Bramsen, Paul: CMML Conference-1985-03 ~ Basics For Service

Well, now it's indeed a privilege to call to the platform our speaker for the afternoon, our brother Paul Branson. Paul was commended in, uh, nineteen eighty one along with his wife, to the work in Senegal from, uh, the Madison Circle Chapel in Spartanburg, South Carolina. And as was mentioned earlier, uh, in eighty two he was with us on the panel, and we're just very happy that he was able to come back now and be with us. And as we're looking at Basics for Service, Paul's title, if you look at the pink outline in your folders, the afternoon subject is The Life God Delights to Use. And so, without further ado, Paul Branson. Turn with me to Nehemiah chapter one, if you would. Nehemiah chapter one. I count it a great privilege to be here today. I realize that the most qualified weren't picked, as far as I'm concerned, to be right here, but I do thank the Lord for the opportunity, and, uh, one thing's good that we have his word before us, and as we look into his holy word, we will be encouraged. The theme of the conference is basics for service. I'd like us to look at a man who was mightily used by the Lord. His name is Nehemiah. I've given the outline there, the title, The Life That God Delights to Use. Now we know that God in the end is going to receive glory from every creature in one form or another. You could think of Pharaoh. He received glory from the life of Pharaoh. We don't want to be on that end of the spectrum, do we? He received li- glory from the life of Nehemiah. We want to be on this end of the spectrum. This book of Nehemiah is a book that gives us actually the last story on the page of the Old Testament scriptures. We find this happened just about four hundred and forty four years before Christ came into the world. The background for what we're going to look at this morning, uh, takes place in Babylon and Jerusalem. We know how Judah had been transported, deported into the land of Babylon because of her sins, and later the Lord raised up Zerubbabel to lead a, a large number of Jews back to the land of Jerusalem, back to the city, and to rebuild the temple. We know that some years later, about eighty years later, the Lord raised up Ezra to bring about revival in the midst of the Lord's people in, uh, Jerusalem. And then about thirteen years after that, the Lord raised up Nehemiah. Nehemiah went in the face of terrible opposition, and he did a job for which the Lord had called him. We'd like to read the first two chapters of Nehemiah this afternoon to give us the context, to, uh, give us a basis for which we want to look at five basic things that the Lord is looking for in each one of our lives. If the Lord indeed is going to delight to use our life, then these things must be a part, uh, of our lives. We read in verse one, the words of Nehemiah, the son of Hacaliah. Now it happened in the month, month Chislev, in the twentieth year, while I was in Shusa, the capital, that Hanani, one of my brothers, and some men from Judah came, and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped and had survived the captivity and about Jerusalem. And they said to me, the remnant there in the province who survived the captivity are in great distress and reproach, and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are burned with fire. Now it came about when I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven. And I said, I beseech thee, O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who preserves the covenant and loving kindness for those who love him and keep his commandments. Let thine ear now be attentive and thine eyes open to hear the, uh, prayer of thy servant, which I am praying before thee now, day and night, on behalf of the sons of Israel, thy servants, confessing the sins of the sons of Israel, which we have sinned against thee. I and my father's house have sinned. We have acted very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the ordinances which thou didst command thy servant Moses. Remember the word which thou didst command thy servant Moses, saying, if you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though those of you who have been scattered were in the most remote part of the heavens, I will gather them from there, and I will bring them to the place where I have chosen to cause my name to dwell. And they are thy servants and thy people, whom thou didst redeem by thy great power and by thy strong hand. O Lord, I beseech thee, may thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant and to the prayer of thy servants who delight to rever thy name, and make thy servant successful today, and grant him compassion before this man. Now I was the cup bearer to the king, and it came about in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, that wine was before him, and I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence, so the king said to me, why is your face sad, though you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of heart. Then I was very much afraid, and I said to the king, let the king live forever. Why should my face not be sad when the city, the place of my father's tombs, lies desolate and its gates have been consumed by fire? Then the king said to me, what would you request? So I prayed to the God of heaven, and I said to the King, if it please the King, and if your servant has found favor before you, send me to Judah, to the city of my father's tombs, that I might rebuild it. Then the King said to me, the queen sitting beside him, how long will your journey be, and when will you return? So it pleased the King to send me, and I gave him a definite time. And I said to the King, if it please the King, let letters be given me for the governors of the province beyond the river, that they may allow me to pass through until I come to Judah, and a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress, which is by the temple, for the wall of the city, and for the house to which I will go. And the king granted them to me because the good hand of my God was on me. Then I came to the governors of the province beyond the river and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent with me officers of the army and horsemen. And when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about it, it was very displeasing to them that someone had come to seek the welfare of the sons of Israel. So I came to Jerusalem and was there three days, and I arose in the night, I and a few men with me. I did not tell anyone what my God was putting into my mind to do for Jerusalem, and there was no animal with me except the animal on which I was riding. So I went out at night by the valley gate in the direction of the dragon's well and on the refuge gate, inspecting the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and its gates were consumed by fire. Then I passed on to the fountain gate and the king's pool, but there was no place for my mount to pass. So I went up at night at the ravine and inspected the wall. Then I entered the valley gate again and returned, and the officials did not know where I had gone or what I had done, nor had I as yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, or the rest who did the work. Then I said to them, you see the bad situation we are in, that Jerusalem is desolate and its gates burned by fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer be a reproach. And I told them how the hand of my God had been favorable to me, and also about the king's words which he had spoken to me. Then they said, let us arise and build. So they put their hands to the good work. But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobai the Ammonite official and Geshem the Arab heard it, they mocked us and despised us and said, what is this thing you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king? So I answered them and said to them, the God of heaven will give us success, therefore we his servants will arise and build, but you have no portion, rights, or memorial in Jerusalem. The story goes on to describe how in the face of opposition, every imaginable kind, kind of, uh, Satan sending doubt and discouragement, and he tried to divide the saints up and to even defile Nehemiah's life. In the face of all that, the wall was built, as you could see in chapter six, in just fifty two short days. But you know, today we have a similar situation as Nehemiah faced. Walls speak of defense. Today, the Church of Jesus Christ is in ruins in many senses. Today we're suffering. Our walls are broken down, and we've been talking about this morning how we've become conformed to the world, and yet the Lord is always looking for someone here, for a body that he can have, for, uh, his glory. And we see that in the life of Nehemiah. Nehemiah was a man who was spirit-filled, and the Lord used him. We'd like to note five things in his life, which I trust we can take and apply to our own lives. Let's just ask the Lord to help us in this application. Father, we admit this morning that, or this afternoon, that we have many needs, and we pray that just for these few minutes together, that we might not look at our neighbor, we might not think about someone else in our assembly, we might think about what you want from us. Lord, grant us to have lives that you can really use with joy. Might we be those who have lives that you delight to use. We ask this for your glory, Lord Jesus. Amen. The first thing that stands out to me as I look at the life of Nehemiah is that he was a very selfless man. Selflessness. Is my life, is your life characterized by selflessness? You note when these folks, Hanani and some of his brothers came back from Jerusalem, Nehemiah being the cup bearer for the king, way over in Babylon, some eight hundred miles away, he asked two questions. You see, Nehemiah was concerned. He was a man who cared, and he wasn't just concerned about his own needs. In fact, he was a very selfless man. He thought about the needs of others, and he thought about the glory of God. We can see how he thought about others as he said, what about the Jews? How are they doing? You know, if we're going to be used by God, we have to be those who look out for the good of others. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Nehemiah was that kind of man. He was a man who cared. God uses the man who cares. I'm wondering, do we care? Do we, for instance, care about our neighbor, the one who lives next to us? When's the last time we prayed for him? When's the last time we sought to give him the gospel? Do we care that souls are going to hell? Do we care about the multitudes around the world that have no testimony, that there are still two hundred million people in the world who don't even have any of the word of God translated in their language? Do these things bother us? Do we care about our brethren suffering in bonds in oppressive countries around the world? Do we care? Or are we just occupied with our own thoughts? And I'm not trying to make an emotional appeal this morning, uh, for workers to the mission field on the basis of the needs. There's needs everywhere. But we know one thing, that our God is a God who cares, and the spirit of Jesus is the spirit of compassion. When he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion. Nehemiah was that kind of man too. He cared. He asked questions. What about the Jews? How are they doing? He also asked questions about Jerusalem. What about Jerusalem? What about the walls? We know that Jerusalem in the scripture is connected with God's glory. We see David in this same period of time, basically there in Babylon. David's praying, and he's saying, Lord, listen to my prayer. Look down upon us, hearken and do, for thy people are called by thy name, and thy city is called by thy name. It's not for us, it's not our glory in, in question, it's thine. He was concerned about God's glory. Nehemiah was that way. He was a man who lived for the glory of God. He was a selfless man, not, not occupied with his, his own needs, but occupied with the needs of others, and primarily the needs of his God, that is the glory of his God. I think that is one of our major problems today, is self. In fact, it is our major problem. Our major problem today is ourselves, because self says I want, I want, we're concerned about me. You're concerned about you, and I'm concerned about me. Uh, when we drive into a parking lot, don't we always look for the closest parking space to where we're going? Or, uh, uh, aren't we always concerned about how we look? Or, you know, it's it's natural, isn't it, to be concerned about me? Well, the Lord is looking for those who are selfless, that don't make provision for the flesh, but that are concerned for his glory and for the good of others. The Lord Jesus said, if anyone wishes to come after me, let him take up his cross daily. Let him deny himself and follow me. In God's kingdom, there's no room for selfish desires. The Lord said that the greatest commandment is that we love God with all our hearts, not ourselves. Uh, there's no room in God's kingdom for selfish plans. He said, in all your ways acknowledge me, then I'll direct your path. There's no room for selfish actions. Paul said, I'm crucified with Christ. Reminded when I think of this thing of self-glorying of the woodpecker who on one stormy day was fluttering about, and he alighted on a certain big, uh, pine tree, and he started to peck, and at that moment a lightning bolt came out of heaven and split the thing in two and left it in a pile of splinters. And he, very frightened, flew over to another tree, and when everything had settled down, he said, my, my, you wouldn't expect a little woodpecker like me to do such a thing. You know, if we take the glory, any kind of glory, we're very foolish, like that woodpecker. Who are we anyways? God says, I am Jehovah, I am the Lord, that is my name, and my glory I will not share with another. So self is the root of our problems. Might the Lord help us to be those who allow Christ to have the place in our lives that he merits to take over and to say that not I, but Christ lived in me. Nehemiah was that kind of a man. We see him in chapter two verse twelve where we read he arose in the middle of the night to go inspect the walls. He didn't even tell anybody what he was doing. He wasn't the kind of guy that broadcasted his work and told everybody, look what I'm doing, look what I'm gonna do. No, he was before his God about it, and God honored him for that. You know, we have all eternity, someone has said, to tell of the victories we've won, but only a few hours before sunset to win them. Might the Lord help us to take that shady, retired path in life and to allow Christ to have all the glory. A selfless man. Do nothing, Paul said, from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind, let each of you esteem another better than himself. Don't look out merely for your own personal interests, but look out for the interests of others. Another thing we noticed in the life of Nehemiah was that he was characterized by devotedness to his God. He was a man who enjoyed constant fellowship. We noticed he was placed, he was faced with this problem, the walls broken down. There he was way over in Babylon. That wasn't his job. Why, he was the ki- king's cup bearer. He had a job there. Why should he care about Jerusalem so far away? But he did care, and he knew where to take that burden. He rolled it on the Lord. He was a man who knew fellowship with his God. Daniel says that the people who know their God will be strong and do exploits. Nehemiah was that kind of a man, and we noticed that his life then was characterized by constant communion, by prayer. He was a man who lived a life of prayer, a life of fellowship with his God. Uh, we know at least eleven times in the book of Nehemiah, he's going to prayer. And we note something about his prayers. They're very spontaneous. There's a need, he rolls it on the Lord. Uh, we could notice just a few examples of that in chapter two verse four, also we read, said, uh, when the king said, what would you request? He says, so I prayed to the God of heaven. He went to prayer. In chapter four and verse four, uh, the enemy is coming, seeking to defeat them, and he cries out to the Lord as the enemy is making fun, is mocking him. Hear, O our God, how we are despised. So he cries out to God. In verse nine, but we prayed to our God, and because of them we set up a guard against them day and night. Chapter six, verse nine, again, the enemy is there. They were trying to frighten and discourage them. He says in the end of that verse, but now, O God, strengthen my hands. He was a man who lived a life of prayer. He was a man who persevered in that prayer. We read in chapter one and verse six that he says, I am praying before thee now, day and night, on behalf of the sons of Israel. Day and night. Didn't mean he never slept, but it meant it was the constant occupation of his heart. When we say a businessman, he thinks about his business day and night. We don't mean he never sleeps, but we mean that it's constantly on his heart. What are those things that occupy our hearts? Are they the things of God? Nehemiah was a man of prayer. He interceded on the behalf of others. Another thing we notice as we consider the this question of devotedness, Nehemiah was a man of the word of God. He had a love for the word of God, and fellowship with God means fellowship in his word. They're difficult to separate. You know, there are brethren in lands such as in prisons this very hour, in communist countries, for instance, they don't have the word of God with them. But they've hidden it in their hearts, at least in a measure, and their fellowship is still with Christ and his Word, the Word of Christ dwelling in their hearts. The fellowship is with God and his Word. Someone wrote a little poem saying, these two things God has married, and naught can them part, dust on the Bible and draught in the heart. And surely that's the way it will be. We noticed that Nehemiah was a man of the word because we see him as he goes to prayer, he's speaking about the word. He's saying, Lord, we know you honor those who love you and keep your commandments. He says, we know the promises you've made, that if we sin, why, you'll scatter us in the nations, but if we repent, you'll receive us back. Now, God, remember your promise. A man of the word. Very quickly, we want to look at chapter eight. In chapter eight, we could glean a few principles for studying the word of God, how we might approach the word of God. We notice in verse one that all the people gathered as one man to the word of God. In verse eighteen, it says, and he, Ezra now, who is standing up and reading the word, our brother mentioned him this morning, this one who had prepared his heart to what God has said. God made that tree there, and he loves you, and began to share with her the simple gospel message. We're lazy, but yet God has given us the ability to understand his word. He's given us his spirit. He's given us, he's created us in his image, in the sense that we can know him. Let's go to the word of God daily. Let's not go by our feelings. Let's make time for the word of God. Let's go to the word secondly, systematically. We see in verse three, and they read from it before the square from early morning until midday, systematically. Let's read all the counsel of God, not just pick and choose. We need to take the whole word of God. Some folks like to read three or four chapters a day and, uh, read through the whole scriptures in a year. I found that doesn't work too well for me. I find it rather confining, but I think it is a good practice to read through the scriptures. However long it takes you, move through the scriptures. If you feel to go and study somewhere else, go there, but then eventually get back to moving through, and that way, in your lifetime, you'll move through the scriptures, Lord knows how many times, but you'll be well balanced. Read the word systematically. All scripture is given by inspiration of God. Then we need to read the word and study the word contextually. We see them here, they're in verse eight. they translated to give the sense so that they understood what God was saying. We need to take the whole context of the word of God, not just pick out a verse here and there, but do as the Thessalonians did, they, uh, or the Bereans rather, who were more noble than those in Thessalonica, as they searched the word daily, they searched the scriptures to see if those things were so. So we need to study the word contextually and find what is God real. We need to study the word attentively. In verse five, we read that Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people, and when he opened it, all the people stood up. And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people and answered, Amen, amen. Come to the word of God attentively. Come prayerfully. Come ready to hear him speak. I will hear what the Lord will speak to me, the psalmist said. Speak, for thy servant heareth. The attitude we need. The Word of God is a spiritual book. It's not a, a book that's just like any other book. It's a book that's to be understood by the Spirit of God. First Corinthians two, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. We need the Spirit of God. We can't understand the spirit of an animal. We don't have the spirit of an animal. That's the illustration given in First Corinthians two, God has given us his spirit. We understand him, his word, because we have his spirit. So we need to go to him in attitude of prayer. He doesn't yell at us, he whispers. He's looking for the attentive heart. We need to go to the word of God submissively. We see them saying in verse six, amen, amen, while lifting up their hands. Then they bowed low and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. In verse seven, we read that they explained the law to the people while the people remained in their place. We need to be those that remain in our place and to hear what the Lord would speak to us. Go to the word of God submissively. Hebrews four two says that there's no profit in the word for us unless it's mixed with faith. It's not how much we know that counts, it's how much we believe and how much we put into practice, how much we obey. Are we willing to let the Word of God to be a sword against our flesh, or do we just like to go to the Word of God for comfort? Do we just like to go and have a psalm for the day to encourage our hearts, or maybe read about the Blessed Hope? Or do we go to the Word of God and say, Lord, search me and know my heart submissively? What wilt thou have me to do? Be doers of the Word and not hearers only. Jesus said, happy are ye if ye have my commandments and do them. And we need to go to the word of God, Christologically, simply this, we need to find him. Verse ten, we read, the joy of the Lord is your strength. As they went to the word of God, they found the Lord. They found joy in him, and that's how we need to go to the word. He is the theme of scripture as Jesus was walking on the road to Emmaus with his disciples, he expounded all things to them from the Psalms and the prophets concerning himself. He is our manna, he is our portion. Let's go to find him, to get to know him in a closer, more intimate way. And finally, they went to the word of God joyfully. Uh, Nehemiah says in verse nine to them, don't weep, they were weeping. They were submissive to the word. They were touched by it. They were weeping. Nehemiah says, don't weep. Don't grieve, for today is a joyful day. The lo- joy of the Lord is your strength. Verse eleven, be still, for the day is holy. Do not be grieved. And he says in verse twelve to send portions. Verse ten also, to those who have nothing. The word of God should cause us to rejoice. John says that the word of God, his commandments are not grievous, they're joyous. They're meant to be for our good and to give us joy, and that joy should overflow to others. So we need to get into the word of God if we're going to be like Ezra, who was a prepared man. When the moment comes where God has a special task for us, and those moments will be daily, we need to be prepared by the spirit and the word of God. Is that our primary occupation? Are we those who are like the early apostles who said, but we will give ourselves to the Word of God, to the ministry of the Word, and to prayer? In the other order, actually, to prayer and the ministry of the Word. And if we know these things in our lives, this kind of devotedness, I'd like to us to notice the result back in chapter two. The result in our life will be as it was in Nehemiah. Verse twelve, we read, he arose in the night as he was there in Jerusalem now, and a few men with me. I did not tell anyone what my God was putting into my mind to do. Do we want to know the mind of God? Do we want to know the will of God for our lives? Then we need to be those who are devoted to communion with him through prayer and the word. Nehemiah was that way, and God put it in his heart, what he needed to know. Communion is communication. Someone has said that if our circumstances find us in God, then we will find God in our circumstances. Azariah said to King Asa, the Lord will be with you as long as you be with him. Fellowship with God, devotedness to him, to Christ, to his word, to his name, to his work, to his people, devotedness to Christ. Why, that's the answer to knowing the will of God in our lives. Paul said, I count all things but rubbish, but dung, that I might know him. I, I count all things but rubbish, that I might lay hold of the thing for which he's laid hold of me. I press toward the mark, devotedness to Christ. We notice a third thing in the first chapter also. Nehemiah's life was characterized by holiness. Verse six, we see as he sees the problem of the broken down walls, he's not afraid to say, we have sinned. We have sinned. He was a man of confession. You see, the Lord will not use a dirty vessel. I think we all know that, because we find that when there's sin in our lives, there's no more fellowship with the Lord, and he's not going to use us. He'll use us no more than he'll, than, than we can send water through a pipe that's corroded and full of rubbish and so on. We are to be channeled and thus to be clean. And when we sin, we're to be able to say, we have sinned. I have sinned. And that's what Nehemiah did, even though it doesn't appear to me that he was really a partaker in the sin. Obviously not. He said, we have sinned. He owned the sins of the people as his own. He wasn't afraid to confess. He was a man who was conformed to God himself. We've been talking about not being conformed to the world. Uh, one of the brethren came up to me in between there and said he wished that the thought had been brought out that the word there in Romans twelve is metamorphous, that is transformed, like from within, like a cocoon that lets go of its butterfly. We are to be transformed from within. What we have in is inside. It's Christ in us, and we're to allow him to be worked out through our lives, and therefore to make no provision for the flesh, to be holy as Christ is holy. The Christian life is not a set of rules and regulations, but it's as the priests bore on their brow in the Old Testament, holiness to the Lord. That's the Christian life that we would walk even as he walked. Holiness to the Lord. We're to be God-like people. This is the theme of all the epistles, isn't it? The apostles exhorting us to be holy, to walk in a manner worthy of the vocation to which we've been called. Paul says to the Thessalonians, how you ought to walk and to please God. He said, uh, to Titus, in all things, teach the young men to be examples in purity, in holiness. Peter said, add to your faith. He mentions a whole list of things that characterize the holy life. He says, if these things be in you and abound, you won't be fruitless, you won't be barren. Holiness, God's number one attribute. God is holy, and he cannot tolerate sin, and thus he wants that in his people. He wants us to be holy. To be holy is, I would say, the chief condition for being God's servant. You can count on it. If our lives aren't holy, free from sin, he won't use us. He won't delight to use us. He'll use us maybe like he used Pharaoh, but he won't delight to use us. But if we present ourselves to him as pure, clean vessels, separated from sin, holy unto the Lord, he will use us. Be ye clean, ye that bear the vessels of the Lord. We read in Isaiah. We're going to bear the testimony of Christ. We need to be holy. Without it, no man shall see the Lord. Little poem says, oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. Bow down before him, his glory proclaim. With robes of obedience and incense of lowliness, kneel and adore him. The Lord is his name. That's the one we serve. Be ye holy, he says, for I am holy. Nehemiah was a holy man. He was concerned about the sin in the midst of God's people. Later we see in chapter six, the enemy comes, tries to make him to sin. He refuses. When sin is in the midst of the Lord's people in chapter five and chapter thirteen, he deals with it. He couldn't stand sin. God can't either, and neither should his servants. The fourth thing we notice in the life of Nehemiah is he was a faithful man. His life was characterized by faithfulness. If we can say that the number one attribute of God is that God is holy, if you can number them, I don't think you really can. I think I would say that his number two attribute is God is faithful. Even as he's faithful in creation, we can look up and see the sun in the sky, and we think, but he's brought that sun around for centuries. He's brought the earth around, rather, for millenniums. The earth rises and sets every day. The stars are always in their place. Men still navigate by them today as they did millenniums ago. We look at the moon and we, we think of how it's there every night, showing its different, uh, quarters and so on, and we think how we always see the same side. We never saw the backside until nineteen sixty nine or so, and Apollo sent some men up there. God is faithful. He's shown it everywhere. God is faithful to his people. In fact, Jeremiah said that if this fixed order, the Lord said rather to Jeremiah, that if this fixed order of the sun and the moon and the stars just disappears from before me, then I'll forget you too. But we know it won't. God is faithful, and he seeks that in his people. We see in Nehemiah a man who is faithful. Read the book through sometime, and you'll see this as an outstanding characteristic in his life. Here he was, there in Babylon. I don't think he really wanted to be there. His heart was back in Jerusalem. That's evident, but that's where the Lord had him, and he was faithful there. And look where the Lord, uh, uh, brought him to. He was the cup bearer of the king, an honored position. Obviously, to get that position, he had to be very faithful. He would taste the king's food before he would eat it to make sure it wasn't poisoned. He would be the king's right-hand man. He had proved himself to be trustworthy. Here he was a Jew, and yet trustworthy in this pagan capital. Faithful, faithful where he was. You know, we can always be straining at the future out there. We can think, well, sure, here I am in high school now, but when I get out of high school, then I'll serve the Lord. Well, here I am in Bible school, if you go to Bible school, and but when I get out of there, I will serve the Lord. Well, here I am in this job now, but maybe someday the Lord will lead me into full-time Christian service. Here I am in full-time Christian service, but when I get that language of this, these people, then I can really be a testimony, and you could go on. Well, Satan likes that. His favorite conjunctions are if and when. When I'm there, if I could only speak better, the Lord could use my lips. Didn't the Lord give you your lips, as he said to Moses? Didn't he put you where you are? If there's dirty dishes in the sink to be washed, do you think that maybe it's the will of God that you wash them? You see, the Lord's will for us is sometimes very simple. It's to be faithful to him today. Nehemiah was faithful where he was, and we see later the Lord took him and used him as a builder in Jerusalem, and finally to be the governor in Jerusalem. Present tense Christian living, we could call it, not straining at the future, something, uh, in the far distant future that will be someday. We don't know if we have tomorrow. We do have today. We do have this moment. Holy moments make up holy lives. Lord, help us to be faithful and holy today. The Lord had to teach us that, that when we were married, my wife and I, we were at the moment heading, uh, sort of in the direction of the mission field with a certain mission, and that time the Lord began to teach my heart things concerning New Testament church principles, and came to the conclusion, Lord, I just want to be faithful to you, to your word right here. You lead me. If you want me on the foreign field someday, then you open that door. Well, the Lord in his mercy opened that door because my heart's desire was that way. Yet we realized that the Lord wanted faithfulness where we were. We can't say we were always faithful, not at all, but yet the Lord opened up opportunities, one after another, in the assembly, at where I worked, in the neighborhood, uh, at home, and so on, to minister the word of God and to grow in the things of God, to study the word of God. For me, it wasn't Bible school that got me in the word. I went to Bible school for a year and a half, but it wasn't that. It was being in the assembly. It, it was just, uh, working and having opportunities at work to share the Word and going home at night and studying the Word of God. And for myself, I say that's what got me in the Word, the everyday living experience. And I would just say in passing for young people, if you have opportunity to go to Bible school, that can be a wonderful privilege. If you have opportunity to go on a short term, uh, to visit some missionaries, that can be a wonderful privilege, but that doesn't make a missionary, that doesn't make a servant. I believe it's very important that we seek to be faithful in the little everyday tasks where we are, and I would never recommend, not that I know that much about it, but I would never recommend that someone go directly, uh, to the mission field without ever having worked at home and just been faithful on the job and known what it is to work forty, fifty hours a week. Nehemiah knew that, and the Lord later chose him for a special task in Jerusalem. Hudson Taylor, missionary to China, said, a little thing is a little thing, but faithfulness in a little thing is a great thing. And that is a principle we find throughout the word of God. It's required in a man that a steward be found faithful, required a steward that a man be found faithful. God wants faithfulness. That's First Corinthians four two. In chapter seven, verse twenty, we read, let every man abide in the calling wherein he is called. That verse spoke to me many years ago. Okay, Lord, you want me to be faithful where I am, not be looking ahead to something else. You want something else, fine, but help me to be faithful where I am. When we stand before our Lord, as Matthew twenty five would teach us, he's not going to say, if we've been good servants, well done, thou good and successful servant, enter into the joy of the Lord. No, well done, thou good and faithful servant. Thou hast been faithful in many things. Thou hast been faithful in a little thing. I commit to you great things. And that's what the Lord's looking for in the life, faithfulness. This is a great encouragement to us as we are now in Senegal and in a country where, much like America, men don't want the gospel. We find that fruit is slow in coming. In fact, we can't point to any solid conversions through our work in the last four years, not really. And yet we've learned that we can commit the question of fruit bearing with the Lord. Ours is to be faithful. His is to bring forth the fruit, and that's wonderful. The Lord says that we're to be the savior of Christ to him amongst those who are perishing and amongst those who are being saved. But he never said, you are responsible to see that men be saved. No, we are responsible to give out the word of God. Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Isaiah, they were all sent to a people, the Lord told them beforehand, they won't believe, and yet they were to go anyways, and to be faithful and to preach the word of God. Think of the Lord Jesus, our greatest encouragement. Consider him. He ministered amongst men for three and a half years on the earth, and then on the day of Pentecost, how many souls were gathered waiting for the Spirit? 120? Not very many, considering the thousands he fed and healed and preached to. Yet our Lord himself, he came unto his own, and his own received him not. And yet God had a greater plan than just the ingathering of the nation of Israel, why that salvation was to reach to the ends of the earth. God honors faithfulness, and he wants those who are diligent in the everyday tasks of life, in the everyday struggles. Might the Lord help us to be faithful. Then finally, in just closing, one final thought here. Nehemiah, again in chapter two, as Nehemiah was before the king, the king noticed he was sad. Nehemiah said, send me, send me. And the final thing is the servant of God needs to be ready, prepared to obey, prepared to pay the price that's necessary. Am I willing to say, send me, whether it be across the street or across the sea? Am I willing to put myself at the Lord's disposal and say, oh Lord, I am thine. Take me and use me as you would like. Not my will, but thine be done. That was the price. Nehemiah had a good job, a wealthy position, a responsible position. He said, okay, Lord, I'll go if that's what you want. The Lord opened the door. He suffered reproach. It was a difficult job. He worked hard. He labored with his hands, yet the Lord honored it, and he was willing to pay the price. Someone has said that before we can say, thy kingdom come, we need to be able to say, my kingdom go. Nehemiah was the man who knew what true mission is, submission, submission to the will of God. It's not going, it's not staying, it's simply giving our hearts to Christ. My son, give me thine heart, saying, Lord, no matter what, I will be faithful and loyal to thee. And that's how Nehemiah was. And we'll just close with some thoughts from Philippians one verse twenty and twenty one. Paul said, according to my earnest expectation and hope that I shall not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ, even now as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. Then he said to the Philippians, for you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake. Do we realize that we've been given the privilege to suffer in the name of our Lord? We can have a part in his sufferings. The world would like to get at him, but they can't, so they'll try to get at the, the Lord's people if we walk even as he walked, but we'll share his reproach too. The, uh, missionary Anthony Norris Groves had a motto for his life. He said, labor hard, this was his motto, labor hard, consume little, give much, and all to Christ. Labor hard, give much, consume little, and all to Christ. Father, we thank you for your presence with us this day. We thank you for the privilege of being servants of thine. We pray that you would help us to present ourselves afresh to thee today. Blessed Lord, here I am. Send me. Lord, we thank you now for this time together and pray you'll continue to bless us for thy glory. In Jesus' name.