Open Doors Part 3

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

Luke 4 · chapter mention

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

Psalms 84:6

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

John 7:37–39

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

Nehemiah 8:1–3

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

Revelation 19:11

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

Judges 3:1

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 3:1

judges 3 verse 1 and 2

Judges 3:1

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

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

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

Revelation 21:5

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

keep this door open

keep this door open

next gate was called the inspection gate

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

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

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

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

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?

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

Revelation 21:9

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

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