Are You Standing in the Gate?

Jeremiah 7:1-11 Are You Standing in the Gate

Earlier this year, my family and I had the opportunity to go to Florida to visit Walt Disney World. Now we made a lot of memories there, but perhaps one memory that stands out among some is when we went to the park on the first day.

As we traveled all the way from the parking lot, to the main gate, and believe me, that was a trek. We got to the entrance gate only to be stopped. Our cards had not been activated, and because of that we were not allowed to enter in.

Now, after some conversation with customer service, that situation got resolved. But what if it hadn’t. What if we had made that trip all the way down to Florida, only to find out at the gate, we could go in? Praise the Lord, there was someone standing at the gate who was willing to help us. They wanted us to be able to enter the park. And they did their job, and we were able to enter in.

Now I know if we didn’t enter into Disney World that day, we would have been upset, but that would not have been the end for us. But friend, there is a gate we are all traveling too, and when we get to it, we better have everything ready. Because when you get to that gate, there is no do-overs.

Again, praise the Lord there was someone at that gate to help us, and in a sense that story sets the tone for what we see here in Jeremiah 7, lets read this scripture.

[Read Passage and Pray]

Jeremiah was a unique prophet. He would preach to the people about repentance and turning back to the Lord. He cared for the people; so much, that he was called the weeping prophet. And here in this passage, the Lord spoke to him and told him to stand in the gate.

Now friend, I want to ask you that very thing. Are you standing at the gate? You might be saying to yourself, what gate are you talking about? Are you standing at the gate of the Lord?

You know, we often talk about the pearly gates, it reminds me of a three women who went and stood outside the pearly gates, a Catholic Woman, A Jewish Woman, and a Free Will Baptist Woman. Peter asked the three women what they brought, the catholic woman said she brought her rosary, the Jewish woman said she brought the Star of David, and the Free Will Baptist woman said she brought a covered dish.

Well, when the Bible speaks about standing in the gate and giving the people something, the Lord is not talking about a covered dish. Instead, we are to give out the message of the Lord. Now think about what the Lord has said here to Jeremiah and to us. Because what the Lord has first given us…

Is an Opportunity

1. To Stand Up for the Lord

· Now what did the Lord tell Jeremiah to do? Did he tell him to sit down? Did he tell him to lay down? No. He told him to stand!

· We have a great opportunity right now in this land, among these people, to stand up for Jesus.

· It’s in those very words that we sing from time to time “Stand Up Stand Up For Jesus”

· Hymn Story – In 1858, churches throughout Philadelphia united in a citywide evangelistic effort. Services were held morning and night. One of the speakers was a young preacher named Dudley Tyng. He preached a message to 5000 men and 1000 of them responded to the gospel invitation.

Four days later, Tyng was tragically injured with a corn threshing machine. He was laying on the floor and had lost a great deal of blood, when his father came to his side. With his final words he said Stand up for Jesus, Father, and tell my brethren of the ministry to stand up for Jesus.

That following Sunday, a friend of Tyng stood before a congregation of people and preached the word of God to them, and in that message he shared a poem that he had just written, inspired by those words that his dying friend had shared. Stand up Stand up for Jesus.

I’m fond on the verse that says; Stand up Stand up for Jesus, stand in his strength alone, the arm of flesh will fail you, ye dare not trust your own. Put on the gospel armor, each piece put on with prayer. Where duty calls or danger, be never wanting there.

· Will you stand up for Jesus in your Home, will you stand up for Jesus in your Workplace, will you stand up for Jesus in School, will you stand up for Jesus wherever you go?

· This is our opportunity!!

2. To Speak Up for the Lord

· We have the opportunity to stand up for the Lord, but friend we also have opportunity to speak up for the Lord!

· We have the greatest opportunity to share the gospel of the Lord.

· Now what did the Lord tell Jeremiah to do here? To proclaim the word of the LORD!

· Do you know the what the Lord wants you to say? He has told you all you need to say right here from this book. He wants you to share to others about Jesus.

· Have you ever talked about someone? Just nod your head, you know we all have. Lot of you are grandparents, and how many times have you been around people, maybe people you didn’t know and started to talk about your grandchildren. Well if we can talk about them, friend we can talk about Jesus. I mean there is nothing bad to talk about the Lord, and you can talk about how good God has been in your life.

· Now listen, people during Jeremiah’s day would enter into Jerusalem through a gate, and if you wanted to get your message heard to people, all you had to do was stand at the gate and proclaim it loudly. Not quietly, but where it could be heard.

· Are people hearing the message from your lips today? Are they seeing the boldness of your faith! We have the greatest opportunity right now!!

· Now there is another thing we need to see, and that is to stand at the Gate…

There must be Obedience

And we are given three areas that we should be obedient in.

· By Amending Our Ways (3)

o Now understand, you can’t share a message about Jesus to people if you are living in sin.

o Here was a people, and the message to them was to amend their ways. Meaning, get out of the sinful lifestyle.

o Do you know what amend means – the main definition means to change, and that it what we need to do, but there is a sub meaning to the word as well, and that is to improve.

o Now you may think you are a pretty good Christian, but can I break a hard truth to you? You can improve. We are to imitate Christ in our life. And friend we all can be more like Christ.

o Now if you are giving in to sin, if you are making other things your priority over Christ, then friend you need to amend you ways.

· By Abstaining From Lies (4)

o Now there is a second thing we are told to do, and that is abstain from lies.

o You know, people try to make Jesus and his church out to be something that it is not.

o I have said it before, many try to make church a brand or an image, I don’t worship the church, I worship Jesus. I’m not trying to be in the image of the church, I’m trying to be more like the image of Christ.

o Don’t be deceived by lies, there are those who say church is supposed to be like this or like that, but friend God’s house is not to fit in the way man thinks it to be, but how the Lord said it is to be.

o What did Jesus tell Peter, “I will build my church”. Don’t put your faith in the preacher or the deacons, or the programs, or the activities to build the church, friend only Jesus can build the church.

o Now remember, don’t give in to the lies of people who say this is what church is suppose to be.

· By Assisting Others (6)

o Now there is another important thing you are to do at the gate. And that is to assist others. Look at verse 6.

o Do you know a person’s impression about Christ is often made before they ever enter into the church?

o The way you treat a person plays a major impact on how they may respond to Christ.

o Say for instance, a person walks in, and you have gotten up and left your seat, but you come back and someone else is sitting there. What do you do? Do you tell them they got your seat.

o Or how about this, what if there is a person and they have been out of church for a while, and you go up to them and say something like, “well it is about time you came to church”, you know what you have done? You have oppressed that person.

o Look being a Christian, and standing at the Gate of the Lord, is a important and life changing job.

o It is not our job to say who stays and leaves, and we are not to go and make people’s lives harder. You may not know what that stranger is going through, you may not know how that child feels, you may not understand the struggles of a single mother.

o Our role as Christians, is to be a help to people.

· Not we must be obedient but listen we must not be…

Obstructing the Gate

· By being Half-Witted (8)

o Now you know you can be an obstruction at the gate? Do you know you can make it difficult for people to come and worship the Lord?

o One of those ways, is when you believe the lies of this world and trust them over what the Lord has said.

o Can I tell you something you have heard growing up in life? Don’t believe everything you hear on tv, don’t believe everything you read on Facebook, and don’t believe everything you see on YouTube.

o Friend we are to measure everything by the Word of God.

o Now when you believe the lies, friend that is just like standing before the gate and saying to them that the gate is closed.

· By being a Hypocrite (9-10)

o Now here is another way you can be an obstruction at the gate and that is by being a hypocrite.

o Friend when you profess one thing and then do the opposite, that is being hypocritical.

o Now people will see you outside of the church, and believe you me, people are always looking, and when you are out there and you are living contrary to the word of God, and then you come in here and sing Way Maker, or Chain Breaker. Friend you are being a hypocrite.

o It is sad when we stand at the gate and block people from coming to know Jesus by the way we live outside the church.

o Now ask yourself and be truthful, if people saw you outside of this church would they know that you were a Christian. I mean a true, sold-out to Jesus, Bible believing Christian?

o Friend there is enough things out there that are obstacles in our path, we don’t need to be one for other people.

Now I want to close with verse 11 – and there is a question that is asked. Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers? Are people coming to the gate and being picked pocketed. Are we here just to take money to spend on ourselves. Are we stealing from God what is rightfully his? Friends we either need to seize this opportunity that the Lord has given us, or we can be an obstacle. One leads to worship and the Lord, the other leads to the broad gate and destruction. Which gate will you stand at? It is your choice today.