Nehemiah 3-The Gospel in The Gates, Part 3
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So far in our look at the Gospel in the Gates of Nehemiah 3, we have looked at the first 5 gates. @ weeks ago looking at the first 2 gates:
The Sheep Gate Represents Christ & His Work on the Cross. Neh. 3:1; Isa. 53:7; Jn. 1:29
The Fish Gate Represents Our Responsibility to be “ Fishers of Men ”. Neh. 3:3; Mt. 4:19; Prov. 11:26
Then last week we looked at the next 3 gates:
The Old Gate Represents The Never Changing Truth of The Word of God . Neh. 3:6; Jer. 6:16; 1 Cor. 15:58
We looked at the fact that God’s Word remains the same and its truths transform life’s as much today as It did when the pages were being lived out. We noted that once we have trusted In Jesus as our Savior, we must enter into the eternal, ancient truths of God's written Word. We do this by spending time in it daily, by attending church and Bible studies and learning from other Godly individuals who have studied it diligently. As we do, we will grow stronger in our own relationships with God.
The Valley Gate Represents the Life of Humbleness & Humility . Neh. 3:13; Ps. 23:4; Phil. 2:3; Col. 3:12
In looking at the Valley Gate we discussed the fact that the majority of our growth as believers doesn’t come in the mountain top experiences we have, but more from our time in the dark valleys of life where we often times have to completely depend and lean on God to make it through. The more we lean on and trust Him, the stronger we grow in our relationship to Him.
The Valley Gate brings us into a relization that we can’t do this on our own, we need to lean on and trust in God to succesfully navigate this life.
We also realize our need for a deeper cleansing. Again, not much grows on the mountain top. The river does not flow on the mountain top. These things happen in the Valley - through trials that must be endured with Joy. Then we will go through the next gate, the Dung Gate, that will purify us and prepare us to be empowered for service.
The Dung Gate Represents the Need for the Believer to Deal with Sin . Neh. 3:14; 2 Cor. 7:1
In looking at the Dung Gate, I mentioned that when I think about this gate, I believe that this is a gate we should come to frequently, especially early in the life of the believer. What I meant by that is that we need to keep a short account of sin in our lives. We will always struggle some with sin, and those times we fail, need to be quickly followed by a time of confession.
When we aren’t quick with confession, we can easily be brought right back into some of those dangerous Valley Gate experiences, sin that isn’t dealt with can snowball to the point it can be overwhelming.
While it may not have seemed ideal that we ended last week at the Dung Gate. I tend to think it was a very appropriate place to think about over the week. While the name of this gate may seem to be kind of an ugly name, don’t be fooled by the ugly name of this gate, this is a very important gate in the life of the believer. Understanding the vileness of our sin, and keeping a short account of it is extremely important in the life of the believer.
This morning we should be able to finish our look at the gates with the final 5 gates.
If you haven’t already, turn with me in your copies of God’s Word to Nehemiah 3, that is page 505 in the Pew Bibles.
This morning, the first gate we will look at is The Fountain Gate:
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The Fountain Gate Represents the Holy Spirit Indwelling the Believer. Neh. 3:15; Jn. 4:14; Jn. 7:38 & 39; 2 Kings 25:4; Ps, 36:9; Is. 8:6; Jer. 2:13
Looking back to Nehemiah 2 and Nehemiah’s midnight tour to investigate the shape of the walls around Jerusalem, you’ll notice the Fountain Gate appeared to be the gate in most ruin, so much so that it blocked Nehemiah's inspection, forcing him to dismount and finish this portion on foot. This meant that, in the natural, the Fountain Gate must have been a center of concentrated attack during the siege of Jerusalem by the Babylonian army (2 Kings 25:4). Likewise, this gate's spiritual counterpart (the Holy Spirit indwelling and empowering the believer) is a target of concentrated Satanic attack.
The Fountain Gate derived its name from the fact that it was the primary access to the Fountain - the Gihon Spring, Jerusalem's sole perennial source of water. This was a very interesting fountain, there were times where there was a pretty steady flow of water, gentle but steady. Other times the flow was almost unnoticed. As a result, they would funnel water from this spring to the Pool of Siloam. This fountain represented the life source of God Himself. In Ps. 36:9 we read: Next Slide
“For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light do we see light.” Ps. 36:9
We go on to read in Jn. 7:38
“Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of l
Living Water.” Jn 7:38
The picture here is that God Himself is the Living Water. This is the water that Jesus spoke of in His encounter with the Woman at the Well in Jn 4:14 when He said “..whoever drinks the water I will give him will never be thirsty again.”
Last Sunday I mentioned the prophecy of Jeremiah that took place before the captivity. Well early on in the Book of Jeremiah he prophesied:
"My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water" Jeremiah 2:13.
Jeremiah’s warning to Judah before they were taken captive was that they needed to seek God through a repentant heart and stop seeking their solutions from ungodly leaders around them. He is pointing out that God is the living water and the ungodly leaders of the nations around them were the broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
Jeremiah’s warning to the Nation of Judah is one we should heed as well. That is the truth we see in the Fountain Gate. Just as the Fountain Gate was a point of emphasis in the Babylonians attack on Jerusalem when they took the Nation of Judah captive, our enemy, the devil, concentrates much of his effort on the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
You see he understands that if the Fruits of the Spirit outlined for us in Galatians 5 are evident in our lives, he is powerless to stop us.
Let’s look at Galatians 5 for a moment. Turn there in your copies of God’s Word. It is on page 1238 in the Pew Bibles. We will start in verse 19. Now as you are turning there, let me take a moment to set the stage for you. We will start in verse 19 because verses 19-21 are like the broken cisterns that cannot hold water that Jeremiah mentioned. Whereas the Fruits of the Spirit mentioned in verses 22-23 are the springs of living water.
Broken Cisterns-“19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Living Springs of Water-22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”
Here’s what we need to understand. The more time we spend at God’s Fountain Gate, the more He empowers us and works through us. And that is why the enemy spends so much time attacking this gate in our lives. If he can just get us to spend all of our time on verses 19-21 in Galatians 5, the less God’s fruit is displayed in our lives.
So, how do we spend time in this gate?
Well the answer to that lies in the Spiritual Disciplines we looked at in the end of 2018 and the beginning of 2019.
Personal Time in God’s Word (it’s not just something we do on Sundays!)
Time in Prayer.
Worship.
Reaching others with Christ’s love.
Serving.
Scripture Memory.
Sitting at the feet of Godly Leaders.
Devoting ourselves to these things is like daily spending times in the Fountain Gate and as we do “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control”
This brings us to the next gate, The Water Gate;
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The Water Gate Represents The Power of God’s Word. Neh. 3:26; Neh. 8; Jn. 15:3; 17:17
Now perhaps at this point you’re thinking, Wait, wasn’t the Old Gate a reference to God’s Word? The answer is “Yes”, but the Old Gate represented the Never changing truth of God’s Word. The Water Gate goes further still and leads us to the incredible Power in God’s Word.
I guess you could say that the Old Gate could refer to the reading of God’s Word, whereas the Water Gate would be moving past the reading of God’s Word to the point where we really seek to apply what we read to our lives.
Let me give you an example of what I mean. When Jesus was in Israel in the midst of His public ministry, who was it He battled the most? (Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law). These individuals knew more about God’s Word than any of us could ever hope to know. In fact many of them could quote the first 5 Books of the Old Testament word for word. But that word had never penetrated into their hearts. Here is a key truth we need to understand. Next Slide
Spending time in God’s Word is of little Value if we don’t apply what we read to our lives.
God’s Word is not just meant to be read, it is meant to transform.
The Water Gate was such an important Gate in the lives of the people of Jerusalem that in chapter 8, which takes place shortly after the rebuilding of the walls and gates had been completed, the entire city gathered at eh Water Gate for the reading of God’s Word allowed. We will look at this more closely later, but I will let you know some of what took place.
They built a special platform for Ezra the High Priest. He climbed up on the platform and opened God’s Word. As He prepared to read, everyone stood to their feet for the reading of God’s Word. Ezra read aloud and as he read, the people began to realize that not only had they neglected the reading of God’s Word, far important, they had neglected to apply God’s Word. We find out in Nehemiah chapter 8 that the people began to weep aloud as they listened and realized how far they had fallen.
They were beginning to understand what we also need to understand, God’s Word is meant to be read and applied. It is through the application of God’s Word that those Fruits of the Spirit we looked at in the Fountain Gate become evident in our lives. Only then can we move to the next gate, The Horse Gate:
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The Horse Gate Represents The Spiritual Warfare of the Believer. Neh. 3:28; 2 Tim. 2:3; Eph. 6:10-12
The Horse Gate is the gate the armies of David would use as they prepared to head out for battle. King David would meet them there do an inspection of them, their armor, their weapons and give them their charges before they left to do battle.
J. Vernon McGee writes; “The Christian life is not an easy thing. If you live for God, it will cost you something – I am confident of that. Let’s not deceive anyone; let’s not tell them that if they will become Christians it will eliminate all problems and that life will be a bed of roses. Not so, beloved! A good soldier endures hardness.
Paul admonishes us to put on the whole armor of God. The trumpet is sounding, there is an enemy of God to be overcome! There is a battle to be fought! There is a victory to be won!” (J. Vernon McGee “The Gospel in the Gates”) Next Slides
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.
11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
From the Horse Gate, we now move to the East Gate;
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The East Gate Represents the Second Coming of Jesus. Neh. 3:29; Ez. 44:1-3
To many believers this is the gate that brings the most excitement and enthusiasm, because this is the gate Jesus will use at His second coming. Throughout much of history, this was the first gate opened in the morning. The watchman would stand on the tower by the East Gate and watch for the first gleam of the sun on the horizon. When he saw the sunrise began, he would give orders for the gate to be opened. When this gate was opened, it would bring great joy to the people because it meant they had made it through the night safely. There had been no sneak attacks from the enemy and the opening of the gate meant there was no enemy on the horizon.
I mentioned that this is that gate Jesus is going to return through at His second coming. With that in mind, “The Eastern Gate was sealed shut in AD 1540 by order of Suleiman the Magnificent, a sultan of the Ottoman Empire. Having been told that this was the gate that the Jewish Messiah was going to use to enter Jerusalem. The Muslim Suleiman was attempting to thwart the Messiah’s plans with sixteen feet of cement. The Eastern Gate has remained sealed since that time.”
I love what J. Vernon McGee writes of the East Gate; “Friends, the East Gate reassures our hearts that one of these days the night of sin will be over. One of these days the Lord Jesus, who is to us the bright and morning star, will appear. That star of living brilliance, which appears before the sun comes up, writes across time’s span of civilization that He will appear to take those who are His own out of this night of sin. The East Gate is very important.” (J. Vernon McGee “The Gospel in the Gates”)
That will be a glorious day, but before that day we must face the next gate, The Inspection Gate.
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The Muster (Inspection) Gate Represents the Judgement Seat of God. Neh. 3:31; 2 Cor. 5:10; Rom. 14:12; Mt. 25:21
In King Davids day there were two types of inspection that took place.
The first was the inspection of his soldiers when they would return from battle. This was usually a joyous time of celebration. King David would welcome them, King David loved his soldiers deeply, and they loved him. When they returned from battle He would greet them, inspect them, and express to them a deep since of gratitude for their unselfish service to the kingdom. They would have gladly laid down their life for him and he knew it well. For those who have trusted Christ, there will also be an inspection that takes place that will similar in some ways to King David’s inspection of his soldiers. We read about it in 2 Corinthians 5:10: Next Slide
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
This inspection is not about a judgment for sin, but more a judgement specific to rewards for our efforts in serving the Lord. What wee do now ass a believer determines what kind of reward we receive for all eternity.
There was another inspection that took place at the Inspection Gate. There was also an inspection of foreigners as they entered the city. Each foreigner had to bring with them what we now call a “visa”. The contents of this “visa” determined whether or not they would be welcomed into the city. The same type of inspection takes place at the entrance of heaven. We present, as it were, a spiritual visa. If our paperwork is not in good order, we will not be welcomed into the heavenly kingdom. So what does it take to make sure our spiritual visa’s are in order?
To answer that question I want to bring something to your attention. Look at Nehemiah 3:32. Next Slide
32 And between the upper chamber of the corner and the Sheep Gate the goldsmiths and the merchants repaired.
What gate do we end with? (The Sheep Gate)
There is a very important reason we end with the Sheep Gate. Ending where we started, at the Sheep Gate shows us:
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The Sheep Gate Represents the Lengths God Has Gone Through to Protect Us from His Judgement Seat. Neh. 3:32; Gal. 6:14; Isa. 53:6
Everything starts and ends with Jesus' death on the cross. He is the High Priest who builds and consecrates this foundation gate in our lives.
As we think about the Sheep Gate, let’s go back to our home work assignment from a couple weeks ago. What was it that all of the other gates had that was missing from the Sheep Gate(Bolts and Bars)? Do you remember the reason why(because salvation is freely available to everyone who enters through it)? I guess you could say that Jesus Himself is the “bolts and bars” of the Sheep Gate, and His death on the cross gave everyone who would place their trust in Him as their Lord and Savior, free access to the Kingdom of God.
Before we can enter the green pastures the Lord has for us in the Kingdom of Heaven, we must come in through the Sheep Gate. Have you come in by that gate? There is no other gateway to heaven. Only that which comes at the cross through Jesus Christ and His work on the cross. Next Slide
29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!