Bristol Conference 1975-10 Nehemiah - His Plan — Stan Ford

Mail, it will be on the table just out in the hallway there, and if you have mail you'd like to send back home, there's a box out there for that, and it gets taken into town twice a day. So just keep that in mind.

Now, our speaker for this morning, my brother Stan Ford.

Nehemiah’s Plan to Rebuild for God

Thank you. The second chapter of the book of Nehemiah, please. Nehemiah chapter 2, and we will read the first eleven verses. And it came to pass in the month Nathan, this would be our month of April, and in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, the wine was before him, and I took up the wine and gave it unto the king.

Now I had not been before time sad in his presence, wherefore the king said unto me, Why is my countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? This is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid, and said unto the king, Let the king live forever.

Why should not my countenance be sad when the city and the place of my father's catechers lie at wait, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire? Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request?

So I prayed to the God of heaven, and I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant had found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldst send me unto Judah, unto the city of my father's catechers, that I may build it.

And the king said unto me, and the queen also sitting by him, For how long shall thy journey be, and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me, and I set him at time. Moreover, I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah.

A letter unto Asaph, the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber, and make beans for the gates of the palace, which are pertained to the house, to the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into.

And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me. Then I came to the governors beyond the river, and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army, and horsemen with me, and when St. Balaam, the Horonites, and Tobias of Curban, the Ammonites heard of it, they grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to teach the welfare of the children of Israel.

So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days. Now the Lord will add his blessing, I'm sure, to the reading of his own precious work. You will remember that on Saturday we gave some talk to Nehemiah as a person.

Last evening we gave some talk to Nehemiah and his problem. This morning we're going to take a further step, and we're going to look at a little of Nehemiah and his plan. You know it's always good when there's a work to be done for God if we have a plan.

If prayerfully and thoughtfully we consider what we can and will do. And Nehemiah set about his plan. It seems to me in the few verses that we have read there are three things that we must consider. It seems to me that first of all we have a Saint revealing.

May I repeat that? First of all we have a Saint revealing. That you could not read the words that we've read without seeing that not only do you have a Saint revealing, but you have a Savior remembering.

So I pray to the God of heaven and say, according to the good hand of our God that was with me, words like these occur again and again in the very verses that we have read. But if first we have a Saint revealing and then a Savior remembering, one of the tragedies of these verses is that we have sinners ridiculing.

Nehemiah Reveals His Heart and Hope

For when we turn to verse 19 we read these tragic words and they lost us to scorn. They lost us to scorn. Now I don't know about you, but it seems to me that in the day in which we live, when there's so much to be built for God, that these three things need our careful consideration.

First of all there was a Saint revealing. Now I'm going to suggest to you that those first six verses bring this so forcibly before us. First of all, Nehemiah, this mighty Saint of God, was a man who revealed his heart.

For the king looked at him and said, this is nothing but sorrow of heart. Then I'm going to suggest that he not only revealed his heart, but he revealed his hope. As the king asked for what he was requesting, and he gazes into the face of the king and he says, send me unto Judah, unto the cities of my fathers, that I may build.

Oh what a hope, what a hope that one man would ever step in and fill the walls of the city. Yet I'm not unmindful that when the apostle writes to the church at Corinth, he says, if there be first a willing mind, and if you and I are going to do anything for God, let's remember it will start with us.

We will soon find out that there will be others to help us. But when we reveal our hope, our desire, our longing, that I may build, then I believe God takes notice of us. But I would suggest he reveals not only his heart, and he reveals not only his hope, but I'm going to spend a moment on my third point, he revealed his honesty.

For the king looked at him and asked concerning, how long shall thy journey be, and when wilt thou return? And so I sent him a time, he was asking for time from his work, he was asking for relief from his labor, it was going to take 12 long years.

But he looked into the face of the king and he sent the king a time, and he was honest with his employer, and when a man is honest with his employer, a man can be honest in the things of God, and if he's not honest with his employer, I doubt whether he ever will be honest in his labor for God.

Sorrow for the Peril of the Lost

But let's go back, I suggested to you that here is a saint revealing, and he revealed his heart. The king looked at him and said, this is nothing but sorrow of heart for fear. Now, brethren, sisters, while it's a wonderful thing to know that the joy of the Lord is our strength, and we will consider this in the days to come, yet would I not also be right that when we look around this world of ours, there is much that would make the heart of the saint sad?

And I believe that it's good when a saint is so concerned, so concerned with the need all around, that his heart is made sad, for it then he can turn to the source of supply, that his heart may be made glad.

Would I be right in saying this, that the perils of our friends and our unconverted family make our heart sad? Why, this man, Nehemiah, had heard of the walls that were knocked down, of the gates that were burned with fire.

He heard of a people that were being ridiculed by those that lived around. He wondered about them, and his heart was made sad as he thought of their peril. Brethren, sisters, has the peril of the unconverted never touched our heart?

Have we never stayed for a moment to think of the countless years that lie ahead, of those taverns of endless remorse? Have we never stopped to realize that the Christ who spoke of heaven spoke of hell, and spoke more of hell than he did of heaven?

Never stopped to realize that there are friends and acquaintances around us, that may be loved ones, and all the peril they're in without God's salvation, without a spiritual home where they can be built in their Christian faith.

As I look back over the years, there are many things of which I am reminded at this moment, but above them all, I remember an occasion when a dear lady came to see me. Her desire was that I would officiate at the funeral of her son.

This son had been killed in a motorbike accident, but I don't know if I could ever remember a lady who seemed more brokenhearted. I tried to comfort her, but I could find no words to bring comfort. And after a while, to her tears, with desperate sobbing, she said, Mr. Forrest, you've gone to hell, and I sent him there.

You've gone to hell, and I sent him there. I looked at her and allowed her to cry. And after a while, I said, please tell me the story. I can't help you if you don't. This was the story, that as a young woman, she had trusted Christ, had been brought into a fellowship of God's hope, had enjoyed for some years the unity and the blessing that comes to those who walk in the path of the Lord.

But she faced a problem, a real problem, that in the fellowship that she was connected with, there were very few young men. And it seemed as though she'd never have a young man. But one day in her business, a young man asked if she would go out to supper with him.

And she went. Bit by bit, she fell in love with this young man. And he asked if she would marry him. And after a while, she said she would. But then, in honesty, I must say this, the young man looked at her and said, but there's just one thing.

I am not a Christian, and I want none of your Christianity. If we are blessed with children, they will not go to church. And a young woman made the decision that she'd rather have the young man than the Lord.

And she married him. And a young son was born. And after a while, her husband had a heart attack. And he found out within a few seconds there was a hell. And her son grew up, and he's 18 years of age, and he's out on a motorbike going wild.

He's in eternity. And she'd never told him of Jesus. She'd never spoken to him of the Savior. And she came to me, sobbing her heart out, and she said, he's in hell, and I sent him there. Listen, my friends, I suggest that those of us today who have loved ones and friends, who know not Christ, we need to be sad.

We need to be sad. It's not this sorrow of heart, but I suggest to you that the need of unconverted relatives, the need of friends, make us sad. But the punishment of the lost makes us sad. And the words of the 16th of Luke never struck our heart.

And in hell, he lifted up his eyes, being in torment. Oh, please, please. I'm always having folks say words like these to me. But, Mr. Preacher, that's just a parable. Oh, please, God, it's not. Please, God, it's not.

For may I remind you of the first principle of homiletics? May I? That an illustration is never bigger than the thing it illustrates. Tell me the 16th of Luke is a parable. Then what is it parabolic of?

For remember, that whenever the Lord Jesus used the parable, without exception, this is true. Whenever the Lord Jesus used a parable, the thing that it was parabolic of was bigger than the parable. If the 16th of Luke is a parable, God deliver me from the thing it's parabolic of.

Isn't it bad enough to find a man in hell? Isn't it bad enough to hear the word, and he lifted up his eyes, being in torment? Isn't that bad enough? Do you want it to be made a hundred times worse? Please, God, it's not a parable.

And I remember that there's an eternity without Christ, and there's got to be. Please, there's got to be. When God made man, He gave to that man the ability to say yes to God or no to God. My Bible tells me a man is condemned because he believes not.

That's why he's condemned, because he believes not. God has given man an opportunity, the ability to believe. And if a man says yes to Jesus Christ, then God, because He cannot lie, God must give His Son to that man.

And there must be a time when death comes upon us, should the Lord tarry. There must be a place where we can have Christ eternally. And the Bible calls it heaven. But if a man says no to Christ, God will not give him His Son.

God will not press His Son on a man if He doesn't want Him. He's never saved a man against His will yet, and He never will. And there must be a place in eternity. There must be. If God is truthful, there must be a place in eternity where if I say no to Christ, I will dwell without Christ.

My Bible calls that hell, hell, to be without Christ eternal. Oh my friend, no wonder, no wonder sometimes our hearts are sad. But there are other things that make our hearts sad. Not only the peril of our friends and family, not only the punishment of the law, but dare I suggest, the perversion of the heathen makes us sad.

The Perils of Heathenism and the Need for Missionary Work

We look around this old world, oh would to God every one of you had been able to listen to Mr. McKenzie last week as he spoke before us the claim of the mission pills. We look around the world today and we see so much darkness, so much perversion of the things of God, so many people who preach things that are like the truth, but they're not the truth.

They are perversion of the truth. Brethren, sisters, how we need to pray for our brethren and sisters in land where heathenism is rampant. I had finished the week of Bible school away in Beulah, and dear George Wiseman, who you know and love so much, said to me, Brother Sam, the elders want to talk to you.

Want to talk to me? What do they want to talk to me about? Well he said, I don't know but I'll soon find out because they won't understand you unless I interpret. Sure way I went. And about 60 of those African elders gathered for many of the assemblies around that area of Angola.

We sat down and it wasn't long before it became very obvious what they wanted to talk to me about. They said, Mr. Ford, now please, I presume they said this. This is what George Wiseman said they said.

But he said, they said, Miss Ford, we appreciate so much the work of the nurses here in the hospital. Our women are saved, our children are born and cared for and many, many sicknesses that they come to us for or we go to them for.

But when you go back to England, could you tell the folk how much we need a doctor? You see, there's no medical service whatsoever, government medical service, in that area at all. Or how much we need a doctor.

Well when some of our older Christians are in need of real surgery, there's no one to go to. And we know they have to die. And many a Christian who has for years borne a blight testimony in the villages in this area, when they come for the end of their day, in desperate need of surgery, and there's no one to go to, they turn again to a witch doctor.

To try anything, to get rid of their pain. You know I came away from Beulah with a very heavy heart, a very heavy heart. For I knew that in my country, as maybe in yours as well, there are hundreds of young men and women studying medicine and many of them name the name of Christ.

But so many of them, the mission failed, is right out of their thoughts. Right out of their thoughts. And here are dear African brethren and sisters, surrounded by a heathenism that you and I know nothing about.

Now don't let's be critical of them, because if I see things are right in America, there's a lot of you when you get ill you go to Christ. And in desperation, they go to a heathen witch doctor, to try and get better.

I say my heart is packed. Ignore it. There's a need for something to be built for God. There's a need for the walls of salvation, that our lost friends and relatives may come to know Christ. There is a need for the walls of security, that they may be snatched from the eternal burning.

There's a need for strength, that men and women may be ministered unto. Oh brethren, sisters, Nehemiah revealed his heart. Are we revealing ours? Is this the desire of our heart? When he not only revealed his heart, he revealed his hope.

Send me unto Judas and Versailles, into the city of my father's patricars, that I may build. You know it was Charles Haddon Spurgeon, who in his lectures to his students said, will to work, and work with a will, are the requirements of every man who serves God.

A will to work, and then go and work with a will. And in the assemblies of God's folks that we represent, oh brethren, sisters, God give us a will to work. God deliver us from being that sort of Christian that's always finding fault with some folks who do it.

You know I once had a brother say to me, he said, well you know brother Sam, I like the way they do it, than the way we don't do it. And I think there's a bit of sense in that, don't you? The way they do it, than the way we don't do it.

I don't want to be critical of brethren and sisters who are seeking to do something for God. I may not always see eye to eye with some of the things they do. I'll let you into a secret. You wouldn't tell anyone would you?

But I'll let you into a secret. I'm a bit of a square, really I am. And I sometimes look at some of these young folks, and I could bang their heads together. And then suddenly it dawns on me, that they're doing what I'm not doing.

And instead of banging their heads together, I want to get on the knees and pray God's blessing on them. And ask that the Lord might just leave them a right. Leave them a right. Oh brethren, sisters, God give us a will to work.

For it was Mr. Spurgeon who also dared to say, and I believe it makes sense. He said, striving, striving brings good thriving in any church. And I think that's right. If your church is thriving, then it will never thrive unless we strive to serve the Lord.

In other words, unless with Nehemiah we say, I will build. I'm going to do something for God. I will build. But then he not only reveals his heart, and he makes known, he reveals his hope, he tells the king what's in his heart.

But he reveals his honesty. How long shall thy journey be? And when wilt thou return? And I sent him a toss. If you come with me and forth away into the thirteenth chapter of Nehemiah, and the great sixth verse, you will remember that Nehemiah speaks of what had happened in Jerusalem while he was not there.

For he kept his word and returned at the time he sat with the king. Now I've got a strong feeling, please, please, I want to say this and you won't mind me saying it, I know. But I've got a strong feeling that one of the things we need today is a revival of simple honesty.

Simple honesty. Now I'm not talking of stealing from your employer. I'm not talking of snatching someone's handbag as they walk down the road. And one of the things I'm talking about is punctuality in meetings.

So I set a time. I'm not talking about when you finish, because I never set a time to finish, but I set a time to start. And don't let's forget this brethren, if we are late and the assembly has to wait for us, what we are saying in effect is that my time's more important than theirs.

They can wait for me. And if that's not pride, you tell me what pride is. And tell me this, is there one word in the Bible, one word in the Bible that says anything good about pride? I remember years ago preaching in Trinidad when dear old Henry Spencer was there and Henry was a man of God.

But old Henry could cut you off quicker than anyone you ever met. And in the course of an address I made a simple statement like this. I said, you know brethren, in the course of my years I've met many folks and I've been so proud to meet them.

But I thank God that I'm more proud that I can stand before you and tell you I met Jesus than any other person I ever met. I was hardly off the platform before Henry Spencer had hold of me. Brother Ford said he in his Welsh tongue, Brother Ford, can you tell me anything good about pride?

He said there's pride of faith and pride of grace. But the worst of all is the pride of grace. Don't you stand up there and say you're even proud you met the Lord. There's nothing good about pride. Now, you know, I was a bit hurt.

I mean, fancy telling the preacher off. I mean, it's all right for the preacher to tell you off, but I fancy telling him off. But I've never forgotten it. And if I think, if I think that my time's more important than someone else's and I can make them wait, I think that's the height of pride.

And God has nothing good to say about it. Now, I remember, oh I know they're a problem. I remember a way in Cornwall. We were seated for the morning meeting and after, we didn't start on time, and afterwards I said to the elder, I said, you know, Brother, the good book says, when the hour was come, he sat down.

Oh yes, he says, but it also says tarry one for another. I don't mind waiting for someone if they can't help being late. But I tell you something, I don't want to tarry for them if they can help it. And I wonder why it is the folks who live, live nearest to the chapel are mostly the latest.

God Provides Mercy, Materials, and Men

Now, let's press on. He revealed his honesty. God grant that we may be honest in our business, honest in our home, honest in our witness to the Lord. Here's a saint revealing. Here's a savior remembering.

Verses 7 to 9. Would you notice that he remembered parts with mercy? Verse 7 says, letters given me to the governors beyond the river that they may convey me over till I come into Judah. Why he was going there, I have little doubt he was taking much money with him.

He was going to build the wall. There was danger. How was he going to get there? And he asked permission to have someone who would care for him. And he asked of the king letters. And God remembered and saw that he got them.

He not only remembered with mercy, he remembered with material. Verse 8, timber to make beads. And there upon the very forest, they cut the trees and timber was granted him to hang the gates and to build the wall.

He remembered with material. He remembered with men. Verse 9, now the king had sent captains and an army of horsemen with me. Isn't it grand when we do the work of God, how he provides what's necessary.

He gives us mercy. Oh, is it not apparent that we're living in a day when there are many that would seek to hinder the work of God. But isn't it wonderful to know that he has provided in mercy for each one of us.

He has given us letters to the king. Oh, you say, Mr. Preacher, now come, come, come, come. We haven't even got a king in America. Well, that's your fault, not mine. I only know this. I only know this, that when I look around this country of yours, what a wonderful country it is.

I look at some of your chapels. Oh, you know, you've got to wipe your feet before you go in them, haven't you? Why, all the carpets on the floor. And I see the size of them, the great car parks. And I wonder if I can ask you a question, brethren.

Do you pay any rates on them? Is that the word over here, Mr? Tax. Do you pay any taxes on them? If they were commercial businesses, you'd be bankrupt at the end of the month trying to find the money to pay the taxes.

But you live in a country where your country gives you permission to build a chapel, and it's yours, and you don't pay a penny on it. And if you want to sell it, you can sell it. You go across the border in Mexico and put up a gospel hall.

And the moment you put it up, you'll hand the keys to the government, and it'll be theirs forever. And if you ever stop using it, they'll sell it and have the money. How God bless you, with men to convey you over.

I say, most of your, oh please, it's rather crude, I know, but I want to press something home to you. All your chapels have lovely men's rooms and ladies' rooms. And you connect it up to a main sewer, and it doesn't cost you a penny.

It doesn't cost you a penny. I say, let someone throw a brick through your window. What do you do? And they'll send the policeman to care for you, and it doesn't cost you a penny. Oh no, it's no good saying all, but we pay taxes.

What I know you do, but so you do in your business, don't you? But there, how God has blessed us. How he's blessed us. Brethren, sisters, is there any reason that we shouldn't bill for God when he has blessed us like this?

When he has provided for us so many things. In his mercy, in material, oh yeah, and in men. I look around a company like this. You know, last week we had a good gentleman, a Mr. Church here, who was a, well he was something to do with a Methodist.

I think he was a preacher. I won't use the name he used. But he said this to me. Just as he was going back, he came to thank us for the week, and how much he'd enjoyed. And he said this to me. He said, you know, Mr. Ford, I'm going back, and if there's one thing that thrills me, it's to hear all those men pray.

He said, you know, they could all pray. He said, I'm going back to the church where I am. Actually, he said his church. Well, I hope it isn't his. But never there. He said, I'm going back to the place where I am, and I'm going to tell them it's about time they started doing it as well.

Do you know how God has blessed us? I look around a company like this, and I don't doubt there would be 50 or more, brethren, who could stand up and minister the word of God acceptably to every one of us.

He's blessed us with men. Please God, he'll carry on blessing us. Please God, you young men, I get so thrilled with the word of God that you're saved by the grace of God. I'm going to work and labor and build for God.

And remember this, if you're starting to build, he'll provide the material when you start to build. You know, he didn't say to Nehemiah, Nehemiah, I'll give you the man. I'll give you the material. I'll give you mercy.

Will you go and build? Nehemiah said, I'll build. And God said, why not? I'll give you what you need. Let's take a step forward and he'll give us what we need. But I must come to a close. He remembered with mercy and materials and men.

Resisting Ridicule from the World, Flesh, and Devil

But if in these verses there's a saint revealing, and if in these verses there's a savior remembering, there are sinners ridiculing. Verse 19. Verse 19, there they are. Samballot, the Horonite. Tobiah, the Ammonite.

Geshem, the Arabian. And they laughed at the score. You know, brethren, sisters, there are lots of folk who try and laugh at God's folk to score. Haven't you found that? They look and they say, oh, why look at them.

Fancy spending their time trying to build something for God. Why? Why don't they come and enjoy themselves? Well, I'll let you into a secret. I do enjoy myself. If I look miserable, listen, it's nothing to do with the Lord.

It must be the indigestion or something. It's nothing to do with the Lord. Well, I want to bear witness to this, that since I came to know Christ, He's done me good. He's done me good. The best thing ever I did was to trust the Savior.

And the next thing was to marry the girl that gave me a track where it took me in where I got saved. But nevertheless, the first thing I did was to trust the Savior. What a wonderful thing it is to trust the Lord, to know His happiness and His joy.

And there's nothing like the service of God. These people laughed, but it was only laugh that came from the mouth. It didn't come from the heart. It's grand to have the source of joy within you. The joy of the Lord.

Not your joy. It's the joy of the Lord. And it's your strength. But they laughed Him to scorn. Old Sanballat. You know, my Bible tells me that if there were a trinity of men here, Sanballat, Tobiah, and Gethsemane, so there are a trinity that you and I have to face.

The world, the flesh, and the devil. And do you know something? They'll laugh at the source. But what about it? You know, I often say when I was first converted, one of the hardest things I had to face was some of my old chums, you know, some of my old fighting chums.

I'd meet them in the street and they'd say, Sam! And I used to put my hands in the pocket and pray for the grace to leave them there. And it was a job. But you know, after a while, after a while, it didn't bother me at all.

And do you know why it didn't bother me? I found out they weren't touching my head. They were touching their own. You know, there is a fact, there is a fact that in the world there are those that would jeer at those that love the Savior.

You know it and I know it. But let them jeer. What does it matter? What does it matter at all? You know, the world will try and jeer at us. But the world doesn't want to church the flourishing. The flesh will jeer at us.

I say old Tobiah is the evidence of that. I'll have quite a bit to say about him later on. But you remember in the 13th chapter, we find this fellow Tobiah and he's allied with a high priest. Oh, oh, I better not say too much about that, had I?

I only know this, it's not everyone who says, Lord, Lord, who will enter the kingdom. But old Tobiah's allied with a high priest. And do you remember what the high priest does? He makes provision for Tobiah to come and live in the temple.

And the first thing Nehemiah does when he returns to Jerusalem, he goes into the temple and the Bible says, he throws out his household stuff. Household stuff. You know, household stuff. Household, I suppose there was a bed there.

I don't know about you, but I don't think there's much place in the local church for sleeping, do you? I think we ought to throw the beds out. Of course, we're in America. He wasn't. But if he was in America, there'd have been a rocking chair, you know.

A lot of movement going nowhere. And I'll let you into a secret. There's a lot of movement going nowhere in the church of God. I say, you know, household stuff, that's what it says. A looking glass, you know.

There's no place for self-contemplation in the church of God. And old Nehemiah threw it out. There was, ah well, I'd better not get to the 13th when I'm not out of the second. I only know this, that the flesh with its desire for ease, the flesh with its desire for comfort, the flesh with its desire to be made up and made look pretty, has no place in the church of God.

If we're going to build for God, let's be finished with Sambalus and Tobiah, the world, the flesh, and let's remember that one of our enemies is the devil himself. But praise God, the epistle to James says that if we resist him, he'll flee from us.

Never you give the devil more power than he's got, you know. I've got a savior that's stronger than him. Oh, I know they came, they came to overthrow him. But isn't it wonderful to know that there's victory in Christ?

Isn't it glorious to know that we can go, and although sinners may ridicule, we can move forward and build for God. You know, those three, that trinity of wickedness, first of all, they said that they thought the work of God was impossible.

They said, uh, will they revive the stones? Well, you can't do that, and that's what the world says to the church. Are you living in an area where your fellowship is small? Well, bless God that you're there.

Bless God you're there. I spend quite a little of my time in small assemblies. I covenanted with the Lord some years ago that while most of my work could be in conducting united crusades among God's folk, for this is the invitations I get most of the time, I covenanted with God that every time I went and took a big crusade, the next one I would try and take would be in a little assembly, where they couldn't be helped by anyone else, where maybe there would only be twenty or thirty of them.

And I've tried to do that over the years. And I thank God for little fellowships. I thank God for the few that take the stand for God and they take the bill. Well, let's remember this. It's not necessary that it shall remain little.

The world, the flesh, and the devil will say to us, will these stones be revived? Well, let's go forward. They can be revived. The work of God is not impossible. They spoke not only of the impossibility of the work, but of the impotence of the worker.

Why? These people Jews, they said. These people Jews. And how many times have you heard that said about the assembly of the God's folk? You know, they look and they say, they had a preacher there last week.

Do you know, he hardly passed elementary school. I suspect they were talking about me. I wonder why it is that they look and they speak about those sea walkers. Well, I'll let you into a secret. I've learned as much about God from ordinary men who sometimes slaughter the king's English.