The temptations of earnest moral life and service.
I. THE WAY IN WHICH THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF EARNEST MORAL LIFE AND SERVICE ARE MADE KNOWN TO WICKED MEN. "Now it came to pass, when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and Geshem the Arabian, and the rest of our enemies, heard that I had builded the wall, and that there was no breach left therein" (Nehemiah 6:1). Christian life and service will make themselves known—
1. Naturally. The finished walls must be seen.
2. Influentially. The rising walls affect other peoples; Christian life reveals itself in the moral influence it wields.
3. Rumour. The enemies of the good soon hear of the wall that has been built.
4. Vigilance. The wicked watch the activities of the good. The service of the good man must be thorough; there must be no "breach" left in it, though oftentime it is incomplete; its "doors" are not set upon the gates (Nehemiah 6:1). Piety, truth, earnest toil cannot be hid.
II. THE WAY IN WHICH EARNEST MORAL LIFE AND SERVICE ARE SURE TO BE TEMPTED BY WICKED MEN. The temptations to which Nehemiah was exposed were—
1. Subtle. "Come, let us meet together" (verse 2).
2. Persistent. "Yet they sent unto me four times" (verse 4).
3. Intimidating. "The fifth time with an open letter in his hand" (verse 5).
4. Calumniatory. "That thou and the Jews think to rebel;" "That thou mayest be their king" (verse 6).
5. Allied. A faithless prophet lends himself to the cause of the enemy (verses 10-13).
III. THE WAY IN WHICH EARNEST MORAL LIFE AND SERVICE MUST MEET TEMPTATION.
1. With discernment. "But they thought to do me mischief" (verse 2).
2. With industry. "I am doing a great work" (verse 3).
3. With determination. "And I answered them after the same manner" (verse 4).
4. With exposure. "But thou feignest them out of thine own heart."
5. With prayer. "Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands" (verse 9).
6. With courage. "Should such a man as I flee?" (verse 11).
IV. THE WAY IN WHICH EARNEST MORAL LIFE AND SERVICE COMPLETE THEIR TASK NOTWITHSTANDING SEVERE TRIAL. "So the wall was finished" (verse 15).
1. The end of the task. "So the wall was finished."
2. The time of the task. "In fifty and two days."
3. The effect of the task. "Were very much cast down in their own eyes."
4. The praise of the task.
That it was completed under such difficult circumstances.—E.
HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON