Finishing Well | Nehemiah 13 | Pastor Israel

Well, here we are in Nehemiah Chapter 13.

Nehemiah 13 · chapter mention

We've made it to the end of this wonderful book.

How relevant has it been for us in 2026 as we've studied?

And that title tonight is finishing well, leaving a legacy

that last. The big idea, as we see in this

passage as Nehemiah 13 and the end of the book shows us that

finishing well isn't about the fairy tale ending that we

typically think, but it's about knowing God's call for our

lives. What that is, what it is that

you and I as Christians are to be about and to be busy with.

And then to guard that with integrity and leave and trust

the results in the hands of God Almighty so that we can hear.

And this is what I think we all desire to hear at the end of our

days, whenever they may be. Well done, my good and faithful

servant. I don't know if you've ever been

reading a book or invested in a great story.

And then you've come to the ending and you've gone, wait,

that's it. And you've been disappointed by

the ending. You've been invested in certain

characters and the narrative arc that they've been on.

And then you've been dissatisfied as you've read

that. And you've, I remember as a kid

reading a series that I'd been invested in and, and I felt so

upset by the ending that I, I nearly put pen to paper.

This is back when remember pens and paper.

And I nearly wrote to the author to complain about the ending.

I didn't go that far because I thought, well, where am I

actually going to send it? But we've grown up on fairy tale

stories and the old and they all lived happily ever after, you

know, and that's, that's kind of what we see as they, they waltz

on off into the sunset and live their best life ever.

And some people like those and, and those stories appeal to us

in many respects. And after all, it, it is the

grand meta narrative of the Bible.

You know, at the end of the book that we all live happily ever

after with Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, that all the

difficulty or the trial or the struggle that we encounter now

does cease, does end and we long for that.

But Nehemiah 13 and and so ends the book.

And as I say, the study, it's not necessarily a happy ending.

If you've read ahead, you'll know what I'm talking about

because what has happened since we last left off?

There's there's been a few years of absence as Nehemiah, remember

that he's been on borrowed time. He'd asked King Artaxerxes that

he was the the cupbearer in the Persian Empire of to to leave

the capital in Susa and to head into Jerusalem because God had

put a burden, a calling on his heart to go and help repair and

rebuild the wall. And he'd functioned as governor

in Jerusalem, we're told, in the book of Nehemiah for some 12

years and given so much time and energy and, and resources of his

own, trying not to be a, a burden on to others.

And there's been great revival that's come into the land as a

consequence. And God's been moving and doing

a work and, and the people have come covenanted and, and signed

a contract and will obey God's decrees and, and God's words

come out and they've been living and it's just been this

wonderful thing. And last week we left off with

this idea that praise so filled the city of Jerusalem that even

the neighbouring nations heard it.

It's a beautiful wonder, wonderful picture.

And so there's been this gap now as we pick up chapter 13 that

looks like that Nehemiah had had to go back.

Maybe he was called back by King Arctic Xerxes to fulfil his

duties and he'd been absent for a number of years.

And some suggest that it's anywhere from two to seven years

that he's been absent from being the governor in Jerusalem.

And so he he then returns. Maybe he finds a reason to come

back to Jerusalem and is given permission to do so.

And yes, the people that rebuilt the walls and yes, they'd

repented in tears that we'd we'd seen.

But now what we're going to get to in Nehemiah 13 is remember a

fellow called Tobiah who'd been one of the enemies of Nehemiah

all through it. We'd encountered this guy called

Sam Ballot and another Tobiah. Well, Tobiah actually has an

abode, a resident in the very temple that has been set aside

for him and the Levites who had been employed with the giving of

the tithe and offering unto the the ministry of, of, you know,

the sacrifices and the worship of God in the temple.

They had to leave and return to fields and eking out in

existence because nobody was bringing the tithe in.

So they're like, we've got mouths to feed.

We've, we can't make ends meet here in the church when no one's

bringing things in. So we've got to go back.

And, and so they, they'd return to serving in the fields and

there was no one really servicing the temple anymore and

the sacrifices of worship that was needed.

The Sabbath had become just another shopping day for them

instead of resting and honouring the Lord on that day.

Then commerce and trade was being brought into the city of

Jerusalem and it was functioning like any other ordinary day.

And worst of all, we read and see of God's people marrying the

very nations that once tried to destroy them, giving their sons,

giving their daughters to to marry them.

And it tells us in Nehemiah that their children did not even know

the language of the Bible anymore, but they couldn't read

it. So it's not a happily ever

after. It functions as a warning to you

and I as we read this. And yet right in the middle of

all of this that Nehemiah returns to you think if you were

Nehemiah and you'd invested all that time and energy and

resource and you'd come back to this.

If it were me, I know I'd I'd turn my horse right back around

and go. I give up, but he refuses to

quit. And there's something that we

see in Nehemiah that we're going to learn from tonight.

He gets angry, but it's a righteous anger and will

distinguish the difference. There's a God centred anger

that's biblical that we see and he acts and sets the wheels in

motion, brings judgement on to the people again.

We'll see him throwing furniture out into the street, rebuking

leaders. We'll read of him pulling hair

of shutting gates out, and then he cries out to God in this

chapter a few times. Oh, God, Remember Me, Remember

Me God. So as we close our Nehemiah

series tonight in this chapter, this chapter want us to see it

as a gift that God gives to you and I for any of us who want to

finish. Well, I know how many times I've

seen people start well. And you know, we, we have a lot

of that in Christianity. People make a profession of

faith and start coming along to church and reading the Bible and

they're all excited and passionate.

And then before a long time and days after days, weeks, months,

years. And then it's like, oh, where's

so and so? What happened to so and so?

And, and the story is not that they finished well.

We go to the athletic arena and you'll often see, particularly

in children's carnival carnivals, I'm coming from a

school background and being the MC many times at carnivals, how

many kids on a big, big race will burst out of the blocks and

running down the straight and everybody's cheering.

And then what? They get gassed, they get tired

and they tank and they don't finish well if at all.

And we want our Christian lives to be those that have this

perseverance and durability that finishes well too.

As I said at the beginning, have at the end of our days, God say

to you and I well done, my good and faithful servant.

So we're going to glean from the wisdom that we see here in

Nehemiah and we'll learn from others mistakes.

We'll learn from others wisdom and we're going to see three

things through this chapter. For you and I, if we're desirous

of, of doing that, of finishing our lives well, of, of leaving a

lasting legacy #1 know the calling that God has given you

#2 guard that calling with uncompromising integrity.

And thirdly, trust the results. Give the results to God.

Keep praying all through it. As you're faithful to that call,

Remember Me God. So Nehemiah 13 verses one

through to 8 As we consider this first point says on that day

they read from the book of Moses in the hearing of the people.

Now on that day is in reference to from verse 4 onwards, hearing

of the people and in it was found written that no Ammonite

or Moabite should ever come into the Assembly of God.

If you know your Bible, in the book of Genesis, we understand

the origins of the Ammonites and of the Moabites and then of what

the Ammonites did in particular and in the Moabites all

throughout Israel's history and of how it was that they were

such a nemesis to Israel over the years.

You can read into that yourself and be a student of the Word

because they had not met. Verse 2, The children of Israel

with bread and water, but hide balaam against them to curse

them. We see that story in the book of

Numbers. However, our God turned the

curse into a blessing. So it was when they had heard

the law that they separated all the mixed multitude from Israel.

Now before this liarship, the priest, having authority over

the storerooms of the House of our God, was allied with Tobiah,

and he had prepared for him a large room.

Verse 5. Where previously they had stored

the grain offerings, the frankincense, the articles, the

tithes of grain, the new wine and oil, which were commanded to

be given to the Levites and singers and gatekeepers in the

offerings for the priests. But during all this I was not in

Jerusalem, for in the 32nd year of Arctic Xerxes, king of

Babylon. Now Babylon was not the empire

at the time, the Persian Empire was, but Babylon retained that,

that name as as probably the capital city, and where a lot of

the, the jurisdiction and time would have been spent by Arctic

Xerxes as well. I had returned to the king.

Verse 6. Then after certain days I

obtained leave from the king, and I came to Jerusalem.

Verse 7 discovered the evil that Elias ship had done for Tobiah

in preparing a room for him in the courts of the House of God.

So the enemy of Nehemiah, the enemy of God's people is very

comfortable in the the middle of the congregation of God's people

in room. A spacious room has been made

for him to just set up shop and feel like he can pull the

strings and and rule the roost, we would say.

And Nehemiah verse 8, it says it grieved me bitterly.

We'll stop there. I want to take you back to

chapter one in Nehemiah. For those of you that have been

here, you would know this, but you'll remember and I'll tell

you if you don't. Nehemiah's life had a very clear

North Point compass direction, a focus for it.

It heard word of what was going on in Jerusalem, of how the

walls were in ruin, and it grieved and burdened his heart.

And he spent months praying and fasting before God.

And God did a work in Nehemiah's heart that effectively said,

Nehemiah, you're the solution to this.

I'm going to call you to bring about the rebuilding of

Jerusalem, to make my name great in the land again.

From the very first chapter, the rebuilding of the walls of

Jerusalem and, and restoring the spiritual life of God's people

became a core, a focus, a priority, a goal for Nehemiah.

It was a, a God given burden. It was a God given calling upon

him. And now when he returns and, and

there's been anywhere from, like I say, he'd spent 12 years

ruling as governor and anywhere from two to seven years on top

of that, he doesn't now return wandering around going, oh, what

am I going to do about this? As he arrives on the scene and

and encounters what we've just read, he immediately goes back

to setting the priority of this is what God has called me to.

This is what I'm to be about. And this, by extension, is what

God's people are to be about. And again, look what he finds.

The people had made 4 solemn promises to God in the covenant

in chapter 10 that they agreed with, and they'd broken every

single one of them that we see in chapter 13 here.

They said, we'll submit to God's word.

We'll obey everything that's in it.

And so in the first few verses of Nehemiah 13, we read of

something that they were breaking in this chapter.

They said, we'll separate from the world.

We won't intermarry with the, the races.

It wasn't a, a racist thing. We we looked at that.

It wasn't an ethnic thing. It was a thing of worship.

They said, we'll support God's work.

Remember, they had made that promise.

We'll not neglect God's house. They said that phrase, and yet

they've so now neglected God's house that the spacious room

that should have been storing their offerings is empty.

And so Tobiah goes, Could I come in there and set up shop?

Yeah, well, it's empty, so go for it.

They said. We'll keep the Sabbath day as

holy. Every single one is broken.

The Ammonite. Tobiah is living in a temple

storeroom versus 4 to 9 verse 10.

The Levites and the singers have less left their posts because no

one is bringing the tithes. Look at what verse 10 says.

I also realised that the portions for the Levites had not

been given them for each of the Levites and the singers who did

the work had gone back to his field.

Merchants are selling on the Sabbath right outside the gates.

In verse 15 to 22 we can read that.

And those days I saw people in Judah trading wine presses on

the Sabbath, bringing in sheaves, loading donkeys with

wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of burdens which they

brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day.

And I warned them about the day on which they were selling

provisions. The 16 men of Tyre to the north

dwelt there also, who brought in fish and all kinds of goods and

sold them on the Sabbath to the children of Deuteron in

Jerusalem. And then I contended with the

nobles of Deuteron, said to them, What evil thing is this,

that you do by which you profane the Sabbath day?

Did not your father's do thus? And did not our God bring all

this disaster on us and on this city?

Yet you bring added wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath.

So it was at the gates of Jerusalem, as it began to be

dark, Verse 19 before the Sabbath, that I commanded the

gates to be shut, and charged that they must not be open till

after the Sabbath. And then I posted some of my

servants at the gates so that no burdens would be brought in on

the Sabbath day. Now verse 20, this is how

accustomed they were to functioning and, and, you know,

selling their wares and so on. It says now the merchants, verse

20 and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged outside Jerusalem

once or twice. Well, this is strange.

Well, we'll just wait and we'll do it again next week and see if

it sticks out. But no, Nehemiah was consistent.

And you're not coming in. And I warned them, verse 21, and

said to them, why do you spend the night around the wall?

If you do so again, I will lay hands on you.

From that time on, they came no more on the Sabbath, and I

commanded the Levites that they should cleanse themselves verse

22, and that they should go and guard the gates to sanctify the

Sabbath day. Later verse 23 to 28, we see in

this passage, like I said, that Jewish men have been marrying

women from surrounding nations like Ashdod, Amon and Moab.

And as I mentioned, their children weren't even conversant

in the Hebrew language and so the scriptures weren't

accessible to them. They couldn't understand God's

word. Again, what would you do in such

a situation? How would you react?

How would you respond? Nehemiah, He doesn't panic.

He doesn't pivot to a new vision.

Go. Well, that obviously didn't

work, so maybe I was wrong and let's try something else.

He knows what God has called him to.

He knows the goal. He knows the burden that has now

become his call. Rebuild the physical city.

Rebuild the spiritual health of the people.

What does Nehemiah do? Rolls up the sleeves and gets

right back to it. All right, here I go again.

We got to sort some stuff out. He throws to buy his furniture

out on the street. The end of verse 8, he stations

the Levites again. He says sanctify yourselves.

Get get up, get busy about the work.

He shuts the gates on the Sabbath.

He makes the men swear to stop their mixed marriages.

And as you read that, what goes on there is, you know, it's in

fact, let's read it was 23 to 28 because it's it's pretty

amazing. You know, we, we saw Paul get

pretty firm this morning out of the book of Acts.

Nehemiah gets firm here with these men in those days.

I also saw verse 23, Jews who had married women of Ashdod,

Emon and Moan, half their children spoke the language of

Ashdod, could not speak the language of Judah, but spoke

according to the language of one or the other people.

So I contended with them and cursed them, struck some of them

and pulled them out, pulled out their hair and made them swear

by God, saying, you shall not give your daughters as wives to

their sons, nor take their daughters for your sons or

yourselves. Man, if Nehemiah did that today

and it happened in a church, the Internet would blow up, wouldn't

it? Can you believe what happened to

this pastor and this church and so on?

Did not Solomon? He gives reasons.

Verse 26, King of Israel, sin by these things.

Yeah, among many nations, there is no king like him.

In other words, if it even happened to Solomon, how do you

guys think you're not going to be exempt from the consequence

of it? Who was beloved of his God, and

God made him king over all Israel.

Nevertheless, Pagan women caused even him to sin.

Should we then hear of your doing all this great evil

transgressing against our God by marrying Pagan women?

Verse 28, one of the sons of Joy, the son of Elijah of the

high priest was a son in law of Sam Ballot.

There's that other fellow, the horonite.

Therefore I drove him from me. And so the guys who had caused

so much problem early on in Nehemiah have now just settled

in. Amazing.

Now for us as Christians, we need and we ought to know the

God given call for our lives, what it is that is to be our

focus, our priority, what we're to be busy about.

And why do we need to know that? Because if you want to hear at

the end of your days, well done, my good and faithful servant,

you want to know what am I supposed to have been faithful

about and busy about and focused on and what does well look like?

Nehemiah's goal wasn't about popularity or comfort.

It was obedience to God's call. And you, you know our goal as

followers, Our Calling as followers of Jesus Christ is

this and it's up on the screen 2 scriptures that should be

cemented in our minds for us to focus on as followers of Jesus.

Love God with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength.

Love your neighbour as yourself. It's called the Golden Rule,

isn't it? And hand in hand, without the

Great Commission, go therefore we have that written on the

surfboard as you exit this building to remind you of the

priority of of what we're to be busy and to be focused on and

Our Calling. Go therefore, make disciples of

all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, the

Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all

that I have commanded. That's what Jesus said.

So that's the finish line, that's the the target, the goal.

That's what we're aiming for. That's what we're to be focused

on. Nehemiah had a calling.

Nehemiah had a goal. You and I, we have a calling, we

have a goal, we have a focus. Now most of us, I think we find

ourselves in Nehemiah. We start strong on this.

Like the people of Jerusalem, we sign the covenant.

We rebuild some walls, you know, marriages or, you know,

integrity or in our witnesses. And then life happens. 12 years

passed by, 15 years passed by, 19 years passed by.

We look up and we wonder, man, how have I drifted?

How have I gone away from this call, this focus, this priority,

you know, and the details and the specifics of our call that

we have in the Golden Rule and the Great Commission.

They differ for each and every one of us, but that's where it

stands. And Nehemiah here, I think his

example should grip us and rest our attention because Nehemiah,

he's probably in his 60s at this point in time, in age, and yet

he still burns with the same goal and focus on that call that

God had placed upon him all the way back in Nehemiah chapter 1.

Nehemiah 1 · chapter mention

And because of that conviction, because of that purpose, that

understanding of the God given direction for his life, what

does he do? In the chapter we've read of it,

he contends with people, he challenges them, he calls them

out, he warns them, he cleanses them.

It's a priority. He sees the danger and the

potential damage and already the damage that is happening in

their midst. So the question for you and I

tonight is this, do you, do I know the God given call, the God

given goal for your life? As we've been studying through

Nehemiah, what has God been calling you to do, to change, to

stop, to live out, to trust him in?

There's been plenty, I think that as we've gone through

chapter by chapter, I know in my notes I've written down copious

things. Man, God help me change in that.

God guide me and Holy Spirit, empower me to trust you and to

honour you in this way. So maybe as Nehemiah has ended

for us this week, take some time to put pen to paper to write

that down. Your God given call in one

sentence. Lord, what would you have me do

in my marriage, in my work, in my family, in my neighbourhood,

in my church? How am I to fulfil the Golden

Rule? How am I to fulfil the Great

Commission? How am I to be busy about and

focused on the call that you have upon my life?

Maybe take that sentence, put it in a prominent place, put it on

the dashboard in your car, put it on your desk at work, have it

pop up on your phone to constantly remind you.

This is what God has called me to do, to focus on, to be

reminded of it. Because the point we can see and

learn from with Nehemiah here is if you don't know the goal, if

you don't know the call, then all of these things will come

and you'll just go, well, what's the point?

I give up, I surrender and you'll never know if you've

finished. Well, there's a big difference

between an athletic event where you're running a 1500 metres and

running just a a random jog around the stadium.

Could you imagine an athlete in the Olympics when everybody else

is running the 1500 metres? He's just doing laps in the

middle and just then meanders on up into the stadium, exhausted,

spent, fatigued. Wow, how did I go mate?

You weren't even running in the race.

What are you talking about? Oh, but I'm tired and I spent my

thing. And yeah, but it's not what

you're called to do. And so you and I, we need to

know the God given call for our lives because then now the

second point is the guarding and the calling that we have been

given, it has to have some uncompromising integrity

attached to it. And Nehemiah does this and we've

seen this all through it. He doesn't wring his hands now

and seeing all of this stuff going on and then pray vaguely.

He he acts very courageously and with integrity all the way

through it. Verse 8:00 and 9:00 We, we

considered it already. He personally evicts Tobiah.

And Can you imagine the crowd gathered and the iPhones out

filming it, you know, putting that up on everybody's Instagram

feed and all of that stuff that, you know, social media again,

would be blowing up. Oh, he's thrown out the chairs

now. Oh, the T VS gone out the window

and all of that stuff, you know, as people would have narrated if

you put it into modern situation, This is quite an

event, you know, And verse 25 and verse 30 and all of the acts

that he does, this is the same man who 12 years earlier had LED

with wisdom and with prayer. Now he's older, but his

integrity has not softened. Why?

Because what we've seen all the way through Nehemiah is that he

lived his life above reproach. There's no one who could hang

anything on Nehemiah. Nehemiah, who do you think you

are that you're thrown out to buy us stuff?

Who are you to tell us what to do?

There was no one who was able to do that because there was no

indication of compromise in Nehemiah's life.

He held on to the calling that God had for him, and he lived

his life above reproach, with integrity.

Remember how earlier in the book, back in Chapter 6, when

the enemies tried to lure him out and get him distracted from

the tasks that he was through compromise.

And he, he immediately spotted it as a means, as a mechanism

that they were going to try and hang suspicions on his character

and smear him in that way. And now here in Chapter 13, he

can confront the compromise in their lives because his own life

is not compromised. Now, as an aside, I, I'm

cognizant of this fact that there's some of you probably

sitting here and you've forgotten everything else that

I've said because you hung up on Nehemiah's anger that we're

seeing in the passage and go, oh, that's a bit like, wow.

And as I've said and kind of hinted at, if, if a pastor were

to do that in the church today, wow.

I want us to see the heart behind His anger and I want you

to see and understand that there is a place for that emotion of

anger in our lives as Christians.

Question for you, does God get angry?

Bible tells us that God is slow to anger.

Question for you, Did Jesus get angry?

He did. He overturned the tables in the

temple and man, that was an event.

So we read that and he said my house should be called a House

of prayer. There's something called

righteous anger. We see it through the Scriptures

and that's that's usually the difference because most of the

time, in fact, 9 times out of 10, when I get angry, it's a

selfish anger. And my family could tell you

that. But there is something called a

righteous anger, a righteous indignation.

It's the same fire that we see in Jesus when he overturned the

tables in the temple in John 2. Nehemiah here was angry.

Why? Because the House of God was

being defiled. God's people were drifting from

God's commands and God's ways. And the witness to the nation,

where once they were hearing music and sounds and songs of

praise, are now coming in and going what's on the market today

on the Sabbath day and the temple.

Oh, that. Isn't that Tobiah's house?

No longer was there this recognition of Jerusalem being a

certified sanctified holy city where God was worshipped and

honoured? Paul tells us in one Corinthians

11 verse 31. He says, Speaking of the

judgement that he was giving out when we member studied through

Corinthians, he says, but if we judged ourselves rightly, we

would not be judged. In other words, what Paul had to

do and what Nehemiah did there is because in Nehemiah's day and

because in Paul when he was addressing the issues in

Corinth, because the people weren't rightly judging

themselves, holding themselves accountable to God's Word,

somebody from the outside had to come in and bring in judgement

and set the course of right again.

And that's what Nehemiah does here.

He comes in and he sets the course again.

He had to come along and do the judging for them and notice that

in that there's something beautiful, I think in in this

here. He does it all honest.

Honestly, he could have taken bribes off them, looked the

other way like many other leaders do and did.

But Nehemiah always lived with integrity.

Tobiah in the Temple. Nehemiah says that's not

happening on my watch Out you go, buddy.

Tithes being diverted, right? Let's restore that.

The Sabbath being profaned. Nehemiah says the gates are

shut. There's no commerce happening in

the in the in the Sabbath. We're going to worship God and

honour him. And there needs to be times in

our lives where we see things in us that make us angry,

righteously angry areas of sin and compromise that are bringing

destruction, that are breaking our fellowship with God.

For example, how many of us are tolerating little Tobias in our

lives? Our our life is no, you're not

that you are the temple of the Holy Spirit.

How many little Tobias have a place of prominence in our

lives, a secret habit, a shady business deal going on, a

relationship that pulls us from God, and we let it go and we let

it develop and we let it become prominent, and it pervades and

encompasses all of us. Bless you.

Nehemiah's example convicts us in that way, doesn't it?

Because we know when we see the cost of compromise and we know

it in our lives and, and here you know what the, the, the

damage the, the potential is, is that unless Nehemiah intervenes

as he does, the people have got a one generation away from total

assimilation with all of the nations around them.

If they continued in the way that they were, but for

Nehemiah's intervention, there would be a whole group of

children growing up who did not even speak the language, who

knew nothing about God. And they would just merge with

and blend with all of the nations around them and the

people of God would cease to exist.

That's what's at stake. So Nehemiah deals harshly with

it in your life, ask are there any areas of compromise that

need a harsh dealing with that need a Nehemiah to come on and

pull out by the hair and grab by the beard and curse and throw

out furniture off. That's preventing me from loving

God with my heart, soul, mind and strength.

That's preventing me from being busy about the Great Commission

of going out into all of the nations and preaching and

teaching the good news of Jesus Christ and of all the commands

that He has revealed in His Word that are important.

Maybe for you it's in an area of your finances.

Maybe it's your entertainment. Maybe it's your dating life,

maybe it's your work. You could look at the categories

that we have here all throughout Nehemiah and particularly in

Nehemiah 13 as a good port of call.

Are you stealing from God if you look at your money?

Can you stand before God and say I'm being a wise steward of what

you've provided? Or should I be?

Or should you be angry about not being a blessing to others or

the Sabbath taking an opportunity to rest in God, of

going to church as we are tonight?

Of reading your word, of praying, of enjoying your life

with God? Or are you just working yourself

all the time and truth is, you'll break if you don't take a

break in Sabbath? How about if you're single?

If you're, if you're dating, if you're looking for someone, are

you looking for someone who loves the Lord, who serves the

Lord, who honours him? Are you acting with integrity in

that? If you're married, how?

How is your marriage? Anything in your marriage that

you should be angry about that needs changing?

How about your kids and your parenting?

Should you be angry going? I haven't been present as much

as I need to be. I haven't been loving as much as

I ought to have. I haven't been serving and

honouring in the way that I ought to be.

I haven't been as generous or I need to forgive.

I haven't been available. Then maybe tonight some decisive

steps need to be taken, some Nehemiah action.

Confess it, cut it off, make it right.

And the point of all of that is, is guarding the goal that God

has given, the call that God has placed and being protective of

that with integrity. And what you'll be amazed with

if that becomes a priority and a focus, just as with Nehemiah,

God honours that. And here's our last point.

Because in all of this action, Nehemiah, the fear of man could

have taken over him. What will people say?

What will people think? What will they do and how will

they react? And will there be a riot in the

streets? Will people just up and leave

and exit Jerusalem? And will there be a mutiny on my

hands? All of those questions running

through my mind. And so Nehemiah gives the

results to God and keeps praying.

Remember Me. Remember Me four times in this

chapter he prays the same simple prayer, Remember Me, O God.

Verse 14, verse 22, verse 29, verse 31, Ernest, he doesn't

pray. Lord fix them.

He says, Lord, Remember Me, Remember what I've done for your

house, for your people, and show me mercy.

Oh God, Remember Me with favour. And he leaves and trusts the

results to God. Think of what we've learned

about Nehemiah and that we've seen over the journey through

this book. He's done everything that he

can, and he's done everything that he can here in this chapter

to try and fix what he's arrived on the scene to discover.

Like I said, he's thrown furniture out, he's pulled hair,

he's shut gates, and now he entrusts the outcome to the

Lord. That is the mark of someone who

knows how to finish well, trusting God, resting in God to

take care of the results. Nehemiah, he's, he's given so

much. He's effectively, if we were to

put it into modern day terms, given millions of dollars of his

own money throughout the years. Here he's given 12 years of his

life way back in Nehemiah chapter 1 and two, he risked his

Nehemiah 1 · chapter mention

own life by coming before King Artaxerxes with the request that

he had to go to Jerusalem in the 1st place.

He could have been beheaded with such a request.

He's been open for character assassination all through

committing his hand to the work and and the task before him.

There's been literal assassination around the corner.

You name it, Nehemiah has faced it.

And still the people drift. Talk about giving so much for

people and they just take it for granted.

And you would think he would be well within his rights to be

bitter about that, to dust his hands off them.

He could have gone well, I'll build a monument to myself at

least that'll remind everybody of who I am and what I've done.

And there's a statue of Nehemiah, you know.

Instead he simply says, God, I give it to you.

Remember Me, Remember Me. And he in that was living for

the day when he would hear Well done, my good and faithful

servant. So here's the big idea again out

of Nehemiah 13. Nehemiah 13 tells us that

finishing well means knowing the call, knowing the goal, guarding

that with integrity, leaving the results, trusting that to God

whilst praying God, Remember Me, Remember Me.

But I want to give us, as we finish this book, some other

lessons by way of reminder that Nehemiah has taught us to just

galvanised that in our knowledge as we wrap up this chapter in

our series on nehemiah #1. It's never too late to do what's

right. You know, even though God's

people had messed up again and again royally through this book,

it did not disqualify them from service or ruin their

relationship with God. And many times we can think that

we can feel that I was having a conversation with somebody this

morning along those lines. You know, no matter what you

have done, if you repent, God is able to renew and rebuild and

watch what God does in rebuilding your life of

dedication unto Him and service. There's a second lesson that we

learn and that is don't play around with sin.

Nehemiah always through this book and certainly in this

chapter, dealt with sin decisively and abruptly.

I think many times we underestimate our sinfulness and

overestimate our goodness. Don't flirt with sin, don't get

cosy with compromise, Be vigilant.

Romans 12 verse 9 says hate what is evil, cling to what is good,

Romans 12:9

and let our definitions of good and evil be derived from God's

Word, not from what the culture around us says.

Not from what our best friend says, not from what we heard,

but from what God's Word says. Thirdly, remember who God is,

that He is great and awesome. Remember that passage that

Nehemiah reminded them about who God was?

That means that He is large and He is in charge.

He is also good all the time, even when bad things happen to

us. He is good and He is gracious.

He doesn't treat us as we deserve, but always grants us

grace and fresh starts for His mercies anew every morning.

Fourthly, cultivate a lifestyle of praise and prayer.

God is desirous of all of us to worship Him with reverence and

with joy, and we've seen that again and again throughout this

book. Move out of your comfort zone.

We saw that last week in particular.

I think many of us, we're way too comfortable with the way

that we're living, and we tend to default to just the path of

least resistance in life, to what is predictable, what is

easy. And God wants us to be available

to him. And when he asks us to do

something that stretches us, let's be ready to move and go.

OK, God, that's uncomfortable. But I'm going to trust you with

the result and the consequence of that.

Don't let difficulties derail you.

Number six. You know, we saw that Nehemiah,

he, he knew the call that God had upon him.

And there were hard times and difficult times that came upon

him and he did not bail out on them.

Check out and go. I didn't sign up for this.

It's, it's all too hard. No, Nehemiah knew what it was

that God had called him to. And those tough times came, yes,

and they'll come for you and I, but instead let them drive you

closer to God. So we certainly see that happen

with Nehemiah 7th. Say yes to God's priorities and

no to the devil's distractions. I believe the promises of God

and act upon them. And lastly, allow God to use you

for whatever reason. And think of all that God has at

His disposal, all that God is able to do in His infinite power

and might with the angelic beings that he has, the

seraphim, the cherubim, and so on.

God takes great pleasure in using you and I, and he loves to

use those who are available to Him.

So you don't have to be a super St or a spiritual giant.

Instead, claim what God has promised and say here I am Lord,

I'm listening, I'm your servant. Help me to do that which you've

called me to do. Love you heart, soul, mind and

strength. Love my neighbour as myself.

Be faithful to the Great Commission.

Go out in whatever ways that you are specific to my life and

share of who you are and let me trust you with the result of

that. In all of this, as we've been

studying, Nehemiah has been focusing on about leaving a

lasting legacy, about finishing well.

But the greatest legacy isn't any of those things.

The greatest legacy that you and I possess and have is Jesus

Christ. Nehemiah, all the way through,

has been pointing to the great rebuilder that is Jesus.

Jesus came to the same city, Jerusalem.

He saw the same compromise in the people of Israel of the day

in the 1st century. He cleansed the temple with

righteous anger, and then he went to the cross to deal with

the root of all our compromise, our sin, And he rose, and he now

lives in us by his Spirit to enable you and I to finish well.

And so today, if you've drifted, if you're wondering how your

story will end, hear the invitation out of Nehemiah come

to Jesus. What you'll see is that Jesus

specialises in fresh starts. Amen.

Lord, thank you for this wonderful book of Nehemiah.

We've been so grateful for the study that you've taken us

through. And thank you for the many

people that throughout the past few weeks have been a part of

this study and the work that you're doing in our lives as a

church, as your people, as individuals, and in our homes,

in our marriages, in our families, in our workplaces.

Specifically, as we've studied tonight, help us to know and to

understand the call, the God given direction and task and

purpose for our lives. We would be devoted and

dedicated to honouring you in that and in your grace and in

your enabling. May we so live to honour you

that we would hear those wonderful words.

Well done, my good and faithful servant.

For any tonight who need a refreshing of your Holy Spirit,

please grant that to them. For any here tonight who need to

know and enjoy your forgiveness and your mercy and grace, pour

it out abundantly. We thank you for your great

love. We thank you for your great

power, and we again present ourselves to you.

And it's in the mighty name of Jesus.

We pray these things, God's people said, Amen.