The Gates (2)
Notes
Transcript
Seek First The Kingdom of God…
Seek First The Kingdom of God…
Matthew 6:33 (NASB95)
33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Isreal was the first word picture of a Kingdom that was to come with our Messiah’s entrance.
Ezrah and Nehemiah were one book in the past.
Ezrah and Nehemiah are broken down into three sections.
Summary Outline:
First Zerubabbel in brining in 42k and rebuilding the temple.
Second Ezrah brought in community and the teaching of God’s law and way.
Third Nehemiah rebuilt the walls and gates of the city.
The beginning of Abundant Life was a lot like the time of Zerubabbel.
Bringing an entire community into a city to bring Abundant Life to Bellingham and the world.
Nehemiah’s time
Building the walls and the gates
What is the significance of the wall and gates being done?
Highlights:
They brought supplies and money
Everyone pitched in including kids and elderly.
Those working on the walls and gates had trowels in one hand and a sword in the other.
They lived in their homes and worked on the wall closest to where they lived.
They were focused on the task not the words of those opposed to them building.
Fifty-two days is all it took. (Neh 6:15-16)
That is very fast to accomplish what many were saying was impossible.
The finished work silenced the enemies.
I believe that we are entering into a season work the finished work of Christ in you is going to silence the enemy in your lives.
What are the Gates today?
Psalm 24:7–9 (NASB95)
Lift up your heads, O gates, And be lifted up, O ancient doors, That the King of glory may come in!
Who is the King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, The Lord mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, O gates, And lift them up, O ancient doors, That the King of glory may come in!
What are the Gates today?
People are gates.
There were 10 main gates in Jerusalem.
Sheep Gate
Fish Gate
Old Gate
Valley Gate
Dung Gate
Fountain Gate
Water Gate
Horse Gate
East Gate
Placement/Inspection Gate
Sheep Gate = Sacrifice, Offering, Hearing and Becoming Like Jesus,
Fish Gate = Evangelistic, Outreaching, Fishers of man,
Old Gate = First Love, Facing Mt Zion, Wisdom of Past Testimony, ancient ways
Valley Gate = times of testing, humility, creating personal testimony, growth and strengthening
Dung Gate = Repentance, removing what does not bring life,
Fountain Gate = Holy Spirit outpouring, refreshing, spring of life
Water Gate = Word, purify with His words, clarity, revelation
Horse Gate = Take back ground, heaven to earth, warfare, kingdom benefactor, mountains
East Gate = New things, Beautiful Gate, Glory, Healing, Hope
Inspection/Placement Gate = Preparation to take new ground, sent out, commands, assignment
All of the these gates give the community in Jerusalem clear ways to get rid or and bring in what is needed.
There were more sub gates than these at times.
We are the temple of Holy Spirit, and when we gather together, it is another type of demonstration of the temple. (Eph 2:21)
If you dont have a gate functioning in the community, that dysfunction will trickle into His temple.
If you do not have a healthy dung gate then the dung will come up in the temple.
If you do not have gates with specific purposes they will contaminate the community in side the walls.
The Temple will become defiled with purposes that it was not made for.
If you take any one of these gates and picture that happening inside the temple it becomes clearer as to the need of boundaries and gates.
Jesus is the perfect example of all the gates being embodied and all five-fold being embodied as a man of the Kingdom of God.
Sheep Gate
Sheep Gate = Sacrifice, Offering, Becoming Like Jesus,
John 10:27–28 (NASB95)
27 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28 and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.
Stephan was martyred at this gate.
The Sheep Gate was the place where the animals to be sacrificed were herded in. The place of no return for the sacrificial lambs and sheep.
The Sheep Gate was also the place where those people who society didn't want, were abandoned to.
It has been noted that whenever Jesus entered into the city it was though the Sheep gate. It was at this gate (Pool of Bethesda) that Jesus healed the palsied man as he entered into the city. (John 5:1-17)
The only time this was different was when Christ entered into the city from the Mount of Olives at His triumphal entry. If Jesus came into the city through the sheep gate it was significant. He was saying, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The sheep gate led into the temple compound and the brazen altar.
Jesus said the He is the sheep gate. (John 14:6)
The Sheep Gate represents us hearing Jesus directly as His sheep.
The Sheep Gate is the entrance of purpose for the life of the believer.
It is not just a place of fulfilling their needs as individuals, but a place of discovering what it means to be a sheep born for the purpose of others.
The Sheep Gate empowers men and women to hear the voice of God whereby they are empowered to give their lives to God and His purposes in the earth.
Example:
What Brandon said to me.
Fish Gate
What do you think the fish gate is about?
Fish Gate = Evangelistic, Outreaching, Fishers of man,
Matthew 4:19 (NASB95)
19 And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
Fish Gate
People who do not know God will come to the kingdom of heaven, accept Jesus as their Lord and be baptized in water and spirit.
I have seen evangelists all over the world frustrated at the church for not reaching the lost. The challenge is that evangelists are to equip and activate the body to become evangelistic in nature.
To be the arms and feet of God that heal the sick and cast out demons and rally the lost to become part of the family of God.
Not build a ministry of thousands as a track record of how many people they have reached.
If thousands come through the gate but then leave again that was not the plan.
If no one comes into the family of God ever and very few people are saved, baptized and delivered then we are missing that gate and gift.
Examples:
If a church community does not have a healthy fish gate the only way to get new people into the church community is to make the gathering a fish gate. We will become a seeker friendly place that tries to appeal to getting people in.
The fish gate empowers the ability to reach out with the arm of the Lord. It has to do with our ability to cast the net of the kingdom of God (Mt. 13:47) and gather in the peoples of the world to God’s kingdom.
Example of fish gate in my life:
The unknown story
Closing:
We are His gates individually.
We are His temple individually and as a group.
We need all the gates to be a functioning temple community.
Jesus was high functioning in all the gates.
Sheep Gate = Sacrifice, Offering, Hearing and Becoming Like Jesus,
Fish Gate = Evangelistic, Outreaching, Fishers of man,
What Gates are you called to be?
What Gates does He want you to explore with Him?
Activation:
Are you ready to commit to Jesus to be a gate for others?
Jesus, would You put people in my path and anoint me to point them to You?
Jesus, would You let the power of Holy Spirit flow through us to bring healing and deliverance?
Ask God if He wants you to apply that to those around your work, neighbors, and or family.
Study guide for gates:
When Ezra shared the words of God from the Tora people were convicted and they had hope for being part of God’s way. Outside the Water Gate.
Sheep gate
The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
Fish gate
“Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Old gate
Thus says the Lord, “Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths, Where the good way is, and walk in it; And you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
Valley gate
Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time,
Dung gate
Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,
Fountain gate
‘For I will pour out water on the thirsty land And streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring And My blessing on your descendants;
Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’ ” But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”
Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.
Water Gate
Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
“You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.
When Ezra shared the words of God from the Tora people were convicted and they had hope for being part of God’s way. Outside the Water Gate.
Horse Gate
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.
“I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.
East Gate
In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south.
Then he led me to the gate, the gate facing toward the east; and behold, the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the way of the east. And His voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone with His glory.
And the glory of the Lord came into the house by the way of the gate facing toward the east.
Inspection Gate / Placement Gate
“If, on the other hand, the priest comes in and makes an inspection and the mark has not indeed spread in the house after the house has been replastered, then the priest shall pronounce the house clean because the mark has not reappeared.
And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ “This is the great and foremost commandment. “The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”
or Miphkad
Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon 4663 מִפְקָד
4663 מִפְקָד [Miphqad /mif·kawd/] n m. The same as 4662; GK 5152; AV translates as “Miphkad” once. 1 one of the gates of Jerusalem. Additional Information: Miphkad = “command”.
Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon 4662 מִפְקָד
4662 מִפְקָד [miphqad /mif·kawd/] n m. From 6485; TWOT 1802g; GK 5152; Four occurrences; AV translates as “number” twice, “commandment” once, and “appointed place” once. 1 muster, appointment, appointed place. 1A muster (of people). 1B appointment. 1C appointed place. 2 (TWOT) number.
The ‘Fish Gate’ is the next mentioned in Nehemiah (Neh. 3:3; 12:39). I believe that this gate implies our ability to become ‘fishers of men’ (Mt. 4:19; Mk. 1:17). I believe this gate has to do with ‘adding to the church’ as is ‘water baptism’ we see new souls identify in being members of the Body of Christ through an act of faith. I believe it has to do with our ability to reach out with the arm of the Lord. It has to do with our ability to cast the net of the kingdom of God (Mt. 13:47) and gather in the peoples of the world to God’s kingdom. The working of this gate can be seen through acts of faith that draw others to the good news of the kingdom. It is the evangelistic hand of the Lord that gathers in the fish of His kingdom (Isa. 59:1). I believe that every local church needs to evaluate their ‘fish gate’. Are they reaching out into the community with the salvation of the kingdom? Are people being gathered in and added to the body of Christ? We need to find those who have an evangelistic anointing upon their lives and seek to facilitate them among us that the ‘fish gate’ might be restored to the community of God. The fish gate was likely named for the fish that were brought through it from the Sea of Galilee. The fish market was likely located at this gate. The way of “Galilee” is the way of salvation to the nations. Jesus came to be a Light unto the Gentiles and a hope unto the way of Galilee (Isa. 9:1).
The ‘Sheep Gate’ is the first gate of construction in Nehemiah (Neh. 3:1,32; Neh. 12:39). The sheep gate (Neh. 3:1), can be likened unto the altar built by Israel as recorded in Ezra 3:1-7.
The burnt offering is a testimony to the death of Jesus that we might be reconciled to God. It is the basis for our commitment to God and the work of God in and through our lives. All men can come and present their lives to God without condemnation or shame. Jesus came as the Good Shepherd to find the lost sheep of Israel (Lk. 15:16). He came to bring a salvaging to mankind that would wash off their shame and reconnect men and women to a personal relationship with God in Christ. The sheep gate is the entrance to a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. It is not just a one-time entrance, but also a testimony to the continual entrance of God’s voice to the human hearts of men. It is that place of hearing God’s voice (Jn. 10:27). I believe the sheep gate is also revealed as the Shepherd’s care for the flock on a daily basis. The ability of the people to be cared for by the presence of the Good Shepherd among them is depicted in the sheep gate’ (Jn. 10:14). Every local church needs to evaluate their ‘sheep gate’. Are people being connected to the voice of God? Is the care of the Good Shepherd known among them? I believe we can strengthen the ‘sheep gate’ by looking for those who have an anointing in a pastoral way to help the people connect to the voice of the Good Shepherd. The true voice of the Shepherd is not heard through the voice of a man or a woman. It is heard through the voice of the Holy Spirit to the human heart and it even inspires members of His community to express a care for one another. The Sheep Gate is the place where people willingly come and present their bodies as living sacrifices to God (Rom. 12:1). It is a place where they are transformed to the thinking of the community of God and are no longer bound to being conformed to the thinking of the world (Rom. 12:2). The Sheep Gate is the entrance of purpose for the life of the believer. It is not just a place of fulfilling their needs as individuals, but a place of discovering what it means to be a sheep born for the purpose of others. The Sheep Gate empowers men and women to hear the voice of God whereby they are empowered to give their lives to God and His purposes in the earth.
‘Old Gate” (Neh. 3:6). I believe that this gate can be likened to the preservation of truth, foundations laid, and teaching given as a foundation in the community of God. I believe that the ‘old gate’ also represents a place of sustaining and increasing the inheritances that come from our past. I see the ‘old gate’ as the foundation truths of the Christian faith (Heb. 6:1,2). The old gate exists in the reality of the foundation graces of the Body of Christ. There is a need to keep in those things established as foundational truths, such as water baptism, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, principles of giving, and other foundational truths and skills to the body as God adds new members. Paul told the Thessalonians’ church to stay true to the traditions given to them by the apostles (2 These. 3:6). The ‘old gate’ sets an anchor for a foundation of repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Spirit, keeping in the apostolic teaching, continuing steadfastly in fellowship, continuing in communion, and remaining faithful in prayer (Acts 2:37, 42). Every local church needs to evaluate the condition of the ‘old gate’ in the house. Are people being established in the basic teachings of the Christian faith? We need to activate and facilitate those with teaching graces among the congregation to make the ‘old gate’ strong and functioning in the local community. We need to facilitate a culture that puts to use those things set in the foundation of the faith.
‘Valley Gate’ (Neh. 3:13). I believe that the ‘Valley Gate’ was also known as the ‘Potsherd Gate’, where broken pottery from the potters’ shops was thrown out into the Valley of Hinnom on the refuse heaps (Jer.19:2). In the synthesis of Scripture, clay jars speak of the fragile nature of the flesh. Clay jars are made of hardened clay that creates a ridged shape that can no longer be molded, but presents a recognizable shape of use. Human lives are likened unto clay jars (Lam. 4:2, Jer. 18:4, Rom. 9:21, 2Tim. 2:20). Potsherd is broken pieces of clay vessels. Those broken pieces of clay represent the broken lives of men. God is the potter and we are the clay of His hand (Isa. 45:9; Isa. 29:16; 64:8; Jer. 18:16). I believe that the ‘Potsherd’ or ‘Valley Gate’ represents a place of human brokenness. Broken vessels are jars that no longer maintain their ridged shape of the past. I believe that this speaks of our ability to come to decisions end the will of the flesh and lead to the comfort and purpose of the Lord. Without brokenness there can be no empowerment of change. Decisions made from brokenness are decisions that lead to God’s resurrection life. This gate is where we find a broken and a contrite heart before God (Ps. 34:18; 52:17; Isa. 57:15; 66:2). It is in that place that we make decisions for life. This gate is the place of decision. It is the place of yielding our will to His (Elk. 22:42). Every local church should have a functioning ‘Valley Gate’ ministry that activates a culture and an environment of brokenness before God and a willingness to yield the will of self for the will of God. The community of God is a place for humility and grace. God gives grace to the humble, but He resists the proud (Jam. 4:6, 10). We need counseling ministries to function among us that inspire a spirit of humility by bringing healing to the brokenness of men. The ‘Valley Gate’ is the place of a decision to be led by the Spirit and not by the flesh (Rom. 8:1-14). This gate of influence creates a culture where people no longer judge one another according to the flesh (2 Cor. 14:17). This gate of influence inspires a dependency upon the life that is only found in Christ.
Dung Gate’ (Neh. 3:14). This gate was named because the refuse of the city was taken through it to be burned in the Valley of Hinnon. The ‘Dung Gate’ speaks of the ability to discard the things of the past though healing and deliverance. Every local ministry needs to have active ministries of healing and deliverance. We need to activate and facilitate the power ministries of faith, healing, and deliverance in any expression of the community of God. There should be an environment that trains and equips the community members to properly deal with the issues of their hearts. Each believer needs to know how to leave the things of the past behind and press on toward the mark of the upward call of God in Christ (Phil. 3:12-14). Each believer needs to know how to ‘put off’ the things of the world and to ‘put on’ Christ (Col. 3:9,10). The ‘Dung Gate’ deals with the putting off of the old man (Eph 4:22). This gate can manifest though a culture of sanctification, worship, praise, and cleansing of the temple as seen in Ezra 3:4. The cleansing of the temple is not the washing of a religious organization through religious activities. It is the washing of the lives of men and women that empowers them to know that they are the place where God lives. Our church has had a strong ministry that seeks to create an environment where judgments, vows, generational curses, and other influences of the past can be broken and washed away though the anointing of the ‘Dung Gate’. Believers need to know how to get rid of things in their lives that are the lifeless things of the past. They are things of no more use and even things that contaminate the body if there is not a healthy environment of removing the issues of the past.
‘Fountain Gate’ (Neh. 3:15). I believe that this gate testifies of the Holy Spirit’s ability build the living walls of the community of God that reveal the life of God in the Church to the world (Neh. 3:1-32). This gate was near the Pool of Siloam also known as the King’s Pool within the city that led directly to the “stairs of the city of David” (Neh. 12:37). The fountain gate reveals the ability to see the refreshing and fresh life of God Spirit in the house. Surely the presence of the Holy Spirit and the testimony of the living water within are essential for every believer and ministry (Jn. 7:37-39). Equipping the saints to flow in the life of the Spirit is essential for the health and the testimony of the Christian community (Eph. 5:17-21). In being spiritual, full of the Spirit life and power, we must not be ignorant (1 Cor. 12:1). A community expression of the kingdom of God must contain an element of the fresh life of the Holy Spirit.
‘Water Gate’ is next in the wall (Neh. 3:26). This gate symbolically speaks of the living word. Leaders must seek to connect the people to the word of God and the grace of His word. From this gate a path descended to the spring Gihon at the foot of the hill. Water was brought to the city through this gate. We must train and activate all believers to be seekers of truth and to know the life that comes from God’s word. A face-to-face encounter with the word of God is essential to draw the life of God’s refreshing spirit into the heart of every believer (Heb. 4:14). We live on every word that comes from the mouth of God (Mt. 4:4). We must study to show ourselves approved workmen who need not be ashamed, rightly dividing God’s word of truth (2 Tim. 2:15). It is the water of God’s word that washes the believer (Eph. 5:25-27). Every local church must have a strong focus on God’s word and know how to connect the people to the source of the water of God’s word. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Rom. 10:17). Leaders cannot just present the word to those they lead. They must exhort those they lead to become students of God’s word.
‘Horse Gate’ (Neh. 3:28), relates to joy, strength and the joy of the Lord (Neh. 8:10). I believe that this gate depicts the strength found in prayer and carrying the burden of the Lord. The horse is seen in Scripture as the strength of men and the power for battle. It is prayer and the presence of the Lord that gives us the strength for the battle and in the presence of the Lord there is fullness of joy (Ps. 16:11). How is the ministry of prayer in the church? We must train and equip God’s people to know the presence of the Lord. It is the effective, fervent prayer of the righteous that avails much (Jam. 5:16). We must carry the burden of the Spirit, but not the heavy yoke of the flesh. Prayer and praise must be a part of the culture of the Church. Keeping steadfast in prayer is an essential part of every ministry and every believer (Acts 2:42; Rom. 12:12). Prayer brings us to the presence of the Lord where we find joy and strength (Eph. 6:18; Phil. 1:4). Prayer and thanksgiving go hand-in-hand and should be a part of the life of every believer (Phil. 4:6; Col. 4:2). We must pray without ceasing (1 Thes. 5:17). Prayer is an essential part of any expression of the community of God.
‘East Gate’ (Neh. 3:29). Throughout the Scripture the east relates to the place of birthing new things and bringing new things. The beginning of each day is in the east. The birth of Christ was seen as a star in the east (Mt. 2:2). I believe that this gate relates to the birthing of new things and the Spirit of revelation in our lives. God wants to give us things we haven’t seen, we haven’t heard, and we haven’t even thought before (1 Cor. 2:9,10). Resurrection life comes from the ‘east gate’. It was at the rising of the sun and the beginning of a new day that the rising of the Son of God made way for a new beginning for mankind (Lk. 24:1). It is the revelation that comes at the beginning of the day that perfects us at the end of the day. God is faithful to complete everything He begins (Phil. 1:6). Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End (Rev. 1:8). If we always do what we’ve always done we will always get what we have always gotten. The Spirit of revelation among us causes us to do new things, thus receiving new results. The ‘east gate’ is essential to every ministry and the life of every believer. We cannot be stuck in the past or bound to the traditions of men. We must be willing to embrace the things that come by revelation from God.
‘Miphkad Gate’ (Neh. 3:31). This gate in some translations is called the ‘muster gate’ (RSV) or the ‘mustering gate’ (NEB) or even the ‘inspection gate’(NASB). This gate implies the ability to place people in the correct place for the work of the kingdom. This is an apostolic anointing that helps people find their place in the city of God. I believe that this gate is under restoration even at this time in the Body of Christ. It is important that we help people find the grace that is on their lives (Rom. 12:4-8). Each saint must find their purpose and place in the community of God (1 Cor. 12:28-31). The Body of Christ is one Body, but it is made of many members (2 Cor. 12:18-20). Healthy leadership knows the responsibility of ministry identification. They know how to ‘inspect’ and ‘muster’ the people to find their place of function and ministry in the Body of Christ. The place of fit for each member is the place where they bring life to others. This gate has to do with assisting people in finding the place of God’s favor in their lives. This gate could be called a ‘Placement Gate’ that is determined by the grace of God upon each member. That grace is their ability to bring life to others.