The Message of the Gates by Paris Reidhead

The Message of the Gates By Paris Reidhead* The message of the gates. A few moments ago, you heard the reading of this portion of this third chapter, Nehemiah 3: (Please read Nehemiah 3:1-32) You will understand that Nehemiah was greatly concerned about the fact that Jerusalem was in ruins. The walls were down. The gates were burned. Jerusalem speaks to us of the habitation of God, the place of His dwelling, the place where His Glory was, His city, the city where He chose to have the Temple erected. And Temple of stone that Solomon assembled was a picture, I believe, of that perfected, glorious Church that one day is going to come down out of Heaven, where even these that have been redeemed by His blood, and ransomed by His grace, born of His Spirit, are at the conclusion of their pilgrimage, whether they go by natural cause or by martyrdom, are being assembled. We read in Revelation 21, verses 1-3, that John saw the New Jerusalem coming down out of Heaven, the Lamb’s wife, adorned for her husband. And so we know that when God is through with us here, when He has done all that He purposes to do with us, and for us, and through us here, that He is now assembling there this great company of believers, joined one to another, a habitation of God through the Spirit who will be to the eternal praise of the glory of His grace. But God is also concerned about His testimony here. And so Jerusalem, as we see it in ruins, would speak to us of the testimony of Christendom, the place where God’s name is, the place where His reputation is, the place from which His Testimony is given. And I think there is a parallel between world-wide Christendom (and this is such an inclusive term that it hardly has any meaning unless you simply view it in the broadest aspect of those areas that take the name Christian in some form or other). But I am confident that I speak without the fear of successful challenge when I say that Christendom as it is viewed in this widest, broadest sense would certainly appear as Jerusalem appeared to Nehemiah, the walls broken down, the gates burned, and a strange people having come in and mixing with the rightful inhabitants but having no part in the covenant, until there is nothing left. Now Nehemiah is jealous for the glory of God. We read in his prayer in the 2nd Chapter that God’s glory that was his primary concern. It was not anything for himself. He was comfortably situated in the king’s palace, a position of honor and great influence. The measure of his influence is the measure of his authorization to rebuild Jerusalem. This gave some indication as to the important position that he held. And certainly he gained nothing for himself. There was no ulterior motive by his agonizing, fasting, praying, leaving the king’s palace to go back to Jerusalem to be misunderstood, and opposed, to give himself to labor that was not appreciated, in service that was rejected and hindered. But his great desire was a testimony. He wanted God to get something. And, therefore, we have this 3rd Chapter, a strange chapter, the gates, and the wall rebuilt. It was a year ago this past summer that I was at Glen Rocks, and Brother Wishart, one of our Alliance men, spoke on the subject. I had forgotten just the order. I made no notes, but something of the message of the gates laid hold upon my heart. And, not having made notes, my only alternative was to call in and find out how he had used it, or to wait before the Lord in prayer. And, therefore, though I had never heard this presented until Mr. Wishart did, it has been upon me for these many weeks now, and I share with you that which I believe the Lord has quickened to my heart. Some of you may have heard him, and it may be similar, but as I said there are only one or two of the analogies which I can remember. Now I would have been happy to have used the notes had I had them, but I am grateful that I did not because it has made the chapter live in these weeks of preparation to minister to you this morning. But I see in this the steps of development in the erection as a testimony for the glory of God. And this is the manner in which we shall view it. You will notice that the first verse of the 3rd Chapter describes the priests building the sheep gate. The priests building the sheep gate. And I suppose that we could account for the deteriorated testimony of Christendom on the basis better by this means than any other the priests have let the sheep gate burn and crumble. Now when I use that I feel I owe it to you to establish this that God has in His grace given ministers to His body. We find in Ephesians the 4th Chapter He gave some, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints. But across the centuries since Paul wrote that, there has been considerable deterioration. And you know that in the 4th Century, the visible church entered that period which we call “the Dark Ages;” and 400 years ago God used Martin Luther as the human instrument for reformation. And so what we see, especially of Protestantism today, is the product of the ministry of the priests. That is, the preachers, the teachers, the missionaries and the evangelists who apparently here were given some responsibility at the sheep gate. And I would submit further that our Lord Jesus established in His words in John’s Gospel the fact that He is the good Shepherd Who has given His life for the sheep, and that there is a great responsibility on His part first (and we will dwell on this for a moment), and then on the part of those who serve Him to see to it that none go through the sheep gate but those that the Father has given Him. And I think perhaps if we will turn to John, the 6th Chapter, that in connection with the sheep gate we will be profited. In the 44th verse, our Lord has given us this wonderful word, “No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me. Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.” “No man can come unto the Father but by Me, and except the Father draw him.” Understanding this and seeing this causes us to realize that when our Lord had this great company of people, this large company... Oh, what a following it was, and the day before they were going to take Him by force and make Him a King. They had eaten of the bread that He miraculously multiplied, and had gone home, saying Here He is. This is the long awaited Messiah. He is the One, and we should have made Him King. And then there were wise men among them, men that were skeptical, and they said, “Now let’s not get excited. You know He is from Galilee, and you know He is one of us, and He just a laboring man, a carpenter. Well we know He multiplied the bread, and the words He spoke were wonderful words, but before we go very much further, we ought to make certain, doubly certain that He is the Messiah.” So the next day they sought Him out and said, “Now will You please prove to us that You are the One that we think You are. Now we aren’t really doubting” (though they were), “but if You would just do some miracle... You know, Moses got the people to support him because he made bread come down from heaven. Why don’t You do that? Why don’t You tell us what You are going to do, and then it will be done the way You say it will, and we will know beyond any question of a doubt that you are the Messiah.” Now may I just pause to say this that if your faith stands on a miracle, if your faith stands on some outward demonstration, if your profession today stands upon something which you have seen with your eyes, the only way you are going to have assurance is to have the constant repetition of the things that you saw. For if faith rests upon miracles, the only grounds of assurance is the repetition of the miracle that is something outward. And our Lord Jesus said, “Oh, you misunderstand completely. I am the Bread of Life, I am the Bread that came down from heaven.” And they said, “We are rejecting You.” He said, “Oh no, you are not rejecting Me. My Father told Me that there was a people He was giving Me, and the only way I would know this people was to proclaim the Word He told Me to proclaim. Therefore, this Word is His Word to you through Me, Except you eat my flesh and drink my blood you’ve no life in you.” And they said, We’re through with You. If You think we are going to become cannibals and eat your flesh, and drink your blood in some horrible heathen service, you are just mistaken. And so they left Him. They all left Him. There was no revelation of the Father to them. The Father had not drawn them. They had been drawn by His miracles. They had been drawn by His words. They had been drawn by the fact that He offered them the national security and self-interest that they had been seeking. And there was nothing of God’s work in their hearts. And the consequence of this, our Lord let them go. He did not do one thing. “All that the Father has given Me shall come to Me, and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.” (John 6:37) Now, if you turn to John, Chapter 10. Here again you find the Lord speaking concerning the sheep gate. “I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: (I am reading with verse 14 and 15) and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.” (John 10:14-17) Now, if you will please, turn over to the 25th verse, “Jesus answered them (the Jews that have come to Him), I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me. But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life.” (John 10:25-28a) My sheep hear my voice. I know them. They followed Me. And thus He has established the bars and the lintel of the sheep gate. Who are those that are His? Who are the ones the Father has given to the Son? The ones that hear His voice. What is His voice? “Except you repent, you will perish.”(Luke 13:5) Throw down the arms of your rebellion, cease from your warfare, abandon your treason, accept the consequences of your guilt, stand self-condemned in the presence of God, and submit to the justice of His wrath against you. Hear His voice. And then He said, “These that hear My voice, I know them.” In Matthew, the 7th Chapter, He said that those that had professed to be His sheep and had moved through the days of their years with His flock, He said, “Many will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord,” (Mat. 7:22a) Ah, you see the sheep made the mistake. They thought, if they bleated the way His sheep bleated, that He would not know the difference and would not recognize that they were not His. So they thought that if they just said, “Lord, Lord,” that somehow this would so confuse Him that He would have accept them. Like the ones I told you about in Africa that took the scrawny, diseased, dying chicken, cut its throat, spread it on the altar, held it up and said, Oh, evil spirit, accept the blood of this cow. And when asked why he did it, he said, Oh they are blind anyway. They can’t tell the difference. And anyway I couldn’t afford a cow. And there are many people that have said, Lord, Lord, but they have not heard His voice, and consequently He did not know them. What is this word KNOW? He did not say, They did not know Me. I never ask anyone anymore, “Do you know the Lord?”, because I am confident that this word is very easily misunderstood. And there are multitudes of people who know the Lord whom the Lord does not know. The word KNOW does not mean “Have information concerning”. The word KNOW means “to impart by experiential knowledge.” This is life eternal that they might know Thee. My sheep hear My voice and I KNOW them, I imparted My nature, I impart My life, I performed a miracle upon them to make that which was dead, alive. I KNOW them. I have given them something that is supernatural. Just as when the angel appeared to Mary she said, “How can these things be, seeing I know not a man?”(Luke 1:34) And of Joseph it was said, He knew not Mary until she had brought forth. And thus our word here, I KNOW them. I communicate Myself to them. I give Myself to them. I impart My life to them. And thus they become Mine. But the evidence that He has imparted life is, “They follow Me.” How long do they follow? One week? Two months? Six months? I have heard people say, “Well you know so-and-so. For about six months he went on as an earnest Christian. Now I know he is saved. I know he is a Christian. I know.” And whenever I hear that I say, Oh, dear heart (whether aloud or not; to myself at least) dear heart, you don’t know. You may think, but you don’t know. He said, “I know them,” and He is the only one who knows those to whom He has given His life. But we do know this, His sheep follow Him. They hear His voice and (He said) they follow Me. How long? They follow Me into the waters of baptism, and then go their own way? Oh, no. They follow Me. And so the first thing that has to be erected if there is to be a revived testimony and Jerusalem is to be given back her glory, the sheep gate has to be rebuilt, so there can be a separation between those who have a name to live and are dead, and those who are alive indeed. For there is to be the shepherd standing there to keep them. Well one might say, “Well the tares and the wheat are to abide together.” I do not find that Paul is speaking thus. For there came a time when he said, essentially in these words, Either put out or you will have to get out, for if you are going to allow those to continue with you who do not have life, the time will come when their kind of life will have prevailed and you will have to get out. The sheep gate is essential for the testimony of His glory. The sheep gate is burned, and so you have Sanballat, and Tobiah, and Geshem, the Arabian that had gotten in and mingled with the people of God and settled down in Jerusalem, attended the temple worship, but they had never come in through the sheep gate. And His testimony inevitably has to have the sheep gate built. What is the next thing you find, going back to Nehemiah, the 3rd Chapter? You find that as they went from the sheep gate they went to the fish gate. Do you remember what the Lord Jesus Christ said to those beside the Galilean shore? Oh, how wonderful it is. “And He saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” (Mat. 4:19) Just this past week, ministering in Carlisle, Pennsylvania (and what joy it was to minister to those hungry hearts in the fellowship with Pastor Cunnio who has ministered to us), one man came to me and said, “You know, when you were here last time you gave us the three evidences of regeneration.” And he named them off to me. And he said, “I recall your saying that the three evidences of regeneration were: 1. A hatred for sin. (Ah don’t you see it? They follow Me. They want to walk in My way.) 2. A hunger for God. (They follow Me because they love Me. They want Me. They have a deep desire for Me.)” And then he said, “I remember you said, ‘They have a heart of compassion for the lost.’” Oh, such witnessing. I have not seen. My heart is refreshed. I have come back rejuvenated and refreshed. I stayed in the apartment of a young man, a Greek brother that was saved through the testimony of a Brother Reisinger in the Navy, and he moved in and a few years ago started a Submarine Shop. George’s Submarines. Don’t ever any one offer me one today. I am in no mood for one, believe me, but I have a deep love for George nonetheless. And I went into his little Submarine Shop, this little sandwich shop you know, and would sit there. And people would come in, hungry people. And they would go out and bring them in. and some would bring someone in and say, “Well look, you sit down. I have to go.” And so for several hours each day I would be sitting back there and talking with people. They had been witnessing all over the area. I had never seen such. Everyone was talking about the ones to whom he was speaking, the ones to whom he was giving tracts, the ones that he had been taking to meetings. Oh, it is marvelous to realize that there are people who have a great, consuming, continuing burden to fish for Jesus Christ. And the first thing that is going to happen if you are to see a testimony to the glory of God, you are going to hear Him say, “Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.” There is the fish gate. If you have been born of God, you have a desire to share what you have with those who know Him not. I believe perhaps the greatest incentives for you to seek the fullness of Christ is to discover how difficult it is to fish, in your own strength. Poor Peter who went fishing and then toiled all night, and took nothing, was quite prepared to hear the Lord say, “Cast your net on the right side of the boat.” (John 21:6) And so the next thing is the fish gate. Let me ask you. Are you His sheep? Has God wrought this miracle in your life? Have you partaken of His life? Well if it is, then it is being manifest in your having a burden for the unsaved, and a concern for the lost, and an interest in those without Christ. Perhaps if you have been able to go month after month, and year after year without concern or burden, perhaps you have come in over the rubble and did not go through the sheep gate, for He said, “Followed Me and I will make you fishers of men.” This is as natural as breathing. You can no more silence your voice in witness for Christ than you can cease breathing and live. It does not mean that you are necessarily going to be compelled to speak to everyone you meet or give tracts to everyone you see. This is a physical impossibility here. But it does mean that your heart is going to be concerned and burdened. And you are going to go out of the way and open your home, and take time with those who you know are beginning to nibble on the bait of His truth, if you are burdened for the lost. You have come in by the fish gate. And then the next thing that we find is that we have come by the old gate. And if you will go with me to Romans, Chapter 7, verses 13-23 we will get a little glimpse of the old gate. For here is a man that is testifying of what happened. He had a will to do good, but there was something in him that did not respond, and so in the last of the Romans 7 we discover this: “For when that which is good is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful. For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: buttheevilwhichIwouldnot,thatIdo. NowifIdothatIwouldnot,itisnomoreIthatdoit,butsinthatdwellethinme.I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.” He has come in through the sheep gate. No question. And he has gone by the fish gate. But it is not long until he comes to the old gate. And this has been the experience of every one in Christian pilgrimage. It is not long until you begin to discover that there is another law. Oh, His law, the moral law, is just and holy and good. But there is another law. It is the law of sin and death. What is this law? It is the old man. It is the old nature. It is what I was when I stood outside the cross and pled for mercy. It is me. You cannot assign it to something apart from yourself. The old is you. It is all that you were when you asked God to forgive you and to pardon you. And there will never be a testimony until we have dealt with the old gate. And this old gate is you. And there is going to have to come a time when you recognize that in you there is a law that is warring against the law of your mind and your will. It is the law of sin and death. It is you. You cannot make peace with it. You cannot bridge over it. You have to come right up and bridge this gate. It is there. It is absolutely necessary. What are you going to do about it? You say, “Well, this is false testimony. This is the way Paul lived.” I categorically deny it. No. Not so. Not so. He recognized this law, but he did not accept it. For we find that Romans 7 is an illustration of Romans 6. And thus we discover here that in Romans 6 he, Paul, has established the principle that he has illustrated in Romans 7. (And so in Nehemiah’s case, as he went around, he went from the fish gate to the old gate.) And then he proceeded after that to come to the place where he came to the valley gate. Oh, can’t you hear the Apostle as he cries out from the valley. “Oh, wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (Rom. 7:24) He is in the valley of defeat, the valley of failure. Oh, there are a lot of people who recognize the old man, but they have made peace with him. They have accepted him. They have said, “Well we will let him rule. If he is going to make trouble, we will just give in to him.” The easiest way to fight temptation, deal with temptation, is to yield to it. So if I have an old man and everybody has, why we will...well let’s accept it. And so they have just gone on to make peace with it. Ah no. We come to the valley gate. And we hear the Apostle Paul that has gone down into the valley. “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” He cannot consent to accept his nature. He can’t consent to be tyrannized by his disposition. He refused to be in bondage to his habits. He will not make peace with his old attitude. Paul is determined to be free. He will have victory. And so he goes down into the valley. He is prepared to meet any price. Have you come to that place of desperation? Have you said, “I won’t go on being just what I have been by nature?” I know we are all cut out of the same bolt of goods. You and I were woven on the same loom of Adam’s making. I know what is in you. You know what is in me. You know the kind of a person you are. I know the kind of a person I am. I know this, that when I came and stood outside the door of grace, there was not one thing in this world to commend me to His love. But I know this, that I was not aware of it fully then. It was when I sought to serve Him, and particularly when I got to the Mission Field, that I went to the valley gate. For there was the aggravation of climate, and conditions, and sickness, and need, satanic pressure. I discovered the old gate with all of its death, and was plunged into the valley. And this, I trust, is your experience. If it has not been, it will be, that you can not make peace. What is it? You are prepared now for any price. Well, the next gate rebuilt that we find is the dung gate. This was where the refuse was taken out. This was where God had established the testimony. Here was the place to which all that defiled was carried out. And where do you find the analogy to this? Romans the 6th Chapter and the 6th verse. “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.” There are three crosses set upon a hill, and there on the middle cross is the off-scouring of all things. There are you, in the person of your substitute, in the person of your representative, the Lord Jesus Christ, “made (him) to be sin for us”, dying our death. (II Cor. 5:21) Have you come to the valley gate? Have you come to the place where you are prepared now to take your place, as Paul said, “In me, in my flesh dwelleth no good thing.” (Rom. 7:18) And later he says, “I count all things but refuse that I might win Christ.” (Phi. 3:8) Have you come to that place of crucifixion where you count that the best you have, the best you are, the best you can do, the best you can bring is nothing but refuse. Have you come to that place? Or have you been trying to defend, and protect, and vindicate, and justify? There can be no testimony from my life and from yours, and from a church, until we have been willing to take ourselves with Christ outside the gate and there to view ourselves as God views us, as nothing but refuse, and to thus come to that place of union with Christ in His death. There can be no wall of testimony nor presence of glory until this gate has been erected. But we do not stop there. This is not the whole message. For what do we find next? They came to the gate of the fountain of waters. There was another gate. And so, if after you have come to the place where with Paul you can say, “I am crucified with Christ....”, you will soon find the fountains of water bursting, and come to that crisis where the fountain begins to spring up in your heart, and you enter into the fullness of the Holy Spirit. (Gal. 2:20) You were born of the Spirit, but you were not born full of the Spirit. You were born of Him indeed, but there remained for you to go by the fish gate, and the old gate, and the valley gate, and the gate of refuse, to the place of union with Christ in death, and then you hear Him say, “.....Present your body a living sacrifice,...” (Rom. 12:1) And you understand, of course, that Romans 12:1 and 2 occur after Romans, 3, 4, and 5, where we have Christ crucified for us, and Romans 6 and 7 where it is Christ crucified as us. Then we come to Romans 8, and Romans 12, where it is Christ living in us. Listen to it. The law is just, and holy, and good, but it slew me and brought me to the end of myself, and prepared me for forgiveness. Then I discovered another law, the law of sin and death. So there is the moral law of God, the moral law of sin and death. But in Romans, Chapter 8: 3-4, you read, “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” There is the valley gate. There is the refuse gate. And then there is the gate of the fountain of waters. It is being filled with the Spirit. My friend, unless you have been filled with the Spirit, you are not filled with the Spirit. There has got to be a time of beginning. The time of beginning is preceded by a time of death, of union with Christ in death, a time of presenting your body a living sacrifice. You were not born full of the Spirit. You were born of the Spirit. But it is one thing to be born of the Spirit, and another thing to be filled with the fullness of God. And so we come to the gate of the fountain of waters. Is there a testimony in your life? Everything that this book (the Bible) has to say about the church presupposes the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Every function, every office, all worship, every participation in the church presupposes the fountain of waters. Too many people are prepared to stop with the crisis of being filled with the Spirit, for the next gate we find is the gate, the water gate. And our Lord Jesus said on that last great day of the feast, “....Come unto Me and drink, and out of your innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:37,38) And so it was not just, Be filled with the Spirit, but it is, Be ye being filled with the Spirit. And then it is walk in the Spirit. And so, it is to be not just that one can say, “Well, I look back with happiness to a crisis, but it is that I have entered into a relationship that so brought me into fellowship with Him that there is a flow of His life.” And so we find that the testimony of Jerusalem is dependent upon the erection of the water gate. Has it been true in your life? Let me ask. Have you come in through the sheep gate? You know you are born of God. Have you heard His voice? Have you followed Him? Are you seeking every day to obey Him? Oh, how many there are that have begun well but are hindered, and stooped midway in the progress, in the pilgrimage. But are you following Him just as He is the shepherd, and you are a sheep, seeking always, only, to please Him. Or have you been willing to settle down with Sanballat and Tobiah, and make peace with the people, and peace with the land, and peace with the gates burned and the walls down, and the absence of the glory of Christ? If you want to see your life contributing, and after all if every one had the walls built and the gates up but you, you would be a breach in the wall of testimony. And so it remains for you to meet the Lord. And for you as a person to accept the entire responsibility of seeing that the gates are up. Have you come to the gate of the fountain of waters? Are you there? Has the gate been rebuilt? The gate of waters. It is not just the fountain that springs, but the constant flow. Has this been true in your life? that you are walking in the Spirit, and out of your innermost being flowing living water. This is the testimony that He seeks. This is what His church is to be. This is the testimony that He purchased with His blood and this was why Nehemiah was concerned. He could not make peace. He could not rest, night or day, until Jehovah had the testimony. And if you are His, you cannot rest night or day until you have the testimony that God wants you to have. For the nations roundabout make mockery of God when the walls are down and the gates are burned with fire. Shall we bow our hearts in prayer. Grant, Heavenly Father, that each of us shall find ourselves. There may be some who have a profession of faith. Someone dealt with them. Someone talked with them. Years ago, perhaps us children. But they have never met the Lord. There has never been a revelation of Christ. There has never been impartation of divine nature. They are not following Him. He said, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them. They follow Me.” Father, there may be some that try to go through the old gate and the fountain of waters, the water gate, but they have never come in through the sheep gate. So, Lord, apply the message of the gates to our hearts this morning, let the truth burn in us, help us to find ourselves, and like Nehemiah of old give us burning passion to see the testimony come again and God’s name glorified in every Jerusalem that He has owned; and we would view this church, in New York City, Lord, as His Jerusalem here, His place of dwelling, His place of testimony, place of fellowship. Oh, God, build again the gates. Grant that each of us who love Thee may be as Nehemiah’s to our day and not rest until the gates are rebuilt. And may there be fasting and praying, and witness and labor, and all things needful to get for Thee here the testimony that the Lord Jesus deserves. Apply the Word. May it bring comfort, guidance, help, life to each one, and to each need. For Jesus’ sake. Amen. Shall we stand for the Benediction. “Now may the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make us perfect in every good work to do His will, working in us that which is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, to Whom be the glory now and forever.” (Heb. 13:20,21) Amen. * Reference such as: Delivered at The Gospel Tabernacle Church, New York City on Sunday Morning, November 19, 1961 by Paris W. Reidhead, Pastor. ©PRBTMI 1961

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The Message of the Gates

Paris Reidhead

Paris Reidhead (1919 - 1992)

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