Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayer for attention to Revelation chapter 3 and reading
from our text, verse 8. Revelation chapter 3 and verse
8. I know thy works. Behold, I have
set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it. For thou
hast a little strength and hast kept my word and hast not denied
my name. Revelation 3 and verse 8. And the subject that is before
us is an open door set before us. We have in the first chapter
of the Revelation a telling of who is speaking in the words
of our text, in fact in all of the revelation and the letters
to the churches here. John has the vision of he that
was alive and that liveth and was dead in verse 18 of chapter
1. And behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And have the keys of hell
and of death. This vision is of the Lord Jesus
Christ. The revelation is a revelation
of the Lord Jesus. He is revealed to us throughout
this book. And in the end of the first chapter,
is a picture, a revelation, a vision of candlesticks, seven golden
candlesticks and one in the midst of those candlesticks. And then
there are seven stars which are in the right hand of the Lord. And the interpretation is given,
the seven stars are the angels or the pastors of the seven churches
and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches. So we have a picture of seven
churches that the Lord is moving in the midst of and the pastors
of those churches are actually in the hand of the Lord. And so then we have the letters
to these churches. Now, of course, there is one
true church, a church that is redeemed by the precious blood
of Christ. They are chosen in Christ from
the foundation of the world. They are that people that have
been loved with an everlasting love from eternity, and when
this world shall be no more, they are that innumerable multitude
with the Lord in heaven. But while we are on earth, the
church is made up of individual local churches in local areas,
each self-governing, each with the Lord Jesus Christ as the
head over that church, with its pastors, with its elders, its
deacons, its members. And it is in this way that these
letters are sent to the churches of Asia. Now each of these letters is
introduced in different ways and really the Lord is introduced
to the churches in different ways in each of these letters.
In chapter 2 the letter to Ephesus is introduced as being said by
him that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand who walketh
in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. So right at the
very start The picture of the one that is speaking is our Lord
holding his servants and in the midst of the candlesticks. But
each one of these letters begins in a similar way. The letter
in verse 8 of chapter 2 to the church in Smyrna. These things
saith the first and the last which was dead and is alive. And so our Lord is set forth
in that way to that church. And when we come to the words
of our text and the letter to the church in Philadelphia, which
our text is part of, he is described as these things, saith he that
is true, that is holy, he that is true, He that hath the key
of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth, and shutteth,
and no man openeth. Again, very clearly, our Lord
Jesus Christ. But what is drawn to our attention
in the introduction greatly impacts upon what the Lord has to say
in our text. If one says that they have set
before us an open door, we want to know that they are actually
able to do that, that they can open a door, and they can actually
have power as well to shut a door. So in the introduction, this
is actually said of him, that openeth and no man shutteth,
and shutteth and no man openeth. Now we would remember this, not
just applying to this church, Philadelphia, but to all the
churches. These letters, they don't just
apply to one church, they are written in effect to the gospel
churches right down to the end of time. Some commentators feel
that each of these letters refers to a period of church history,
but I believe the context much more clearly shows that it applies
to the church right through these gospel days from Christ's first
coming to his second coming, that at any one time the church
may see as a picture of herself, that these letters are like a
mirror, and each church looks into this mirror and sees a picture
of herself, sees warnings, sees what the church could be, sees
what many churches are, and the most solemn thing is that of
these seven churches, there is only two, Philadelphia and Smyrna,
that do not have anything said against them. All of the others,
the Lord has a controversy with them. They're not really what
the church should be. And what is very remarkable for
each of these letters as well, the Lord introduces each one
and says, I know thy works. The Lord knows the works of every
individual church, each gathering of his people. Now we know, of
course, that if there is a true church, that that church and
the individual members of it are not trusting in their works
for salvation. They're trusting in the finished
work of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, in his precious
blood alone. But nevertheless, God has placed
his church on earth as being salt and light. This people have
I formed for myself, they shall show forth my praise. This whole world, it exists,
it continues because of the church, because Christ has a people,
because Christ has the church as the birthplace of the saints. It is very evident in these let
us hear that God is speaking to men through the church, through
his servants and to those that gather unto the church. And so when the Lord says, I
know thy works, the Lord is looking at this church. He's looking
at the fruit that is to be found from this church, the fruit of
his works. in a people that He has redeemed
and saved, and who are to show forth His praise. He's looking
upon a church that is like the vine. He says, I am the vine,
ye are the branches. As the branch cannot bear fruit
of itself, neither can ye, except ye abide in me. And the Lord
then says, from me is thy fruit found. So the Lord is saying
to this church, I am looking, and I'm looking for fruit, I'm
coming into my garden, I'm looking for the sweet spices, I'm looking
for that evidence that you are drawing from me the fullness,
the strength, the power, the life that I have. I know thy
works. This is a message to every single
one of the churches and to every single one of us that a part
of a church, part of a member. We would remember that churches
are not bricks and mortar, or in our case weatherboard, but
they are souls, they are those living people, they are those
that are sinners saved by God's grace, united together in love,
bound together by the Lord and have the Lord's presence with
them. And so we have the churches here
that are expected to bring forth fruit, yes, some 30, some 40,
some 60, some 100-fold. Now we know, of course, that
on earth the church is not perfect. And that is very evident from
these churches. Some of them, they had those
in them that held error, and that was held against them that
they allowed there to be members in their midst that held error.
Others, they did not only hold error, they taught error. In
the church, the gathering together of the people of God, they were
not just having the truth taught them, but they were being undermined
by their own membership and that is a warning to several of the
churches that are written to here. But here we have a church
that the Lord says that he knows their works and he has set before
them an open door and no man can shut it. A church, a church that is a
working church, a church that is bringing forth fruit to the
Lord. And because the Lord sees that
they are walking in this way, then he gives to them. We think of the Lord speaking
of the parable of the talents, and the one that had only one
talent, that buried his talent in the earth, The Lord said,
take that talent from him and give to him that hath ten talents. And they said, but Lord, he hath
ten talents. And then the Lord said, but to
him that hath shall be given, and to him that hath not shall
be taken away, even that he seemeth to have. And we have this implied
as well in the epistles of John. We have in the third epistle
of John, where John is wishing to his well-beloved Gaius, whom
he loved in the truth, that he prosper and be in health, even
as his soul prospereth. And he says that, I rejoice greatly
when the brethren came, testified of the truth that is in thee,
even as thou walkest in the truth. I've no greater joy than to hear
that my children walk in truth. Beloved, thou doest faithfully
whatsoever thou doest to the brethren. And he's writing to
him that he's already faithful. If you wanted something done
well, if you wanted to have done something faithfully, then you'd
give it to someone who already was doing that. is a real lesson
to those that are beginning in life. Whatever is done is to
be done well. If you begin cleaning the shop
floor and the boss sees that you clean that shop floor well,
then he's likely to give you a more responsible job. And yet
if you saw one that was given a manual, a small job, and they
didn't do that job well, then that employer wouldn't think
of giving them any more responsibility. And we have to remember that,
because that's implied in our text. It's implied in what John
is saying to Gaius. He sees his fruits always, so
he desires that he might prosper, that he might be in health. And
it is well-founded, because it is with someone that already
is dealing faithfully. And so this church at Philadelphia,
it is a church that already has shown by their works that they
are a faithful church. It is in fact, it is a small
church, a little church, a weak church. But the Lord sees those
things to give them this beautiful promise and this expectation
of fruitfulness. Really it is an illustration
here with the churches. We have in our area here many,
many churches, individual churches. And in this part of Asia, these
churches that were there at that time, these letters to each one
of them. And may we be able to view each
of our own churches as a church that has been entrusted with
the holy, sacred word of God, the truth of God, in the midst
of this world, in the midst of people that have no idea of the
truth. walking in much darkness and
much ignorance, yet to view each individual church and the Lord
looking at each individual church as to how they are acting, how
they are dealing with the Word that He's given them, the truth
that He's given them, what the works of that church are, whether
they are, as it were, taking their talent and just burying
it in the earth, or whether they are actually using the truths
that they have been given them to the honour and glory of the
Lord, to be salt and light and to be a witness to those that
are round about them. So this word is to be a real
encouragement to this church. The Lord does not say, I will
set before thee an open door, It is not a promise of what he
will do. He says, I have set before thee
an open door, and no man can shut it. For thou hast a little
strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. So on to look at two main points
this morning. Firstly, what this open door
is to the church. And then secondly, what this
open door is to the hearers of the Word. Because if there is
to be an open door to the Church, there must be that on the other
side, those that are actually receiving or hearing the Word,
and remembering as much as each one of these letters is prefaced
by, I know thy works, the end of the letter says, he that hath
an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. So that really is the second
point, what this open door is to the hearers of the word. Firstly, what this door is to
the church. What is meant by an open door
was best described by the very scriptures themselves. We have
in Acts chapter 14 and verse 27, these words. And when they were
come and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed. This is the apostle coming back
from his missionary journeys, coming back to the church at
Antioch from whence they'd been sent out. They gathered the church
together, they rehearsed or told all that God had done with them
and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles. In this case, it is not a door,
it is the door. So that through their preaching,
the Gentiles had been brought to believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, they had been given faith, faith comes by hearing and hearing
by the Word of God, And the apostle was able to report how that had
happened. It was very interesting to read
of how that had happened, how they'd gone through those various
areas. And according to the Lord's promise,
the Lord has said to them when he commissioned his disciples,
that when they persecute you in one city, then go to the next. And that is exactly how it has
been happening here. Paul is not discouraged at this
persecution, that there's opposition. He looks upon it as fulfilling
what God had said, but that a door of faith had been opened. So
when we have the open door set before the church at Philadelphia,
then it was that they'd had a door of faith. to be open to the Gentiles
or to their hearers, that their hearers would receive the word
and that they would receive it by faith and that faith would
be given them through that word. We have them when Paul writes
to the Corinthians in his first epistle, the last chapter there
in verse 9, He says, I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost. And now this is one of these
churches has been written to the first church. He's going
to tarry there. Why? For a great door and effectual
is opened unto me and there are many adversaries. So he realizes that a door is
opened. He's able to speak to the people
there. He has an opportunity to preach
the gospel. Yes, there are many adversaries,
but he has this opening, and so he is staying there, and he
is preaching there at Ephesus. Then we have in the second epistle
to the Corinthians, in chapter 2 and verse 12, again Paul is
saying, Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ's Gospel,
the context is a preaching of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ. He says, and a door was opened
unto me of the Lord. So here again, he's had an opportunity
to preach the Gospel. A door is opened. It is in this Context. When Paul writes to the Colossians
in chapter four and verse three, he asks for the prayers, prayers
of the people of God. With all praying also for us
that God would open unto us a door of utterance. Why? To speak the
mystery of Christ. for which I am also in bonds. And so the door that is opened
is an opportunity to preach the gospel, an open door. We may say, when we gather here
in Cranbrook, that there is a door open to preach the gospel. It has been for over 200 years
that the Gospel has been preached here. None forbidding us, the
church not closed down, the opportunity still here to proclaim and set
forth the Word of God. But we want more than just that. More, we want there to be those
that hear that Word, and those that are receptive to the Word,
those of whom the Holy Spirit prepares to receive the Word,
and those that He will bless. You know, the apostles, when
they went forth, they had many that were opposing, outwardly
opposing and resisting the Word. When they preached, we read that
some believed the word spoken and some believed not. The reception sometimes was so
hostile they had to move to other places. But what they were looking
at was those even in the midst of opposition that were actually
receiving the word, those that had their hearts open to receive
him. We read in the church at Philippi
of Lydia whose hearth the Lord opened. We read when Paul and
Silas were locked up in prison and at midnight they sang praises
and prayed to God and the Lord sent an earthquake The jailer
was going to kill himself, thinking the prisoners had escaped. But
Paul called out, do thyself no harm, for we are all here. And the jailer, he washed their
stripes, he took them into his own house. And Paul had the opportunity
of speaking the word of God to all that were in his house. And
the Lord blessed that word. And those that believed were
baptized in his house. The Lord gave that opening, that
opportunity, in that way, right in the middle of the prison,
not within a church walls and not in the sanctuary, but in
a man's house. And it is in that way that the
Lord gives to his people that opening. Now, we may see open
doors. We believe we have seen it here
in the schools in the area. We've had open doors to be able
to speak the Word in the old people's homes, the care homes. We've had open doors to be able
to present the Word of God to those round about us, and then
through the website as well. They're the opportunities that
the Word of God is to be spread forth. But especially, this is
said in our text, as an opportunity of a church, that they are as
a candlestick which is designed to give light to those that are
round about it. And this then is the encouragement
for this church at Philadelphia, that God himself has set before
them an open door. He has made those opportunities. He has given them the field of
their labor and He has given them those to hear the Word and
to receive that Word. Why does the Church need to be
told this? Is it not self-evident to the
Church? I believe it is not. That is
why it needs such a Word from the Lord. I have set before thee
an open door. Man cannot see into the hearts
of another man. But God can. God not only knows
the works of the church, but he knows the hearts of those
that this church has influence over and to whom the gospel is
sent. So in a way, the Lord is saying
to this church, there is an open door. There are those that are
hearing the word, those that are receiving that word. There
are those that will be blessed through that word. I have set
before thee an open door. And it's meant to be an encouragement
to go forth with the word, to preach the word, to speak the
word. And this then is a word for this
church, this particular church. And I believe years ago, Seth
Mercy came here and he preached this same word here. It's a word
we've so often pleaded here at Cranbrook that the Lord would
have set before us an open door and certainly as regards still
a witness here or preaching here, it is still open and still the
opportunity to set forth and declare the truths of God is
here. And what this open door then
is to this church is an encouragement in the very fact of there being
an open door. God testifies what the Word is
doing and where the Word is going. But it is also an encouragement
about the church itself, because the Word says, not only I know
thy works, Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and
no man can shut it. But then we have the text saying,
For thou hast a little strength. The Lord not only knows the works
of this church, but it knows its weakness as well. Now we
know there are several aspects that make up a church being of
little strength. It may be little numerically,
have only small numbers, very few to draw on to further the
gospel and to be a witness. We would remember, of course,
with the apostles, they went forth two by two. There was only
two of them going forth. And the Lord greatly blessed
their labours as they went from one place to another and forming
the churches. We're reminded with Abraham,
The Lord called him alone. He was but one. And then he had
one child. And then Isaac, he had just two
twins, Jacob and Esau. And then from them, just through
Jacob, but then the 12 tribes. From what beginnings small, our
great salvation rose. And in the history of Israel,
it was but small. And so we know that numerically
it is the Lord builds up a church, but also maybe as well even financially. Many churches are comprised of
those that are very poor. They don't have great resources,
and yet the Lord, He knows where that strength is little in that
way. It may be as well that the church
feels they're not great theologians, they don't have great knowledge
of the Word, they may feel very inadequate of setting forth the
truths of God. The Lord knows where a church
has but little strength, but what a blessing when that church,
even though it has a little strength, still desires with that strength
to use it rightly to the Lord's honour and glory. Be a sad church
as if it said, well, we are going to evangelise, we are going to
preach in the locality, we are going to spread forth the word,
but wait until we've got a few more members and then we'll do
it. And wait until we've got a good amount of money in the
bank and then we can have money to send forth Bibles and to do
the work of the Lord. And we'll wait until we have
some strength behind us and then we'll do it. No, says the Lord,
here is a church that has little strength and they use that little
strength and they use it fast. You think of when Elijah went
to Zarephath and the Lord said that he has commanded a widow
woman to sustain thee. That widow woman only had just
a few sticks. She was going to bake the little
bit of meal that she had and the oil that she had, one last
cake. But Elijah says, no, you do that
for me first. And the Lord multiplied that.
He gave the promise that that oil and that meal would not fail.
that little would continue and would go on. And that is the
encouragement here, is to a church that is a little strength, maybe
numerically, financially, spiritually, but then what is said here, and
it's such an encouragement to this church, where their strength
was, thou hast kept my word and hast not denied my name. For all that is warned about
in some of these other churches, some of the churches that had
an aim to live and yet were dead, those churches that were lukewarm,
like the Laodicean church, those churches like Sardis, that were
warned to strengthen the things that remain, that were ready
to die. how much we need the warning
in our day for any church. Those two vital things, that they keep the word of the
Lord from Genesis to Revelation, not water it down, not deny the
truth, but preach the word, and that they do not deny the name
of the Lord. the only name given among men
whereby we must be saved. Those two things are absolutely
vital, and those two things are highlighted in this little church
at Philadelphia, that because they had done those two things,
kept his word and not denied his name, the Lord has promised
them this open door, this promised blessing, this promised usefulness,
And so it is an encouragement when the Lord highlights this
of a church that may as yet not see fruit, that may not see,
and is evident by them being of little strength, that they
hadn't yet been built up and strengthened, but encouragement
that the Lord would yet do that. It is also an encouragement because
this is no doubt what this church has been praying for and looking
for. It's a sad church that does not
pray for and look for open doors, that does not look for opportunity
to spread the word and to proclaim the gospel. There is no concern
for those round about them, no concern whether the Lord would
open a door or give them an opportunity to speak. It should be our desire
as churches and as individual Christians that we be ready to
give a reason of the hope that is within us to everyone that
asketh us and with meekness and with fear that we are to speak
the word and not be silent. It is then When a church is exercised
in that way, praying over it, looking for it, longing for it,
then to be given such a word, to be told by the Lord that I
have set before thee an open door no man can shut in, this
is an answer to prayer. This is an encouragement of what
this church is looking for. It's a real test of any church. this word would this be an answer
to prayer if this word was given to us or any church would it
be an answer to prayer or would it be something said we have
not been asking for this or looking for this or if this was given
to us we would not know how to use it or we only look at it
as confining it to our own existing congregation and membership in
that way, just a building up in spiritualness of our own number. No doubt it does apply and it's
a great blessing if the Lord does give in the congregation
an open door, a hearing ear to what the Spirit saith unto the
churches. But it is an encouragement that
this church will be of use to those round about them. There's
also an expectation of success. If the Lord opens the door, there
is a reason for it. If the Lord closes the door,
there is a reason for it as well. I know we were very encouraged
many years ago when approaching schools to give the Bibles to
them, that we actually made a mistake of we thought we were approaching
a school that was close to us here, when actually it was a
school some 13 miles away. It wasn't until the school accepted
the offer that we suddenly realised it was not the school that we
thought we'd sent to at all. And yet we felt so clearly that
the Lord had opened that door for that school. And then some
years later, that door was closed. We were told we couldn't go into
it. And then We sought again a year or two after that to go
again into that school and the door was opened and it still
is open and we are thankful for that and we would notice as much
encouragement as shut doors as open doors because the Lord knows
where his people are. He knows he is able to not only
open but shut and we do so want to see the Lord sending the word
to where his people are, his elect, his hidden people, and
that the efforts of his church, his people, are not wasted, but
they are being directed by the great head of the Church of God. We notice also in the encouragement
here, as the further letter goes on, this church is not going
to be exempt from Temptation is not going to be exempt from
the tribulations that are coming upon the earth, but the Lord
gives them the promises that they will be kept from these
hours of temptation. They will be the Lord's protection
and care, and that is very important to have that balance. The Apostle
Paul, when he went forth, He says, I count not my life dear
unto me. All the while the church is thinking,
well, if I proclaim this truth, someone's going to be offended.
I might be locked up in jail. I might be persecuted. I might
suffer this or that. Then she holds back the truth.
The fear of man bringeth a snare. And so those following words
that are given to this church are to encourage her still with
this open door, not to fear the synagogue of Satan, the Jews. In fact, there is a promise that
even they shall be blessed, even those who are hostile against
her shall be turned and shall be blessed. And that the Lord
will use this church for his honour and his glory. I want
then to look at the other side of this. the other side of the
open door for this church. If the church is going to be
useful, if the word is going to be blessed, there are those
that are to be blessed by it. In the Gospel according to Matthew
chapter 25, the Lord tells of the parable of five wise and
five foolish virgins. They were all waiting for the
bridegroom to come. Those that were wise had oil
in their vessels with their lamps. They had grace. They didn't just
have a profession of religion, they had the grace of God as
well. We read that they all slumbered
and slept, but when the bridegroom came and there was a cry made,
then those that were ready went in with him unto the marriage
supper and the door was shut. We are reminded in that parable
that the day of grace is from the time that the gospel is being
proclaimed until when the Lord comes again. And in some cases
that will be when death comes to us. While we have life, there
is the gospel to be received and to be heard. When death comes,
it is then too late. Now is the day of salvation. Now is the gospel door opened. His most solemn word that the
Lord said of his disciples when they went forth and those that
would not receive them, really where the Lord had shut the door,
they were to shake off the dust from off their feet And they
were to go to another place, but they were to say that most
surely the Word of God had come to them. There are places where that is
the case. There's many places in England
here where there have been churches where the truth has been proclaimed. Sometimes we have those who've
received our Bibles and they write to us, is there a church
near us? And it is a solemn thing to actually
have to say that, well, we know there have been churches, but
those churches have now closed. We are very favoured in this
part where we are with so many faithful churches, but there
are areas in England and throughout the United Kingdom where there
are very few churches, and there are those that are travelling
some 40 or 50 miles to get to a faithful church. And it is
a solemn thing then to have where that door is shut in a locality,
but where that door is open, where we hear the Word of God,
may it be really valued. May, when we listen to the Word,
be thankful for an open door and for that church to have the
promise of an open door, and to put ourselves on the receiving
end of that, hearing the word of God. He that hath an ear,
let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. May
it be a prayer to us as well before God. Lord, make me an
open door. Make me to be one that draws
the word forth from thy servants. Makes me to be one that is a
blessing to the church of God. that our hearts have been touched
to want the Word, to drink it in, to love the Word of God,
to profit by that Word. What if we are just coming under
the sound of that Word? What if perhaps we are hearing
it and we are hostile to it? What is this Word to us, an open
door to the hearers of the Word? We may ask, how has God moved
our hearts to receive the word of God? It's a most solemn thing
to have the truth set before us and yet shut our minds to
it, shut our hearts to it, rejecting that word. Now is the day of
salvation. Not in some future time, but
now. And may we then hear that Word
with that desire that we be those that the Lord has opened their
hearts to receive the Word. What is the Word that is set
forth? The Gospel of our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. There's no man that sinneth not,
that the sentence of death is upon all men, for in that all
have sinned. But our Lord Jesus Christ has
been sent into this world, made of a woman, made under the law,
that he might redeem them that are under the law. The gospel
in the Lord Jesus Christ sets forth what Christ has done. Our text and what follows before
it is speaking of the fruits in a church. But what the church
hangs upon and what the church preaches is what Christ has done. And it is the Lord's coming as
the provision of a saviour, the provision of the Lamb of God
that taketh away the sin of the world, the provision of one that
shall endure in the place of the church the wrath of God. yet laid on him the iniquity
of us all. It is Christ that died, yea,
rather, that hath risen again and sitteth at the right hand
of the throne of God on high. And it is through belief in his
name and trust in his name, in his sacrifice, in his righteousness,
what He has done, what He has accomplished in His own perfect
life and obedience, and in His sacrificial death, that there
is life to those that believe. And it is this, an open door
to hear the message of salvation, that whosoever believeth on Him
should not perish, but should have eternal life. With the heart man believeth,
and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. And it is that way that the open
door is evidenced, that where the heart is touched, where the
heart is moved. The Lord said of those when he
came into Jerusalem that praised and sang praises to him that
cometh in the name of the Lord. If these should hold their peace,
the very stones should cry out. If the Lord has opened the door
of our heart to receive that word, it will not return unto
him void. It will have an effect. It will
have an effect to the honour and glory of God. It will move
the heart, the life, the tongue, and it will add unto the church. We read in the early church,
the Lord added unto the church daily such as should be said. With this open door that the
Church of Philadelphia had, it was in God's time and way to
be evidenced by the Lord adding unto the Church and adding unto
those that were saved. This then is an expectation of
blessing for the Church. It is also a great encouragement
to those that hear the word Because here is what the Lord says he
is doing, not just in the church, but he is doing to all those
that hear the word, sovereignly amongst those that hear it. God
is working in their hearts. He's opening their hearts. He's
making them receptive. He's not just working at one
end, he's working at both ends. And he tells the church what
he is doing. But he's also a message, not
just once as in this church to Philadelphia, but a message at
the end of every one of these letters to those that hear the
word. He that hath an ear, let him
hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Yes, the Holy Spirit
is speaking through the pastors, speaking through the church.
He is revealing the will of God. He is testifying the way of salvation. He is setting forth these truths,
the word of God and the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
only name given among men whereby we must be saved. The Lord bless
us then with a hearing ear. In John 10, we read that the
sheep of God are they that hear his voice and follow him. The Apostle said of the church
at Thessalonica, that the word came unto them, not in word only,
but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, and they became
followers of the Lord and of us. That is the effect that will
follow, such a blessing of an open door. I know thy works. Behold, I have set before thee
an open door, and no man can shut in, for thou hast little
strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. The Lord bless us through this
word. Amen.