THE MYSTERY OF SPIRITUAL HOUSE AND GATES

THE MYSTERY OF SPIRITUAL HOUSE AND GATES

In a very simple and plain language, your spiritual gates are those points in your body through which virtue, grace or power leaves or enters your spirit. You are a spirit and you live inside your body as a house. Your body therefore is like a house with doors or gates that shields your spirit man. When one is born again, the holy spirit becomes one with his spirit and lives in your physical body as a house or temple.

In the olden days God lived in a physical house but now in our own time He chose to live in our body.

What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 1 Cor 6:19KJV

Just as the physical temple of the Old Testament had 12 gates, we as human temples also have gates. The spiritual city of Revelation 21:23 also has gates. This buttresses the importance of the concept of spiritual gates.  The bible said clearly that we are the temple of God. According to 2Chronicles 23:19, it is not just that the Old Testament temple had gates, but these gates were so important that they were highly guarded.

And he set the porters at the gates of the house of the LORD, that none which was unclean in anything should enter in.

2 Chron 23:19 (KJV).

From the text above, there are very crucial points that we need to emphasis. Firstly, God has a house. This house has gates. God does not want anything unclean to enter his house, therefore, these gates needs to be carefully guarded because there are so many unclean thing around.  

If the old testaments priests guarded the gates of the physical temple carefully, then we of the spiritual temple need to guard our gates with utmost carefulness.

In order to guard these gates, we need to properly identify and understand them.  

The Bible on Spiritual Gates.

The bible has unveiled a lot of mysteries about spiritual gates generally. In order for us to properly understand the human gates in particular we will survey summarily some of the deep truths about spiritual gates in the bible.

1. Spiritual gates are personalities. The Lord Jesus is a personality and he said I am the door (gate) as quoted above in John 10:9. No wonder the city gates in Ezekiel 48:31-33 and Rev. were named after personalities 

Ezekiel 48:31-33 And the gates of the city shall be after the names of the tribes of Israel: three gates northward; one gate of Reuben, one gate of Judah, one gate of Levi.  And at the east side four thousand and five hundred: and three gates; and one gate of Joseph, one gate of Benjamin, one gate of Dan. And at the south side four thousand and five hundred measures: and three gates; one gate of Simeon, one gate of Issachar, one gate of Zebulun.

Then in Psalms 24:9-25:1, we saw how this gate responded stubbornly as a personality, ‘who is the king of glory’.

 Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah.

This implies that whenever you are addressing an ancient city gates, know quite well that you are addressing a personality. There is a spiritual strongman attached to any spiritual gate. In the garden of Eden, the gates were not brass and Iron but cherubims.

So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. (Gen 3:24 KJV)

And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:( Revelation 21:12-13)

When the Lord Jesus said that the most threatening power the church has to contend with are the gates of hell, he was not also referring to brass and Iron but wicked principalities and power; yet he called them ‘gates of hell’.

And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.( Matthew 16:18 KJV)

2. As strong and fearless as death it is kept under the control of a gate by God.

Job 38:17-18: Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death?

Psalms 9:13-14Have mercy upon me, O Lord; consider my trouble which I suffer of them that hate me, thou that liftest me up from the gates of death:

3. God loves the gates of Zion.

Psalms 87:2-3 The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.

4. Gates are altars

Acts 14:13 Then the priest of Jupiter, which was before their city, brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sacrifice with the people.

5. Gates are spiritual courts.

Ruth 4:11 - And all the people that were in the gate , and the elders, said, We are witnesses. The LORD make the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel: and do thou worthily in Ephratah, and be famous in Bethlehem

KJV

6. The power of God is more than the gates of the enemies.

Psalms 107:16 - For he hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder.

Nahum 2:6 - The gates of the rivers shall be opened, and the palace shall be dissolved.

7. The major enemies of the Church are the gates of hell.

And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.( Matthew 16:18 KJV)

... To be continued