(The Second Gate of The City, Simeon)

 

The second gate to the Holy City is the gate of Simeon. The name Simeon means `hearing'. In a broader sense it means, `He who hears and obeys what he hears'. There is a gift that the Lord gives that will help you to hear what the Spirit is saying: That gift is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. You can not hear and know what the Word of God is saying unless you have the anointing of the teacher who is the Holy Spirit. Peter told those assembled on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2:38 when they asked him what they could do to be saved,

“Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 
The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

Jesus, who is our example, did not start His ministry until He received the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Mark 1:9-11 says,

" And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan. And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him: And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

Jeus said in John 15:12-15,

"I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you."

The Great Apostle Paul said in I Cor. 2:12-14,

"We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing Spiritual truths in Spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things what come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are Spiritually discerned."

Paul did not leave any doubt as to where he stood on the importance of receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit, for he said in Eph. 5:17,

"Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is . Do not get drunk on wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit."

This is not an option if you want to be pleasing in the sight of God and do His will. This is not an option, it is a command. If you have come through the first gate, Reuben, you have been born again and the Holy Spirit is within you. He is not going to come down, He is going to come up! The baptism of the Holy Spirit is simply releasing Him to flow up out of your born from above Spirit and you can release Him any time you desire.

The reason the baptism of the Holy Spirit is fought so much is be cause this is the anointing that is going to release all truth to you. Jesus said in John 16:13,

"But when He, the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth."

It is no wonder the Pharisees fight it. Once you start hearing what the Spirit is saying to the churches, you will see through the transparency of their traditions. They only crucified Jesus for one reason, He was light. He exposed them and made men see what they were without saying a word about them.

When you are filled, or come under the control of the Spirit, you start to move from tradition to truth and really start to have an ear to hear what the Spirit is saying to your generation.

At each of the twelve gates were twelve angels, or twelve messengers, or twelve messages! The sad thing is that people are preaching only the first gate, or the first message, they have only one message and there are eleven more. Proverbs 1:22 is a verse for all of you who have experienced the new birth,

"How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity?"

The word simple means immaturity. "How long, you immature ones, will you love immaturity?"

"And the scorners delight in their scorning, and the fools hate knowledge."

Don't hate knowledge. If you hate knowledge you will perish. God had a very strong warning about this in Hosea 4:6,

"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you, that you shall be no priest to me: seeing you have forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget your children."

There are ten more gates to go through, and you must have the experience of this gate in order to understand the other gates. Proverbs 1:23 says,

"Turn at my reproof, (or repent) behold, I will pour out My Spirit unto you and make My words known to you."

I am sure that by now you have learned that the Bible points out the mistakes of those that it writes about and in Genesis 49:5 it says,

"Simeon and Levi are brothers: (This is the only good thing said about them) Instruments of cruelty are in their habitations. O my soul, come not into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honor, be thou not united: For in their anger they slew a man, and in their self will they dug down a wall. Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel."

Amplified version reads,

"Simeon and Levi are brothers (alike, headstrong, deceitful, vindictive and cruel); their swords are weapons of violence. O my soul do come not into their secret council; unto their assembly, my honor, be not united (for I knew nothing in their plot); because in their anger they slew men (an honored man, Shechem and the Shechemites); and in their self will they disabled oxen. Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel. I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel."

If you have forgotten what these two brothers did, you should read this story and you will understand why this was said of them.

In our case, what happens if we just stop at this second gate and refuse to go any further? We can become violent and unjust and deal with people the wrong way and damage lives and even be false. Notice it says here that they were cruel and that the instruments of their cruelty were in their assemblies, churches. Not only were they cruel in their churches but when they went home, they were cruel to their wives and children. This shows the danger of stopping at the second gate.

"Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel. I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel."

In the book of Numbers Moses numbered the Tribe of Simeon twice and the second time he numbered them, they had decreased by over fifty percent. This shows me that in every church and every ministry where people stop at the second gate, there will be a decrease in their attendance and growth. People are tired of going into churches where there are envies and cruelties, with people always arguing and quarreling; where everybody wants to be chiefs, and nobody wants to be Indians.

Don't blame the people, this is the ministry's fault for stopping at the second gate, and then they get angry at anyone that preaches anything more. They are well aware that they cannot lead anyone where they have not been. You cannot take them beyond the second gate if you haven't gone on yourself.

The name Simeon was the fifth stone on the breastplate of the High Priest. The stone was a sapphire stone. Ca. (Song of Solomon) 5:14 says,

"His hands are as gold rings set with the beryl: His belly is as bright ivory overlaid with (hearing) Sapphires"

The inner most being of Jesus was set on just one thing; hearing what the Father had to say. Do you just want to be like Jesus and have an ear to hear what the Spirit wants to say to you? Jesus said in John 7:37-38,

“In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because Jesus was not yet glorified.)

Exodus 24:10 says,

"And they saw the God of Israel; and there was under His feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in His clearness."

Ezekiel 1:26 says,

"And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone..."

Only those who can hear are going to rule!

Isaiah 54:11 says,

"O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest and not comforted, behold I will lay thy stones with fair colors and thy foundations with sapphires."

This is speaking of the Church as She is being restored, and the very foundation of this restoration is the fact that this Bride can hear what the Spirit is saying to Her generation.

Lamentations 4:7 says,

"Her Nazarites were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk, they were more ruddy in body than rubies, their polishing was of sapphire."

God is going to give His Church pastors after His own heart who shall feed His people with knowledge and understanding. He is now polishing them, and this word literally means to cut off or divide. He is doing a work of purification, and I encourage you to present your bodies a living sacrifice and let Him polish you like a sapphire stone. Faith comes by hearing, and when you really start to hear, He will start to polish.

There is a move among the Churches that have an ear to hear what the Spirit is saying to come out of the traditions of men. A lot of what we have been taught by men that have refused to receive the gift of God and choose to rely on their own wisdom to understand the deeper things of God is holding us back from being the bright light of truth to our generation.

Things are changing and I pray that you will have the courage to allow the Lord to enlighten your understanding of His will.

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