Okay, open doors part three, perhaps the concluding part of the series.
And we'll talk about reinforcing gates. And sometimes the word doors can be traded
for gates. Strange thing is, regardless of whether you
have doors or gates, you need walls. If you don't have walls, no point having
doors and gates. And so we go to Nehemiah today and we see some of the gates that Nehemiah
talked about in Nehemiah chapter three. And so in Nehemiah two, verse 17 and 18, Nehemiah
challenges the people to rise up and build. And he is facing a lot of opposition and a
lot of ridicule. Despite that, he says, hey guys, we got to
rebuild the walls. And once we rebuild the walls, we also have to make sure that we put
gates and doors. Sunny school kids?
Yeah. Oh yeah. Sorry, I didn't even realize. Go ahead, Emily.
Sade, you can go. You can go too. No, no, I was saying sunny school.
Oh, it's kids' church. Sorry. Okay. So Nehemiah challenges them in chapter two, verse 17
and 18, saying, hey guys, build the walls back and make sure that the gates and the
doors are placed. Because despite the opposition, despite the ridicule, it's important to have
your doors and gates in place. And the wall that he built was about eight feet thick
and was done in forty different sections. This is not important for us, but I just thought
I'd let you know how thick the walls are. Forty sections of unequal length. And everybody
took part, except, I mean, there were perfumers, there were goldsmiths, there were women, there
were men, there were people from every profession you know of that helped build the wall. The
only guys who didn't build were certain nobles from a place called Tekoa, because they felt
it was way below them to build the wall for the city. Sometimes you can have everybody
participate, and I say this partly because of what we are going into. We're making this
massive shift in the way we function, I personally feel, starting next week. And when we do that,
there'll be unequal lengths that you will have to work on. There'll be unequal shares
that you will have in the work that is done. But regardless, make sure that everybody puts
in, pitches in, because the only ones in the book of Nehemiah that did not partake in the
building of the wall for the city of Jerusalem was in chapter three, verse five, it was the
nobles from Tekoa who did not feel that they were too stoop to do the work to build the
wall to protect the city. I mean, none of us be nobles from Tekoa. May we take part
in what lies ahead, eh? So that's just on the side. But we want to talk about the gates
now. And so when we talk about these gates that Nehemiah mentions, and it's put up there
on the wall because this isn't working, you see the gates there. It's not, it's very hard
to see them. You'll need new glasses to see those gates. But at the end of the day, there
were 12 gates that are mentioned by Nehemiah. And they were built in the way that Nehemiah
did. Ten of them in chapter three and two of them in chapter eight. And we'll look at
them today. Why are we examining these gates? Because if you examine the relevance of these
gates and apply the principle to your life, then you will see that the gates are not just
the gates. I believe you will end up reinforcing the character of the king and the kingdom
into your life. So let me explain that. As we look at these gates, as we examine the
relevance of these gates, if you and I were to apply them, you will find that if you apply
the principle or the meaning of these gates into your life, you will find that the character
of the king and the character of the kingdom will seep into your life. That's how we're
going to look at these gates. So let's go to chapter three, Nehemiah chapter three,
Nehemiah chapter three. Nehemiah is before Ezra. Nehemiah is after Ezra. After Chronicles,
after Ezra, and then comes Nehemiah. Nehemiah chapter three, starting at verse one. So
in Nehemiah chapter three, verse one, you see the first gate, and the first gate is
the sheep gate. The first gate is the sheep gate. So the first gate is the sheep gate.
Verse one, you see the first gate, and the first gate is the sheep gate. The first gate
is the sheep gate. The gate got its name because the sheep that would be sacrificed in the
temple would be brought in through this gate. Sheep that were sacrificed in the temple were
brought in through this gate. That's why it was called the sheep gate. That's why it was
called the sheep gate. So how does it apply to our lives? There are different ways people
interpret it, and how do we apply it to our lives? Guys, at the end of the day, the sheep
were brought for sacrifice. The sheep were brought for sacrifice. Their blood would be
poured out. How do we apply this to our lives? How does the character of the king and the
kingdom now apply to our lives? As you go into 2024, can you have this door or gate,
I'll ask this question before every gate, can you have this door or gate in your life?
What is this door or gate? Can you, in 2024, empty or bring it back? Can you bring it back
or pour out your life for Christ, his body, and others? The word pour out must be matched
with the word empty. Can you pour out or absolutely empty your life for Christ, but it is not
enough to empty it for Christ because Christ does not reach out and take it. But the moment
you put Christ, his body, and others, now it is possible to empty your life. If one
were to look at the sheep gate, then how would it apply to our lives? This is how it would
apply. Pour out your life, empty it for the sake of king and kingdom. Here is another
word that perhaps you should get accustomed to in 2024 if you want to pour out your life,
inconvenienced. It's a big word. Scrabble, that would net you like thousands of points.
This is one word that the church must embrace, inconvenienced. The strange thing with take
your rightful place is it is impossible to take your rightful place in the kingdom if
I am not willing to be inconvenienced. Taking your rightful place in the kingdom and inconvenience
go hand in hand. You can't have one or the other. You can't say, I want my place in the
kingdom but I don't want to be inconvenienced. It is the very nature of your savior. It is
the very nature of king. It is the very nature of the kingdom. That's how you take your rightful
place. So the sheep gate, the sheep gate stands for pouring out our lives in 2024. It might
be different for another church. It might be different when this is preached by another
pastor because this study of Nehemiah's gates is not unusual. Many have done it before.
But I am saying this is relevant to us right now. In fact, when I first wrote these notes,
it was on Thursday or something and then I was quite happy but it sounded like what you
read anywhere in any situation. So I had to stay up till 2.30 last night to rework the
whole thing so that it applies to us. Why? Because when a word is spoken and if it is
spoken either in terms of rama for a church or prophetically, it must apply to us. It
cannot be something that is generic. That's why I am honing in on this thing. This is
for us. You can find different versions of this just by Googling. But this is for us.
This is a topic that has been preached by pastors for at least 30 or 40 years. I preached
this in 2012. So empty yourself. When this door is open, you get to this place of pour
out empty and inconvenience. When you open this door in your life, when you open this
door in your life, then know that it notifies the principalities and powers of their dethronement.
There is nothing Satan shudders at more than a Christian deciding that he or she does not
care for their lives anymore. They overcame him by the blood of the lamb and the word
of their testimony and they did not love him anymore. They loved him as a Christian. So
not care for their lives anymore. They overcame him by the blood of the lamb
and the word of their testimony and they did not love their lives even unto death.
We don't have to die. We can start by not loving our lives. Inconvenience is the
opposite of self-preservation and it is not possible to find your rightful place
in the kingdom without being inconvenienced and once a person crosses
that threshold of inconvenience saying I am willing, now what happens is you
notify the powers and principalities of their dethronement because if you don't
love life what else is left to take. This is why when you go and fight wars and
there are guerrilla fighters, why do they always win? Why was Vietnam never run
over? Despite the fact it was bombed like crazy, you never had clean
victories because once you don't love your life how can someone win? Just
remember that. I'm not saying we can arrive here at once but we can, oh Brielle,
we can't arrive here at once but we can start here. This is where we start. Any
questions? And if the question is but shouldn't we balance life? Hey, we are
experts at that. So I won't even answer that question because we never
have a problem balancing our lives. Any other questions besides that? One of the
questions I would ask is okay so you say inconvenience, what will
inconvenience look like and how am I going to be inconvenienced? It doesn't
matter the starting point is am I willing? After that trust God to know
your limits, to know how much to stretch you. Can you imagine if a woman who gets
pregnant immediately had a nine-month belly? First of all it would freak her
husband out. Second, it's not possible, it stretches over time to accommodate the
child. So once I say oh father inconvenience me more this year than I
have been inconvenienced in the last year, the process starts because God
surprisingly takes me and my words at face value till he finds me untrue even
though he may know that I will not hold up to what I have said. Hear me again.
God takes your words at face value till you break it even though he may already
know that you will not be able to keep your promise because that is how he is
and he made us in his image. When he says something he expects to do it and so
when we say something he expects us to do it. He also knows whether you will or
not but that doesn't mean that he will take your words and say forget it I
already know you're gonna sin tomorrow. We stood here today and some of us may
have repented, some of us may have said I'm going to do this so God I promise you this
and he lovingly takes it saying right now I know your heart means it
completely and I will take it where it is even though I know what will happen
tomorrow. Strange God eh? So the intent is not how will I be inconvenienced, what
does that look like, what is emptying look like, what is pouring out look like,
what will I lose? All these questions may come and they are legitimate human
questions. Just human questions legitimate but the point is can I start
with this pledge of God can I I was reading a prayer by AW Tozer and at one
point he says oh God this year can you make sure that I don't take an easy life
can you make sure that I don't he's even going into this is a man who wrote
books who's a brilliant scholar and an amazing preacher and he's writing stuff
like can you make sure that I don't overeat can you make sure that I don't
sleep late can you make sure that I when I'm offered rewards that they don't
corrupt me can you make sure that I do not take the easy way out that I take
the less traveled way can you make sure as I take this honor that you have
stooped to give me can I'm can you make sure that this heart stays that is what
he says he's basically praying a prayer of inconvenience so that's a sheep gate
embrace this and you participate in the life of the king and the kingdom hold it
at a distance and revere it and you'll still benefit but you don't get to eat
the full meal next one fish gate
I had forbade my mom from frying sardines at home because once you fry
sardines especially if you do it the Indian way with spices it works itself
into everything a like even gets into your guitar so when you're standing and
playing you can hear whoops of whiffs of fried sardine coming out so I forbade
her from frying it and so she never would fight but when I left she got
even and I think Derek to go buy sardines she fried the sardines and then
Derek was smart he completely escaped even got stuck and even doesn't like
fish but he doesn't know how to say no to my mom so my mom fried these sardines
and kept feeding even and even kept eating him I came back three days later
even was still burping sardines but he didn't have the guts to tell my mom that
listen it's not a good idea the fish gate has nothing to do with this so that
was just a story on the side and I said fish kid I was reminded of even okay
fish gate fish gate was a key entry to the city it was a key entrance to the
city and it was the gate through which fishermen brought their catch brought
their catch to the market so this was the gate that was used by them it was
surprising how there were certain gates in the city that were used by certain
professions to do what they're supposed to do guys if this gate is closed and I
suspect that in our lives this is one of the most in our lives starting with
mine I think this is one of the gates that is that is most rusty it creaks
every time you open it because it hasn't doesn't get open to too often if this
gate if this gate is closed if this gate is closed the story of Jesus
in your life is silenced what is this gate represent I will make you fishes of
men it is his idea of proclamation and I would say that other than a few and
perhaps some that go to Wally this gate is a creaky rusty gated acts 29 because
I don't think we are a charismatic church or a proclaiming church as a
people we do share Jesus with our friends we were every so often and it's
a very Jesus is Jesus can heal you Jesus but Jesus is Lord Jesus is Savior Jesus
died on a cross and he rose again that is not explicitly something this church
proclaims without hesitation you might be doing it individually every so often
but I think this is this is one creaky gate in this church I pray God that the
Lord inconveniences me in this area so that I find myself in situations where I
have to open my mouth and share the story of Jesus in my life without being
silenced and it's so easy not to do it because I roam in Christian circles as a
pastor's witness the least day basically this is a call to witness okay
do we wait for God to inconvenience us or we lay ourselves before God saying oh
God I present myself before Christ and the body of Christ to be inconvenienced
so please oh God inconvenience me that's you're dealing with God then you come to
whoever you are being raised under in the past it was a house just now it
might be Don a man you go to say please inconvenience me use me it's both the
thing with surrendering anything to Christ is because he is not physical
invisible he won't take anything that's why it's so easy to surrender money to
Jesus try surrendering money to me I notice nobody moved so if the clay if
this gate of proclamation is something that I believe this church does not do
enough and if this gate is closed Christian little life begins to stagnate
Christian life begins to stagnate Christian life begins to stagnate and
God then intervenes by disturbing your status quo every time the church decides
not to proclaim the need for a Savior because there is sin and the need for
lordship and Christ every time the church has gone silent about Christ for
a while Christ sends a method to scatter the church either through persecution or
to some pressure so the church is scattered so that that whole process can
begin again because the very nature of the church is to be missional and to be
missional one has to proclaim proclaim what that there is sin that we need a
Savior and that wants you to see the Savior he is Lord I would say to you
there might be occasions when you've done this but this is not our regular
practice this is not a regular practice when you meet someone who's not a
believer our tendency in this church is to be friends it's to be friend is to be
helpful is to include them in community what use is it if someone is not a
believer and you include them in the community because he ain't going to be
in the community up there he will be part of this community and he will die
in his sense he will not go to heaven tomorrow the person that we include in
our community could be dead in an accident we must create community for
people to come in but we must also let them know that this community is created
around the name of Jesus Christ who alone is Lord who can save you from sins
you need a Savior receive the Lord Jesus Christ and that should then become a
thorn do I really want to be part of a community that proclaims Christ as Lord
one of the worst things that a church can do is include people in a community
that never present Christ outright outright and there is the spirit of the
world that we live in that makes it more and more difficult to preach Christ as
the only God it's very hard to do that at work I'm sure you do it some of you
have the courage and the and the commitment to do it but many of us don't
any questions any thoughts anything you want to add I'd like to do this not when
I'm given an opportunity to preach I'd like to do this when I'm with people and
I recognize that they are not Christians so easy to do it when you're sitting in
a church like this and preaching you can always introduce Christ but what about
those one-on-ones where you there is a good chance that you will be rejected
the fish gate if we do not announce then the adoration of the king in our midst
will grow cold whatever we adore we announce in the reverse if you do not
announce the one you adore within our midst adoration will grow cold we always
announce what we adore whenever it doesn't matter whether it's a burger a
car or your spouse whatever you adore you announce and when announcement gets
silenced you will find that adoration becomes cold next one next gate was
called the old gate the old gate it was named the old gate because it was the
main entrance into the old city it was a main entrance into the old city the old
city of Jerusalem and so it was called the old gate and surprisingly the old
gate would open into the old city and yet this part where it would enter was
actually the newest part of the old city it used to be called the new quarter or
it used to be called some the word was Mishnah and so how does that apply to
us Jeremiah 6 16 Jeremiah 6 16 Jeremiah 6 16 Jeremiah 6 16 it says in Jeremiah 6
16 that this is what the Lord says stand at the crossroads and look and ask for
the ancient paths ask where the good way is and walk in it and you will find rest
for your souls but you said we will not walk in it one more time this is what the
Lord says stand at the crossroads and look for the ancient paths the old paths
ask where the good ways and walk in it and you will find rest for your souls
guys when it comes to the old gate and how it applies to our lives go back and
dig the wells dig the wells of your previous
previous prophetic words or promises from the past or promises given to your forefathers
how does forefathers apply to us I know the promises that were given to this church through
people like Eddie through people like Pastor Mike Scattleberry through people like Chad
through people like me we call them forefathers in the faith because they came and they delivered
things to us go look at it Jeremiah 6 16 says can you go back to the crossroads stand and look at
the ancient paths how did you come here what was the promise given to you and Jagan when you came
here and as you look at it how much of the fulfillment has happened go stand again and look
at it one of the things we are supposed to go and do is do exactly what Isaac did in Genesis 26
Isaac goes and looks for the wells that his father Abraham had dug that were now covered and filled
with stones and he goes and he re-digs them and as he re-digs them he even re-names them he gives
them different names the two final wells that he digs up that become his are Rehoboth and Beersheba
Rehoboth meant I have now given you a broad space Beersheba meant I give you a promise now this is
the well of oath go re-dig those wells find out the things that have been said over you then there's
so long ago sometimes guys for churches like us God gives us promises that were given to someone
else that haven't been finished and he gives us to us one of the one of the wells that we will keep
digging till we see water gush out is that promise that was given to us saying hey in 1947 to 57 there
was a revival in Hebrides called the Hebrides revival you guys will see Hebrides 2.0 here on
earth that's an ancient well and it has been given to this church to re-dig it again stand at the
crossroads and look at the ancient path see what God has said someone called Duncan Campbell in
1947 received a promise to go to Hebrides and start a revival 70 years later a little group
of people are being said Hebrides 2.0 will start across the earth from you how crazy is that how
crazy is that word that Derek came and spoke two weeks ago saying that you will see something that
has been unprecedented since the days of Noah it wasn't being said to me it was being said to a
people how crazy is that the more we look at ourselves and see how weak and feeble we are the
more you can begin to trust that God can pull off something amazing the old gate allows us to stand
and look at ancient promises look at the ones in your life sometimes circumstances can be so huge
sometimes the opposition and the failure and the crushing of dreams can be so so so powerful
sometimes the fear of what can happen tomorrow can overwhelm you to the point where you don't even
want to touch a promise because you're scared that it will fail again I remember when before
Rene had Joseph there were times when Rene would say I don't want any more prayer I don't want
another promising I'll have a child because she had waited it'd be frustrating and then suddenly
this is how the character of the king and the kingdom is built into a people because they begin
to live again I want to remind you of something I've spoken here long ago for 430 years they kept
the bones of a man in a tent so that everybody who walked past that tent after a very cruel day of
labor under Egyptian whip masters as they would walk past that tent they would see the bones of
Joseph in that tent and they would remember that Joseph said that a day will come when you will
leave this land of bondage and you will go into the promised land and you will bury me there and
their backs would be split open by these whips they'd have had made bricks in Egyptian kilns and
they would come past this tent and they would remember Joseph's bones are here they are still
being preserved 429 years have gone by little did they know that in one day they'd be leaving and
they would leave in a hurry they were told to gird their loins and wear their sandals eat the
not leave anything and in a moment's notice they would leave and they left this is what we can do
when we stand at the ancient crossroads we have to do it for us individually and we have to do it
for us as a church one of the one of the most important functions I perform in service to the
church is to find the promises of God and say on this we will stand and this shall come to pass
and then it is for our own individual lives too and God keeps shifting them keeps moving them and
it's so much fun job 27 like a cloud loaded with water so are you and I send you sometimes to pour
water in extravagant love other times to discipline other times I move you around this way and that
way this way and that way is impossible without being inconvenienced if you want to be conveniently
living a Christian life please don't ask for the Holy Spirit to use you because he ain't the spirit
of convenience keep coming back to the blueprint a renaming things digging up ancient paths one of
the questions I've been asking people and I want to ask the church to two questions that you entered
the first question was and I mentioned this last week but it's a powerful question what are the
laps like if you think of Samson laying his head on Delilah's lap what are the laps that you laid
your head on in 2023 that cost your head to be shaved and you to lose your strength everyone here
their lap laid their head on some lap or the other during 2023 and your head got shaved and
you found yourself getting up and you were weaker not stronger what is that lap what were those laps
and if you can make a note of them you know that these are laps I must avoid in 2024 because every
time I put my head on this lap my head got shaved and they took me captive because I lost my strength
so that's one question the other question is connected to what we're talking about right now
with the old gate is return to the call of your origin return to the call of your origin I know
many of you have heard the story a little short of a million times but there was a unique eagle
that was shut up in a cage somewhere in South Africa that refused to fly because it had been
in the cage for so long finally they go open the cage because the eagle is getting sick and dying
and they throw the eagle out of the cage and it fumbles around it refuses to fly they try to
shoo it and it still doesn't fly they decide to shoot it because this eagle won't survive in the
wild as they're about to shoot it another eagle from the same species begins to circle the sky
and begins to call out as it begins to call out this eagle on the ground hears the call of its
origin as in what it used to be as it hears the call of its origin strength begins to come as it
begins to hear the calling of this eagle in the sky it begins to take a few ginger steps then it
begins to run then it begins to flap its wings and before you know it because it hears the call of
its origin it takes off and meets the eagle in the sky the question is what is your call of origin
how do you take that which has been spoken in the past and that which is relevant in the last few
months how do you combine them and say this is the call of my origin for this he is calling me
forward so that he can take what he wants from me this is important to come to it'll take time so
what problem with any of this stuff is there is work involved and the work is very simple writing
it down distilling it writing it down distilling it writing it down distilling it till you have
your little capsule that you can put in your locket or swallow now you have it you take this
what is from the past and you take what is relevant in the recent few months and you add
them together and you have it the next gate was the valley gate the next gate was the valley gate
the valley gate it opened into what was called the valley of you know it opened into the valley of
you know when that's why it's called Valley Gate guys for many of us it is where the spirit
will lead you and it is a place you'll either lie down to die or it is a place where you will
prophesy and the breath of life will enter dead bones I can almost guarantee this that if you were
to receive this message and that's why maybe it's a good idea to not receive the message if you
receive this message you will get an opportunity in 2024 where the spirit of God will lead you into
a valley it'll be a difficult place but it is a difficult place not so that you lay down and die
there it is a difficult place so that you can go and like Ezekiel did in Ezekiel 37 you can begin
to prophesy and say to the dead bones rise I speak I speak breath on though see some places
that we want to do great things for God does not happen except through the wilderness and in the
wilderness God is greater than you have ever met him anywhere else the wilderness is not a place
where God is absent the wilderness is a place where God is colossal you receive this message
as a whole and you will find that God will take you into places where you can breathe life or you
can lay down and die what does lay down and die look like they don't and I think now this is not
for me this challenge is too great I'm done I don't want this and yet through you the only intent
of God is hey I've chosen you to walk into this valley so that you can breathe life and bring those
bones back to life but if you want to lay down that's fine I'll go find someone else we will get
this opportunity I will get this opportunity I'll get this opportunity multiple times this year and
when it happens I hope I remember this and don't pack it up because it's difficult there's the same
thing that happened in Luke chapter 4 where it says and the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the
wilderness why so that he may breathe life upon humanity in that valley you will be challenged
in terms of compromise you will be challenged in terms of intimidation you will be challenged
in terms of accusation maybe it doesn't matter because if you can stand a whole valley will
begin to live this is for us any questions in Hosea 215 it says can you guys go and transform
the valley of trouble into the gateway of hope Hosea 215 they pass through the valley of Acre
Acre means trouble they pass through the valley of trouble and they change it into a gateway of
hope in Psalm 84 verse 6 it says going through the stream of Baka going through the valley of
Baka Baka is weeping they turn it into pools of refreshing water come on man don't you want to do
that do you want only easy tasks even at work you like it when you're given a challenging task
especially if you have a decent boss at work if you want a challenging task if you have a decent
boss how much more with this super decent boss ask for the hard things I pray that the Spirit of
God somehow by his great power as he did in the olden days would cause some of you to have the
same excellent spirit of Caleb where it begins to grab something inside you doesn't matter whether
you're 70 or whether you're 20 it grabs something inside you and it says to you give me the hills
where the anac dwell give me something difficult to do make my Christian life interesting Jesus
retiring is for humans so what does that make you when you go through these valleys got it
got disciplines you a but don't think of discipline when you go through this valley as discipline like
punishment or disciplines you as in the same discipline that an athlete has he makes you ready
there's a discipline that comes because of error of correcting course and then there is a discipline
that comes from God because he wants you to be strong Hebrews 12 says that it is not pleasant to
go through the process but which father does not instruct his child to be strong it benefits you in
the end some of these stories I'm repeating not because I'm forgetful and old but for the sake of
the this thing I mean my dislike for walking began when I was young and I would drag my feet and my
father would take me on long walks but I have to walk like this and if I walked like this he would
make me walk again I quickly learned how to walk like this but was that punishment no what was it
it was discipline so that the Sun may learn how to walk part of the valley experience is that can
you embrace it and if we cannot embrace it is because we are afraid and if we are afraid it is
because we are scared of him and if we are scared of him it is because I am still not convinced of
the perfect love of God because I think this is going to be pretty painful next one next one it's
not a it's a it's a great gate but it's not got a good name it's called Dung Gate Dung Gate why was
the name this because Jerusalem's rubbish was taken through this gate you can see why they need
to have different gates because you're taking rubbish through one gate you can't have fish
coming through the same gate so they used to have different gates this one was Jerusalem's rubbish
should be taken through this gate and it would be burnt in the valley of you know it would be burnt
in the valley of know that's why it was given that gate it didn't have a beautiful name but it
performed an important service so the most the most obvious conclusion when you think of Dung
Gate is God saying oh you need to get rid of the rubbish in your life true but for us what he's
saying is hey can you go to Philippians 3 8 church and you can you count as dumb as dog poo every
accomplishment every everything that you boast in your flesh every talent every good thing can
you count it as dumb go to Philippians 3 8 that everything acts when you know you have accomplished
do you take pride in the prophetic trash it do you take pride in your free service trash it do you
take pride in following the Holy Spirit trash it do you take pride in being a certain kind throw
it all away there is nothing you will boast about your boast is only in Christ and Christ crucified
nothing else do you boast in being one global that you have a few churches here and a few churches
there and you have accomplished something trashed it counted as done that's when someone wants to
start a fresh a companies do that every so often they they meet certain measures and then do you
know what they do they fold it all up and say out with it let's start afresh before the iPhone
came you have no idea how many phones were trashed because it did not meet the standard
you had to start afresh go to Philippians 3 8 3 5 to 8 everything I had going for me my pedigree
my accomplishment my legitimate both any confidence in the flesh are insignificant it is dog-dung I
have dumped it all in the trash so I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him beautifully listen
to this again everything I had going for me is it your car is it your wife is it your husband is
it your dog is it your home is it your furniture is it your trips is it your Air Canada aeroplan
status what is it what is it is it your education is it your fabulous job is it the salary you get
is it that you sing well is it that you're highly gifted is it that you preach well is it that you
have a great church what is it count it as done if you had some dog poo lying here what would you do
hold your nose and spit on it or maybe just hold your nose surprisingly this is what God
wants us to do with this everything I had going for me pedigree accomplishments legitimate
boasts confidence in the flesh are insignificant dog-dung I've dumped it all in the trash so I
could embrace Christ and be embraced by him then he says in Galatians 6 14 I'm crucified in relation
to the world and will not boast of anything outside of it any questions
okay this would be great to preach in the US or in any country where nationalism is a big thing
trash your nationalism trash your republicanism trash your Trumpism those are not what we live
by fountain gate fountain gate the fountain in the Bible always represents or is the picture
John 7 verse 37 to 39 and on the last day of the feast Jesus cried out in a loud voice come to me
and buy from me rivers of living water for I will give you rivers of living water and out of your
belly shall flow rivers of fountains of living water John 7 37 to 39 the fountain gate is simply
a picture of the spirit and it was called the fountain gate because it was near the pool of
Siloam which you've heard of where the man went to wash his face when Jesus healed him of his
blindness it was near the pool of Siloam and it was literally a Siloam means sent by the way but
here's the three essentials for us three essentials of spirit life for us in 2024 three
essentials of spirit life in 2024 one surrendered to him daily to his life must flow into the world
three you must go where he sends and that sending happens often not always often through the body
three essentials he must be surrendered to daily spirit of God once again this morning I come to
say this body is yours this mouth is yours these feet and hands are yours you've been waiting for
me to wake up why because you actually think this body belongs to you I surrender it once again now
that I have I realize that you must flow into the world it's not enough to prophesy in church it's
not enough to speak in tongues in church you must flow into the world Ezekiel 47 talks about
wherever the river went it gave life it flew it began to flow into swamps it began to begin to
began to flow into the Aruba which was a sea and it turned salt water into fresh water it must flow
into the world and then the third one is you must go where he sends you must go very sense act 166
and the spirit of God said go to Phrygia go it not go to not to go to Phrygia not to go to
but send them to throw as to Macedonia actually after three verse eight nobody knows how the
spirit works don't know where he's coming from don't know where he's going but the spirit leads
you you must go where he sends and not always but often the sending is through the body because
nobody was an itinerant minister in the Bible there were no itinerant ministers the only ones
were the seventh sons of Skiwa and they met a terrible end next gate if you have any questions
feel free to interrupt next gate the water gate this was before Nixon by the way for those of you
who are old enough to remember the water gate the water gate was near this spring called Gihon for
those of you who didn't know what that was don't worry about it the water gate was near Gihon which
was the it was called there was a spring in Jerusalem called Gihon it was a main source
of water for Jerusalem and it was at this gate that Ezra in chapter 8 of Nehemiah was 1 to 3
Ezra convenes all of Israel to read the word to read the word the water gate as is kind of obvious
is the absolute supremacy or need of the word to be studied by the peeps of Acts 29 if this door
of studying the word is not open you will languish I was watching a guy on TV day before yesterday
many years ago and he's he's on TV he's written tons of books and pretty decent books they like
scholarly books that I can be read by anybody the word is peeps and so many years ago he decided
that he came across Deuteronomy 8 3 and in Deuteronomy 8 3 it says man shall not live by bread alone but by
every word that proceeds from the mouth of God so he decided that man shall not live by bread alone
but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God so he decided that from now on he will not eat if he does not read
and that was 30 40 years ago and because he's hungry and he wants breakfast the guy for the last 30 40 years
has been reading the Bible because he made a decision that if he does not read he will not eat because
man shall not live by bread alone but by every word he took that word and moved it around and decided from now on I will not eat if I do not read and so he has found himself reading every day because he's eating every day and it's studying the word Ezra 7 10 Ezra 7 10 is such a beautiful verse Ezra 7 10 this is this is why you should do it this is how you should do it and I should do it Ezra 7 10 no Ezra 7 yeah
Ezra 7 10 ah for Ezra devoted himself to the study and the observance of the law of the Lord and to teaching its decrees and the laws in Israel in the other versions it says he devoted himself to study so that he could teach and so that he could show how to live it studying teaching living studying teaching living studying teaching living studying teaching living you should study the word so that you can teach it and live it
that is this gate and isn't it fascinating that at this very gate the water gate Ezra convenes in Nehemiah chapter 8 verse 1 to 3 he calls all of Israel and says all right guys from morning to midday he stood and he read the word and they all waited eh
without the word you will languish it's impossible how does a young man keep his way pure by studying the word by reading the word next gate was a horse gate horse gate the horse gate was closed to the king's stables
and this was the gate through which the men would ride horses into war
ride horses into war this was the gate through which you would see the cavalry leaving the army leaving on horses this is where they would stand as the horses would ride into war and so
Acts 29 this is so critical that we understand that kingdom implies warfare kingdom implies warfare
that the kingdom can only be advanced
through spiritual warfare
that Christ is your divine warrior king if you think this is not true look at revelations 19 verse 11 onwards
keep this door open guys
you know you can never train for war by yourself never nobody hires a person who says I have trained for war because you never train for war except with a group of people
even if you are a mercenary there are no real rambos in the world rambos get shot immediately from a distance you can put a bandana on your head and have a few cuts but you can still shoot rambo
it doesn't work but always warfare is trained together
Judges chapter 3 verse 1 and 2
and the lord god of Israel left in the land five tribes so that those in Israel who hadn't yet faced battles and wars
who were not veterans of war would now have an opportunity to face opposition and be trained for war
god left people in the land as opposition so that you could be trained for war
crazy read it judges chapter 3 verse 1 and 2
judges 3 verse 1 and 2
these are the nations the lord left to test all those Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan
he did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had no previous battle experience
guys this church was meant for this
a kingdom fighting doesn't look like human fighting but my god if you don't train for it you could still enjoy the benefits
when people come back with the spoils you will still get your divide of spoils
you will still get your divide of spoils but always remember something
that it's oranges to oranges apples to apples when it comes to this life and the next life
how you do here is what you get rewarded for there
if that is heaven what I do here is exactly what I get in heaven
how I train here is how I will be appointed there
next gate
the east gate
I actually have a picture of it that I took not knowing that it was the east gate
it's strange eh? the east gate would lead into the temple
and in 1540 because the Muslim sultan who took over Jerusalem during that time
didn't want the messiah to come they shut those gates up
because it was said in Ezekiel 44 and Ezekiel 40 that the messiah will enter through those gates
so what they did was they started burying the dead on the slopes of that gate
and they shut the gates up thinking by doing this the messiah won't come
I mean it's a futile human effort right?
and so the east gate still exists and so the east gate is usually for the entry of the glory of god
and the messiah
it is a gate that anticipated
the making of all things
never forget this act 29
we have been given a gift
I assure you you haven't heard of this in most
preaching that you would hear in other churches
it's a gift given to us
but listen the reason I have given you the presence of god
is so that you can go
you can come and join me in making all things new
sometimes when god gives you a gift like that ponder on it
because in pondering on it you may get a glimpse of something that
I don't have that she doesn't have that she doesn't have that god gives you
I've given you a key now
you know how you can teach a class the same principle in physics
and someone gets it
someone gets it more than others
and they discover something phenomenal while you just barely scrape through physics
it's like that
god's given us a gift
listen I give you my presence not because I want you to be dancing around
I give you my presence not so that you speak in tongues
I give you my presence not so that you can experience fire
all that is good
I give you my presence for one reason alone
I give you my presence so that you can join me
in making all things new
Revelation 21 verse 5
behold I heard a voice from heaven
and it said behold I have come now to make all things new
no more tears, no more fears, no more crying, no more sorrow, no more mourning
everything has been made new
you and I have been given this beautiful simple truth
that listen guys
the reason I'm letting you experience my presence
the reason you're singing the presence song today
the reason I'm teaching you how to get attached to my presence
the reason you sometimes learn how to hunger after my presence
is just for one reason alone
to make all things new
because my presence isn't going to leave you
whatever I needed to do in you with my presence is already done
now please can you let it go
the east gate was always a gate
you know when someone looks through the east gate
you would see the presence of the earth
you would see the beginning of a new day
because the sun would rise there
it didn't matter what happened during the night
in Jerusalem you look through the east gate
and you would see the sun rising there was anticipation
you look through the east gate and you would remember
that in Ezekiel 44 and Ezekiel 48
it says the messiah will come through those gates
you knew that if the messiah would come
everything would be restored
Jerusalem would be a place of peace
it would be like in the days of Solomon
that's what the east gate reminded them of
it is a gift given to us
we should tell others about it
make all things new
I know it's 2 to 6 but I asked the pastor in this church
if we would go a little later today
he said absolutely you guys are the best
I take back my words that good things come out of FCC
keep this door open
next gate was called the inspection gate
inspection gate
this was a gate where
the church would be
the most important
and the most important
this was a gate where
men would gather
to be conscripted
or drafted
into the king's service
tradition has it that
David
would inspect
his troops
at this gate
it was also sometimes called
the muster gate
where people are mustered or drafted
to join the army
guys what is this gate for us this year?
this is really cool eh
it says a lot saying that
present yourself
for inspection
present yourself for inspection
what does this mean?
line up
and say
like David in 1 Samuel 16
Samuel says
hey do you have any other sons?
if you think you are ready
for service
Samuel will come and say
Jesse do you got any more sons?
and David comes up and joins the line
present yourself for inspection
that oh god I am ready
I want to be inspected
and after inspection I want you to put me into
some kind of
service for you
or 2 Timothy 2
2 Timothy 2.15
study yourself and show yourself approved
as one who can handle the word
present yourself for inspection
you know once they make a car
and all the parts are put together
once they make an aircraft put together
you go and check every part
are you ready to be
inspected?
so what
if in the inspection a flaw is found
that's exactly what an inspection is for
if a flaw is found
that's great now you get to correct it
otherwise half way through
driving you suddenly find one wheel
going ahead of you
because the nut was loose
I am not talking about Kamal
and so sorry Kamal
I am so sorry I shouldn't have taken that
my god if you ever became a pastor
and I was in your congregation
you would have me for breakfast
second
what else can you be inspected for?
are you free of defects?
this is not something where you come and
stand in front of the church and say inspect me
but you know
in Leviticus 21
there is a whole passage where it says
a person with a flat nose
a person with broken
testicles, a person with scabs
a person with a limp, a person with
an eye that was not functioning well
a person with this, a person with that
the priest would come and inspect and say
nope nope nope nope nope
why was that given?
that was given so that we could stand before
god and say alright
I have a limp, oh god help me fix it
I have an eye defect
oh god help me fix it
what is an eye defect?
the bible talks about the eye defect as
what do you call those things where you don't see
on the side of the car?
blind spot
an eye defect is a blind spot
a limp is your ability
to know where to go
but you can't because your feet is dragging
we talked about this many many moons ago
but the point is this
what is wrong with having your
flaws inspected?
not in front of the entire congregation
but with one or two that you trust
inspect my flaws
David used to go
to god, go to god first
and then god will also appoint you to people
what's
that song say?
try me oh god
try me oh saviour
know my
flaws today
see if there be some wicked way in me
cleanse me from every sin
and set me free
inspection
if you believe
that this is a word that was
carved out for us, do it
free from fear
check if there's fear in your life, inspect
I could go on
last two gates
once in 816
it's called the iframe
gate
you know what iframe means?
double
fruitfulness
hey let me go back to
inspecting
present yourself this year for inspection
if you present yourself for inspection
and you pass the inspection
people can imitate you
if you don't present yourself for inspection
you cannot be presented
to be imitated
and so what if
in being inspected
flaws are found
that is the reason
for inspection
only one
who desires
to hide flaws
or one who longs to be perfect
in a perfectionism way
will hide their faults
perfectionists
dread flaws being found
iframe
double fruitfulness
guys remember
God alone
gives
double honor
and double
portion
only God can give it
we see that in the Elijah Elijah story
is it settled that no man can give it to you
only God can give it
but for God to give it
here are the conditions
partake in his life
walk in your
mantle
rest and obey
pursue
spiritual
fathers
like first
bonds
because the very principle
of double portion
is the first bond
gets a double portion
if you had two sons
and you had a hundred bucks
then
two parts of that hundred would go to the
first bond
one part of the hundred would go to the
second
God is the only one who can give you
double fruitfulness
no man can do it for you
if man gives you something
all he does is he takes a hundred bucks
and makes it 200 and gives it to you
when God says double portion
he doesn't give you 200 bucks
he gives you the ability to take the hundred and make it a thousand
double portion
is not a measure with God
double portion is double the ability
so God only knows
what can happen with a hundred when he doubles
the ability
he never works in measures
if he worked in measures he would have got
the fish and the bread right
so
the
Ephraim Gates represents for
this church double fruitfulness
for you, for me
for me and for you
double honor, double fruitfulness
and God is saying
hey, I'm asking you
to do a simple thing so that I can give
this to you, remember which dad
does not want to give his child
more
only a really bad dad
every
dad wants to empty themselves
before they leave the earth because they aren't taking it
they rather leave it to their children
which dad won't
but because this is a responsible dad
he has certain
measures that he uses
to say aha, I find Mark responsible
you can handle this now
you will steward it, you will not squander it
and what are the things?
partake in his life
not a big deal, partake in his life
what do you mean partake in his life?
partake in his character, not in his deeds
in his character
Moses, Israel knew God's
acts, Moses knew
God's ways
second, walk in your mantle
do you know the mantle that you carry?
do you know it? do you know what the mantle
this church carries? do you know the mantle
that you carry? walk in it
doesn't matter how old or young you are
to the extent you can, know that this is what the
father has called me for
and third one is rest and obey
do things out of rest
what is the seed
for rest? obedience
whatever God tells you, do that
not one iota more, not one iota less
just bear
obedience, this is what you said
this is what i do, walk around seven times
i will walk around seven times, shout once, i will shout once
don't go, i will not go
when i hear the sound of marching on the tree tops
i will go
what do you tell me? tell me what you do
i will rest, and the last one is
pursue spiritual fathers
in every situation in the bible
the pursuit of spiritual fathers
for what?
not pursuing them to suck up to them
not pursuing them to be yes men
not pursuing them so that you can become
the sycophants that just do whatever they say
pursue them so that whatever is in their life
you can get
and when God
sees that, what God does is
He gives you more than what you are pursuing
this is what happens with Elijah and Elisha
Elisha is pursuing Elijah
when there are fifty one other prophets that could have
and they don't
and does Elisha get anything
from Elijah? nothing
but does he get twice more than Elijah?
yes, are his miracles twice more?
yes, is the influence twice more?
yes
but strangely enough, God is still known
as the God of Elijah
not the God of Elisha, even though Elisha did twice as much
any questions
for the last gate?
yep
pardon?
what was the purpose of that gate?
I don't know
these are two gates that are not mentioned
in chapter 3, they are mentioned in
chapter 8
but I know the meaning of Ephraim
and then the final one is
prison gate
what a cool gate to end on
prison gate
it was also called the gate of the guard
gate of the guard
and so it used to be
close to the
palace
and there would be
a guard
posted there, these were
like the kind of guard that
would protect the king's interests
their job was to protect the king's
interests
it was literally like perhaps
the secret service that the president has
their intent was to protect
the king's interests, if there is any
attempt against him, if there is
anything that is precious to him
these were the guards that would protect the king's interests
you still see them at
the Vatican, you have
the papal guards
they are dressed funny and they hold
like spears
and stand there
so
it used to be called the prison gate
so protect
the interests of the king
what in your mind is the
chief interest
of the father
son
and spirit
what is the chief interest?
what is their magnificent obsession?
what is the magnificent obsession
of the father, son and
the holy spirit?
it's only one thing guys
the bride, the church
it's the magnificent
obsession of the father, son and the holy spirit
people, the church
brought together, the bride of Christ
the son, he would
lay down his life for his bride
the holy spirit, put the bride together
the father
send the son
so that his people
could be brought back to him
it's his magnificent obsession
and if this is not your magnificent
obsession, if that is not
the center piece of your heart
then you lose out
on the centrality of God's heart
this is his magnificent obsession
love this thing called the bride
I'm not talking about
Acts 29, I'm talking about the body of Christ
but you can't love
if I go and tell you I love all the women of the world
you'll ask me first love your wife
so start here
it's like all Indians are my
brothers and sisters but I hate this Indian
doesn't work like that
so you've got to start first with
the body that you're part of
but it's his magnificent
obsession
you lose out on the centrality of this
you lose out on the center piece of God's heart
so
I must make sure I don't bring
dissension
strife
discord
that I don't
steady the arc
if I'm not called to
where Uzzah and
Ahio were affected
that I don't amend
the blueprint
these are not mine to do
why?
because
in Revelation 21
verse 9
it says
and this is what it says I'm not
kidding you I'm not phrasing it
it says the church
is the
lamb's
wife
crazy eh?
to use raw language like that
ask questions, challenge
be like the
Baryans, examine the truth
but if I bring strife
discord
or dissension
then or if I try to amend
the blueprint that God has given
or if I try to
steady the arc
like Ahio and Uzzah did
when it is not my role
then
I'm treading where angels fear
fools tread where angels fear
and so
on one hand
the church is the lamb's wife and
I must lay
down my life to serve her
on the other hand
if
I defile
the temple
and here the
word for the temple is
this is in 1st Corinthians
316
guys there are two verses that we shouldn't mess up
there's 1st Corinthians 316 where it says
do not destroy or
defile the temple of God, do not pollute it
do not corrupt it, through discord, through
strife, through amending
things, do not
so there are two scriptures, 1st Corinthians 316
says do not destroy the temple for if
you destroy or defile the temple I will destroy
you, God is saying this
and there he's talking about the actual
church, the word neos
is used and then in 1st Corinthians
619 it says do you not know
that you are the temple of the Holy Spirit
there he's not talking about neos
he's talking about
soma, body
both are different, we shouldn't confuse both
and so on one hand it is the lamb's
wife and I must do everything in my power
to lay my life down in her
service, on the other hand
if I defile the temple
which we are
God will
very
rarely does God say something like this in the
New Testament, God will destroy you
fool's tread
this is not scripture but I feel I need
to end with it, fool's tread
where angels fear
any questions?
yeah the corporate body, neos
and then go to 1st Corinthians 619
619 I think or 618
what does it say?
yeah and that's the place where he talks about
this temple
cool
alrighty
next year will be 2024
2024 man
let's pray
father, very sober looking crowd
I think it would have been great if prison gate was
somewhere up on the top
it would have been nicer to end with a nicer
gate, not dung gate, not prison gate
maybe some other nice gate would have been
better but this was the order in which we arranged
the gates around Jerusalem
so
we thank you that you call us the lambs
wife
the bride of Christ
so what note can we end on but to ask
as we end
2023 that
could this become our magnificent
obsession too
spirit of God these are such easy things
for you to do
you know us, you know that we love you
everybody here, every
person here has such a desire
for you lord
some of us don't even know you well but we
know there's something about you Jesus
and so spirit of God would you just
go row by row
touching every one of your
sons and daughters, every one
of us who knows you and ones
that will soon know you
touching us and saying hey
let me change your heart, let me give you
a new love for the bride
a new desire to serve
this is our magnificent obsession
says the triune godhead
as a father I sent my son
to buy you back and when you
received him you became part of the bride
my son
he laid down his life so that he
can give me a blemishless bride
my spirit
he's the one
who is present with my life amongst
you, you are my magnificent
obsession
so father across this room would you
give us such a desire for the bride
for the church
for the body of Christ
so that as we step into
2024
we will be part of this
primary vehicle called the church
that you use
to influence the world
you can do it yourself
you can do it through a rainbow
as you've done in the past
but you have decided
that the primary vehicle
through which your presence
your principles, your patterns
and the future
will be presented
to the earth
will be through the church
which we are
grateful for