Shut the Door

A man walks into a diner carrying a dog in his arms. He places the dog on the counter and proclaims that the dog can talk. The man says he has one hundred dollars he’s willing to bet anyone who says he can’t. The waiter quickly takes the bet, and the dog’s owner looks at the dog and asks him, “What’s the thing on top of a building that keeps the sun and rain out?”

The dog answers, “Roof.”

The waiter says, “Are you kidding? I’m not paying.”

The dog’s owner says, “Double or nothing, and I’ll ask him a different question.” The waiter agrees, and the owner turns to his dog and asks, “Who was the greatest baseball player ever?”

The dog answers with a muffled, “Ruth.”

With that the waiter picks them both up and throws them out on the street. As they bounce on the sidewalk in front of the diner, the dog looks at his owner and says, “DiMaggio?”

Christians need to stand firm for God. We can’t waiver in our commitment to Christ or the truths that are in the Word of God.

Compromise should not be allowed when it comes to our faith and obedience to Christ.

We must focus on what matters.

Jesus told His disciples that we need to give up our own ways and will to follow Him.

He asked His followers:

Matthew 16:26–27 NLT

26 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? 27 For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father and will judge all people according to their deeds.

What matters most in this life? Are we focused on what matters? Or are we upset when things don’t go our way?

I’m telling you the truth, we need to be standing on a firm foundation. We need to be clear eyed knowing what matters most.

Sometimes while we are waiting on God we can forget what matters most. We can get distracted by life or the circumstances we find ourselves in.

That’s kind of where the Jewish believers found themselves after Jesus ascended to heaven.

The writer of Hebrews was writing to a defeated people.

They had sold everything and were waiting for Jesus to return at any second. When He didn’t come back some people started to lose faith. When we get to chapter 4 of Romans the writer is telling them how to stand firm.

He is saying, remember Jesus.

We saw Him with our own eyes.

He was alive.

He taught us, He performed miracles, He fulfilled all the prophecies, He is the Messiah we have been waiting for all these generations.

He reminded those wavering believers that Jesus was the one who rose from the dead!

He told them not to forget! He tells them to hold firmly to what they believe. To remember that Jesus is in heaven. He sees their situation and understands the struggles because he endured the same things.

He reminded them that they had an inheritance. They could stand in the presence of God because of the price Christ paid.

They could stand firm knowing they had recieved mercy, and will receive grace to ENDURE to the end. They had been given a promise!

Let’s read what he wrote.

Hebrews 4:14–16 NLT

14 So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. 15 This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. 16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

Now, let me tell you, if that doesn’t get you excited then you’re not standing firm. Because standing firm is KNOWING that we are standing on Jesus! He brings us hope! He is our foundation.

We have a promise of inheritance.

In your life you might be tempted to question God. You might be like those early followers saying, I have given EVERYTHING for the gospel but things aren’t going my way.

Where is Jesus?! He said He was coming back, and right now I need Him more than ever.

I am going to encourage you, the same way Hebrews 4 encouraged those early believers, to stand firm in your faith.

Jesus is working. He has an agenda. There is a timeline. Things need to be fulfilled. Just because we can’t see it, doesn’t mean things aren’t in His control.

Things might seem hard, but we have Christ. Present circumstances don’t dictate our future.

How can we trust in God even when He isn’t working in our schedule?

There is something really important you can do while you’re standing firm on what you believe.

You can SHUT THE DOOR.

Shut the doors of disobedience, doubt, desperation, deception. In my personal study last week I came across this little phrase 4 times in one day, in the old and new testament, and I believe it was God speaking to me about how to stand firm in faith. The phrase I keep reading was “shut the door”.

To me, there’s something important about shutting doors in our life. If we follow the example in these four scriptures then we will be able to stand firm in our faith.

I have to read 35 verses tonight to establish context. Here’s 2 Kings 4 in the NLT

2 Kings 4:1–35(NLT)

1 One day the widow of a member of the group of prophets came to Elisha and cried out, “My husband who served you is dead, and you know how he feared the Lord. But now a creditor has come, threatening to take my two sons as slaves.”

2 “What can I do to help you?” Elisha asked. “Tell me, what do you have in the house?” “Nothing at all, except a flask of olive oil,” she replied.

3 And Elisha said, “Borrow as many empty jars as you can from your friends and neighbors.

4 Then go into your house with your sons and shut the door behind you. Pour olive oil from your flask into the jars, setting each one aside when it is filled.”

5 So she did as she was told. Her sons kept bringing jars to her, and she filled one after another.

6 Soon every container was full to the brim! “Bring me another jar,” she said to one of her sons. “There aren’t any more!” he told her. And then the olive oil stopped flowing.

7 When she told the man of God what had happened, he said to her, “Now sell the olive oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on what is left over.”

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8 One day Elisha went to the town of Shunem. A wealthy woman lived there, and she urged him to come to her home for a meal. After that, whenever he passed that way, he would stop there for something to eat.

...

12 He said to his servant Gehazi, “Tell the woman from Shunem I want to speak to her.” When she appeared,

13 Elisha said to Gehazi, “Tell her, ‘We appreciate the kind concern you have shown us. What can we do for you? Can we put in a good word for you to the king or to the commander of the army?’ ” “No,” she replied, “my family takes good care of me.”

14 Later Elisha asked Gehazi, “What can we do for her?” Gehazi replied, “She doesn’t have a son, and her husband is an old man.”

15 “Call her back again,” Elisha told him. When the woman returned, Elisha said to her as she stood in the doorway,

16 “Next year at this time you will be holding a son in your arms!” “No, my lord!” she cried. “O man of God, don’t deceive me and get my hopes up like that.”

17 But sure enough, the woman soon became pregnant. And at that time the following year she had a son, just as Elisha had said.

18 One day when her child was older, he went out to help his father, who was working with the harvesters.

19 Suddenly he cried out, “My head hurts! My head hurts!” His father said to one of the servants, “Carry him home to his mother.”

20 So the servant took him home, and his mother held him on her lap. But around noontime he died.

21 She carried him up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, then shut the door and left him there.

22 She sent a message to her husband: “Send one of the servants and a donkey so that I can hurry to the man of God and come right back.”

23 “Why go today?” he asked. “It is neither a new moon festival nor a Sabbath.” But she said, “It will be all right.”

24 So she saddled the donkey and said to the servant, “Hurry! Don’t slow down unless I tell you to.”

25 As she approached the man of God at Mount Carmel, Elisha saw her in the distance. He said to Gehazi, “Look, the woman from Shunem is coming.

26 Run out to meet her and ask her, ‘Is everything all right with you, your husband, and your child?’ ” “Yes,” the woman told Gehazi, “everything is fine.”

27 But when she came to the man of God at the mountain, she fell to the ground before him and caught hold of his feet. Gehazi began to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone. She is deeply troubled, but the Lord has not told me what it is.”

28 Then she said, “Did I ask you for a son, my lord? And didn’t I say, ‘Don’t deceive me and get my hopes up’?”

29 Then Elisha said to Gehazi, “Get ready to travel; take my staff and go! Don’t talk to anyone along the way. Go quickly and lay the staff on the child’s face.”

30 But the boy’s mother said, “As surely as the Lord lives and you yourself live, I won’t go home unless you go with me.” So Elisha returned with her.

31 Gehazi hurried on ahead and laid the staff on the child’s face, but nothing happened. There was no sign of life. He returned to meet Elisha and told him, “The child is still dead.”

32 When Elisha arrived, the child was indeed dead, lying there on the prophet’s bed.

33 He went in alone and shut the door behind him and prayed to the Lord.

34 Then he lay down on the child’s body, placing his mouth on the child’s mouth, his eyes on the child’s eyes, and his hands on the child’s hands. And as he stretched out on him, the child’s body began to grow warm again!

35 Elisha got up, walked back and forth across the room once, and then stretched himself out again on the child. This time the boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes!

First up, we need to:

Shut the Door of Disobedience

2 Kings 4:4 NLT

4 Then go into your house with your sons and shut the door behind you. Pour olive oil from your flask into the jars, setting each one aside when it is filled.”

Now, none of us like to be told what to do. We are pretty independent. We can justify why we do the things we do. It’s easy to justify not doing the things that God tells us to do because He’s not here physically to point it out when we don’t do them! No one knows what God has spoken to our hearts.

We might be extremely convicted to do something specific for God and never act on it because know one will ever find out! There aren’t always tangible consequences to our disobedience. Sometimes only you and God know what you didn’t do.

In our story. This woman who came to Elisha for help was told what to do to be saved. She did what she was told, the miracle happened, she paid her debts, and lived on the left overs.

Well, what if she didn’t do what she was told? I think she would have probably never been mentioned in the Bible and we wouldn’t know a thing about her life. She would have lived a life without her sons because they were taken into slavery to pay her debt.

This thing very was common back in those days and no doubt happened to countless other people.

What makes this story remarkable to us and applicable to us is the fact that this woman was obedient.

Obedience = Blessing

Disobedience = Curse

Why did Elisha tell her to shut the door and fill the pots? Because he wanted to control her life? NO! He wanted her to experience the miraculous blessing of God.

We are in the same situation in our lives. The debt collector is knocking on our door. We owe the biggest debt ever because we are all sinners!

Jesus has paid the that price for us, praise God! Now as His followers, He tells us that we need to shut some doors in our life to experience the blessings of God! We should do those things wholeheartedly because those things lead to blessings!

God is not trying to control or manipulate you because He gets a kick out of watching you squirm - no! He wants the best for you and sometimes that means we must obey what he says.

To stand firm we must obey.

Next up we must...

Shut the Door of Doubt

Now we move to the next story or the woman who’s son died. The scripture says:

2 Kings 4:21 NLT

21 She carried him up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, then shut the door and left him there.

Standing firm means that you have to believe God is going to do what He says.

He is faithful to His Word. He is NOT a liar.

This woman was given a promise, she was going to have a son. So, when her son died in her lap she took it up with the person who made the promise.

I just imagine her as a modern woman. I picture the earrings coming off, grabbing the coat, and heading out to find the man who promised.

She had no doubt that God had made the promise to her. She went through the pregnancy. That child was a reality. She was living in her promise. The enemy tried to take that promise, but she stood firm. She was not going to give up just because there was a problem. Just because the reality seemed stronger than the promise.

So she finds Elisha and we see this emotional scene:

2 Kings 4:28 NLT

28 Then she said, “Did I ask you for a son, my lord? And didn’t I say, ‘Don’t deceive me and get my hopes up’?”

In other words, how could you do this to me? You told me that I was going to have a son and you better hold up your end of the deal!

Elisha wanted to send his servant to pray for the child, but the woman wouldn’t have it - she insisted that Elisha was the one to come to her home.

And guess what? The Bible says, that Elisha returned to her house.

What type of tenacity does this woman have? I think she has the kind that we need to have in our lives!

There are promises in the Word of God that we need to take hold of in our lives. We must grab them and not let them go when difficult things come our way. We need to shut the door of those difficult things and run to God!

Get a hold of the truth, stand firm on it, and KNOW without a doubt that God is faithful to fulfill His promises.

Find hope and help in the scripture! Too many times we are holding onto promises that are not in the Word of God.

We are holding on the the false promise that everything is going to be perfect in this life when we should be standing on the actual promise that Jesus gave:

John 16:33 NLT

33 I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

We can stand firm knowing that we might have troubles in this life, but we have a hope for the future because Christ has overcome this world!

You can only shut the door of doubt when you KNOW what you’ve been promised. Only then will you do what was encouraged in Hebrews 4 and come BOLDY before the throne of God.

Lay hold of the promises of God. They will change your situation!

Next up, if we are to stand firm then we must shut the door to disobedience, doubt, and desperation.

Shut the Door of Desperation

Elisha makes it back to the house of this woman and was told where to find the dead child.

2 Kings 4:33 NLT

33 He went in alone and shut the door behind him and prayed to the Lord.

To any person this is about as desperate of a situation as we could imagine. This child was dead.

He had been dead for a while. At least long enough for all the events to have taken place. There was no denying the child was gone.

There should have been in despair, mourning, and grief over the loss of this child. But instead, the door of desperation was closed and faith was activated.

You close the door of desperation in your life when you STAND FIRM knowing that God can do the impossible.

In your life you are not in a desperate situation. Because WHERE you are is not a surprise to God! He can turn things around in an instant. We must stand firm in faith knowing that with God nothing is impossible.

(Testimony)

Even when things seem dead and gone. God can bring things back to life.

It took faith. Here’s something else to consider from the scripture: The healing didn’t happen right away.

What did Elisha have to do? He actually did six things!

He laid on the body

He placed his mouth on the child’s mouth

He placed his eyes on the child’s eyes

His hands on the child’s hands

He got up and walked back and forth

He stretched out over the child again

Every one of those things was an act of faith. He didn’t just say a polite prayer and then leave when nothing happened.

He pressed in and trusted in the impossible.

What’s the application for us? FAITH takes action!

Start closing the door of desperation by believing in the impossible and walking in faith.

You might say, I’ve done it 100 times and always get shut down. Well, you know what? Try it again. This might be the time that God wants to do the impossible in your life.

I know what thing for sure: If you never take a step in faith then you’ll never experience the power of God. You’ll never see the impossible made possible.

Salvation takes a step faith and so does everything else God calls you to do in your life.

Standing firm means you shut the door of desperation and you start walking in faith trusting that God in HIS timing will work things out according to HIS will!

To stand firm we must shut the door of disobedience, doubt, desperation, and deception.

Shut the Door of Deception

Matthew 6:6 (NLT)

6 But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

The devil is good a deceiving us, but do you know who is better at deceiving us?

WE are!

Obadiah 3 (NLT)

3 You have been deceived by your own pride...

When we shut the door to disobedience, doubt, and desperation, what we are really doing is telling God that we need Him. We can’t make it through this life without Him.

But you will never ever be a person of obedience, faith, or trust if you are trying to prove something to yourself or others.

Jesus told His followers not to be like the hypocrites who love to pray in public for everyone to hear them speak.

He told them that they should humble themselves in the presence of God.

He said they should shut the door to their own pride and speak honestly and truthfully to God.

What you do in the private times of your life will outshine what you’ve done in public because what you do in private will last for ETERNITY.

The truth is that when we are operating in our pride we are saying we don’t need Jesus. He’s not our foundation. We are not standing firm on Him.

When we do that we are deceiving ourselves. We won’t make it in this life and I question if we will make it to the next, because without trust in Jesus we have no hope of redemption.

We can’t do anything without Jesus. He is our foundation.

Remember how we started in our study?

Hebrews 4:14 NLT

14 So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe.

This is the key to standing firm. We hold on to what we believe. That’s the common thread in shutting all these doors.

Disobedience - Do you believe in Christ? Obey Him.

Doubt - Do you believe in Christ? Hold on to His promises.

Desperation - Do you believe in Christ? Trust He can do what seems impossible.

Deception - Do you believe in Christ? Surrender to Him.