Address—Jim Hyland
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Despite forever.
But I don't want to say.
Ah God Oh my grass and.
And.
With all the things about.
Well, it's interesting how the Lord works because I wanted to sing #47, which carries on the same thought as the one we have just sung, and we'll sing it to the same tune, hymn #47.
Wild crying on to God.
What prayers are running?
God's eternal flow to us, grace that gave us to the Lamb, to all.
Racing starts from the.
Full.
Grace on the South to pray.
And God will dare him pray for go.
Tell me about 1:00 daily.
May pray, pray, grace, and fire.
Fire.
Soul with strange divine.
00:05:05
To God as far as.
And pray and pray and service.
Umm.
Grateful crown.
The real bad life standing there.
In place and.
Almost all.
I quelled the desert. I prayed.
All right, this morning, we're gonna get right to our subject by turning back to Nehemiah Chapter 3. We've got a lot of ground to cover today. We're gonna get through this little chart that we have in front of us.
So in Nehemiah Chapter 3. Now as you notice on your chart, I don't know how many of you have counted, but there are 12 gates that are listed here. 10 of them we have in this third chapter. Two of them we have later on, and so we'll notice that.
So we've talked at length about the Sheep Gate. We talked about the Tower Mia and the Tower Hananel. We're gonna go right on and talk about the Fish Gate this morning. And let me read in Nehemiah, Chapter 3 and verse 3.
But the fish gate did the sons of Hazina, Hazena, build, who also laid the beams thereof and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof. Now, as I mentioned yesterday, and we're not gonna have time to notice the different names of the people that are listed throughout this chapter who helped with the building of the wall.
But as I said earlier, we are, we find, if you read the chapter carefully, there were all kinds of men and women who helped. There were those who were nobles, there were those who were families, there were those who were single. There were those who were young people, older people. There were those who were priests and of the royal line and so on. And so whoever we are this morning, we have a little part in maintaining the truth of God.
And God's testimony on earth. Because remember Jerusalem, though it was in ruin and the wall was broken down.
It was still the place at this time where God had placed his name and the people of God had come back there to that very spot. As we mentioned, it's parallels with the work of God that took place in the 1800s. We mentioned too that a wall is speaks of separation. And as we go through these gates now, we're going to make a few little quick applications. We're not going to turn for the sake of time to a lot of scriptures. I've listed a few scriptures here.
And as you make your notes, you can jot down these scriptures, We'll quote them or mention them and you can go back and look them up. And remember, Tom is recording these meetings, so they'll be online a little later on. And so we're just gonna make some applications. Now. I wanna make it clear that as we make these applications, that's all they are. And I'm not saying this is the only way that these different gates and towers and so on can be applied. You may find in other writings or someone else speaks on the subject, they make a little different application.
But when we make applications of Scripture, which isn't necessarily the meaning, it's an application, we want to make sure that it corresponds with the rest of the word of God. If it doesn't, it just becomes fanciful interpretations, which are perhaps a little bit of what we took up yesterday and Timothy in connection with shunning, profane and vain babblings. And so we have the fish gate now when we.
Have the fish gate. It would perhaps speak to us an application of the gospel. You know, when the Lord Jesus called the disciples, He said to them, and you can jot this reference down Matthew chapter 4 and verse 19. He said, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. Some of those men, like Peter, James and John, had been fishermen on the sea of Galilee.
But now they were going to go on a different fishing expedition. Not to catch fish in the sea, but henceforth thou shalt catch men, men and women, of course. In other words, the Lord Jesus was encouraging them or giving them a new occupation of going out with the gospel. In fact, when the Lord Jesus rose from the dead, he said to the disciples, going into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
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You know, that's why it was wrong for Peter and the others after the Lord rose from the dead.
To go back to their old occupation of fishing, you remember, after the Lord had risen from the dead.
And a few days passed, Peter said, I go a fishing, he said, Well, what was wrong with that? Nothing wrong with fishing. And I know brethren down on the East Coast to of Canada who make a good living at fishing. Nothing wrong with it. But what was wrong with Peter and the others following him and going fishing? They had been called originally from their fishing boats to a new fishing expedition. And that fishing expedition was connected with the gospel.
Now everyone of us here, I believe young and old, can do the work of an evangelist. Just drop this reference down. Second Timothy chapter 4 and verse 5. The Lord. Paul said to Timothy do the work of an evangelist. Now I know there's different thoughts on this, but personally myself I don't believe that Timothy had so much the gift of an evangelist. The reason I say that is Timothy was given a Commission.
By Paul by believe, directed by the Spirit of God. To teach. He was to teach the brethren and to take up the the ministry that Paul had given to Timothy and passed that on to faithful men who would be able to teach others also. Not only that, but Timothy, it seems, was kind of a shy person. He was kind of reticent. You don't find that in a gifted evangelist. Usually an evangelist, the Lord equips them with a.
Outgoing, extroverted personality. They perhaps have a a good voice. They're able to present things clearly. And I don't believe Timothy had so much the gift of an evangelist, but he was to do the work of an evangelist. Now none of us can get out from under this. This is the fish gate. Every one of us can come to the fish gate, so to speak, and we can in one way or another be evangelist first of all, by our life, by our quiet testimony as shining as lights in this world.
And remember, light doesn't make any noise, but it does drive away darkness, and it does give direction. So by our lives, we can be evangelists. I would encourage you, as we've been doing, there are some tracks and calendars on the back table. You can be an evangelist by just quietly leaving a trap or a table, or on a table here and there. You can give out a calendar. You can, if you're sending out something to something for business, just slip a calendar into it. Into it. That's being an evangelist, so we can all do the work of an of an evangelist.
You know, evangelism is not easy, just like fishing. You know, fishing is hard work. I'm, I'm not a fisherman. I never had the patience to sit in the boat or stand on the shore and fish, So I'm not a fisherman. But fishing is hard work and it takes practice to know how to cast a line, to know what kind of date or lure to use for certain fish in certain areas you might be fishing in. It takes practice and it takes patience. And if you're going to be an evangelist for the Lord.
You're going to have to learn by practice. You know, the first time you speak to a soul about the Lord. Maybe you stutter and stumble. Maybe you're not used to it. But remember this. It isn't how you say things. I mean, we need to say things properly and doctrinally accurate, but it's the Spirit of God that can take any little word or any little thing you do and use it for the blessing of souls. Now, very quickly we find that in the 1St 5 gates here.
There are locks and bars mentioned. Now, I'm not absolutely sure. I don't have a thought as to why. It's only these first gate, not the first five. The sheep gate didn't, of course, but these next five had had locks and bars mentioned. It would speak to us, perhaps, of security and stability. You lock your doors, you have a deadbolt. It gives stability, it gives security. You're safe in in, inside.
I want to just apply this, and again, this is only an application, but we will apply this in connection with the word of God and prayer because I believe what gives us stability and security in our Christian path in a practical way are those two things. And you can't be a proper evangelist. You can't live and speak for the Lord in this world in a proper way unless these two things characterize you. Now why is it only these these next 5 gates that have the locks and bar? I'm going to just make this little suggestion.
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This is perhaps not the real reason, but just this little suggestion that I have thought of. You know, we mentioned that there's a decline in the Christian testimony there has been over the over the centuries and there's always, there's often a revival and so on and then things decline. And you know, I suggest that as you go on here you find perhaps a decline in things, a lackness, A locksness that comes in and so on the following gates, after the gate of the fountain, there are no locks and bars.
And it perhaps corresponds to what we have in the 7th letter to that John wrote to the assemblies in Asia Minor, where there was indifference to the claims of Christ. There were things coming in and allowed that weren't according to God's mind and so on. And so things that were not careful in our personal lives. And certainly collectively things have and can deteriorate. That's just a little comment.
Uh, in in passing. So we need if we're going to be live for Christ and be evangelist for Him, we need to have that stability and security with the word of God and prayer as a daily habit and routine of our lives. Now let's go on to the next gate. It is the old gate, and let's read it in the sixth verse of our chapter. Moreover, the old gate repaired Jehoiada, the son of.
Pasha the and Michel Michelayam the son of this.
They laid the beams thereof, and set up the locks thereof thereof, and the bars thereof. And so here we have now the old gate. Now I would apply this. In fact, we will turn to this verse. Just hold your finger here and go quickly to the book of Jeremiah.
Because I think this is important to see right from the scripture chapter 6 of Jeremiah.
Jeremiah, chapter 6 and verse 16. Thus saith the Lord, stand ye in the ways, and see and ask for the old paths, where is, where is the good way? And walk there in, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, we will not walk therein. I would suggest that an application the old gate would speak to us of maintaining the truth of God as it has been given to us.
In the Word of God, I know we mentioned, but I'm going to stress it again the other day we mentioned the importance of not looking for some new revelation at the end of this dispensation. God has nothing new to say to us. He has fresh things from His word, of course, but if someone comes along and tells you they have some new revelation from God, it's a warning. It's a red light. No God has laid down the foundation truth in His word, and those truths don't change.
The problem with the people of God in the days of Jeremiah was that they were they weren't interested in what God had given at the beginning. God had given his mind in the the Levitical law. He'd given his mind through some of the prophets, and they weren't interested in that. They were interested in looking for something new, and they were giving up the truth that God had had given. And it's very sad. You notice when Jeremiah the prophet brings this before them.
And tells them they need to seek those old paths. Then they say, well, we're not going to seek that. We we we don't want that. They said we will not walk there in. Isn't that a pretty blatant statement? We will not walk therein. And I hope there's no one here when you hear the truth of God ministered or you read your Bible and you set your will against the truth of God. Because if you do that, you're really setting your will against God himself.
Now we won't turn to this verse, but in Second Timothy chapter 3, verse 14, the Apostle Paul, before he passed off the scene, as I say, he was passing on the truth to Timothy to pass on not just to anybody, but faithful men who were to pass it on to faithful men. And I believe that's been going on for generations since then. And God will have faithful men until the Lord Jesus comes to pass on the truth from one generation to the other. But he said.
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Continue thou in the things which thou hast learned, and been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them. Who had Timothy learned the truth from? He learned it from the apostle Paul.
And the Apostle Paul tells him that after he is gone, he needs to continue in what he had been taught already. Because again, in the end of Ephesians chapter two, we have the foundation of Christianity having been laid by the apostles and prophets that is the New Testament, Apostles and writers have laid the foundation truth for us and everything we do.
Needs to be based on the truth of God. That's why we've been encouraging you to read the word of God.
You've got to know what the foundation principles are so that you can act upon them. So that is the the old gate. You know in Timothy's day many were turning away from the truth. And in our little Bible study this afternoon, we'll this evening we'll take that up again in the portion we're studying. Many were turning away from what the Apostle Paul and others of the early.
Brethren had taught, and Paul says Timothy, don't do it.
And so, young people, the truth of God has been laid. You've heard it from your parents. You've heard it at meetings. You've heard it at conferences. Don't turn away from the foundation principles that God has laid out.
Again, we have locks and bars with the old gate. And again, if you're gonna stand for the truth of God that has been as it has been given to us, you're going to have to have those two things that we mentioned, the word of God and prayer. There's no other way that you can stand be at the old gate and stand for scriptural sound principles. Apart from that, we are men and women of prayer and men and women of the word. Now you'll notice on your yellow card that before the next gate we have.
The tower of the UH of the furnace. So let's see if we can. Yes verse UH, verse 11.
Malakai, the son of Hiram and Hashab, the son of Pahath. Mohab repaired the other piece and the tower of the furnace. Now what would the tower of the furnace speak to a sub? Well, again I'll give you the references because we're pressed for time here. But first, Peter chapter 4, verse 12. The Apostle Paul. Sorry, the apostle Peter in writing to the early believers, he says Beloved, think it not strange.
Concerning the fiery trial which is to try you now Peter was writing to Jewish believers those who had been saved, perhaps on the many of them on the day of Pentecost and other subsequent to that. But Jewish converts, Jews who had been saved by the grace of God, they're brought into the light and good of Christianity. They're part of the Church of God, but as a result of their testimony for Christ.
They were experiencing what are referred to in our verse as fiery trials. The furnace with tower of the furnace would speak to us, I suggest, of trials, and perhaps even more than that, persecution. Because if you and I are faithful in propagating the gospel, that's the fish gate. If we're faithful in standing for the truth of God, that's the old gate. We're not going to be popular.
You know, young people, there is a misconception in our society today that Christianity can be made something that is popular and acceptable. The word Christian itself only appears three times in the New Testament. They were first called Christians at Antioch. You have that in the book of the Acts, and I don't believe it was a name of endearment that was given to them. No, they reflected Christ in their lives and they were given that label.
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As as Christians, when the apostle Paul preached to a King Agrippa, he said, almost Thou persuadeth me to be a Christian, but I suggest that Agrippa probably thought of the cost. Agrippa was a man in position of authority and respect, And I suppose he thought, if I become a convert for Christ, now I'm gonna lose that position, that respect, and suffer something for it. And so he turned away.
The other time we have the word Christian is in Peter's epistle and you can look it up. He speaks of suffering as a Christian. Now those 3 references don't make Christianity sound very popular, do they? And if you and I are going to be faithful in the gospel and we're going to be faithful to the old past, that is the truth of God as we have it in scripture. We cannot expect to be popular and we cannot expect to be popular even.
In this world from the unbeliever. But we can't expect to be popular even amongst other believers, because, you know, there's a lot of believers. If you talk to them about certain aspects of the truth or being gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, they're not going to understand. And there may be even a reproach connected with it. I know you and I don't suffer physical reproach in North America for our testimony like some of our brethren do.
You know, we have this camp facility. We have the windows open.
We don't have to lock the doors. We don't have to meet in secret like many of our brethren this very day do. We're not afraid of the government busting down the door and shooting or arresting us for having a Bible, having Bible meetings this weekend. But many of our brethren do. However, it does say all they that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. So if it's not physical persecution, what is it? It doesn't say we might, but we will.
So what is it for you and me if the reproach of Christ? It's to be ridiculed and misunderstood because of our faithfulness in the and presenting the truth of God and living for Christ. And as I say that you'll find there are many dear pious Christians, I love them all, and some of them have a more godly life than I do. But they're not always going to understand the principles of the Word of God that many of us have been taught.
From the very early days of our youth, now God passes us through the furnace of affliction and the furnace of reproach, for a few reasons, but we'll just mention in passing I'm going to give you this reference again. Isaiah 48 and verse 10. Isaiah 48, verse 10. I have refined thee, but not with silver. I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. I believe that one of the reasons God allows the furnace, that of affliction in our lives, is.
So that the things that are not for his glory, they're going, we're going to put them aside, we're going to shun them. It's to make us more like himself, to draw us closer to himself so that we are more like himself. Now I'm just going to quickly quote another verse to you in connection with fiery trials, and that is Isaiah, chapter 43 and verse 2. When thou passes through the waters, I will be with thee.
And through the rivers they shall not overflow thee. Now this is the part of the verse. When thou walk us through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. Now you remember, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, They had to go through the furnace of affliction, the furnace of trial. You know, it wasn't very nice to think, because they were faithful to their God, and wouldn't bow down to the image, that Nebby could never had set up in the plain of Dora, that they had to suffer like that.
But you know, when they were brought before the king, they said to the king, our God is able to deliver us from the furnace.
You know, they didn't know what was going to happen. We read the story with confidence because we know what happened. We've heard it, most of us, from the very early days of our childhood, but they didn't know what was going to happen. They said our God is able, but we don't know. But they did say, and he will deliver us from my hand, O king, because they knew whether they were consumed in the fire or whether they were brought through the fire, delivered out of the fire, that they would be delivered from the hand of the enemy, the king.
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And so you and I. God doesn't always promise to take us out of the fire, the fire of affliction. But what he does promise is that as we go through those trials, as we are despised by those who do not understand our testimony, we have a we can have a special sense of the Lord's presence with us. You know, when I talk to Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, when we get to heaven, I wanna ask them what was the best experience of your life? I believe they will tell me it was that very time.
Even though it was very not very nice to think that they had to suffer like that. But that was the very time when they enjoyed and appreciated a special sense of the Lord's presence with them, like they had never had before. Again, when Peter wrote to those who were going through fiery trials and persecution, driven from their homes and so on, he said of the Lord Jesus, whom not having seen ye love, though now you see him not yet believing ye rejoice with joy, unspeakable and full of glory, there was a special joy.
That came with going through the furnace of affliction. So that's the the tower of of the furnace. But now let's go on to the next gate. It is the Valley Gate, and that is in verse 13. And the valley. The valley gate repaired Hennon and the inhabitants of Zenoa. They built it and set up the doors, their oven, the locks, their oven, the bars thereof, and 1000 cubits of the wall onto the dung gate. Well, here we have the.
The do the uh the valley gate. The valley gate I believe in application would suggest to us humility. Because young people if you and I have any testimony in the gospel and if you and I have any desire to please the Lord and to walk in the in the old path, it's only we're we're only it's only the grace of God as I said yesterday. And the more we walk in the company of the Lord and go through the trials and fiery trials that we were Speaking of the more we're going to realize that we are nothing.
And that he is everything. You know when the when John the Baptist saw the Lord Jesus walking in this world and he got into the presence of the Lord Jesus, he said he must increase and I must decrease. And so we have several exhortations, some of them by the Lord Jesus himself in connection with humility. Now I just want to say this. I you know, there's certain things when we pray we want to be very careful of and that is and and one of them is. I don't believe we ever have a precedent in Scripture that would teach us to pray and ask the Lord to humble us because we don't know our own hearts if I pray and ask the Lord to humble me.
I better expect the hand of the Lord on me pretty strong, but twice and I'll give you these references.
Twice the Lord Jesus exhorted his own to humble themselves. Now if I don't humble myself, the Lord may have to humble me. But let me give you those references. Matthew 18, verse 4.
He said There whosoever therefore shall humble himself as a little child, the same as is greatest in the Kingdom of heaven. Then again the Lord says something similar in Matthew 23 and verse 12. And whosoever shall exalt himself, shall be abased, and he shall he that humbles himself, shall be exalted. So the Lord was exhorting his own to humble themselves. Let me give you a couple of other references in that connection. James, Chapter 4 and verse 10.
Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
First Peter 5 and verse six. Humble yourselves therefore unto the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. One more reference from the Old Testament. Micah, chapter 6 And verse eight. What does the Lord require of thee, but to walk humbly with thy God? So as I say, we apart from the grace of God, we have nothing to boast in now. Not only that, but we have the perfect example in the Lord Jesus himself.
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Because we read of the Lord Jesus in Philippians chapter two, I think it's verse five. He it says, or verse eight he says he humbled himself. And so the Lord Jesus is a man. He humbled himself, and in doing so he gave a perfect example. I just say this in passing. You know those verses in the Philippians 2 from verse 5 on that we so often read on Lord's Day Morning? And rightly so, because they bring before us in a very precious way the person and work of the Lord Jesus.
In coming into this world and humbling himself and going to the cross and then his exaltation and resurrection and ascension and so on, very good that we read those verses on Lord's Day Morning. But if you notice there, the real context is they're given as an example for you and for me. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. So I just say that in passing we have that perfect example and that's why we need to go back and read the Gospels as well.
Because in the Gospels we have the example of the of the Lord Jesus in a beautiful way. Now, again, we didn't really mention, yes, we did mention in connection with the old gate, but here again with the valley gate, we have the locks and the bars. Remember how we're applying this, the word of God in prayer. It's that which gives us stability and security in our lives. And you're going to need the locks and bars. You're going to need the word of God in prayer if you're gonna walk humbly before before the Lord. Why?
Because again, it's the word of God and prayer that brings us directly into the presence of God, into the presence of the Lord Jesus. And so rather than trying to humble our, trying to be humble by generating something within ourselves, what is it that's going to make us humble? We need to humble ourselves. But what is it that's going to make us humble? It's really to get into the presence of one who is greater than we to realize, like John the Baptist, who this person is.
And uh, as we said when he got into the presence of the Lord, he said he must increase and I must decrease. So that's the valley gate. Now let's notice the uh, the Done gate. It's in verse 14 of our chapter.
And it says. But the Done gate repaired, and I won't pronounce all these names, and notice he built it, and set up the doors thereof, and the locks thereof, and the BU and the bars thereof.
Well, here we have the UH Dungate. Let's take a moment and go to 2nd Corinthians Chapter 7.
2nd Corinthians Chapter 7 and verse one. Having therefore these promises, promises, Dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Now remember, as we've been saying as we go along, what we have here as to our theme in connection with these gates is practical separation and holiness.
From that which is worldly as well as that which absolutely defiles. And so the Corinthian brethren were told to cleanse themselves from all filthiness of the flesh in Second Timothy chapter 2. And we will notice this later on. Today Timothy is told to flee also youthful, youthful lust. In first John chapter 2 and verse 16 he says all that is in the world is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. So let's sum up the dung gate. What are we? What do we learn from this? We learn the need of self judgment.
I believe it was last night. Perhaps in the question and answer period we mentioned about David, You know, David was a man of God. He was a man after God's own heart. But you know, sin came in to David's life and David sinned very grievously. There was a moral sin in connection with Bathsheba. But when Nathan the prophet brought that sin to bear on the conscience of David, what did he do? He immediately got into the presence of the Lord.
And he He confessed it. And we won't go back to Psalm 51. We mentioned it the other day. But you can go back and read that and you'll find, like expressions like wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. Creating me a clean heart. O Lord, that's a believer. Praying that now I know we use that little expression in a gospel song. What can wash away my sins? And, oh precious, is the flow that washes white as snow. Certainly good application.
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I love, I love that those little hymns about the blood of Jesus and we sing them in Sunday school, we sing them in the gospel, and it is the blood of Jesus that cleanses in that way. But that is not the context there there was in. It's in connection with a moral cleansing that was needed when David had sinned. So it's just like when my girls were younger, you know, they would come to the table and they were their hands and their face were dirty. Maybe they been out playing.
Uh, and they were filthy. And what would I do? Well, I would tell them to go and wash their hands in their face so they could sit down and enjoy the meal with mom and dad and the rest of the family. And so there needed to be a cleansing. It wasn't that they weren't my children, but they needed to be that daily cleansing. And so it's the labor that we speak so often about where the priests had to come and wash their hands and their feet, its feet washing, that we have in John chapter.
13 There's a moral cleansing that is needed when we sin, and that's really repairing the the Dungate. Now, we didn't read it, read it here. But the person who repaired this was actually a ruler. You know, that must have been very humbling for a ruler to have to repair and work on the dung gate. Not very, not very pleasant. But, you know, it doesn't matter who we are as far as position in this world.
If we belong to the Lord Jesus, there must be that self judgment and that moral cleansing that that needs to take place from day-to-day. So again we quoted earlier in in First John, if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father and when we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and then notice this and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. What does that mean? It means that he keep there's a cleansing effect that takes place, but also he keeps us from going any further in the wrong way.
He puts us in the right way, David said in the 23rd Psalm. He restoreth my soul and immediately he says.
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness. When we go are going the wrong way we confess it in self judgment. There's a cleansing takes place. Then he puts us back and leads us in the right way when we've been going in the in the wrong way. Now again there were the locks and the bars in connection with the uh the dung gate. Again, the word of God in prayer is necessary if there's going to be that day-to-day self judgment. You know you're never going to know what God's standard is.
If there isn't, if you don't have the word of God before you, you know this is a day when sin is looked at very, very lightly. And you know what's considered. What was considered sin, even in my day, even in the world, is not considered sin today. And how are you going to keep a sensitivity of as to what God's standard of holiness really is? You're going to have to be in the word of God in prayer. The word of God is what gives us that standard.
And when you get into the presence of the Lord in prayer, then you're going to have a sense of His Holiness as well. And so we need that if we're going to maintain self judgment in our lives. The 119th Psalm. You can jot this down. And verse nine, He He says. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way by taking heed thereto, according to thy to Thy word?
In the six Psalm 66, verse 18 if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. So again there must be that in into the word we there and into prayer. And if we if we don't maintain purity in our lives in self judgment, then there's not going to be the proper effect even in our prayers. I'll give you one more little example. First Timothy chapter 2.
And verse eight it says in connection with our prayer life, holding up holy hands without wrath and doubting.
What does that mean? Well, again, there may be several applications, but you know, when they go to arrest somebody, what do they tell them to do? Raise your hands. And when they raise their hands, it shows that they have nothing to hide. And so again, if we don't act in self judgment, if we try to hide sin and things in our lives that are unholy, then there's there's not going to be the proper effect in our prayer life. So holding up holy hands is, is having a pure heart, nothing to hide, everything confessed and opened.
00:45:34
With the Lord Jesus and with God our Father. Now let's notice the next gate. It's the Fountain Gate, and it's in verse 15. But the gate of the Fountain repair Chalem, the son of Cohoseth, the ruler of part of Mizpah. He built it and covered it and set up the doors thereof, and the locks thereof, and the bars thereof, and so on. So here we have the Fountain Gate. Now I believe that.
Well, it's true that water in a contained water in Scripture is usually a figure of the word of God. Running water in Scripture is more often a figure of the Spirit of God. I say that because in John's gospel the Lord Jesus said out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water, and this he spake concerning the Spirit. And that's the key to understanding. A fountain, a well, a brook, a spring.
A river running water is usually a figure in scripture of the Spirit of God. And I believe that's what we have at the fountain gate. You know, back. We were talking the other day about those revivals that took place back in the 1800s when God raised up men who became exercised as to the truth of God and exercised as to what they found around them in organized religion.
And they realized that one of the difficulties was that the Spirit of God was not given liberty.
To use different individuals in connection with public meetings. Because if you put a man at the front from week to week and from day-to-day, and he does everything, whether it's the the ministry, the prayer, the so-called worship, whatever it might be, if he does everything and no one questions what he does, then the spirit of God is not allowed to function in the proper way.
So the spirit of God functions in our is to have liberty in our personal lives. But again, remember we're talking about the collective side of things here when we talk about Jerusalem being God's center and the people coming together at God's center. And so these men, back in the 1800s, they were exercised that when they came together for collective meetings, whether it was worship, ministry of the word, whether it was for prayer.
That the spirit of God would be would be given liberty to use whoever he would the exercise of priesthood and the exercise of gift in connection with public meetings. Now maybe I'll just say a little word in passing on that. You know, there's there's the exercise of gift in connection with teaching and ministry of the word and so on. But, you know, in the assembly meetings as such, it's not the exercise of gift that we have so much.
It's the exercise of priesthood. So in a little while we're going to meet in this room to remember the Lord Jesus in the breaking of bread.
And when we come together to meet, to to remember the Lord Jesus as gathered around himself, gathered to his name, it is not going to be a question of gift. Every one of us are priests. Now I realize that there are scriptures that qualify the fact that the sisters cannot take a verbal part in the assembly meetings. The women are to keep silent in the church or in the assembly, and so they don't take part in the same way that the brothers do.
But I just want to encourage you, brothers, in passing, that when we come together in assembly meetings, it's not so much a question of gift, but exercising your priesthood. If the Lord lays a hymn on your heart, and it seems in keeping with what the Spirit of God is bringing before us in the meeting, give out that hymn. Stand up and give a little word of praise and Thanksgiving. It doesn't have to be long.
00:50:02
Sometimes shorter words of praise and Thanksgiving and worship are even more in the spirit than long words. I'm not saying sometimes there aren't longer prayers, but you know, I'm always encouraged when a young brother stands up in the breaking of bread and just thanks the Lord the Lord for dying, for them, for God the Father for sending the Son and and so on. It doesn't have to be long. We need to express things intelligently. But maybe sometimes you young brothers, you feel well. I I couldn't express things the way the older ones could.
But you know that we sing a hymn that says to all our prayers and praises. Christ adds his sweet perfume and love the sense that raises these odors to consume. So maybe you don't say everything perfectly or the way some of the older brethren can express things, but well, we want to pray intelligently and understand who we're addressing. Yet I believe it's important for us and the Lord wants to hear our voices. So I want to encourage you. And you know something the first time you pray in meeting it, Maybe you do stutter and stammer, but the more you do it, the more the Spirit can work and develop.
In you that those things that would be perhaps expressed in a little bit in a little better way, give out a Him. Pray the Lord, lay some scripture on your heart. It's not a question of gift. Stand up and read those scriptures. If it's in you feel, it's in keeping with the theme of what the Spirit of God is bringing before us. Read those scriptures might be just one verse. It might be part of a chapter, a chapter, part of a Psalm. It may be a connection of several verses. And remember this, the way the Spirit works is through the mind.
The mind is the channel, and so he's gonna bring to your mind certain things. That's why the Lord said the Spirit is the remembrance, Sir. He He'll bring to your remembrance the things I have spoken unto you. So it's it's through the mind. Now. You sisters too, you have a tremendous influence on the assembly meetings. You remember that Mary poured out her ointment at the feet of the Lord Jesus in John 12. You know, read that portion carefully at the beginning of that chapter. Mary never said a word.
You never read of Mary saying one word, but what was the result? A sister, a lady whose heart was full of worship and poured out her ointment in worship. It says the whole house was affected, filled with the odor of the ointment. And so this morning, as we come to remember the Lord, you sisters, who come with a heart full of praise and worship, you're going to have a tremendous effect on the whole assembly, even though you can't take part in the same way.
So as I say, again, when it comes to the assembly meetings, it's not so much a question of gift, but it's a question of being available to be used by the Spirit of God prayer meeting. You know, I would think we were encouraged, some of us who were, those of us who were older. When your young brothers, at the beginning of this camp, at our prayer meeting, you opened your mouth in prayer. But you know, when you go home to your home assembly and you show up on prayer meeting night and you pray, you know, that's a tremendous encouragement to your older brother. And again, it doesn't have to be long.
Maybe only pray for one thing that is on a burden of the assembly, and maybe it's only a couple of minutes, but bring that burden before the Lord in prayer. He wants to not only see us there, but he wants to hear our voices as well. And so the Fountain Gate brings before us the work of the spirit of God, and that's what characterizes an assembly meeting. Whatever other character characteristic it may have, what characterizes an assembly meeting.
Is when the Spirit of God is given liberty to guide and direct in every function of that meeting. And so this morning, you're not going to see a list of hymns that are posted. You're not going to see a roster of those who are going to pray and read Scripture. And so whoever is going to give thanks for the loaf in the cup, no, I trust we're going to sit quietly in the presence of the Lord and wait for the Spirit of God to lead us in those functions. And that's true.
In every uh every assembly meeting, just read 1St Corinthians 14 on your own sometime and you'll see how the spirit of God is to lead in praise and worship and song uh in uh ministry uh and and and so on. So we want to keep be careful to keep this gate in constant repair because you know, the danger is we let the flesh get the upper hand and we can start saying things and doing things in the assembly meetings that really only exalts self in the flesh. And that was the problem in Cora, you know, they came together and everyone had a Psalm, everyone had a doctrine, everyone was trying to express things a little better than the last person and so on. And so Paul had to warn them that that was the other extreme.
00:55:21
You know it says in proverbs be not as the horse or the mule. You know the horse is impulsive and has to be held back with the bitten bridle. The mule is stubborn and he has to be driven ahead with the rod and the spirit of God tells us not to be as either. And so we don't want to be impulsive. We don't want to be just speaking for the sake of speaking, but we don't want to hold back when the Spirit of God is really ready to use us. And when you come to the assembly meetings, don't come with a pre arranged notion that you're going to say such and such as such and such a thing or that you're going to read or.
You're going to take part, but come within a spirit of in a spirit of availability, so that if the Spirit of God wants to use you, then he can use you on that occasion You'll notice again, and this is the last gate that has locks and bars. Because again, there's a danger if we're not in the word ourselves. If we're not, we don't have that security of the word of God in prayer. Then we can get away from that which is the leading of the Spirit in our personal lives. Yes, but as we've applied it this morning in our umm.
In our UH collective, UH lives as well, which I believe.
Is very, very important. We've got a lot more to cover, but I think this morning we've run a lot of things by us and so we're going to stop there this afternoon after lunch, we'll work ourselves up the other side of this yellow card we have now. Remember young people, what we have said in these meetings are applications of these Old Testament pictures and illustrations, and there may be other applications, there may be other ways that these can be taken up.
And so on. I'm not limiting it to that, but these are just a few things that I have enjoyed myself, and I passed them along, and I trust they're in keeping with the word of God.