"It came to pass, that when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews. And he spake before his brethren, and the army of Samaria, and said, What do these feeble Jews? will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they make an end in a day? will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned? Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall" (Neh.4:l-3).
What does Nehemiah say in response to this? At once he turns to the Lord:"Hear, O our God, for we are despised" (verse’4). So it was also in the early days of the Church of God. The apostles were beaten and threatened, but what did they do? They spread it out before the Lord, and the Lord answered. He answered with His own power. The Spirit shook the building where they were, and with great power He gave them to witness for Him (Acts 4:23-31).
Yes, but here in Nehemiah’s day was a day of weakness, and what I would impress upon your mind and my own is that we are no longer in the day when the Spirit shakes the building. We are no longer in the day of power and glory. We are no longer in the day when signs and wonders are wrought. But are we, therefore, without God? What do we value most? the powers and wonders God works, or God Himself? This is the great question. Have we confidence in the presence of God with us, and do we value the presence of God above all the powers and miracles that ever were wrought?
It is a very simple question; so it was for Nehemiah. There was no such thing as the Red Sea opened for the people, no such thing as the Jordan crossed. There was no manna that fell down from heaven; but there was the evident word of God accomplished, and the way was open for them. There was an open door, an open door to that place where the Lord’s eyes were continually_the land of God for the people of God. They had lost it as a matter of outward power, but not for faith. For the men of faith clung to God, even when God could not outwardly own them before all the world. This made it a trial, no doubt, but faith would find the trial most profitable.
And I would further impress upon you that there is very often in thought, and sometimes in expression, a kind of complaint of the want of power. Now I distrust that. I never came out to power, and I should be sorry for anybody else to do it. But am I come out to the Lord? Am I come out because it is His will? because it is His word? Let us be ever so weak, there He would have us to be. There is nothing so sure as that; and, allow me to say, there is nothing that keeps us so true and so steady. Whereas, on the contrary, we may fall into the snare of clericalism if we are too much occupied with power.
Suppose a meeting, an assembly of God’s people, where, by the remarkable gift of one, or two, or three individuals, everything went on with apparent beauty_every prayer thoroughly according to the truth. Suppose, too, that everything that was done was done with intelligence. Yet if the action and presence of the Spirit of God were ignored, I should feel that this was the most miserable meeting possible. It would be hollow, and we ought not to be deceived by the two or three persons that hide the shame and weakness of the assembly.
The all-important thing, beloved brethren, is that God’s children should be gathered around His name, and that the Spirit of God should be left in freedom to act. Consequently, as sure as we are acting with truth, weakness will appear, neither will the state of the assembly be the same thing from week to week. And it is far more important that we should be in the truth than that there should be a manifestation of power. A manifestation of power might be only a veil thrown over the true state of the assembly, and only the improper and unspiritual activity of two or three men of gift that would falsify the true state of that assembly. I believe it is far better to have all the pains and penalties and sorrows of weakness than a state that is not true in the sight of God. Above all things, we ought to be in the truth of our condition. I am persuaded that anything is bad that would cause us to forget that, after all, we are only a remnant; and that the more we enjoy the truth, the more deeply are we called to feel the broken state of the Church of God.
Another thing, too. There is often the idea that if we could only get the most spiritual and the most intelligent of all Christians together, what a happy meeting it would be! Yes, but beloved friends, it would be all wrong, because that is not what we are called to. What warrants us to pick and choose among the people of God? Who gave us the title even to wish such a thing? I feel quite the contrary, and believe it to be of God. If indeed, my brethren, we have the mind of the Lord and desire the liberty of the Spirit of God, I believe we would rather look out for the lame and for the weak. We would try and get those who are in want, those who are feeble, those, who are in danger. The strong ones, or at any rate, those that think themselves strong, we must leave in the hands of the Lord. But surely the weak ones are those that the true, the real, the Good Shepherd cares for most; and we ought to feel like the Good Shepherd.
The theory of gathering together only the best and the most intelligent is, therefore, a false theory. It is utterly contrary to the true principle of grace and truth. No, beloved friends, the only right thing is this:we do not pretend, we do not look for, we do not expect that God will gather all His saints; but the moment we are in a position that we are not free and open to all the saints of God, we are false. It is not that I look for their coming, but the question is whether my heart is toward them all. If it is not toward them all, then I am sectarian.
(From Lecture on the Book of Nehemiah.)