The Pulpit Commentary — Nehemiah — Section 27

that we are enriched by one another's prosperity. 11 We are members one of another" and_ should rejoice in one another's ~elfare. This is so with (1) neighbouring nations; (2) sister Churches; (3) capital and labour; (4) Tarious contemporary industries. The more one prospers, the more another will prosper too. If a man comes to " seek the welfare" of any II Israel," we should not be II exceedingly grieved," but heartily glacl. (r) Si1iful. Though we may not denounce one another, we are all, together, under the condemnation of God. How can he be otherwise than grieved with us when we envy the welfare of our own brethren? That those who are children of the same Divine Father and members of the same family should ~sh ill to one another must vex his loving spirit. (o) Somet,hing of wliich we shall live to be utterly ashamed. How many have to remember with shame that when men " came seeking the welfare of God's people," they were antagonistic when they should have been friendly.-C. Vers. 10-20. - True work Divinely su,cceed,ed. Here is the enterprise briefly eketc~e~ out: the ruin to be built up; t~e surrounding sea of scorn, hatred, and oppos1tJ.on to be kept back ; the co-operation of rulers and people to be maintained. One man evidently to be the life and soul of the whole work. "I told not a man what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem." I. All truly religious work should be accomplished in the spirit of UNCOMPROMIS- ING FAITHFULNESS. 1. Complete independence of those who have no heart to "seek the welfare of the children of Israel." 2. Fearlessness of opposition, whether open or treacherous. 3. Wise ducretwn in the use of methods. The less confident must be held up by the men of stronger faith. It is well sometimes to commit the energies of good men to a worthy enterprise before they calculate too much, lest their hearts should misgive them. 4. The true leader must not wait for others. Prom_ptitude is the soul of activity and the seal of success. Nehemiah begins with his mght expe- dition of survey: "I and some few men with me." II. REALITY AND TRUTH is the basis of all faith and zeal for God. Look at the facts. "Ye see the distress." Jerusalem lying waste; its gates burned with fire; actual reproach on the people of God. Whatever we attempt to build up, whether the edifice of our own religious life, or the prosperity of the Church, or the structure of Christian evidence, let us be sure that we understand the real state of the case ; what is in mine, what remains unshaken, what will be expected of us, what is the reproach which has to be wiped away ; we must neither extenuate nor exaggerate. III. FELLOWSHIP and CO-OPERATION the hope of a revived Church. "Come and let us build." However needful that good men should, in some respects and for a time, work alone (Nehemiah told nothing at first to the Jews-" priests, nobles, rulers, and the rest"), when the great effort has to be made, it should be made in the spirit of union and brotherly love. "I told them." "And they said, Let us rise up and build." The true co-operation will not be a mere association of individuals, but a spiritual brotherhood, a covenant with God and with one another, recognising the "hand of God," and the II good work," and the Divinely-appointed ministry, and the special guidance and grace, both already bestowed and promised. IV. All SUCCESS, as against the world and its enmity, in face of scorn, contumely, falsehood, and evil devices, l'IIUBT COME OUT OF' THE HARMONY BETWEEN Goo's PURPOSES .A.ND OUR WILL. He will prosper. We will arise and build. We must look to it that our portion, our right, our memorial are in Jerusalem. There are the three great supports to every earnest worker's confidence and hope. He has cast in his lot with God's people; he has entered into covenant relation with God, and has there- fore a right in Jerusalem; it is the seat and fountain of his most blessed memories. "There his best friends, hiR kindred dwell ; there God his Saviour reigns." All happy, successful work in the Church of Christ will be work done by spiritual men, actuated by spiritual motives, and ?~pending on spiritual s~rengt~. _The gre3:test hindrance to the progress of true religion has been the meddling with its operationa "Y those who "have no portion, nor right, nor memorial in Jerusalem. 11-R. Vere. 11-20.-Wise procdure in _pruence of a great work. Nehemiah before Jerusalem, the earnest patriot prophet before the city of God, lying waste and exposed, 1111gges1:8 to u - OIi, II, 9-20.] THE BOOK OF NEHEMIAH. 25