water Gate pt. 2

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Water Gate Part 2

Nehemiah 3:26 (KJV) Moreover the Nethinims dwelt in Ophel, unto [the place] over against the water gate toward the east, and the tower that lieth out.

The Watergate is the gate where we as children of God make a stand on the word of God.  90% of the water which came into Jerusalem came through the Water Gate.  Water in scripture is symbolic of the word of GOD. 

We closed out last week with all of the people gathered at the Watergate hearing the prophet EZRA reading from the word of God as they hungered and thirsted after the word of God lifting their hands and praising God wanting more of the word of God as the word of God quenched the spiritual thirst of the people. 

Everyone at the Watergate wants it to be at the Watergate. There was no one at the gate who did not want to be there.  You know how it is when you are thirsty, you want every drop. When you are thirsty you get angry with people who waste water. 

The church should be a place where people do not waste the word because the word is too precious, to be wasted. When the people got to the Water Gate they knew that the Watergate was the place where things happen so it should frustrate you when people waste a good word. I have come to discover that people who really love God don’t waste water. They don’t waste water because the need for water is too great.  

The Water Gate was repaired by Nethinims who were descendants of the Gibeonites.  In Joshua 9:22-23 Joshua pronounced a curse on the Gibeonites that their life-long duty would be to bring water to the house of God. They would be hewers of wood and drawers of water. So I’m not surprised that the very people who watched over the Watergate were the Gibeonites the descendants of the Nethinims who had the duty of standing guard and building the Watergate.

Once the believer has been to the fountain gate and is filled with the power of the spirit of God he needs an activator in order to put that power in motion. The word of God becomes the activator. The word stimulates what has been put in you at the fountain gate. It does not matter how much of the holy ghost you have, you must have the word to activate it.

The Holy Ghost needs truth in order to operate. So without the word, your life is hit and miss. Without the truth your discernment is faulty, and your memory is flawed. Once you leave the Fountain gate that refreshes you & fills you with the spirit. You must now go to the Watergate and get the word of God so that the word of God can activate the Spirit of God.

The Watergate is simply a picture of the Rhema word in action in the life of the believer. The word in you will determine how you live, and it will determine how you die. The word in you will determine how you handle what comes up in your life. You walk differently when you have the word, you stand differently when you have the word, you live differently when you have the word, and you will pray differently when you have the word of God in your heart.

Psalms 18:30 (KJV) [As for] God, his way [is] perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he [is] a buckler to all those that trust in him.

Psalm 107:20 (KJV) He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered [them] from their destructions.

Psalm 119:105 (KJV) Thy word [is] a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

Psalm 119:11 (KJV) Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

Isaiah 40:8 (KJV) The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

Matthew 4:4 (KJV) But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

Mark 13:31 (KJV) Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.

Luke 11:28 (KJV) But he said, Yea rather, blessed [are] they that hear the word of God, and keep it.

John 1:1 (KJV) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Hebrews 4:12 (KJV) For the word of God [is] quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and [is] a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

James 1:22 (KJV) But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

Ephesians 5:26 (KJV) That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word.

 The Water Gate is a place of cleansing, and we need the word of God as a cleansing agent in our life on a continuous and daily basis. The Water Gate is a place of sanctification, a place where your thinking is renewed, a place where you are thinking is cleansed and purged by the washing of water with the word.

I no longer think how I used to think because my thoughts are now cleansed. The enemy cannot get me with my past because now all of that has been washed and made clean and new.

If you ever feel yourself getting weak if you feel yourself getting drawn into temptation or into something you really don’t want to be in get to the Watergate and get some word in you. The word will make you tell the devil, you're too late, I got the word in me now. When the enemy tries to get the best of you, you can tell the enemy you're too late I got the word in me.

I remember getting a call one morning that woke me up, and the voice on the other end said I just wanted you to know that the message you preached on Sunday came right on time. I said why is that? They said because one of my old boyfriends called trying to hook up but I told him it’s too late, because I got some word in me now. They said I told them if you had called me last week this time, there might have been something, but you messed around and waited for a week and let me get some wording me and I’ve decided to finish strong!

The Water Gate

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THE WATER GATE

Nehemiah 3:26 (KJV) Moreover the Nethinims dwelt in Ophel, unto [the place] over against the water gate toward the east, and the tower that lieth out.

90% of the water that came into Jerusalem came through the Water Gate. The Water Gate is probably the most important of all the gates. It is a very special gate because the Water Gate symbolizes the word of God. We need the word of God in order to live. We need the word of God in order to survive.

Matthew 4:4 (KJV) But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

If you have ever been thirsty you know that nothing quenches thirst like water. You can drink all the Lemonade, Gatorade, Powerade and any other aid you want, but nothing quenches thirst like water.

So is it with the word of God you can try to fill your life with a variety of distractions, you can find lots of things to do but you will never be truly satisfied. The only thing that really satisfies the soul of a man is the word of God. People are running around in the world today unaware of what they need and they try everything to satisfy them but find no comfort.

They try anything and everything,  they will leave and go anywhere, but what they really need is always right there in front of them they just can’t recognize it. The only thing that will sustain them, that will give them life, and become their source is the word of God.

The  Water Gate symbolizes the believers need to be a word person, to be word-oriented, in other words living not by your own agenda, not by what someone told you, not living by what you heard, not living by what you think it ought to be, but by the word of God. We need the actual truth, we need the unadulterated word of God.

The word of God cleanses, the word of God strengthens and the word of God protects. You must understand that you need the word of God in order to survive. They ought to be a thirst in your heart and in your spirit and you must a desire to have the word.

When the word is not present, you will be dry, however, you must be thirsty enough to say I’m going to do whatever it takes to get the word of God. I’m not going to finish like this, I need the word of God. Psalm 42:1 declares:  As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.

2 Timothy 2:15 (KJV) Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

The Water Gate is where the believer has to learn to trust the word. The word will challenge your tradition. The word will challenge what your mother taught you. The word will challenge what your father taught you. 

The word will challenge what the preacher taught you. Because life is not about tradition it is about what God is saying. When you were standing on the word, the devil cannot deceive you, and he cannot trick you, because at the Watergate the believer learns how to stand flat-footed on the word of God.

Psalms 1:3 (KJV) And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

The Water Gate was the place where the people of Jerusalem who just could not get enough word would hang out. 

Nehemiah 8:1-3 (KJV) 1 And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that [was] before the water gate; and they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded to Israel. 2 And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month. 3 And he read therein before the street that [was] before the water gate from the morning until midday, before the men and the women, and those that could understand; and the ears of all the people [were attentive] unto the book of the law.

Nehemiah 8:4-5 (KJV) 4 And Ezra the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose; and beside him stood Mattithiah, and Shema, and Anaiah, and Urijah, and Hilkiah, and Maaseiah, on his right hand; and on his left hand, Pedaiah, and Mishael, and Malchiah, and Hashum, and Hashbadana, Zechariah, [and] Meshullam. 5 And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people; (for he was above all the people;) and when he opened it, all the people stood up. 

The people were thirsty for the world they did not care how long it took as long as they get the word. They just hung out at the gate waiting on God to do something. But what God did with the word was dependent upon the thirst of the people at the gate. How are you on the word of God has everything to do with your thirst for the world. If you do not respect the word, then you are not thirsty for the word. 

When Ezra the preacher came and was reading all day long the people stood up out of respect they referenced the world because they knew when he spoke it God was going to do something in their thirsty souls.

6  And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the LORD with [their] faces to the ground.

Thirsty people will witness to the word. When you get a bunch of thirsty people together for the word of God not caring what time it is or what is going on outside or what time the cornbread is going to be done, those are the ones that makeup in their minds saying I’m going to stay here to get the word of God however long it takes and I’m not leaving here empty-handed this my friend is how revival breaks out.

Notice the passage does not mention anything about a piano, an organ, or a band. It does not mention lights. It does not say anything about the preacher warming up. All he did was read because the word was all they needed.

the fountain gate

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Nehemiah 3:15 (KJV) But the gate of the fountain repaired Shallun the son of Colhozeh, the ruler of part of Mizpah; he built it, and covered it, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof, and the wall of the pool of Siloah by the king's garden, and unto the stairs that go down from the city of David.

The Fountain gate symbolizes the Holy Spirit and the Refreshing of the Lord. The Fountain Gate is the place where you can be refreshed, renewed, and revived. If there was ever a time, we needed revival, that time is right now. Not revival as we know it with service starting at a certain time and ending at a certain time, but we need a revival that can only be found at the fountain gate.

John 7:37-38 (KJV) 37 In the last day, that great [day] of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. 38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

The fountain gate is crucial to each of us who profess Jesus as Lord and Savior. We must make frequent trips to the fountain gate during our day, our week, our month, and our year. We must make our way to the fountain gate through good times and bad times to ensure that we do not become weary in well doing. Just as oil lubricates an engine, the fountain lubricates our spiritual life.

Galatians 6:9 (KJV) And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap if we faint not.

In this hour, I believe that God is telling us that the damn is about to break. This is the season of outpouring.  You have been praying, you have been believing, you have been trusting, you have been asking and you have been seeking.  Today is not the day to sit, this is the day to go forward. 

This is the day we say, God, I am tired. I need to be empowered. I need everything you have for me. Open the windows of heaven and pour out on me. I need the baptism of your Holy Ghost in my life. I need your keeping power. I need power to live, power to stand, power to love, and power to hold on. I am ready for the Damn to break. I need revival at my house, so let the damn break today.

Joel 3:18 (KJV) And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the LORD and shall water the valley of Shittim.

When Nehemiah wanted to see the condition of the city, he went through the valley gate because the Valley gate allowed him to see the true condition of the city. Once again, Nehemiah is at the fountain gate and cannot get through because there is too much clutter and too many obstructions.  What is it that is in the way that’s keeping you from the refreshing waters of revival?

Nehemiah 2:14 (KJV) Then I went on to the gate of the fountain, and to the king's pool: but [there was] no place for the beast [that was] under me to pass.

In the natural, Nehemiah was unable to get through the fountain gate because of the many obstructions. Spiritually, God is trying to get us through the fountain gate, but we also have too much clutter that the spirit cannot have his way.  We understand that clutter is not the same as garbage and we have already unloaded our garbage at the dung gate. 

What’s in the way of the Spirit being manifested right now and keeping us from being refreshed is all the stuff in your life that is unorganized.  Our  priorities are not straight. You were doing Z, before you do A. You are working on five, before you start working on one. Your life is a wreck, and you cannot see what’s important versus, what is not important, therefore when the spirit gets ready to move, he cannot because we have too much clutter in the way.

We must give the spirit room. The spirit needs room to work and we must give him room. The spirit is trying to move, trying to get through, but we won’t let him. He’s trying to bless you, he’s trying to empower you, but you will not make room for him. We have grown stubborn and hateful. Every time we fail to take God at his word, we are not giving him room. God‘s miracles are done through his word.  If you give him room, he will give you an outpour.

God is saying to the church let me work, God is waiting to pour out prophecy, interpretation of tongues, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, words of knowledge, words of wisdom, and much more. We just need to give him room.  God is saying to the church let me through, let me get by, and instead of embracing the refreshing waters of God, we’re becoming uncomfortable because God is interrupting our rhythm and our way of doing things.

The number 15 in the Bible symbolizes rest, refreshing, and restoration. If you can get to the fountain gate not only will you stand in a place of power, but you were standing in a place of refreshing. Sometimes you are doing all you can for God, but you just need a little refreshing. You are trying to hold up, you are standing on his word but even in the midst of that you still get a little weary.  The good news is just as Popeye had his Spinach you need to get to the Fountain Gate and get refreshed, renewed, revived, and regenerated, do not quit get refreshed.  

Matthew 5:6 (KJV) Blessed [are] they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

John 7:37 (KJV) In the last day, that great [day] of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.

Joel 2:28 (KJV) And it shall come to pass afterward, [that] I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:

Today stand at the fountain gate and decree open the floodgates of heaven and let it rain. Cry out to him no matter what your struggle. All you have to do is ask it and believe by faith that you have received it.

At the fountain gate, there was a wall that led from the fountain gate, past the pool of Siloam, and to the King's garden.  The priest would leave the temple to go get water from the fountain gate walk past the pool of Siloam and bring the water back to the temple.

The Fountain Gate” is where your life can be forever changed. It was at the pool of Siloam that Jesus spat upon some dirt and applied it to a man’s eyes and told him to go wash it off in the pool of Siloam and his eyes were then opened and he was restored.