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Alright guys, keep your Bibles open there in Nehemiah, if you've left it open there in Nehemiah chapter 3. Now that was a challenging chapter for Nicholas to read through, but I really appreciate a lot of hard names. But just if you can go back to Nehemiah chapter 1 just very quickly, Nehemiah chapter 1, and let's just get a bit of context of this book. It says here in verse number 3, it says, And they said unto me, the remnants that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem also is broken down and the gates thereof are burned with fire. And it came to pass when I heard these words that I sat down and wept and mourned certain days and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. So the context here is when the southern kingdom was taken into captivity by the Babylonians, the city was destroyed, the temple was destroyed, it was all burnt down, and Nehemiah's just remembering the fact that the walls have been broken down, the gates of the wall have been put on fire, they've been burnt up, and so he begins to weep. And as we were looking at Nehemiah chapter 3, I don't know if you picked up on it with all the challenging words in there, challenging names, but there were 10 gates that were named about Jerusalem at this point in time. So Nehemiah was instructed to go and rebuild the walls and of course when you're rebuilding the walls, you're also rebuilding the gates that are part of those walls. Now when we think about a wall around a city, the purpose for the wall around these old time cities was for protection, to protect them from conquering armies, from coming in, they'd have this wall protecting them from them. But also if you were to just remain within the walls, you never left the walls, then your city will perish as well. Because outside of the walls they had their fields of agriculture, they had their farming, they had their sheep, so you had to have access to get out of the wall and that's where the gates come in. So if you were under siege by a nation, a surrounding army, and if you just decided not to fight, you decided well I'm just going to stay within the walls, you will eventually perish. You will eventually run out of water, you will eventually run out of food, and that's the situation there. And so not only are walls important, and we should have walls in our Christian life, we should protect us from evil, we should set up a defense against the devil, but we also need to understand that our Christian life is not just about having a wall, but it's about having the gates in place because we need to be able to allow things to come into our lives and also for certain things to come out of our lives. And so what we saw here in Nehemiah 3 were ten gates that were specifically named. So the title for the sermon today is The Ten Gates of Jerusalem. Ten Gates of Jerusalem. That's not to be confused with New Jerusalem. When we see New Jerusalem descend from heaven, what do we see? Twelve gates, remember those twelve gates that are named, and each of those gates were named after the tribes of Israel. Now we're talking about earthly Jerusalem here. We're talking about the ten gates that are mentioned here in Jeremiah 3. As I said, the title is Ten Gates of Jerusalem. In order for us to have a fulfilled and functioning, productive Christian life, not only, like I said, must we be defended, but all ten gates of our Christian life must be open. They must be productive. They must be working in order for us to build up our Christian life. Just like Nehemiah went to rebuild those walls, rebuild those gates, wait, we need to make sure that we've got our walls in place. We need to make sure that the gates are in place to allow us to be efficient in our Christian walk. Now look at Nehemiah chapter 3, verse number 1. Nehemiah chapter 3, verse number 1. Now even though there are ten gates mentioned, in this sermon I'm only going to go through the first five gates. And then Lord willing, on Sunday, I'll complete this, part two, and we'll go through the next five gates. But look at Nehemiah chapter 3, verse number 1. It says, Then Eliashib, the high priest, rose up with his brethren, the priests, and they builded the sheep gate. They sanctified it and set up the doors of it, even unto the tower of Mia they sanctified it unto the tower of Hananiol. So notice this first gate that's mentioned, what's it called? The sheep gate. The sheep gate. You see in times of Israel, in the Old Testament times, they would have the walls, they would have these gates. And when they would bring in sheep and goats, especially for the sacrifice, you know, being brought into the temple, those sheep would be brought in through this special gate. And this gate is known as the sheep gate. It's where the sheep and goats would be led through for Old Testament temple sacrifice. The sheep gate. Now, like I said, we want to make sure that these gates play a part in our life, in our Christian life. And so I want to take this and apply it to a lesson for us today. Understand? We're going to be doing that for every gate there is. And of course the first thought there in our life, if we are going to bring in the sheep, hey, who is the most important sheep that we must have in our lives? You know, John said about Jesus in John chapter 1 verse 29, it says, Hey, when we talk about sheep in the Bible and we apply it to people, the most important sheep that you must have is Jesus Christ. You must allow him into your life. The Bible speaks of Christ in your hearts. When you are saved, when you believe in Christ, he comes and he resides in you. He makes a home in you. He sends the Holy Ghost and he indwells you in the Holy Ghost. But what we have here is Christ, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world, just like those sheep will be brought in through the sheep gate to be slaughtered, to be sacrificed. Christ did that for you, of course, on the cross of Calvary. He came and he died. So that is one sheep you must definitely have in your life. But what's amazing about Jesus Christ is he's not only the sheep, he's not only the Lamb, but he's the shepherd. And the Bible says in John chapter 10 verse 11, Jesus says, So just like the sheep is being brought to the slaughter, the shepherd also lays down his life for the sheep. What does that mean? That means that we are the sheep. We are the sheep of Jesus Christ. He is our shepherd. You know, I am the church pastor and pastor just means shepherd. You know, I am an under shepherd. But the good shepherd, the chief shepherd, the great shepherd is Jesus Christ. Okay? So not only is he the Lamb, but he's also the shepherd. And because he's the shepherd, then we are his sheep. You know, we are to listen to the Lord Jesus Christ. We are to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. We are to appreciate the fact that the shepherd would lay down his life for us. You know, in Isaiah 53 verse 7, this is a prophecy of Jesus Christ and his sacrifice. It says, When the Bible says here, as a sheep before his shearers is dumb, that is someone that is unable to speak. And of course, you know the story when Christ was brought before Pilate. He would not defend himself. He would not open his mouth. He would not protect himself from the false accusations coming his way. He would not save himself from the death that would come. He came as a dumb sheep. He came as one that opened not his mouth. And I don't know, some of you kids may remember, we went to the farm down in Sydney. What was it called? Fairfield City Farm, I think it was called that. And we saw, you know, one of the sheep being shorn, if you remember that. And, you know, the sheep did not make a peep, did not make a single noise. And you know what? I've seen some YouTube videos of shearers beating the sheep, like just punching them straight in the face, you know. And that's disgusting. That's wrong behavior. You shouldn't be treating the animals like that, just beating them for no reason whatsoever. But even when the sheep were being beaten in their face, they would not speak up. And that's exactly what happened to Jesus Christ. He came to be sacrificed, hey, but he was beaten. Okay, he was whipped. They put a crown of thorns on his head. They ripped off his beat. Hey, they beat him leading up to the sacrifice on the cross. And that's what the sheep represents. We must have Jesus Christ, that sacrifice in our lives. So yes, the sheep gate represents the fact that we must have Jesus enter into our lives. But as I said, Jesus Christ is also the great shepherd. All right. And just like in Isaiah 53 verse seven, if we just backtrack one verse, it says in verse number six, All we, like sheep, have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way, And the Lord have laid on him the iniquity of us all. So all our sins, all our iniquities have been put on Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us that all we, like sheep, have gone astray. All right. So without the shepherd, we are like sheep in the wilderness. You know, without Jesus, we will be destroyed. We won't have protection. We won't have those fields where we will be safe in the arms of the shepherd. And that is your state before you got saved. Before you got saved, you were like sheep just wandering in the wilderness. You know, just waiting to be destroyed. The Bible says no, actually Jesus Christ has come to bring us together. In John chapter 10, actually keep your finger near my eye and go to John chapter 10 for me please. Go to John chapter 10. Just to get you to turn to another passage there. John chapter 10 please, verse number 24. John chapter 10 and verse 24. And I want you to see this because like the Bible said, we're all like sheep that have gone astray. We've gone living after our own ways. We've gone trying to figure out how we are to be saved, how we are to go to heaven, whether it's by works or some false religion. And Christ has come to bring us to the right place. But in John chapter 10 verse 24, it says, Then came the Jews round about him and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be of the Christ, tell us plainly. Now look, they're saying, some of these Jews are saying, look, if you are Christ, if you're the Messiah, just tell us. Making it seem like if you just told us, we would believe. But this is John chapter 10. Christ has already been on the scene. He's been preaching the gospel. He's been healing the sick. He's been raising the dead. He's been doing amazing miracles. And they still did not believe on him. Look how Jesus responds in verse number 25. Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believe not, the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. Jesus says, look, I already told you I'm the Messiah. I already told you I'm the Christ. Look at the works that I've done. These are the works of the Father. They bear witness of me. My works, these miracles prove that I am the Christ. Okay, so these Jews were thick-headed, in other words. It's not like Jesus was trying to hide something from them. He has already revealed to them who he is. They should have already believed on Jesus Christ. Hey, but they weren't saved. And look at verse number 26. But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you, my sheep, hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. Let's just finish it off here, verse number 28. And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. You know what this proves? This proves that those that followed after Christ, when Christ came on the scene, for example, and the disciples left their full-time jobs, they came and followed after Christ, these men were already saved. They were already of Christ's sheepfold. Because, of course, you could have been saved under the Old Testament. Salvation was no different. It was by grace, through faith, on Christ. No difference. And so when Christ comes on the scene, and he starts performing his miracles, those that were saved already believed. They were already saved. So when Christ comes, they were, Here he is! Here's the Lamb of God! Here's the Messiah! And they followed after Christ. The reason these Jews did not recognise Christ as Saviour is because they weren't saved. They were not saved under the Old Covenant. They weren't saved. So when Christ comes walking, they don't recognise him as the Messiah. They don't recognise him as the shepherd. And Christ says, No, those that are mine will hear my voice. As soon as Christ came, if you were saved before you even came across Christ walking in that time, as soon as you saw him, you said, This is the Messiah! You would have heard the voice of Jesus, and you would have said, Hey, I want to know what he's teaching. I want to be able to follow after him. Because you're already saved. This is not teaching that you have to follow Jesus to be saved. These people were already saved. They were already the sheep of the shepherd. And when they heard the voice of the Master, they followed. When they heard the voice of the shepherd, they followed. And of course, the verse number 28, So those that are saved, give unto them eternal life. Salvation can never be lost. They shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. What a great thing to have Jesus Christ as your lamb, as your sacrificial lamb, but also to have Jesus Christ as your shepherd. He who leads us in Psalm 23 verse 1, very famous Psalm, it says, The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. What does King David say? He says the Lord is my shepherd. You see, if King David was alive, when Jesus Christ started to walk and perform his ministry, well, as soon as David heard the voice of Jesus Christ, he was already saved. He says the Lord's already my shepherd. He would have just gone, that's him. And he would have just followed after Jesus Christ. Okay? And so, not only that, it says, He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. Okay? So the only place you can have peace, the only place you can have satisfaction and contentment in your life, is to lay down in the green pastures that the shepherd wants you to lay down. Just like a shepherd leads his sheep to green pastures, so he can feed, so he can rest, so too does Jesus Christ. You know, the commandments of God are here so we can rest easy. The commandments are here not to make our life hard. The commandments are here in order for us to be able to enjoy life, to be able to appreciate life, to have a satisfied life, to be protected from evil. And it says, He leadeth me beside the still waters. Okay? So where the Lord will lead you will satisfy the thirsty soul. Right? So we spoke about the sheep gate, you know, representing Jesus Christ, but also representing us as the sheep of the shepherd. But also, you must understand that there are still those that are still yet to be saved, or even believers that are not part of our local congregation, believers that we're not really aware of or we don't know very well. And if you can go to John chapter, you're in John aren't you? So please go to John chapter 10, actually, same chapter, drop down to verse number 14. John chapter 10 verse number 14. The sheep gate also represents other, other believers. Other believers of other churches or other believers that do not attend church. And the Bible says in John chapter 10 verse 14, again, Jesus says, I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine, as the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. There it is again, the sacrifice of Christ. Verse number 16. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold, them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. And of course, the immediate context of this in the days of Israel was Jesus Christ is not speaking of the Jews alone. He's saying, look, yes, he's come for the Jews. Yes, he came as the king of the Jews. But he says, I have other sheep that are not of this fold. What he's saying is, I have other sheep of other nations, of other countries, the Gentiles, yes, the Samaritans, yes, there are others that will believe on me. And those other Christians, we all make up one fold. Hey, you're not better than some other Christian in the eyes of God. Why? Because we all have the same righteousness. We are all saved from our sins. We've all been cleansed. And when God the Father looks down at us, he sees the Son. He sees the shepherd. He doesn't see the wandering sheep anymore. No, he sees the sheep in green pastures being led by the Good Shepherd. You are no better than any other Christian. Hey, you may have better works in your life. You may serve God better. But your standard before God the Father is no different. You are no better. Hey, we are all of one fold. And the thought that I get there is that Jesus Christ had a heart for other believers. He had a heart for other sheep. And we too must have a heart for other believers. Not just the believers that make up New Life Baptist Church, but believers that make up, yes, Blessed Hope Baptist Church, believers that make up other good churches here in Australia, throughout the world, but even believers that are without a church, saints that are without a church. And we need to look for those opportunities to bring them in together as one fold. Hey, try to find how you can be a blessing to others that are not part of this fold as far as New Life Baptist Church is concerned. Please, if you go back to Nehemiah, go back to Nehemiah chapter 3. Nehemiah chapter 3 and verse number 3. Nehemiah chapter 3 and verse number 3. We're up to the second gate now. It says here, But the fish gate did the sons of Hasaniah build, who also laid the beams thereof, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof. The fish gate. What do you think the fish gate is? Well, if the sheep gate was to bring in sheep, what was the fish gate for, you reckon? Anyone want to answer? To bring in some fish, all right. So, obviously there were fishermen going out, you know, getting their catch for the day, and there was a specific gate that they would come through to the markets, right, to be able to sell their sheep where they would bring their catch. And so we have the fish gate, okay. So we talked about the need for Christ as a sheep and also for us to be sheep of the shepherd, but another important gate that we need in our Christian life is the fish gate, okay. And in Mark chapter 1 verse 16, I'll just read it, it says, And now as he walked, that's Jesus, by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers. 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. I love that. And straightway they forsook their nets and followed him. You know what that means? That means if you're saved, you can straightaway be a fisher of men. You can straightaway go and preach the gospel. And of course that's the, you know, the illustration that's being taught us here is that just like these fishers were out there fishing, well so too will believers be fishers of men. So too will believers be people that preach the gospel to an unsaved world. In order for us to be well grounded, to be defended with the walls of our Christian life, we must have a gate that allows us to go out and preach the gospel. You know, don't be a Christian that's just satisfied with the believers you know, just satisfied with the church that you know. Hey, we need to be Christians that desire to go fishing. And just like fishing requires work, it takes a lot of time, it requires patience, well so is soul winning. So is a need to preach the gospel to the lost. And you know what, the main ministry that we have at New Life Baptist Church, when it comes to preaching the gospel, it's our door to door evangelism program isn't it? Door to door, going to our neighbourhood, going to our community, knocking those doors, preaching the gospel. That's the number one way our church has been preaching the gospel. But it's a sad thing because the coronavirus, these restrictions that have been put in place, you know officially our church is not doing this at the moment, officially. Now unofficially there are some still doing it, praise God for those. You know, more power to them right? But that isn't the only way, if you can keep your finger there in Luke chapter 3, go to, sorry Nehemiah chapter 3, please go to Luke chapter 5 now, please go to Luke chapter 5. Just keep your finger in Nehemiah 3 because we are going to keep coming back to Nehemiah 3. But go to Luke chapter 5. So what I'm saying is to be a well defended, well protected Christian, soul winning, fishing for souls must be a priority in our lives. It must be the first and main ministry of our local church. You know I'm in favour of having other ministries in our church, and having people involved in other ministries, alright. But we cannot neglect the ministry of fishing for souls. That is number one, alright. If anyone wants to be a teacher, come up behind the pulpit and preach a sermon, I love it for people to do that, but I only want those that are actually fishing for men to actually stand behind the pulpit, preaching to the church. If you cannot preach the gospel to the lost, then what use are you to be able to preach the gospel to a local church, or sorry the Bible to a local church, okay. This is an important part of our Christian life. Now Luke chapter 5 verse 4. Luke chapter 5 verse number 4. This is an interesting story, I've heard this preached in different ways, but in light of the coronavirus, in light of the fact that we cannot have our official soul winning sessions at this point in time, I want to look at this story and look at it in another way. Luke chapter 5 verse number 4. Okay, so he's telling Simon Peter, hey, because he's a fisherman, hey, let down your nets. Now does it say let down your net, or let down your nets, plural. Nets, right, you can see that, let down your nets. How many nets did Jesus want Simon Peter to use? All of them, okay, all of your nets. And look at verse number 5. I will let down the nets? What's it say there? Nets, do you see that guys? Singular nets, yeah, singular net. So Jesus says look, let down your nets, let down all your nets. Simon Peter says well we've not caught anything at all, but you know, I'll let down one net. Okay, let down one net. What happens? Verse number 6. And when they had this done, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes and their nets break. Alright, so look, he's been all night, he's been fishing, he's caught nothing. Jesus says well go and fish over there, go fish on the other side instead. And he says let down all your nets. And Simon Peter said well he didn't have faith in the Lord. He didn't think he was going to catch anything, right. Sort of hesitantly, he lets down one net. So much so that yes, all of a sudden there's a great multitude of fishes and the nets break. So even though they caught all those fish, when they tried to pull in all those fish, it broke and all the fish were, you know, let out back into the ocean. And so if you go through the story, they needed help from the others to let down their nets and catch all the fish that were available there. What I'm saying to you Brevin is this. Even though we cannot right now officially be doing our door-to-door soul winning as a church, that is only one net. That is only one way for us to be able to preach the gospel. You have many nets. We have many nets. We have many ways that we can give the gospel to people. We have our workplaces. We have unsaved people that we know at work, okay. We have unsaved people in our families. We have unsaved people that we come across every day of our lives as you go about life. There's always a net that you can let down. There's always an opportunity. What I'm saying to you, just because right now one net is broken, it's time to let down the other nets. There's other ways to preach the Bible. Hey, I know there are some people that are just going through a phone book just ringing up random numbers and trying to give people the gospel that way, okay. There's always a way. Just like yesterday I spoke to somebody on the phone giving them the gospel. There are other ways to let down the nets. And praise God, there are still people winning souls today. There are still souls being saved by members of New Life Baptist Church. There are still souls that are being saved by members of Blessed Hope Baptist Church. You know, it's just time to open up your eyes and realize what other nets, what other opportunities you have. Yes, right now this net is broken, okay, our official door to the ministry of our local church. Yes, it's broken. But hey, they were still able to catch a multitude of fishes because eventually they let down the other nets. They had others from the other ship come and help out with their nets as well. So this is an important part of our Christian life. The sheep gate, yes, the fish gate. We must have these gates open. They must be functioning in order for us to be productive and efficient Christians. Back to Nehemiah chapter 3, Nehemiah chapter 3 verse number 6. Nehemiah chapter 3 and verse number 6. It says here, moreover, the old gate repaired Jehoiada, the son of Pasea, and Meshulam, the son of Besodia. They laid the beams thereof, and set up the doors thereof, and the locks thereof, and the bars thereof. So what's this gate called? The old gate, the old gate, alright. So this old gate, what was its purpose? A little bit unknown. It's not really known. It's just called an old gate. What I think this is though, it may have been one of the very first gates of the city. Because the city of Jerusalem is quite an old city. It was even a city before the Israelites had it as their own city. And so what I believe this is, it's one of those very first, one of the original gates, one of the old gates of the city of Jerusalem. That's what I think it's referring to. Now if you can, please keep your finger in Nehemiah and go to Deuteronomy chapter 32. Go to Deuteronomy chapter 32 for me. And while you're turning there, I'm going to read to you from Jeremiah 6. You go to Deuteronomy 32. I'm going to read to you from Jeremiah chapter 6. Verse number 16. Jeremiah 6, 16. The Bible reads, Thus saith the Lord, stand ye in the ways and see. Now notice the next phrase. And ask for the old paths. Ask for the old paths. Where is the good way? And walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein. Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet, but they said, We will not hearken. Therefore hear ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is among them. Hear, O earth! Behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it. Now I've got a lot of my children here in this service here. And listen, you're going to grow up and you're going to have some brand new ideas for the church. I promise it's going to happen. It's happened to me. It's going to happen to you. And you're going to say, boy, look at the Hillsong. You know, look at the Pentecostal churches out there. Look at their bands. Look at their rock music. Look at their lights, their purple lights. And look at the preacher's skinny jeans. Look, hey, he took off his tie as well. Hey, he's just got a ripped shirt on. Hey, it looks pretty trendy right now, right, that guy? And look at the numbers. They've got hundreds, yea, thousands of people in those churches. And you're going to say, well, maybe God is blessing the new way. Maybe God is blessing the new way to do church. Maybe God is blessing the new way to be a Christian. You're going to be tempted. I'm telling you, it happens. Every generation thinks that the old ways are bad. Now, there's a reason why we keep our church very simple. A pulpit, a Bible, preaching the old hymns is because we're seeking the old ways. Why? Because God says that in the old ways, it says, where is the good way and walk therein and ye shall find rest for your souls. Listen, the only way to do church, the only way to live as a Christian, is to walk in those old ways, to walk in that old path, Reverend, to walk in the paths of your Christian forefathers, to walk in the paths of the great men that you read about in the Bible, the way they preached, the way they won souls, the things that they had to learn from their mistakes. Learn from their mistakes. Don't go and make some new mistakes. Learn from the old mistakes of the Israelites, and so you don't have to make the same mistakes. You know, you can be a consistent Christian who's productive, who's efficient, who doesn't have to go through pain of your silly mistakes and sins that you may perform because you're seeking a new path. You know, God is saying, walk in the old ways, but as it said there in verse number 16, but they said, and I'm thinking of the Charismatics and even Baptists that are going that way, we will not walk therein. They're not going to walk in the paths that God laid out. So what did he say? He says in verse number 19, Hear, O earth, behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it. You know what this new way leads? A rejection of God's laws. To know what God says in the Bible says, well, I'm not going to walk in that way, God, because this new way seems to be working. This new way seems to be bringing in the profit, the money, the finances, the friends, the popularity, but God says the new way will destroy you. It'll bring you destruction. God will bring evil upon you if you seek to live some other way outside of what God has dictated for us in his word. You're in Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy chapter 32. Deuteronomy chapter 32, verse number 7. Deuteronomy chapter 32, verse number 7. Look at this. Remember the days of old. Consider the years of many generations. Ask thy father, and he will show thee, thy elders, and they will tell thee. Hey, you know, we desire to do great things for God. We desire to have new achievements for God, right? But at the same time as we move forward as a church, as we do more work for God, we can't forget the past. We can't just ignore that. We must remember the days of old, as it said in verse number 7. Remember the days of old. Why? Because look at verse number 8. When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel, for the Lord's portion is his people, Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. You know what this is saying? That we can't just be preachers of the New Testament. We can't just be preachers of what is nice and lovely and what feels good. We must be preachers of the old ways. We must be preachers of the old stories. We must go back and, yes, rehash some of these negative things, and so we can learn from that. As we move forward for the Lord, we must not forget the old. Look at verse number 10. It says, He found him, speaking of Jacob, speaking of Israel, and don't forget, you are a Jew inwardly. Don't forget, you are the Israel of God. And so it says here, He found him in a desert place, and in the waste hell in wilderness, he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. Why is it so important? Because there was in the past, before you were saved, you were just wandering the wilderness. You had no direction. You didn't know what God wanted for you. You didn't know how to be saved, and the Lord came through. He sent you a missionary. He sent you someone that preached the Bible, whether it's someone that came to your door, whether it's someone in your family, one of your friends, somehow, maybe on the internet, someone was sent by God so you can become the apple of his eye, and I covered the apple of his eye not long ago. Look at verse number 11. As an eagle stirs up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, bareth them on her wings, so the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no strange God with him. What's this about? This is when God would deliver the Israelites out of Egypt, right? He would come, and he would lead them out of that, and that there was no strange God with him. Hey, listen, you may have come out of a false religion. Yes, even a false Christian religion, and when the Lord delivered you, he delivered you from false gods, right? We must remember the old way. We must remember what you were before you were saved. You must remember the fact that you were on your way to hell. You had no direction, but God's come through for you, and God's led you. You know what's going to happen in your Christian life? You're going to be going through life at some point, and you're going to forget the joy, the love of being saved, the fact that you now have the word of God. You have direction. You have a good church. It's all going to become mundane to you at certain parts of your life, and when it becomes dry and mundane and boring and you're kind of losing the love, you must just go back and remember the past, remember where you've come from. This is the instruction that Israel has been receiving. Hey, don't forget where you come from. Don't forget the wilderness that you walked through. Don't forget the strange gods in Egypt. Hey, now you have the one true God that is leading you. Verse number 13. So we know that Israel would be led to the Promised Land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and you know what? If you just continue down the path in your Christian life, you're going to find that Promised Land. You're going to find contentment, joy, and God will give you all the things that you need. He's going to provide your every need, and you're going to be so blessed on the land, and again, God has blessed you. God has answered your prayers. God has helped you in life. Don't forget the past. As you make your way working for the Lord for the future, don't forget where you come from. Don't forget how God has delivered you, has helped you in your path. This is so important for you to remember. Back to Nehemiah chapter 3. Nehemiah chapter 3 verse 13. Nehemiah chapter 3 verse 13 reads, So the dung gate is mentioned there, but before that, at the very beginning, the valley gate. The valley gate repaired Hanun. So what is the valley gate? Well, the best that I can understand this is that it's called the valley gate because this gate, if you walked through it, would overlook the valley of Himun and the valley of Kidron, or Cai-dron, okay? The valley of Cai-dron and the valley of Hinnom. So you'd better oversee it from that gate. And so what this is telling me is, you know, because we have a valley gate, this tells me that our Christian life, we can expect valleys, okay? You can't escape it, okay? The gate will put you in places when you go through a valley, okay? And so the thought there, of course, the only way you can have a valley is by having mountains, by having hills, right? You guys know what a valley is? If you've got a couple of mountains, you know, a couple of mountains, well, where it descends between those two mountains, that is considered the valley, okay? The valley. And so instead of being at a high place in your Christian life, sometimes you're gonna find yourself at a low place in your Christian life. Sometimes you're gonna find yourself in the valley rather than climbing the mountain or being right on top of the mountain. And so we must understand that our Christian life, there are gonna be the valleys, okay? It's just part of your Christian life. And when you find yourself in the valley, you know, you need to then draw upon the Lord because that's when things can get difficult. That's when you're being persecuted. That's when you're going through tribulations and hardships. Maybe sicknesses will bring you to a point in the valley. And if you can go to Psalm 23, please. Go to Psalm 23. Again, keep your finger in Nehemiah. But go to Psalm 23. Psalm 23 and verse number four. Psalm 23 and verse number four. And we started looking at this Psalm earlier where it talked about the Lord being our shepherd. But then it says in verse number four, Yea, 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. Okay? So brethren, what's important? Okay, when you're going through the valley, when you're going through hardships in your Christian life, when you're going even through the valley of the shadow of death, you could potentially lose your life. You're at the point where you may die. You know, maybe a sickness, maybe some persecution is bringing you close to death. Even then, it says, I will fear no evil. Man, think about that. Think about the boldness of saying such words. It says, for thou art with me. Why is he not afraid? Why is he not afraid? Because the Lord is with him. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Brethren, if you're going through valleys, you're going through hardships, you need to seek the comfort of God. It's not the time to get angry at God. It's not the time to complain to God. Why am I in this valley, God? I'd rather be climbing the mountain. It's a time for you to draw comfort from the Lord. If you can go to Psalm 84 now. Go to Psalm 84. And while you're turning there, I'm going to read to you from Isaiah 9, verse 2. It says, The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light. Notice, remember, it was called the valley of the shadow of death. And so I want to tie this in together. It says, the people that walked in darkness have seen a great light. They that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them have the light shined. You know where it's the brightest? You know when it's the brightest, and it actually hurts your eyes so much that it's bright? It's when it's darkest. You know, have you ever slept at night and it's all completely dark, completely black, and then you turn on the light all of a sudden, and you're like, wow, that light, where's that come from? Well, the light is brightest where it is the darkest. And so when you find yourself in a dark place, hey, you know what? There is a light ready to guide you. There is a light that's ready to shine in that dark valley, the shadow of death, and to help you get back on climbing that mountain. Of course, that light is our Lord God. That light is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, he says, he is the light of the world. And of course, we talk about salvation in that sense that we're in darkness, unsaved, and Jesus comes and brings that light. But even in our Christian life, we can sometimes be in darkness. You know, when we sin, when we're not in fellowship with God, we're in darkness, and we need that light of Jesus Christ to come and to motivate us, to encourage us to follow after him. You're in Psalm 84. Actually, before I read Psalm 84, I'll read to you from Genesis 26, verse 19. Genesis 26, verse 19. I want you to notice this. It says, And Isaac's servants digged in the valley. Okay? So this is obviously a very practical, in a practical sense, a valley. But they digged in the valley. What do they find in the valley? It says, And found there a well of springing water. A well of springing water. You see, when you find yourself in the valley, it's time to dig in deep. It's time to look for that water, that springing water. Why is that? Because the valley, you've got your mountains, you know, and usually where it rains or maybe you might have some ice tops, ice caps on top of the mountains, where it freezes over, or when it starts to melt, the water starts to run down, and it runs down to the valley. Okay, the water. And so even though you find yourself in a valley, hey, there's waters there. There's nourishment there. But sometimes it just requires you to dig. Dig a well and find those nourishing waters. Yes, when you're going through difficulties and trials, it's time to dig deep. It's time to dig into the Word of God. It's time to dig into your relationship, your fellowship with the Lord God so you can be nourished, so you can enjoy the waters to come. Look at Psalm 84 verse 5. Psalm 84 verse 5. The Bible says, Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee, in whose heart are the ways of them. Look at this. Who passing through the valley of Bacchae make it a well, the rain also filleth the pools. They go from strength to strength. None of them in Zion appear before God. What's it saying here? It says, Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee. The only place you can be strong, brethren, is in God. But look, who passing, verse number 6, who passing through the valley of Bacchae. Listen, even when you're strong, even when you're standing for the Lord, you're going to find yourself in valleys from time to time. But if you can stay strong, you'll be able to make the well And even the rain will calm and fuel the pools there. So you can find, what I'm trying to say is, you know, it's not always about rushing back onto the mountain, but you can find comfort. You can find nourishment. You can find pools of water, even in the valleys. And sometimes you're going to be in the valley for a long, long time in your life because of whatever reason. Hey, but then that's when you dig in deep. That's when you draw your strength from the Lord. All right, we're up to the last gate now for this sermon, the fifth gate. And look, go back to Nehemiah chapter 3, Nehemiah chapter 3, verse 14. Nehemiah chapter 3, in verse number 14. And we kind of mentioned it there in verse number 13, but look at verse number 14, it says, But the dung gate repaired Melchiah, the son of Rechab, the ruler of part of Beth-Hacharim. He built it and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof. So here we have number five, the dung gate. Okay, the dung gate. Okay, so that's when you go to the toilet. All right, this is the gate that would be used to take away waste, to take away rubbish. You know, some of these other gates were to bring things in, like the sheep gate, like the fish gate, to bring things in. But this gate is to get rid of the waste, okay, to get rid of even, you know, when they perform the sacrifice, you know, the guts, the dung of the animal were also taken out of the city and had to be burnt up. So any kind of waste, this is like the garbage collector, right? You take your garbage out, it gets collected by the garbage truck and it gets sent out. Hey, this was the gate that would be used to get rid of the waste. Waste and rubbish would be taken out. Now, if you can please go to Philippians chapter 3. Go to Philippians chapter 3. You don't need to say Nehemiah anymore. You can go to Philippians chapter 3. Philippians chapter 3, verse number 4. So it's called the dung gate. What an interesting name for the gate, right? Philippians chapter 3, verse number 4 reads, Paul speaking about himself, he says, though I might also have confidence in the flesh. So he's talking about the flesh. He's talking about confidence in our flesh. You know, people that are unsaved have confidence in the flesh. You say, how do you know that? Well, knock on the doors, you know. Sir, if you were to die today, would you be 100% sure you'd go to heaven? I think so. Well, where do you get that confidence from? I'm a good person. I'm righteous. I've done well in my flesh, is what they're trying to say. They have confidence in the flesh. It says here, verse number 4, if any man thinketh that he have whereof he might trust in the flesh, I'm all. Circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, and Hebrew of the Hebrews, as touch in the law of Pharisee. He says, look, I've done everything. I'm a Pharisee. I'm a Hebrew. I'm from Benjamin. I'm of Israel. Verse 6, concerning zeal, hey, not only am I all these things, but I have zeal. I'm excited for the Lord, he says. Concerning zeal, persecuting the church. This is before he was saved. He hated the church. He did not understand God's plan here. He thought he was doing the work of God, but he was actually destroying the work of God. He says, touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. He says, amen, I lived a righteous life. I lived after the commandments and the laws of God. No one could find any blame in me, he says. Boy, Paul is someone that could definitely have confidence in the flesh. But then he says in verse number 7, but what things were gained to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ, Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ. So this is the state of salvation. He says, look, my desire is to win Christ. It's not just to have Christ as my Savior, but I want to be like Christ. I want to win like Christ. I want to win Christ. I want to be more like Christ, he says about his Christian life. But he says in order for me to do this, I've got to get rid of the dung. I've got to get rid of the confidence in the flesh. I've got to get rid of the pride. I've got to get rid of the thought that I think I'm such a good person. The only way he can be doing righteous works, he realizes, if he's in Christ Jesus. And that's how someone gets saved, by the way. They must understand their righteousness is done. Okay, the Bible says in Isaiah 64, 6, but we are all as an unclean thing and all our righteousness are as filthy rags. And we do all fade as a leaf and our iniquities like the wind have taken us away. The Bible says our righteousness, your good works are like filthy rags. Hey, don't think your righteousness can get you right with God. It cannot, it's filthy. It's dung, you need to put that aside. Stop bringing that up. Stop bringing that up. Paul says, look, all that I achieved in life, all the things that I thought made me right with God, all the things that I thought made me a valuable person. He says, that's just dung. He says, no, my desire now is to win Christ. Paul was able to get rid of the dung. And as we saw in Isaiah 64, 6, this filthiness is also our iniquities, not just the pursuit of our righteousness, but also our sin, also our iniquities. And so brethren, listen, you're gonna keep sinning, right? And thank God that you're saved. You realize that you're righteous in the good works, that's just dung, and that's not the way of salvation. But listen, you still sin today, okay? And you know what? You need to have that dung gate open. You need to make sure that when you sin, you take that sin, you confess it to the Lord, you throw it out of the gates. You start to get some victory over your sins, you open up that gate, get rid of the dung, get rid of the waste, get rid of the things that are nonsense, get rid of the things that do not cause you to win Christ in this world. Brethren, we've looked at five gates, okay? We've looked at five gates, we still have another five to go, but this is so important, the 10 gates of Jerusalem. In Florida, yes, great, you have walls, but you need to have gates. You need to allow things to enter, you need to allow things to exit. Where were those five gates? Number one, the sheep gate. Number two, the fish gate. Number three, the old gate. Number four, the valley gate. And number five, the dung gate. My desire, brethren, is that you can be a strong believer, have some strong walls, have a strong defense, but also that you're well-rounded, that you allow your Christian life to have those gates where you can bring things in and take certain things out. All right, let's pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, just thank you for the illustration that we can see of these 10 gates of Jerusalem. Lord, I pray that we would be believers that can stand strong for you, that can serve you, Lord, and help us, Lord, to overcome the sin in our lives. Lord, help us to make use of the dung gate as much as possible. Lord, if there's anyone listening to this broadcast on the internet, Lord, and if they're unsure of their salvation and they think their righteousness will get them right with God, Lord, I pray that they would be able to see all that righteousness, all those good works as dung, that would get rid of that, Lord, and receive Christ through faith alone. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.