Stay on the Wall
Category: Obedience to God’s Will
Key Passage: Nehemiah 6
Speaker: Paul Chisgar
Date: December 11, 2022
Thank you so much. I appreciate all these people that serve in music ministry. What a valuable, important ministry it is. Turn your Bible, as would, to Nehemiah chapter number six tonight. Nehemiah chapter six. By the way, there’s a very special birthday on Thursday. I almost missed it. We’re going to have a party for it, but my mom’s birthday is on Thursday.
And praise the Lord for that. I praise the Lord for my mom. And thank God for a godly mom. You’ve heard me tell the story: the first one saved in our family. My dad wasn’t saved; didn’t want anything to do with it. Mom started fasting. She’d kind of made a pact. She was going to fast every day that I went off to work, wouldn’t eat while I was at work.
That gets tough after a while. I mean, that’s, you know, Monday through Friday at least, fasting all day long. She started losing weight and whatnot. My dad finally said, “You’re skinny enough. I don’t want you any more skinny.” So she felt like the Lord said she could eat during the daytime, praise me for that. Out of her testimony, she just got saved and sold out. She made a fire in the backyard, took all the immodest rags, went out and burned it. She said, “I’m going to live for the Lord.” Dad was like, “Man, something’s different,” you know? It took a while, but eventually, he went to church in revival and got saved. Really, just through all that, God just changed their family tree. Pretty much, most all of my aunts and uncles are saved. Now, some of them got saved towards the end.
Some of them got saved after years of my mom and dad witnessing to them. It really just changed our family tree. We were the nuts, you know, come Christmas time or family reunion, going to visit. We were just different; we stuck out like a sore thumb. I had both thumbs back then, by the way, you know, back in that day, but we stuck out like sore thumbs, and we were kind of the odd ones. Mom and Dad were too strict and all the rest of that stuff, going to church all the time—all those things, you know? Some of them even here recently have told Mom, “You guys were right,” years later. Many—just about all of them—gotten saved. Praise the Lord for it. I am.
I often think Uncle Johnny Frank was one of the classic ones. He’s in heaven now, but he’s the one you hear me tell the story about. Dad—I don’t know if it was Christmas time or whatever, when the family was together, you know, sometimes—Dad witnessed to his son. His son was listening, and it looked like maybe he’d get saved. He looked over at his dad, and his dad shook his head, “No,” you know. Frankie, my cousin, said, “Uncle Steve, I’m not interested.” Walked away, you know.
Uncle Johnny Frank, his dad—Mom and Dad witnessed to him so many times. They called me. I think—I don’t know if he was in Florida or where—but Mom and Dad called. They were in Indiana and said, “We’re going to go down and visit Uncle Johnny Frank. Pray for him to get saved.” In my mind, my faith, I’m thinking, “Mom and Dad, y’all talked to that guy about a thousand times. He didn’t want to listen,” you know? I said, “Well, I’ll pray,” you know, and they went down to witness to him that time.
I think they went out fishing together, if I remember right. That’s a good way to reach some of my family; they’re just country people. He had cancer, but he was ready to listen. He’s the one I often tell that in the hospital, he would say, “Tell Stephen Knighton to visit me and bring your Bible. I want you to read the Bible to me.” He’d tell the other family members, “When you come to my room, don’t be cussing anymore. I’m saved now.” God did all that, but it really started with my mom and a gospel tract—all from a gospel tract. By the way, praise the Lord. As far as Brother Kevin’s stack, I emptied the box out this week underneath the table. So I guess all the ones on top—take all of our Christmas tracks and put them in your hands. That’s a thousand Christmas tracks. That’s awesome.
That’s a great track. Read over that thing before we give it out. Back in the day—and I’m just rambling here a little bit—back of the day when I was young, if you visited any Independent Baptist Church, I’d say over 50% of them, but I’m talking about way back in the day, in the early '70s and '60s, the tract they were using for the most part was that tract, “God’s Simple Plan of Salvation.” The Dumpers could tell you. I mean, there were about three, I think, in… five, you know, their age back in those early '60s and '70s. But anyway, they can tell you that was the tract back in the day. It’s a great track, it really is, just with a different cover on the front for Christmas. It’s a great track. Dr. Fordport, I told you about that this morning. Praise the Lord, all those tracks have been in your hands. That’s an awesome testimony to you. Thank you for doing it. We did 5,000, what, a couple months ago? Man, you’re on this one already. That’s awesome. That’s just wonderful.
Brother Adam mentioned this. He said, “Our theme this year is ‘Rise Up and Build.’ We’re not going to get to build our new building this year, but,” he said, “in some ways we’re building.” All these tracts are passing out all over the place, and people are getting saved. That’s building. That’s building the church, amen. Buildings are going to burn up one day anyway, you know. Amen for that. Nehemiah, chapter six.
You know the story. The vast majority of the children of Israel were over in captivity. Seven years are done, but just a few have gone back and rebuilt the temple—Ezra and so on. But the wall, the wall around Jerusalem, the city of God, was just laid waste. Enemies could march in at any time. It was really a bad, poor testimony to God and His people, His city.
Nehemiah had heard about it, and he got burdened about it. He fasted and prayed, if I remember right, three or four months before he went and talked to the king. When they went and talked to the king, God just blessed, and he had the favor of the king. He’s going back; he’s rebuilding the wall around it. There was a lot of opposition. Sanballat and Tobiah and others, man, they were just fighting everything they could.
They criticized and made fun of them and said, “You’re going to make a wall out of rubble, and there’s no way you can do it,” and on and on it went. It starts getting a little more serious, if you will, along here, when the walls are pretty much up. They’ve got some gaps, but they’re starting to get up. Sanballat and Tobiah said, “Well, let’s try a different angle.” God’s people—excuse me, the devil’s people—they always, if they can’t beat you, they try to join you.
That’s a little bit of what’s going on right here. I want you to notice Nehemiah’s response to this. For a bit tonight, we’ll focus on staying on the wall. That’ll be the title. You can word it this way: the importance of the work you are doing personally. Personally, the work you’re doing. Every person here has an important work.
The people you know—for the vast majority, I’ll never meet them—but you’re their ambassador; you’re the missionary to them. The work you’re doing—I look over here and see Brother Ted when we were passing out those 5,000 tracts. He went in front of Walmart one Sunday afternoon. He just passed out tons of those, and some of those people came back that Sunday night—that large family that said over here…
They were going through a tough time; they needed that. And the work you’re doing where you’re at. Brother Chip does a lot of online work, but he’s trying to witness through his job there. Brother Dylan, Brother Mike Dillon, he’s up more Nashville way. Those people he sees—he’s an attorney—I’ll never see them, but he’s an ambassador to them. Everybody, the work—Brother Josh is at CarMax, and he’s coaxing these people into buying these cars that they don’t know about.
I’m just saying everybody in your spot, in your neighborhood, in your place—the work you’re doing is important. You’re the ambassador for those people. So just a bit tonight, just a bit: Stay on the wall. God has you building a wall for a reason where you’re at. We’re kind of using this as a springboard into it. Let’s look at Nehemiah 6, verse number 1. Would you please stand to read God’s word together? Nehemiah 6, verse number 1.
Now it came to pass when Sanballat and Tobiah, Geshem the Arabian, and the rest of our enemies—by the way, if you do something for God, there’s going to be enemies. It’s just part of it. Someone said tonight they’ve been in a church where the preacher was preaching against the boondoggle, and somebody walked out. That’s just going to be part of it; there are going to be enemies. Of course, that individual is not an enemy, but there are going to be enemies. And the rest of our enemies heard that I had built the wall, and that there was no breach left therein, though at that time I had not set up the doors upon the gates. Sanballat and Geshem sent unto me, saying, “Come, let us meet together in some one of the villages in the plain of Ono.”
But they thought to do me mischief. I sent messages unto them saying, “I am doing a great work. That’s important. I am doing a great work so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease whilst I leave it and come down to you?”
We’ll stop there. We’ll get a couple more verses right at the end of the message tonight out of that chapter. Keep a finger there or something? But just the very end of it. Would you pray with me that God would just encourage you about the work you’re doing? It’s a great work. It’s a great work. Stay on the wall. Satan’s always going to be trying to get you to come off the wall.
Thank you so much for standing. You may be seated. Maybe about ten years ago—I’m not sure, but years ago—we have this prayer on the square often. It’s on the National Day of Prayer. We go down to Murfreesboro; many of you have been to it before. It’s at the courthouse square. We have a service down there on a Thursday night. I’ll be honest, we’ve not had the attendance that I’ve wanted for that thing throughout the years. Preachers never get what they want, but it’s never been as big as I like for it to be. I pray maybe one day in the future that God would bless that even greater than He does. But that here…
There was a young man driving there around the square. He is a born-again Christian, a good guy. He’s a pastor now; he’s a great man. He drove by, and he was on fire for the Lord then already, but we didn’t know him, and he didn’t know us. He said, “You know what? What’s going on over there? Those people over there, they kind of look like my people. I think I’m going to pull over here and find out what’s going on.” So he pulled over, parked, and came out. He was a part of that service that year, and we got to meet him. Man, he enjoyed it. He loved Christians out in public praying for a nation and all that, and it spoke to his heart.
A little while later, maybe a year or two down the road, one of his coworkers—I hope Brother Bartlett doesn’t mind me telling his story—God was working in his heart. He’d been going to church, but they did not make the gospel clear at that church. It was a big church in Nashville, and the gospel was just watered down. This young man was going there, and he thought, “Well, you’ve got to be good enough to go to heaven.” He got turned off. He said, “Man, I was watching. It was just a big production, and there was no conviction. The gospel wasn’t clear.”
So God was working, and he told his wife last Sunday, “We need to go somewhere else. This thing is just a production and a big show, it’s on TV and all that.” I’m not saying that’s wrong, but he said, “Man, this production thing—we need the real church.” So he went to work and talked to that young man. That young man said, “Well, you know what, Smyrna? I went to this prayer on the square thing a little while back, and they seemed like good people. I think you ought to try that church.”
Because of the scenario of all these things, that couple came to church on a Sunday morning. In the parking lot, they met Gordon and Beth Davis, and they befriended them. They came to church here, and boy, that first Sunday, God worked in their hearts in a great way. He didn’t get saved that Sunday. A little while later, the wife came in one Sunday night, I believe it was, and she was burdened about her grandkids. We preached on the end times: “What if the Lord comes back before her grandkids get saved?” Anyway, the wife that night got her salvation settled. She got that thing settled. After service, Brother Marlin—I’m talking about Marlin—I had the privilege, Brother Marlin…
We were back over here, and the Lord said, “Hey man, talk to the husband about salvation.” You could tell God had been working in his heart. Back over here, a couple of these—maybe third or fourth row—Brother Maher got on his knees and asked the Lord Jesus Christ to be his Savior. Man, what a great couple they are in our church! What a blessing they are to us. Always busy doing something. Tonight, Brother Marlin is back at the PA booth. He’s always busy doing something somewhere. Him and Stacy Bow. I told all that story to say this: The devil can make it seem like, well, the prayer on the square…
You don’t have many people. Some people think you’re weird and obnoxious and all that. The jazz festival is always coming up that weekend when we have that thing, you know. And I just got so many more people to go to that. The devil is constantly making what Christians do seem minute and not important. I look at Brother Gregory. I wonder at the fairs across America as they go there and set up their little booth and they’ve got the three doors, you know: “Let me show you what God cannot do.” I’m sure the devil sometimes plays on Brother Gregory’s mind: “Well, you just have a little minute, little bitty booth at these fairs, and half the people wouldn’t even talk to you.” That work is not a big deal. Satan is always trying to downplay the work of God.
Well, it’s not really important what you’re doing, but Nehemiah had the mindset that we ought to have. This is a great work, and I’m not coming down off the wall. I’m going to keep building the wall. I’m just going to stay at this thing. That ought to be our mindset. No, no, no, no. The world might downplay. The world likes us to think that we’re just—they’re trying to play it all for a bunch of podunk Christians and a little bit of country church, and it’s no big deal if you’re there or not there. Hey, friend, the work you’re doing for God is eternal work.
We’re not talking about people just getting them into setting some pews here, taking up eighteen inches of pew. We’re talking about the souls of mankind going to heaven or hell for all eternity. That is the most important work there ever has been going on. God’s work is the most important work in all the world. IBM and Meta or Facebook and all these, they might make big contracts and big bucks, but, friend, listen, one person gets saved—that’s more valuable than all the money they’ll ever make in their lifetime. Don’t let Satan downplay the work of God.
Man, these tracts—the devil will tell you, “Is it any good? Is passing out these gospel tracts accomplishing anything?” Well, man, I’m a testimony that passing out tracts works, friend. Nehemiah said, “We’re not coming down. I’m going to stay on the wall.” You can want me to join up in all the different things, but we’re just going to keep after what God wants us to do. It’s a great work.
I look out and see Brother Josh over here, and he’s witnessing to a lot of his relatives now. The devil can say, “Well, Brother Josh, you’re not getting the results you want. They’re not in church like you want them to be.” But he could just say, “Well, that’s not really important, what you do.” But he’s a liar. The best thing Brother Josh’s relatives have going for them is a dad, sometimes in these situations, or a loved one that loves them enough to witness to them and pray for them. It’s a great work.
When it’s all said and done, those in eternity don’t rejoice over somebody getting a new contract or a new car or all this. They rejoice over one sin that’s repented of—just one. The value of one soul!
Just one soul. I was talking earlier about my mom getting saved, and praise the Lord, she didn’t know she got saved. She’d been around kind of the Pentecostals and thought, you know, “Lightning has to hear her; she’s truly saved,” all that stuff. But she started going to a little bitty Birchwood Baptist Church in Plant City, Florida. Just a little bitty cinder block church. You’ve heard me talk about it: the old wooden slat pews, the funeral home fans, and the ladies that sewed together the cushions on the seats there. Man, that church—if that church wasn’t there, my mom might not have gotten grounded. At that church, my dad got saved at the revival. It never was a big church. I mean, maybe we were there a little bit, and I just recall somewhat the heyday of that church. How long has it ever been a big church?
Man, it’s so important to us. I doubt I’d be here today. Brother Mears was there for years and years and years. His wife passed, and he remarried, and that wife passed, and he remarried. I think he went through about three of them before—the last, the fourth one, I think, outlived him, you know. I’m not trying to get into politics and all that, the doctrine of all that, but I’m just saying, man, his faithfulness. Remember an old deacon there, Brother Elliot? Brother Elliot got a shine up top here—you know what I’m talking about, Brother Elliot. Just a small church, but Brother Elliot was always there, supporting that pastor. Friend, all across America, the need is just faithful churches. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if in every city…
Across this nation, there’s an old-fashioned, soul-winning, Independent Baptist church that loved people, stood for something, and said, “We’re going to stay on the wall! We’re going to try to keep winning souls.” I said, “I’m not coming down.” There will always, always be people trying to get you off the wall, and you must, you must stay on the wall. Families—we preached about this morning—it is so important.
How many men would get discouraged and give up if it wasn’t for a godly lady encouraging them? How many homes need a dad that says, “You know what? This might not be important to the world, but this is important for our marriage and for our kids. I’m going to stay on the wall.” Karl Marx. How many know the name Karl Marx? Just about everybody does. Satan used him to really change this world in a bad way—communism and China and all that. They’re all kind of the ancestors of that. Karl Marx—his dad was Jewish, and he said he was Jewish, but they moved to another town, and the only church was Lutheran. He said, “I don’t believe in that,” that’s what he had said. But for financial reasons, his dad changed. They went to that church because he wanted to gain customers. That little boy, Karl Marx, said, “Man, this thing is just a sham, nothing to it,” and really, they say it just kind of turned him. I’m talking about the importance of just one family. It’s a great work that should live what you believe. It’s a great work that you stay on the wall doing what God’s called you to do. It’s vital that…
Christians like you all across America, don’t throw in the towel and don’t give up. You say, “I’m going to stay on the wall. I’m going to keep doing this great work that God has called me to do.” I look over and see Brother Patterson; he’s been in the post office passing out tracts. You say, “Well, that’s a minute task.” Oh, friend, you’re talking about eternal here. You’re talking about something more valuable than money. We’re talking about the souls of mankind.
I think about Brother Calvin Dauphin. He’s the man that God used years ago; he’s in heaven now. All this wood trim—he did all that. He built these tables here. The cross, he made that. Brother Calvin Dau, just a great man in our church for years and years and years. He had been witnessing and talking to one of his friends, a man named Dwight Span, for years. I don’t know if Brother Calvin didn’t throw in the towel. He said, “This is a great work.” I never forget one Sunday morning, I believe it was, Dwight Span came. Brother Calvin had a friend sitting by, and they’d sat over here kind of where Brother Frank, Brother Josh is. God did a work in Dwight Span. It was one of those where, for about half the service, he was crying, and for half the service, he was hanging on to his chair. During the invitation time, Dwight Span came forward and got saved. It was sweet. For a while after that, he’d cut the grass around here—Dwight Span, just a great man.
I’m telling you, I promise you, Brother Calvin had times when the devil was saying, “Well, it’s not really important what you’re doing.” It’s a great work. It’s a great work. All the things you’re doing for the Lord is a great work.
Years ago, when agnostics were very popular for a time in our country, they were going around giving speeches, and Robert Ingersoll and others were doing this. There was—I don’t think he was the main speaker—but there was a rally for the agnostics, and they packed out a little building where he was speaking. There was a good crowd there, and he, with just a slight twist, made Christianity look foolish. At the end of the speech—and you know some people are just gifted with the tongue—he was gifted at twisting and turning everything. At the end of the speech, he said, “Does anybody want to say anything for Christ?” He had intimidated the Christians that were there. Nobody really said a word besides one teenage girl. She stood up and started singing, they say pretty softly at first.
“Stand up, stand up for Jesus, ye soldiers of the cross. Lift high His royal banner; it must not suffer loss.” She sang that a little bit, and eventually, someone else stood up with her. They said, “Stand up, stand up for Jesus, ye soldiers of the cross. Lift high His royal banner; it must not suffer loss.” Pretty soon, someone else stood up with them: “Stand up, stand up for Jesus, ye soldiers of the cross. Lift high His royal banner; it must not suffer loss.” And others and more. Before long, the majority of that auditorium was standing up singing, “Stand up, stand up for Jesus, ye soldiers of the cross. Lift high His royal banner.” Before long, that speaker just kind of walked out on his own because one stood up, and she said, “Hey, my work is a great work, and I’ll do what I can where I’m at.” Every person is important, doing what you can for the Lord. Why would the church not be able to do what it does if it wasn’t for every person doing their part? You say, “What’s an important job around here?” The one where someone doesn’t show up—it gets real valuable all of a sudden.
The lawn, the decorations, the cleaning, just the preparation—all of it is valuable. Nursery workers! Praise the Lord, this weekend was awesome. Served—I’ll miss some things—but Friday, the seniors had an activity. Yesterday, college and career had an activity. The team had an activity yesterday, and I love it, just everybody doing their part. All are so valuable.
Some of the people were at the college and career and the teen activity also, but praise the Lord, they were there. That’s one of the ones from the college and career. That young lady has only been saved a month or so. Just the fact that she was gathering with other Christians is valuable, vital. There’s no way we can do these things unless everybody’s doing their part. I heard about a baby shower on Tuesday night today; one of our men is buying one of the very expensive gifts for one of these young ladies. That shows life. I thought, praise the Lord, everybody doing their part. It’s valuable.
The bus ministry—well, the bus ministry picks up some foster kids. By the way, for the most part, man, the foster kids are very good kids. We have problems with the other kids we got, you know. Praise the Lord for Brother Hank and Brother Josh, Brother Richard, Brother Tim, and these others working the bus ministry. It’s vital; those kids need to come to church. And here, our Sunday school teachers and Junior Church and Primary Church teachers—we couldn’t do that if we didn’t have workers.
All these foster kids need it. So many of them need a loving Sunday school teacher. Miss Brendan and so many others—I shouldn’t mention names because there are tons of them. I won’t say more because I’ll miss someone. There are just so many in that army reaching the children. That’s so vital. They are the future of our nation. Instead of us shunning them and saying, “Well, the parents ought to be in church,” somebody’s got to reach them; it’s not the kid’s fault. Praise the Lord for people that are making it happen. There’s no way we can have a bus ministry if people didn’t do their part. I’m saying, your work is a great work.
You know a lot of people come to this church. You know why? Because you shake their hand. They have a friend here. They feel comfortable here. Every job around here is important. The Blankets of Love—wow, what a ministry! Master Club on Wednesday—I think that’s vital for families. Praise the Lord, Christian school now. The Bible Institute—so many of the men have said it’s such a blessing. Brother Dumpur just finished teaching in there. All the students are like, “Man, he was a hard one!” My goodness, they said Miss Dumpur wrote some hard tests in there, you know.
All that is important. By the way, pray for two more. We’ve got one more. Amen, keep praying for one more in there. All these ministries are so vital, and everybody doing their part.
Listen to this. You’ve got to listen close to this. Fred Somebody, Thomas Everybody, Peter Anybody, and Joe Nobody were neighbors. But they were not like you and me. They were odd people, most difficult to understand. The way they lived was a shame. All four belonged to the same church, but you would not have enjoyed worshiping with them.
Everybody went fishing on Sunday or stayed home to visit with friends. Anybody wanted to worship, but—excuse me—Anybody wanted to worship but was afraid somebody wouldn’t speak to him. So guess who went to church? Yeah, Nobody. Really, Nobody was the only decent one of the four. Nobody did the visitation. Nobody worked on the church building. Once they needed a Sunday school teacher, Everybody thought Anybody would do it, and Anybody thought Somebody would do it, and you know who did it? That’s exactly right: Nobody.
It happened that a fifth neighbor, an unbeliever, moved into the area. Everybody thought Somebody would surely try to win him to Christ. Anybody could have made an effort, but you probably know who finally won him: Nobody. Friend, I’m just saying this morning, the Native American families—families and churches—they go hand in hand, by the way.
It’s valuable. It’s a great work. Satan’s going to get you sitting on the sideline saying, “Well, it’s my noon; it doesn’t really matter.” That’s a lie he’s been telling through the ages. Praise the Lord for a man wise enough like Nehemiah who said, “No, this is a great work. I’m not coming down from it.” If you ministered for fifty years and only got one person saved, praise the Lord, you did more than this old world values. It’s worth more than one soul than all this world has to offer, according to Mark 8:36.
You have a testimony like nobody else. God likes to use that. By the way, just talk about your testimony for a second. When you leave here, you might say, “Man, we got a great church.” And we do. Praise the Lord for God’s goodness on our church. We do have a great church. But they’ll never know that. All they know about this church is you. They don’t know how many come or what the auditorium looks like or how friendly it is. They don’t know anything, but they know you, and you are this church’s ambassador to them. They’re going to grade this church, if you will, by you.
By the way, they know. They know if those cars are in the parking lot on Sunday night, Wednesday night—if they’re gone, they know. When you come into work tomorrow and you’re just down in the mouth and married to the world, they know. If you come in and say, “Man, the Lord gave us a great Sunday. God’s been working. We’re supporting new missionaries, and we’re helping other people. It’s been a good day in God’s house,” they know. It’s a great work you’re doing. It’s valuable. It’s important.
Imagine—imagine if the churches across America, all the saved people in America, got into church and got involved. Wow. Pastors, you’d have to be feeding them Jericho to keep them going because there’s so much going on. They’re trying to keep up with their people. Can you imagine what the Kingdom of God could do if God’s people just realized how valuable they are? You’re doing a great work. Satan’s going to try to make it look small. God’s business is the greatest business in all the world. Of all the wars that have ever been fought—typically over land, money, all that—at the end of the day, it’s really about casualties.
Let me say this: What our war is about is souls for all eternity. It’s much more valuable. That’s for a lifetime down here; that’s short-lived, but we’re talking about eternity—heaven or hell.
How many of you know—have you ever heard of this man named Ed Kimball? Some of you know that. He was a Sunday school teacher for a boys’ Sunday school class. Boys would come to his class, and he said, “This is a great work. I believe it’s important enough to visit the boys in my class.” He visited this boy who was in his class. He was a shoe salesman. He went and talked to this boy—he was maybe eighteen, if I remember right, somewhere. I say boy, but he was a young man, seventeen, eighteen years old. Ed Kimball visited him at the shoe store and led this young man to the Lord. That young man’s name was Dio Moody.
Daisy Hall was a Sunday school teacher in Kentucky, and she had a country boy coming there. If I remember right—I may be wrong about this part—he was barefoot. I may be wrong about that part; I’m not sure. But that boy—listen—Daisy Hall testified for years. He said, “Daisy Hall just won my heart.” Eventually, she led him to the Lord. He said it wasn’t even right; it was a lady teacher of teenage boys. But God used that lady. That man was Lee Robertson. He pastored at Tennessee Temple. Highland Park Baptist Church didn’t start that church, but he had been pastor for years, and so many great preachers in years gone by went to Tennessee Temple. A lady’s Sunday school teacher led him to the Lord.
I’m just saying, friend, don’t you ever let Satan lie to you and tell you that it’s not really that important. Souls are priceless; they are the Kingdom of God. Would you just stop for a minute tonight and realize how important your work is? It’s valuable. People are hanging in the balance. God works through you. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world,” but He added, “Hey, you are the light of the world.” He shines through you for Him. We are co-laborers with Christ, Corinthians says.
Satan’s always going to be downplaying it. Praise the Lord for people like Nehemiah. He said, “Nah, this is great work. I’m not coming down. I’m going to stay on it.” Satan’s going to try to trip you up everywhere. The world just tries to get you off the wall. Stay on the wall. Stay on the wall. Let’s look back there at Nehemiah 6. Nehemiah 6. I want you to look down, if you would please, at verse number 15. Nehemiah 6, verse number 15.
He said, “I’m going to stay on the wall, keep building.” Verse 15: “So the wall was finished in the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days.” Phenomenal. A miracle how God’s people stay on the wall. Look and see the testimony of it. It came to pass that when all our enemies heard thereof…
…and all the heathen that were about us saw these things, they were much cast down in their own eyes. Watch this—this is wonderful. I’ve got it underlined in my Bible: “For they perceived that this work was wrought of our God.” Enemies had to say, “God’s working over there. God’s doing something over there,” once God’s people said, “It’s a great work.” It’s a great work. Every detail is important.
I was over here tonight, and sometimes I’ll go over here, and you’ll be thankful I do this Sunday afternoon. I’ll go over there and brush my teeth. Somebody say amen right there! See, I could preach a lot now, you know. You ought to be thankful for that, I’m telling you, friend. My wife had pulled up; she was driving her daughter’s car, and she’s inside. I didn’t know. I thought it was Sarah, but Ms. Tammy was inside there. Sunday afternoon, a lot of times, she’s going to be mad because she likes to be in the shadows, but she’ll kind of change over. That’s Primary Church, Sunday school on Sunday, Monday through Friday at school. There are things that have to be changed around to make all that happen, and she does that every Sunday afternoon pretty much. If people like that don’t do things like that, the pastor and Brother Anthony and all the body else, we’re going to be so worn out, we won’t be able to do what we need to do. I’m just saying every detail is important.
Maybe a month or two ago, somebody had to move out of an apartment—we’ll just put it that way. Praise the Lord, I look and see two men and others. It was kind of on-the-spot, but two men—I thought, “Man, there’s no way I could have done that. I’m old, friend; I couldn’t get the job done.” There are just so many details around here.
Ladies sending cards to people—that means a lot to people. Phone calls, texts, all that. Every job around here is vital to make it happen for God. I mentioned tonight during announcements, all the things—a new missionary, and all these people have been able to, God’s people giving. Every detail is valuable, vital.
At Family Harvest Days, I can’t remember what—about 800 people came through—and I’m not sure how many people got saved through that. We wouldn’t be able to do that if it wasn’t for people over there handing out food. Brother Patterson running back and forth, making sure we had hot chocolate and coffee, spilling on himself going back and forth because it leaked—crazy thing! Everything’s important: parking lot attendants. For a church to be able to do the things we do around here, it takes so many hands.
It’s so valuable. Don’t ever think, “Well, I can’t do anything.” Oh, you can. I promise you, friend. Just you being here is an encouragement to someone else. It’s all so very important. It’s all part of the work of God. It’s vital. Satan’s going to try to come to you and say, “It’s so minute, so small, what you’re doing.” Somebody—like I said—no, this is a great work. It’s a great work. I’m not coming down off the wall. Every little bit of detail.
I told this story not too long ago; it’s a wonderful story. I’ve got to tell it again. We’re going to go home, but a lady ran a bus route in a neighboring town years and years ago. It would be kind of like LaVerne compared to Smyrna. She ran that route over there, and one day she had a new rider. A little boy, he was excited about coming. He was thrilled about it. She stopped by that Sunday, picked him up. He hopped on the bus, and he came to church. He was thrilled about everything. He heard that Jesus loved his little heart and wanted to save him. Boy, he was so excited. He prayed nicely to the Lord to be his Savior. He hopped back on that bus Sunday afternoon, and we went home, and he was just thrilled about it, singing the songs. It’s wonderful to see sometimes when a little child gets saved; you just see the brightness and excitement about it all. That little boy was just thrilled about it all. She thought, “Man, I got a new rider from her!”
On Saturday, she stopped by to visit, you know, to line him up to come the next Sunday. Good bus workers do that, bus captains, and she was getting everything lined up for Sunday. She went to knock on his door, and nobody would answer. She thought, “Well, they must be going or something.” It looked like somebody was in there, but they were new, so she didn’t know their schedule. She came by Sunday morning to pick him up, and nobody came. She thought, “Wow, he was so excited. I’m surprised.”
She went by the next Saturday, and sure enough, somebody had to be home. She knocked on that door again and tried to get somebody to come. Nobody would come, and she thought, “Wow.” You know how the devil is. You know the next thing he says: “Well, he probably didn’t mean it. We weren’t thorough enough. He didn’t understand it. He didn’t really get saved.” All that went through her mind. That devil will do that. You understand that? It’s not a great work. They’re not really getting saved—all that.
She went by time after time, and even one time he was out. He saw her, and when he saw her, he took off running. She thought, “Wow. Man, I just knew that boy had gotten saved. He just loved everything. What happened to him?” Month after month, he wouldn’t come. Finally, she gave up.
Years and years later, on a Sunday morning, a young man in a suit came to church—a very well-dressed gentleman. He came in the back doors. The ushers were back there—Brother Franklin and Brother Kevin were back there. He asked the ushers, “Is there a lady that years ago used to run a bus route over in such-and-such a little town?” They said, “You’re probably talking about Sister So-and-so.” That man went over there, and he started talking to the lady. She was older now, and he began to talk to her and said, “Did you run a route over there such-and-such a day?” “Yes, I did.” “Do you remember a little boy you picked up around this time? He came to church, he was excited, and he got saved?” She said, “Yes, I remember that boy. I always wondered what happened to that boy. Why did he never answer the door after that?”
The young man said, “You know, I was that boy. I never could tell you because when I came home that day, what happened was I told my dad I got saved. My dad was mad. He was just infuriated. My dad said, ‘If you ever talk to that lady again, I’m going to get you good, boy! Don’t you ever talk to her again!’” But he said that day something happened in my heart, and I never forgot about it. When I grew up, I got out of the house, I started going to church, and I’ve been in Bible college. I’m graduated. I’m going to be a preacher, and I want to come back. Thank you.
Friend, it’s a great work. It’s a great work. Don’t listen to the lies of Satan. Your job, whatever it is, is not small. Your job is valuable. It’s a great work. Let’s stay on the wall. Would you bow your heads and close your eyes tonight? Heads bowed, eyes closed.
Eternity. Some things we think are so important—I’m like, “Man, that didn’t really matter.” But the things of God—and I’m not necessarily just talking about this church stuff—I’m talking about the things God has you doing for God. Eternal things. You might think, “All that day, everything I did was just giving out that one gospel tract to one person,” and that was the big thing for that day. Parenting, spending time with the kids, building relationships—on and on. Those are the things God wants you to do. It’s a great work. Remember Nehemiah tonight: “I’m going to stay on the wall.” You can say and do whatever you want, but it’s a great work. I’m not leaving the work, and that’s valuable. Just stay on the wall for God. It’ll be neat…
…in eternity to see what all God has done, and He has let us have a part in it. It’s just awesome that He lets us have a part in it. Thrilled you are here tonight. Thank you for being in church. I love you. Thank God for you. God’s been so good; He gave us a great church, and all the different moving parts—people making it happen. Praise the Lord for you. It’s just awesome; it’s exciting to see God work. Let’s just stay on the wall. Stay humble, stay right, keep unity, and see what God will do in the coming years. Praise the Lord for everybody on the team. What a blessing! Praise the Lord for you. I love you. You’re great. You’re awesome.
Don’t forget this is just a drop in the bucket. This isn’t it. There’s eternity coming. There’s a heaven; there’s a hell. This thing is real. Satan’s playing for keeps. It’s a great work. God works through His people. Let’s just stay on the wall. Would you do so?
Brother Philip, would you dismiss us?
Original File: Stay on the Wall - Pastor Paul Chisgar - Sunday PM 12112022