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The Willing Unknowns · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: The wall around Jerusalem has been completed. Their security has
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Speaker 1: been established. Responsibilities have been delegated, and even the daily
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Speaker 1: schedule has been set. But Nehemiah's tasks are not over.
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Speaker 1: Now he turns his attention from restoring the city's wall
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Speaker 1: to helping revive the city itself. To a Jew, Jerusalem
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Speaker 1: was a place of great honor. the city of David,
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Speaker 1: their promised inheritance, and the dwelling place of their God. So,
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Speaker 1: once the wall was in place, it only stood to
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Speaker 1: reason that Nehemiah's next task would be to bring God's
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Speaker 1: people back to live inside. But the man could not
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Speaker 1: do that alone. He needed a special group of people,
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Speaker 1: people who would serve a vital function in Jerusalem but
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Speaker 1: would never see their names in lights. Today, as we
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Speaker 1: study Nehemiah's strategies in application, I want us to consider
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Speaker 1: our own sacrificial service and to learn to truly appreciate
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Speaker 1: those who work behind the scenes, wherever we are, in
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Speaker 1: our homes, at the places of our work, in other
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Speaker 1: realms of leadership, and certainly including the church. So, in
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Speaker 1: preparation for all this, please turn with me, if you
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Speaker 1: have a Bible available, to the book of Nehemiah, where
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Speaker 1: we will begin our reading at chapter 7, verse 1.
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Speaker 1: Let me read for you verses 1 through 4 of
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Speaker 1: Nehemiah 7. Now it came about when the wall was rebuilt,
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Speaker 1: and I had set up the doors and the gatekeepers,
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Speaker 1: and the singers and the Levites were appointed, that I
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Speaker 1: put Hanani, my brother, and Hananiah, the commander of the fortress,
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Speaker 1: in charge of Jerusalem, for he was a faithful man
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Speaker 1: and feared God more than many. Then I said to them,
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Speaker 1: Do not let the gates of Jerusalem be opened until
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Speaker 1: the sun is hot. And while they are standing guard,
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Speaker 1: let them shut and bolt the doors. Also appoint guards
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Speaker 1: from the inhabitants of Jerusalem, each at his post, and
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Speaker 1: each in front of his own house. Now the city
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Speaker 1: was large and spacious, but the people in it were few,
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Speaker 1: and the houses were not built. Turn now to chapter
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Speaker 1: 11 for the first three verses of that chapter. Nehemiah 11, 1.
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Speaker 1: Now the leaders of the people lived in Jerusalem, but
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Speaker 1: the rest of the people cast lots in to bring
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Speaker 1: one out of ten to live in Jerusalem, the holy city,
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Speaker 1: where nine-tenths remained in the other cities. And the people
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Speaker 1: blessed all the men who volunteered to live in Jerusalem.
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Speaker 1: Now these are the heads of the provinces who lived
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Speaker 1: in Jerusalem, but in the cities of Judah each lived
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Speaker 1: on his own property in their cities. The Israelites, the priests,
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Speaker 1: the Levites, the temple servants, and the descendants of Solomon's servants.
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Speaker 2: There are few things more impressive and exciting than a
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Speaker 2: trip along the western coastline of our great state. I
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Speaker 2: suppose when we are along that journey, going from south
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Speaker 2: up to north, we are terribly impressed, that is, if
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Speaker 2: you're like me, with the greatness and beauty and splendor
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Speaker 2: of our nation. If you have made that trip recently,
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Speaker 2: you have probably been, like my family and I were,
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Speaker 2: caught up with the thoughts of how marvelous God has
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Speaker 2: been to sustain our land for 200 years. We often
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Speaker 2: think about the greater lights in our history, the father
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Speaker 2: of our nation, George Washington, the brilliant statesmen like Ben
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Speaker 2: Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. those men who made our nation great,
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Speaker 2: Patrick Henry, Abraham Lincoln, and on and on we named them.
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Speaker 2: But I am afraid in the sweep of those thoughts
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Speaker 2: we frequently forget the lesser lights, the unknowns of our past,
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Speaker 2: who were just as significant, just as valuable, but they
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Speaker 2: never really made it into the limelight. That was brought
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Speaker 2: home to me in a forceful way just recently as
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Speaker 2: my family and I were traveling up the coast on
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Speaker 2: our way to that quaint city of San Francisco. And
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Speaker 2: as we were driving along, we were laughing and singing
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Speaker 2: and talking together, and suddenly we saw on the left
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Speaker 2: of us the crashing surf. On the right, there were
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Speaker 2: the mountains. and the deep, clear blue skies above. So
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Speaker 2: we began to talk about our heritage and how great
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Speaker 2: our God has been to us. Before long, the car
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Speaker 2: was deathly silent. As we went up over the crest
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Speaker 2: of a hill, we looked off to the right, and
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Speaker 2: there were literally thousands of small white crosses standing at
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Speaker 2: erect attention, in perfect rank and file. My youngest leaned
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Speaker 2: up to me and said, Daddy, what's all that? And
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Speaker 2: almost without thinking, I said, Son, that's a military gravesite.
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Speaker 2: That's a graveyard. For they have buried the men and
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Speaker 2: women buried who are no longer remembered. But they are
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Speaker 2: the reason we are free today. The car stayed very
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Speaker 2: quiet as I slowed down and we just stared as
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Speaker 2: we went by. And I confess to you that I
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Speaker 2: swallowed a big knot in my throat. as there hung
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Speaker 2: in my head the words of John McRae, who penned
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Speaker 2: these words from the viewpoint of the dead, speaking to
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Speaker 2: the living. In Flanders fields, the poppies blow. Between the crosses,
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Speaker 2: row on row, that mark our place, within the sky,
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Speaker 2: the larks sing. still bravely singing, fly. And I thought,
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Speaker 2: as I drove further, how much like today that really is.
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Speaker 2: The larks fly by. The cars speed on. And every
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Speaker 2: once in a while, the unknown dead must say, don't
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Speaker 2: forget us. We are the reasons you're able to fly
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Speaker 2: and drive and live and move. And I suppose it
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Speaker 2: was at that time I decided that I would, at
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Speaker 2: some time in the future, if God gave the words
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Speaker 2: for it, honor the willing unknowns. And he did do that.
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Speaker 2: In the 11th chapter of Nehemiah, we have the Flanders
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Speaker 2: Fields of the Bible. We have the crosses of unknown and,
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Speaker 2: if you please, unpronounceable names of men who will never
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Speaker 2: be remembered because of Their names are even their significance.
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Speaker 2: But they form and frame one massive force that, in
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Speaker 2: my opinion, make the Word of God so exciting. As
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Speaker 2: a matter of fact, I have saved up in these
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Speaker 2: last few weeks chapter 7 for today's message because it
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Speaker 2: lays the background to chapter 11. You cannot appreciate the
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Speaker 2: names and the people of chapter 11 if you do
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Speaker 2: not know the reason that they appear. And that's in
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Speaker 2: chapter 7. Look quickly with me back to the background,
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Speaker 2: if you will. Verse 1, it came about when the
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Speaker 2: wall was rebuilt. And we've studied that in intricate detail.
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Speaker 2: We've looked at every piece of stone and we've developed
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Speaker 2: the process of leadership involved so that we've come to
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Speaker 2: the place where the wall is as familiar as these
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Speaker 2: walls around us. So the wall was rebuilt. That was
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Speaker 2: plan A in the arrangement of Nehemiah's life. And then
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Speaker 2: it says that he had set up the doors and
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Speaker 2: the gatekeepers and the singers and the Levites were appointed.
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Speaker 2: So security was established and some form of lifestyle had begun.
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Speaker 2: And And then verse 2 says that he put Hanani,
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Speaker 2: his brother, and Hananiah, the commander of the fortress, in
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Speaker 2: charge of Jerusalem. For he was a faithful man and
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Speaker 2: feared God more than many. You don't know either name
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Speaker 2: and nothing more is said of them. But they were
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Speaker 2: willing unknowns. They were the governmental delegates who carried on
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Speaker 2: the desires of Nehemiah, who was the governor. And then
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Speaker 2: verse 3 says that he set up a schedule for
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Speaker 2: the city. He said, don't let the gates of Jerusalem
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Speaker 2: be opened until the sun is hot. And while they
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Speaker 2: are standing guard, let them shut and bolt the doors. Also,
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Speaker 2: he adds, appoint guards from the inhabitants of Jerusalem, each
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Speaker 2: at his post and each in front of his own house.
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Speaker 2: So there was a police system. There was a security
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Speaker 2: force that was to be maintained. The city had everything
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Speaker 2: except the most important thing. It had no people. Look
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Speaker 2: at the next verse. The city was large and spacious,
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Speaker 2: but the people in it were few, and the houses
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Speaker 2: were not built. Remember the little couplet you used to
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Speaker 2: say when you were a child as you folded your
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Speaker 2: hands together? Here's the church. Here's the steeple. Open the door.
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Speaker 2: Where's the people? I suppose a little couplet like that
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Speaker 2: could have hung over the main entrance. Here is the wall.
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Speaker 2: Here is the city. Open the gates. What a pity.
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Speaker 2: No people. No people. Why weren't there people in the
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Speaker 2: city of Jerusalem? Doesn't it kind of surprise you? Why
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Speaker 2: build a wall around rubble? Because to the Jew, Zion
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Speaker 2: was to be honored. It was the place of God's
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Speaker 2: delicate handiwork in the lives of his people, the Hebrews.
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Speaker 2: People or not, the city was the place of God's delight.
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Speaker 2: And so the wall was built. Nehemiah wasn't there to
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Speaker 2: win the applause of the people. He was there to
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Speaker 2: do a work for God. So he put up a wall.
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Speaker 2: The gates were finished. The locks were put on the gate.
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Speaker 2: And there were no people. Why weren't there? Well, a
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Speaker 2: couple of reasons. First of all, the city had had
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Speaker 2: no wall for 160 years. If my calculations are correct,
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Speaker 2: they were 70 years in captivity, 90 more years before
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Speaker 2: Nehemiah came on the scene. So for over 150 years,
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Speaker 2: a century and a half, it was nothing but a
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Speaker 2: pile of rubble. And if you lived in it, You
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Speaker 2: were the open prey to all the enemy. A city
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Speaker 2: without walls would be like today a house without lock
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Speaker 2: and keys. And so the enemy would plunder the city
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Speaker 2: if you settled there. And so what did people do?
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Speaker 2: They dotted their lives with little, spacious, lavishly furnished homes
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Speaker 2: in the suburbs. which gave the prophet Haggai such fits
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Speaker 2: when he talked about the building of the temple in
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Speaker 2: the city of Jerusalem. They had all settled in the wall,
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Speaker 2: the beautiful, secure homes of the suburbs, and nobody was
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Speaker 2: living an urban life. Another reason is because if you
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Speaker 2: moved into the city, you had a lot of rubble
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Speaker 2: to clear out. And frankly, it's a lot easier to
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Speaker 2: build a home on a on a plain piece of
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Speaker 2: land than to push and pull out all the stones
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Speaker 2: of yesterday, the stumps and the charred remains of a
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Speaker 2: destruction of years ago. Let's look at our lives. We
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Speaker 2: don't live in the civic center area, do we? How
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Speaker 2: much more so if God were by some choice of
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Speaker 2: his to crumble the downtown skyscrapers into rubble and have
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Speaker 2: it sit for 150 years or more, how many of
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Speaker 2: you would volunteer to move back and start all over?
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Speaker 2: Do you see what I'm saying? There was a practical reason.
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Speaker 2: It was a lot of work. Well, the question in
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Speaker 2: my mind today and in yours is how did they
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Speaker 2: get people into the city? That bothered the Chamber of
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Speaker 2: Commerce of Nehemiah's day also, and so they made some plans,
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Speaker 2: two methods. Look at chapter 11. One of the problems
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Speaker 2: with preaching the message the second time is I get
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Speaker 2: so excited about what's coming, I can hardly hold back,
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Speaker 2: and I want to dump it all on you and
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Speaker 2: then go back and sort of filter through it. So
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Speaker 2: I'm going to hold off my excitement until we get
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Speaker 2: into it, okay? Look at verse 1 of chapter 11.
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Speaker 2: Did anybody live in Jerusalem? Yeah. Members of the Chamber
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Speaker 2: of Commerce did. The leaders of the people lived in Jerusalem.
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Speaker 2: They had to. You know, that was part of the job.
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Speaker 2: That's why they got that annual bonus to live in
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Speaker 2: the city. It was probably because of the incentive factor.
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Speaker 2: We want you to live in that city because it
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Speaker 2: is there. We want to rebuild and begin anew the
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Speaker 2: lifestyle that we once knew and counted precious. So the
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Speaker 2: leaders lived in the city. But the rest of the people,
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Speaker 2: they didn't. They lived outside in the little attractive hamlets
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Speaker 2: in the valley, the suburbs. Okay. So how did they
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Speaker 2: get the people in the city? First, they cast lots
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Speaker 2: to bring one out of ten to live in Jerusalem,
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Speaker 2: the holy city, while nine-tenths remained in the other cities.
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Speaker 2: If you're a thinker, as most of us are, you
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Speaker 2: probably question, why would they cast lots to to put
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Speaker 2: people in the city. Well in those days before the
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Speaker 2: scripture was complete the method of determining the will of
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Speaker 2: God was frankly at times rather strange. Proverbs even refers
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Speaker 2: to the casting of the lot in the lap and
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Speaker 2: God's hand in it. One of the ways that God
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Speaker 2: led his people in making decisions was the tangible method
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Speaker 2: of casting lots And so they went through this interesting
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Speaker 2: process and God divinely worked over the casting of Lot
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Speaker 2: so that one-tenth of the people moved out of the
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Speaker 2: suburbs into the city. They weren't volunteers. They were forced.
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Speaker 2: And so they uprooted and they moved. But the second
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Speaker 2: method is what interests us today. Verse 2. And the
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Speaker 2: people blessed all the men who volunteered to live in Jerusalem.
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Speaker 2: Now that's not the same as verse 1. Verse 1
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Speaker 2: did not include volunteers. If the lot fell on you
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Speaker 2: and your family, one out of ten, you moved back
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Speaker 2: into the city and you started over. Now among the
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Speaker 2: nine tents that remained outside the wall, There were some
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Speaker 2: who were strangely moved of God on the inside to
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Speaker 2: give themselves to urban dwelling. What makes it significant to
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Speaker 2: me is this word that is translated volunteered. It's a
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Speaker 2: Hebrew word, nadab, which means to impel, to incite from within.
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Speaker 2: Inherent in the word is the idea of generosity and willingness.
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Speaker 2: In other words, down deep inside, they were stirred up.
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Speaker 2: They were impelled by God to move. And so they did.
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Speaker 2: Can you imagine it? They, living in the suburbs... pinpointed
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Speaker 2: by God's finger to move from that lovely dwelling into
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Speaker 2: the city to start over. They willingly, generously did it.
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Speaker 2: You know what is of interest to me is that
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Speaker 2: There is hardly a name mentioned of all of those
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Speaker 2: people that moved into the city. Someone has done a
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Speaker 2: rather intricate work of calculation, and they came up with
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Speaker 2: somewhere probably in the vicinity of a million or more
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Speaker 2: surrounding that city. And so a number of these people
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Speaker 2: moved by force, but a large number moved because they
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Speaker 2: were impelled from within. They became, if you would use
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Speaker 2: my term this morning, among the willing unknowns. Before I
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Speaker 2: go any further, let me help clarify the meaning of
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Speaker 2: this word volunteered. It is used several times in the
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Speaker 2: Old Testament. We won't turn, but just it will help
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Speaker 2: you build a case in your mind for the significance
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Speaker 2: of it. If you were to look into Exodus chapter 35,
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Speaker 2: you would find a group of people who were skilled
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Speaker 2: in craftsmanship, workmanship, embroidery, weaving, and whatever, to the putting
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Speaker 2: together of the tabernacle, that elaborate and beautiful portable church
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Speaker 2: in the days of Moses. And Exodus 35 refers to
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Speaker 2: those who willingly gave of their substance, of their talent,
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Speaker 2: their service for the things of God. And so, that
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Speaker 2: word nadev appears. They volunteered that to God. Not a
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Speaker 2: name is remembered. If your life depended on it, No
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Speaker 2: matter how deep a student of the Bible, you would
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Speaker 2: have great difficulty remembering one craftsman from the days of
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Speaker 2: the tabernacle. It's planned that way, you see. Willing unknowns
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Speaker 2: never have their name in the lights. You travel on
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Speaker 2: to Judges chapter 5, you find another group of people.
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Speaker 2: Right after battle, Deborah and Barak sing a song in
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Speaker 2: honor of the willing unknowns. who volunteered for military service
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Speaker 2: and voluntarily, in some cases, gave of their lives that
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Speaker 2: the nation Israel might be sustained. So it has reference
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Speaker 2: to military service. It's used again in 1 Chronicles 29
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Speaker 2: for David when he laid the groundwork for the building
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Speaker 2: up of the temple in Solomon's day. And the scripture
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Speaker 2: says that there were those who willingly and then it
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Speaker 2: describes them. Set aside certain possessions for the temple when
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Speaker 2: it would be built. They were impelled from within. Now,
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Speaker 2: so much for Exodus and Judges and Chronicles. Our interest
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Speaker 2: is Nehemiah 11. I find five specific groups that willingly
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Speaker 2: gave something, even though they would remain unknown to for
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Speaker 2: the giving of it. Look at the first group. We've
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Speaker 2: just read about them. The people blessed all the men
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Speaker 2: who volunteered to live in Jerusalem. Group number one were
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Speaker 2: those who willingly moved into the city. Now as you
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Speaker 2: read that second verse, you might think, well, what's such
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Speaker 2: a great thing about that? Well, if you ask that,
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Speaker 2: you haven't moved recently. You that have moved recently would
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Speaker 2: have no problem identifying with the problems. What happens when
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Speaker 2: you move? Well, you uproot all of your familiar settings,
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Speaker 2: all of your family, all of your friends, all of
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Speaker 2: your contacts, all the familiar scenery, and you actually go
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Speaker 2: through a tremendous psychological change. Those that are engaged in
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Speaker 2: the moving business tell me that. And I understand that
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Speaker 2: the average American moves somewhere around five times. I think
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Speaker 2: that's the figure in his lifetime. And some of us,
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Speaker 2: 12 to 15 times in the lifetime. Maybe my figures
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Speaker 2: are a little low. But what happened? Well, they left
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Speaker 2: their lovely homes. pulled up their domestic roots, started from scratch,
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Speaker 2: submitted themselves to a government they didn't elect, lived in
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Speaker 2: a city that was policed by a group of people
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Speaker 2: they didn't know. They began to seek for new employment,
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Speaker 2: I take it. They had to redo the ground and
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Speaker 2: just the physical manual labor of building a house and
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Speaker 2: in the process keeping family alive and happy. There were
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Speaker 2: those that seemed to be very insignificant if you hurry
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Speaker 2: through the Bible, but they were very important because they
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Speaker 2: became the new inhabitants of the city. There's another group.
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Speaker 2: Skip over to verse 10. And pray for me as
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Speaker 2: I try to get through these names, will you? Verse 10.
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Speaker 2: From the priests, Jediah, the son of Jorah, Joarib, Jachin, Saraiah,
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Speaker 2: the son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshulam, the son
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Speaker 2: of Zadok, the son of Meriath, the son of Ahitub.
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Speaker 2: Thanks for praying. The leader of the house of God
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Speaker 2: and their kinsmen, notice, who performed the work of the temple, 822. 822.
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Speaker 2: I've heard people say, boy, this is the day of
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Speaker 2: the big churches. Well, friend, that was a day of
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Speaker 2: a rather sizable work itself. There were 822 who willingly
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Speaker 2: worked within the temple. That's quite a staff. 822 people
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Speaker 2: who volunteered themselves to the work of the house of worship.
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Speaker 2: That's the second group. Those that moved into the area,
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Speaker 2: and then there were those within the area who gave
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Speaker 2: themselves willingly to the ministry within the temple. They faithfully
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Speaker 2: supported the work with their talents and gifts. I take
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Speaker 2: it from the way these names appear that none of
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Speaker 2: them were well known, at least in history. I don't
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Speaker 2: suppose they had ushers and TV technicians and lighting technicians
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Speaker 2: and structural engineers, et cetera, et cetera, as we have today,
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Speaker 2: but they had someone in that 822 that did very
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Speaker 2: important jobs. This is a perfect place to stop and
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Speaker 2: apply this. You know, we get the distinct impression that
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Speaker 2: there was a sizable group of people, like an iceberg,
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Speaker 2: very few of whom were represented in the eyes of
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Speaker 2: the public, but most of whom were never seen or
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Speaker 2: known by the congregation. I want to illustrate it in
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Speaker 2: a rather earthy way. I want you all to look
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Speaker 2: up at a gang of lights that's been added on
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Speaker 2: your left, top side. If you're in the TV room,
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Speaker 2: you can't appreciate it right now, but you will in
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Speaker 2: the future. And on your On your left and on
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Speaker 2: your right, there are lights. There are four on one
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Speaker 2: side and three on the other. I don't know why,
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Speaker 2: but if I were to have built it, it would
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Speaker 2: have been four and four, because that's the way I think.
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Speaker 2: Then there's one back up here behind me. That's another one.
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Speaker 2: I don't know why it's there, but it's there. Gang
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Speaker 2: of lights. I took a crew of men to do that. Well,
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Speaker 2: in the building of that light back here, there was
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Speaker 2: a scaffolding work that had to go up. Okay? And
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Speaker 2: the scaffolding fell and hit the pulpit, which hit the
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Speaker 2: communion table and broke the glass into a thousand pieces
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Speaker 2: on top of the communion table. And this pulpit looked
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Speaker 2: like Humpty Dumpty off the wall. Wow, it was in
29:03
Speaker 2: all sorts of pieces. So the fellow that broke it
29:07
Speaker 2: came over and he said, hey, something happened. So I
29:15
Speaker 2: walked over and believe me, something had really happened. It
29:19
Speaker 2: was a mess. So that's no problem. We've got a
29:23
Speaker 2: couple of three people that can handle that. So I
29:25
Speaker 2: made a phone call, got a hold of an individual.
29:28
Speaker 2: I said, say, guess what? I want you to do
29:32
Speaker 2: an impossible task. Come over and I'll show you. He came.
29:36
Speaker 2: We looked at it. No problem. Stuck it in the
29:40
Speaker 2: station wagon off it went put it all together oh
29:43
Speaker 2: and I might add there was a wedding that next
29:46
Speaker 2: day so this had to be cleaned up and had
29:49
Speaker 2: to be dovetailed with the scaffolding and all the work
29:54
Speaker 2: together touched about six seven eight lives that were all
29:58
Speaker 2: working together voluntarily to make it work beautifully. Now, if
30:05
Speaker 2: I had put the pulpit together, I would have had
30:08
Speaker 2: to put a sign on it and say, this is
30:10
Speaker 2: a pulpit because it doesn't resemble what used to look
30:19
Speaker 2: like a pulpit, but you couldn't even tell it. You
30:22
Speaker 2: didn't know any of that went on, did you, when
30:25
Speaker 2: you came last Sunday morning? There it was. Why? Because
30:32
Speaker 2: of the faithfulness of a few willing unknowns. How much
30:37
Speaker 2: different it would have been, by the way, if I
30:39
Speaker 2: had called my friend and said, say, something happened. Yeah,
30:43
Speaker 2: what's that? Well, the pulpit has been broken into a
30:48
Speaker 2: number of pieces. Who did it? And I'd tell him, yeah,
30:53
Speaker 2: that same guy did those things before. I could have
30:56
Speaker 2: expected that same thing. He'd come over here and he'd say, man,
30:59
Speaker 2: I couldn't touch that. Less than 150 bucks. Can't get
31:03
Speaker 2: to it for two weeks. You know, you get that
31:05
Speaker 2: from the commercial world these days. Can't get to it.
31:08
Speaker 2: Can't possibly work on it. But he didn't do that.
31:13
Speaker 2: I called him up. No problem. He came over and
31:16
Speaker 2: I looked at this. Said, look at that. Isn't that something?
31:19
Speaker 2: That's no problem. Dump it in the car. So he
31:21
Speaker 2: dumped it over there in the car. And off he went.
31:24
Speaker 2: Brought back a miracle. There it is. Skilled workmen willingly
31:31
Speaker 2: doing their thing. But you never read the names in
31:36
Speaker 2: the bulletin. You never even know the entire episode. And
31:41
Speaker 2: that goes on constantly. I made a list of the
31:44
Speaker 2: inner workings of this ministry. not counting the teaching ministry
31:52
Speaker 2: of the Sunday school or the music ministries, which often
31:55
Speaker 2: are in the lights, 17 inner workings that never make
32:03
Speaker 2: the headlines, ever. But I want you to know that
32:09
Speaker 2: I would be hard-pressed come Sunday if I were asked
32:13
Speaker 2: to cover all those bases. There's no way. You are
32:17
Speaker 2: comfortable because someone takes care of the heating and air conditioning.
32:22
Speaker 2: You enjoy it because last Sunday's mess is cleaned out
32:27
Speaker 2: between last Sunday and this Sunday. You want to look
32:31
Speaker 2: over this place some Sunday night. It's an interesting appearance
32:36
Speaker 2: from the Sunday morning service when you first came in.
32:39
Speaker 2: Somebody has cleaned up. And on and on and on.
32:45
Speaker 2: There were those who willingly, yet unknown to the public,
32:49
Speaker 2: gave themselves to the inner ministry. There's another group. Verse 15.
32:58
Speaker 2: From the Levites. Verse 15 lists those Levites. Which I
33:05
Speaker 2: will allow you to read on your own from the
33:08
Speaker 2: leaders of the Levites. Verse 16 says, there were those
33:12
Speaker 2: who were in charge of the outside work of the
33:15
Speaker 2: house of God. Now in those days it didn't just
33:19
Speaker 2: mean those that landscaped. Those that planted and trimmed and
33:24
Speaker 2: took care of the shrubbery. But those that ministered outside
33:28
Speaker 2: the house of God often were those that judged it.
33:31
Speaker 2: Those who handled civil affairs. Those, in our terms, who counseled.
33:37
Speaker 2: Who ministered to the public away from the place of worship.
33:42
Speaker 2: There were those who ministered outside the house of God.
33:46
Speaker 2: And you know what? You can't remember one of their names.
33:50
Speaker 2: It is almost as if God is saying, I don't
33:53
Speaker 2: want you to remember their names. They're like those small
33:57
Speaker 2: white crosses. Not to be remembered individually except by those families.
34:04
Speaker 2: But as a mass of individuals who made a mass
34:09
Speaker 2: of important things go right on without a hitch. These
34:16
Speaker 2: are the outer workings of the ministry. Let your mind
34:20
Speaker 2: drift to the outside, will you? What was one of
34:26
Speaker 2: the first things you noticed about this church? Well, if
34:31
Speaker 2: you were like me, you probably noticed the exterior. When
34:37
Speaker 2: I was driven to this place and began to look
34:40
Speaker 2: it over very carefully, the very first thing that was
34:43
Speaker 2: in my mind was, my, this place looks like a park.
34:47
Speaker 2: Somebody cares about details. Let's go to another group, the
34:54
Speaker 2: parking attendants. Remember those guys you throw stones at every
34:58
Speaker 2: once in a while? That group of fellas? Never get
35:02
Speaker 2: a dime for their labors. But faithfully, they're out there. Cool, heat, winter, summer. Now,
35:13
Speaker 2: come on in. Park to your right. Park to your left. Or,
35:16
Speaker 2: I'm sorry, it's full, and you have that beautiful attitude.
35:20
Speaker 2: That's fine. I'll drive on down. No problem. Ha, ha, ha.
35:27
Speaker 2: They work outside, don't they? Do you know one name?
35:32
Speaker 2: You don't know a name, do you? Year after year,
35:38
Speaker 2: that kind of ministry goes on. When's the last time
35:41
Speaker 2: you said to one of those fellas, say, thanks a million.
35:47
Speaker 2: You're here so that we can really enjoy it in there.
35:52
Speaker 2: How about the recording ministries? Ever been blessed by that ministry?
35:58
Speaker 2: Aside from one whose salary is taken care of by
36:04
Speaker 2: that ministry, the entire work is volunteer. The work of recording, transcribing, maintaining,
36:14
Speaker 2: the whole layout, volunteer. Ever asked to look up the
36:21
Speaker 2: fellow that does the taping and say, hey, Let me
36:25
Speaker 2: tell you what that labor means over here. It is incredible.
36:32
Speaker 2: I listed eight, nine areas outside that are carried on.
36:38
Speaker 2: Believe me, if it were up to me to maintain
36:41
Speaker 2: the landscaping, this would be dead plant city. you would
36:50
Speaker 2: see more artificial flowers and trees than you've ever seen
36:54
Speaker 2: in your life. If you want something to die, put
36:58
Speaker 2: it on my front porch. I can just look at
37:02
Speaker 2: it and it gets brown all of a sudden. But
37:05
Speaker 2: I come down here and those that are able to
37:07
Speaker 2: handle it, everything is green. It's incredible. And that is
37:13
Speaker 2: the very first thing the public sees. along with your parking,
37:22
Speaker 2: is the exterior of this building. That's what they saw then.
37:27
Speaker 2: In fact, I checked it out in a little passage
37:29
Speaker 2: in Chronicles. It talks about those who worked for the
37:32
Speaker 2: king voluntarily. There were some who took care of the herd,
37:35
Speaker 2: some who took care of the sheep, and there were
37:37
Speaker 2: those that took care of the donkeys. Can you imagine?
37:41
Speaker 2: What do you do? I have a ministry with the donkeys.
37:45
Speaker 2: But the last part of the list of about seven guys,
37:48
Speaker 2: it says they serve the king in their work. And
37:52
Speaker 2: that's what we do. You have a task that is
37:55
Speaker 2: never noticed by the public? Write it down. I'm serving
37:59
Speaker 2: the king in my work. Nobody will ever know. It's
38:03
Speaker 2: for the king. I couldn't preach myself out of a
38:08
Speaker 2: paper bag, but I can sure take care of this job.
38:15
Speaker 2: Are you important? Your name will never make it in
38:19
Speaker 2: the lights. Just like these names. But you're a leader
38:26
Speaker 2: in the outside work of the house of God. Can
38:31
Speaker 2: I point out another one? Look at verse 17. Mattaniah,
38:38
Speaker 2: and then it gives his genealogy, was a leader in
38:42
Speaker 2: the beginning in the thanksgiving process. At prayer. How many
38:49
Speaker 2: times have you referred to the person of Mattaniah? We
38:53
Speaker 2: don't even know the guy existed. But Mattaniah was a leader. Where?
38:58
Speaker 2: On his knees. Is that important? It probably kept the
39:02
Speaker 2: temple going. Couldn't preach worth a dime. But man could
39:08
Speaker 2: he pray. So many people come and say, oh, let
39:12
Speaker 2: me tell you, I get reports about the ministry that's fantastic.
39:17
Speaker 2: And I think to myself at times, don't tell me.
39:21
Speaker 2: Tell the people that support it. The people that daily,
39:25
Speaker 2: regularly say, God, keep that. ministry strong. Make it exciting.
39:33
Speaker 2: Develop it. Keep the unity of the Spirit. Lord, give
39:38
Speaker 2: us a teachable spirit. Sustain the pastoral staff. All of them.
39:44
Speaker 2: Not the pastor. There's a staff of pastors. Work through
39:50
Speaker 2: the ministry of music. May it be a team. And Lord,
39:55
Speaker 2: use me and these in my family as a vital
40:00
Speaker 2: part of that ministry. That's prayer. Ever been in touch
40:03
Speaker 2: with a person that's a prayer warrior? If you haven't,
40:06
Speaker 2: you have missed the joy of your life. I was
40:09
Speaker 2: in touch with one named Aunt May in Houston when
40:13
Speaker 2: I first got serious about the ministry. And I had
40:16
Speaker 2: the delightful joy of being put on her prayer list. Wow,
40:21
Speaker 2: what an experience. She was an unusual kind of a woman.
40:24
Speaker 2: You could just quote chapters of Isaiah, like it's going
40:27
Speaker 2: out of style. Just one chapter after another. She was
40:30
Speaker 2: just in the book all the time. But nobody in
40:32
Speaker 2: the home church would even know she was around. So
40:37
Speaker 2: I said to her one day, Aunt May, since you're
40:40
Speaker 2: praying for us regularly, I'd like for you to remember
40:42
Speaker 2: our need for an air conditioner. All right, I will.
40:45
Speaker 2: She wrote it down. Time passed. We were in a
40:51
Speaker 2: little two-room apartment with a little apology of a kitchen
40:56
Speaker 2: off to the side. And boy, it was hot. I thought, man,
41:01
Speaker 2: I hope God really comes through. And by the end
41:04
Speaker 2: of the winter, I thought, no, there's no way. And
41:08
Speaker 2: I can't afford to buy an air conditioner. So we
41:11
Speaker 2: made a trip to my wife's folks in Houston. And
41:14
Speaker 2: while we were there, I got a phone call. A
41:16
Speaker 2: fellow named Parks. Chuck? Yeah. Yeah. I got an air
41:20
Speaker 2: conditioner that I'm ready to throw away. Do you guys
41:23
Speaker 2: need one? I said, run that by one more time.
41:31
Speaker 2: So he brought it over. They put it in the
41:32
Speaker 2: central air conditioning, brought over a neat little Fedder's air conditioner,
41:35
Speaker 2: put it in the back of my car, hauled it
41:38
Speaker 2: up to the seminary, stuck it in the window, and just, boy,
41:40
Speaker 2: just so good, it about froze us to death all
41:42
Speaker 2: summer long. But the delightful thing is I got a
41:45
Speaker 2: hold of Aunt May, and she said to me, Say,
41:48
Speaker 2: how are we doing on the air conditioner? And I said,
41:51
Speaker 2: you know what? We got one. Terrific. That's the way
41:54
Speaker 2: it ought to be. Now, what else do you need?
41:56
Speaker 2: And I thought, now what would the average saint say?
42:02
Speaker 2: Did you get the air conditioner? Yeah, we did. You
42:04
Speaker 2: don't say. That's fantastic. That's amazing, isn't it? Rather than, good,
42:12
Speaker 2: that's the way it ought to be. Kind of like
42:13
Speaker 2: a grocery list. What else is next? I'll check it
42:16
Speaker 2: off here. That's a prayer warrior. Prayer warriors in this
42:21
Speaker 2: church aren't surprised of what God's doing. It's the people
42:24
Speaker 2: that don't pray about it that are surprised. Prayer warriors say, well,
42:28
Speaker 2: what else is new? When you give it to God,
42:32
Speaker 2: he does magnificent, great, marvelous things. That's what this fellow
42:37
Speaker 2: Matt and I was known for. He prayed. But when
42:43
Speaker 2: you look at the other group, look down at verse 22.
42:50
Speaker 2: There was the overseer of the Levites in Jerusalem whose
42:56
Speaker 2: name was Uzziah. Uzziah. Never in my life have I
43:02
Speaker 2: known of Uzziah. Never. What did he do? Well, he
43:08
Speaker 2: was from the sons of Asaph. Who were they? They
43:12
Speaker 2: were the singers for the service of the house of God.
43:18
Speaker 2: You getting these down? People that moved into the city,
43:21
Speaker 2: willingly impelled of God. People who worked in the temple,
43:26
Speaker 2: outside the temple. People who prayed for the ministry. And
43:32
Speaker 2: then there were these who sang in what kind of service?
43:35
Speaker 2: The service for God. They willingly impelled of God, gave
43:42
Speaker 2: their service. The living Bible says that the sons of
43:46
Speaker 2: Asaph were the clan who became the tabernacle singers. What
43:51
Speaker 2: a tremendous thing. These people sang for what? The glory
43:56
Speaker 2: of God. And if you're ready for a shocker, verse 23.
44:03
Speaker 2: There was a commandment from the king concerning them. Who?
44:08
Speaker 2: The singers. And a firm regulation... For the song leaders
44:14
Speaker 2: day by day. What does that mean? Does it mean
44:18
Speaker 2: he had to punch a clock? No. It means that
44:21
Speaker 2: he was paid. I'll give you 30 seconds to let
44:25
Speaker 2: that sink in. Because so many people feel, pay a
44:30
Speaker 2: song leader? That's modern. First sign of apostasy. Pay a
44:38
Speaker 2: song leader. Yeah, it's modern. Started in 445 B.C. with Nehemiah.
44:45
Speaker 2: As a matter of fact, if you check your history,
44:47
Speaker 2: David was the one that really started it. When he
44:49
Speaker 2: made plans for there to be temple singers, he made
44:52
Speaker 2: arrangements for the payment of those that were gifted in
44:57
Speaker 2: leadership to lead the singing. In fact, the king said,
45:04
Speaker 2: when it comes to the leader, pay him. Now, putting
45:13
Speaker 2: all of that together, I come up with some rather
45:16
Speaker 2: interesting principles. Let me share them with you. The first
45:21
Speaker 2: one is this. Your gift makes you valuable, though not
45:25
Speaker 2: necessarily popular. If you are gifted in an area that
45:31
Speaker 2: will never reach the spotlight, don't worry about it. You
45:36
Speaker 2: are as valuable as Mattaniah. Or use I, and you
45:41
Speaker 2: will be just as well known. Okay? The second thing
45:46
Speaker 2: that I observe in this passage of Scripture. Every labor
45:50
Speaker 2: done in love is remembered by God, never forgotten. Listen
45:57
Speaker 2: to Hebrews 6.10. God is not unrighteous to forget your
46:01
Speaker 2: work and labor of love which you have showed toward
46:06
Speaker 2: his name. in that you have ministered to the saints
46:10
Speaker 2: and do continue to minister. Put Hebrews 6.10 in the
46:16
Speaker 2: margin of your mind, and every time you begin to
46:20
Speaker 2: feel sorry because you're not in the lights, remember, God
46:23
Speaker 2: never overlooks one deed, ever. The third principle that I
46:32
Speaker 2: draw from this is this one. Our final rewards will
46:41
Speaker 2: be determined on the basis of faithfulness, not public applause.
46:47
Speaker 2: The public may never know or have known of your
46:51
Speaker 2: ministry that will have nothing to do with final rewards.
46:57
Speaker 2: In my opinion, Aunt May will have as many if
47:02
Speaker 2: not greater rewards than this poor preacher will have in eternity.
47:08
Speaker 2: Because without another individual around, she secretes herself into that
47:13
Speaker 2: closet and faithfully prays, locked in to the source of power.
47:28
Speaker 2: I wanted us to remember the unknowns today. We were
47:35
Speaker 2: driving back from San Francisco that evening. And the whole
47:43
Speaker 2: family was asleep, snoring away. So when we got to
47:51
Speaker 2: that impressive sight, I looked out and I thought to myself,
48:04
Speaker 2: The dead have not died in vain. Those who were
48:09
Speaker 2: dead still speak. And I thought how important it will
48:17
Speaker 2: be to build up the very large number of people
48:25
Speaker 2: who though unknown still minister. And that's you. and you,
48:34
Speaker 2: and you, and you. Macrae closed his work with the
48:42
Speaker 2: immortal reminder, which was sort of a charge, to you
48:48
Speaker 2: from failing hands, we throw the torch. Be yours to
48:55
Speaker 2: hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die,
49:01
Speaker 2: we shall not sleep. though poppies grow in Flanders fields.
49:11
Speaker 1: May we bow together. I want you to listen closely
49:15
Speaker 1: as I read the lyrics to a song by Margaret Clark.
49:21
Speaker 1: She titles it, So Send I You. So send I
49:26
Speaker 1: you to labor unrewarded, to serve unpaid, unloved, unsought, unknown,
49:36
Speaker 1: to bear rebuke, to suffer scorn and scoffing, so send
49:41
Speaker 1: I you to toil for me alone. So send I
49:47
Speaker 1: you to loneliness and longing, with heart a-hungering for the
49:52
Speaker 1: loved and known, forsaking home and kindred. Friend and dear one,
49:59
Speaker 1: so send I you to know my love alone. As
50:04
Speaker 1: the Father hath sent me, so send I you. In
50:12
Speaker 1: these closing moments, I want to lift up the hands
50:15
Speaker 1: that hang down, as well as strengthen the feeble knees
50:19
Speaker 1: of all of you who are among the willing unknowns.
50:24
Speaker 1: And there are many of you. First, let me say,
50:27
Speaker 1: if you have never trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ,
50:33
Speaker 1: He says, I want to make you a significant part
50:36
Speaker 1: of my family. Accept me, and I will honor your life.
50:43
Speaker 1: I may not use you publicly, but you can count
50:45
Speaker 1: on this. I will certainly use you eternally. And now
50:52
Speaker 1: to you to whom the torch has been thrown, are
50:55
Speaker 1: you holding it high? These words of mine may reach
50:59
Speaker 1: some missionary, someone serving in a distant land, laboring unrewarded, unloved,
51:07
Speaker 1: and virtually unknown. It may reach you in loneliness and
51:13
Speaker 1: in a time of longing. You may be shackled to
51:17
Speaker 1: the need of physical ailments or perhaps caring for someone
51:22
Speaker 1: in your home who is in that condition. Nobody may
51:26
Speaker 1: know it except God. Keep this in mind. He sent
51:32
Speaker 1: you to that calling. Our Father, we thank you for
51:37
Speaker 1: your work in the lives of all of us. Not
51:41
Speaker 1: just those who are known, active, and publicly engaged in ministry,
51:47
Speaker 1: but especially among those who are unknown, working behind the scenes,
51:53
Speaker 1: serving you faithfully. My prayer today is that you will
51:58
Speaker 1: encourage those whose gift makes them valuable, though not popular.
52:06
Speaker 1: Lift up their hearts with encouragement. strengthen their lives with
52:13
Speaker 1: the reality that you will never forget their work of love. Also, Lord,
52:20
Speaker 1: today remind us that every labor we do in love
52:24
Speaker 1: you will remember and you will never forget. Thank you
52:30
Speaker 1: for that especially. And finally, as we anticipate our final
52:34
Speaker 1: reward in heaven, remind us that it is based on
52:39
Speaker 1: personal faithfulness, never on public applause. And so, Father, we
52:45
Speaker 1: would align our lives with your Son's life, who came
52:50
Speaker 1: that he might serve and give. May that Christlike quality
52:58
Speaker 1: abide within us, a commitment to serve and to give.
53:03
Speaker 1: regardless of others' response or a complete lack of it.
53:09
Speaker 1: Keep us strong. Keep us faithful. May we endure through
53:14
Speaker 1: the power of the Spirit of God for the glory
53:18
Speaker 1: of Jesus Christ, in whose name I pray.
53:22
Speaker 2: Amen.
53:25
Speaker 3: The preceding message, The Willing Unknowns, was copyrighted in 1974, 1983, 1990, 2007,
53:34
Speaker 3: and 2016. And the sound recording was copyrighted in 2016
53:40
Speaker 3: by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide.
53:45
Speaker 3: Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.