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Well, good morning, everybody. If you would open your Bibles to Nehemiah chapter 11. Nehemiah chapter 11, we are getting really, really close to the end of this book. Last week, for those, a few of you who were here, we had a lot of people out last week for obviously different reasons, but we took a brief pause. My good friend Cameron Frank at Cherokee Hills Baptist Church filled in for us. He preached a great message basically talking about the idea of rest for the believer and how rest actually draws us closer and unites us further with God. I think very relevant in today's culture, but today we are continuing through the book of Nehemiah. And again, you may have noticed quite a few people were out last week. We actually had three or really four of our members run at least the 5K, the half marathon, or the full marathon. So we had quite a few of our church members out at the memorial marathon last weekend. So great job to all of you runners. I know some of you weren't as excited about your results as you would have liked to be, but great job. Either way, you guys did really, really good. Something that was insane to me was that the attendance for that race this year was 30,000 people. It is one of the biggest marathons in the country, which is kind of insane to me. Just really cool to be a part of it. Obviously, it means a lot for our city. So great job, everybody. I just wanted to shout that out. But today, obviously, continuing through the book of Nehemiah, and we're coming close, like I mentioned, to the end of this book. And yet again, in chapters 11 and 12, we come across another huge list of names. This is one of the longer ones in this book. So I will not read through every individual family name this time round, but know that it is here, and these are mainly family names rather than individuals this time, and I think I'll talk about the reason why at the end. But this is the fifth of such lists, and like I've been talking about preaching through these both of these books, Ezra and Nehemiah, all names, lists, lineages tell a story in Scripture. They tell us something, and the story I think that this passage in particular tells today is still highly relevant for us. Because again, these are a list of family names about those who resettled after coming back from exile. I'm gonna read just the first four verses of chapter 11, and then we'll get into it. So this is Nehemiah chapter 11. Just so you know, I'm gonna cover all the way through verse 26 of chapter 12 today. But right now I'm gonna read verses one through four of chapter eleven. Now the leaders of the people stayed in Jerusalem, and the rest of the people cast lots for one out of ten to come and live in Jerusalem, the holy city, while the other nine tenths remained in their towns. The people blessed all the men who volunteered to live in Jerusalem. These are the heads of the province who stayed in Jerusalem, but in the villages of Judah each lived on his own property in their towns, the Israelites, priests, Levites, temple servants, and descendants of Solomon's servants, while some of the descendants of Judah and Benjamin settled in Jerusalem. Would you pray with me? Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word. This morning we ask that you would reveal your word to your church by your spirit. We pray all these things for Christ's name's sake. Amen. Well, as I uh mentioned last week, we had quite a few people running in the memorial. And I at first I was planning to run the half marathon. Both Sabrina and I were going to run the half together. Um, but I remember deciding not to run the half. It was primarily just because training for a half marathon or a full marathon, or any running for that matter, as you may well know, it takes a lot of time. And I was just like, there's no way we can both train at the same time. I can't exactly leave Carmen in charge of Maria and Claire at the house while we go off and run. Um but you know, I would still keep up and kind of run. But I remember one day in particular, this was before one of my work trips to New York City. We I just decided my mom was watching the girls that morning, and so Sabrina was doing a long one, a run in preparation for um uh for the half marathon with some friends, and I was like, I'll go, I'll run too. And it was on that morning where I realized, oh no, my wife is faster than me. And there was that that that, you know, I guess husbandly pride alongside that, that was getting killed a little bit, but running at all, whether you're training for a half, whether you're training for a full, whether you're training to run a mile or a 5K, it takes tremendous sacrifice. It takes a lot of work in order to be able to cross that finish line. If you're not a runner, you still know it takes a lot of work to be able to do it. And I mention all of this because this is exactly where we find Israel in Nehemiah 11. They're at a point where tremendous sacrifice has to take place in order for God's work to continue through his people. Again, at this point in the story of redemption, they've just had this super, super great worship service. They've had three waves of Israelites return back from, uh really to Israel from captivity. They've worshiped, they've praised God, they've read the scriptures. Nehemiah's gathered the people for somewhat of a census. But now people, we need people in the city. Like people need to live here in order to continue the work of God. And so tremendous sacrifice is required of the people to repopulate Jerusalem. And in fact, participation in any of God's work will take tremendous sacrifice. It will. That is the main idea today, if you take nothing else away. Participation in God's work will come at great personal cost. Simply put, participation in God's work will come at great personal cost. There's no doubt about it. Whether it be something small or something big, you will have to give up some personal preferences to participate in God's work. In our text this morning, the arguably harder part is finished. The rebuilding of an entire city. They had to rebuild homes, the temple, they had to rebuild the walls. Three waves of Israelites returned, everyone's back home. But the holy city, Jerusalem as it's called here, where the temple of God dwells, is still an empty city. He's brought everybody back, but nobody lives there. He took a census of shorts, they worshiped, but many returned home. They went back home after that. Jerusalem was still largely unpopulated. And for the work of God to continue in Israel, people needed to be in Jerusalem. They needed to be there. And so they had to sacrifice their very homes to move. That's what's happening in our text. The people of Israel are seeking out the work of God through great personal cost. That's what this passage calls us to do, to participate in God's work no matter the cost. So let's look. There's two elements to this passage I want to focus on. The first is just the first two verses of chapter 11. We see the cost of relocation. In verses 1 and 2, again of chapter 11. I'm going to reread these two verses for us. Now the leaders of the people stayed in Jerusalem, and the rest of the people cast lots for one out of ten to come and live in Jerusalem, the holy city, while the other nine-tenths remained in their towns. The people blessed all the men who volunteered to live in Jerusalem. I want to focus especially on these two verses because so much is happening here, just in a couple of sentences. That's the thing about when you're reading Scripture, specifically narrative portions of Scripture, sometimes there'll be a really key detail that's just briefly mentioned in one little sentence. So I don't want us to miss this. The leaders chose to stay in Jerusalem, that is the capital of Israel, but they needed everyday citizens of the nation of Israel to stay. And in order to decide who stays, they do something that seems very, very strange to us at first. They decide to cast lots to see what people are going to stay and what people are going to go. Again, if you don't know, the practice of casting lots usually involved marked objects, something like a die, to make choices, to determine decisions. They would likely place these objects in some sort of container and cast out the lots. At first glance, this literally just seems like gambling. They're just gambling to see who has to stay in Jerusalem and who has to give up their homes. They're something equivalent of drawing the short straw, is how we would view it in our culture today. But that is not how these Israelites viewed it at all. In the minds of the Israelites, and in many other ancient Near Eastern cultures, by the way, they would have tied this practice directly to God. His decision-making would have been a part of this process. You see this in Scripture alone. I'm going to put this verse on the screen. Proverbs 16, 33. The lot is cast into the lap, meaning physically we cast the lot, but it's every decision is from the Lord. This is exactly how the people of Israel viewed casting lots. It was not just leaving something up to chance, it was leaving something up to God's decision. This is how they sought out God's decision. This practice served lots of different functions in Israel. We see it all throughout the Bible. That's how they divided Canaan's territory among the tribes. That's also how they selected the scapegoat on the Day of Atonement, whether they determined guilt or innocence. It's how they sometimes distributed the spoils of war. In legal proceedings, even, they used this in law. It would determine the guilty in more complex cases or resolve disputes over who possesses what. Like these are important decisions, and they're rolling the dice. But to the people of Israel, this was directly tied to God's decision making. Do not think that people are giving this decision up to chance. They're like, whatever, I guess we'll roll for it. We'll we'll draw straws for it. No, God was involved in this process. Do not read this any other way. God was involved. While I don't think the Bible is prescribing you to roll the dice for your decisions today, I don't think that's what is happening. It's simply descriptive about a very specific cultural practice. The root behind it is very, very relevant and often missing in our lives today. The Israelites did not believe in accidents or in chance. That was not in their vocabulary. They believed in the sovereignty of God. That was in their vocabulary. And often in our lives, we remove God from the circumstances that seem accidental to us or seem incidental. You know, just things, random things that happen throughout the day, little accidents. Sure, things happen, you know, suffering, evil, or poid choices that others make that are outside of our control, but do not be mistaken. God is in control of your situation ultimately. Sure, things are going to happen to you that you can't control. God is the one who is in control of the situation. In the seemingly insignificant and in the significant. So the call for you is actually to rely on God through all of those situations. That's what the Israelites are doing. They're not leaving something up to chance, they are giving something in God's hands in being willing to do it. Because no one here is saying, I absolutely will not move to Jerusalem. I can't. It's my family, my ancestors' home. We just had a little baby. We can't move. We can't do it. The Israelites are not doing that. They're saying God will decide. And they cast lots to find out. Again, that's what they say at verse 1. The rest of the people cast lots for one out of ten to come and live in Jerusalem. And that's the other element that's easy to miss. Alright, they're not just determining who's going to live there, they cast lots for a tithe of the people. One tenth of the people. You see, the rest of the nine-tenths remain in their towns, and only one tenth of the people come. It's easy to just read this and say, I guess they had to pick some number. You know, they had to decide some group of people to come live there. But the word tithe literally means tenth. It's not picking a random number to stay. This is directly symbolic of sacrifice within the people of Jerusalem. The tithe had multiple purposes. It was designed mostly for maintaining temple service, right? It was for charitable donations. It was also to support widows, orphans, alien residents living within the city of Jerusalem and in within Israel. The tithe was a tenth of their goods. It could be agricultural, it could be money, but they were dedicating that tenth to God. And this tithe of people was not random. It was deeply symbolic of that same sacrifice they would be taking. They literally saw the people of Israel and said, We are giving a tenth of ourselves to the work of God. That's what's happening here. They're not just randomly deciding this would probably be a good number of people who live here. They're sacrificing themselves for the work of God to continue in Jerusalem. Like just think of a time you've had to move. I hate moving. There's always so much more than you think you have. You're like, surely it's not gonna be that bad. And then you like uncover another box or you go to another room and open another drawer or shelf and you're like, good grief, I have no idea where I'm gonna put this. It's not that simple for them. Because when we move, typically we've decided to move. Hopefully, here no one has been forced to move. Most of the time, it's typically for something better. You got a different job, maybe it's a bigger house or just a house that's a better fit, maybe it's a safer area. It's difficult, but we're moving voluntarily. That is not what's happening with the nation of Israel here. This is not that kind of move. There's no upgrade. They're not getting a bigger house, they're not moving into some safer community. The rural society would have been the safest. They're leaving an entire lifestyle. Their entire life would change, completely different. Like you can live in the country today and move to the city and keep somewhat of a similar lifestyle. You could not do that back then. The rural, very different. The rural lifestyle in the ancient Near East, very different. It was villages, spread-out homes, mostly family land, very agricultural. And for the Israelites, that meant generational homes, homes that were a part of their parents and their parents' parents. It was predictable work. You knew what you had in store. You knew what you had to do to keep your family safe and feed them, farming, herding. There were established rhythms of life. You are leaving that, no predictability, or excuse me, full predictability to completely up in the air when you move to Jerusalem. You don't have farmland, you don't have self-sustaining income anymore. It would have been very scary. But not just the things you're leaving, you're leaving your family, you're leaving your friends, you're leaving your relatives, you would be leaving literally everything you knew. So when you see that a tenth of the people moved to Jerusalem, that's not just a move like we'd view it today. Their entire life will be changing for the work of God to continue. That's what's happening. But it was not for no reason, it was for a purpose, a godly purpose. Look at the title that the author gives to Jerusalem. He calls it the holy city. For one tenth, one out of ten, excuse me, to come and live in Jerusalem, the holy city. This is not just some town. This is not just some city, it was the holy city. It's actually referred to the holy city throughout the Bible. We see it both in the Old and New Testaments, actually. And the author of Nehemiah places it here for a reason. Surely the entire nation of Israel saw too the importance of this city, the city of Jerusalem. It was the very center of Israel, both politically and civically, but also spiritually. It housed the temple, the Levites worked here, the sacrifices took place here, the festivals largely took place here. The presence of God also dwelt in Jerusalem in the temple. It was not only for sacrifices, it was access to God. That's what Jerusalem was. It was God's also access to his people. That's where they would come, make sacrifices, worship him in the temple. This is not just some town. It's not a big city that they're moving to. This was the holy city where God dwelt with his people. It was a privilege and also a sacrifice to live here. But we also see in verse 2 that there are those who volunteer. It says that I'm going to read verse 2 again. The people blessed all the men who volunteered to live in Jerusalem. It's not just one tenth, it's not just a tithe. Some volunteered. Some were like, you know what, I'll do it. Maybe they took the place of another one. Maybe they were single. They could. They were flexible. But surely for us today, if somebody lives a sacrificial life for God's sake, we should recognize that. The people do. They know what big of a deal this is. And again, don't misunderstand this section. This is not to say that those who volunteered are closer to God or loved God more or more holy than by those who simply cast lots and were chosen that way. I want to read this quote. I loved this quote from a commentary I was reading. It's from Raymond Brown. I'm going to put it up on the screen. He says, This those who serve God, whether with the eagerness of Isaiah or the caution of Jeremiah, Jeremiah hated his life when he was doing all this prophecy work. Isaiah says, Here I am, Lord, send me. Very different guys. But Raymond says, must do exactly what those two prophets did, gladly or reluctantly. There has to be a total surrender to God's sovereign purposes so that we are ready to do whatever He has in mind for us. Whether you volunteered to live in Jerusalem or they cast lots and you were chosen to go, God's will is being done. That's what matters. The city of Jerusalem is being repopulated. And church family, there will be times where you want to do the work of the ministry. You see really cool stuff our church is doing, and you're like, I want to be a part of that. That is exciting. But then there will be times where there'll be work in the church that you absolutely do not want to do. Whether it be I don't think I'm able, I don't think I'm gifted, or you just don't want to. Let me be abundantly clear. God works through his church. Whether it be willing, you're reluctant, do the work of the Lord. That is the call that this passage has for us today. Again, the example that Raymond used was Isaiah. Isaiah saying, Here I am, Lord, send me. You could also be like Jonah. He says the opposite, I'm nowhere, Lord, do not come find me. That's what Jonah said. But what's the beauty about both of those stories? God's word was preached, and his mission was done. In both cases, if you are in Christ, he will use you for his work. I'm not saying if you're reluctant or if you don't want to participate in any church work, that's fine. That's not the attitude to stay in. But there absolutely will be times where you do not want to do certain things that you are being called to do. But our job as followers of Christ is to be ready for whatever that work may be. Whatever God is calling you to do, if he works through the church, he will work through you. In some regard. But then after this, that's just two verses. I'm not going to read the rest of this section. I'd encourage you to peek through some of the names. Most of these family names are not repeated. This is the first time we read about these people. But here's what I see in this huge, long list of names. Our second point this morning, the fruit of God's promises. That's what this list shows us. You see the tremendous cost to participate in God's work, literally uproot their entire life to move to Jerusalem. But in verses 3 through 1226, you see the fruit of God's promises. You see his promises fulfilled. The remainder of this text, again, with much of Nehemiah's list of names, the fifth, again, like I mentioned, of lists like this. And don't forget, each tells a story. I love this quote too. This chapter would make boring reading unless your name was there. So place yourself in there. This chapter and a half contains family names, like I mentioned, but then after that, and in between, there's the list of priests and their leave and Levites and their families who had returned from exile. But this particular one tells us a story of God's faithfulness. It begins verses 3 through 24, the repopulation of Jerusalem specifically. And the list of families here falls into a few groups. You have the descendants of Judah, descendants of Benjamin, the priests, the Levites, and the gatekeepers. Those are the five main groups of the families he's mentioning. What does that tell us? He's giving everyone. It contains every type of person. That term, regular citizens of Israel, that's descendants of Judah, descendants of Benjamin, that just means all of Israel is what that means. It's a unifying term. It was just a way to refer to those who were Israelites. They moved to Jerusalem. In the record, notes some who stayed in the countryside. Some of them stayed here. There are their family names. Here are the ones who moved to Jerusalem. But every type of person is accounted for. Leaders, former officials, even under the Persian Empire, is listed here. Leaders of specific regions or areas, but also lay Israelites, regular old people, move to Jerusalem. Everyone is accounted for. And this tells me that no one is above. A specific type of work. Not a soul in God's church is above a certain type of work. Be o so careful that you start to, when you start to think of a certain ministry as something that is just beneath you, like I think I've moved on from work like that. I've been in this church long enough. No one is above any type of work. I know it's tempting to think. It's so easy to fall into that trap. But church family, church work is God's work. He has chosen to work in this world through his church in any capacity, in any form, whether full of recognition or devoid of recognition, it is God's work. That is what we are doing here. And if you find yourself falling into that trap of something that is beneath you, I even asked this question this morning, just ask yourself, does God work through his church? If you find yourself regretting the work of the ministry in the church or thinking, I don't need to be doing that, does God work through his church? And the answer is yes. And since the answer is yes, any benefit you can bring to his church is a benefit to God. Any benefit you can bring. I'm not saying everybody has to participate in every ministry we do here. Obviously, all of us have different callings and different giftings. But if the reason you don't participate in ministry is because you don't want to or you think it's beneath you, that is very dangerous. Very dangerous. God works through the ministry of his church. So you working in ministry is working for God. And often it will come at great personal cost. It will cost you something. Time, money, effort, just mental energy, possessions, offering hospitality, being available when you don't want to be available. That is the call for all of us, no matter who you are. Every single type of Israelite was moving, whether they wanted to or didn't. And that's how God fulfills his promise to Israel. I want to remind us again of Jeremiah 29. This is a chapter where before the exile, God promised to restore them from the exile. Jeremiah 29, 10 through 14. This is what the Lord says. For I know the plans I have for you. This is the Lord's declaration. Plans for your well-being, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. You will call me, call to me, and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. I will be found by you. This is the Lord's declaration. And I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and places where I banished you. This is the Lord's declaration. I will restore you to the place from which I deported you. Before the exile happens, God knew and God promised He would restore his people. God is faithful to keep his promises. And the promise of God, found in Jeremiah 29, has been restored. That's what Nehemiah 11 is showing us. This is the final list. There's no more lists in this book. This is the final resettling, the final record. The book's not over, somewhat unfortunately. Not for the sake of preaching, but it doesn't necessarily end in the happiest manner. But the story of God's restoration of Israel finds its conclusion here. They've repopulated the city of Jerusalem. Everything's been rebuilt. You've got families living out there, you've got families and Levites living here. And in chapter 12, the list continues. Even through chapter 12. But it's a different list. And I loved reading through different commentaries on this section, because I'm going to be so honest with you. When I first came to this text, I said, What am I going to do with this huge long list of names? And commentaries didn't really help me because they were having different opinions about why this list is here. Because in chapter 12, he goes like all the way back and just talks about the priests and Levites who had returned. We're not even in present day anymore. He just gives us a record of some of the priests and Levites. And it gave me a chuckle because sometimes reading commentaries just kills me. Because I'm like, I get that you like to talk about this stuff, but here's what I think, here's why I think this list is here. And it's perplexing to be sure. But I just believe that the author of Nehemiah is reminding his people of the faithfulness of God. Here are the people who repopulated, but now here are the priests and Levites who have returned. Why does that matter? He says, look who came back. The priests, the Levites, those who in many ways mediated on behalf of the people to God, they returned. The covenant is continuing. People who had no role for seven decades, priests and Levites. There's no temple to do sacrifices, there's no mediation, there's no festivals. The people of Israel aren't even gathered. They had nothing to do, no priests to make atonement. But God did not forget, and chapter 12 is telling you, he brought them back. The priests and the Levites returned. All of them. Not just your regular Israeli citizen, the priests as well. Verses 22 through 26 is somewhat of a work cited. He says, Here's where I got these lists. He goes all the way back to the first wave who returned with Zerubel and Jeshua. Here's, they came back with him. Here are the people who came back with Ezra. Here are the people who came back with Nehemiah. And at the middle section of chapter 12, he's proving it. This is where I got this list. He even calls out moments of worship. But do not miss in these long list of names, it is the fruit of God's promises. That's what you are seeing. His people came home. Not just his people, the priests came home, the Levites came home, the temple was rebuilt, work will resume, sacrifice will resume, covenantal promises will resume. That's what's happening. And as incredible as that is, there is still some tension here. Because something that stood out to me so easily, the restoration of God's people came at a cost. Which that makes sense. After all, they were the reason they got in exile in the first place. They should have to give something up to be restored. That makes sense. It's only fitting. They rejected God, so they should have to sacrifice some stuff. But despite all the work of God redeeming his people, he did the work, mind you, much was still required of them. They had to return home on dangerous roads, they had to rebuild the temple, they had to rebuild the walls, they had to rebuild their homes, they had to prepare for battle while they were rebuilding. They had to then give up their homes and their lifestyle. They gave up a lot to return. Yes, they returned. Yes, the city is filled, but this is not the end of the story because even now, in Nehemiah 12, the burden of God's work still rests on the people. They are the ones sacrificing, they are the ones leaving their homes, they are the ones bearing the cost. But church family, let me remind you of the beauty of what the gospel does for you and for me. Because we too are God's people. We too are given a promised land. We too have a mediator and a priest, but our mediator is Christ Jesus. It is not somebody who can be exiled for 70 years. And because of that, the promises of God do not depend in the slightest on you and me. Not at all. We are not waiting to return to Jerusalem. We are waiting for the first time the new heavens and the new earth, where we will not have to build. I'm not gonna have to learn how to build walls alongside my neighbor. I'm not gonna have to equip a sword in my right hand and a trowel in my left hand. I won't have to do anything because Jesus has done all of the work, all of it, requiring nothing on our behalf. So the call this morning is so simple. So simple. Firstly, if you are here and you have yet to believe in the gospel of Jesus, please this morning place your faith in him. He has done all of the work on your behalf. He bore the brunt of God's wrath on your behalf. He lived the perfect life you could not live. And just placing your faith in him will rescue you from your own sin and death and God's wrath. Place your faith in Jesus this morning if you have not, because there's no work for you to do. But if you are here and you are a member of God's household, you have placed your faith in Jesus, I pose just one simple question. What is God calling you to sacrifice for the sake of his work? That's it. Because I read a passage like this, and I am convicted that people were willing to do this just to move to a city. I'm sure some of them were like, Why are we doing this? What is this for? But they gave up tremendous for the work of God. So what is God calling you to sacrifice for the sake of his work? Yes, Christ has done the work, he has paid the penalty, but we participate in that work here on earth. We are actually called to participate in his plan of salvation. It's not dependent on our work, but our work is enabled because of his. Do you see the difference? I'm not working to earn it. I have earned it and therefore get to work. That is the perspective. It's not that we have to work for God now, but Jesus enables where we get to work for the sake of God and for his plan of salvation. So what is God calling you to sacrifice? The Israelites are the testimony. Is it your comfort? Are you just really, really comfortable? Nothing wrong with being comfortable. Are you too comfortable? Is it your time? Is it your preferences? Is it a ministry you don't want to do? Is it your control over something? I don't know the answer for you. I don't know. But I know God requires sacrifice of his people. We see that here. He's calling all of us to it. We're gonna have a time of response as we always do. And I just want you to wrestle with that question. You could do it in prayer, you could just quietly reflect to your own thoughts. But ask yourself that question. What is God calling me to sacrifice for the sake of his work? When you're ready, whatever that time may be, we'll partake of the elements together. Just grab them and come back to your seat, and Daryl will lead us in a little bit. Would you pray with me? Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for the story of Ezra, for the story of Nehemiah, for the story of restoration. We thank you for the testimony of the Israelites that they were willing to give up so much. I ask that you would also help us sacrifice much for your sake. That you would show us the things in our life that we need to get rid of. You would convict us of the things we need to do more. But ultimately, that you would help us do all of that by your Spirit in recognition that Christ has done the ultimate work. And so we praise you for that. We thank you for sending your Son. We thank you for the salvation offered in Him. And we just ask that you would help us and guide us, participate in that plan of salvation for the world. We pray all these things for Jesus' name's sake. Amen.