The sermon 'A God Who Remembers and Forgets' by Jason Dohm examines Nehemiah's steadfastness and discernment amidst deceitful plots by his adversaries, Sanballat and Tobiah. They attempted to entrap Nehemiah into sinning by luring him into the temple under false pretenses, using Shemaiah, a supposed prophet. Nehemiah's refusal to flee into the temple reflects his deep commitment to his duty and his faith, understanding the sacredness of the temple and the consequences of sin. He recognized that the call to hide in the temple was contrary to God's law, discerning the deceit through his knowledge of scripture. Nehemiah's prayer emphasizes the dual nature of God who remembers the good deeds and forgets the sins of His people while remembering the sins of His enemies. The sermon also draws parallels between Old Testament teachings and New Testament principles, urging believers to discern good from evil and live according to God's word. The overarching theme is the importance of faith, integrity, and reliance on God in the face of adversity.

Let's read together Nehemiah 6 verse 10 through 14. I'll read aloud if you follow along. Afterward I came to the house of Shema'iah the son of Deliah the son of Mehetbeel who was a secret informer and he said Let us meet together in the house of God within the temple, and let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you. Indeed, at night they will come to kill you. And I said, Should such a man as I flee?

And who is there such as I who would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in. Then I perceived that God had not sent him at all, but that he had pronounced this prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. For this reason he was hired, that I should be afraid and act that way and sin, so that they might have cause for an evil report, that they might reproach me. My God, remember Tobiah and Sanballat, according to these their works, and the prophetess Noadiah, and the rest of the prophets who would have made me afraid." The title of the sermon this morning is, A God Who Remembers and Forgets.

We'll get to that in the last verse, verse fourteen. Last week, Sanballat Tobiah and Gesham, they try to lure Nehemiah out to the outer parts of Judah, right into what has gone back and forth between being Philistine territory and the Territory of Judah. The text says explicitly that they intended to do him harm, literally evil. They intended to do evil to Nehemiah, probably to kill him, although the text doesn't explicitly say that. First they try intrigue, they try trickery and to get him to come out to this border area in the valley of Ono.

Then when that fails four times in a row, they send four letters, he sends four exact responses. I'm too busy, I'm working. And then when the trickery fails, they try strong arm manipulation. They send an open letter, which is intended more for the public than it is for Nehemiah, accusing him of wanting to be king and appointing prophets to declare that there is a king in Judah. And we find Nehemiah to be wise as a serpent, but innocent as a dove, what Jesus calls his disciples to be in Matthew 10 verse 16.

And Nehemiah calls it exactly what it is. He says that they've invented these things in their own hearts. Like a sculptor, like a potter would form a pot out of the clay, they have formed this deceit. That's what the Hebrew words literally mean. He ends by calling on God to do exactly the opposite of what his enemies had planned.

In other words, the plans of the enemy were to weaken his hands for the work, so that the people of God would drop their hands and stop working. Since that is the intent of the enemies of God, Nehemiah prays for his own hands to be strengthened instead. Instead of a weakening of hands that would cause him to stop working, he prays to God. He cries out to God that God would strengthen his hands and increase his ability to work and accomplish the things that God has been doing through his people. This week the enemies are back at it, but they're taking a very different approach.

This week it's sabotage from the inside. Sanballat and Tobiah have actually contracted, they've hired people who are known to be prophets within Jerusalem to give false prophecies to lead Nehemiah into sin, thinking that if they can lead Nehemiah into sin, they've got him just where they want him. So that's where we've been and where we're headed today. As we go to the text, let's go to the Lord in prayer. God, I thank you that you're a God who can never be tricked or manipulated.

Intrigue never works against you, and strong arm manipulation will always fail against you and that you are the shield of your people. That even though trickery might work against us, or strong-arm manipulation might work against us, you're the shield of your people. You have the ability to bring all these plots and conspiracies against you and your people to nothing in a thousand different ways. And so we never have to be afraid. We just should trust you and throw ourselves upon your goodness and we'll always find you to be faithful and good.

Thank you, Lord. This text should be just another celebration in a long list of them that you are good. May it be so in our hearts, in Jesus' name. So Again, I'll be dividing the text into three sections. The first section is verses 10 and 11.

Let's read them again. Nehemiah chapter 6, verses 10 and 11. After I came to the house of Shemaiah, the son of Deliah, the son of Mahedabel, who was a secret informer. He said, Let us meet together in the house of God within the temple, and let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you. Indeed, at night they will come to kill you.

And I said, Should a man such as I flee? And who is there such as I who would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in." Here in this section we have Nehemiah's exchange with Shemiah. There's a conversation between Nehemiah and this man who's known as the prophet. It's an exchange.

So if you're filling in blanks, it's exchange. Nehemiah comes to the house of a man, Shemiah the son of Deliah. If you go to 1 Chronicles 24 verse 18, what you find in 1 Chronicles 24 is a division of Aaron's family. Aaron being kind of the fountainhead of priests. It's his sons and descendants who are priests.

From Aaron there are these twenty-four families in 1 Chronicles 24 that are going to share duties, priestly duties. In 1 Chronicles 24, verse 18, you find the head of one of these branches on Aaron's family tree. It's headed by a man by the name of Deliah. We know from 1 Chronicles 24, 18, I doubt this is the same Deliah, surely it's not. We find that this is a prominent name in the family line of the priesthood.

That may indicate that Shemaiah is a priest. Whether he's a priest or not, he's definitely known as a prophet. My guess is he is a priest because he is offering access to the temple. It would seem to be that only a priest could offer what Shemaiah is offering. My guess is he is a priest.

The new King James says that he was a secret informer. This is consistent with verses 12 and 13. He absolutely is a secret informer. But this is not a great translation. In fact, this translation stands alone among the other translations that I would consider good English translations.

The King James, instead of a secret informer, says that he was shut up in his house. The ESV says that he was confined to his home. I think that's a better rendering of the Hebrew word. It's a tricky Hebrew word to render in this context. So I think that's why you have some variation in the translation.

But all the other good English translations have more of a sense of he was shut up in his house. He was confined to his home. What was this? Why Shemaya confined to his home? I think it's one of two things, probably.

You have to speculate because the text doesn't say, but I think these are at least useful options to consider. The first is that it's a word picture of the prophecy. He's confined to his house because he's acting out what he wants to press on Nehemiah, which is he's surrounded, he's shut up, he's confined, and he actually does need to barricade himself into the temple. So it's sort of a word picture for what he's advocating. I think there's a decent reason to believe that it could be that.

Or secondly, that Shemaiah has isolated himself in order to hear from the Lord. It's a pretense. I have to go be with God to know the mind of God. This man who is known as reputation for being a prophet is going and he is closing himself into his house to seek God to know the mind of God. He is representing himself now as having heard from God and delivering a prophecy to Nehemiah.

My guess is it's the first of the two. It's a word picture. He's acting out. You see this many times in Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. They actually sort of act out the prophecy of the Lord.

My guess is that's what's happening here. In any event, this man is known as a prophet and Nehemiah is going to him. That's what the text says. Nehemiah goes to the house. He comes to the house of Shemaiah.

We don't know if he's been sent for or whether he's seeking out this man. It doesn't really matter for the text. Shomaiah, this man who's known as a prophet, has a two-fold message for Nehemiah. First, Nehemiah, the enemies are coming to assassinate you in the dark of night. God has told me, God has revealed to me that your enemies are sending assassins and some night in the middle of the night your life is going to be snuffed out.

They'll find you exposed, the assassins will have infiltrated Jerusalem, they'll find you exposed, and they'll kill you in the night. And so, secondly, the second part of this two-fold message, the assassins are coming to kill you at night, and so, number two, we must barricade ourselves in the temple to prevent this from happening. You and I are going to go barricade ourselves in the temple. We are going to shut the doors and defend ourselves against the assassins that your enemies are sending. God wants this.

God wants you to save your life by doing this. You find from verse 12 that he represents this as a prophecy. Verse 12, then I perceive that God had not sent him at all, but that he pronounced this prophecy against me. So Shema is coming and saying, these are the words of the Lord, God has revealed this to me. First, under the circumstances, if you were Nehemiah, does this sound likely or not likely?

Your enemies are sending assassins to snuff out your life in the middle of the night, likely or unlikely? Likely? Plausible. So he sets the stage with something that's plausible. God might have told somebody that the enemies were sending assassins.

We knew last week, just last week, they were trying to lure him out to what had been, for long periods of time, Philistine territory. Are you kidding me? Philistine territory? Is there a more notorious enemy of the people of God than the Philistines. Now, someone comes and has a reputation of a prophet, of hearing from God, and he says, God has revealed to me they are sending assassins at night.

Plausible. Second, the temple is very defendable. You have to know this about the temple. It is a temple, but as a structure, if you were going to try to save your life from assassins, the temple might be the place you would want to be. If you read Josephus about 70 AD, even when the Roman army, the mighty Roman army has breached the walls of Jerusalem, the last defense, the last place that they retreat to is the temple.

It's a long and arduous process for the great Roman army to root out and slaughter the last remaining defenders of the temple. They do flee. In 70 AD, they do flee into the temple and they defend it. The Roman army has a devil of a time literally getting them out. It is a structure that is very defendable.

Finally, think of how brilliant the strategy is. They've said five times, come out here to meet with us. Come out here on the fringes of Judah, right here to meet with us. No, no, no, no, no. He's proven himself that he's cautious.

He is actually solicitous about his life. He's not looking to die at the hands of his enemies. He is not going to act foolishly. He is going to be as wise as a serpent and as innocent as a dove. He has proved that he is a cautious man and that he is on guard against his enemies.

So now, having not been able to get him to act without caution, they get him to act with too much caution. They're attempting to exploit a part of his approach and character that he's shown to be the case. He has been cautious in his previous dealings with them and so now they attempt to exploit that and get him to react on that side and to draw him into sin. Nehemiah responds with two questions and one emphatic declaration. That's what makes up his response.

Two questions, one emphatic declaration, one forceful declaration. Here's the first question. Should such a man as I flee? Should a man like me run away from a report that people are seeking my life? Now you could read this as being snooty.

I'm above running away. Normal humans have that kind of weakness, but I'm above that kind of weakness. Maybe the little people would run away when they heard a report like that, but not me. I don't have the normal weaknesses of a man. I don't think that's the right way to understand this at all.

The first time you read it, it sort of reads like that, but I don't think that's right. I don't think that's the case. I think it's better to understand it this way. Should a man who's been entrusted a stewardship, like I've been entrusted with, run away? Can a man who's been entrusted to lead the people of God in a great work, is he even at liberty to run away?

No. Can a man who has received so much of the grace and the goodness and the kindness of God to this point in his life, now act on his fear and run away. No. Having received as much as I've received from God, the favor of the King, and authorization to come lead the Lord's people in this work, and His protection up to this very moment, can a man like that who has received so much good from God, now run away. In Luke chapter 12 verse 48, Jesus says, For everyone to whom much is given, from Him much will be required.

Think of all that God has given Nehemiah. He talked about the favor of God in the eyes of this king. He talked about the resources that had been entrusted to him. For twelve years he had a hundred and fifty people at his table. He was feeding them out of his own pocket.

That would bankrupt anybody in this room. It didn't bankrupt Nehemiah. God entrusted him with that. God blessed him with that. Much had been given to Nehemiah and he has this sense pressing on his soul that much is required from Nehemiah.

He is not the type of man having received so much of the goodness and kindness and grace of God that now he can run away. He's not even at liberty in his own soul to run away. Do you understand that? He looks at this and he knows it might be true that his enemies are sending assassins to snuff out his life in the middle of the night, and he knows he's not even at liberty to run away even so. The second question, who is there such as I who would go into the temple to save his life?

Who would sin to be safe? That's what's being asked here by Shemiah. This is going to require sin, but it will keep you safe. And Nehemiah says, someone who's learned day by day to fear the Lord can't do that. They can't make that exchange.

They can't trade the sin for the safety. They can't enter into sin in order to be safe. If that's the cost, I can't pay the cost. I just have to not be safe. If it cost me my life to sin against God in that way, I can't do it.

Nehemiah is essentially saying, who is there who has learned to fear the Lord as I have who would sin against God in this way? Now listen to Numbers 18 verse 7. Chapter 18 begins this way, then the Lord said to Aaron, So this is God speaking to Aaron. Now 18 verse 7, Therefore you and your sons with you, the priests, shall attend to your priesthood for everything at the altar and behind the veil, and you shall serve. I give your priesthood to you as a gift for service, but the outsider who comes near shall be put to death." The priesthood and the service of the priesthood is given to Aaron and his family and others who would come into the places where the services to be rendered were to be put to death.

It was a great sin to go where Shemaiah is saying we should go, actually into the temple courts, into the holy place. Now there is a temple complex, and within the temple complex there are many courts. There are the courts of the Gentiles, there are the courts of the women. And then even outside the temple building itself is the altar where most of the sacrifices, the burnt offerings, will be offered. But then there is this building, the house of the Lord, where the holy place is, and then there is a veil, and then there is the most holy veil.

If you are a priest, you cannot go in there on penalty of death. Or listen to Leviticus chapter 26 verse 2, you shall keep my Sabbath and reverence my sanctuary. I am the Lord. God commands His people that they keep His Sabbath and that they reverence His sanctuary. In the Old Covenant, the sanctuary, the place where Shumai is saying, let's go barricade ourselves in there, is a place to be reverenced.

Not to save your skin. In 2 Chronicles chapter 26, 2 Chronicles chapter 26 is actually heartbreaking because it's the story, it's the history of a king, Uzziah, who's been a good king, who's enjoyed the favor of the Lord, and who has done well. He has built up Jerusalem. He has actually in many ways done what Nehemiah is doing. He has made Jerusalem strong.

He has not walked in the sins of his fathers. He has done well, but he comes to this place of strength in his life where he is full of himself. He goes in here, into the courts of the Lord, and he comes to the altar of incense right before the veil, right this altar of incense where you burn incense right before going into the Holy of Holies and he does it. The priests come and confront him and he's angry. When he's angry, he becomes leprous.

Leprosy breaks out on his forehead. He flees the temple and He lives the rest of his life with leprosy outside the camp in exile. All This stands in the backdrop. This happened more than a couple hundred years before this time. Everybody in the story, Shemya knows 2 Chronicles 26, Nehemiah knows 2 Chronicles 26, and this is the backdrop.

So The two questions, should someone who has been entrusted as I have been entrusted, even at liberty to flee, know? Could someone have so little reverence in their hearts for the sanctuary? Should a man like that, could I be that? The answer is no. It leads him to his emphatic declaration, his forceful declaration, and he says, I will not go in!

I will not go in! Nehemiah would rather die outside the temple than seek refuge in it. He would rather the assassins come in the dark of night and snuff out his life and seek refuge in it. In Matthew 16 verse 25, Jesus says, For whoever desires to save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." Nehemiah understood this.

This was true long before Jesus said it. Jesus crystallized it in this brilliant statement. If you desire to save your life, you lose it. But if you lose your life for the sake of Christ, for the sake of God, you find it. Nehemiah didn't overvalue his skin.

We shouldn't overvalue ours either. There are things worth dying for. There are things worth living for. Back to Nehemiah chapter 6 verses 12 and 13. Then I perceived that God had not sent him at all, but that he pronounced this prophecy against me, because Tobiah and Sambalat had hired him.

For this reason he was hired that I should be afraid, and act that way, and sin, so that they might have cause for an evil report that they might reproach me. In this section, Nehemiah perceives, if you're filling in blanks, it's perceives. Nehemiah recognizes what is really happening. So there's what's on the surface. Shemaiah says, God revealed these two things to me to tell you.

Nehemiah is able to see beneath the surface that God is not talking here. It's Tobias' money and Sam Bellat's money that are talking. It's not really God at all. They've been hired. Think about this.

It's one thing not to trust the governor of Samaria. Has any faithful Jew ever trusted the governor of Samaria? It's one thing not to trust an Ammonite. It's one thing not to trust an Arab. It's another thing to have someone who's known as a prophet, someone who's known as a person who hears from God say, God has revealed this to me and be able to put your finger on the air and reject that.

That's got to make a God-fearing man like Nehemiah pause. Someone who has a reputation of hearing from God says, God wants you to know this. How did Nehemiah escape this trap? Isaiah 8 helps us know. Turn in your Bibles to Isaiah 8.

Isaiah chapter 8 verses 19 and 20. And when they say to you, Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter, Should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living? To the law and the testimony. If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

Isaiah chapter 8, these verses are pointed directly at sorcerers, mediums, and wizards. So Shemiah is the reputation of a prophet, of someone who hears from God, but a false prophet really just turns himself into this alternate source of wisdom and truth. False prophets essentially make themselves sorcerers. So how do you know? How do you know?

To the law and the testimony. If they don't speak according to this word. There's no light in them. It's either according to this word or it's not according to this word. There's no light in them if they're speaking contrary to this word.

Shemaiah is clearly speaking contrary to this word. You are important. God wants your life to be saved. You should go into the temple. No.

There is no light in you. To the law and the testimony. Turn to Hebrews 5. There are two spots that I wanted to go to to help us understand Nehemiah. The first was Isaiah 8 to the law and the testimony.

They do not speak according to this word. There is no light in them. The second is Hebrews 5, which builds on that, talking about an understanding of the law and the testimony. Talking about how you start with milk, but you shouldn't stop with milk. That's the point in Hebrews chapter 5.

There's nothing against milk, but just when you're one year old, one and a half year old, you need more than just milk. Hebrews five, verses twelve through fourteen. The author of Hebrews says, For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God. You have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.

Solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good or evil. I believe this describes Nehemiah. He's past the point where he's unskilled because all he's ever had is milk. He knows the Word of God. In many ways, he's like Ezra, who had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord.

Nehemiah clearly knows what the words of Scripture say. He's past the point of milk only. And he's not unskilled anymore like a baby. He's come of full age. He's now skilled.

And by reason of use, by walking through life with scripture in hand, and comparing and seeing and applying the heavenly wisdom of God to life and seeing the wisdom of God in the words of God, he's come to maturity. And so he's able to discern good and evil. When Shemaiah brings him this proposition, because he's not a baby anymore, because he's not unskilled. He's skillful in handling the word of righteousness, the words of scripture. By reason of use, he's able to discern good and evil.

The first words out of his mouth are, I will not go in. Now Nehemiah explains the intent of his enemies to make him afraid so he will act afraid and he will sin. They want him acting afraid and sinning against the Lord's sanctuary this way. If he does, he plays the hypocrite. In what way?

Flip back to Nehemiah chapter 4 verse 14. This is what Nehemiah has been preaching. Nehemiah 4 verse 14, And I looked and arose and said to the nobles, to the leaders, and to the rest of the people, do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses. He's been preaching, don't be afraid, remember God, fight!

And now he barricades himself in the temple to save the skin. They're trying to talk him into hypocrisy, to preaching one thing, doing something else when it's his life on the line. If Nehemiah abandons his post, What will everyone else do? If Nehemiah abandons his post in order to save his skin, what will the workers do? It's a rhetorical question.

The answer is built into the question. It's so obvious. If he does, if he abandons his post, the text says they might have a cause for an evil report. The word underlying report, the Hebrew word underlying report is really name. He's going to gain an evil name.

Literally, it's like a monument. He's building an evil monument to represent himself. He will gain an evil name. How will he lead then with his evil name? When you come to 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, You encounter the lists of what the men who lead the Lord's people must be like.

There's a master qualification, a qualification that rules the others, and it's blamelessness or above reproach. Now Nehemiah is above reproach with how he's conducted himself. They're trying to take him out of that, so he's not qualified to lead the Lord's people. They're trying to bring him into reproach. They're trying to give him an evil name so that evil reports, reproach, can be brought upon him.

Now the final verse, Nehemiah chapter 6 verse 14. My God, remember Tobiah and Sambalat, according to these their works, and the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets, who would have made me afraid." So prior to our text, Tobiah has been named five times. Sanballat, then Tobiah. Sanballat, then Tobiah. Sanballat, then Tobiah.

Sanballat, then Tobiah. Sanballat, then Tobiah. Now in our text, Tobiah, then Sambalat. Do you remember last week, he was absent altogether in these offers to come out and probably be assassinated. He couldn't have an association with that.

His name is not even mentioned in that. But this week, this is his deal. Because the pattern, all the way up until now, has been he's second fiddle to San Balat five times in a row. That's not coincidence. Now in this text his name appears first.

He's driving this and as we get to next week's text we're going to see exactly the dynamics that are in play here. He is entangled with these people and he is the primary actor here. In verse fourteen, we see a God who remembers and forgets. If you're filling in blanks, remembers, forgets. A God who remembers and forgets.

Remembers is in the text, forgets isn't, but I'm going to develop that point. Nehemiah calls on God, it's a prayer, to remember these words of God's enemies. He gives us three names here. Tobiah, Sanballat, and Noadiah. I wish I had something great to say about Noah-Diah, this prophetess.

There's nothing before or after in Nehemiah. I don't know why she's mentioned, but we know this, that it wasn't just Shemaiah. Shemaiah was explicitly hired by Tobiah and Sanballat, but there were others as well. There's Noah, this prophetess, and there are other prophets. Shomaiah is actually lumped in with the other prophets.

To this point, it looks like the Lord's people have been walking in lockstep in unity, in obedience together, but now we find out there are some cracks in that. There are some cracks in the unity. Maybe it's a result of chapter 5 when Nehemiah says, you've got to stop exploiting your brethren. Maybe some of them didn't like that. We don't know for sure the text doesn't say, but we know for sure that there are people who can be paid, who can sell their services, to try to bring Nehemiah into reproach.

Something I want you to notice, flip back to chapter 4, verse 4. In chapter four, verses one through three, Sambalat and then Tobiah have been mocking the Jews for how frail and feeble and unable they'll be to repair and rebuild the walls. In Nehemiah chapter 4 verse 4, Nehemiah is praying again. Here's what he prays in 4 verse 4. Hear, O our God, for we are despised.

Turn their reproach on their own heads and give them as plunder to a land of captivity. Now verse 5, do not cover their iniquity and do not Let their sin be blotted out from before you, for they have provoked you to anger before the builders." So in chapter four, verse five, he prays that God won't cover their iniquities, that he'll remember their sin, not blot out their transgression. Now flip over to chapter 5, now look at 5 19. So that's what he's been praying about his enemies. Don't blot out their sin, remember their sins, let their sins remain before you.

Now in chapter 5 verse 19, Nehemiah is praying but this time it is about himself. Nehemiah 5 19, Remember me my God for good according to all I have done for this people." Now we come to chapter 6 verse 14, My God remember Tobiah and Sambalai according to their works. So Let me get this straight. Nehemiah wants God to remember his good works, and he wants God to remember his enemy's evil works. They're bad you?

Remember my good works, remember his bad works. Here's why, here's the distinction. Here's why Nehemiah is not wrong to do this at all. If we go back and look at his prayer in Nehemiah chapter 1 verses 5 through 11, we see a man who is crying out for mercy, who is confessing his sins and the sins of his people, who has a heart towards obedience. He recognizes that he isn't what he should be and that his life hasn't always been one of obedience, but he wants to obey this God, and he throws himself upon the mercy of God, and he throws the Lord's people upon the Lord's mercy.

So the fundamental difference in The mind of Nehemiah isn't between a group of people who are not righteous. Sambalat, Tobiah, Geshom, Noah, the other prophets who would make him be afraid. Not righteous and us, we are righteous. That is not the fundamental distinction in Nehemiah's mind. It's a fundamental distinction between people who see and people who don't see.

People who know they are not righteous and so they cry out to God for mercy. And those who have no awareness of it, no sensitivity to it, don't even desire or cry out for the mercy of God. Just run headlong into rebellion. That's the fundamental difference in Nehemiah's mind. Not between righteous and unrighteous, but between those who seek God's mercy and those who have no place for God's mercy.

Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. This is the last stop. 2 Corinthians 5. You might say, this sounds like works, Judgment based on works. How Old Testament of Nehemiah.

That would be okay. Nehemiah is in the Old Testament. You might think this has nothing to do with us. That's not what Paul says. In 2 Corinthians chapter 5, I'll be reading verses 9 through 11.

2 Corinthians chapter 5, beginning in 9, Paul writes, Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are well known to God and I trust are well known in your consciences." Paul is arguing that this is the evidence of a new heart that you make it your aim to be well pleasing to the Lord. Surely you don't always hit what you're aiming at. Surely you don't always please the Lord every minute of every day, but you make it your aim.

You want to. You have a heart turned towards obedience even though you don't always obey. You make it your aim to be well pleasing to God. That is not a description of the unbeliever. They don't make it their aim to be well pleasing to the Lord.

As often as you miss the mark, that is the mark for the believer. Have a desire in your heart to be well pleasing to the Lord. We should see this in the light of a couple of Old Testament texts. The first is Isaiah 43 verse 25. God says, even I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins." For those who trust, who have been brought out of one kingdom into another, God doesn't even remember your sins.

He blots them out. They're not even in his memory. Or Jeremiah chapter 31, which is the chapter where Jeremiah prophesies about the new covenant. And in verse 34, God says through Jeremiah for I will forgive their iniquity and their sin I will remember no more. I won't even remember their sins anymore.

Remember their sins anymore. Did you get this? The Lord's people are those who God forgets our iniquities and He remembers and rewards our righteous acts. In other words, things that are done consistent with His Word for His glory. So all your sins aren't even remembered.

But everything that you've done that's consistent with his word and that you've done for his honor, he remembers it and he rewards you for it. Could you ask for better than that. All your coldness of heart, all the things that you've done that are against his will, against his revealed word, are blotted out and not remembered. But the things that you've done for his honor are remembered and you're actually rewarded for them. But his enemies, what are his enemies?

There are those where he remembers every act of rebellion and he holds them to account for every act of rebellion. And their good works, he doesn't even count them as good works, he forgets every nicety, every act of kindness because it wasn't done to His honor. It doesn't even count. He forgets all of that. Because though they thought it was good, There was never any merit in it.

It was never done for him. It's the exact mirror image. The Lord's people, your sins are forgotten. And your good works, you are rewarded for. For those who will not repent, every sin is remembered.

And everything that they think is good is passed over. Because those things, every act Because those things, every act of kindness, those outside of Christ, they are not offered in faith. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. Without faith, It is impossible to please God. If you do the nicest thing ever, if you're Bill Gates and you give your billion dollars to remove the plague of malaria and relieve all that suffering, but it's not offered in faith.

It's impossible to please God, even with your billion dollars. I have four applications. I should have part a little longer on 2 Corinthians chapter 5. Paul says we will be judged according to our works. What you've done in the body, whether good or bad.

But see it through the lens of the new covenant. Application number one, have you received much or little? Which is it? Much or little? Well, my car could use a new transmission.

No, no, no. Not what I'm talking about. In the light of the cross, have you received much or little of what will be required? When sin is presented to us, in probably much less dramatic fashion than it was presented to Nehemiah. You can save your sin, we can defend the temple.

You should say, should such a man as I flee? Should such a man as I click on that site? Should such a woman as I lash out in anger? Have you received much or little? Application number two, how much do you love your life?

Nehemiah would rather die outside the temple than flee to it and dishonor God. How much do you love your skin? I want to say this, beware the armchair martyr. Have you heard of the armchair quarterback? It's the guy who sits at home on Sunday afternoon with his beer.

And he just watches the big game. He's in his barco lounger, his feet are up, he's drinking beer, and the quarterback makes a bad play. Oh, that idiot. You know, the guy could never play quarterback. And he acts like the quarterback's job is easy, like the quarterback's an idiot.

And he's sitting in his barca lounge, drinking beer, watching football. The armchair martyr thinks that if the moment came, and they had to deny Christ or die, they would hold fast to their profession. But they just can't bring themselves to live for Him today. I could die for Him, I just can't live for Him today. That's self-deception.

How much do you love your life? You say, well to hold to Christ I would give up my life. Well, we should demonstrate that today then. You can give it up a little at a time. If you want to save your life, you'll lose it.

But if you lose it for his sake, you gain it. If you won't live for him, you won't die for him. Don't kid yourself. Don't kid yourself. Number three.

Let your motto be from Isaiah 8 verse 20, to the law and the testimony. Let that be your motto. To the law and the testimony, everything judged by that standard. This is not Bible-olatry. This is not elevating the Bible to some position of an idol to be worshipped.

The Bible handled rightly as long as you are not handling in a way in which you need to be ashamed of the handling of it. Always point you to Christ. Always, always point you to Christ. You need to be like the one described in Hebrews 5, skilled, not babies anymore, not milk only people anymore, but by reason of use able to discern good and evil like Nehemiah to the law and the testimony. May that be our motto.

Finally, number four, get it clear who you are and act accordingly. There's a great divide in this world. Get clear on which side of the divide you are and Then act like it. Live to His glory today. Live for Him.

Live to His honor that He would be known as a great God who transforms people. Get on with it. What are you waiting for? You really are that. If you're not that, consider the mirror image.

That though God forgives the sins of His people and remembers the things they do to His honor and rewards them for it, that there is a mirror image that should terrify you. Every sin is remembered and will be recompensed. You'll be rewarded for your every rebellion against this God. He is holy. He is just.

His justice should terrify you if you are not in Christ. And everything that you thought was good, everything that brought you merit, because it hasn't been offered in faith. It's nothing to Him. He'll pass over it. You'll not be able to offer that to Him in the day of judgment when He stands and exposes your heart.

It will mean nothing for you. Every kindness passed over because it wasn't done in faith and without faith it is impossible to please God. It never pleased him for a nanosecond. Decide whether you are this God's friend or enemy. What does your life say?

Am I his friend or his enemy? What does your life say? Let's pray. Let's pray. Father too, I read these verses that say that There are people whose sins you won't even remember, you don't even remember.

These are such precious words. We know there is only one hope. There's no hope if you remember our sins. Thank you for your mercy that you offer so freely in Christ. How could you have offered more, done more, said more, than you have offered, done and said?

Help us to love you. Help us to live for you. In Jesus' name, Amen.