I want you to turn in your Bibles
back to Revelation chapter three. Also, you may also put your hand
in Isaiah 22 so that we can establish a context for this second consideration
of the church in Philadelphia. We are dealing with the second
consideration in the church at Philadelphia, and it's important
for us to gain somewhat of a context around the person of Christ who
is speaking to the church there. And as we have been learning
as we are going through this series, the attributes of Jesus
Christ to the seven churches were specific in particular to
those churches with regards to their needs in Christ's intentions
to bless them according to who they were specifically. What I mean by that is every
local church that is of God, born of God, wrought by the gospel,
is in its own unique right a local church that Christ has designed.
That means that no two local churches are exactly alike. There
are similarities, but there are differences as well. Like no
two families are alike. Like no two persons are alike. Like when you have children,
no two children in your family are alike. Even if you have Siamese
twins, identical twins, those two children are very different,
are they not? And so it is with each one of
the churches of Jesus Christ in the book of Revelation. You
will note that the manner in which Christ revealed himself
to church one is different than how he revealed himself to church
six. And when you consider how he
revealed himself to the church at Philadelphia, he opens up
speaking with regards to his holiness, his truthfulness, and
then his capacity and power to sustain for them an open door,
an open door of which he says no man can shut. And that when
he shuts a door, no man can open. Now we get Excited and we shout
and we go hallelujah for that. We don't even know what the door
is. He's opening Or the door he's shutting We're just religious
folk happy that jesus is doing it But I want to give you a context
so you can have a little bit of knowledge as to why that's
so When he used old testament language, he was speaking to
a people who were already disciplined in biblical truths The assumption
is that Christ knew that his audience were people who were
literate in the Old Testament. He knew that they understood
the symbolism and typology of the Old Testament. So he uses
the Old Testament metaphor by which to communicate to them
this aspect of his authority. And as you can clearly see in
Isaiah chapter 22, we have the pointer passage to that statement
in verse 22. Look at it. Isaiah 22, 22. And the key of the house of David
will I lay upon his shoulder. So he shall what? Open. And none shall shut. And he shall
what? Shut. And none shall open. Did
not our Lord get that text from here? And yet, will I help you
to understand or mark or know that he is talking about a key,
authority. Access, that's what a key is.
I have the key by which the door is open and I have the key by
which the door is shut. And will you notice how large
this key is? God the Father says of the Lord
Jesus Christ, who is the son of David, I will lay upon his
shoulders the key. The key is on the shoulders of
Christ. And what that's referring to
is his authority and power. What massive key is this that
should be laid upon the shoulders of Jesus Christ? It's the key
of governance. It's the key that says that Christ
is the governor of the universe. It's the key representing authority,
representing access, representing control over the whole of the
kingdom. In fact, Isaiah 9, 6 is a reference
to this. Unto us a child is born and unto
us a son is given and the government shall be upon his what? Shoulders. So when we talk about this key
of access and key of shutting, what we're talking about is the
strength and the authority, the power and the dignity, the rule
and office of Jesus Christ over the universe. What he is stating
very clearly in this text is, he is the one that governs all
the affairs of the world. Didn't we learn that last week
in point two? He controls our destiny. Christ rules over all
things for the purpose of accomplishing his own goals. He rules over
your life and mine. He is the captain of our salvation. He is the leader of his church. He is the Lord of the universe. He runs and governs all things. And this key is on his shoulder. Now he reveals himself to the
church at Philadelphia for this very reason, that their eyes
might be fixed on Jesus Christ as the one who is in absolute,
total, unquestionable control of their life. And I shared with
you last week that it's important for you to know that when you
are going through difficulties that Christ is in control. It's
important for you to know that if providence appears to have
delayed your goals, your agendas, your purposes, that Christ was
in that too. It's important for you to know
as a child of God, when you're going through adversity and you
are facing adversaries and real struggles, that Christ is in
that too. That when you are experiencing
reverses in life, things that are contrary to your desires,
that Christ is in that too. You and I must never hold the
notion that because I'm going through hell that the Lord has
abandoned me. No such thing can be true of
him who said lo I am with you always even to the end of the
world and Neither can it be said of him who said all power in
heaven and in earth has been given unto me therefore Go ye
into all the world and preach the gospel now stay with me on
that It is very important for you to hear this because we all
see we all a man and a man a man a man is telling trouble comes
Come on now. Come on. I cannot keep it real
today. Here come the trouble. Oh lord. Oh lord You act like
he lost the key Am I telling the truth? And what i'm getting
at before I unpack the rest of the verses We have to contemplate
because we've got to come back to philadelphia next week as
well What i'm getting at is it's critical that if you and I are
going to share in This conversation because what's in front of us
is a conversation I don't know if I told you last week that
when you read the scriptures primarily, but not exclusively,
but largely the scriptures are conversation between one person
and another person. And you and I are ear hustling
in on the conversation. We are gossiping in on revelation,
a phone call, a dialogue between two other people. That means
largely the word of God is not always directly to you. but it
is certainly for you. And in this context, the letter
is written to the church at Philadelphia, not specifically to the church
in Hayward, but it is for us in that you and I can derive
from the conversation points of application that pertain to
you and me. Does that make some sense? Much
of your Christian learning when it comes to the word of God is
ear hustling. That's why we plainly say faith comes by what? Ear
hustling. Faith comes by ear hustling,
having an interest in the conversation that God is having with people
that he cares about. This is how you and I get in
on the good news of the gospel by ear hustling. God doesn't
have to always talk to me directly, but I'm so glad I have an ear
to hear. Because the Bible says very plainly,
the hearing ear and the seeing eye, the Lord has made both of
them. Not everybody has ears to hear. Not everyone has eyes
to see. But if God is giving you an ear
to hear, every time God opens His mouth, listen to Him. Even
if He ain't talking to you directly. Just let me get in on this. Because
there might just be a nugget of truth that applies to your
life directly. And that's what's going on here.
So let's do a little bit of expounding these three or four verses in
front of us, so that we can take away from this, this one glorious
reality. That Jesus is the greater David. Sitting on the throne of his
father David his human father David ruling over the universe
with his heavenly father God the father has always purposed
to make God the son the ruler of the universe But God has chosen
within the framework of covenant to accomplish that through a
promise that he made to Abraham and to David What you and I are
dealing with in the book of Philadelphia is a promise that the Father
made to David that of his seed, the seed of the Judahites, would
one sit on his throne and govern this universe. Now this is going
to be critical to your theology today because we are going to
continue working through the false notion that true Judaism
is an ethnic thing when in fact of matter it's a Christocentric
thing. Did you hear what I just said?
So when Christ speaks to the church of Philadelphia, he's
letting them know, hey, I'm the king. I am David's Lord and I
am David's son. Can you tie those two together?
I made him and I came into the world through him and I'm sitting
on his throne fulfilling all that was promised to David and
by the way, I am your Lord. So when people tell you the door
is shut, "'Until you hear from me, don't pay them any attention.'"
And when people tell you the door is open, "'Until you hear
from me, don't pay them any attention "'because I am your Lord.'" In
Isaiah 22, obviously the prophet Isaiah is speaking to the children
of Israel. They are about to go into Babylonian captivity
because of their rebellion, but God's promises never fail, isn't
that true? Even when we fail God, he's faithful to himself.
So he says to Israel that he's going to lay upon David's servant
a key on his shoulders, so he opens and none shuts, and he
shuts and none opens. Now watch verse 23, ladies and
gentlemen. I want to show you a gospel truth
as we begin to work through this. And I will fasten him as a nail
in a sure place. Now God is using the metaphor
of building a house. The house that he's going to
build is the kingdom of God. But the means by which that house
will be built is this person who is called him being used
in the analogy or metaphor of a what? Nail. And I will fasten
him as a nail in a sure place. Of whom is he describing? He's
describing Eliakim, who here in our context represents Jesus
Christ, the son of David, the governor of the kingdom. I will
fasten him as a nail in a sure place. Israel at that time would
have understood it this way. They would have understood through
all of the destruction taking place in the ten northern tribes,
and they're being scattered abroad through Assyria and then on into
Babylon, through all of the destruction taking place in the two southern
tribes, Benjamin and Judah, and them being scattered and destroyed
by the Assyrians as well as the Babylonians, that one day God
would raise up a nail and begin to rebuild Jerusalem by that
nail who would be fastened in a sure place. See, nails are
used to put together homes board by board by board. And this nail
is Christ. This nail is Christ who would
be placed in a sure place by which the house would be built.
What is that sure place of which God says, I will fasten him as
a nail? The cross. It's the cross, the bloody cross
is where God fastened his son as a nail by which the whole
church would be built, both Jew and Gentile. This is the only
place in the universe by which God could gather together. Watch
this now. Sinners from every nation, kindred,
tribe, and tongue. Broken boards, postures of ourselves,
no good, not worth a thing. And God knows how to take that
which is broken, marred, rotted, and corrupted, and build a glorious
house out of it. All because of the one nail,
Jesus Christ. I will fasten Him in a sure place. Now watch the text now, because
I want you to see how important it is to have a clear gospel
understanding of Scripture. Now a lot of you hear us constantly
talking about preaching Christ and teaching Christ and that
this book is all about whom? And if you don't understand that,
you have completely missed the biblical method of interpretation.
That all the Scriptures point to Him. And this nail is Christ. The governor is Christ. The authority
on his shoulders is the authority of Christ. And watch what the
text says. And he shall be for a glorious
throne to his father's house. Now, when Jesus came into the
world, what was much of his conversation about? His father's house. You have turned my father's house
into a den of thieves and robbers. My father's house shall be a
house of prayer. My father's house shall be a
house for all nations. I came not to do my own will,
but the will of my father, which sent me." Christ was constantly
about his father's business. He had in the forefront of his
mind the building of his father's house. And he knew that he was
the nail to start the project. Are you hearing me? Now watch
the next verse. Next verse, verse 24, watch this. Now watch this,
saints. Now I wanna know if you do this. And they, who is the
they? Jesse shall hang on him. Who is the him? Christ, all the
glory of his father's house. Beautiful. What you talking about,
preacher? When you get it, you will understand
that Christ gets all the glory. You will hang on Him all the
glory of His Father's house. Unto Him, unto Him belongs all
the glory. And they who understand the gospel
shall hang on Christ all the glory. From Genesis to Revelation,
He gets all the glory. We're hanging it on Him. We're
bestowing it upon Him. Christ gets all the glory. Are
you hearing me? We taught this last night in
our men's meeting. I am determined to know nothing among you but
Christ and Him crucified. Our preaching is Christ. He is
the glory of God and to Him belongs all the glory. Perish the thought
that men get the glory when no one died for your sins but Christ. Perish the thought that men get
the glory when the only one that rose from the dead is Jesus Christ. Perish the thought that men get
the glory when no one but Christ saved your hell-bound soul. Parish the thought that men get
the glory when God the Father said this is my beloved son in
whom I am well pleased Hear ye him Parish the thought so our
text teaches us how to interpret scripture Doesn't it that when
you read your Bible accurately you understand that Jesus is
coming in the volume of the book It's written of him and you glorify
God through him and they shall hang upon him all the glory of
his father's house." Watch this, the offspring. Who are the offspring? God's elect. Every man, woman,
and child that believes the gospel. The seed of Jesus Christ. According
to Isaiah 8, according to Hebrews 1, watch this now, I and the
children whom the Lord hath given me, I and the children whom the
Lord hath given me are for signs and wonders in Israel. God the
Father gave to God the Son a whole bunch of people. You know who
they were called? The children of Christ. The children
whom you have given me. The children whom you have given
me. Are you one of the children? If you are, guess what? You hang
all the glory on Him. That's how you know you're a
child of the living God. This is what Christ told Israel.
Listen, I know that my father is not your father. For had my
father been your father, you would have believed on me. You
would have believed on me. And if Abraham were your father,
you'd have believed on me too, because Abraham saw my day and
rejoiced. See, what I'm getting at is this,
that what he is about to do, that is Christ, is help the church
at Philadelphia maintain their inheritance. And the inheritance
is being lost every generation. And it's being lost today in
the present evangelical church. Listen, if the nail is taken
out, the house collapse. If the nail is removed, the glory
is gone. If you remove the nail, you remove
the house. And if you remove the house,
you remove the father's glory. The offspring and the issue,
all vessels of small quantity from the vessels of cups, even
to all the vessels of flagons. Let me ask you a question, child
of God. Are you a vessel of the Lord? Are you a vessel of the
Lord? Paul said it in second Corinthians
chapter four, that the excellency of the knowledge of Christ might
not be of us, but of him who called us. We have this treasure
in earthen vessels. Do you guys hear what I'm saying?
See, every believer is a vessel that bears on the inside the
depository of glory in the person of Christ. So that what's on
the inside is far more glorious than what's on the outside. And
in fact, the outward vessel is nothing but a, can I tell the
truth? A spit cup. Now you young people
don't know nothing about spit cups here. But folks in the South
know something about spit cups. Don't we know something about
spit cups? Now look at God. He places on the inside of spit
cups His glory. Can I tell you why? Because it's
not time for you to shine. It's time for Christ to shine.
It's not time for you to say, look at me. It's time for you
to say, look to Christ. But you have within you, if you're
a child of God, the hope of glory. So all the days of your life,
you give him glory. You hang the glory on him. And
you thank God that God chose to use you out of all of the
vessels in the world. Take you and sanctify you and
use you. Use this spit cup any kind of
way you want to. In fact, if you want to, oh God,
you can spit in me. I only got a few claps out of
that because most of you folks are dignified. See, most of you
people are dignified. But I'm here to tell you, I'm
here to tell you, listen to me, Christ spit on a few people in
his day. Did he spit on a few people in
his day? And those people went away the better for it, didn't
they? Spit on me, oh God. Spit on me anytime you want to.
See, some of y'all too dignified. See, now you're so dignified,
your vessels over there that are not being used of God. See,
the vessels that God uses most appear to be the most raggedy.
See, you know, in a house, you have these beautiful vessels
that you have up there in your cabinet, the decor for people
to look at. The owner of those vessels never
uses them. I saw a bunch of Christians are,
they look good, but God ain't using them. He hasn't spit in
them one time. You'll get it in a minute. You'll
get it in a minute. You'll get it in a minute. See, this is
critical to understand. The relationship between us and
Christ is humility to glory, humility to glory, humility to
glory. Can I tell you why? Because Christ
was the most marred vessel ever made by the hand of God. We all
esteemed him smitten, stricken, afflicted and smitten of God.
We turned, as it were, our faces from Him. There was no beauty
in Him that we should desire Him. And He was the most useful
vessel in the universe. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
I'm trying to lay a foundation so you can get this. Go to verse
25. I want you to see this now. I want you to see it. Then we're
going to go back to our text and go to work. In that day, said the Lord of
hosts, shall the nail that is fastened in the sure place be
what? And be what? what and the burden
that was upon it shall be cut off for the Lord of hosts has
spoken it there are two interpretations there this has to do with the
death of Christ because see the nail was the seat of David and
that nail had to be cut off he was cut off from the land of
the living the burden was laid upon him and God had to cut him
off he had to put Christ to death he had to kill Christ are you
following me but there's another more historic and practical application
and that's this every son of David from the days of Isaiah,
700 years before Christ, going up to the days of Jesus Christ,
were human beings who lived and died. It doesn't matter how well
they were used in their lifetime as the governor of Israel, they
had a day in which they what? They died. The governor that
rules over the universe now never dies. This governor, which is
speaking to the church at Philadelphia, lives forever. And when he speaks
to opening doors, that door is open forever. And when he speaks
to shutting doors, that door is shut forever. Let's go back
and learn some things. Point number one in our outline.
Going back to Revelation 3. Let's do some work. See, the
governor on this throne is there forever. He rules forever and
his kingdom is forever. And when he actually purposes
to do something in your life, It's forever. So that when he
opens the door for you, child of God, that door is opened as
long as he wants it to be open. And it's critical that you know
that. So under point number one, I have it very plain. What is
it? The key of David. Do you see that? The key of David. And let's remind ourselves once
again what he says. You're going to need this in
the time of trouble. Yes, you will. And to the angel
of the church in Philadelphia write these things saith he that
is holy, he that is true, he that hath the what? Key of David. Where is it? On his what? Shoulders. He that opens and no man shuts,
he that shuts and no man opens. Can I ask you a question before
we move on? What kind of key is it that David
has, that Jesus has, the greater David? What kind of key is it?
Wouldn't you want to ask that question? Remember what I said
in the opening, that we get excited about God opening doors and shutting
doors and we don't even know what door He's opening. We don't
even know what door He's shutting. Now I'm going to talk about that
today. There's a number of doors that we need to consider. But
the door that we are going to talk about now with regards to
this key, it's a key that opens the door of mercy. Of mercy. So stay with me for
a moment. You need to see this. When we
talk about David and our greater David, Jesus Christ, having the
key, opening doors, the door that he opens that is most essential
to you and me is the door of mercy. You and I need a door
of mercy every day. Will you hear me right now? Will
you hear me right now? David has the key to mercy. He has authority over mercy,
and it's mercy you need every day. You need God's unearned,
undeserved mercy every day. You need God to open a door of
mercy to allow you to live in his world every day. Are you
hearing me? See, the only other option is
merit. And if you and I are dealing
with God on the grounds of merit, we owe God. And no blessing flows
out of merit, only out of mercy. I need God to open the door of
mercy every day to let me go in and out and find favor with
Him. Now this is particularly true
in the area of salvation, as we're getting ready to see. When
He says, I open and no man shut, and I shut and no man opens,
It's because Christ has opened a door of mercy to the Philadelphian
church. Now this idea of a door of mercy
can be found explicitly in Isaiah 55 verse 3 and 4. Keep your hand
here and go to Isaiah 55. So now that we've discovered
who it is that actually governs the universe and possesses the
key, that is King Jesus, And we know that he's the one that's
in control of all of the affairs of the universe by which he controls
all things and governs all things. Now we are going to know that
primarily the work of our governor in this fallen world is to open
a door of mercy to sinners who need it. In Isaiah chapter 55,
this is a very common passage of scripture. You've heard it
before. Listen to verses one through four and mark my point
about the mercy of God. Ho, everyone that thirsteth,
come ye to the waters. And he that hath no money, come
ye buy, eat, drink. Buy, eat, yea, come buy wine
and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do you spend
money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which
does not satisfy, hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which
is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Watch this,
incline your ear, come unto me, here and your soul shall what? God is calling the lost sinner.
who is exercising the futility of trying to be satisfied in
his soul by the things of this life. Why are you spending money
for things that cannot satisfy you? His resolution to you sinner
is here, incline your ear and here. And if you listen to God,
he's gonna bid you to come. And if you come to God, watch
this now, come unto me and your soul shall live. Here it is now,
and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the what?
Sure mercies of David. I want that covenant, don't you? I can park it right there. I'm
not, but I can park it right there. Do you know how blessed
you are if in covenant relationship with God, he has promised you
the sure mercies of David? That every time you get in trouble,
There is a door open into which you can enter and once again
be recovered from your mistakes, from your faults, from your errors
on a par with King David. Did David know the mercy of God?
Did David know the favor of God? Did he know the kindness of God?
Did he know the cleansing power of God? The atoning work of Christ? Did he know justification? He
was the one who said, blessed is the man whose sins are not
imputed unto him, whose trespasses are what? Forgiven. David knew
the mercies of God. And I submit to you, if you're
not really born again, you don't know what I'm talking about.
See, only men and women who know the grace of God in Christ understand
this mercy of which I'm speaking. The mercy of God is likened unto
the way God dealt with David. Now David messed up, didn't he
mess up? He messed up. And so David knows something
about the forgiveness of God, doesn't he? That's why he said
in Psalm 130, there is forgiveness with you that you might be worshiped. Now, when a man and woman worships
God aright, here's why you worship God. Because He's a God of forgiveness.
He's a God of all grace. God knows how to bring you back
to Himself, cleanse you, make you right, and set you back on
your path. And when that's the case, you
have experienced the key of mercy. The key of mercy. Now, only proud
sinners do not need the mercy of God. This is why this is not
resonating with some of you. Today, you're good. But just
get the CD and stick it in your pocket. Because tomorrow you're
going to need to hear this all over again. When the iniquity
of your heels trip you up and you find yourself trapped in
the bondage of your iniquity and know that the only way you
can go to God is through mercy. And then you're going to be asking
Him, Father, open the door. Open the door of mercy to this
needy sinner. And if you have made a covenant
with Him, yea, Him with you, you have the sure mercies of
David in your life. What an absolute phenomenal blessing. And in fact, the whole of Israel
was utterly preoccupied with this. Go with me in your Bible
to Luke chapter 1. I want you to see this, verse 67. And in
74, this is what Mary, this is what Elizabeth was talking about
when they came to discover that they were the vehicles by which
the visitation of the Spirit of God had wrought in their womb,
both John the Baptist, as well as the Lord Jesus Christ. In
their prayers, they thanked God. They thanked God for His mercies. Listen to this. Listen to these
words in Luke 1, verse 60. 7 and following I'm at Luke 1 67
through 74. Are you there? This is what is
this is what is said by his father and his father Zacharias. This
is John the Baptist filled with the Holy Ghost prophesied saying
blessed be the Lord God of Israel for he has Visited and redeemed
his people and he has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David Who is that horn? Jesus Christ. And he spake by the mouth of
his holy prophets, which he which have been since the beginning
of the world. Watch this. Here it is that we should be
saved from our enemies and from the hand of all that hate us.
Isn't that good? Verse 72, to perform the mercy
promise to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant. See, they understood salvation
as the mercy of God. Do you understand that? Salvation
has as its synonym, the mercy of God. If you are the object
of God's grace, you are a vessel of mercy. God's been merciful
to you. God's bestowed upon you things
you don't deserve and could not have earned. One of the big words
in your vocabulary ought to be the word mercy. Mercy, I'm an
object of mercy. As Paul said, but God had mercy
on me. As he told Titus in the book
of Titus, we are looking for the mercy of God at the return
of Jesus Christ. When he comes to save all his
people, it's going to be an act of mercy. Are you hearing what
I'm saying? See, because he didn't have to
do it. I hope there's not one person in the house that thinks
you deserve to be saved if God shows his favor to you. It's
on the basis of mercy. That's the key that opens the
door and lets sinners into the kingdom. A key of mercy. Do I have your attention now?
I want you to see this. Point number two in our outline.
Going back to Revelation chapter three. Point number two. This
is so very important. Since now we know that the person with
the key is David, Our greater david the lord jesus christ the
beloved of the father since he governs the universe and upholds
all things by the word of his power Since this key is primarily
designed to show mercy to sinners in covenant relationship with
him mark What he says to the church at philadelphia and they
would understand this and I hope you do too verse eight I know
your works. Do you see that? I know your
works. Now, I'll tell you again, church, please understand, you
can pretend or think or imagine that God does not see you, but
we're not going to help you hold to that delusion. Not in this
church. See, I've been around and I've
been doing ministry for a long time. And one of the things I
have learned is that churches, if they are not framed right,
their ministry will actually delude you. and help you think
things that are actually contrary to reality. If that church is
not framed on a solid biblical basis and has a clear vision
of who God is and what biblical truth is, the whole methodology,
the whole protocol, the whole system of that church is designed
to delude you and deceive you into thinking you're all right
with God when you are not. Now watch this. And so you will
go away from church under a deceptive notion that you now are fine
with God because you've shouted and did some hallelujahs and
some back flips and paid your tithes and give your honor to
the preacher and all that and nothing is further from the truth.
You are still in darkness. Now watch this. You know you
are under healthy teaching when two things occur. Christ is incessantly
put in your face. The word of God is clearly and
rightly divided. And you go away from here with
more light than you did when you came in. Are you hearing
me? See, the kingdom of Christ is
a kingdom of light. I don't know if you remember
it, but we were translated out of the kingdom of darkness into
the kingdom of his dear son. We are called a kingdom of light.
Do you know what that means? The lights are on now. You know
what that means? God sees us and we see Him. You
know what that means now? We can walk in the light of God's
Word with a clear conscience, a conscience that is ready to
receive from God what God has to say. Cut the lights on God
so your people can see what they need to see. Because you can't
straighten your life up until you see what God sees. You cannot
straighten your life up until you see what God sees. Are you
hearing me? You can't even see that you're
in trouble until God cuts the lights out and show you that
you're in trouble. We need light to come out of
error. Light to come out of error. And
that's a function of his goodness to us. So he knows our works.
Behold, this is what he said, because he knew the works of
the church at Philadelphia. He says, I have set before you
an open door. Now, ladies and gentlemen, that's
a word of commendation. That means that if you and I were
to examine that first clause, I know your works, it would mean
that Christ was pleased with the works of the Philadelphians.
We're not going to go into that in any detail. All I may say
is that when he says, I know your works, behold, that word
behold, we talked about that last week, it means to pay attention. I have set before you what? An open door. I love it. PowerPoint number two, because
I want to develop this. What he's saying to the church
in Philadelphia is, I want you to know that I am the one who
has opened the door for you. And it's in what we call the
perfect tense. You know what that means, ladies and gentlemen?
This door will never be shut. Powerful verb form. It means
also that he doesn't have to keep opening the door, that the
door is in process of opening. He's saying, I have established
a door open in your presence. And in fact, I love the construction.
He says, I have set before you. You know what that means? I have actually put it in your
presence. So if you want to, you can see it. He wants the
church in Philadelphia to be able to see what he has done
for them. You know when somebody said something
in front of you, it's in your presence, right? That's what
the term means. He says, I have actually given and set in your
presence an open door. Bold actions, I have set before
you and I have opened the door. They're in the perfect tense.
You know what that means? If they want to, they can see it.
And if they want to, they can enter into it. Guess what? And
the door will never be shut. Guess what? And it will always
be in their presence. What kind of church is this that
Christ has set a door right in front of them that he will never
shut? You and I will have to get into
that in more detail next week, but I want to know what kind
of church it is that he can entrust with an open door. Now watch
this, saints. They don't have to find the door.
The door is right in front of them. You know, sometimes you
and I are looking for doors trying to find doors, but this door
is set in front of them He's saying you don't have to go anywhere.
You guys are poised. You are prepared. You are ready
All you have to do is enter into it. This is the promise of God
to the church at Philadelphia a Perfectly set door a perfectly
they're not watching a door open. The door is wide open This is
revelation See from heaven downward the governor now is revealing
to the church of Philadelphia things they didn't know This
is why I call it in my in my outline. I have a vision Here's
an epiphany. Here's a manifestation. Here's
an illumination. Here's a revelation. Sometimes God's doing things
for us That we don't know But when he reveals them to us we
come to discover he had already done it long ago. I Are you hearing
what I'm saying? And it's a remarkable difference
between not knowing what he's done for us and then seeing that
he already did it. Stay with me for a moment. Remember
Abraham and Isaac headed up to Mount Moriah. And Isaac is the
offering. Isn't that what you learned this
morning? Hey, daddy, I got the wood. You got the fire. And I see that
knife in your back pocket. And we've been doing worship
for a long time now, and something is obviously missing here. Are
you with me so far? And Abraham started speaking
in parables. He says, son, the Lord hath provided
himself an offering. Now we know what he meant by
that, don't we? That Christ is the sacrifice.
That God provides for us sinners something we cannot provide for
ourselves. But while Isaac and Abraham are walking up that hill,
Isaac has a funny suspicion that he's going to be the sacrifice.
Are you hearing me? So if you are a human being in
that predicament, wouldn't you struggle a little bit? Yes, you
would. Don't lie. You would. Now, because
Abraham loved God and because Isaac loved his daddy, they become
a perfect picture of the father and the son. The father loves
us so much that he offers up his only begotten son. And the
son is so in love with his father that he doesn't even complain.
Doesn't even complain. Doesn't even complain. Now watch
this. As the father is about to plunge through the heart of
Isaac. You know what the Lord says from
heaven? Hey, hey, hey, hold up, hold up. We good. We good. I got it on record now. You believe
me, son. And by the way, look behind you.
And when they both look behind them, guess what they saw? A
door of escape right in front of them, which was already there
all along. Meaning, sometimes God will have
you to walk by faith in the midst of a difficulty already having
a door open for you to go through if you will believe God. That's what's going on here.
That's what's going on here. Am I making some sense? Have
you been delivered before like that? I have many times. I get
right on the brink and say, oh Lord, you got to deliver me.
I'm getting ready to go over, Lord. I'm getting ready to go
over. And the Lord will say, open your eyes. And I'll look
up. And I'm on solid ground. All my enemies are gone. All
my battles are won. I'm like, the Lord had already delivered
a brother. Are you hearing me? He had already established a
door for me to go through. But he's trying our faith. And
that's what's going on here. So I want you to understand some
points of application around the door being open. The first
is which, obviously, ladies and gentlemen, we are dealing with
the door of evangelism. There's no doubt about it. The
big door that has been open since Jesus Christ has come into the
world is the door of evangelism. Now don't let that word evangelism
evade you because of its overuse in the evangelical church. But
evangelism is what we are all about as Christians. And I've
said it before, to be an evangelist is simply to be a grown-up Christian.
Don't make it some super special gift. Yes, it's a gift, but every
Christian is an evangelist. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
Now stay with me for a moment. I simply mean this. When God
saved you, He made you a vessel by which His glory would be advanced
from person to person because He's opened a door, a witness
for you. That door of evangelism is something
that God opened for the church. Colossians chapter 4 verse 2
and 4. I want you to see these verses around this. What purpose
is the church in the world if it's not to evangelize the world?
Somebody help me. What purpose is the church in the world if
it's not to evangelize the world? Somebody help me. Nothing. What
purpose is there for God to have saved you and keep you in this
world if it's not for evangelism? Nothing. What purpose is it for
you to still be here on planet earth after God has redeemed
you by his grace if it's not to be a means by which other
people come to know Christ? Nothing. Do you understand what
I'm saying, Saints? I'm saying that you and I must
keep in mind that the reason he leaves us here is for this
one objective, to individually and corporately go into all the
world and do what? Preach the gospel. That's the
reason why once he saves you, he doesn't take you to glory.
Because when once you are saved, you are ready for glory immediately. Ask the thief on the cross. He
went right on in, didn't he? Lord remember a brother, you
know what the master said this day So so it ain't like you getting
ready for glory You can go to glory anytime God wants you to
but he left you here to tell somebody about Christ that's
your primary purpose as an individual and Collectively as the church
watches continuing in prayer watch in the same with Thanksgiving
verse 3 and with all praying also for us that God would open
unto us a what? Door of what? Utterance. Now let's make it plain. This
is what we call an exegetical. In order to speak the mystery
of Christ for which I am also in bonds. See, Paul knew that
when God saved him, he saved him to preach Jesus Christ. That's a door he's talking about.
Is that not so? That's a door he's talking about.
Let's continue working through the door. Go with me now in your
Bible to 2 Corinthians 2, verse 12. We're talking about the fundamental
door of ministry by which the gospel is preached. By the way,
if this door wasn't open, you wouldn't be saved today. You
heard the gospel of your salvation the gospel of truth one day because
of that open door. Am I telling the truth? Second
Corinthians chapter 2 verse 12. Watch how the apostle puts it
here. I want you to see it again. This is remarkable. Here's what
he says. He says, Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach
Christ's gospel and a door was opened unto me, of whom? Of the
Lord. See, Paul understood that a door
had to be opened. Go with me in your Bible now
to Acts chapter 14. Acts 14. In Acts 14, this is
the way the early church also used this terminology, a door
of evangelism. And I want it to be sprinkled
in your heart and mine to know this, that God has opened a door
for ministry for his church so long as the church is on planet
earth. And you and I are to be about
that business. And in fact that is the primary
purpose for which he wrote to the church at Philadelphia. I'm
in Acts chapter 14 and notice what it says over here at verse
27. And when they were come, that
is the apostles, had gathered the church together they rehearsed
to the Jerusalem Church all that God had done watch this with
them and how he had what opened the door of faith unto whom the
Gentiles do you see that the Apostles are recounting to the
Jewish leaders how that God had opened the door of evangelism
by which the gospel would be preached, by which the Gentiles
would come into the kingdom. He opened a door of faith unto
the Gentiles. By the way, most of us are Gentiles
in here. And the reason why we are contemplating eternal things
right now is because the same door that was opened 2,000 years
ago is still open today. Are you hearing me? The reason
why you and I are in the church of the living God, part of the
body of Christ, part of the vine, mouthpieces for God, out of the
Gentile stock, is because that door was opened 2,000 years ago. Now I want you to see another
truth, and then I'm going to tie this concept together around
the sovereignty of God, and then we'll move to our final point
and close for tonight. In Acts chapter 16, this subject
matter is also brought up around an open door. In the book of
Acts chapter 16, this is around the account of
Lydia. Remember how God had opened the
door for the conversion of Lydia in Acts chapter 16? Let me see
here. I'm in Acts chapter 16. I'm going
to start at verse 14. The apostle Paul is looking for
a people to worship with on the Sabbath day, and he comes across
a bunch of sisters and brothers worshiping by the seaside. Now
look at verse 14. And a certain woman named what?
This was a wealthy sister who ran a good business. She had
a fine ministry in the secular dimension, but she was a worshiper
of God in the city of Thyatira. Which worship God? Watch this.
She what? Heard us. Now I want you to listen
to the construction here. Whose heart? The Lord what? that she attended unto the things
which were spoken of Paul. And when she was baptized, her
and her house, she sought a saying, if you have judged me to be faithful
to the Lord, come into my house and abide. And she constrained
them. And ladies and gentlemen, guess what? A church was established
in her home. I want you to see the construction
because I'm going to teach you three fundamental points that's in
your outline about open doors. You need to know this. First
and foremost, go back to our PowerPoint. First and foremost,
this is what you need to know. You need to know that God only
can open the door. That you don't open doors. That
you and I don't open doors. And that the door to eternal
life is opened three ways. One, by the kingdom of God itself
being present among us. The kingdom of God itself being
present among us. This happened in the days of
John the Baptist and in the days of our Lord Jesus Christ. You
see under our first point kingdom, see under our first point kingdom
in Matthews 3, 16, Matthews 4, 17, Matthews 12, 28. What was
Christ constantly saying as he preached? Repent for the kingdom
of God is at hand. Repent, for the kingdom of God
is at hand. Now watch this now, watch this
now. Wherever the kingdom of God is not, the door is not opened. So you and I must know this.
In order for a door to be opened, the kingdom must be present.
The kingdom came into being when the Lord Jesus Christ entered
into the world. Why? Because he's the king. Now
watch this. And the kingdom was opened up
to him at his baptism. Remember in Matthew chapter 3
where plainly said and the heavens opened up and the Spirit of God
descended like a dove and It remained upon him and straightway
when he came up out of the water. What did he do? He went to preaching
after his test Preaching repent for the kingdom of God is here
It's at hand that door of the kingdom has been open every since
the days of Christ now watch this Once the door of the kingdom
is open. There is another necessary door
that must be open. Are you ready? It's the door
of proclamation That's what Paul meant in Colossians chapter 4
when he says, pray for me that God would give me a door of what?
Utterance. Do you know unless God opens
your mouth you can't talk to people about Christ? Say with
me now! The kingdom can be present, but
if you are not a fit vessel to communicate biblical truth, You
can be in the room with a whole bunch of eternity bound souls
and they never know there's a door into the kingdom Until you are
granted the ability to open your mouth and share the gospel with
people That's why he says go ye into all the world and do
what preach the gospel And that's why paul said pray for us that
a door of utterance You know what that door is your mouth
Your mouth what comes out of your mouth that which is in your
heart What should be in your heart the word of god the gospel
of grace out of the abundance of the heart the mouth what?
And faith comes by what and hearing by what so the kingdom is present
Then we proclaim the word now watch this if we proclaim the
word and god is in it. Guess what he does He opens the
door of the heart The door of the kingdom is open. The door
of utterance is open. And the door of the heart is
open. And you know what happens? People are saved. People are
saved. Do you believe that? Stay with
me for a moment then. Stay with me for a moment then.
Watch this. And it's all of God. It's all of God. God opens the
door. God opens our mouth. God opens
the heart. God opened my heart. And he opened
my heart through opening somebody's mouth. And he opened somebody's
mouth because he opened the kingdom. So whether you start with the
kingdom, proclamation, and the heart, or the heart, proclamation,
and the kingdom, it don't ultimately matter as long as that door is
open. Because that process must take
place. in order for men and women to
enter into the kingdom. Now, I said this a little earlier.
I think I'm going to leave this point here for you today because
this study in Philadelphia is rich. And I think I've saturated
you with the concept of the door today. And so we'll come back
next week and deal with the context around which this promise is
given. But I want you to stay with me right now. Stay with
me now. Because when I said earlier that he had set a door before
them, set a door, set a door, I used the idea of revelation.
I use the idea of illumination. I use the idea of an epiphany.
And I shared with you how that God had revealed to Abraham and
Isaac the door out from father Abraham having to kill Isaac
by showing the ram that was already stuck in the thicket. And he
told Abraham to look behind him, not in front of him. Look behind
him because that was something God had already done. It was
a work God had already done. You need a revelation on this?
Christ was a lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
That means men and women who are saved are saved because of
a work already done, a door already opened, and access to mercy already
established. So stay with me on this. It's
very important for you to get this. But you and I have to see
it. God has to give us a revelation of the work of Christ. Are you
and I climbing that hill of works, that hill of legalism, that hill
of self-righteousness, that hill of piety, trying to merit favor
with God when God already has a lamb? Are you hearing what
I'm saying? So now, what's critical to your
salvation and your comfort and your peace and your stability
and mine is a revelation that the door is already open. Let
me give you an example of that and I'm going to close. This
is what we studied about a month ago in Acts chapter 7. In Acts
chapter 7, a brother named Stephan, he was obviously convinced that
the kingdom had come. So convinced, because of the
power of that kingdom in his life, that he went about preaching
the gospel. Did he not? Stephan was a brother
mighty indeed full of the Holy Ghost Powerful preacher of the
word and God had opened the door for him didn't he of utterance
to proclaim the gospel So he proclaims the gospel to his Jewish
brethren and the very constituency. I'm gonna talk to you about next
week That's afflicting the church at Philadelphia came to Stephan
and said hey We getting ready to shut this door Do you guys
remember that we can race shut you down dog? And Steppen kept
preaching. He kept laying it on him. You
stiff necked, hard headed, rebellious group of snakes and vipers. I
love him. You stiff necked, you always resist the Holy Ghost.
From your daddy's way back to Abraham, y'all all alike. Now
that's being full of fire, isn't it? Y'all, see now watch. He
said that because he knew he was gone. See, you might as well
play all your cards once you know you gone. You might as well
play them all. You hell-bound sinners, you coming
after me? You're in trouble with Christ.
You're in trouble with Christ. You're coming after me? You're
in trouble with Christ. You better get right with Christ.
So now, so he drops it, right? He drops it. And the Spirit of
God so appreciated the zeal and passion of this servant as they
were talking about shutting that door. Guess what the Father did? pull back the curtains. Say,
Son, let me show you another door. Let me show you a door
into glory. Let me show you what you got
coming when you cross over this threshold. A door was opened
to him and it's the door of glory. He saw his Savior He saw his
savior at the right hand of God. And when you've got a door like
that in your face, can't nobody shut doors on you. At least not
doors that matter. At least not doors. They can
fire you. We don't care about that job.
They can kick you off that team. We don't care about that job.
They can kick you out the city. We don't care about that city.
As long as I can see heaven opened up and the Lord Jesus standing
up, Saying, well done, my good and faithful servant. Come on
up here. Come on up here. Come on up here. Come on up here. Are you hearing
what I'm saying? Are you guys hearing what I'm
saying? So we're talking about a door set for the people of
God that Christ opens and no one can shut. And your job and
mine is to enter into it. Amen. Amen. Amen.