Roll the Credits

The city of Jerusalem here flourished because of the gatekeepers and the guards and we didn't even get around to them, the maintenance and grounds people and the singers and the priests and even the farmers and shepherds who contributed to the work all pulling their weight. The truth is, men and women, that ancient city a long time ago in this contemporary church today have a lot in common.

Neither one could make it for one day without many noble people who day in and day out make it happen. Notice them! The world doesn't always notice the people who make a difference.

It's the same in the church. We take for granted the everyday heroes who keep things running, teachers, musicians, volunteers. Nehemiah, though, took time to recognize them. He rolled the credits and gave them their due. Welcome to Wisdom for the Heart with Stephen Davey. Today, you're going to discover some of the unsung heroes in Nehemiah chapters 7 and 11. It might just change how you see your role in the church you attend.

Stephen called this message, Roll the Credits. I want to begin by reading some provocative words written by Eugene Peterson entitled Run with the Horses. In this book he writes, there is little to admire and less to imitate in the people who are prominent in our culture. We have celebrities but not saints. Neither the adventure of goodness nor the pursuit of righteousness ever gets headlines.

If, on the other hand, we look around for what it means to be a person of integrity, we don't find very much. They aren't easy to pick out. No journalist interviews them. No talk show features them. They're not admired. They're not looked up to. They do not set trends.

There is no cash value in them. No Oscars are ever given for integrity. At year's end, no one compiles a list of the ten best lived lives. The truth is the world does not notice the lives of people that ought to be noticed. The truth of the matter is neither does the church very well either. Frankly, part of our fallen nature as people is to overlook the accomplishments of others, to ignore the ministry of others and the service rendered on our behalf. People are all around us who serve us and make our lives possible and easier and we rarely even notice.

Think about it. When's the last time you went to a movie and then stayed there and watched the credits scroll by? And that musical score that so moved you, you thought was so beautiful, did you stay and wait to see the name of the composer appear on the screen?

Probably not. Show's over. On to the next event.

That's how we are. That's why I find it so interesting that at the end of Nehemiah chapter six when the show is basically over, the walls are up, the gates are hinged. Next event, it's at this point that Nehemiah stops and under the divine inspiration of the Spirit of God begins to roll the credits and take notice of people by name. And we don't even have time to read all of their names, but I want to look with you at some of them inside this chapter and by the way chapter 11, you might want to open to both of those chapters, you find some wonderful truths tucked away in these credits. So let's follow evidently what God wanted Nehemiah to give us before we run with our empty popcorn bucket and head for the door and let's take a look at some great truths to men and women who made Jerusalem happen. The first group of people mentioned in the credits are in verse one.

Let's read there in chapter seven. Now it came about when the wall was rebuilt and I had set up the doors and the gatekeepers and the singers and the Levites were appointed that I put Hananiah my brother and Hananiah the commander of the fortress in charge of Jerusalem. So he mentions here initially these singers and gatekeepers and Levites. If you turn over to chapter 11, you'll notice in verse 22, the latter part, there's some clear guidelines for the singers. At least we're told the sons of Asaph were the singers for the service of the house of God for there was a commandment from the king that is going back to the kings of Israel concerning them and firm regulation for the song leaders day by day. Now remember for years people of Israel have not been singing. There isn't anything to sing about when you're in captivity. In fact, Psalm 137 reflects their attitude as the psalmist says, we sat down by the rivers of Babylon and wept.

Babylon was the nation that took them into captivity. We hung our harps on the branches of the willow trees. We don't need musical instruments. We're not singing, we're weeping. But here now nearly 200 years later, they're tuning up their instruments. The choirs are being reformed. There's going to be music in the holy city of God once again.

Music, ladies and gentlemen, is not incidental. It is essential to worship. In the book of Nehemiah you'll discover eight references to giving thanks to God. They are now praising him and that is done through music like nothing else. I find it fascinating men and women that before the revival occurs in Nehemiah chapter eight, and we'll look at that at another time, in Nehemiah chapter seven you have the musicians recalled and the choirs reformed. The singers will provide the praise for the city of God. There's another group that was mentioned that will provide the protection for the city of God.

They're mentioned in chapter seven and also they're in chapter 11 where you perhaps are in verse 19. It says the gatekeepers, their names were Aacob and Talman and their brethren who kept watch at the gates and there were 172 of them. Hey Aacob, what do you do? Hey Talman, what is it that you do in the city of God? Oh, I'm a gatekeeper. I open the gates in mid-morning and then I close them at night and in between I watch carefully so that enemies of God don't steal in in numbers of twos and threes carrying weapons. We guard the gates of the city.

I find it interesting that the Great Wall of China which was built to keep the Mongols and barbarians out was breached by invaders four times and in each of those occasions they bribed the gatekeepers to let them in. Gates are only as good as the character of the guards, right? I find it interesting in the Old Testament how our lives are referred to as walled cities and Solomon who said to guard our hearts to become a gatekeeper of our hearts so we in effect are all gatekeepers.

We all are to guard what comes in and what goes out. John Bunyan took that and ran with it in an allegory that's not as well known as his Pilgrim's Progress in a book called The Holy War and it is an allegory about a city called Mansoul and Mansoul has five gates. Those gates are the Ear Gate, the Eye Gate, the Nose Gate, the Field Gate, and the Mouth Gate and every day in this allegory the enemy of Mansoul would come and attack or attempt to attack at one of these gates by whispering things in the Ear Gate or painting vivid and alluring pictures before the Eye Gate and it's interesting that Mansoul in Bunyan's allegory could never be toppled by outside attacks. The only way the enemy could take over Mansoul was if one of those gates was opened by someone on the inside and the enemy allowed in.

No wonder Solomon wrote guard your heart for out of it are the issues of life. Be a gatekeeper. Back in Nehemiah chapter seven, if you'll turn there, Nehemiah knew that he needed help leading the city of Jerusalem and he mentions two men, verse two, I put Hanani my brother and Hanani the commander of the fortress in charge of Jerusalem. Now at this point, friends, the walls are up and the gates are hinged and someone needs to help in the leading of this city as it will soon flourish with people as we'll see in a moment. Well, who do you look for? Well, I know who you look for. You look for a man or a few people with experience in leading. That would make sense. If you're looking for a commander of the city of Jerusalem, look for somebody who's commanding another city, who has the list in his or her resume.

Find those kind of people, perhaps those who are articulate and can communicate the vision of the city, put them in charge. It would only make sense wrong to all of those. Notice the two qualities Nehemiah was looking for in the latter part of verse two. He was a faithful man, that would be good to underline, and here it is, feared God more than many. Faithful, feared.

The word translated feared comes from the word yahreh. It means literally to reverence or to honor God. When Nehemiah looked for someone to lead, he looked for someone who would honor God and be dependable, who would just show up and do the job. What a great lesson, by the way, for the church today. It's an easy thing to apply or any other missionary enterprise.

We tend to follow the world's leading. We look for the person to fill a role of leadership who is the CEO, who is the leader out there in the community. We look for someone to communicate within the church, and we look for those who on the outside are communicating, and we tend to stuff them into the appointments and the slots, the people that might look good on the outside, the people that might have a bearing naturally that would draw people to them. Would you notice the two qualities that Nehemiah looked for was somebody who was just dependable and somebody who loved and honored God. The next part of chapter 7 finds Nehemiah registering the citizens. They were identified by families and clans and tribes, and they were all counted, every number given to us. Notice a few of them as we read through these credits. We'll start at verse 8 and just read a few verses.

These were the only names I practiced. The sons of Parash, 2,172. The sons of Shephatiah, 372. The sons of Ara, 652. The sons of Pahath, Moab. Of the sons of Jeshua and Joab, 2,818. The sons of Elam, 1,254.

As I read these, I thought, that's a lot of cereal and milk. Why count them so carefully? Why give us the number? Friends, they were counted by God because they counted to God, and he didn't miss a number, a name. If there was ever anybody interested in the credits, who read the credits?

In fact, he is the original author of the credits. It is God himself. In verse 39, the priests are counted and accounted for. Now they had to prove their lineage, going all the way back to Aaron, or they would not be allowed to serve in the temple. In fact, look at verse 61 and learn with me the fate of some of these. And these were they who came up from Tel Melah, Tel Harsha, Cherub, Adon, and Immer. But they could not show their father's houses or their descendants whether they were of Israel.

Verse 64, skip there. These searched among their ancestral registration, but it could not be located. They couldn't find their name in the family tree going back to Israel before the exile. Therefore, they were considered unclean and excluded from the priesthood. Men and women, you need to understand here that the people were excluded from living inside the city, who could not trace their family heritage back to pre-dispersion Israel.

The priests were excluded from serving in the temple, who could not trace their lineage back to Aaron. God had a standard for owning land and having a home inside the holy city, and then for serving within the holy place, the temple. You had to have Jewish blood flowing through your veins to have a home in this city of God, and you had to track all the way back with some kind of genealogical proof that you were from the family of Aaron if you ever hoped to serve in the temple. Without that proof, without that family relationship, you couldn't live in the city, and you couldn't serve within the temple located within the city walls.

I couldn't help but think as I studied this, and I want to ask you a question. What right do you have to live within the holy city? The Bible calls in the book of Revelation the New Jerusalem. What right do you have to believe that you will be able to have a home in that city and serve God there? Will you be able to trace your lineage back to the family of God? Are you a relative of God? You say, well, how do I become a part of God's family?

That's what we're talking about. Well, the first step is knowing that you're not. Well, of course I'm going in there. Is your name in the registry of heaven? Jesus Christ said to me, many will stand before me on that day, and they will not only just be people who went to church, they will be leaders in the church.

They will say, we prophesied in your name, and we exercised demons in your name, and we did wonderful works in your name, and Jesus will say, I never knew you. You are related to me. The pressing question in Nehemiah 7 and 11 on the heart of every person was the question, am I related to Israel? Can I track my family line back to the people of God? And the pressing question men and women on that last day, as it were, of human history is this, are you related to a Jewish carpenter named Jesus Christ? If you have received him as your savior at some point in your life, he wrote your name down in what Revelation calls the lamb's book of life.

And there's going to come a day when he's going to open that book, and he's going to look for the name. And Revelation chapter 20 verse 15 says, if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. Oh, it would be an awful thing in the city of Jerusalem to want to live inside the city walls, and they can't find your name. That's nothing in comparison to standing before God and wanting to live within the holy city of heaven, and he cannot find your name.

How do you get your name there? How do you become a relative of God? John tells us in chapter 1, but as many as received him, that message, that gospel-saving person of Christ, you ask for him to be your savior at some point in your life. As many as received him, to them he gave the right to be called children of God, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

You've got to be born again into his family if you want to get into the holy city. Now, back in chapter 7, there are people who are making donations as I read this chapter. I think the saddest words could be the word that appears twice in chapter 7 verse 70 and verse 71.

It's the word some. You ought to circle that word as a challenge to your own personal testimony and where you are in this family. Some, verse 70, from among the heads of fathers' households gave to the work, verse 71, and some of the heads of fathers' households gave into the treasury of the work. You would think, men and women, with the fact that the city has been completed and this magnificent miracle of God's providence has taken place, that when it came time to give to the treasury of the work, everyone, it would say all, all, but here even it says some, some gave. Now, you may have noted earlier in chapter 7 that this big city has finished walls and gates that are hung, but there aren't very many people in there. If you opened the gates, the wind would whistle through the streets. Who would want to move back to a city that has yet to be inhabited by anybody more than what we find here, the Chamber of Commerce and others whose job was to live in Jerusalem?

Who wants to move back and start this economy and start this lifestyle in a city that there just aren't many people there? Well, Nehemiah will solve this problem two ways. Turn to chapter 11 and look at verse 1.

The first way is this. Now, the leaders of the people lived in Jerusalem. That's the Chamber of Commerce. They had to. But the rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of ten to live in Jerusalem, the holy city, while nine-tenths, implied, were allowed to remain in the other cities. Now, we know from those who study these days that there were about a million Jews living around Jerusalem. So they took lots, they cast them, and one out of every ten were given to the city sort of as a gift. And I imagine with any draft perhaps there were those who wouldn't serve, but we know that from what the record seems to indicate they all went.

There's a second group, however, that is given special notice. Verse 2. And the people blessed all the men who volunteered to live in Jerusalem. The Hebrew word volunteer, nadab, is a wonderful word. It means to be impelled by an inner urging, an inner compelling to stand. To be compelled, the word could be translated, to be courageous.

And I love this one. It could be translated to be noble. To be noble. They stepped forward and they said, we will voluntarily uproot our families and leave our homes and life as we know it, and we will move into the city along with those that have been drafted and we will begin this pioneering life of faith.

And we will see to it that this city thrives. What better word to describe them? The noble ones. And among the noble ones is someone known for his praying. A special mention is made in verse 17 of chapter 11 of a man named Mattaniah. Mattaniah, the son of Micah, the son of Zabdi, the son of Asaph, who was the leader in beginning the thanksgiving of prayer. What do you do, Mattaniah? Oh, I start the prayer time.

No kidding. Oh yes, and every time I do, it is a prayer of thanksgiving. He was known for praying the prayer of thanksgiving. I wondered in my own life, would I be known for praying prayers that reflect, that are filled with thanksgiving? This was this noble man. He was a Levite who stood at the appropriate time in front of the people and he began a prayer of thanksgiving.

That's what he did. And the only time he is mentioned in scripture, this noble man is praying. But let me tie our thoughts together with two final principles of application. Most of the noble things, number one, you do will never be recognized on earth. I wonder how many children will be handed over to their parents after Sunday school class without ever hearing a greeting or a thank you. I wonder how many ushers or musicians or greeters who will never be noticed even though they have been moved in their hearts to do noble things voluntarily. The city of Jerusalem here flourished because of the gatekeepers and the guards and we didn't even get around to them, the maintenance and grounds people and the singers and the priests and even the farmers and shepherds who contributed to the work all pulling their weight. The truth is, men and women, that ancient city, a long time ago, in this contemporary church today have a lot in common.

Neither one could make it for one day without many noble people who day in and day out make it happen. I can tell you from my own ministry perspective, I am surrounded by a staff of highly dedicated men and women who pull it together. If it's organized, I didn't do it.

If it sounds good, I probably didn't write it. If I show up at an appointment, it was made for me and I was reminded to be there. The church and every church, every Christian organization, every Christian cause, every missions organization is moved forward not by a few of us who stand up in front of everybody but by the majority of people who are not seen by most of the people who are noble men and noble women who make it work. Notice them. Thank them. They're in the credits and we need more of them who are willing to serve. But those who do will never be fully rewarded and noticed on earth.

That leads me to the second point. While most of the noble things you do will never be recognized on earth, none, secondly, of the noble things you do on earth will go unrecognized by God in heaven. The writer of Hebrews seemed to address this. He must have been thinking about it as he said, God is not unjust so as to forget your work, as you minister and continue to minister to the saints. People forget. People don't take notice. People don't say thank you. People overlook you but God never will. He always reads the credits.

Better yet, he is in the process even today of writing a few more to be read later at a place called the Bema Seat where all the credits will be brought into review. I just sort of sat back in my study this week and I started thinking about all of the credits and I want to roll a few of them here and read of noble ones who change the diapers and sweep the floors, answer the telephones and pull the weeds, arrange meetings and teach the Bible lessons, prepare the children's games and juice up the soundboard, clean the bathrooms and count the offering. Those who practice the music and type the letters, pray through the list and visit the guests, cook the meals and teach the class, dust the furniture and greet the family, translate the sermon and duplicate the tapes, park the cars and get the coffee made, disciple the teenager and lead a child to a water fountain, crawl on the floor with toddlers and set up chairs in the classrooms, wash and dry the nursery linen and clean the dishes after a church activity, recruit even more volunteers or thank those who do, plan class activities and counsel at summer camp, listen to memory verses and stack the tables, unload all of the equipment and then load it back up again, only to be unloaded and then loaded up again, only to be unloaded and loaded up again and again and again and again and know as you do it all that it is all noble work, noble work for the people and ministry of Christ, for your family, loved ones that may go unrecognized on earth but one day rewarded in heaven.

The question is who are you doing it for anyway, right? If it's for the attention and applause of people, forget it, they will never sit there long enough to read all of the credits as they scroll by but if it's for the glory and pleasure of God, he will never miss one credit, he will never overlook one deed, he sees it all. Most of us who serve will never get a standing ovation but that doesn't mean our work goes unnoticed.

God sees the diaper changes, the bathroom cleanings, the late nights of practice, he sees it all. Remember you're not working for applause on earth but for eternal reward in heaven so keep building, keep serving and know that your labor is not in vain. This is Wisdom for the Heart with Stephen Davey. Stephen is the president of Wisdom International. He founded this ministry out of a desire to help you know what the Bible says, understand what it means and apply it to your life.

I hope you're finding that to be true. Stephen's working his way through a series from the book of Nehemiah and the lesson you heard today is entitled Roll the Credits. It might be that you want to go a little deeper in your study of Nehemiah and we have a resource to help you do that. Stephen's written a book called Nehemiah. It's part of his Wisdom Commentary series. As we broadcast this current series, Stephen is offering his book at a deeply discounted rate.

I encourage you to take advantage of this offer. His book is a practical and pastoral look at the life of Nehemiah. I mentioned that it's part of Stephen's Wisdom Commentary series but don't let that word commentary intimidate you. It's written in Stephen's practical, winsome style. I know you'll enjoy it and I know it'll be a blessing to you.

As I said, you can get it right now at a deeply discounted price. Call 866-48-BIBLE for information. That's 866-48-BIBLE or 866-482-4253. You'll also find it in the online store at wisdomonline.org. Join us back here next time for more Wisdom for the Heart.