Living With An Open Door
There are many promises in God's Word. Some come to us by way of our being apart of God's Creation. We are blessed to be on the face of the earth. Just to be alive is a blessing. If God Doesn't exhale we could never inhale. The gift of life itself is a blessing. To be on this side of the grave is a blessing within itself. As the old mothers of the church would say; God bid my golden moments to roll on for just a few days longer, that’s a blessing.
Other blessings come to us by virtue of having been born again. As members of the body of Christ. Some promises are reserved for those who know Jesus as Savior.
Some promises come to us simply because we ask for them. Jesus said; Ask and it shall be given. Whatever you ask in My name I’ll do it for you. He said; You have not because you ask not.
Then there are a whole other set of promises that come to us when our conduct meets the condition for that blessing. Some blessings we only get when our conduct meet the condition of God’s Word in order to get the blessing. So it is in the text.
How do you get an open door? First we must understand that a closed door means the missing out on what’s on the other side. But the text says that God desires to open a door for you and keep it open. Because He’s the one who can open doors that no man can shut.
Ex. Saul/David Saul disobeyed God’s orders and God closed the door in his life and rejected him as Israel’s king. No matter how many times Samuel prayed for Saul and petitioned God on his behalf, the door was closed. On the other hand, even though Saul was trying to kill David, in order to keep him from his God given destiny, God kept the door open for David to walk in. When God Closes a door, no man can open it, and when God opens a door, no man can shut it.
I. He says to this church at Philadelphia, I know your works! With every church except 1 other church, after the compliment He went on to the criticism of that church. But with this church, after careful examination, investigation and interrogation. When He pulled back the cover on this church, when He opened the door to this church, He found nothing to criticize this church for. So He compliments them on their exemplary conduct.
II. He says to them; because you have a little power. Not a whole lot of power. And I was glad about that because had he complimented them on their great abundance of power, then, maybe, that would exclude many of us. Because many times in our lives we feel as though we only have a little strength left. And, guess what? That’s all you need when you’re connected to the one who has All Power in His Hand. That’s why our little becomes much when we place it in the Master’s hand.
III. He says; you have little power but you have kept my Word
It’s all about obedience. It’s a lifestyle. It’s what you do. Not just on Sunday Morning, but Monday through Sunday. It’s about what you do when you’re under pressure. When things are going well, and when it gets dark in your life. You keep His Word when it’s popular or unpopular. He says; You held on to My Word. So if you want to live with an open door, we must keep His Word. You cannot live acting a fool every day. How can we expect God to open a door for a church that’s acting a fool? We don’t know how to get along with each other. No! No! God will close that door.
Holding on to God’s Word means we must be willing to pay the price. Obedience costs you something. No!! It’s not easy! But God demands that we keep His Word. That’s why it’s possible for your neighbor who’s sitting right next to you to have an open door in their life, and you have a close door in your life. You can be witnessing God’s blessing in the life of others, while your door is closed. Because some of us don’t want to pay the price. Some of us like being popular more than obeying God’s Word. I want people to like me, so I compromise my values; I lower my standards and straddle the fence. I play the field when it comes to obedience. You know what we do! Some of us can’t throw a party without compromise. Without alcohol and worldly music, where we cut up and act a fool and then want to turn around on Sunday and sing “Oh how I love Jesus!” Did you not hear the Master when He said; Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. Didn’t you hear Him when He said; No man can serve two masters, you will either love one and despise the other.
The Apostle Paul in Romans 12:2 says; be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind. He says that we must come out from among them and be ye separate. We can’t live like we want to live and expect God to open doors for us. Some places we ought not want to go since we’ve been changed. Some activities we should not want to participate in if we’ve really are changed. There are some of us who like being popular more than obeying God’s Word. We want people to like us so much that we will compromise God’s word for popularity.