Praising God at the Dung Gate — Carter Conlon

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Thank you, Jesus.

Sounds like some of us are having a time already. Welcome you to Times Square Church today. If you're visiting today, I trust that you've already been blessed by the presence of Jesus Christ as we corporately gather to worship him.

Nehemiah chapter 12, my message title, just go to Psalms and go backwards, Job, and you'll get to Esther. I think it is then Nehemiah. I'm going to speak a message entitled Praising God at the Dung Gate.

Praising God at the Dung Gate. Let's pray together. Father, I thank you, Lord, for such a wonderful presence of the Holy Spirit today. I thank you, God, for such great grace and glory that you give to us that we can stand and praise you, that we can glorify your name, Jesus, even in the midst of sometimes the most difficult circumstances.

You give an empowerment to all who call on your name. I'm asking you today, Lord, to give me a quickening of the Holy Spirit and enable me to speak this message in a manner that can be understood by everyone who's in this house.

God, deliver me from all forms and ways of speaking that would make this message complicated and give me the intelligence to speak it simply. Father, I thank you, God, that you're going to touch all of our hearts.

You're going to touch every life and bring our thinking in line with heaven today. Jesus, I thank you that there will be a shout of great glorious deliverance and victory at the end of this service today and throughout this entire day.

Lord, I give you all the praise and all the glory. Let your kingdom come. In Jesus' name. Praising God at the Dung Gate. Nehemiah chapter 12, beginning at verse 27. Now, this is the time that after the children of Israel have come back from the Babylonian captivity.

This is the complete return. You know, the return came back over the course of many years in three different stages. First, to rebuild the temple, then to reestablish the sacrifice in the form of true worship.

And then lastly, to rebuild the wall. That was Nehemiah's task, round about Jerusalem, to reestablish the city as it is. And this reestablishing of the city was the last magnificent as it is work of God in the Old Testament.

Now, Malachi was a contemporary of Nehemiah. He is the last writer in the Old Testament. After Malachi's writing, there was a period of 400 years of silence until John the Baptist and then subsequently the appearing of Jesus Christ at the temple.

But this was the last work of the Old Testament, to reestablish the city, reestablish the temple, the walls. And then finally, to reestablish and reinstitute praise, true genuine praise to God for all the things that He had done, for the things that they had accomplished had not been in their own strength and they were very well aware of it.

If you'll take that a little farther in the New Testament and the Old Testament as well, prophet Isaiah in speaking about a coming day of fiery judgment literally on the face of the earth, he said, even in the midst of the fire, there's songs of praise coming from all over the world, praise of glory to the righteous one.

I believe that Christ is coming back for a people and He's coming back for a people, especially in the final hours of time, that have really learned what it means to praise and to worship God. I'm hoping with all my heart that we're going to see something in this story today.

Verse 27, Nehemiah chapter 12,. And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, they sought the Levites out of all their places, the worshipers in other words, to bring them to Jerusalem to keep the dedication with gladness, both with thanksgiving and with singing, with cymbals and psalteries and harps, similar to what we've experienced in the sanctuary this morning.

The sons of the singers gathered themselves together, both out of the plain country round about Jerusalem and from the villages of Napotha and also from the house of Gilgal and out of the fields of Giba and Amazveth.

For the singers had built a village round about Jerusalem. The priests and the Levites purified themselves and purified the people and the gates and the wall. And then I brought up the princes of Judah upon the wall and appointed two great companies of them that gave thanks, whereof one went on the right hand upon the wall towards the dung gate.

Now go to verse 40. So stood the two companies of them that gave thanks in the house of God, and I and the half of the rulers with me. Verse 43. Also that day they offered great sacrifices and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy.

The wives also and the children rejoiced, so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off. There was a rejoicing in the city that could be heard far beyond the natural containment as it was of the walls of that city.

So that the work would be final that God had done, the Holy Spirit led Nehemiah to gather together all of the worshippers, whether or not they were living within the city at that time, and he formed them into two processions.

One was led by himself and the other by the prophet or priest Ezra. Their job was to march on the wall to sing and to praise God and to meet shortly after at an appointed place by the temple for corporate worship.

And really, realistically, that's what it's like in the church of Jesus Christ. We are called into the city by God's grace. The Bible says the Holy Spirit places us in this body as he sees fit. We are sent to that place where God has appointed us, where we are to worship him with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength.

We're to love God with everything in us. We're to serve him with the strength that he gives us to do that with. And one day we're going to be gathered. We sang about it. That's why I wanted to hear that song.

Soon we're going to be gathered in a central place. They were dispersed. They walked in two different groups around the wall. They stopped to praise God at appointed places. But ultimately, one day they gathered together before the throne.

And that's where you and I are going to be. And that is really going to be the culmination of all things. We are down here on the earth. We are in New York City this morning. Times Square. We are worshiping God here.

Each one of us have respective circumstances that we are living in. We are called to worship God there. All of us have callings in the church of Jesus Christ. We are called to worship God there. But one day these things are all going to be over.

And all the true worshipers are going to be gathered together and taken to the throne of God. And we're going to stand before him and worship God forever. We're going to shout. We're going to praise. We're going to dance.

We're going to sing. If we have any crowns of any achievement, the Bible clearly says we'll be taking them off and casting them at his feet. We will know that we're not worthy for any of the things that we have have all been given to us by the power of Almighty God.

God’s Grace in Deliverance from Captivity

And I think about how much they had to thank God for. The people gathered by Nehemiah and Ezra had been sovereignly released. Now, you know that they had been in captivity because of their disregard of the Word of God.

And, of course, if we were to look out today among our own midst, there are many who have that testimony. Say, Pastor, I was raised perhaps in a Christian home. I had some knowledge of God, but I disregarded the knowledge.

And what a mess my life became. I was overpowered by my enemies and brought into a snare and a captivity. And I have to say honestly before God that only the grace of God brought me out. It was as if a decree was made to release me.

And all of a sudden the gates of my enemy opened up and released me and I was allowed to come back to God. And not only allowed to come back, but I was led by God in my journey. And that's why you're even here many of you today.

You are, whether you even know it or not, you've been led by God. He has kept you. He's strengthened you. He's empowered you. He's called you with a holy calling. And you have been empowered to do what you're doing.

And empowered by God to be what you are today. In only 52 days, in spite of all the opposition that was around them, out of a heap of rubble that was left after Jerusalem had been invaded and destroyed, out of that rubble they rebuilt the wall and they rebuilt the gates which had been burned with fire.

An incredible accomplishment, really a miraculous accomplishment. You remember last week I shared that in the midst of even discouragement at rebuilding the temple, God had given one of his prophets a vision of heaven.

Of an endless supply of oil being poured down into those that were doing his work. And he said to him, it's not by might, it's not by power, but it's by my spirit, saith the Lord. This is the source of your strength.

This is how you are building. This is where your life comes from. It's not coming out of human ingenuity. It's not a result of human effort. It's got nothing to do with you. You simply obeyed me when I called you out of captivity.

You followed me as I began to lead you, as best as you knew how. And I subsequently empowered you to build and to become something that you are not. And I've given you strength and power to be another person than what you were when I called you.

I see the people in Nehemiah's day heading off to worship God in different places, yet they're still all in the same city. And thanks be to God we are all moving towards a time, as I said earlier, when we are going to stand before the throne of God.

We are in this city, this New Jerusalem as it is, and we are worshipping God. And I look forward to the day when I'm going to be able to cast off this frailty and put on strength. And cast off this mortality and put on immortality.

And stand before the throne of God forever. I don't think our minds can comprehend what that's going to be like. I don't think we can even begin to lay hold of it. If we truly even had a tiny glimpse of it, it would cause our circumstances on the earth to become so dim.

We would be so unmoved by circumstances around us. Because here we have no continuing city and we know that we're seeking another one which is soon to come. Now Nehemiah divided this group into two different distinct groups.

And he told them which way to go to worship. And the first group headed off to worship and to praise at the dung gate. Now this is very interesting. The very first gate that is mentioned, where the people were to walk along the wall glorifying God with symbols and psalteries and harps and all these things.

And they were to stop and give God glory was at the dung gate. It's the first one mentioned of all the gates. Now at this time there are 11 gates in Nehemiah's day in Jerusalem. And there are some awesome gates.

There are gates with a history. There are gates such as the beautiful gate or the sheep gate or the fountain gate where water is daily brought into the city. And the history of military victory when this gate was properly used even against the enemies of God.

But he said, no, those gates are very glorious. But I want you to stop first and worship at this place because you're going to learn something here. Now the Holman Bible dictionary tells us that it's, as I said earlier, one of the 11 gates of Jerusalem during Nehemiah's time.

It's located in the southwest corner of the wall. And it was used for the disposal of rubbish, garbage and dung, which is human excrement. This was the very purpose of the dung gate. Everything that was trash literally was taken out of that gate.

It led out to the Valley of Hinnom. And the Valley of Hinnom was a very inglorious place. It had a history of idol worship, veil worship and child sacrifice. So this is a totally inglorious place. There's nothing glorious about it.

There never will be anything glorious about it. It leads out to a place of no reputation, no report. I'm sure that if you walked into the city, it would be hard if somebody say, well, oh, you work at one of the gates.

What gate do you work at? The dung gate. There's no sense of majesty there. You're not one that carries water into the city. You're one that carries something else out. There is no reputation at that gate.

Worshiping God in Uncomfortable Circumstances

Now, sometimes we are called to worship God in places which appeal to none of our natural senses. These places give no comfort. They present no hope of future happiness or fulfillment. And beloved, our natural inclination is not to go there.

And if we have to, we try to get out as quickly as possible and get to some other gate. Now, I can see being in that first group when Nehemiah split the worshipers into two parts and said, OK, you go to the dung gate.

And if they're human like you and I are, the natural inclination would be, well, how about if they go to the dung gate and we go to the water gate or the gate of the fountain? I'm not really there yet.

I really don't want to worship there. It's like coming into the church today as one of your pastors and dividing the sanctuary into two and say, well, this group over here, you're going to be the worshipers.

You're going to take the offering. You're all going to be baptized. The Holy Ghost didn't be preachers of the gospel. You're going to do signs and wonders and miracles. You're going to be known and have reputation and report throughout the city and all throughout the world.

And this group over here, you're going to be in charge of cleaning the toilets at Times Square Church. Is it possible to get to some other gate? Is it possible to go another way? If I were to do that today, there'd be a lot of people, excuse me, excuse me, excuse me, shifting places to get over to the other side.

And you'd have your scripture. The Bible says, let us go to the other side. And I'm going to the other side. I don't want to worship with these people over here. You see, everyone disobedient always has their scripture or wants to get out of something.

The Corinthian Gospel of Self-Glory

Paul, if you go to the book of First Corinthians, chapter four. Now, Paul had to deal with this. The Corinthian church was an immature church. They were doctrinally immature. Paul had to deal with selfishness in this church and strife and division.

And some say, I'm of Paul and Apollos and others of Cephas and others of Christ. They were a church that really didn't deal with sin in their midst. There was an ancestral relationship going on and they seemingly disregarded it and didn't consider it important to deal with it.

But I feel in First Corinthians, chapter four, that Paul begins to get to the root of the immaturity. Because it was a theology that had come into the Corinthian church. And the root of that theology was the seeking of self.

In other words, in the Corinthian church, it was kind of an every man for himself attitude. Every man seeking his own glory. They were gravitating. They were turning to another message, another gospel, where they could only praise God under certain conditions and in certain places.

Now, First Corinthians, chapter four, verse eight. This is what Paul says. He says, Now you are full. Now you are rich and you have reigned as kings without us. And I would to God you did reign that we might that we also might reign with you.

Now Paul is saying, Listen, here's your theology. Your theology is that you are full. Actually, the word for full means like a container that has the equivalent of 75 gallons of liquid in it. You are gravitated to a gospel that is about self and the fulfillment of self and everything that self has to offer.

And you are rich. And he said, Now he's speaking this very tongue in cheek. You have to understand. And you have reigned as kings without us. Now, Paul saying, Here you are, you're full, you're rich and you're kings.

You're ruling and reigning now. Everyone wants to praise at the king's gate. You are all the head and nobody's the tail. You all have a wonderful destiny and you've all found it. And now you're all rulers.

Everyone's a ruler. Can you imagine if in Times Square Church everybody was leading? You imagine the chaos that would be in the church where everyone says, Thank you, Lord, for the call to hear. But I, I feel personally more fulfilled over here.

And so there's always a preacher that will come and minister to that need. The need of self elevation, the need of self seeking, the need to be full as it is without God, to be rich without Christ, to be reigning with no authority.

And Paul says, I wish you were reigning because I'd like to join you and reign with you. Verse nine, he says, I think that God has set forth us the apostles last as it were appointed to death. For we're made a spectacle to the world and to the angels and to men.

We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are honorable, but we are despised. You see, Paul, Paul is creating a contrast. Here's the theological problem of the Corinthian church.

They were embracing a message that wasn't the message of Christ. It wasn't the message of the cross. It was all about self. It was all about success. It was all about prosperity. It was all about being somebody now that you're a Christian.

And Paul says, well, you think you're there, but I tell you, if that's the case, why has God left us behind? Why are we who are apostles in the church of Jesus Christ, if you are so powerful, why are we so weak?

If you are so honored, why are we so despised? Have you found something we don't know? In other words, have you discovered something that we're not aware of? Even unto this present hour, he says, we both hunger and thirst and are naked and are buffeted and have no certain dwelling place.

And labor, working with our own hands, being reviled, we bless. Being persecuted, we suffer it. Being defamed, we entreat. We are made as the filth of the world and as the off-scouring of all things unto this day.

In other words, Paul is saying, we are worshiping at the dung gate. This is where we have been assigned. This is what our life is about. We are considered the off-scouring. The religious don't want anything to do with us.

The self-seeking hate us. The unsaved world mock us. But yet we move on with God. And I write not these things to shame you, verse 14, but as my beloved sons, Paul said, I warn you. For though you have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have you not many fathers.

For in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel, wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me. Paul said, follow me, even if you don't understand it. Hear the words that I'm speaking to you and understand that the gospel that I'm preaching to you is the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Paul’s Trials and the Strength of the Inner Person

Now, he goes on. If you go ahead to the book of Ephesians, chapter 3, he goes on to further define the reason why God had called him to learn to worship in very difficult places. Ephesians, chapter 3, verse 13.

Now, Paul says, wherefore, I desire that you faint not at my tribulations for you, which is for your glory. The word for faint means lose heart or become cowardly. And the word for glory means it's something of God which may attract your attention and make you strong also.

You know, when the Bible says all have sinned and fallen short of the glory, that means we have failed to lay hold of the image and the character of God. The very nature of God is not in us. And Paul says, I don't want you to become cowardly because of my trials.

Paul says, you're aware of the trials that I've gone through. And, of course, the church was of Paul's day, the shipwrecks, the beatings, the imprisonments, the stonings, being left for dead. All of the trials that Paul had gone through, perils of the sea and perils among false brethren.

He said at one time we despaired even of living. We had only the sentence of death in ourselves and trusted in God who could raise us from the dead. We were pressed out, he says, above measure. In other words, there was no human ability to get through our trial.

It was so difficult. Paul said, I would not have you ignorant, brethren, of the trouble that came to us when we were in Asia. But he said, I don't want you to lose heart and become cowardly because of my trials, because God is doing something in these places in me which he is doing to attract you, to get your attention so that you too can be made strong.

Paul said, when I have found myself the weakest, that's when I have become the strongest. I have found the power to praise him even in the worst of places, in the most difficult circumstances. And Paul's, I believe that Paul's understanding, having been enlightened by the Holy Ghost, brought him to the place of understanding that this was never going to change, that Paul's life was always going to be a difficult one.

You remember when Ananias came to him after his Damascus road experience, the Holy Spirit had spoken, or Christ had spoken to Ananias and said, He's a chosen vessel and I'm going to show him the great things and he must suffer for my namesake.

Paul knew his life was appointed to be one of suffering. But Paul said, I've laid hold of something and I want you to see it. Verse 14, he said, For this cause, for this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named.

For this cause, Paul said, I bow my knee at whatever gate I'm found. I bow my knee to God in whatever circumstance I find myself. I bow my knee whether I'm being blessed or whether I'm suffering want.

Whether I'm abounding or whether I'm in need. Whether I'm in safety or whether I'm in peril. Whether I'm warm or whether I'm cold. Whether I'm free or whether I'm captive. Paul says, I bow my knee for this cause.

That you might understand that Almighty God through Jesus Christ has promised all sufficiency. Everything you will ever need is found in Him, no matter where you are. You don't have to change your circumstance to praise God.

Everything you need is found exactly where you are. And Paul says, that's why God has allowed me to suffer these things. That's why I bend my knee. I bow my knee to these trials. Verse 16, here's the reason.

That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man. Paul says, that you might see where my strength comes from. That you would cast off false theology whose sole focus is to get out of trial.

Sole focus is to reign without authority. And to rule without power. And to be rich without wealth. Paul said, that you would cast this off. And see something in me that would ground you so deeply in God.

That you would understand by faith, verse 17, being rooted and grounded in love. And you might be able to comprehend with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and depth and height. And to know the love, that means the benevolent love.

It's agape, it means the giving love of God. Which passes knowledge, that you might be filled with all the fullness of God. Paul says, I bow my knee to my trials. I bow my knee at the gate that God appoints to my life.

For your sake. To prove to you, that Christ is all every man will ever need. That's the whole reason for my life. That's why I go through what I go through. It's to prove to you that Jesus Christ is enough.

Hallelujah. Now, he said to him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. According to the power that works in us. Unto him be glory in the church. By Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end.

Amen. Paul says, oh, I pray according to the God who lives within us. Who can do more than we even ask or think. According to his power. Oh, that he would be glorified in his church. That he would be glorified by the world looking at God's people and seeing another spirit.

Not the spirit of the world that seeks everything for himself. Every man desiring to trample on others that he might have the preeminence. But that they might see Christ. That they might understand that there is a God who sits at the throne of all power.

Walking Worthy of God’s Calling

World without end. He goes to chapter 4, verse 1. He says, I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you. Now, he wrote this from prison. That you would walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you are called.

That's an incredible call. Paul says, I beseech you that you walk worthy where you are called. Not where we want to be, but where we're called. Where we are in life. What God has dealt to us as it is.

Some head off to the temple beautiful, the gate beautiful. Wonderful for them. Others head off to the dung gate. Equally wonderful for them. You're going to see that in a minute. You walk worthy where you're called.

Anna’s Faithfulness in a Difficult Life

I think of Anna, Luke chapter 2. A prophetess as it is. The Bible says that in Luke 2 .36, she was of great age. And she had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity. In other words, here's Anna starting out.

Perhaps loving the Lord. She was married. And seven years later, her husband died. Here's a woman who, forgive my expression, but she's had a dung gate life experience. It's not desirable. Death has come into her home.

She lost perhaps the soul mate of her youth. She lost a lot of plans for the future. She was no stranger to heartache and tears. And her life experience was not a good one. In some respect, in the physical respect.

She never found another husband, obviously. There was never a replacement for the pain and the sorrow that came into her life. But the Bible says, even though she was a widow of about 84 years of age.

She departed not from the temple. But served God with fastings and prayers night and day. She made a right choice. Even though she was at a gate she'd rather not have been at. She made the choice to worship God there.

She made the choice not to blame God, not to blame others. Not to use Christ to better her physical circumstance. Her prayers were not every day for a new husband. Prayers not every day for another gate to worship at.

Lord, I've been here long enough. This is a dung gate. I would rather God have all of this taken out of my life and thrown into a heap. I'd rather go to the gate beautiful. I'd rather do something else.

But Lord, this seems to be where you planted me. And up until she was 84 years of age, she was... I don't know how many years that would have been. I don't know when she got married. They normally get married very young in those days.

So she could have been 25, perhaps, when her husband died. And so for over 50 years, she is in the temple daily praising God and serving Him. And coming in that instant... Now, this is the time when Mary and Joseph brought Jesus in to be dedicated.

She gave thanks to the Lord and spake of Him. That is, Christ all that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. Incredible. Here's a woman who's dealt a hard experience by life. But she makes the choice to worship there.

Not sitting and longing to go to somewhere else. Not plea bargaining with God. Saying, Lord, if you'll just take me out of here. Just think of the worshipper I'm going to be. Think of how I'll praise you if I can join those down at the fountain gate.

Or the gate beautiful. Or some other gate. If you'll just get me out of this place, I will praise you with all of my heart. Many, many people live there. Come into the church. Make those kind of pleas and prayers for 10, 15 years.

And then finally get fed up thinking God has failed them. God says, I didn't fail you. I put you exactly where you were called to be. I put you where you were needed to be in my kingdom. Because I wanted to show others around my glory.

I wanted to show others around that I am the all-sufficiency for those who make the choice to praise me. In spite of the place in the city they find themselves in. And in comes Mary and Joseph. And all the priests are doing their thing.

Nobody knows that anything is unusual this day. They're preparing to circumcise this child. They're going about their daily business. There's scores of people coming in with their lambs and goats and doves and offering sacrifice.

Everything's carrying on as it always has. And God Almighty has come into the temple and nobody knows it. But an old man does. And Anna does. You see why she knew him? Because she says, I know the one who has been my source of supply all these years of my life.

I know him! I know him! Hallelujah! God puts some in places of hardship. You'll never be able to confess your way out of it. And don't even try. But find Christ in that place and God Almighty will give you a revelation that nobody else in your generation has.

Nobody else! You want to find Jesus, if you want true words of comfort in the church, go to those that have suffered and walked with God. Go to those with gray hair that have walked through hell and back in their walk in the church.

And you will find comfort in those that made the choice to serve God. They have the ability to see Christ in everything. They have the ability to pull God into every situation and see the source of supply that heaven has sent for their every need.

The Philippian Jailer Praises God in Prison

I think also the Philippian jailer, the man that put Paul and Silas in prison and was part at least of their pain and their wounding. Coming to Christ, going home and washing their stripes, a changed man.

His whole house seeing the transformation in his life and all of his children and family being baptized. But then he's called back to his old job. Now the Bible doesn't say that, but we can certainly draw the inference because he was back in the prison when Paul and Silas were called for.

Incredible! It's a dungate job. And some who are listening to my voice this morning in the annex in here, that's what you would consider what you do. There's no status there. There's no self-satisfaction.

The self-satisfaction is all gone. There's no desire to be there. It's a stinky, smelly place with vile, oftentimes people cursing in profanity. And even those who are working in Wall Street in some companies, you can say, I'm no better off than the Philippian jailer.

I live in, I work for a dungate company. I work in a dungate office. Everything in that place should be thrown out and put in a heap. The language, the backbiting, the backstabbing, everything that goes on there.

God, please get me out of this job. Lord, give me a promotion. Make me the boss. Do something. You laugh because you prayed that way. But, you see, the Philippian jailer was probably going to be a Philippian jailer all his life.

He's probably going to have to walk those corridors with the keys and listen to the cursing prisoners and the despairs and the woes of death and destruction all around him. But I believe that something perhaps was in this man.

And that's only speculation on my part. But he was gloriously converted. And I believe that he said, it is a praising man that won me to Christ. I threw a man in a jail cell. And this man was so other than everyone around him.

He and his friend Silas, at midnight they began to praise. And their praise opened every prison door and saved the lives of many. And even my life was saved and the life of my family. And so I make the determination that I'm going to praise him thereto.

I was won by a praising man. And by God's grace, I will be a praising man in that circumstance all the days of my life. Hallelujah. God hasn't called you out of where you are. He has called you to learn to praise him where you are.

Christ’s Sufficiency at the Dung Gate

To learn to worship him. To learn to turn to him. He's put you in a place where you don't find any fulfillment. You don't find it in any circumstance around you. You don't find it in anything that people are saying to you.

You're not getting any positive reinforcement. You're sick of all the backbiting. And he's put you in a place where finally you say, Jesus, it's got to be you or nothing. God help me now to begin to praise you.