The Gates of Nehemiah: The Valley Gate
Introduction: Tonight we are looking at the fourth message in our ten week study. The next gate in the ten gates of Nehemiah that represent our spiritual progress as a Christian is the valley gate. Last week we studied the meaning of “the Old Gate,” that is we have left the old life and the old lifestyle behind. Matthew was once an accountant, Peter and his brother were once fishermen, Luke was once a doctor, Simon was once a political activist, and yet these men unlike the rich young ruler put aside their former life and became disciples of Jesus. I am not saying you must quit your job and leave your family and fly to a foreign land and preach the gospel. My point is that once we pass through the old gate, it represents what we read in 2 Cor. 5:17 “... the old has gone, the new is here!” Baptism represents the same thing. The old is washed away in the blood of Jesus and the new creation of Jesus is at work in the heart of the believer.
When we as Christians understand the old gate, we understand what it means to crucify the flesh “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” -Galatians 2:20. In three gospels it is written “And He was saying to them all, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.” Luke 9:23. Romans 6:6 says it more plainly “knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;” and Galatians 5:24 drives the point home “Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” Even though we live in the flesh we are commanded not to live after the flesh. Did you know that if you do not accept the death of the flesh, you are an idolater, that means you practice idolatry, “Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.” -Colosians 3:5 This is a scary thing, especially in light of 1 Cor. 6:9 which lists idolaters along with homosexuals, thieves, and drunkards as those who will not inherit the kingdom of heaven.
But the good shepherd if we follow him, will lead us to green pastures. Which brings us to the next gate of our spiritual progress:
The Valley Gate
“For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land--a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills;” - Deuteronomy 8:7
The Valley Gate represents the Christian who can now wander with God according to the will of God. Genesis 26:19 says “Isaac's servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water there.” As the purpose of digging was to find water, and the spiritual lesson that we learn from the valley gate is that as we dig deeper into spiritual things and not just what is on the surface of the ground we will find holy and beautiful spiritual gifts of God. You have to dig deep to get the water and if you want the sweet things that God offers you must dig deep as well. He said “if you seek you will find.” I John 5:14 says “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.” The water is in the valley and the deeper we dig for God to quench our spiritual thirst, the more we understand his will, the more we pray in accordance to it and he not only hears it but will give us what we ask for.
The rocky soil seed never went deep into the earth and as a result it died when it was put to the test of the heat of the day. Just like many shallow Christians today they will wilt when the heat of tribulation is surging against them, when their shallow faith is being burned by persecution they will quickly fade away, because their faith never went past the surface. They never went any further than the sheep gate. They say a prayer and at the time they meant it, and they think they know him ‘well enough’ and move on with their life as they did before. That would be like someone asking me if I know so and so and I said yes, I know them well, we are very good friends, when in reality I just met them once and that was a long time ago and haven’t ever seen them since. If you know Jesus, you speak to him often-that is, you pray often.
The top of the mountain has spectacular views and climbing on top has long been a symbol of victory. One small thing that is often overlooked is that all of the growth is done in the valley. The shepherd leads his sheep to the valley to eat and rest, the valley is where we do all of our spiritual growing. The sheep know what they want once they reach the valley, they feed and rest there. We feed and rest in Jesus. But God likes to teach us things and talk with us in the valley:
“And the hand of the LORD was there upon me; and he said unto me, Arise, go forth into the plain, and I will there talk with thee.” - Ezekiel 3:22
As our Christian faith matures we learn that if we do not crucify the flesh daily then we are not really serious about our faith and are more like those who are described in 2 Timothy 3:5 who in the last days will have a form of godliness without the power of it, and we are warned to “have nothing to do with such people.”
Ill. There was a wolf that had become known to many in the area as a danger to them and their sheep. The wolf knowing his own bad reputation, decided to appear in a new character. He disguised himself in a shepherd cloak and stood up on his hind legs to walk like a man leaning on a shepherd staff. Luckily for him the dogs were fast asleep and he was just about to claim one of the sheep for his first meal when he tried to imitate the Shepherds voice. The horrid noise awakened the dogs, and the the cloak and staff so hindered him that it made it impossible for him to run away and instead of the sheep it was the wolf who became easy prey for the shepherds dogs.
Those who claim to know Jesus but refuse to obey the word are hypocrites, they know the language of faith and they know the lessons of faith, but they do not practice that faith. So to everyone but Jesus they may appear as faith filled believers, when in reality they are hiding behind a form or a disguise of godliness, and their hypocrisy can infect us, so we are warned to avoid such people, but in the end the “godly” disguise will cause their demise and will be the cause of their destruction.
The apostle James tells us “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” James 1:22 Knowledge of the word is good, but knowledge of the word alone can not save us. Knowledge of Jesus is good, but knowledge of Jesus alone can not save us. James later said “You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror.” Jm 2:19 NLT Satan knows Jesus better than most, and someday soon, the devil will burn day and night for all eternity. What good will his knowledge of Jesus do him?
Those who know the precepts of the Bible but don’t practice them are worse than those that never knew them in the first place. Matthew Henry said “when God takes away the soul, where is the hope of the hypocrite?” If they have a theoretical knowledge of the word of God but never practice it, they are merely deceiving themselves. Their sinful lifestyle is a contradiction to their Christian profession. We have all heard the phrase “beauty is only skin deep.” for those who do nothing more than hear the word, but never practice it their “faith is only skin deep.” Hypocrites frequently lay themselves open to discovery by overacting their parts. The word hypocrite comes from the word “actor.” Hypocrites like that wolf try too hard and end up overacting their “Christian” role, and it is such a contradiction to their true character that it is unbelievable and thus reveals who they truly are.
Matthew 7:14 says By their fruit you shall know them. This phrase was referring to the Pharisees who were outwardly righteous because they wanted the applause of men to satisfy their spiritual pride. Some false Christians do the same. Anytime a person exalts or prides themselves for their purity, knowledge, generosity (do not let the left hand know what the right is doing - lest we receive the glory instead of our Lord) or some other good work, they have a form of godliness but it is gained and maintained only through selfish means, they deny its power, they honor Jesus with their lips but their hearts are far from him.
Those who claim to be Christian should not merely know Jesus, but should love Jesus. How can you tell if you love Jesus? There are fewer stars in night sky than those who pride themselves on their worship of Jesus, but how can we tell if someone truly loves him . . .
“Jesus replied, "Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.” -John 14:23
Sincere Christians are Christians who love Jesus, and lovers of Jesus obey him. When we consider the cross and all of its redeeming grace Love will flow from a principle of gratitude. God not only loves obedient believers, he takes pleasure in loving them. He will make their heart his home. These privileges are confined to those whose faith works by love, and whose love for Jesus leads them to keep his commandments.
This is why Jesus compares those of us who are obedient to his word as wise builders.
"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” -Matthew 7:24
If we merely hear the word but never practice it we are building our house on sand and when the storm comes it will wash away our faith because it was never built on anything solid in the first place.
In the valley is where we eat the good food. It is where we feed our soul, feed our minds. So it is very important, that we fill our mind with the word of God, and do not listen to the voice of sin. The Bible warns us about this in 1 Corinthians and chapter 15, and verse 33, by saying.
“Be not deceived, evil communications corrupt good manners.”
So it is very important, that we fill our mind with heavenly things, and not sinful things. Wandering with the shepherd in the valley signifies a sanctified life. Sanctified means “set apart” Even when the valley is dark because it is deep between two high mountains. We can have comfort. David famously said “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” -Psalm 23:4 David had no reason to fear. The word says that perfect love casts out fear. Jesus said He knows his sheep and his sheep know him. He feeds and cares for his sheep. They do not belong to any other but him. They do not belong to the world, they do not belong to the wolves (in sheep’s clothing), they do not belong to the enemy, (Pharisees- Jn.8:44) No. They belong to Jesus. They prove it by feeding and trusting in whichever valley he leads them to. The importance is not the valley the sheep feed but the shepherd who leads them there. His sheep obey him and trust him because HE IS THEIR SHEPHERD.
Amen.
