14, and he said, And I looked, and I rose, and said to the nobles, to the leaders, and to the rest of the people, Do not be afraid of them. Look where he told them. He said, Remember the Lord, look to God, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses. And it happened when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had brought their plot to nothing, that all of us returned to the wall, everyone to his work. Verse 18, Every one of the builders had his sword girded at his side as he built, and the one who sounded the trumpet was beside me. And in verse 20, he continues, he told them, Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Come, join in, protect, defend. But then he added these important words, Our God will fight for us. And so as many times we hear, we have our part to do. And they understood that they did all they could, but ultimately they depended upon God to do their fights, to protect them. But always again and again, we see Nehemiah encouraging the people to trust God as their help and their protector. Now as we've been noting Nehemiah's focus to God and his determination to his task, we should also note how he interacted with his people. Notice how he worked right alongside them in building this wall. Verse 21 now, look in verse 21. He wrote, So we labored in the work, we labored in the work, and half of the men held the spears from daybreak until the stars appeared. And also verse 23, he said, So neither I, my brethren, my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me, took off our clothes, except that everyone took them off for washing. His point is they worked and they slept in their clothes. They are non-stop getting this done. But my point is Nehemiah served his people, and he did deign to do the same manual labor with them. He dared to do something that the nobles of that little town of Tychoa refused to do. Today we would call Nehemiah a servant leader. We'd call him a servant leader. Now the danger to Jerusalem is very real. It was critical that the wall and its gates be completed. But after weeks of intense labor, many of the people became hungry and increasingly desperate for food. In Nehemiah chapter 5 verse 1 through 2, we read this, And there was a great outcry of the people and their wives against their Jewish brethren.

For there were those who said, We are sons and our daughters are many. Therefore, let us get grain that we may eat and live. Now this is unusual. There should not have been a problem for the people in purchasing grain and having the funds to do that. But what Nehemiah discovers was something that he did not notice until the crisis and the extensive work they're doing night and day on this wall. The unexpected challenge before Nehemiah was not caused due to external enemies, but to the hardened hearts of the wealthy among the Jews. Unable to pay their taxes, and the taxes were high in Persia, in Judah. Unable to pay their taxes, many of the poorer Jews were forced to mortgage their lands and their homes to borrow money. Some of us may understand the economics of this. Then, unable to repay their loans, of course now with interest and usury, interest or usury charge included, they were charging usury. I get that right, usury. Even though it's stipulated they were not to charge usury to one another.

And so because they couldn't repay their loans, they had been forced to sell their sons and daughters into indentured slavery. They had to work off the debt. And so what was happening is that wealthy Jews were profiting at the expense of the poor. And ironically, or rather sadly, they were enslaving the poor among them while at the same time they were using community funds to redeem or buy other Jews from indentured slavery to the Gentiles. They were buying them from the Gentiles but not doing anything to help one another among their own people within their own communities. Now recognizing the danger and stopping the work even for a moment, Nehemiah nevertheless called an assembly and he defended the poor. God loves the poor. He has a special interest for the poor. He treats everyone the same but he has special concern about the poor.

And Nehemiah defended the poor from this great injustice and offense to God and his law. And you can read more about that in verses 6 through 12. But through reasoning with the nobles and rulers and by force of his own example, Nehemiah shamed and convinced them to make right their unjust hold over their fellow Jews. They released them of their bonds. They let them have food and money. Now from this event, Nehemiah reveals his own acts of generosity to support and help to serve his people. In verses 14 through 16, verses 14 to 16, chapter 5, we read, going down a few lines, we read how Nehemiah himself never ate the governor's provisions. He never ate the governor's share. But the former governor's, Nehemiah notes, who were before me, laid burdens on the people and took from them bread and wine besides 40 shekels of silver. Yes, even their servants bore rule over the people. But I did not do so. And why is that? Because of the fear of God. He revered God. He worshipped God. He loved God. He loved God's people. He knew he was to love his brethren. Verse 16, he says, indeed, in truth, he adds, I also continued to work on this wall, and we did not buy any land. He did not take advantage of the poor. All my servants were gathered there for the work.

And so, though it was his right to be supported by the people and by their tax money, Nehemiah chose not to do so. He was more concerned about following God, keeping his law, pleasing him. He would hold true to God's law and way of life, no matter what. He saw their need. He helped.

As Nehemiah neared completion, he and the people, they were nearing completion of the wall. If only its gates were left to be finished. The intrigues of his enemies. We haven't forgotten about those external enemies. Their plottings and schemings intensified.

But his commitment and determination had never wavered.

In Nehemiah 6, we read how Sanballat and Tobiah tried to draw Nehemiah into a trap.

They sang there in verse 2, breaking into the thought, they told him, Come, let us meet together among the villages in the plain of Onom. That's about 12 miles west of Joppa, northwest of Jerusalem. But Nehemiah wrote, But they fought to do me harm. So I sent messengers to them, saying, I am doing a great work, I have a commitment, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you? But they sent me this message four times, and I answered them in the same manner.

Now, scholars tend to agree that they meant to assassinate him. That was not uncommon among the governors in Persia. Now, when that didn't work, they next tried a more public method, what today we might call a whisper campaign, trying to ruin his reputation.

Verse 5, Then Sanballat said his servant to me as before, the fifth time, with an open letter in his hand. I want everybody to know what was in this letter. And it was written, It is reported among the nations, and Gessom says, Gessom was their buddy in crime, that you and the Jews planned to rebel. Therefore, according to these rumors, you are rebuilding the wall, that you may be their king.

Now, of course, we know the charges were a ridiculous attempt. Again, their attempt this time to assassinate his character was false accusations of treason. There were lies that were trying to get him in trouble with the king. Then Nehemiah called them out. Bluntney told them, verse 8, that there lies, he said, I said to them, saying, No such things as you say are being done, but you invent them in your own heart. For they were all trying to make us afraid, he says, saying their hands will be weakened in the work, and it will not be done. Now therefore, Nehemiah, another spontaneous prayer as it were here, he said, Oh God, strengthen my hands.

And we can be certain that God did strengthen his hands in the hands of all his people in completing his work. Now, when those two schemes failed, his enemies hired people that Nehemiah knew about to try to convince them that a gang of cutthroats, that a gang of cutthroats, intended to murder him. But to save himself, his so-called friends, urged him to hide away and seek sanctuary in the temple, in God's temple. But again, Nehemiah was not scared.

His response in verse 11, and I said, should such a man as I flee? What kind of man was he?

A faithful man, a trusted God. He wasn't fearful. And who is there such as I who would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in. And then I perceived, he says, that God had not sent them at all, these so-called friends, but that he pronounced this prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sandballot had hired him. Had hired him. Now, all his enemy's efforts are futile. That's what we see. They are unsuccessful. They were never able to deter him from his task. Nehemiah stayed on track. Having spent years among the deadly intrigues and schemes at the court of King Artaxerxes, I'm quite sure that Nehemiah was undoubtedly able to smell a rat. And there are a lot of rats outside Jerusalem. His enemies were no match for him. His enemies were certainly no match for God. And so, Nehemiah and his people succeeded in completing the wall, as we can read here in verse 15, chapter 6. And so the wall was finished on the 25th day of Elo in 52 days.

And it happened when all our enemies heard of it and all the nations around us saw these things that they were very disheartened in their own eyes. For they perceived that this work was done by our God, done by our God. That's exactly what Nehemiah believed. It's exactly what he knew.

Nehemiah always gave the credit for all the blessings and accomplishments and protection that he and God's people received. It was all due to God. And so, at the help of God, Nehemiah succeeded. He stayed on track. He rebuilt the walls. He rebuilt Jerusalem. And there's many other things he does as you read in the rest of the book.

But this task that God himself had put upon his heart to complete, he completed. In 52 days, he accomplished the seemingly impossible by rallying his oppressed and disheartened Jewish brethren to build the wall. Nehemiah stayed on track with God.

But how? How did he do it? Now I come back to my question. The thing I ask you to keep your eye open for. I really don't want your vocal responses right now, but you can think your responses. So what three things did you see Nehemiah doing to stay on track? What three things? You probably saw more, and there may well be more, but I saw three main things. Here's what I see him doing. Here's what I saw him doing. First, he stayed committed to God. He stayed committed to God. Some of you are going, yep, yep, okay. He never wavered in his trust and obedience to God. He never lost sight of his goal of rebuilding the wall. He never doubted that God was using him to accomplish a mighty work. He believed. He obeyed. He constantly acknowledged God's presence in helping all their efforts, encouraging everyone around him also to trust and to obey God. The second thing I see is that he kept serving God and God's people. He kept serving God and God's people.

Though he served as a provincial governor under King Artaxerxes, he never neglected his higher service to God, his true king, nor his service to God's people. And so he humbled himself to serve God, and he strove to help God's people to obey God too. It just wasn't about him. He wanted everyone to have this incredible relationship like he had with God.

And he willingly labored, and he sweated alongside the people. He gave generously of his own to them.

The third thing I see that he did. The third thing I see that he did, he remained undeterred. Undeterred.

That means not discouraged. Not discouraged. Nothing dissuaded him. Nothing dissuaded him from trusting God. Nothing deterred him from rebuilding Jerusalem's walls.

Though enemies tried to hinder him with ridicule and fear tactics and threats to his reputation, threats to his own life and well-being, Nehemiah remained dauntless. Dauntless. I think there is an old, maybe it was a British battleship named The Dauntless many years ago. It rings a bell. Nehemiah persisted, and he completed his task.

Now, Nehemiah did, in one sense, he did nothing all that unusual. He did what faithful followers of God do and have always done.

He did what faithful followers of God do and have always done. They did the same they all do.

And I think we do. We strive to do the same things, to stay on track with God. When we turn back to the book of Hebrews, and we're done with Nehemiah today, but if you turn with me now back to Hebrews chapter 11, back to the faith chapter, when we turn back to Hebrews 11, the faith chapter, and we're not going to read this whole chapter, but although it is very encouraging to read and think upon, when we read Hebrews 11, look at it, consider the names, consider the people listed here, sometimes just a brief description of what they did, what happened.

When we think on this, focus on it, I think we can see that these people stayed on track. They stayed on track like Nehemiah did.

In fact, by the time this is written, Nehemiah was probably one of those men considered in this list by this author of the book of Hebrews.

Consider Moses, for example.

Moses, Hebrews 11 verse 24 through 26. Hebrews 11, 24, 26, just a bit here. We are told by faith, Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He left the house of Pharaoh.

Choosing, rather, choosing instead to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin. In verse 26, esteeming the reproach of Christ's greater riches than the treasures in Egypt.

Why? It says, for he looked to the reward.

He had an understanding of the reward, as we do. God had reserved for him something eternal, something far greater than this physical life.

What about David, Samuel, and the prophets?

Let's look at verses 32 through 33. Verse still in Hebrews 11, 32-33.

We read, And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak, Barak, and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel, and the prophets, who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises.

God's promises and others. They stopped the mouths of lions. They stopped the mouths of lions. Perhaps you remember some months ago, I talked about Daniel in the lion's den in a sermon.

This particular reference would seem to pertain to Daniel, the prophet. And we remember when his enemies threatened him, told him to either stop worshiping God or be thrown into the lion's den. Then, Daniel, I see him going back to his room, to his quarters.

He went back and did what he had always done. He got down on his knees and raised his hands to God, openly, not caring that they were peeking and listening in at the window.

He prayed openly and fearlessly before God. He was undeterred, I would say. He stayed on track.

And what about Hebrews 11, verse 36?

Verse 36 says, Still others had trial of mockings, and scourgings, yes, and of chains, and imprisonment.

Chains and imprisonment.

This verse puts me in mind of Peter and John and the other apostles, who in the early days of the church stood several times before the Sanhedrin.

They stood several times before the Sanhedrin, where they were mocked and beaten.

And then they were threatened not to preach in the name of Jesus Christ. Do not preach his gospel message.

But they were undeterred, too. And you can read Acts 4, 19-20. You can read Acts 4, 19-20, how Peter and John answered and said to them, Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you, Sanhedrin leaders, or more than to God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. They took a stand. In the second appearance, recorded in Acts 5, 29, again they and then the other apostles, they said, We ought to obey God rather than men.

And I don't know about you, but these verses have been coming into my mind a lot lately.

And I'm seeing nodding heads. I think you've been thinking about these things, too. And again, my point, all God's followers stay on track with God.

All God's followers stay on track with God. They are committed. They are serving. They are undeterred.

Now, the example of Nehemiah tells us that we, too, can and we, too, must stay on track with God.

You know, our overriding goal in life, as I mentioned earlier, and you know this, our overriding goal in life is to be in God's kingdom, to receive his gift of salvation, to be God's sons and daughters. And it's pretty amazing to try to wrap at least my mind around it. I struggle to reign as kings and priests in his kingdom. I believe what I can and the rest is faith. Now, no matter the troubles we face right now or in the future, no matter what troubles impact us now, or our families now, or a larger society, we must stay on track with God to be found worthy of receiving our place that our Father has called for us to receive. And so what must we do? What about us? What about you? What about me?

We, one, we must stay committed to God. Yes, we must stay committed to God.

We stay committed to God when we continue to keep him first in our lives, just like Matthew 6, 33, not just thinking about it, but seeking first his righteousness to doing good works, repentance, all the above. And so we must be keeping his commandments. We must be striving never to compromise on God's commandments, compromise on his way of life. We must actively recognize God's many gifts to us as well. Nehemiah did that. He very much was aware of what God was doing in his life. We must actively recognize God's many gifts to us, all his blessings, the big ones, but especially the little ones, the ones that we might not always recognize at first. And we must give him honor as we're committed to him. We must give him honor. We must give him reverence. We must give God glory for all his loving mercies towards us and towards our family. And when we consider all these many and wonderful and loving things God gives us and promises to give us, it should help to strengthen our commitment to God. Remembering his promises, remembering God's commitment to us should strengthen our commitment to him. And so we must remain humble. We must remain submissive. And we must remain extremely grateful and looking more fully to God alone.

When nothing else is there around us and with us, God is still there. Two, we too must keep serving God. We must keep serving God and his people.

That may seem to some of you, maybe all of us, a little more challenging lately.

But we're smart. We're wise. We're very creative. We can keep serving others. We can keep giving of ourselves. We can keep doing good works, always as we are able, but always to the glory of God.

Do we serve others? Do we have that attitude of service, especially towards our brethren? Yes, we should be serving all people. But there's a special place. There must be a special place in our hearts and minds for our brethren, for each other.

And as I say, granted, we may not feel as free to socialize as often or as freely as we might like to do. It's not as easy just to pop over and see people and all that. But that does not remove from us God's expectation, does it? It does not remove from us God's expectation that we be serving, giving, and loving other people. When we don't serve and give of ourselves, it's another thing to consider here, when we don't serve and give of ourselves, we are ultimately hurting ourselves. We are hurting ourselves. Serving is key to putting on the mindset of Christ. Serving is key to battling down our old carnal nature.

Serving is key to becoming more like Christ, more like our Heavenly Father.

And so, if we don't or can't serve like we used to, well, then we may need to be just a little more creative. Be a little more creative. Be a little more resourceful. Be much more diligent to be serving in different ways, ways we haven't done before, things we haven't thought of doing. Figure out new ways of how to practice outgoing concern God's love towards other people. And some of you have been doing that. I've seen it. I've heard it.

It's wonderful and great. And that's what we must be doing to stay on track with God, to serve, give of ourselves. Even in the thoughts and prayers as a way of giving.

And three, we must be undeterred. We must be undeterred.

Like Nehemiah, we too will experience times when we may be mocked. I know we've probably all experienced that, one degree or another. We may be mocked. We may be ridiculed by others for our faith, for our belief in God. I think probably just all of our kids and grandkids and others have experienced that around certain times of the year. We may be discouraged from keeping God's Sabbaths and keeping His commandments. We may be discouraged from doing the best we know how to live life according to God's instruction in Scripture, according to His expectations. And oftentimes the dissuasion will not be direct and blunt as other types of dissuasion. Sometimes it can be indirect, in sweet, in subtle, in soothing ways, such as things I've heard. Don't you know you don't need to keep those old commandments? I've heard that almost every week I talk to somebody or meet someone that tells me that.

Don't you want your children to have fun on the holidays? I've heard that.

Don't you know that Jesus loves you just the way you are?

Yeah, that's true, but He doesn't want me to stay the way I are.

No, He doesn't want me to stay the way I am, and you neither. No, even so, it might be sweet and soothing and kind of innocent. We can't listen to that. We can't give in to that. We must remain undeterred from believing and obeying as God instructs us in His Word. And still, too often, we can be our own worst enemies when it comes to submitting to God, especially during lonely times, times of suffering, times when we feel especially discouraged.

You know what? Naysayers, those detractors, exist as Nehemiah reminds us then and now, but our greatest enemies in our efforts to stay on track, to stay on track with God, often arise from within ourselves. And we've just heard Dr. Ward speaking about that recently.

That those enemies are the enemies of faith. Those enemies of faith.

I'm so grateful to know about those enemies of faith. To defeat them, we need the same sort of conviction and confident assurance in God as we find in Nehemiah's example.

We must build on the rock of our salvation, and by His strength of faith and will, we must tell those four old enemies to get lost.

Now, this may seem silly to some of you, but sometimes I talk to myself, and I talk to those enemies in my head. Sometimes I need to tell worry, take your hand wringing, self-torturing ways, and get out of my head. Just get out.

Because I know Matthew 10.29. Matthew 10.29 tells me that God takes care of those little sparrows.

And He will certainly take care of me. I'm much bigger than a sparrow.

He will certainly take care of me. And sometimes I have to tell fear, pack up your dreary little threats—most of them never come true anyway—and get out. God is my God. He will uphold me in His righteous hand. Isaiah 41.10. God is my God. He will uphold me in His righteous hand, no matter what.

In tell doubt, grab your bags of what-ifs and double-mindedness and all those endless scenarios we try to play and leave me. Leave us. I'm trusted in God because I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4.13.

The real tough enemy sometimes is human reasoning.

Human reasoning that doesn't want to listen to God. To human reasoning, we need to say, pipe down. Just pipe down. Stop all the chatter. Let God's Spirit and truth take charge. Let God's Word and truth sit in the driver's seat of my mind, my thoughts. For God's Word is the lamp of my feet. God's Word, the light of my path. Proverbs 119.105. So, it may sound weird, but I talk to myself and I talk to my enemies. Get out. Get out.

Of course, I'm also talking to God, and He's right there to do all the scuffling for me. I can't do it alone.

So, the evidence of Scripture is clear. It seems it's clear to me. I hope it's clear to you. No matter what comes our way in life, we can face it with faith and confidence in God. Whatever comes our way in life, the example of Nehemiah and so many other men and women of God, of course, including that of Jesus Christ Himself, shows us what to do. Stay on track with God.

No matter the trial, no matter whether it's sourced to be a person or a group, or there'd be some force of nature, some sickness or poor health, or even our own trepidation and fearful, as enemies in our head, as enemies of faith, we must stay on track with God.

We must stay committed, keep serving, be undeterred. And then we will be pleasing our heavenly Father, and we will be found worthy of inheriting eternal life in the kingdom of God.

And if you please, I'd like for us to turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 15 for a final scripture as I close. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 58. This fits in, I think, rather well with what I've been trying to say today.

Stay on track with God. Stay committed, keep serving, be undeterred. 1 Corinthians 15, 58. Therefore, see how it blends in? Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. So, brethren, let us stay on track with God.