How can you reform a city? Put yourself in Nehemiah’s shoes. God has sent him there. Even the emperor has given him scope to reform and rebuild the wall. He goes there to arouse the people, and then he discovers more and more that even his officers and his cabinet and the people around him have all sold out to the enemy. That can happen when we are recovering, or trying to recover from spiritual decline. You suddenly discover that among the truly godly pastors you've got others here, there and everywhere, who have the world in their hearts, who want to keep worldly things in the church. That's what they really love.
It is astonishing to look at some of these blogs of pastors that people point out to you. You think to yourself, why does this or that Reformed pastor, that sound person, want all this in the church? Even a little reflection should show them the danger of it, because as churches go over into this contemporary worship, so worldliness comes into the church. The young people get into all kinds of sin. There is no godliness left. The tone of the church plunges downwards. You see it in wave after wave in recent decades. Whyever do they want their church to go the same way? Somebody says, look at this blog, and look at that blog, and when you do you discover they are posting Beatles’ songs on their personal blogs. These men are pastors, yet they are posting diabolical things and worldly propaganda, and you realise that even though they may be saved, they must be backslidden. They have joined the other side. That's why they are so for promoting those things, and other reasons too. You discover to your amazement you've got people here and there, the nobles of Judah, who are actually on the wrong side, and fighting for the wrong side. Extraordinary thing! So the book of Nehemiah is telling us at this point that if we are for reform, if we are for revival, if we are for blessing and godliness; no matter how many people may disappoint us, we stay faithful to the Lord. Time after time we have to say, ‘Well, I can't really relate to that person. I can't trust that person.’ But happily, time after time, you realise you've got allies and friends and people who stand for the truth also. If there's one thing that all this showed Nehemiah, it showed him who the faithful were; who were the phonies, who were the turncoats, who were the faithful. He never knew until it became known to him that Tobias was relating to this one, to that one. These are sorry things, but in the next chapter, we learn even more astonishing things, and happier principles also.