The Converted Cupbearer
had arrived from the Persian court, and was going to build the walls
of Jerusalem. There are some men who are always telling what they
are going to do. Man, let the work speak for itself. You needn't
blow any horns; go and do the work, and it will advertise itself.
Nehemiah didn't have any newspapers writing about him, or any
placards. However, there was no small stir. No doubt every one in
town was talking about it, s
ying that a very important personage
had arrived from the Persian court; but he was there three days and
three nights without telling anyone why he had come.
One night he went out to survey the city. He couldn't ride around;
even now you cannot ride a beast around the walls of Jerusalem. He
tried to ride around, but he couldn't, so he walked. It was a
difficult task which he had before him, but he was not discouraged.
That is what makes character. Men who can go into a hard field and
succeed, they are the men we want. Any quantity of men are looking
for easy places, but the world will never hear of them. We want men
who are looking for hard places, who are willing to go into the
darkest corners of the earth, and make those dark places bloom like
gardens. They can do it if the Lord is with them.
Everything looked dark before Nehemiah. The walls were broken down.
There was not a man of influence among the people, not a man of
culture or a man of wealth. The nations all around were looking down
upon these weak, feeble Jews. So it is in many churches today, the
walls are down, and people say it is no use, and their hands drop
down by their side. Everything seemed against Nehemiah, but he was a
man who had the fire of God in his soul; he had come to build the
walls of Jerusalem. If you could have bored a hole into his head,
you would have found "Jerusalem" stamped on his brain. If you could
have looked into his heart you would have found "Jerusalem" there.
He was a fanatic; he was terribly in earnest; he was an enthusiast.
I like to see a man take up some one thing and say, "I will do it; I
live for this thing; this one thing I am bound to do." We spread out
so much, and try to do so many things, that