We're going to consider tonight our third study in the wonderful book of Nehemiah. Nehemiah, famous character of God's Word that was raised out of relative obscurity. the right man, at the right time, to do a great work, just like his predecessors, Zerubbabel and Ezra, before him. Well, if anyone hasn't been here for the last two Bible studies, just a very brief recap. In chapter 1, we considered how the Lord laid this burden upon Nehemiah's heart, the cupbearer, This is the work of the Holy Spirit to raise up this individual to do this great work. Of course, the walls and the gates of Jerusalem, they're not just infrastructure. They're not just bricks and mortar. These are the thermometer for the state and the condition of the nation of Israel and therefore of the typical forward-looking Church of Christ. So for us we think of it as being a barometer for truth and for the Church. and for the honour and the glory of the Lord. And that's what Nehemiah was moved to do. We think of that verse in Psalm 24, speaking partly of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. But lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory will come in. Christ in the grave. Christ raised from the grave. Where would He go? Picturally, figuratively, Jerusalem. His church had been prepared for him. And so the real King of Glory, not David, not Solomon, but the Lord Jesus Christ would go in. So the work that Nehemiah did that his predecessors had also done was a vital work to restore in the estimation of the countries around the honor and the glory of the Lord. Nehemiah went to prayer. His burden was so great, he had to pray. And he prayed earnestly. And then he goes to the king, King Artaxerxes, and he's nervous. What will he say? This man was not a believer. How would he respond to him? And all his fears disappeared. When he goes and asks for authority and permission, Artaxerxes gives him far more resources, letters of authority and even an armed guard to take him back to Jerusalem. What a beautiful summary there is in chapter 2 at the end. This is the attitude of Nehemiah. This should be a phrase for us. This is one of those phrases that we should off-say within our heart. Here's Nehemiah's words, chapter 2, verse 20. Then answered I them, his three detractors, in verse 19, I said to them, the God of heaven, he will prosper us. If God is for us, If we've prayed to Him and we're convinced that what we need to do, what we want to do, what we plan to do is His will, which it clearly was, then we can be sure the God of Heaven will prosper us individually as a church. You seek the will of God, You take it to prayer and the God of heaven, He will prosper us. Well, we come to chapter 3. This might seem a frightening chapter. It's full of names, full of places, geography, history. Why does the Word of God have a number of chapters like this? Well, everyone has a very clear reason. The genealogies are vital to prove the fulfillment of prophecy. To prove to the Jews who are sceptical that Christ is the Messiah. Why this particular chapter? It replicates chapter 2 of Ezra. First of all, it's an accurate, detailed record. So detailed, this hasn't been made up. This is inspired. It's to teach us vital lessons and to record history as a key event that actually happened. This is a historical book. We have poetry and wisdom literature, prophecy. Nehemiah is history. It looks like history. It sounds like history. It is history. That's the way we're intended to read it. but mixed within these verses which i want to show you tonight there are so many spiritual lessons this has been a blessing to me to prepare i hope it will be to you tonight well first of all let's just consider how does nehemiah go about this work there's books written on Nehemiah and the subject of leadership. If you want to study biblical leadership, Nehemiah is your role model. The way he goes about things, it's surely a pattern for us to follow. Why was he so successful? 52 days. The walls of Jerusalem at that time, there's some discussion, they were either two miles or two and a half miles long when you looked at it it's an unusual shape there's some corners there's 10 gates as we shall consider but quite a long way two and a half miles of wall plus the gates to be repaired and these were not the sort of walls that we have they were big and thick They were designed to protect from battering rams in ancient siege warfare. Well, 52 days. There's three things at least that we can note. There was coordination. And there's a lesson for us. Remember, the rebuilding of Jerusalem is the same work we do today. We're building for the Lord. We're building the church. We're not doing it. The Lord is doing it through us. The power is in prayer. The power is in the spirit to move individuals to this work. And the glory is all for Him. But this is a parallel. So the first lesson, there is coordination. Just look at verse 2. Next unto Him. That's a phrase that keeps coming back. Next to Him. Next to Him. behind him, beyond him, beside him. Everybody knows their post. You talk to military people, they know where they should be, at what time, in what place, what they should have with them. And Nehemiah so coordinates the work, there's not a man, there's not a woman that doesn't know what they should be doing, at what time, in what place. next to the side this is a highly coordinated project i'm sure in nehemiah's mind or on a scroll he had one of those wonderful things those who work in business you'll know what this is he had a gantt chart with the critical part. He'd planned it all out. He knew who was to be where. We notice as well, as you go through this, there's an expression that says, such and such work next to their own house. or opposite their own house. Why was that? Well, it reduced the commute. They could go home for lunch. But maybe more importantly, if the enemy came, they'd go and protect their own family. and they would have particular pride and interest in the section of wall or the gate near their own house. You see that right through the chapter. Every detail here has a lesson, an application. You see in verses 17 and 18, just as an example, that the rulers, the councillors, the governors of parts of Jerusalem, they're involved in the work. They've got a sword and a trowel at the ready. They're working, they're engaged. So there's deep coordination. That's the first thing we notice. We could say more on that. Secondly, the people cooperate. There's one exception. I go straight to the exception. Look at verse five. Next, unto them the Tychoites repaired. But, always notice the buts in the word of God, but their nobles, the important people, the wealthy people, the people in position, they wouldn't put their necks to the work. What was the problem? Well, what's always the problem in the human heart? Pride. We're too good for that. Clean the church toilets? No. I don't do that at home, I have a cleaner. I don't do that, I get someone else to do it. They're nobles, put not their necks to the work. Clean windows? Sweep up? Oh no, we're worthy of more than that. Isn't that striking? You notice that verse? We're above it. Pride. It's been said that pride is the cause of every problem within a church. If we ever have problems, it's because somebody has been proud. Me, you, pride. The cause of every problem in the church. The reason so much work was done so quickly, it was only the nobles of Tekoa who were proud. Everybody else mucks in. Everybody else picks up the task that Nehemiah has given. There's coordination. And there's cooperation. Look at verse 12. There's another striking thing here. Next unto them repaired Shalom, the son of Alohesh, the ruler of half part of Jerusalem. You see, he's an official, but he's working. He, he's got the family involved. Just the boys? No. And his daughters. That doesn't come across. This is ancient literature. The women didn't do these things. They didn't work in public. But this is the prototype Church of Christ, where men and women are equal, where each puts a hand to the plough. He and his daughters. That should stand out. It's a lesson for us that everybody is involved. Everybody has a role. Men and women. Rulers and the ordinary person. And as well, they're flexible. Look at verse 8. Next, unto him repaired Uzziel the son of Harahiah of the goldsmiths. These were Very sophisticated craftsmen who could make beautiful things out of gold, shaping it and moulding jewellery and all sorts. What are they doing here? They've turned themselves into bricklayers. They're willing to put mortar on top of bricks because that's what was needed. They didn't need goldsmiths. to emboss the walls of Jerusalem. No, they needed bricklayers. So they turned their hand to that. There was no cliques. The people of Jericho and Gibeon and Mizpah, they all worked together. What a wonderful example. This is a picture of how a church ought to be. glad to say i see this here again and again and again people wanting to work people willing to help out if there's a need and we raise it volunteers coming forward oh it's lovely to see this is the lesson coordination cooperation by the people but i'm sure there's something else in nehemiah's leadership Notice again and again, this is one example I just give you. In verse 11 it says that a certain group repaired the other piece. They had their allocated piece of the wall but they finished. What it means in the Hebrew is they were given an extra piece. They had more work that they could do. They had time on their hands and so they were given another piece. And the tower of the furnaces was allocated to them. Nehemiah encourages them, go the extra mile, do a bit more. leave late if there's a task to do do more than you were asked isn't that surely how we should be in the church of christ people do overtime at work they get paid for it usually we don't pay in the church But shouldn't we be willing to do overtime, an extra piece, do something in our time? I'm sure there was great encouragement given. Look down in verse 20, there's another example. And him, after him, Baruch the son of Zabbi, earnestly repaired the other piece. He did it with zeal, enthusiasm. From the turning of the wall, where there was a corner, unto the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest. He did it earnestly. It means with enthusiasm, with zeal. Oh, isn't this wonderful? They were hungry for work. They didn't wait to be applauded. I'm sure Nehemiah Every day, two and a half miles, he'd walk round the walls. Oh, thank you for doing, you're doing more than you were asked. Thank you for doing that. He encouraged the people. There's a principle for us in Proverbs 27.2. Let another praise you, says the word of God, not your own mouth, someone else. and not your own lips were not to be praises of self ever. I was talking to one of our dear members today. She was relaying how different professionals in the hospital that she'd been in had told her what sort of operation she was going to have, this one or that one. And one of them came up and said, I know everything about this part of the body and you need this. She was slightly, unreassured because of his arrogance and the pride that he exhibited. But the senior surgeon said to her, in such a humble way, I think the best for you is a different approach. I have done four and a half thousand of these operations and the judgment of my colleague is defective. Oh well, we should never be ones to lift up self. Leave that to the world. Our principle is let another praise you, not from your own mouth. We should give thanks. We should notice. We should appreciate. I've got no doubt that Nehemiah did that. So here's some lessons here, just in these verses, picking out. We must coordinate the work of God. It must be with oversight. Nobody doing their own thing. Tasks are allocated. We cooperate. Nobody's standing back disengaged. Imagine a visitor coming into this church and saying, I came for three weeks. Nobody talked to me. Nobody was interested. And I'm going through a deep trauma. Nobody cared. Isn't that like the nobles of Tekoa? They didn't want to put their necks to the work of their Lord. That's what it says. That's a spiritual application for us. We see it. And if we can, if we're suited, if we've been encouraged to do that kind of work, we then do it. Well I want to turn to something very different. We see in this chapter uniquely is recorded the 10 gates of Jerusalem. There is rich spiritual significance. In each of the ten gates I want very briefly to walk round Jerusalem. I've bitten off more than I can chew. The walls of Jerusalem. Psalm 48. Walk about Zion. Go round about her. Tell the towers thereof. The psalmist encourages us to look at Jerusalem with spiritual eyes. Every gate has a very meaningful name. We're to mark her bulwarks, consider her palaces, that ye may tell it to the generation following, for this God is our God forever and ever, and He will be our guide, even unto death. Psalm 48. Jerusalem, it's a visual aid with deep significance. Let's look at the first one. It's mentioned in the first verse. I'm just going to make a few comments on each. The first gate mentioned is very deliberate. It's the sheep gate. It was in the northeast of the city. This was the gate where all the animals to be sacrificed were walked in. The sheep and the bulls and anything else that was to be sacrificed. What does this mean for us? The priority was worship. Animals, animal sacrifices, that's what that means. Worship, not for us, animals who are dead. No, this is Christ. This is the sheep gate. What does the Lord Jesus Christ say? I am the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. They had to sacrifice many animals Christ is the once and for all sacrifice. What did we read in John 1.29? The next day, John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, Behold, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. Sheep gate. This speaks of Christ. It was the only way in for the animals to be sacrificed. And there is for us Just one sacrifice. And it's Christ. The Sheep Gate. There in verse 1. It was even consecrated before they'd fully finished it. They sanctified it and set up the doors of it. Even unto the tower. Hadn't been finished but they consecrated. So important was the worship. And it should be for us too. The worship of Almighty God is our greatest privilege on earth. We should make it our biggest priority, privately and in corporate worship. The second one, we're going to gallop through these. Verse 3, the fish gate. The fishermen in Jerusalem would bring in their catch of the day, and it would be sold in the marketplace. This was one of the main entrances. Jews and Gentiles, Gentiles from other places, would come in through this gate. This was much used. It was a thoroughfare into the city. What does this speak of? What did the Lord Jesus Christ say to his disciples? Follow me. and I will make you fishers of men." What a better place to stand, to evangelise, to share the Gospel, but a place where many people come into the city, Jews and Gentiles, coming in and out. Fishgate speaks of our witness. That we might be fishers of men. These are not fanciful. These have got names. These are here for a reason. Let's move to the third one, verse six. More over the old gate. You see, these are recorded, each one. It's important. It's not just the walls. They could have done without the gates, but the gates into the city. each had a purpose and a meaning now there's two different ways of looking at the old gate the first is it speaks of the old paths that jeremiah teaches us about this is truth This is the Word of God that does not change. It's old and the oldest is the best. It doesn't need to change because God doesn't change. The way of salvation doesn't change. The way of true spiritual worship doesn't change. So this speaks of the old path. Stand in the ways and see. and ask for the old paths where the good way is, said Jeremiah, and walk in it. Then there will be rest for your souls. What did they say? We won't walk in it. They didn't want the truth of God. They wanted a new way or they wanted their own way. But there's a second meaning when you think of the term old. We think of the term in Ephesians and Colossians referring to the old man, the old nature. that mustn't have dominion over us anymore. We're not to have the old. Well, two possible explanations. That's perhaps one of the least clear of the gates. All the others I think speak so very clearly. I think I probably prefer the first of those two explanations. Look at verse 13. Here is the fourth, the valley gate. This was a place looking out to the valley of Hinnom. Beneath this gate there was a very sharp falling away of the land. The valley, always in the word of God and in the Psalms, speaks of dark and difficult times. The valley of the shadow of death. The valley where we feel despondent. Where we feel as though we're in difficulty. It speaks of the low place, a place of sorrow, a place of mourning. But in ancient times, this particular valley, the valley of Hinnom, was where they worshipped the god Moloch. It was idol worship. It was a place of skulls and a place where they put dead bodies. It was a place of great sadness and sorrow outside, burning corpses. And as you looked outside of this gate and the valley of Hinnom went ahead of you, it reminded you of the need to be humble because of the sadness of life, idolatry, death. Things that should not be. The worship of false gods. We think of Christ, who humbled himself, made himself worthy of death. The man of sorrows that went through the valley for each one of his people. Peter says, 1 Peter 5, 6, therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God. That in due time, you might be exalted, lifted up. We need to be humble. That's the way we come to salvation. You've got to go through that valley. You've got to go through all the false things in life. Maybe it's death that makes you think. Maybe it's some bad experience that takes you into the valley and you come into that gate. And all the filth is behind you. Left behind. Valley gate repaired. Verse 14. The fifth one. Try to go a little quicker. Dung gate. Why is there one of those? Well, very practically the city needed to be cleaned. It needed to be hygienic. They needed to take the rubbish and the refuse out from the animals. and from the people, and this was the only gate that the rubbish could go out. It makes sense, doesn't it? You don't want ten gates being polluted. You had one. Out it went to make the city clean. This is to be a clean city. The Church of Christ must be a holy people, a people set apart. We have to deal with the rubbish, deal with sin. Any sin within the Church of Christ must be dealt with, serious sin. Nothing is to get into the precious unity. We won't be uniform, we're different. Different skills, different backgrounds, different ways in which we've come to Christ, but we strive for unity. And the way we have that is sin is dealt with. We came to Christ and he dealt with the moral filth. There's a way that it can go out. It shouldn't come into the city, but it's got to go out. of the city, any idolatry, envy, jealousy, all these things go out of this particular gate. This is what Christ became for us. He became refuse. He became hated, scorned, despised. He took our sin Our moral filth, His purity, took upon Himself. The punishment for our impurity. So this gate speaks of that. Christ would make us clean, just as Jerusalem had to be cleansed. Verse 15, the sixth gate, the gate of the fountain. This is very obvious. This was the gate where the pool, that wonderful tunnel that went through Jerusalem, the pool of Siloam that came up by the king's garden it says, and here at this gate was the fountain, the wonderful pure water, life-giving water, cleansing water, This speaks of the filling of the Holy Spirit. Every believer from the day that we're converted has the Holy Spirit. And many times we need to go back to the fountain to be filled again and again with that life-giving, cleansing, refreshing water. Isaiah 44, 3, I will pour water on the one that's thirsty and flood the dry ground, says Isaiah, I will pour my spirit on your descendants and my blessing on your offbringing. A New Testament verse, John 7, on the last day of the great feast, Christ himself said, if anyone thirsts, let him come unto me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scriptures hath said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. But he spoke this concerning the Spirit. The gate of the fountain. The seventh one in verse 26. The two gates right next to each other. For obvious reasons, this is the water gate. The water gate. named because it had the city's main source of water right next to it. It was a large area. It's where Nehemiah will read the law. In Nehemiah chapter 8, he'll stand before the people. Do you remember? The reading of the Word of God and the people said, Amen. Read to the men, the women and the children. This gate didn't require repairs, but the repairs were done right up to this gate. What's this gate about? This is the Word of God. Again, this is Christ, the Word, the life-giving Word. It comes to us as the fountain gate and the water gate right next to each other. Christ and His Word. His Word gives life, but it's really Christ, one and the same. What did the Lord Jesus say to the woman at the well? John 4, if you knew the gift of God and who it is that says to you, give me a drink, you would have asked of Him and He would have given you living waters. The eighth one, verse 29, This is horse gate. What does that mean? The son of Shekeniah over against his house. Entrance to the palace grounds. This is where the horses were kept in stables in the time of Solomon's reign. He had 12,000 horses. Actually horses in Jerusalem were relatively rare. When you heard of horses and the horses' hooves, you knew that there was war. And Horsegate speaks to us about the fact that we're in a battle. We're in a constant warfare. The coming of the hooves means that the enemy is near and an attack upon us upon the Church, upon us individually, is very near. We remind ourselves that we need to put on the whole armour of God and stand, and having done all, stand Horse gate, verse 28. From above the horse gate repaired the priests, everyone over against his house. Number nine in verse 29. I think I gave you the wrong reference. 28 and then 29. The eighth and the ninth gates. This is east gate. It's below the present day golden gates that we sometimes hear about out through these golden gates. was the Mount of Olives. It was a beautiful view. The Mount of Olives. This is Christ. It's where he went, wasn't it? To pray. It gave the clearest possible view of the coming Christ. And we look to the Mount of Olives that speaks of peace. And we think that Christ has already come. He's going to come again. And that thought gives us great peace. In all the upheaval, the turmoil of life, comings and goings, death, we look out to the East Gate. We see the Mount of Olives and we think of the coming Christ, the second coming of Christ. Zechariah 14 verse 4, this was speaking of His first coming. In that day, His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east, Zechariah 14, 4. And the Mount of Olives will be split in two, from east to west. When Christ comes, His gospel will divide the nations, and it has. Those that reject Him, those that were looking for His coming, Well there's one more gate. It's here in verse 31 and again this has great significance. It's either called hamifkad or shortened here as mifkad. The word means inspection. As David's troops went out, it's believed that he would go out to meet them, and this was the gate that they would return through. And he would count them one by one, have any of his men fallen. It was the inspection gate, the gate of accountability, the gate of judgment. The gate where we stand before our kin. And have to give an account for our lives. Christ said these words in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 7. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged. And with the measure that you use, it will be measured back to you. But I judge in a different way. You've got a different set of measurement. But my judgment will be perfect and pure. God judges in equity, fairness. And here is the gate of inspection, the place where the soldiers came back to give an account, to see what had happened in the battle, and where their king asked them pertinent questions. about themselves. Well, I think there's wonderful pictures. You tell me this is anything other than the Word of God. Ten Gates. History? No. Spiritual lessons for the Church. Views of Christ. The way of salvation. Eternity. How we should live throughout each of those 10 gates. I hope you just got a glimpse and this will wet your appetite. This whole chapter you look at it and think what am I to make of this? But you start digging and you see these wonderful things. What an astonishing chapter. In the word of God we are engaged. as Nehemiah was and all that would serve with him and for him and cooperate with him under his coordination, under his encouragement Well, we do the same. The captain of our salvation is not me. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. We're under Him. We serve our King. We work for Him. We have officers. We have those appointed. But we're really just coordinators. We're just encouragers. We're just cooperating. with the pattern that's laid out for us here to do the work, astonishing 52 days. A whole city's walls and its 10 gates rebuilt, each with a beautiful name and a significance beyond even their understanding. Well, may the Lord help us to understand these wonderful things.