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Swing Wide the Gates, pt. 3
Nehemiah 3
Quick review of first 6 gates... [slide]
1.
The sheep gate.
v. 1 Thru this gate they would bring the sacrificial animals to be
laid on the altar in the temple.
It was the only gate that was 'sanctified.'
This gate reminds us of
Jesus, the Lamb of God.
2.
The fish gate.
v. 3 Thru this gate the fishermen would bring their catch from the
Jesus said to follow Him
and He would make us fishers of men.
Do you know what that means?
We have no right to call ourselves His follower if we aren't fishing
for men!
3.
The old gate.
v. 6 The old gate led to the new quarter.
This reminds us of our never changing message.
We may try new methods along the way, but our old message never
changes.
4.
The valley gate.
v. 13 It opened to a low place.
Every believer needs this gate, which speaks of humility.
5.
The Dung Gate.
v. 14 This was where the garbage
was carried out. It led to the
dump. This reminds us of
repentance. It is important to
take out the trash in our lives.
6.
The fountain gate.
v. 15
This fed the water system of the entire city.
Water for drinking is symbolic of the Holy Spirit.
On screen is an overview of
it all.
Now, the last 4 gates...
7.
The water gate.
v. 26 No, this has nothing to do
w/ Richard Nixon. And half of
our crowd says, Richard who?
Our country has really come
a long way. First we had George
Washington who could not tell a lie.
Then we had Richard Nixon and he could not tell the truth.
Now we have Barack Obama and he cannot tell the difference!
Psalm 119:9
9
Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed
thereto according to thy word.
Ephesians 5:26
26 That he might sanctify and cleanse
it with the washing of water by the word,
When we get saved and Jesus
washes away our sins it's like an all over bath.
The Bible calls it the washing of regeneration.
Titus 3:5
5
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according
to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of
the Holy Ghost;
Salvation is an all over
spiritual bath. But after we are
saved and begin to trudge thru this filthy world we still need a daily time
of cleansing and confession.
Biblically, the washing of the hands and feet speak of this kind of daily
cleansing.
In the OT, God's people
worshiped in the tabernacle, then later in the
Exodus 30:17-20
17 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
18 Thou shalt also make a laver of
brass, and his foot also of brass, to wash withal: and thou
shalt put it between the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, and
thou shalt put water therein.
19
For Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat:
20 When they go into the
tabernacle of the congregation, they shall wash with water, that they die
not...
In the previous chapter it
says that when a man became a priest he was given an all over ceremonial
bath. It was a one time event.
But every time he entered the holy place he had to rewash his hands
and feet.
You and I only get saved
once, but we need the daily washing off of what comes into contact w/ this
sin polluted world.
The hands represent our work for God.
We need to begin each day w/ clean hands, and at the end of the day
we should scrub up before bed.
We need people to come to church ready to minister w/ clean hands.
I must do self inspection and cleanup before I get up to teach or
preach, or sit down to counsel, or make a decision.
And I don't care if you take the offering or scrub the commodes, do
it w/ clean hands. And if the
latter, please wash up afterward too!
Isaiah 52:11
11
Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean
thing...be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the LORD.
How do we spiritually wash
our hands? By dipping our hands
daily into the water of the Word!
Don't just read it, rub it around good, especially in between fingers
and under nails.
The feet represent our walk with God.
Enoch walked with God,
and so did Noah, and that should be our goal.
And the only way to walk w/ God is to have a daily relationship w/
His Word ... we need to take our walks by the water!
We need strong Christians.
And a clean Christian will be a strong Christian.
Cleanliness leads to Godliness!
ill.--do you like your tea
strong or weak? And don't tell
me no sugar ... you must not be saved!
What is the difference between strong tea and weak tea?
The amount of time the bag spends in the water!
I don't know who the
strongest Christian in the room is, but I know that whoever they are, they
spend a lot of time immersed in the water of the Word!
Need more faith?
Don't just pray for faith...
Romans 10:17
17
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word
of God.
Spend time in the Word and
you will grow. Your heart will
become good, fertile ground when soaked w/ Bible moisture.
v. 26 What is missing in this
verse compared to all the other gates?
It's the only one which wasn't repaired.
Evidently it wasn't broken.
And neither is the Word of God!
Man continues to come out
w/ many different versions of the Bible and new interpretations ... but
forgive me for my lack of interest ... mine ain't broken!
There is no new and improved version.
"Forever, O Lord, thy Word
is settled in heaven!"
8.
The horse gate.
v. 28 It symbolizes warfare.
I could give hundreds of verses, but here's just one...
Jeremiah 47:3
3
At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong
horses, at the rushing of his chariots, and at the rumbling of
his wheels, the fathers shall not look back to their children for
feebleness of hands;
At the battle of Armageddon
the blood will run in the valley 200 miles long as deep as a horse's bridle!
And let's never forget that the Christian life is warfare.
2 Corinthians 10:4
4 (For the weapons of our warfare
are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong
holds;)
2 Timothy 2:3
3
Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus
Christ.
The Christian life is not a
frolic, it's a fight. Not a
waltz, but a war. It's marching
into enemy territory, not tiptoeing thru the tulips!
Our enemies are the world [external], the flesh [internal], and the
devil [infernal].
Our best hope is to put on
the whole armor of God.
Ephesians 6:10-18
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in
the Lord, and in the power of his might.
11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand
against the wiles of the devil.
12
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this
world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
13 Wherefore take unto you the whole
armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having
done all, to stand.
14 Stand
therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the
breastplate of righteousness;
15
And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16 Above all, taking the shield
of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the
wicked.
17 And take the
helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
18 Praying always with all
prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all
perseverance and supplication for all saints;
These things protect our
mind [helmet], our heart [breastplate], and all the way down to our shoes of
the gospel. In those days those
Roman soldiers had cleats on their shoes which means stability and helps us
to dig in. Christians - get a
grip! Get stable, dig in, and
march as a soldier...a sermon in shoes!
And how about the shield of
faith [defensive] and the sword of the Word [offensive].
ill.--a soldier in the heat
of battle had his gun jam on him.
The enemy was charging straight for him and he was defenseless,
desperate! For some unknown
reason he pointed his finger at the man and said 'bangedy bang' and the guy
fell down dead. He looked at his
hand and thought, wow! Another
man charged him and again, bangedy bang, dead.
He couldn't believe this could be!
Then a whole group turned toward him.
He just pretended he had a bazooka and said, 'boomedy boom.'
They all collapsed. He
was ecstatic! Another soldier
just slowly strolled toward him.
Bangedy bang! No result...he
just kept coming. Boomedy boom!
No change. They guy
calmly and smoothly kept coming toward him, and it was obvious he was saying
something, but he couldn't make it out until he got right up on him...he
rolled right over him saying, 'tankety tank, tankety tank!'
The whole armor of God is
our tankety tank against Satan!
9.
The east gate.
v. 29 It led directly to the
temple. Tradition says that when
Jesus went to the temple he entered thru the east gate.
And the Bible says that when Jesus returns at the second coming [not
the rapture], but 7 years later at the end of the tribulation, when He lands
on the Mt. of Olives and enters Jerusalem to sit on the throne of David and
establish His earthly millennial kingdom, He's entering thru the east gate!
So this gate speaks of the
second coming of Christ!
Ezekiel 43:2
2
And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way
of the east: and his voice was like a noise of many waters: and the
earth shined with his glory.
Ezekiel 43:4
4 And the glory of the LORD came into
the house by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east.
Notice what the east gate
looks like today [slide]. It's
all filled in w/ stone. Do you
know why? In the 16th century
when the Turks ruled
You can't help but laugh at
a guy like that! It's going to
take a lot more than stone to hold Jesus Christ back.
He won't have to bat an eyelash to turn those stones to powder!
Now, the east gate reminds
us to live in light of His soon return.
It could be any day. It
could be today! We are told to
watch for him...watch and pray.
If you have a loved one who is lost, watch and pray, because Jesus is coming
soon!
Not only prayer, but purity
is important in light of His coming.
1 John 2:28
28
And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall
appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
Sometimes I hear people say
they wish Christ would return, but based on the way they are living they
should be asking Him to wait and give them time to get some things right.
Good news: it doesn't
have to take long, it's just a heart decision away!
Where will you be, what
will you be doing, and how will you be living when Jesus returns?!
I know people who, tho' Christians, still liked to go to some
questionable places who made a decision to stop going there, not because
they were really living sinfully like some others there, but because in
light of the soon return of Christ they simply decided they don't want to be
found in a place like that at the rapture.
Prayer, purity, and
finally, personal soulwinning.
The Bible teaches that someday soon the last one who is gonna get saved will
get saved, and Jesus will return.
That could be today!
Could it be you? Could it be
your loved one? When God's
righteous quota is met, it will be too late!
The way this world is
going, the signs of the times all around us, the prophecies fulfilled, I
expect Jesus to return anytime, and I fully expect it to be in my lifetime.
If He doesn't, you have my permission to put on my tombstone, "He
died surprised!" And then Bro.
McKee can take over as pastor!
10.
The inspection gate.
v. 31 That's what 'Miphkad'
means. It was where the army was
reviewed and registered. This
reminds us of the judgment seat of Christ.
Romans 14:10
10
...for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
Don't confuse this judgment
of believers w/ the Great White Throne Judgment of non believers, when they
will be cast into hell. That's
very real, but an entirely different occasion and result.
We won't be judged for our sins, but inspected, and rewarded.
Our sins have already been judged on the cross of
Our time, our talents...how
about our treasures?!
v. 32 We're back to the sheep
gate!
It all begins and ends with
Christ, the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the
last, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world Who will bear His
scars for eternity future in heaven.
Swing wide the gates!
Grace Notes Sermon Ministry:
NOTICE! Our sermons are free to download, copy and paste, edit and use as you see fit...but only our free subscribers get the newest messages, featured sermons, and some free gifts we shower on them from time to time!
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