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Nehemiah 3 verse 1, it says then Eliashiv, the high priest, rose up with his brethren, the priests, and they builded the sheep gate. The title for the sermon this evening is building the gates, building the gates. So they builded a sheep gate, they sanctified it, this is the only gate that actually has these words that they sanctified it, and set up the doors of it even unto the tower of Mia, they sanctified it unto the tower of Hananiel. Now I was considering because we are going to have the Lord's table just for the visitors, so now we're going to have a church lunch together, and following the church dinner I should say, and following the church dinner, and you're welcome to be part of that, we're going to be sharing the Lord's table because it is Easter, and as we commonly do around this period, we do have the Lord's table. And so I did consider maybe I should have an Easter themed sermon tonight to go ahead with, to go hand in hand with you know the Lord's table, but no I just thought well Nehemiah 3, you've actually got it for me, there it is. And they builded the sheep gate, the very first gate that's mentioned in Nehemiah 3 is the sheep gate, and it's appropriate that the first gate that's mentioned in this chapter is the sheep gate, not only is it the sheep gate, it's been sanctified. You see this was the gate that was used to bring sheeps and goats into the city to the temple to be sacrificed, okay, and the fact that it's been sanctified, the word sanctified is to be set apart, it's like the word holy, to be set apart, and of course it was set apart for the work of God. It wasn't just any gate for just random sheep to come through, any farm that's come through knows for the sheep that would be brought to the slaughter, to the temple, and of course what is the significance of that? Everybody knows, the Old Testament picture of these animal sacrifices would be the ultimate picture, or would lead us to understand the necessity of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now I do want to speed through this sermon this evening as best as I can, so I'm just going to read to you the other passages, but if you just stay there Nehemiah 3 you'll be fine, but some other chapters, passages that I want to read to you from is John chapter 1 verse 29 which says, the next day John seeeth Jesus coming unto him and saith behold the lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world, amen. So what are these animal sacrifices all about? They're just objects lessons, they're foreshadowing of the ultimate sacrifice, the lamb of God, which isn't a sacrifice which is just ongoing, it's a one-time sacrifice when Jesus Christ paid for our sins, he took the sins from this world, yeah he died for your sins, he died for my sins, he died for the sins of the entire world, and he's been brought forward there by John the Baptist as a lamb, the lamb of God. Jesus Christ is not only the lamb but he's also the good shepherd, and he says in John chapter 10 verse 11, I am the good shepherd, and then he says these words, the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep, amen. Praise God, not only is he the lamb, not only is he a sheep, but he's the shepherd that's willing to lay down his life, and of course his sheep in the context of that verse is the rest of us, we make up that flock that belongs to Jesus Christ so long as you have trusted Jesus Christ as saviour through grace, by grace through faith, and not by works, not by the deeds of the law, not based on how good or bad you are, but solely trusting on the finished work of Jesus Christ, his death, his burial, his resurrection. Another famous passage that often gets read during the time of Easter comes from Isaiah 53 verse 7, which says, speaking prophetically of Christ, he was oppressed, he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth, he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before his shearers is dumb or silent, so he openeth not his mouth. Yes, when Christ came to this earth he came to die, he came to die on the cross and he did not fight back. I don't know if you've all seen shearers shearing a lamb, I've seen this, I've seen, not long ago actually, I took my children to this farm and they were shearing the sheep and the sheep did not make a single noise. I mean the farmers just grab these sheeps, they've got the legs sticking out, the arms are like this, and they're just like forcefully just shearing these sheep as quick as they can and the sheeps are silent. I mean what a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, that he would allow himself to lay down his life, to take on our sins, and he remained silent. He didn't willingly praise God for that and as we keep looking at these gates that are mentioned in Nehemiah chapter 3, you know, just to bring you back up to speed, don't forget Nehemiah has come into Jerusalem and is now proclaimed to the rest of the Jews that his mission, he's been permitted by the king of Persia to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. So chapter 3 they get busy working on that wall and of course the wall has numerous gates and the illustration we want to take out of this is the fact that we as Christians are constantly building our lives. We're constantly trying to be more Christ-like and there are certain things in our lives that we need to build in our lives and we need to have certain gates as well. Gates that we allow because what's the purpose of gate? A gate is to allow things to enter in. A gate is also allows for things to exit out and as Christians as we grow there are certain things that we need to allow to enter in and of course to be safe, to be a Christian, the very first thing that you need to enter in is that sheep, the lamb of God, which take away the sin of the world. The moment you've believed on Jesus, you've taken Jesus in. Jesus Christ says that he lives within our hearts and he gives us his holy ghost to dwell each believer. Yes that's step number one. It makes perfect sense that this would be the first gate that is mentioned. The fact that we need Jesus Christ to enter into our lives. Christ is the one who gave his life for us. You know many people teach you've got to give your life to Jesus to be saved. That's wrong. You don't give your life to Jesus to be saved. Jesus gave his life to us for our salvation. Let's keep going there verse number two. And next unto him builded the men of Jericho and next to them builded Zacor the son of Imrae. But the fish gate, now we have the next gate, the fish gates did the sons of Hasanah build who also laid the beams thereof and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof and the bars thereof. So what is the fish gate? What was that used for? It was where the fishermen would go out and fish and bring in their catch into the city. That was the purpose of the fish gate. The fishermen bringing in their catch into the city. And what should that be a picture of in our lives? Well if this is the gate that we need to set up, I'll just quickly read to you from Mark chapter one verse sixteen. Speaking of Jesus saying now as he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea for they were fishers. So I'm sure they used that fish gate. If they were fishers I'm sure they used it many times. Verse number seventeen. And Jesus said unto them come ye after me and I will make you to become fishers of men. And straightway they forsook their nets and followed him. See the other area that we need to build in our Christian life is that we would become fishers of men. But brethren Jesus Christ says come ye after me and I will make you become fishers of men. You see we need to follow in the steps of Jesus Christ. Christ came to save, seeking to save that which was lost. Jesus Christ set the example of the fishermen. The gospel preacher who led many to salvation through the story of the gospel, through what he came to do by dying on the cross and rising from the dead. And brethren if we are to build these areas in our life we must also make access to the fish gate. We must also be people that bring in the fish. Go out there as fishers of men preaching the gospel. That's an area of our life. If that part of your life is broken down you need to build that up. You need to build it up as well. Let's keep going there verse number four. And next unto them repaired Meromoth the son of Arijah the son of Kos. And next unto them repaired Meshalem the son of Berechai the son of Meshuzebel. And next unto them repaired Zadok the son of Banah. And next unto them the Tekoites repaired. And that's the next phrase here. So the Tekoites I believe, please forgive me if I've got this wrong, but I believe the Tekoites come from a city or a town called Teko. Something along the lines, along those lines. But then while they're working, while the Tekoites are repairing and working it says but they're nobles. Of course what's a noble someone of a high rank of a high social status, but their nobles put not their necks to the work of their lord. This is quite interesting. You know what's going to stop you from making changes in your life? What's going to stop you from saying hey these are areas of my life that are broken down and you know what I'm just going to leave them broken down. I'm not going to do it. You know what it's going to take for you to be lifted up. Lifted up in pride. See yourself as a noble. These people yeah they've got a high status. They probably have the cushy jobs. They're probably paper pushers. They're probably not very handy with their hands right. And the idea of just working and doing a blue collar job, building a wall, it's just beneath us. You know we'll send the rest of the guys in our town, but we're nobles you know. We're not just going to put our necks and the idea of the neck there is a yoke. A yoke being placed upon their neck where they would go and do the work and they just will refrain from doing that. You know Jesus Christ says in Matthew 11 29, take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and you shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. You know Jesus doesn't ask that much from us really brethren. He gives us time to make changes. He gives us time to build. But you know what if you say I'm perfectly fine. I don't need church. I don't need God to work in my life. I'm just fine the way I am. You're acting like a noble. Lift it up. It's just beneath me. I'm just perfectly fine. Then brethren your walls will remain broken. You would just remain this broken city, but no that's not what I want from you. You know I want you to look at your life. I want you to consider what we're going through here and identify are the areas that are broken down are the areas that I'm just not doing well and I need to get back into the work and rebuild this thing. So when you're lifted with pride you think there's nothing wrong, but everyone knows it's broken down walls. Everyone else knows. Okay it's just I'm noble. It's beneath me. You know it's beneath me. You know what am I going to get out of that? You know that is the attitude of the lifted up nobles. Let's keep going there verse number six. Moreover the old gates repaired Jehuda the son of Pasea and Meshilim the son of Besso the heir. They laid the beams thereof and set up the doors thereof and the locks thereof and the bars thereof. Now it's a little bit unknown why it's called the old gates. I mean I think I know why it's called the old gate. Okay but as far as from a very practical perspective I guess it just really is an old gate. Maybe it's one of the early gates of the city of Jerusalem, but I like the fact that it's called an old gate. Okay and I'm going to quickly read to you from Jeremiah chapter six. Now the reason I'm reading from Jeremiah chapter six is because the reason they've been taken into captivity and they're coming back and rebuilding is because God passed judgment. One of the greatest prophets that God used to pass judgment upon Israel to warn them about being taken into captivity by Babylon was of course the prophet Jeremiah and Jeremiah says these words in Jeremiah 6 16. He says thus saith the Lord stand ye in the ways and see and ask for the old paths. You see Israel had gone into a new path. God had given the old paths. This bible is an old bible. You know when it comes to our English translation we read from the King James bible 16 11. You know it's over 400 years old our English. Hey that's pretty old. I don't know anyone that's lives past. I don't know anyone that's lived past 100. Firstly this bible is older than anybody that's currently living on this earth. The English translation. But what about the original? What about the original Hebrew and the Greek? We're talking about thousands of years now aren't we? We're talking about it's an old book. It's old instructions and yet here we are in 2022 still preaching from the same old book because it's not just old. It's timeless. It was applicable when it was written. It's applicable today. It's going to be applicable tomorrow. It's going to be applicable for all eternity. The word of God. We must not forget the old paths. We must not forget the old ways and I'll keep going there where it says and ask for the old paths. Where is the good way and walk therein and ye shall find rest for your souls. In fact that's what Jesus Christ said. Remember when I read that earlier take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest unto your souls. You say Jesus Christ is part of that old way. Jesus Christ even though we call it the new testament it's been the plan from the very beginning. It's been the old plan from the very beginning that Christ would come and lay down his life and then as we receive his salvation as we grow in Christ afterward that we will walk in those old paths being led by the Lord Jesus Christ. The problem with Israel at this point in time in verse number 17. God continues in Jeremiah 6 17. Also I set watchmen over you saying hearken to the sound of the trumpets. The watchmen here are the speaking illustratively of the prophets of course coming and warning them you know the sound of the trumpet but they said we will not hearken. We will not hearken and so brethren it's my goal it's the goal of New Life Baptist Church to remain on the old paths and I don't just mean we just sing the old hymns and I don't just mean we read from the old King James Bible. The old paths we walk in the paths of God. We come to church to teach the Bible to know what God wants us to do to walk in his ways and when you do what is according to his word you are walking in those old paths you are walking in the good way. Brethren we need to we need to get back to that you know if we've drifted away you know if our if our ears have turned to you know preachers of a modern persuasion teachers that teach in the wisdom of man philosophers and psychologists people that teach you know the philosophies of man you know if that's what you're absorbing you need to get back on that old path you need to rebuild that old gate get back to the word of God get back to the basic truths and do them. Back to Nehemiah chapter 3 verse 7 and next unto them repaired Melatiah the Gibeonites and Jadon the Meronphite the men of Gibeon and of Mizpah and unto the throne of the governor on this side the river next unto him repaired Uzziel the son of Harahiah of the goldsmiths next unto him also repaired Hanani the son of one of the apothecaries and they fortified Jerusalem unto the broad wall and brethren that is what we're doing as we build in these areas of life we are fortifying Jerusalem we are fortifying our lives we are strengthening ourselves so we would not be so we would be unmovable that we would not be this easy target of the devil that we would not be discouraged when things don't go our way building is good but building can be a little challenging and yet Christ says my yoke is easy my burden is light because Jesus Christ is the one that's leading us he is the one that's giving us the strength he is the one that's coming alongside us and making those changes necessary in our life verse number nine and next unto them repaired Rephaniah the son of Hur the ruler of the half part of Jerusalem and next unto them repaired Jedahiah the son of Harumath even unto against his house and next unto him repaired Hattush the son of Hashab Nair, Malchaijah the son of Harim and Hashab the son of Pathoth Moab repaired the other piece and the tower of the furnaces now the next verse is interesting so far we read the names of men we read the names of men and sometimes their sons are being mentioned and sometimes you know we might get this idea that the work of God is a man's job and yes I guess when it comes to being a pastor you've got to be the husband of one wife a woman pastor is not the husband of one wife that's what the bible says is one of the qualifications but you know once again these churches are going the new way no we're going to keep by to the old paths okay and sometimes the ladies might feel and I've heard because I heard this said I've heard it you know it just doesn't seem like the bible is really targeting ladies but it is you know it definitely it definitely is and look at verse number 12 and next unto him repaired Shalom the son of Helohesh the ruler of the half part of Jerusalem he and his daughters amen it's even the daughters even the ladies got involved I'm assuming this man probably didn't have sons that's as well you know what there's a work to do all right this is something my girls can help out I don't know how much they helped but hey you know we I personally you know as you guys know have moved into our new house and I've been getting my boys to help me put things together furniture but there's my two little girls Liliana, Amelia and they want to help oh okay you can help them okay you know they're helping you know and praise God you know the ladies can help as well you know as I read this verse it brought to my remembrance a passage in the book of the new testament and it's about it's about Philip it's about Philip the evangelist or Philip the deacon before he was the evangelist and it says in acts 21 verse 8 and the next day we that were of Paul's company departed and came unto Caesarea and we entered into the house of Philip the evangelist which was one of the seven that's one of the seven original deacons and abode with him so man yeah Philip the evangelist is out preaching the gospel praise God for this man but then he says in verse number nine and the man had four daughters virgins praise God he's taught him how to keep themselves pure which did prophesy amen hey to prophesy is to proclaim the word of God that's what it is so as he's out there preaching the gospel the evangelist hey his daughter's out there as well maybe as a silent partner maybe they're knocking on the other side of the road I don't know what it was like back then in Caesarea okay but they're getting involved in the work of the soul winning so ladies yeah you might not be the pastor you're not going to be the pastor in this church if we're going to follow the old paths okay but hey the old paths also show us that you can be preachers you can be preachers of the gospel you can get involved in the work in fact there's a greater miracle preaching the gospel and seeing a soul saved that's a soul that goes to eternity in heaven for forever I mean that's that's the biggest miracle that you can possibly get out of preaching so don't think you know going and preaching the gospel is some lower level preaching work it's highly important okay I mean the results of that affects eternity verse number 13 at Nehemiah chapter 3 verse 13 the valley gate repaired Hanan and the inhabitants of Zenoa they built it and set up the doors thereof the locks thereof and the bars thereof and a thousand cubits on the wall unto the dung gate so brother is this my water so I've got two all right cool I'll use both pretty thirsty the next gate that's brought up here in verse number 13 is the valley gate the valley gate so it was known as the valley gate because if you walk through those gates it overlooked the valley of Hinam and the valley of Kidron or Caidron okay the valley of Hinam and the valley of Caidron what's that significant of well it's significant of this that as we keep building our Christian life as we keep understanding that you know God is doing our work you must also understand and I think a lot of you realize this now okay because you get this with experience but sometimes when you get saved you think you know what I'm just gonna go and I'm gonna be on the tops of the mountains I'm just gonna be rejoicing all the days of my life doesn't matter what happens but you know as much as I do that you're gonna find yourself in the valleys sometimes okay you're gonna have that valley and it's just you can't stop it please don't think that I can just live this Christian life and not have any valleys not have any trials not have any problems brethren they come okay so it's it's part of this building up of your life is understanding full well that hey I might be enjoying the presence of God right now I might be doing great as a Christian right now but tomorrow might be a very dark valley might be and here's the thing when it happens if you've prepared yourself if you build yourself up you're not surprised and you're not downcast you're not frustrated because you know this is just part of life and then you know hey it's great to be in the valley because now this gives me an opportunity to lean upon God more than ever this gives me an opportunity to know that God is doing something in my life and hey the only way from the valley is to go back to the mountain there's only one direction from there and it's going to get better okay and those are the things that you build up and you prepare yourself understanding that there will be valleys to come you know one of the most famous psalms psalms 23 verse 4 reads yay though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for thou art with me thy rod and thy staff they comfort me you know as I said I just conducted a funeral service on Tuesday and that definitely is a shadow of death it is a valley you know mourning for someone you love mourning for a mother you know praise God she was saved but you know even if someone is saved even though you know they're going to pass it's still it's still a shock isn't it it's still a loss you're still mourning but you don't have to mourn like others who have no hope if they're saved praise God for salvation but again when you find yourself in that valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil says the Psalmist for thou art with me and that's where the experience comes in sometimes as a Christian when you face those first valleys you feel like God must be so far away God must be so angry with me I don't even know where God is but he's always there okay it's usually just you that have walked away from the Lord it's you that have just forgotten the Lord and he's right there you call upon him you know ask God for help confess your problems confess your faults to him potentially your sins that may have led you into that valley and the Lord God is there to restore you to comfort you his rod and his staff they comfort me hey don't forget that rod is a rod of chastisement sometimes God will chastise you in that valley but they comfort me I mean it's great to know that God is doing some chat hey he's doing a work in my life praise God he's not just leaving me alone in a dark lonesome valley he's actually fixing something in my life he's correcting me praise God for the Lord's chastisement Nehemiah 3 verse 14 but the dung gate repaired Melchiah the son of Rechab the ruler of part of Bethlehem he built it and set up the doors thereof the locks thereof and the bars thereof so we have the dung gate you know this was probably the smelliest of all the gates okay and as I said many of the gates are for the purpose of bringing things in of course the purpose of this gate is to take out the trash okay this was the waste the rubbish the dung this was the waste gate as it were right to get rid of the filth that has been developing in the city and you know you guys know where I'm going with this we all have done in our lives we all have filth in us we all have iniquities we have sins in our life and as I preached just recently you know we should not just get comfortable you know you build yeah okay I'm a Christian I'm gonna keep sinning because I've got that sinful nature but hey I need to work on this I need to make improvements Lord there's this sin that I just keep battling with I can't Lord I need to find it I need to build the dung gate Lord maybe that's the problem you know I'm fighting this sin and I just can't have victory over it Lord well you know what the problem is the dung gate's broken down you need to build that dung gate and throw out the trash and say God give me victory of this sin help me just be able to get this out of my life you need to build that dung gate the bible says in hebrews 12 one we're foreseen we also can pass about with so great a cloud of witnesses let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us and let us run with patience the race they set before us we know we're running a race we know we've been given this race track by God that if we just run as hard as we can he's going to reward us at the return of the Lord Jesus Christ but brethren for you to run effectively you need to build a dung gate okay you need to lay aside every weight and the sin which doth ease so easily beset us you need to build that gate and get it out of your system will I ever get it all out of my system yes or no not in this life but you will get it out of your system eventually when this body perishes and God gives us that new resurrected body which can never sin praise God for that Nehemiah chapter 3 verse 15 but the gates of the fountain so now we have the next gate the gate of the fountain repaired shalom the son of kol kol hose kol hose the ruler of part of Mizpah he built it and covered it and set up the doors thereof the locks thereof and the bars thereof and the world of the pool of siloah by the king's garden and unto the stairs that go down from the city of David so it's quite clear what we've got a pool of siloah they mentioned we have this gate of the fountain okay so this gate is a place where clean water was accessible for washing and for irrigation okay for washing and irrigation and the fact that the pool of siloah is mentioned here it's not there for no reason you know we have a great story maybe you want to turn there actually keep your finger there let's go to John chapter 9 let's go to John chapter 9 verse number 1 John chapter 9 verse number 1 please so you have this pool of siloah mentioned in Nehemiah chapter 3 and in John chapter 9 verse number 1 Jesus Christ walks by this pool and it says in verse number 1 and as Jesus passed by he saw a man which was blind from his birth and his disciples asked him saying master who did sin this man or his parents that he was born blind Jesus answered neither have this man sinned nor his parents and we know we need to you know this is something we need to think about you know we have the people in this church have sicknesses you know people in this church have chronic illnesses could it be part of God's judgment it could be you know but it doesn't necessarily mean that okay there are different reasons why we fall with illnesses and and these things that beset our bodies and Jesus Christ says this man is blind but you know he's not blind because of his sin or his parents sin in fact he's been blinded it says but that the works of God should be made manifest in him he says look he's blind for God's glory he's blind so we can see a great work of God in his life verse number four I must work the works of him that sent me while it is day the night cometh when no man can work as long as I am in the world I am the light of the world of course this man being blind Jesus Christ is nay I'm the light he's in darkness right now but I am that light verse number six when he had thus spoken he spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay and said unto him go wash in the pool of Siloam which is by interpretation sense so that's what was mentioned there in the image of the three he went his way therefore and washed and came seen and came seen you know many of us are blinded you know we can take this application and apply to salvation of course we can okay but here's the thing I know most all most of you are saved okay and of course when somebody's not saved they're blinded and Christ is the light of the world he has to do a miracle in that person's life the moment they believe in Jesus Christ those blind faults have been removed but it's not just that you know there are many experiences and doctrines and learnings that we've absorbed and you know that there are certain assumptions that we have about the bible and we're blinded well one of the reasons we come to church is that we can learn from God's word that we can develop a greater deeper understanding there's certain doctrines that I'm sure we're a little bit blind which don't see very well you know and if you're struggling with certain doctrines especially doctrines that have been taught by this church I'm not saying necessarily by this pastor because I know that we stand when I look at the families in this church we stand at least a good 98 99 maybe 100 percent in agreement on just about every major issue of the bible okay but sometimes there are certain things that are just hard to digest and it may very well that you've been blinded well you need to build that wall that you need to build that gates the gate of the fountain you need to do a little bit of washing wash your eyes out wash out the philosophies of man you know wash out the teachings of the false prophets that you may have heard from before wash out the readings of the old corruptions of the English bible that you know you're familiar with the NIV you need to wash it out and start again and get back into God's word we need to build the gates of that fountain Nehemiah chapter 3 verse 16 and after him repaired Nehemiah the son of Asbak the ruler of the half part of Bephzah unto the place over against the sepulchres of David and to the pool that was made and unto the house of the mighty after him repaired the Levites uh Rehem the son of Banai Banai next unto him repaired Hashabiah the ruler of the half part of Kyla in his part after him repaired their brethren Bavai the son of Henedad the ruler of the half part of Kyla and the next and next to him repaired Ezer the son of Jeshua the ruler of Mizpah another peace over against the going up to the armory at the turn of the wall after him Baruch the son of Zabbi earnestly repaired the other piece from the turning of the wall unto the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest now verse number 21 is interesting after him repaired Merimoth the son of Urijah you say Merimoth the son of Urijah does that sound familiar well look at verse number four again look at verse number four again it says in verse number four and next unto them repaired Merimoth the son of Urijah so there is again Merimoth the son of Urijah what's he doing okay what he's doing a double shift he's doing double the work yeah i guess so okay he's doing and after he repaired Merimoth the son of Urijah the son of Khos another piece another piece right i guess he's finished the first part or he's doing two works two jobs at once i like that about him he gets he's not like oh just do my part and the rest because you know where else can i where else can i work this guy's excited this guy wants to do a lot of rebuilding he says another piece from the door of the house of Eliashib even to the end of the house of Eliashib what i like about that is Merimoth recognizes you know what yeah i can fix this one broken down area but there are other places that i need to work on and that may very well be you you might say hey pastor kevin you know yeah there is one gate that i need to work on praise god you might be saying right now actually there's two gates that i need to work on there might be four gates that i need to work on there might be ten gates that i know well whatever it is you know be like a Merimoth and get busy on all of them start building all of them you know get excited build up these areas of your life for the help of god verse number 22 and after him repaired the priests the men of the plane after him repaired Benjamin and Hasheb over against the house after him repaired Azariah the son of Maasiah the son of Adonai by his house after him repaired Binyui the son of Hernadad another piece from the house of Azariah until the turn of the wall even until the corner Palel the son of Uzai over against the turn of the wall and the tower which lieth out from the king's high house that there was by the court of the prison after him Pedahiah the son of Parosh now the you know i'm not going to say a lot of what we just read there but i'm preaching to a church of people men women children and i'm sure i have no doubt in my heart that even this pastor there are gates that we each one will identify and say we need to build that again we need to get busy it's broken down i need to get busy okay what i like about this list everyone's working everyone gets busy everyone finds a part they can work toward and brevin i i say this all the time when i preach when you hear me preach okay and that thought comes sister so-and-so needs to listen to that i need to send this sermon to brother so-and-so where is it today actually we should be at church i was saying the sermon no no no no okay you need to build your gates this is for you okay this is for you forget brother so-and-so he's already listening to whatever's happening and it's up to him it's between him and god it's between you and god we all need to get busy we all need to start building these broken down gates that we all of us even this past i have in our lives let's keep going there verse number 26 moreover the nethanim's dwelt in ophel unto the place over against the water gate toward the east so now we have the next gate the water gate toward the east and the tower that life out now there was the the gate of the fountain which was for irrigation things more of a general use the water gate is primarily water that was used in the temple okay because in the temple you know there were these ceremonial washings that needed to take place and you i'm sure you've all kind of familiar with some of that and so this is where that water would would be accessed through the water gates and again when we think about the temple and temple has at this point in time Nehemiah it has been built okay the temple's built there are houses that are built for the people that were living there but the city itself is still in ruins they're building the city that's what Nehemiah is all about and the temple again in the old testament was the house of god wasn't it the house of god in the new in the new testament is for you new life baptist church this is the house of god you know this house of god requires these waters you know these waters that get passed through the water gate so we can be cleansed you know one quick passage in ephesians 5 26 speaking about jesus christ and his love for the church the picture of a husband and wife jesus christ being that husband as it were that loves his wife in ephesians 5 26 it says that he speaking of jesus might sanctify and cleanse it that's cleanse the house of god cleanse the church with the washing of water by the word by the word this is the water this is the water gate brethren when we talk about building the water gate we need to get our eyes busy in god's word this is how we're washed in the new testament days this is what brings sanctification knowing what god's word says and doing it then it says in verse number 27 that he might present it to himself a glorious church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing but at that but that it should be holy and without blemish you see christ is cleansing this church with the washing of water by the word and brethren that's the whole point of coming to church once again to hear god's word to fix the spots and the wrinkles and the broken down gates that we each have okay but if you really want those walls built come in an hour to church for midweek service come in on sunday it's not enough it's not enough you need your own time to get into the word of god you need your own daily time i'd encourage you first thing in the morning open the bible even if it's just one chapter just open god's word start with the lord god what a great way to start your day listening to what god has to say what a great way to start taking in some of that water through the water gate to build up your life as you go through the rest of your day nehemiah chapter 3 verse 27 after them the tekawites tekawites again hey they're like uh the other guy they're like uh merrimath okay and after the tekawites repaired another piece they're also getting busy in multiple projects over against the great tower that life out even under the wall of opal and then verse number 28 from above the horse gate our next gate here the horse gate repaired the priests everyone over against his house what was the purpose of the horse gate well the horse gate would give access or it be near the horse stables i mean that makes sense right it'll be close to the horse stables which were the horses that would be used to ride out to war you know the city would ever be under attack and you needed a horseman to get on the horses you'd quickly go through that horse gate get onto your horse and go out to war and brethren the christian life is one of warfare there is a spiritual warfare to be had you know sometimes we get distracted by the wars that are happening in this world and i understand there are great concerns about that but please if you want to be built up you need to repair yourself and build up that horse gate you need to prepare yourself for the battle the bible says in second timothy 2 3 thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of jesus christ hey it's a battle it's a battle serving the lord is a battle and you know what our three great enemies is number one the devil you know the devil hates god's people the devil is the tempter he doesn't want you want you to have an effect in god's kingdom the next great uh enemy that we have is the world just the world just the wickedness the sinfulness in this world the the pressure that the world puts upon us to walk in the paths of the world rather than in paths of god but the one that really bothers me the most the third enemy is the flesh it's right here i deal with it every day and you need to remember you know oh the devil yeah maybe okay the devil he's not a he's not a good guy yeah i i agree but you know why it's mostly your flesh i mean the devil gets a hold of you because of the flesh because of the weakness of your flesh because of the weakness of your flesh this flesh is easily tempted you know by eyes by fuel by touch you know pride of life you know murmuring complaining you know my life i deserve more whatever it is it's all the flesh you know it's a great enemy it's always there that's a problem the devil can only be in one place at a time i mean i know he's got other devils and i know he's got his own kingdom but boy you know i wake up next to that flesh in fact i wake up in that flesh every single day of my life there's a great battle to be had and if your flesh is winning then you need to get busy building up the horse gate get ready for the battle as i was reading to you second timothy two three thou therefore endure a hardness as a good soldier of jesus christ no man that warth entangling himself with the affairs of this life that he may please him who have chosen him to be a soldier the lord jesus christ has chosen you to be a soldier how can you be a soldier and not have access to the horse gates you need to have access to it you need to build it up you need to get ready for the battle train your hand the sword of the spirit the armor of god get yourself ready build that horse gate if you find yourself losing the battle against the devil the world and the flesh verse number 29 after them repaired zadok the son of immer against his house after him repaired also shemaiah the son of shekiniah the keeper of the east gates the keeper of the east gate what is the east gate well it's a gate that's located on the east side of jerusalem that's what it is okay so if you're traveling from the mount of olives you'd be and you're entering into the um into jerusalem you would be entering through the east gate now if you don't already know on the final week the passion week of jesus christ when he was led to be you know arrested in jerusalem you know it was meant at the at the mounts and uh obviously brought into jerusalem well that final week every single day of that week jesus christ would come into jerusalem and teach in the temple and when he was done he would go to the mount of olives to rest that was his that was every day that was his his thing he'd every day into the temple teaching confronting the pharisees and the and the high priest etc then when he'd go to retire he'd go i i believe through the east gate because that would be the most obvious gate to go through to the mount of olives and there and then we get stories like the oliver discourse map 24 things like that that he also did some teaching there as well okay so it's a gate that christ i mean it's it's not laid out word for word black and white and scriptures for us but it makes logical sense that that would have been the gate that jesus christ would have used now can you please keep your finger there and turn to ezekiel 44 turn to ezekiel 44 please verse number one ezekiel 44 verse number one because this east gate is mostly mentioned in the book of ezekiel ezekiel 44 verse 1 the bible reads ezekiel 44 verse 1 then he brought me back the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary which looketh toward the east so that's the east gate and it was shut verse number two then said the lord unto me this gate shall be shut it shall not be opened and no man shall enter in by it because the lord the god of israel have entered in by it therefore it shall be shut so this is where we get probably the closest confirmation that the east gate is one that jesus christ had walked through and now it's shut speaking prophetically from the book of ezekiel okay verse number three it is for the prince the prince he shall sit in it to eat bread before the lord he shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate and shall go out by the way of the same this is a gate that's been used by jesus christ i think it's quite interesting and um you know and please forgive me if i'm wrong about this but but i've heard this from multiple sources and it might just be tradition i don't know but apparently today in jerusalem that east gate is right is there and it's shut and it's locked and no one uses it okay i mean if it's true it shouldn't surprise us because so it was spoken prophetically of jesus christ and i personally believe that when christ comes back and he goes into jerusalem that he's going to go for the east gate again because even though it's shut it says in verse number three it is for the prince speaking about jesus christ the prince he shall eat in it sit in it to eat bread before the lord he shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate and shall go out by the way of the same don't forget the lord jesus christ has his lord the lord god and so it's a gate that belongs to jesus christ and so this east gate you know i might be i might be i might be pushing this a little bit but i would say the east gate represents the coming of christ that one day he's going to return and when he comes back he's coming to rule and reign from jerusalem he's going to restore all things and i'm looking forward to that and i think if there's a part of you that is not so much looking forward to the coming of christ then this is the gate that you need to build build the east gates get excited that christ is coming back christ walked through that gate in his first coming he's going to do so again in his second coming be excited you know expect the coming of christ you know expect it is going to come i do i expect because the bible says he will and then we're going to have the kingdom of christ upon this earth for a thousand years praise god for that verse number 30 nehemiah 3 verse number 30 after him repaired hananiah the son of shalemiah and hainan the sixth son of zalaph another peace after him repaired meshon the son of barakiah over against his chamber after him repaired malchiah the goldsmith's son unto the place of the nephronyms and of the merchants over against the gates mythcad and to the going up of the corner so we have the final gate here the gate mythcad that myth that word mythcad is a hebrew word and the definition of that word is associated with judgment it's associated with judgment and the next gate that we need to build up is understanding that even though we are saved even though nothing will change our eternal destination we are going to be in heaven with the lord god you need to remember this this shocked me the first time i learned it that one day i'm going to stand before the judgment seat of christ is he going to judge you whether you're good enough to go to heaven of course not no one is good enough for heaven you know salvation is by placing your faith and trust in jesus we enter heaven through the righteousness of jesus christ but then we have the judgment seat of christ in fact let's turn there romans chapter 14 romans chapter 14 and verse number 10 romans 14 verse number 10 romans 14 verse number 10 you see the unsaved will stand before god in judgment as well and when their names are not found in the book of life they're going to be cast into everlasting fire that is not the judgment that we stand before god but there's a judgment coming each one of us are going to stand before jesus christ and be judged are you ready for that the bible says in romans 14 10 but why dost thou judge thy brother or why dost thou set at naught thy brother for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of christ each one of us individually stand before jesus are you ready for that kind of puts a little bit of fear in my heart to be honest okay verse number 11 for as for it is written as i live say for lord every knee shall bow to me and every tongue shall confess to god so then every one of us shall give account of himself to god are you ready for that say what am i going to say to jesus what is this about is he going to ask me about my sins no no he's not going to ask you about your sins praise god your sins have been nailed to the cross you know as far as the east is from the west that's how far sin is you know sin has forgive god has forgiven our sins he's forgotten our sins jesus christ is the one that took it no we're given account for what we've done for the lord jesus christ what have you done for the lord say pastor kevin i don't think i've done too much then you've got to get ready for that judgment build that gate up remind yourself i'm going to give an account one day i can't be hired behind mum and dad i can't hide behind pastor kevin support i can't hide behind new life baptist church or name whatever you want i have to personally give an account to god for what i've done he's given me salvation what have i done he's given me the holy spirit what have i done he's given me new life baptist church what have i done he's given me the gospel what have i done with that he's given me the bible what have i done with that have i done anything for the lord are you ready for that remind yourself remind yourself i'm going to stand before christ one day what am i going to say and i don't know about you brethren i want christ to say thou good and faithful servant but we've got to give a decent account you know tell jesus christ what we've done for him what have we done for his name and if you feel like man i've done not much for the lord then you need to build that gate that gate reminding yourself i'm going to stand before jesus christ one day okay nehemiah chapter 3 verse 32 on the last verse here and between the going up of the corner unto the sheep gate repaired the goldsmiths and the merchants so the whole circumference of the city we started the sheep gate we end back at the sheep gate the whole the work the whole construction of the walls are being built and i i love the fact that the sheep gate is mentioned once again because we said i said at the beginning that of course to be saved the very first gate you need is jesus christ right you need the lamb of god which taketh away the sin of the world but the fact that it finishes back at the sheep gate you know reminds me of the words of jesus i am alpha and omega the beginning and the end you know it's all about jesus christ isn't it salvation yeah we start with christ but brevin our whole life is about christ whether you live whether you die you do so unto christ it's all about christ the bible says in hebrews 12 2 looking unto jesus the author and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising the shame and he sat down at the right hand of the throne of god and so as we approach ista the fact that he's endured the cross he's the finisher of our faith we can't escape the lord jesus christ you know living the christian life is not okay we start with jesus now it's all about me no it's jesus all the way even till the end we need to set our eyes upon jesus christ he's the author he's the finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross you know what jesus christ was so joyful to know that god's plan would be that he would come and die for you that he would be crucified he was so joyful about that yet it says he endured the cross despising the shame it wasn't easy for jesus christ it wasn't easy for him but he said you know what i'm going to rejoice because this is the plan of salvation and he is our author he is our finisher of our faith okay brethren let's go to word of prayer