In Scott Brown's sermon on Nehemiah chapter 7, titled 'How God Rebuilds His People,' the focus is on the restoration of Jerusalem and the role of genealogical records in establishing the community. The chapter is highlighted as a pivotal moment where God appoints faithful leaders to protect and guide His people. Through the detailed listing of names, the importance of each individual's role in God's plan is emphasized. The sermon also draws parallels between the historical rebuilding of Jerusalem and the modern-day Church, encouraging believers to reflect on their own spiritual journey and the significance of having their names written in the Book of Life. Brown underscores the necessity of God-fearing leadership, the integrity of worship, and the community's collective responsibility in restoring and maintaining the spiritual health of God's people.

Today's scripture is Nehemiah chapter 7. We will be reading the entire chapter, verses 1 through 73. Then it was when the wall was built and I had hung the doors, when the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites had been appointed, that I gave the charge of Jerusalem to my brother Hananiah, and Hananiah the leader of the citadel, for he was a faithful man and feared God more than many. And I said to them, Do not let the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot, and while they stand guard, let them shut and bar the doors, and appoint guards from among the inhabitants of Jerusalem, one at his watch station and another in front of his own house. Now the city was large and spacious, but the people in it were few, and the houses were not rebuilt.

Then my God put it into my heart to gather the nobles, the rulers, and the people that they might be registered by genealogy. And I found a register of the genealogy of those who had come up in the first return and found written in it. These are the people of the province who came back from the captivity of those who had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had carried away, and who returned to Jerusalem and Judah, everyone to his city. Those who came with Zerubbabel were Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Rehemiah, Nehomani, Mordecai, Belshon, Mizpareth, Big Vi, Nehom, and Benah. The number of the men of the people of Israel, the sons of Parash 2, 172, the sons of Shepetiah 3, 072, the sons of Arrah 652, the sons of Pehath Moab of the sons of Jeshua and Joab, 2, 818, the sons of Elam, 254.

The sons of Zatu, 845. The sons of Zaki, 760. The sons of Benui, 648. The sons of Bebai, and 48 the sons of Babi 628 the sons of Asgad 2322 the sons of Addo 667. The sons of Bigvii, 2067.

The sons of Aden, 655. The sons of Ater of Hezekiah, 98. The sons of Hashum 328, the sons of Bezai 324, the sons of Harif 112, the sons of Gibeon 95, the sons of Gideon 95 the men of Bethlehem and Neto for 188 the men of anathoth 128 the men of Beth as my Beth 42 the men of kirjath Jirem chef Farah The men of Beth-Azmaveth 42. The men of Kirjath-Jirum, Cheff-Firah, and Beiroth 743. The men of Ramah and Giba 621.

The men of Micmahs 122. The men of Bethel and Ai, 123. The men of the other Nebo, 52. The sons of the other Elam, 1, 254. The sons of Harim, 320.

The sons of Jericho, 345. The sons of Laad, Hadid, and Ono, 721. The sons of Sinah, 3, 930. The priests, the sons of Jedediah, of the house of Jeshua, 973. The sons of Emmer, 1052.

The sons of Pashher, 1247. The sons of Harem, 1017. The Levites, the sons of Jeshua of Cadmiel and of the sons of Hodeva 74. The singers, the sons of Asaph 148. The gatekeepers, the sons of Shalom, the sons of Ater, the sons of Tauman, the sons of Akkub, the sons of Hatita, the sons of Shobai, 138.

The Nethanim, the sons of Zihah, the sons of Hasapha, the sons of Teboweth, the sons of Kiros, the sons of Sayá, sons of Padón, the sons of Labaná, the sons of Hagabá, the sons of Salmá, the sons of Hanan, the sons of Gidal, the sons of Gehar, the sons of Rea brother, the sons of Rezin, the sons of Nakotah, the sons of Glademum, the sons of Uzzah, the sons of Harsha, the sons of Barcos, the sons of Sisera, the sons of Tama, the sons of Nezaiah, and the sons of Hadapha, The sons of Solomon's servants, the sons of Satai, the sons of Sophareth, the sons of Parida, the sons of Jelah, the sons of Darkon, the sons of Gedel, the sons of Shef Atiah, the sons of Hatil, the sons of Pokhareth of Zabim, and the sons of Ammon. All the nethanim and the sons of Solomon's servants were 392, and these were the ones who came up from Telmah, Telmela, Telharshah, Cherub, Adon, and Emmer but they could not identify their father's house nor were their lineage whether they were of Israel the sons of Deleah, the sons of Tobiah, the sons of Nechoda, six hundred and forty-two, and of the priests, the sons of Habaia, the sons of Chaz, the sons of Barzalai, who took a wife of the daughters of Barzalai, the Gileadite, and was called by their name.

These sought their listing among those who were registered by genealogy, but it was not found, therefore they were excluded from the priesthood as defiled. And the governor said to them that they should not eat of the most holy things till a priest could consult with the Urim and Thumim. Although the whole assembly was 42, 360, besides their male and female servants, of whom there were 7, 337, and they had 245 men and women singers. Their horses were 736, their mules 245, their camels 435, and donkeys 6720. And some of the heads of the fathers' houses gave to the work.

The governor gave to the treasury 1, 000 gold drachmas, 50 basins, and 530 priestly garments. Some of the heads of the father's houses gave to the treasury of the work 20, 000 gold drachmas and 2, 200 silver minus. And that which the rest of the people gave was 20, 000 gold drachmas, 2, 000 silver minus and 67 priestly garments. So the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, some of the people, the nethanyim, and all Israel dwelt in their cities. When the seventh month came, the children of Israel were in their cities." Let's pray.

Father, we thank you so much that your word is a lamp to our feet and not a word of it is wasted. Father, we thank you that everything in your scripture is profitable for us. We thank you that you are detailed and keep record. So Father I ask that today as we hear the preaching of your word that you would speak to our hearts, that you would allow this word to be a lamp to our feet, that we would see clearly the path that you have for us, that we would see clearly our need for you, that we would see clearly how awesome and holy you are. Father, be with our beloved pastor, Mr.

Brown, as he comes and treats your word with reverence and preaches to us what you've laid on his heart. May we all have ears that are attentive and hearts that are open. Let us not leave here without hearing from you and being changed by your spirit. These things we pray in the mighty name of our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Thank you so much, Nate, for reading that. You've just heard 130 names that represent about 50, 000 people. God registers names. He keeps them in his book. Every person here has a name.

What's your name? What is your name? Well, your name was given to you by God. Names are registered in a book and they're all important. God knows your name and he was recording the names of all these people.

These are the people that returned from Babylon. They did a really courageous thing. It's you know to read these names you get you're kind of go bleary-eyed on it, but these were really courageous people. They left the favors of Babylon, and they walked for four months and came to Judah, to populate Judah, and to reestablish worship. But what's really significant about these people is that these people were returning from ruin.

Their lives had been ruined by sin. And they wanted the kingdom of God so bad they walked across a desert for four months to reestablish the worship of God. You remember the first thing they did is they rebuilt the altar so they could worship. And then they rebuilt the temple. And then they rebuilt the walls.

And of course Nehemiah is focusing on these walls now this chapter It has has its primary focus on the cities of Judah when we get to chapter 11 it will be the city of Jerusalem. But God is bringing his people into a kingdom and into a city, the city of Jerusalem. Of course Jerusalem is the city of peace. Jerusalem means peace. And God provides people peace for his people.

This is a picture of God's people being gathered into an environment where they'll be cared for in in different ways and they're they're identified the different ways that people are cared for are identified in this passage. And you know, when we read all these names, we should think, what about my name? Where's my name written? Am I registered among the inhabitants of Judah? Do I live in the state of grace?

Or do I live in the holy city, Jerusalem? Do I live in that city, Revelation 21 says that the foundations of the wall in the city are adorned with all kinds of precious stones. Have I come into a city that's so valuable and it's full of precious stones? Well in this chapter we see some of those precious stones that are in the kingdom of Judah and in the city of God. And when we read these names we should always be reminded of our own names God gave you a name the most important thing about your name is not how it sounds to you or Sounds to your parents because most people get their names because it sounds just so good to their parents, doesn't it?

You know? Now, if you read this chapter and go to try to find names for your children, I'm not so sure I would recommend it. But these names, your name is important because your name is registered in a kingdom. It's registered in a city. And in God's grace, it will be registered in the state of grace.

And you'll be a citizen of the state of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. I think all these names are just figurative of a group of people whom God drew to come and worship him. And they entered into the state of grace. They found themselves in the holy city, Jerusalem, whose foundations were of God and there were sapphires, and the streets were paved with gold. So it's a picture of all of that.

Now, the whole context here is 52 days have passed since they started rebuilding the walls, and now the walls are completely finished. They endured all kinds of attacks from the outside, Sam Ballot and Tobiah, the Arabs. It was rough. There were enemies of different kinds. There was a famine going on at the same time.

There were rich people in the city that were oppressing people. There was, you know, people were hurting each other in this city during this 52 day period. And now, the wall is now finished. They reached a particular milestone. And now we come into a new section of Nehemiah, chapters one through six, speak of the rebuilding of the walls.

Now in chapter seven to the end, Nehemiah's whole focus is the rebuilding of the people and what this kingdom looks like, what the cities of Judah look like, that's this chapter, and then what the city of Jerusalem looks like, that's chapter 11, where you see this gathering into the holy city. Some scholars have said that Nehemiah is two books. Book 1 is 1-6, the building of the walls. Book 2 is the building of the people. And so now the kingdom needs to be populated with the right people and the city will also be populated by the right people as well.

Notice Nehemiah, Nehemiah's wisdom from heaven. He conducts theological triage in the sense you know he's like he's like a triage nurse in a hospital. He deals with the biggest problems first and he deals with the worship of God and the building of the walls and now there's a lot more to do after that. This that task is done and so while while there is there's still danger around and Nehemiah makes provision for it what you find in the coming chapters, as you can see in your outline here, I've identified what's coming ahead and why this is called the second book of Nehemiah and why it's about rebuilding the people. In Chapter 7, it's protecting the cities of Judah with leaders and identifying the inhabitants of the state of grace, the Judah, the cities of God that exist in this kingdom.

And chapter 8 is bringing the word of God to the cities. This is one of the most dramatic chapters in the entire Bible. We're gonna spend four weeks on chapter eight. We're slowing down in chapter eight. It's so dramatic that they opened the book.

They opened the book. And the people stood because it is the central matter for the people of God. The book of God is the guideline for the people of God. It's the all-sufficient, infallible guideline for the people of God. And when we open the book, we ought to stand in awe of it.

It is what unifies us. It's what directs us. It what corrects us. It what tells us how to be saved and how to be sanctified and how to do everything in this life. So when we get to chapter eight, you see how key it is to bring the book.

And then in chapter nine, it's the establishment of prayer in the cities that these are people who cry out to God and they lift up their voices to Him. And then in chapter 10 It's an obedient people that are described. And then in chapter 11, it's the populating of the holy city. And people are called to come into the city. They come out of the cities of Judah and into the city of Jerusalem.

So that's this progression. All these things are figured over the kingdom of God. Every single part of it, you can find a connection in the New Testament and the ministry of Jesus and in the ministry of Paul, the Apostle. And so you notice there there are 130 names these are of the original returnees those courageous people over a hundred years earlier who came from Babylon to come and populate this city. Now what I have this morning for us are three things that God does in his church to rebuild the people in the cities of Judah.

And maybe we should think of it, we all live in different cities. There are several cities that are represented here. But what has God done? What has God done to to be a blessing to the cities of Judah? And there are three things that God is doing.

He was doing it then and he's doing it now in a little bit different way. And first of all, he protects the church through appointing God-fearing leaders. That's verses one through four. And then secondly, he populates his cities with called, God-appointed, biblically qualified people, truly saved people who actually belong in the city. They belong in the Church of Jesus.

They're not imposters, they're real. They're real saints. And then thirdly, God finances his church through freewill offering. So that's what we'll be covering here in this chapter of all of these names. Now, all of these things that I've just listed, They're just expressions of divine grace.

People do not deserve the mercy that God gives in establishing the church with the way that he's ordered the church and the various gifts that he's given to the church. Because God is a God of grace. And people who are returning from exile don't deserve this kind of grace. They don't deserve this kind of Community they don't deserve this kind of structure and order and practice They don't deserve this book that when it's opened it just it moves your soul in the right direction. These are all acts of the grace of God.

We don't deserve any of the fellowship, any of the teaching, any of the structure that God gives in his church, but these are all acts of grace. And I want us to see just God's everlasting kindness. God has always carried his people. You know, Moses spoke of it in Deuteronomy. He said that God carries his children like a father carries his son.

God carries his children through this wilderness. In the ways that are really defined here, he's so good. I just want us to have a day of rejoicing in what God has done. You know, this might be a problem for some people here today. Some people are sort of conviction junkies.

They don't feel like they've really been helped unless they've been yelled at. But what you find here is so much encouragement of what God has done. I mean, these are blessings that God has laid upon his church. They're wonderful, they're astonishing. We should soak it in.

And so I hope we'll be able to do this. This is a fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy that was uttered 200 years before in Isaiah 44, verse 26, where God says to Jerusalem, you shall be inhabited to the cities of Judah. That's what this passage is, that's what this chapter is about. To the cities of Judah, you shall be built and I will raise up her waste places." Now what God was doing in Judah is what God is doing today with us. Now in the new covenant he's given us different ordinances, he's given us a different leadership structure that really is an absolute reflection of what we see here.

It's not different in kind, it's just different in improvement. It's better. It's a better covenant. There are better promises. There's a better way for the people of God.

That's what God has done. And when you look at redemptive history, you always see God upgrading. You know, when Jesus turned the water into wine, everybody looked around and they marvel and they said, He serves the best wine last. That's Jesus. He's always getting it better.

And in the New Covenant we have elders and deacons and we have various ordinances. We see direct reflections of the things that are here that are designed for the church to beautify the church and to help her with her sins and to help console her in her sorrows and to bless her. And so he's raising up her waste places. Isaiah prophesied it in Isaiah 42. Well that's what God's doing.

He's taking the waste places of our hearts and our lives and he's redeeming us. Isn't God so good? And that's what we see here. And so here is this gathering into the cities of Jerusalem and they're going to receive a lot of protection and a lot of care. I really want you and me to really rejoice in God's provision for the Church of Jesus Christ.

We see a shadow of it but we will also be able to see the fulfillment of it in the New Testament Church and I hope that we'll have insight into it. So the first thing we see is that God protects his church through appointing God-fearing leaders and this is a really a description of the God-ordained organization of the people of God. The church is organized. The church is an institution. I believe in the institutional church.

I don't believe in the church. It's just kind of ad hoc, scattered, informal, nobody's really a leader, there's no preaching, everybody is kind of on the same level. That's actually not how God ordered his church. He has established an institution and that institution has order. And so he appoints God-fearing leaders in his church.

And this is one way that God protects his church is through this. And in today's terms, God raises up elders and deacons to protect and to serve the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. But it's something that God does. Only God can really appoint elders in a church. You think about what has to happen for an elder to be appointed in a church.

It takes a lot. It actually takes quite a bit for an elder to be appointed in a church and God does all of it. First of all, God the Holy Spirit pours out a giftedness into a man. He pours out gifts that other people don't have. Man cannot do that.

He cannot raise up that giftedness on his own. It's given by God. Second of all, he gives a man a desire to be an elder. That's also a gift of God. You know, Paul says, you know, if a man aspires to the office of elder, it's a good thing.

Well, he has to have an aspiration. He has to have something welling up inside of his soul, something that didn't come from him, something that came from God. And then he has to give a man affirmation. A man has to have the affirmation of his wife and hopefully his children as well. That his wife looks at him and says, yes, you should do this, because the two are one.

And then he has to give affirmation to the people in the church so the church will appoint him. You Think about how complex that is, how many hearts, how many different triangulations that people are making in their minds about whether this man should be an elder or not. There are lots of considerations and there are multiple qualifications that have to be considered. And then the life that that man has lived in the community, it takes a lot to appoint an elder in a church. But God does it.

God has to convince a whole congregation that this man should be an elder. So it's actually God and God alone can appoint leaders in his church. And that's what we see here. What we read in here in Nehemiah is that Nehemiah appoints leaders. He says, then it was when the wall was built and I hung the doors, that he took action to appoint various people to take care of the church.

And there are singers and there are Levites And all kinds of leaders are appointed here. I think it was Napoleon who said that leaders are dealers of hope. And that's what you find in the kind of leaders that are appointed here. They're dealing out hope and truth and love. And They are structured really according to God's sovereign hand.

So first of all, look at these different kinds of people that are appointed. First of all, you have gatekeepers. These are guards, These are experienced guards, and their interest is in the physical protection of the city and of the cities of Judah. They care about the protection of the cities. And the gatekeepers are doing two things.

They're keeping bad people, destructive people out. And they're also controlling the gates on the Sabbath so that the people really can have a day of rest. They slam those gates shut on the Sabbath. And We find here what they do is they're protecting now. They're not opening the gates until late in the day because they have a sense that the city is still threatened by Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs and all the other people that hate God and hate the true worship of God.

So first of all you have the gatekeepers and then you have the singers and this is you know the spiritual inspiration of the people of God. By the way I don't know if you've noticed it but there are there are lots of references to singers in Nehemiah. There are 18 references to singers in the book of Nehemiah. There are 8 references to giving thanks, and I think you can connect the two. These were people that were appointed to just raise the joys of the people of God as the people sang.

Singing fell onto hard times during the 70 years of exile. And there's that song that says, how can we sing the songs of Zion in a foreign land? No longer, they are free. They are singing the songs. And then so there are these people who were appointed to lead the people in praise toward God and they would they would help the people remember the unfailing love of God.

They would help the people connect with really their whole being, with the sound of their voices and their hearts and their minds. That their whole being would be filled up with the praises of God, thanksgiving, crying out, you know. You remember, we went through a really, really hard time in our church over a year ago. And after that time, do you remember what happened? We gathered on Sunday nights and we sang.

All we did was sing. I thought the roof was going to fly off the places we were singing at different times. It was so intense. There was so much desire and there were tears and there was smiling and it was the most remarkable time. But we had someone that God sent us who was a singer.

And we sang. Wasn't that amazing? Wasn't that remarkable? I'll never forget it. But God sends the singers, and then he sends the Levites.

That's the third group that he appoints. And the Levites are set aside for biblical instruction and you know after the exile the Levites became teachers. And the entire tribe was set apart for this. Now, when we get to chapter 8, next week you'll see that it was the Levites that read from the book, distinctly from the book. And they gave the sense, and they helped them to understand the reading.

So the Levites were there to interpret the Word of God. And when they opened the book, the place went hush, because it was such a wonderful thing. And you know, we need teaching in the Church of Jesus Christ. And then you see these other leaders that are appointed, God fearing men in verse two. And I gave the charge of Jerusalem to my brother Hanani, and Hananiah the leader of the Citadel, for he was a faithful man and feared God more than many." So you have now these two men who've been appointed to provide leadership and Hananiah is placed over the protection of the city.

He's Nehemiah's brother. He's the same guy that came to Nehemiah in Shushan there and told him about the desperate state of the people of God in Judah. And now he's being set aside to guard the city. He's involved in the protection of the city. And then you have Hananiah, the leader of the Citadel, for he was a faithful man and feared God more than many." So he's the leader of the citadel.

What is that? Well the citadel was a fortress near the temple. The citadel was put near the temple to protect the temple because the temple needs protection. So this man who feared God more than many, he was exemplary, he was like very very few men around him, and he was there to protect the worship of God there at the citadel. And so these men are in charge of the security of the city, and they are protectors.

In some ways, they sort of have military responsibilities in the city. And what Nehemiah does is he picks men that know God. He picks men that don't fear man, but they fear God more than many. Men Like John Knox, it was said of John Knox that he did not fear the face of man, but he did fear the face of God. What does it mean to fear God?

To fear God is to take everything into everything in your life under the scrutiny of God and the voice of God and the face of God. That every part of your life has shining upon it the face of God. That's what it means to fear God. It means to want God above everything else. To fear God is to think that He is the very best thing, that there's nothing better in life than to have His face upon you, that there's nothing better that you can do than to accept to consult him with everything.

That's what it means to fear God. So he had a reputation of that. His desire was to please God. He wasn't controlled by public opinion. So God in his plan to protect this city and to protect the worship, he not only installs gatekeepers and singers and Levites who will teach, he also appoints faithful men who will guard that city.

And they are dependable men. Somebody said the greatest ability is dependability, and that's what these men were like. And in the Church of Jesus Christ today, God appoints elders and deacons to govern and to serve the church. He puts fathers and households to protect their families. And, you know, you might just think about this, if you're a mother or father, how well protected is your family?

You know, have you ordered your family in a way that it's protected in the way that God is protecting this city here? Like, is there, Have you appointed gatekeepers in your house? Or do you just let anything come in or come and go? Have you appointed singers in your house? Is your house a house of joy?

Is it a place of happiness? Is it a place of singing? You know, Don't let music and singing go out of style in your house. Is it a place where there's instruction? Are you father like a Levite who opens the Word of God and everybody goes hush because of it?

Because it's just so astonishingly beautiful because you think it is you know it is and You know and do you have proper protections of the physical? Aspects of your home if you protected your home well God God establishes protectors and fathers and mothers really are protectors. Here's one thing you need to know, fathers and mothers. The devil has a contract out on your life. He wants to destroy you, and he wants to destroy your children.

And with fathers, he might do it by distracting you, but he might do it by destroying you. And either way, he can get you off the protective, instructional, joyful role as God has established, you know, in your home as a father and a mother. But God establishes ways to protect his people. Now, notice that the leadership in this region, in Judah, it was what some have called a qualified plurality of leaders. It wasn't one leader, it was various leaders that had jurisdiction over particular areas.

That's how God leads his people. He doesn't establish one person, but he establishes many. We see many examples of this in the Bible in Exodus chapter 18. We see this very same thing. Hey, by the way, the principle of leadership that God has established in the New Testament is seen all over the Old Testament.

You see it with Moses in Exodus 18. Remember when Moses was wearing out and Moses father-in-law came to him and said, this ain't going to work. You're not going to be able to govern this people this way. You can't be the answer man for everything. And so men were appointed.

And here's what was done. You shall select from all the people able men such as fear God, a direct connection with what Nehemiah is doing. Men of truth, hating covetousness, and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of 50s, and rulers of tens. That's the kind of leadership that God desires to appoint in both the civil realm, which Moses is talking about there in Exodus chapter 18, and also in the realm of the church. It's the same kind of people that God desires for his church.

And of course he speaks of this in 1 Timothy 3 and in Titus 1, the qualifications for elders. And I'll just read some of these qualifications. This is a faithful saying, if a man desires the position of a bishop or elder, he desires a good work. An elder then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous, one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence. For if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the Church of God?

Not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride, he fall into the same condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil." And then the Apostle goes on and he speaks of the qualifications of the servants of the church, the deacons of the church. Now, 1st Timothy 3 is a commentary on Nehemiah 7, which is a commentary on Exodus 18, because it's the same methodology of leadership. You know, God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He does things different in the New Covenant than he did in the Old Covenant.

But the Lord Jesus Christ appoints qualified elders to protect the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. And you see this that God is a God of order, Nehemiah is a leader of orderliness. And he does everything decently and in order just like the Apostle Paul commanded the church in Corinth and another thing that I just want to bring out is that it's very clear that God God blesses men who are different and you might you might think that this your standard should be the people around you. But that's not the way that God looks at it. Here you have Hananiah, He feared God more than many.

I pray that's true of every person in this church That you're just not like everybody else in this world that you're not comparing yourselves by yourselves But that you desire to fear God more than you ever have and that your standard is not the person sitting next to you but your standard is the Lord Jesus Christ himself. And so in verse 3 we find this continued attention to protection. And Nehemiah says to them, do not let the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot. And while they stand guard, let them shut and bar the doors and appoint guards from among the inhabitants of Jerusalem, one at his watch station and another in front of his own house. So the guards are set to slam the gates of the city and to bar the door.

I have a friend who likes to say, Katie, bar the door. Well, that's exactly what's happening here. There's a time when church leaders need to say, Katie, bar the door. You know, or a father needs to say that, a husband needs to say that, sweetie, bar the door. We're keeping that kind of stuff out of here.

And we're keeping the good stuff in. And so they were barring the doors in order to protect that city. And they took careful precautions against their enemies. We need to recognize the vulnerability that we have. We are vulnerable.

The devil does have a contract out on your life. You're more vulnerable than you ever think you are. And if we do not set guards, we unravel the work of God in our lives. You might have made progress in a period of your life, but if you don't bar the door when you need to bar the door, you're gonna slip back, you're gonna backslide. Have any of you backslidden?

Please ask yourself that question. Have you backslidden from a time of holiness in your life that you once had? Are you becoming more holy or less? Are the things that you're letting into your house making you more holy or less? You have to ask that question.

And you might ask yourself if all your freedom in Christ is just buying you more unholiness? Or is it buying you more fervor more joy more love more intensity more evangelism more more of the Word of God more of the cleansing the Word of God is your freedom has your freedom turned into a license to dull the holiness that you once had. And maybe you need to bar the door. Every generation is only one generation away from destruction. And that's why We need guards at the door to deal with these kinds of things.

We really should be a guarded people. You know, Jesus prayed for Peter and he said, he said, Simon, Satan has asked for you that he may sift you like wheat. But I have prayed for you. Satan has asked that he would sift you like wheat, for sure. What was happening with Peter is true of you and me.

And we need to be very careful as Satan should take advantage of us because we're not ignorant of his devices. He has many devices. So we should be sober and vigilant because our adversary, the devil, walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. And so we need to resist him and be steadfast in faith, knowing that these things will come upon us. So how are we doing in the protection realm?

You know pastors have to think about that too. How do pastors protect their people? They do it through preaching and through personal counsel and and hopefully their own lifestyles which ought to be an example to the flock. You know, you should pray for your elders that they are holy men, not less holy, but more holy, pure, who love God, who love the sheep, who desire to care for them with the tenderness of Jesus Christ. You need to pray for your shepherds that way.

Your shepherds are vulnerable too, by the way, to the attacks of the devil of different kinds. So there's this problem that's stated in verse 4. The city was large and spacious, but the people in it were few, and the houses were not rebuilt. So there's this little parenthesis. Nehemiah is appointing these leaders and these protective mechanisms for the protection of the cities, and then there's this comment about the city itself.

They're not that many people in the city. So all of this is to prepare for the population of the city of Jerusalem, which is a figure of Jerusalem that comes down from heaven, the Jerusalem from on high, the place where the people of God live for all eternity. And so the city needs people, and so that's, where is Nehemiah going to go? Well, he's going to see that these cities are populated by called people biblically qualified people and that's what we find in verses 5 through 73 as you can see there are just three divisions of this chapter that I'm dealing with here. And the second thing that God does for his church to rebuild her people is that he populates his church with God-appointed, biblically-qualified people.

In other words, he populates his church with true Christians. There in the Bible you find two kinds of people, they're sheep and they're goats. You know, I was preaching yesterday with a bunch of black pastors, and one of them stood up and said, there are only two races, sheep and goats. And that's true. And that's what we find here.

And, you know, what God first of all does is he protects his church through appointing God-fearing leaders then he protects his church by making it clear who's in and who's out who's part of the true church and who's not part of the true church. And no one comes to the Father unless, no one comes to Jesus unless the Father draws him. No one comes to God unless they are elect. God selects his people and he brings them into his kingdom. It's God who selects.

He's the one who opens a person's heart. He's the one who saves. And so here in verse 5 and following there's this record of registering the people, but there's something in verse 5 that I think we should not miss. Then my God put it into my heart to gather the nobles, the rulers, and the people that they might be registered by genealogy. Now here again we have another window into Nehemiah the man.

He is a man who has intimacy with God. He's constantly before the face of God. And God puts this in his heart. Remember even before when his whole coming to Judah, God put it in his heart to come and rebuild the city. And now God put it in his heart to register the people.

And he goes back to that original list that was created over 100 years before of the original returnees, the ones who God moved, they stirred, God stirred their hearts and they came and they began the rebuilding process and Nehemiah wanted to make sure that the people who were rebuilding were the true people of God. The people that had sacrificed everything, The people that had left the pleasures of Babylon. The people that had suffered along the way and entered into this sanctifying life that had been going on for the last 100 years. But this phrase, God put it into my heart to gather the nobles. You know, Nehemiah was a dependent man and he brings everything before the Lord.

There isn't one single thing in Nehemiah's life that's secular. Nothing is secular to him. It all comes before God. And you see this spiritual discernment that God gives him, and he only moves according to God's counsel. And God put this desire in his heart.

And I think this would just help us to understand the intimacy that God desires to have with his people. This isn't the same thing as, you know, the people that run around and say that God told me this, God told me that. I think this is a reflection of a tender-hearted person who wants the will of God so badly that their face is before God. And so they recognize it when God puts something in their heart. It's not boastfully communicated, it's just something that God does and he moves them.

We need to be moved by God like this in particular ways. We don't want to be so anti-supernatural that we don't think that God can't lead us in the moment to say things or do things that are right. And I think that's what's happening here. Of course, you know, God was leading Nehemiah to rebuild this city. And so, you know, I think, you know, this is all part of what Solomon said, trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.

In all your ways, acknowledge him and he will make your path straight." Acknowledging him in all of your paths, having that intimacy with God. You know, the Lord says, council is mine, sound wisdom is mine. I have strength." This is the strength that Nehemiah is drawing on. And then we find this registry of the people, you know, 130 names are listed. They found the register of the genealogy of those who had returned originally.

Now there's so many things that we could say about this. First of all, these are real people with real names and their names are written in the Book of Life. That's what it's figurative of. These are real families. You notice there are sometimes thousands of people under this one family name.

But this isn't made up, it's real history. You can go to the British Museum and you can find what people think is the cup of Artaxerxes that Nehemiah handed to him. This is real history. Susa Shushan was a real city. It had a real king and he's talked about right here in this book.

And these were real people, these were families, just like your family and just like my family. And the list is almost identical to Ezra chapter 2. And Think about the dedication that was required of these people to move to Judah, to uproot, to leave all the opulence of Babylon and to come to this place. These were heroes, They really were. They left everything and followed Jesus.

That's what they did. And moving to Babylon was not easy. But there had to be a way to establish the citizenship of these cities. Because The city of God cannot be inhabited by just anyone. It is only those who have been saved by the grace of God.

Again, there are only two races, and it's not black and white. It's sheep and goats. And this list is to mark that truth. And so the city is populated according to the mind of God. And I think what we should think about this is it really matters how you get into the church.

You know, everyone sitting here needs to ask, how did I get here? Did I get here by the blood of Jesus Christ, or am I just hanging around? Am I just here? And because this has to do with true church membership. In our church, we try to place an emphasis on church membership we believe like Nehemiah did that it has to be clear who is and who's in and who's out and you need to know that It's the most important question for you to resolve.

And so when somebody wants to become a member we want to do everything we can to make sure that they understand the gospel, that they have borne the fruits of salvation, that their names really are written in the book of life. Now we can't know that with certainty, but we really want to labor with people to help them to ask the question, how did you get here? Why are you here? Are you here because you love Jesus Christ and That's all you want in this life, or are you still playing games with God? And so that's what we find here.

And so you see all the different kinds of people. I've got various categories of people that are listed in verses 6 through 38. It's the listing of all kinds of lay people who came, and then in verses 39 to 42, they're the temple personnel, these are the priests, there are like 10, 000 of them, priests that came. And these are ones who care for the worship of God. And then you have the Levites in verses 43 to 45.

And among the Levites are gatekeepers and singers. The Levites also did other things like Levites were singers and Levites were gatekeepers. And then you have the Nethanime in verses 46 through 56. These were the temple workers. They did some of the physical mechanical work that were that was required to maintain the temple there's physical and mechanical work that's always were caught were acquired in the Church of Jesus and Deacons fulfill that role today and as well as the rest of the people.

Then you have Solomon's servants. This is a category that they carried forward from the worship of God in the temple, in Solomon's temple, that's verses 57 through 60. Then there were some that were unconfirmed, they weren't sure. And so they were not allowed to populate the city. This shows the care that they exercised to obey the Lord.

They were careful not to risk offending God, and they were conservative. They didn't want to invent a life that was contrary to God and so they were careful who was included in the city and then they had priests with problems of their genealogy and some were not found. And then in verses 66 to 72, the total number is stated. It's about 50, 000 people that came. And then interestingly enough, even the animals are mentioned.

I'm not sure what to say about that. In verses 68 to 69, I take this as these are the economic resources that God gave the people. These animals were critical for the economy and the provision of the city and the strength of the city. To operate the Church of God requires an economic system. And then also this third thing that God does is he finances his church through free will offerings.

That's verses 70 through 72. And this is how the work of God was financed. And God always finances his own work through the generosity of his people and notice the word free will offerings God raised raised people to support the work of God and by the way this is a this the support the financial support of the people of the work of God is a theme in Nehemiah. And I'm just going to summarize it for you. You see the procedures for the support of the people of God.

You see the scandal of not providing for the Levites in Nehemiah, and you see the regularity of the support of the work of God. You see all those things in Nehemiah, and as we get into the following chapters, we'll see how that works, how God has established to support his work, and the regularity of it, the scandal of it, and the procedures of it because we have similar things today. But I think one of the things that's here is those who love God will not let the work of God languish. And they will rise up in generosity and sacrificial giving. Remember, this was a time of famine.

It's still, you know, this is right after that 52 day period. It's a time of famine and people are losing their properties, but they're still giving free will offerings. It's amazing and It's it's a picture of second Corinthians 9 Paul said to the church there But he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity. For God loves a cheerful giver, and God is able to make all grace abound toward you that you always having all sufficiency in all things may have an abundance in every good work but this is just a picture of how God provides for his church.

So here's some lessons from this chapter. First of all, God has ordained the protection of his people through authorities and spiritual leaders in his church. He appoints people to do things just like he has here. And through Jesus Christ, God establishes protection and blessing of his people through his ways. And these cities are ordered by the wisdom of God.

Nehemiah goes to God for the ordering of these things. And that's how we should approach everything. But I think one of the most important things that's here, because there's so many names that are listed here, it really dominates the entire testimony of the chapter. And it's that God gave you a name, and He knows your name. And He knows where your name is written.

He knows whether you live in a state of grace or you live in the state of the kingdom of the devil. He knows your name. And he knows where your name is registered. And you need to know where your name is registered. Is it registered in the book of life?

Is it part of the number that God has called out of the world. You know the songwriter said, Oh Lord, I want to be in that number when the saints go marching in. And so you have these names that are here that are so significant. I want to close this sermon by reading Revelation 21. I'd like you to open up your Bibles there because I believe this text points to the very end of Revelation And it speaks of what God has been doing in all of history.

All of history is for one single purpose, and that is to gather sinners into a city, a beautiful city, with sapphires and gold and with abundance and tears wiped from every eye. That's what God's doing in this world. And he's been doing it in all of history. And in Ezra and Nehemiah, we see this 117 year time in history where God was doing the very same thing. And it all points to Revelation 21.

So I'm gonna read the whole chapter and we'll close with that. I pray that this chapter is such a cause of rejoicing in you or it's a cause of disturbance in you If you know that your name is not written in the book of life you really You want your name in the book of life Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away and there was no more sea. Then I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is with men and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people. God Himself will be with them and be their God, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain for the former things have passed away. Then he who sat on the throne said, Behold I make all things new. And he said to me, write. For these words are true and faithful and he said to me it is done I am the Alpha and the Omega the beginning and the end I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.

He who overcomes shall inherit all things and I will be his God and he shall be my son but the cowardly unbelieving abominable murderers sexually immoral sorcerers idolaters and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me saying, come, I will show you the bride, the lamb's wife, and he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. Having the glory of God, her light was like a most precious stone and like a jasper stone clear as crystal also she had a great and high wall with 12 gates and 12 angles at the gates and names written on them which are the names of the 12 tribes of the children of Israel. Three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, three gates on the west. Now you know why there's a north and a south and an east and a west.

Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates and its wall. The city is laid out as a square, its length is as great as its breadth. And he measured the city with the reed, 12, 000 furlongs, its length, breadth, and height are equal. Then he measured its wall 144 cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel.

The construction of its wall was of jasper and the city pure gold like clear glass. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones. The first foundation was Jasper, the second, Sapphire, the third, Chalcedony, the fourth, Emerald, the fifth, Sardonyx, sixth, Sardius, the seventh, Chrysolite, the eighth barrel, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysophrase phase, the eleventh jesson, the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were the twelve pearls, were twelve pearls. Each individual gate was one pearl and the street of the city was pure gold like transparent glass.

But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor to it. Its gates shall not be shut at all by day, and there shall be no night there. And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it.

But there shall be, there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. And that's really what Nehemiah 7 is pointing to. It's pointing to this beautifully ordered city that God has established in the world. First, the Church of Jesus Christ today, imperfect as it is, every imperfection should make you think of heaven, of that place where The tears are all wiped away. God's wiping your tears away now slowly, but there'll be a day when they'll all be wiped away.

In the meantime, He'll use His church to wipe your tears away. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for this city. We thank you for this kingdom. We thank you for the state of grace and the names of the citizens written in your book.

We thank you for your mercy towards sinners to gather them into such a luxurious and beautiful city. Amen.