Open the Gates 1985

In order to survive Babylon, in order to keep our sanity, living here in Babylon with its illusions, its injustice, its lies, we have to learn how to practice the presence of the New Jerusalem even while we live here in Babylon. In Daniel's day, the best that he could do was to go to his house three times a day to the window that opened southwest. And he had a picture in his mind, a city which was far beyond his vision, way down there to the southwest, and really a city which was not even in existence at that time, the New Jerusalem for which he waited.

And he pictured it, and he drew strength from this. That's the best that he could do. But we can do much better.

We're living at a time when we open the window that faces the New Jerusalem, the life of the New Jerusalem comes down into our midst and fills the room wherever we are. The good news is that the New Jerusalem for us is no longer some far-off place waiting in a far distant future. The New Jerusalem is already here.

Babylon is dying. The New Jerusalem is rising, and we are rising with it. Reading from again, Isaiah 60, verses 1 to 3, and then skipping beyond that to verse 10 through 14.

Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the people. But the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you.

And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Verse 10, foreigners shall build up your walls, and their kings shall minister to you. For in my wrath I smote you, but in my favor I have had mercy on you.

Your gates shall be opened continually. Day and night they shall not be shut, that men may bring to you the wealth of the nations, with their kings led in procession. For the nation and the kingdom that will not serve you shall perish.

Those nations shall be utterly laid waste. The glory of Lebanon shall come to you, the cypress, the plain, and the pine to beautify the place of my sanctuary. I will make the place of my feet glorious.

The sons of those who oppressed you shall come bending low to you, and all who despised you shall bow down at your feet. They shall call you the city of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel. Here we have a vision of a new Jerusalem in which a threefold miracle has occurred.

First, it has been visited by the glory of God. Second, it's at peace with itself. And third, the nations of the earth pour through its gates bringing worship to the Most High God, to the glory that they see there.

And the sign that this threefold miracle has actually occurred in the new Jerusalem is the fact that its gates are never shut. They're open all the time. And so we read in Revelation chapter 21, verse 22, And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb.

And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine upon it, for the glory of the Lord is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light shall the nations walk, and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory into it. And its gates shall never be shut by day, and there shall be no night there.

They shall bring into it the glory and honor of the nations. But how can we be sure that this is not all just a dream? Where is the evidence that such a city exists? A city where we can feel it, and see it, and touch it, and taste it, and be part of it. Where is this city with the open gates whose glory is the Lord, whose glory is its protection, and its continuous light, its joy all the time, where the nations come streaming in, bringing the best that they have as gifts and offerings in worship to the Most High Messiah? That city with the open gates can be found wherever human beings open those gates.

Reading from the Gospel of John, chapter 1, verse 9, the true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world. And the world was made through him, yet the world knew him not. He came to his own home, and his own people received him not.

They shut the gates. They were afraid to open the gates to him. But to all who received him, that is, who opened the gates, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

They opened the gates, and in came the glory of the Lord into their midst and into their lives. We have often thought of ourselves as waiting and waiting and waiting for revival. When is it going to come? We have prayed for vision and for light and for fresh power from God.

And all too often it has seemed as if in answer to our prayers the best that we get is instead of a thundering waterfall of divine light. But now the message of the Spirit, not only here, but to the body of Christ worldwide, is that the light for which we have prayed has come, the glory for which we have waited is here, but we have to rise and shine. We have to open the gates so that the glory can come in and go out.

From God's side, the gates were opened long ago when Jesus bowed his head and gave up the ghost on Good Friday afternoon. A mile or two away, in the temple, the heavy, heavy veil that separated the holy of holies from the holy place suddenly was ripped in two from top to bottom as if by unseen hands as a sign that the Son, the human race, for the first time since Adam and Eve had been expelled from the garden. The curse was now broken.

Now the glory of God has come to dwell in the midst of men and they can receive this and be changed by it, but they have to open up the gates and receive it. We have to open the gates from our side and it begins by opening the gates to the glory of God himself to allow him to come in. I shall show you gates and be ye lifted up ye everlasting doors and the key of glory shall come in but he won't come in until we open up to him.

He won't kick the door down and come in by himself. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone will hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and eat with him and he with me, but there is required of us a deliberate act of opening up, of worship, better known as repentance and how many professing Christians truly walk around with the gates closed against the living God.

The light is there and the glory is there, but it can't get in because the gates are shut. We have to open the gates and then we have to open the gates to each other. John chapter 13, verse 34, a new commandment I give to you that you love one another as I have loved you that you love one another.

By this all men will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another. Who are these people who have love for one another? They are the ones who have opened the gates to each other and have allowed brothers and sisters truly to come into their lives and again the problem is brothers and sisters. It's written all over our faces.

It's inscribed in the silence through which we so often walk and often wrap around ourselves. We're in the midst of brothers and sisters yet the gates are closed and there can't be any glory coming or going until those gates open to each other and then we have to open the gates to the world, the harvest. So we read again from Isaiah 60 verse 10 foreigners shall build up your walls their king shall minister to you for in my wrath I smote you but in my favor I had mercy on you.

Your gates shall be opened continually day and night they shall not be shut that men may bring to you the wealth of the nations and their kings may be led in procession. It's a picture of people finding their way at last to their lives and they find that glory because we have opened up the gates so that they can see it and yet again the problem is that in the professing church the gates are so often closed against the world that we become a club for nice people an ingrown little group of people who consider themselves in some way superior to everyone else and there can't be life coming from God or going out from us until we open the gates to the world and really let it let it go out and so someone says alright get specific what do you mean how do we open the gates exactly what does this mean and again very simply it involves the opening of the heart the opening of the mouth and the opening of the hand first of all to God to each other and to the world reading from Mark chapter 12 verse 28 one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another and seeing that Jesus had answered them well asked him which is the first commandment of all Jesus answered the first is hear oh Israel the Lord our God the Lord is one and you shall love the Lord your God with all your strength and the second is like it you shall love your neighbor as yourself there is no other commandment greater than these the scribe said to Jesus you are right teacher you have truly said that he is one and that there is no other but he and to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength and to love one's neighbor as oneself is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices and when Jesus saw that he had answered wisely and the purpose of Jesus' death on the cross was to make it possible for us to in fact and finally live that commandment now it becomes no longer something we strain and strive for and can never achieve but now by the blood of the lamb and the power of the spirit we indeed can love God with all our heart soul strength and mind and our neighbor as ourselves he poured out the spirit on Pentecost to make this possible now comes the fulfillment of the promise that he would reach down and take this heart of stone in us and pull it out and give us in place of it a heart of flesh that can open arise shine for your life has come first of all means open the heart you don't have to walk around with a heart that's closed and hard and suspicious and cynical and negative and sour and afraid anymore open the gates and be lifted up your everlasting doors and let the king of glory come into your heart he says to us today and teach you to love God he will and to love your brother and your sister and your neighbor and your enemy if we will but open the gates of our hearts even just try Lord God I don't know how to do it I don't even know if I'm willing but I'm willing to be made willing help me Lord and he will help us open the gates of your heart he says to us today secondly we have to begin now to open the gates of our mouths to God to each other and to the world first we open the gates of our mouths to God in worship giving him the fruit of the lips the sacrifice of praise the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name you know many of us are really really all of us it's fair to say are inhibited about this you know and much of our worship goes on in the heart but it never gets across the mouth and you find even in prayer it's much much easier to begin to pray when you start saying let it come across your mouth and let it be known that it's true in worship itself for instance the ten lepers are cleansed one turns around and he doesn't just smile and he doesn't just think it he says it with a loud voice he glorifies God throws himself down at Jesus' feet giving him thanks or here we have blind Bartimaeus sitting by the roadside there's a commotion going by he doesn't know what it is He doesn't sit there and say, gee, I wish Jesus would pay attention to me. No, he opens his mouth.

Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. And they say, shut up, shut up. Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.

He jumps off his chair. He doesn't even know where he's going. He can't see.

And he keeps raising Cain, opening his mouth, and crying out to Jesus in worship and prayer, until finally Jesus says, bring him here. What do you want me to do for you? Lord, let me receive my son. And he receives his son.

His eyes would never have opened if he had first opened his mouth. Many of us will have our eyes opened by the power of God when we begin to open our mouths in praise, and worship, and glory, and thanksgiving. What a privilege to be able to sing a hymn together.

And I mean, this morning earlier, the reading about not taking the name of the Lord in vain, it's taking his name in vain when we don't sing. Open your mouth. It doesn't matter whether you can carry a tomb.

God doesn't care about that. But he wants praise in our hymns, in our liturgy, when we're praying, not to be afraid. Speak to him.

What a wonderful thing. What a joy to God's heart. And what a strengthening thing it is for us, too.

Then we need to open our mouths to each other. Speak to one another, we are told in Ephesians. Speak to one another in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart.

And again, there's a need for us to speak. Don't just think it. It's not like there should be 12 people here who go and ask everybody how they are, and the rest of us, well, nobody talked to me today.

But every one of us, speak. What a joy to be able to come in here and even just say, how are you doing? God bless you, Levi. Wonderful to see you, Walter.

And if you don't know their name, that's all right. I noticed, you know, my name's so-and-so, what's your name? And they said, well, I've been coming here for 50 years. That's OK.

It's all right, speak to one another. At least now you've got some communication. Far, far better.

You know, what a wonderful thing to begin to, you know, what a privilege. And we'll get to know each other, speak to one another, open the gates of our mouths to each other with words of encouragement, words of blessing. And then, of course, even words of rebuke are far, far better than to walk around holding an attitude.

You think they wronged you? Go and tell them. Go tell them. Don't be sitting there steaming about it.

Communicate. Open the gates of your mouth. The Lord is calling us to learn to open the gates of our mouths to each other.

And finally, as far as opening our mouths, we've got to open the gates of our mouths to the world. You know, and often, when people leave church, it's like when they leave the movies. You know, it's all over, get in your car, it's gone.

You know, and don't tell anybody what went on. You know, if they want to find out, let them buy a ticket and come next time. But that's not what we're about.

What we receive is to be shared with the world. Do we really believe that he's Lord? Then why don't we tell them to go out with a message that is clear-cut, that Jesus is Lord. Listen to our Lord himself.

In Luke chapter 12, verse 8, and I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man, will acknowledge before the angels of God. But he who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God. And the way we deny him before men is by our silence.

You don't just have to do what Peter did and say, I don't know the man. All you have to do is keep walking and pretend you don't know the man. That's enough.

We need to tell the world that the destiny of this earth is being determined not by what goes on in Geneva this week. Pray for what goes on in Geneva this week. But that's not where it's decided.

It's not being determined in Moscow or in Washington or by the communists or by the fascists or by the anarchists or by the bankers or by the generals. It's being decided by the king, who is already king. The Lamb has begun his reign, we sing, and he has.

He's in charge, and he is the one to whom every one of us will answer. And we need to tell that to the world. Even if they think we're nuts, far better to say it.

Open the gates and speak it. They need to hear a clear message from us about the lordship of Jesus. And if we draw to ourselves some persecution in the process, better for us.

Open your mouth and speak it, he says to us. Open the gates and speak to the world. The only purpose for our being here is to tell them that Jesus is Lord.

You are a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people that you should declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Tell them. Finally, to open the gates means to open the hand.

Our hands represent really our lives, what we possess, what we accomplish, what we do. And so it's appropriate for us to begin to offer up our hands to God. Now, we can worship God anyway.

You can worship God with your hands in your pockets, behind your back, folded. Sit on them if you like. But I mean, it's helpful sometimes to offer your hands up to God, to raise them up to him as a sign, this is, I'm now presenting to you, my body is a living sacrifice.

I'm giving you my hands, which this week are going to be punching on the computer, or the calculator, or the word processor, or the paintbrush, or the musical instrument, or the diapers, or the dishpan, or the tire, or the carburetor, or whatever it is that we're going to be doing. But if we give it to him, offer up to him hands in worship, then we open our hands to each other. And when you shake hands with your brother or your sister, we need to do that.

Don't give them a dead fish. Give them strength. You know, if they wince a little bit, they know your heart was in the right place anyway.

It's good exercise. But you know, we're communicating something with our hands. Come on, give them some, you know, this is not a spiritual supermarket where you come and get your spiritual beans and go.

This is the body of Christ. This is the city of God. And we are brothers and sisters, and we strengthen each other by the touch of our hands.

Very important. Something we haven't understood as much as we need to. Touch your brother or your sister appropriately.

Start with a handshake, but give them some strength and encouragement with your hands. And finally, then we open our hands to the world. It's with a hand that we give food to the hungry, and drink to the thirsty, and a welcome to the stranger, clothing to the naked, prayer for the sick.

And we reach those hands to the prison bars and encourage the ones who are on the other side. And we bring life from God by opening our hands in the name of Jesus. Our life has come.

The glory of the Lord has risen upon us. But now, for anything redemptive to happen, we must open the gates so that the glory of the Lord can shine forth. And then there will be unity among us beyond anything we've ever seen as we open the gates to each other.

And the nations of the world will come in and pay homage and give worship to the one whose glory shines among us. Foreigners shall build your walls, and their kings shall minister to you. For in my wrath I smote you, but in my favor I have had mercy on you.

Your gates shall be open continually, day and night they shall not be shut, that men may bring to you the wealth of the nations with their kings led in procession. Arise, shine, for your light has come. Open the gates so that they can see that light and experience it and worship it and serve it.

Let's just take some time in silence. And we ask during the silence that the Spirit would make clear to us the places in our lives where we've been deliberately keeping those gates closed and to give us encouragement that we can really open without being afraid.