In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of dedicating time to God's work, even amidst busy daily lives. He uses the example of a man who traveled from Persia to Jerusalem, passing through enemy territory, to highlight the commitment and sacrifice required to serve God. The speaker encourages the audience to be fearless in their labor for God, willing to spend time in the night watch and early mornings. He also mentions the thoroughness of the man's survey of Jerusalem's walls and gates, emphasizing the importance of careful consideration in God's work. The sermon concludes with a reference to the fish gate in the walls of the holy city, symbolizing the invitation for all to come to Jesus in the church of God.

...that deal with the Holy Spirit, if I didn't have this book, to make sure I got it. And our good bookkeeper has a number of copies. It's H. P. Barker's Christ Vicar. I think it'll cost you about $3, is that it, brother? That'll be the best $3 you ever spent here in where we are. So, see, I know of no book... This is the little book that was used as the textbook in Emmaus Bible College when they first started. And I assure you of this, that it's a wonderful, wonderful book. So, there are a number of copies in the bookshelf. Please, you ought to get it. Nehemiah chapter 2. The second chapter of Nehemiah. Now, may I be permitted just very quickly to remind you of some of the things that we have been considering. You will remember on the first day we considered Nehemiah as a person. And there were so many things we said about him, I'm not going through them. Then we considered Nehemiah and his problem. And we heard indeed the message that came from his earthly brother that the walls of Jerusalem were knocked down and the gates were charred with fire. And we thought indeed of some of the problems that we face today. Of walls that are knocked down. The walls of salvation and the walls of security and the walls of strength. And then last evening we, or the last time we were speaking with you, we considered something of Nehemiah and not his person or his problems, but his plan. And we are continuing here today. We thought yesterday indeed of the fact that Nehemiah was a man who had come in contact with God. And we thought something of a saint revealing. We thought something of a savior remembering. We thought of those who were sinners scorning him, refusing him, rebuking him. But today we're taking up the story again in the eleventh verse of the second chapter please. The eleventh verse of the second chapter. So says Nehemiah, So I came to Jerusalem and was there three days. And I arose in the night high and some few men with me. Neither told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem. Neither was there any beast with me save the beast that I rode upon. And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, even before the dragon well, and to the dung port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire. Then I went on to the gate of the fountain and to the king's pool, and there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass. Then went I up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall, and turned back, and entered by the gate of the valley, so returned. And the rulers knew not whether I went or what I did. Neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work. Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lie at waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire. Come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach. Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me, and also the king's words that he hath spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work. And then just a phrase or two in the third chapter. Verse 1, Then Eliashed the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests, and they builded the sheep gate, and they sanctified it, and set up the doors of it. Verse 2, And next unto him, verse 4, And next unto them, verse 7, And next unto them, verse 8, Next unto him, verse 9, And next unto them, verse 10, And next unto them, verse 12, And next unto him repaired Shalom the son of Elohish, the ruler of half parts of Jerusalem, he and his daughter. The Lord will add his blessing, I'm sure, to the reading of his own precious word. We are considering again this evening something called the plan of Nehemiah. I want to say again that if you and I are going to build anything for God, then there's one certain thing, that each one of us must consider ourselves before God what manner of person we are. We must consider and consider very earnestly the problems that are before us. And then I am certain that with the words of God in our hands, our knees upon the ground, our voice up to heaven, we've got to pray this matter through that we may go forward to build for God. I wonder if I may draw your attention, first of all this evening, to the very thoughts of this man, Nehemiah, and the thoughts of his fearlessness. It always needs a fearless man to serve God. Then I'm going to draw your attention not only to his fearlessness, but I'm going to draw your attention to his fellowship. And I will be repeating, of course, again and again these words, and next unto him, and next unto him, and next unto him. I will be reminding you that no man builds on his own, but there is fellowship in the building for God. And then I would remind you not only of his fearlessness, and remind you of his fellowship, but I would remind you of his faithfulness. We will see how he started and where he started to build. We will notice, of course, that there was indeed some forty-two separate companies of men who built. And we will notice where they built, and we will see how they built, and we will think indeed this evening of the faithfulness of those that built. Such are words about his fearlessness. You know, it needed a man of some courage to leave Persia, to come down from the very court of the king, and to go to an area where he knew that men and women had lifted their hand against God's people. I look around this world of ours, and I'm not only thinking of building an America. I'm not only thinking of building in my own beloved land, but I'm thinking of the building for God in many parts of the world. And I think you will grant me that there are many areas where it needs just old-fashioned courage to take one's hand for God. To go today to land behind the Iron Curtain. To find oneself laboring in areas that know the overthrow of that which we call the Bamboo Curtain. To be found in the troubled land of Africa today. To find oneself in those lands that are ruled by Muslim power. To say the least of it, you need courage today. But here was a man who was prepared to leave the sheltered condition, the wealthy and extremely pleasant circumstances of the court of the king, and go down to Jerusalem to build for God. I said that we're going to consider his fearlessness. And I want us to think of his fearlessness first in his survey. And then we're going to consider his fearlessness not only in his survey of the problem, but in his spirit. And then we're going to consider his fearlessness in his absolute preparation. And I will be putting in inverted commas. I will be writing in red ink. I will be underlining in black letters or black lines some of the things that Mr. Phillips said to us this morning. First of all, he was fearless in his survey. For when he arrived, you will remember, away at Jerusalem, the first thing we read of him was that there he arrived in Jerusalem, and he says, I was there three days. Oh, here was a man who indeed very, very thoughtfully considered the work of God. He did not rush into his task. He did not say, there's a work to be done. The walls must be built. The gates must be hung. I'm going to get on this job straight away. But he spent three days in Jerusalem and communed with no man. But me think that his survey was a thoughtful survey of the problem. Brethren, sisters, if I've learned anything in the school of experience, I've learned that many a time a Christian worker rushes into a task, and when he rushes into it, he quickly comes out of it. It is an easy thing to get something started. It is a difficult thing to see something continued. And it is the continuation of the work of God that counts. If we plan to do something for God and do something in the work of God, let us carefully and prayerfully and thoughtfully consider every angle of the problem. I suggest to you his survey was not only thoughtful, but his survey was silent. Neither told I any man, he said. He went out in the night watch. He encircled the city. Now, I believe that here is a lesson that you and I need to learn. Here is a challenge you and I need to face if we're going to work for God. Here was a man who traveled from Persia to Jerusalem. He passed through the country of the enemy. It seemed the good hand of God with him. He arrives at Jerusalem. For three days, he prayerfully and thoughtfully considers the problem, and then he gives up a night of sleep and rest that he might go out and survey the ruins of the city. I have never yet met a man who does something for God who's not prepared to give up his sleep. Young men, if you will know God's Word, I'll tell you how to know God's Word. You'll know God's Word by reading it, by prayerfully pondering it. All these books are help, and I believe that God gave gifts to the church, and one of the gifts was the gift of a teacher, and that is written teaching as well as all teaching. But this I have learned, and this you will learn, that if you're going to know and be equipped in the Word of God, you'll have to spend time reading it. And it will mean sometimes a night without sleep. It'll mean rising early. For dare I please remind you of what I said yesterday? May I remind you that here was a man whose heart revealed his honesty. His faith revealed his honesty. He dared to say to the king when the king said, How long wilt thou go? He dared to set a time, and he was honest in his business, honest in his transaction, a good, fine, working, cup-bearer. And yet, if he was to know God on top of his daily work, there had to be time spent. I marvel when I look around a company like this. I see brethren and sisters from all walks of life. I see brethren and sisters here this evening who, day by day, are occupied eight, nine, ten hours in your business, and occupied rightly. Yet, I dare say, if we're going to build for God like Nehemiah, we have to be prepared to spend something of the night watch, something of the early morning. I have one complaint against the conference. Only one, but one. They don't let you get about until seven o'clock in the morning. Now, that may not mean much to you, but my wife will tell you that most mornings are not the time. And I found that the days are so full with seeking to do the work that God has called one to, that if I'm going to do anything, it's got to be done early in the morning. And brethren and sisters, let us be fearless, not only in our survey as we go out to consider the needs of this world of ours, but indeed that we might be fearless in our labor for Him, even into the night watch. But I said here was a man who, when we consider him, we see his survey and we see it was thoughtfully done, it was silently done, but it was thoroughly done. He did not skip one bit of it. We're told in verse 13 that he saw the gates and the walls and the king's pool. He went right round and considered it thoroughly. I said he was fearless not only in his survey, but in his spirit. You see, he looked into the faces of those that eventually he spoke to and he said, come, let us build the walls together. Here was a man whose practical organizing ability was used with his spirituality. Now that's how things are done for God. A man had practical organizing ability. He proved it in the palace of the king, and now he's going to use it for the palace of the king of kings. Brethren, sisters, I don't know what skills God has given you. This I know. This I am absolutely certain of, that whatever skills you may have, God can use them for His glory in His Church. The great tragedy of our modern age is this, that the pulpits looking to the pew and the pews looking to the pulpit, God grant that each one of us might realize that pew and pulpit have a work to be done for God. Oh, that we might go out to use what talents we have for His glory, but may they be marked with spirituality. A man who knew the good hand of his God on him was the man that used his ability for the glory of God. Then I said he was fearless not only in his serving and fearless in his spirit, but he was fearless in his separation. Verse 20 of chapter 2 is one of the great verses of the Bible. Have you looked into the faces of that trinity of evil men, and he dared say, You have no portion or right or memorial in Jerusalem. I am glad that Mr. Phillips reminded us of that old principle of separation. I believe that the church of God should walk a pathway that men may behold their good works and glory by their Father which is in heaven. It is a job sometimes to see the difference between the church, the body of Christ, and the world with all its treasures and its sins. God grant that we might realize that the church of God's work is indeed to represent Christ. I pointed out last week, and I would like to just make this observation again, that with all my heart I believe in the autonomy of the local church. I believe that the risen Christ walked between seven individual lampstands, candlesticks, not a seven-branched candlestick. It is not the seven-branched candlestick of the tabernacle. It is seven individual candlesticks. There was no link between one candlestick and the other. The link was the Christ in the middle. And He fed the oil into the lamps. He trimmed the wicks. He saw they burned clearly and brightly. And listen, this was why they burned. Not that people might look at them and say, what a lovely candlestick. But that they might look at the Christ on whom their light shone. This is the work of the church, to shine its light upon the Savior, that men and women might say, what a Savior. Or can I ask you tonight, what think ye of Christ? What think ye of Christ? Let us ever remember that the world has no place, no portion, no right, no memorial in that heavenly Jerusalem. But I said that He was fearless. I said also, there's not only His fearlessness, but His fellowship. Let us, let us build. Now as you read through the book of Nehemiah, you will find that there are 42 different working groups in Nehemiah. Now if you don't believe that, you go back home and do the same as I did. You count them up. But that's how many there are. There were 42 different groups. And the most remarkable thing is this, that each group worked nearest to the point where they lived. I think that's important, don't you? Please, I don't think I'm spiritualizing something there. But Nehemiah looked and there was to be no wasted effort. He saw certain men who lived by a certain part of the wall that had been knocked down. And he said, that's the part for you to build. And dare I say this, that if you and I are going to build something for God, I'll tell you where to start. In Jerusalem. Then you can go to Judea, and then Samaria, and then the uppermost parts of the earth. Oh, my brethren, my sisters, how easy it is for me to come to America and speak to you. But if I can't stand in my own fellowship of the whole, if the people in my district don't know that I'm a Christian, then I doubt whether I am one at all. I must seek to build in the place where I live. And God desires us to do this. Nehemiah lived in Persia. He came to Jerusalem to build. But when he gathered around him those that would labor with him, they were the folk that built near where they lived. You will notice that there were so many different classes of people as well. We start off, first of all, with a liarship, the high priest. And I think that's most interesting, don't you? You see, I believe that example is better than precept, don't you? I am certain that a liarship would gather occasionally some of those Jews around him. I'm certain he would have said to them, oh, my brethren, my brethren, we need to build the walls. But what earthly good is that? What they needed to see was the high priest going and doing a little bricklaying himself. And when Nehemiah came down, the ones that were the priests, they are the first folk who were mentioned who did their work. A liarship, the high priest. You know, brethren, this is one of the memories I have of North Carolina. When first I came some 25 years ago, and I stopped off just for a few days in Durham. I won't tell you all that I thought, but I've some very happy memories. But one of the happiest memories I have of Durham is this, that from some movie house or picture house or somewhere or the other, you brethren in Durham had purchased some seats and you were putting them in. And the man who did more work putting them in was the man who was preaching. Welcome, get one. He didn't stand there and preach, but he carried in the seats. I believe I'm even right in saying he drove the lorry. I beg your pardon, truck, isn't it? What awful things you've done with our English language. But you see, there was a work done. And dare I say this, dare I say this, if there's a work going to be done for God, it starts with the man who does the preaching and a liarship, the high priest. Then would you notice we are told not only about him, but we are told then about a person in verse 8 who was an apothecary. He was what we would call in my country a chemist. We're told of this person, Hananiah, one of the white-collared workers. Now, you know, if I've learned anything about white-collared workers, I've learned this, that they are very apt to say, I'll keep the books, you know. I'll do some of the jobs that are just not too dirty, pardon me. But here was a man who was an apothecary, and yet he labored with stones and mortar, troweling hands, building the walls. Brethren, there is no task too menial that a Christian can stand aside and say, that's beneath me. There is no task too big, if God's with him, that that Christian can't attempt. I've been utterly amazed, utterly amazed, when I've seen some of the work that some folk have done. You've heard me speak of a little girl, and I call her that, although of course she's in her forties, but you've heard me speak of a little girl that has challenged my heart maybe more than anyone else. I'm speaking of Betty Beatty, away in Angola. There she's found in an area bigger than your three states put together, one white girl, not a male missionary there at all, laboring amongst thousands of our African brethren, serving God, and never once did I ever see her go out of bed and take a place that God had given to a man. Never once. But you know, I've been utterly amazed as I thought of her. I see her, this girl with a university degree. I see her gather the children around her and teach them indeed their simple, simple alphabet. I've seen her, she's gone on with senior students and taught them advanced mathematics and advanced things, even in their Portuguese tongue. I've seen her, she's gathered women around her and taught those women how to care for their children although she's unmarried, and how indeed to cook and tend and keep. But one of the things that thrilled me was this. You know, I'm rather fond of fruits, and next to mangoes that I believe were in the Garden of Eden, but next to mangoes I think oranges are just beautiful. And you will understand how I arrived hundreds of miles away from what we would normally call civilization, I walked down a little pathway and there's a great orange grove. And I said to Penny, Penny, who planted those oranges? Well she said, when I came to the station they were here, but they hadn't been cared for, they hadn't been pruned, they hadn't been sprayed, and I knew nothing of oranges. So the first leave I had I went down to Florida and I found some person that grew oranges and I spent a week with him going around the orange groves, that I might learn something about them, that I can go back to these Africans and show them and help them how to grow their oranges and get a living. Not much missionary work in that, is there? I think there's every missionary work in that. And I believe in the Church of God, it isn't just the pulpit, it's the few that count. And brethren, each one of us bear our responsibility that we go out to say, Lord, Lord I may be an apothecary, I may indeed be a white-collared worker, but I'll do something for you even if it's laying bricks. Have you ever laid bricks? I'll let you in on a secret, if you have never laid bricks, at the end of the first two days your fingers will be bleeding. And if you're laying stones, I'll tell you what will happen, it won't be long before with your hammer you knock the stone and you miss it and hit yourself. But if you'll carry on for God, I'll tell you something, there'll be something built for God. And sometimes in building for God, we have our fingers hurt. Sometimes people say and do things to us that are very hurtful, but let's go on laboring for God. And then would you notice there was not only the high priest, there was not only the apothecary, but you will go down and notice there was a man, Repaniah, and we're told this of him, and he was the son of the ruler of half of Jerusalem. I like that, don't you? I like that, the son of the ruler of half of Jerusalem. You know, he's the sort of man who would say, well, I know it needs to be built, but I'll put my hand in my pocket and pay a little. I'll get someone to do it for not a bit of it. There are none too important to do a menial task. I've said it before, I say it again, if the assemblies of God's hope are going to flourish, they'll flourish because all of us will have a will to work, all of us. And then would you notice in the last verse that we read, we went to the man, and this is what we're told of him. He had daughters, and they worked as well, verse 12, Shalom and his daughters. I wonder what those daughters did. I wonder what those sisters did. Do you think they laid bricks or laid stones or carried mortar or did they make the tea? I don't know what they did beyond this. They labored in the building of the walls, and sisters, dare I say this, on your shoulders rest such a responsibility. Oh, bless God for sisters who love the Savior. For I tell you this, without them, I doubt whether there would be any church life at all. We want to thank you, sisters. We want here publicly to say to you how much we appreciate what you do for God. May I ask this, carry on, carry on putting us men to shame, carry on working for Him. Fellowship, one with another. You know, if the Epistles of the Corinthians tells me anything, it tells me that one of the things God is against is cliques, schisms, little groups, you know, people who said, I of Paul and I of Apollos and I of Cephas and I of Christ, all in one church, little group, awful thing that, awful thing. You know just what had happened. How Paul came and he preached and some of the folks said, isn't that wonderful? Oh, isn't that lovely? But some of the folks said, well, it's very nice, Mark here, but he goes down so deep and he comes up so dry. You know, he preaches over my head with all these Old Testament references. Why? I'm a Greek and I'm a slave and I can't read. I don't understand him. What? And then, of course, there came not only Paul, but there came Apollos. And Apollos was an eloquent man. Do you know he was such a wonderful person? Really, you'd have thought that he'd swallowed a dictionary. Really, you would. It was just wonderful. And some of the folks said, why, that's the man we must have in our place. You know, you'd never be ashamed to ask anyone to come and listen to him. He'll never drop an H. He'll never put it on in the wrong place. He'll never, oh, that's the man for us. But some of the folks listened to him and said, ah, yes, but, you know, he uses so many big words and I don't understand them. You know, he calls a summary an abbreviated synopsis. Why? Oh, we can't understand him. And then Peter came, dear old Peter. You know, he stamped his feet a little bit, banged the desk and knocked the glass over. But he's some fire in his bones. And they said, that's the man for us. And then there were some of them who said, I have Christ. No, they weren't some sort of emperor, veteran movement. You know, we're gathered to him. Not a bit of it. I'll tell you what they were, if you want their modern, modern counterpart. They were very much like our Quaker friends. Why, they said, we went to Jerusalem, we heard Christ. What did we want to listen to Paul or Apollos or Cephas for? We went to the fountainhead. We've heard the Saviour. And like some of our Quaker friends, they say, well, you know, we haven't much time for preachers. We haven't very much time for great men. We'll just sit and quietly listen to the voice within us. And the tragedy is this. The tragedy is this. That they divided a bunch. They never learned that all are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, things present, things to come. They never realized that God has a place for Paul and has a place for Apollos and has a place for Cephas and has a place for quiet meditating just on the things of Christ. All these things are ours. There must be fellowship. Let's enjoy it all. Whether it's the high priest, whether it's the apothecary, whether it's the son of the ruler of half of Jerusalem, or whether it's the girls that come round with a coffee pot. Let's rejoice in the Lord in the fact that we're workers together for God. Rather than let go home and not say, brother, so and so's a wonderful worker. Let's go home and say, I'm going to help him work. I'm going to help him. Then would you notice, please, not only their fellowship, but would you notice their faithfulness? Now, I'll have to stop in the middle of this. But do you notice that his faithfulness as he started to build? Now, he was going to build the walls and he was going to hang the gates. And there were twelve gates. Maybe like the twelve gates of that new Jerusalem, that holy city. But there were twelve gates. And isn't it remarkable that the first place they started was the Sheep Gate. That's where they started. And isn't it remarkable that it's the last gate that's mentioned as well. They went right round the city. They started with the Sheep Gate. They finished with the Sheep Gate. And there's not a man or a woman here today will have any doubt when I suggest to you that if we're going to build anything for God, we've got to start at the Sheep Gate. We've got to realize this, that the Lord Jesus Himself reminded our hearts that there are sheep. And that the church of God are His sheep. And we've got to start where sheep are brought into the church of God. We started there. We've got to start at the cross. We've got to behold the One who was called the Lamb of God. We've got to build from Him and around Him and with Him. There's a lovely story that is often told. And if you've ever had a Scots preacher here, and you have many times, he's told this story. I wonder if you'll permit me to tell it as an Englishman. You know the story. But the story is told of a little boy walking down the main street of Glasgow. And as he went down Argyle Street, he came towards the bottom of Argyle Street. Now at the bottom of Argyle Street is what we call Glasgow Cross. It's just a granite memorial. But Glasgow Cross, everyone in Glasgow knows it. Almost everyone in Scotland. They know it not only for its history, for at the base of it, seven men were burned at the stake for the testimony of Jesus Christ during the days of the covenant. But they also know it because, well, it's almost by the salt market. And all the buses have Glasgow Cross. And when they used to have the old street cars, the tram cars, you know. Those things that are mentioned in Genesis, all manner of creeping beats. But there they are, on the front of them. You see Glasgow Cross. And every boy knows Glasgow Cross. And this boy was walking down Argyle Street, and the tears were running down his cheeks. And a great Scots policeman saw him and crossed the road and said to him in his Scots tongue, Och laddie, what's the matter? And the wee boy looked up and said, oh, sir, I'm lost. I'm lost. And the policeman said, oh, don't you worry now. Tell me, what's your name? But he wasn't going to tell the policeman that. He'd heard his mother say, if you do that again, I'll fetch a policeman. He wasn't going to tell him that. And he said, oh, I didn't kin my name, but I'm lost. You didn't kin your name, laddie, and you're lost. Where do you stay? He was up to that one too. He wasn't going to tell the policeman where he stayed. Oh, he said, sir, I don't know where I stay. You don't know your name, and you don't know where you stay. Well, what am I going to do with you? And to the tears there came a smile. And a wee boy looked up at the great Scots policeman and said, Och, sir, you take me to the cross. I can find my own way home from there. Ah, that's it. Just a dirty old granite memorial, but he knew his way home from there. And I know a cross, blessed be God. And the way of the cross leads home. I know a cross where men and women can come into fellowship with Christ, be brought into the body of Christ, the church of Christ. And I want to make sure when I build anything, I start at the cross. I start at a sheet gate. I remind men and women that there's a door that's open. We sing a little old chorus, don't we? There's a way back to God from the dark paths of sin. There's a door that is opened and all may go in. A Calvary cross is where you begin. Hallelujah. When you come as a sinner to Jesus. And they started building at the sheet gate. And I'll say one other and leave the rest for the morning. The next gate they built, they built the wall from the sheet gate to the fish gate. Oh, praise God for verse three. Isn't it grand that in the walls of this city there was a fish gate? Isn't it grand to know in the walls of that holy city there are twelve gates? And isn't it grand to know that into the church of God we can invite men and women? For there's a fish gate. What was it that was said of Andrew and his brother Simon? They were fishers. And what did the Lord do? He made them fishers of men. Oh, brethren, sisters, are we going out to fish? Are we going out to fish? You know, I'm not talking about the sort of fishing, you know, with a rod and a line. I'm talking of the fishing Jesus was speaking about. Whatever you may say about a fisherman, you've got to acknowledge this. That a fisherman is a man who knows something to accompany with others. When I leave here, I'll be going back to my own country, and after spending some time in Plymouth away in Wentwell, I'll be making my way to conduct a citywide crusade in Aberdeen. And I know what I'll do. Three mornings every week I'll be down at the fish market. And there the fishermen and the fish salesmen and the auctioneers, they'll gather around as they've done many a year when I've been in Aberdeen. And I'll preach the gospel to them before they start at three o'clock in the morning to sell their fish. And if there's one thing I've learned about fishermen, I've learned this. That they're men who know what it means to work with others. If you're an individualist, don't you go on a fishing boat. You'll be no good. But if you're prepared to work with others, you'll gather the fishes. And brethren and sisters, God grants that we may build, and that we might see their fish caught. Fishers of men. Oh, may it be so. May we, step by step, work with God. Brick by brick, stone by stone, build His walls. Nail by nail, piece of wood by piece of wood, build and hang the gates. And God grant that we might be able to see something.