May I please God to bless us
together this morning as we meditate in His Word. Let us turn to the
book of the Revelation, and the third chapter, and we'll read
verse 8. The book of the Revelation, chapter
3, and reading 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 has kept my word and has not denied
my name. This form is just a part of the
words which were to be sent to the church at Philadelphia. and it is interesting that there
were seven churches and six of the churches had something against
them about this church, Philadelphia didn't fall into that category
and the Lord tells us these things, saith he 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. 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. So, we should be thankful today
that we have indeed these seven letters to these churches which
of course were to be read to all the churches. It wasn't just
single letters to the one church, but all letters were to be read
to all the churches. And there is much instruction
and much direction. And it is very significant, of
course, that the Holy Spirit speaks to us And he says this
after the address to the churches, each one, he that hath an ear,
let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. So we are not therefore to be
just, as it were, statues. We are to be amongst those that
truly hear the Word of God. And if we think of that, over
the years, you know, we've been wonderfully blessed, haven't
we? As church, as a people, to hear the Word of God, week by
week, week by week, year after year, year after year. We've
heard the Word preached to us, and how relevant and how important
it is that That word has entered into our very hearts and it hasn't
just entered into our head and then dissipated and we've forgotten
all about it. I remember years ago when I was
a teenager, I think, and we heard Len Broome speak in Bethel Chapel,
Luton. I think it was on an Easter Monday.
And he made this statement, he said, you know, he said, there's
tons of grain go over this pulpit cushion, but how very little
of it enters into good ground. Well, that was a very, very simple
statement, wasn't it? And as I said, I was a teenager
and, It was something that I could understand, and I'm sure all
of you here today can understand that. That the word is as the
grain, and you may say, why is that? Well, we have the parable
of the sower, of course, recorded in the New Testament, and that
speaks about the word, the word being sown, the good grain. And
how many in that parable fell among not good ground, just some
fell among good ground. And how much indeed has been
preached, and you think of that here in this chapel for so many
years, since 1876, how many services have been held here, how many
servants have been preached, and how much good grain has gone
from this pulpit And perhaps we might say how little has fallen
into good ground. Well, the word tells us here,
he that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto
the churches. Well, we trust that we have an
ear today to hear and not forget the word of the Lord. And so as the Holy Spirit came
upon the Apostle John on the Isle of Patmos on this amazing
Lord's Day to speak these words, I have set before thee an open
door and no man can shut it. Well, we're thankful today that
we have the doors of this chapel open We're thankful that the
government has allowed us to once again convene as a church
and congregation. We appreciate the great favour
this is. And may this indeed be true. I have set before thee an open
door and no man can shut it. Now the Lord has graciously set
before us an open door physically to be able to come here and to
worship in this way. He's also set before us a gracious
and glorious open door in himself, the Lord Jesus Christ, who tells
us in his word when We read the epistle or the Gospel of John,
it says, I am the door. The Lord Jesus indeed is the
door. And if we are to spiritually
enter into that which is truly profitable and good for us, it
will only be through the Lord Jesus Christ. And what an important
consideration it is. that you and I have found, therefore,
entering in, and that we may observe that this door is open
for us. The door of God's mercy. You see, the Lord does open that
door. What a mercy it is when He opens
the door. It's not that which you and I
are able to do ourselves. But God opens the door. What a blessing when he does
open that door and we then behold things that we never observed
before, we never saw before, we never realized the need before. There is a need to enter in to
these spiritual things. There is a need to partake of
spiritual blessings. And what a necessity there is
therefore, that there is this open door, and that we have eyes
to observe it, and that the door may not be shut upon us. There was that occasion, wasn't
there, in the Gospel of Matthew, where we read about the ten virgins. There were ten virgins. And there
were five wise and five foolish. And at midnight, the cry came
from the bridegroom, go you out to meet him. And then there were
five who had their lamps and oil in their lamps and they trimmed
them and they were ready to go in. The door was open. And they
went in to the marriage supper of the lamb. But there were five
who had no oil in their lamps. And they went to buy oil in their
lamps. And then when they'd done this
and they came to the door, and what did they find? They found
the door was no longer open. The door was shut. And that really is very solemn
consideration. Well here we have this statement,
behold I have set before thee an open door and no man can shut
it. You see no man can shut that
which God indeed opens. God opens the door. And my friends,
may we observe when this door is opened before us. The apostle Paul, when he preached
the gospel at Troas, he said there was opened unto him a door
of the Lord's to preach the gospel. And we today should be very thankful
for that door of the Gospel, which is open for us to hear. You see, we are blessed indeed
as a nation with the freedom of worship. We're still blessed
with the freedom of worship. Many countries in the world do
not have this benefit. And yet, although we have this
wonderful privilege, yet how few people appreciate it. how few people realize the wonderful
blessing of this gospel door being opened through the preaching
of the gospel. Well, what a mercy it is for
us today here that this gospel door is opened. And what a mercy
it is if we therefore benefit from it. And what does the gospel
door direct us to? it must direct us surely to none
other than the Lord Jesus Christ. Now this whole picture that we
have in these early chapters in Revelation directs us so very
clearly to the Lord Jesus Christ. And in this first chapter of
the Revelation where John was blessed with the view here by
God of the great truths of Scripture, and he tells us, he said, I was
in the Spirit on the Lord's Day and heard behind me a great voice
as of a trumpet saying, I am Elpha and Omega, the first and
the last, and what thou seest, write in a book and send it unto
the seven churches, etc. And I turned To see the voice
that spake with me, being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks,
and in the midst of the seven candlesticks, and the seven candlesticks
are the seven churches, in the midst of the seven candlesticks,
one like unto the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to
the foot, and girt about with paps with a golden girdle. His
head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow,
and his eyes were as a flame of fire, and his feet like under
fine brass, as if they burned in the furnace, and his voice
as the sound of many waters. This was the picture that John
saw. and how important it is for us
today to realize the necessity of viewing this Son of Man, the
Lord Jesus Christ. This glorious Gospel door is
opened so that by faith you and I might indeed view the blessing
of the Saviour. This door of faith is open indeed
to the Gentiles. What a mercy it is in the Acts
of the Apostles we read of this door of faith. It's a wonderful
blessing to think that there is this door of faith which is
indeed opened. And in the 14th chapter, we read
right down the end, 27th verse, And when they were come together,
and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had
done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto
the Gentiles. Well it is a door. Faith is a
great and wonderful gift from God to believe the gospel. He gives us faith to believe
the gospel. It is a door and it opens the
great truths of God to our understanding. Faith, how needful it is, how
wonderful it is, what a blessing it is. And may we each know what
it is to receive this faith. Faith is so essential, is it
not? And it's spoken of here as a
door of faith, because there is that entrance in to the things
of God through the blessing of living faith. Faith indeed is
the gift of God. Without it, we do not appreciate,
we do not see, we do not understand. the great truths and things of
God and therefore what a mercy it is and of course the apostle
Paul when he address the Hebrews. He tells us faith is the substance
of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. It is the
substance of things hoped for. And also, you know, hope is another
door, the door of hope. It's another door, door of faith
and the door of hope. They really link together. And what a mercy for us today
if we have this set before us. Behold, says the apostle, behold,
I have set before thee. There it is, an open door and
no man can shut it because If God has opened it to our spiritual
understanding, if he's given us faith to believe the truth
of God, and he's given us a good hope to believe that those things
which are revealed have a personal application to you and to me
because they are centered in the Son of God, the Lord Jesus
Christ. This really is the great central
theme of the whole Gospel. It must be Jesus Christ and Him
crucified. Well today, as we ponder this
door being set before us, I wonder whether that's been open to our
understanding, your understanding, my spiritual understanding, this
door of faith and this door of hope that is set before us. I have set before thee an open
door and no man can shut it. It's a very simple illustration,
isn't it? A door. A door being open and a door
being shut. If a door is shut and it's locked,
of course there's no way of entering in. But if the Lord graciously
unlocks that door, graciously comes and unlocks that door,
so that you and I can enter in. It's God's gift, isn't it? It's
God's favour. We have no strength ourselves.
We have no ability to open this door. But thanks be to God, he
comes and opens it for his people, for his church, so that they
may indeed enter in, enter in to all truth. as it is in Jesus. It may have been, it may have
seemed locked. It may have seemed shut up. There
may have been apparently no access. What a mercy. If a door then
graciously opens, the Lord says, Behold, I stand at the door and
knock. If any man hear my voice and
open the door, I will come into him and will suck with him and
he with me. I wonder perhaps you and I have
known anything of that knocking, the doors knocked at our heart
as we heard the gospel preached, as we read the word of God. God has placed that before us
to think upon the truth of God and the reality of it. Well, have we hardened our heart? Have we rejected the truth of
God? Have we said, I will not have
this man to reign over me. I'm going to please myself. I'm
going to run my own life. What a mercy it is then to be
blessed with that humble submission before Almighty God. Humble submission as the Lord
knocks at our door and we desire to open that door. If any man
hear my voice and open the door, I will come
to him. and will sup with him and he
with me. Well, that's what we read together
in the 20th verse of this third chapter. It's a very great truth,
isn't it? And then he says, to him that
overcometh will I grant to sit with me on my throne even as
I also overcame and am set down with my father in his throne. Well, How can we overcome? How can we be like this? Not
through anything that you and I can do ourselves. This is the
great glory of the gospel. And they overcame through the
blood of the Lamb. We overcome not through our own
ability. We overcome through what the
Lord Jesus Christ has done. And what a mercy, therefore,
when the door is open and we view this great and wonderful
truth, Jesus Christ and Him crucified. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's
Son, cleanses us from all sin, all sin, however bad, however
great that may be. There's no limit. There's no
limit. God's mercy. There's no limit
to God's mercy. There's no limit to God's favour. There's no limit to God's grace. I have set before thee an open
door and no man can shut it. Well, what a blessing it is today. of the Savior. Knocking. You may remember, there was that
occasion in the Song of Solomon, the Bride of Christ, when the
Lord came and knocked at the door. She was very comfortable. She was settled down in bed. We may say she didn't want to
be disturbed. And you and I may say, perhaps
in our lives, We don't want our life to be disturbed. We don't want to have to perhaps
spoil our plans. We don't want to ignore the great
truth of God. We want to do our own way, our
own will, our own way. Well, what a mercy it is if the
Lord comes and takes possession of our heart, so that when the
Lord speaks, when he knocks at our heart, we are ready to open
that door. Perhaps sometimes against our
will, against our will, But you see
the word of God is powerful. The word of God is strong. My friends, the word of God can
and does break down all barriers. Yes, it breaks down everything. And there within I found willing
To open this door that the Lord has set before us. We find that
it is an open door. We perhaps thought it was a closed
door. We perhaps thought there was no access. But there we are, the Lord comes
and we find this truth, this word to be true. Yes, behold,
I have set before thee an open door. Well, if God gives us then
this willing spirit to submit to the will of himself and to
open this door and to view then the great truth of the gospel
and also then Sometimes as we can read in the Colossians and
the fourth chapter of the Colossians, the fourth chapter and it's the
third verse, he tells us this, with all praying also for us
that God would open unto us a door of utterance to speak the mystery
of Christ for which I am also in bonds. You see, it's a mercy,
isn't it, when God opens the door so that those who preach
the Gospel, as the Apostle was concerned about here in addressing
the Colossians, that God would open this door of utterance to
speak the mystery of Christ. It is a mystery, it is a great
mystery, but it is a glorious mystery, and the Apostle tells
us, for which I am also in bonds. The Apostle was imprisoned for
preaching the Gospel, and yet he was thankful that he was able
to come to this God, praying that God would open unto us a
door of utterance. Well, the door does this, doesn't
it? The Lord does this. He makes
the way. as we have here in this verse. And the great truth it is, behold
I have set before thee an open door. The Lord sets before us
the open door of utterance to preach the everlasting gospel
and no man can shut it. When God opens, no man can shut
it. You should always remember that.
In whatever sphere that is, preaching the gospel in our little lives,
God goes before. God makes the way. God grants
this door of utterance in his way and in his time. And also,
of course, it comes like this not only in the preaching of
the gospel, which is very true and powerful, also to individuals. God gives us the door of utterance. What a mercy when that comes.
When God opens our mouth to declare the truth of God. When the Lord opens our mouth
to declare what he's done for our souls, it's a door of utterance. The door makes it. The door does
it. The Lord does it. And it's done. And it's a blessing. And it's a wonderful favour.
Perhaps we never thought that it would occur well. The apostle
had to pray for it. Let's not forget that. The apostle
had to pray for it. Sometimes we may have to pray
for it. The Lord will grant us. A door of utterance. And then
you see when the Lord hears and then answers that prayer in his
time, what is the answer? The answer is clear. Here it
is. The Lord tells us so very wonderfully,
Behold, I have set before thee an open door that no man can
shut. That door of utterance is open
before us to declare the great truth of God. In the case here
of the apostle, it was to declare the mystery of Christ in the
church of God, the individuals, It's to declare what he has done
for their souls. The door of utterance. We all
need it. What a wonderful thing it is
when God gives it to us. And it's all of his grace. It's all of his grace. Grace is a charming sound. Is it a charming sound in your
ear and my ear this morning? Grace of God, undeserved favour
of God, the grace of God come to us and given us the door of
utterance. Well, as we think, we go around
perhaps this morning, we look at ourselves, this congregation
here this morning, how many of us have been blessed with this
door of utterance? What a mercy it is. when God
has opened the door. And the blessing is that man
can't shut it because it's God's work. God's work. What God does is done. and no one, the devil will endeavour
to shut it but he's not able to because the word of God is
true and no man can shut it. Well what a mercy then today
if you and I understand something of this great and glorious favour
of this door being opened and you know what the effect will
be The effect will be when this door is opened, we'll understand
the glorious truths of the gospel, which will enable us to come
in singing and speaking. The great truth worthy is the
lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and
strength and honour and glory and blessing. You see, that will
be the effect of the gracious work of the Spirit upon us to
proclaim the honour and glory of our God. The Lord Jesus is
worthy indeed of all our praise and all our desires to honour
and glorify his great and holy name. And it comes about when
the Lord grants us this wonderful blessing of setting before us,
there it is, before us an open door from revelation of a suffering
saviour to your souls and my souls. and the opening of this
door of utterance to declare what he has done for my soul. Come all ye that fear God and
I will declare what he has done for my soul. It's good news. It's good news to the church
of God. It's good news for us as individuals. to have the wonderful
work of the Spirit to be able to declare. And so he comes and
the Spirit says, I know thy works. The Lord knows all about us.
I know thy works. James tells us, faith without
works is dead. No life, no evidence of any true
work of God. What an amazing blessing it is
to have this made over to us because the Lord knows about
you and me everything. I know thy works. He knows about it. Nothing's
hidden. God realizes everything. I know
thy works. And that's why he goes on to
say, Behold, I've set before thee an open door and no man
can shut it, for thou hast a little strength. God gives strength. Again, never despise small things. Never despise a little strength,
because if it comes from God, it really is great strength,
isn't it? For thou hast a little strength,
and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. Well, that's
a blessing, isn't it? If you and I have been given
grace to keep the word of God, keep his word, that which he's
given to us, to not throw it away, not cast it away, but we've
kept his word which he's given to us. Now it's a little strength and
has kept my word and has not denied my name. The devil will
tempt us to deny the work of God. The devil will tempt us
to deny the name of God. The devil will tempt us to say
this is of the flesh, there is no work of the spirit in it. and has not denied my name. Praise God if God has given us
grace to not deny the name of our God, to not deny what he's
done for us, not deny his favor and mercy toward us, and has
blessed us to still press on with a little strength. You see,
when we have a little strength, We can't really depend upon ourselves,
can we? No. So, who do we depend upon? We depend upon the strength from
God. The Lord gives strength. The
Lord strengthens us daily to stand firm. for the truth of
God, to not wander away, to stand firm, a little strength. What a blessing it is if you
and I can say, well, by the grace of God, he's given me a little
strength, a little strength. see a little the righteous man
hath is better than the treasures of many wicked because this emanates
from almighty god it emanates from his grace it emanates from
his favor what a mercy therefore today if you and i can thank
our god for it As we trace through this verse, it's just one verse
really, and yet it has so much within it to commend itself to
us and to be able to find in our lives the evidence that God
has done this for us. We do want to find and we do
want to be able to trace, we do want to be able to see the
evidence of God's work in our souls. His work in our souls
is an amazing favour. It's not something which the
world knows anything about. It's the secret of the Lord,
which he reveals to his people. It's that very special revelation
of his work in their souls. And really it is because there's
this open door set before them. There's an opening. We enter
in. You might say we enter in to
the truth of God. We enter into the mystery of
God. The mystery of Godliness. We
enter into the great and glorious plan of salvation. We enter into
the wonderful mercy of God. we enter into the wonderful favour
of God to unworthy sinners. It's all to be observed because
of this open door. You see, if the door's shut,
we don't see these things. We don't enter in. We're not
blessed with them. But God in his love and mercy
to his people, to his church. You see, these were the seven
churches of Asia. And the Lord graciously spoke
these words, gracious words to each church. They weren't cast
off. The Lord remembered them for
good. And what a favor, therefore, if the Lord remembers us for
good today. In this 11th verse, in this same
chapter, the Spirit said, Behold, I come quickly. Hold that fast
which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. God has opened
this door. In your life and my life, then
hear such words as this. Hold that fast which thou hast. Remember, as the Spirit says,
thou hast a little strength and has kept my word and has not
denied my name. And so hold that fast. Can you imagine, can't you? In
your hand. Hold it fast. That which God has revealed to
us through the open door of his love and mercy and grace. Oh, hold it fast. Don't let go. The devil will
try and pluck it from you. He'll try and take it from you.
Hold it fast. No man take thy crown. The Lord
grants the wonderful favour of that crown, which he gives to
all his people, all his church, an evidence of the work of grace
in the soul. That which is a distinction that
which separates, a crown of glory. Oh, my friends, may you and I
be possessors of this, and may we truly praise God for it, and
bless him for it, and let us not deny it. You know, the devil
will want you and me to deny his work. to deny anything that
is revealed to us. Therefore, the Word of God is
encouraging to us to hold fast such things, to not give them
up, that no man take thy crown. Him that overcometh will I make
a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more
out, and I will write upon him the name of my God, In the name
of the city of my God, which is in Jerusalem, which cometh
down out of heaven from my God, and I will write upon him my
new name. Well, that's a great truth, isn't
it? To think of this. And don't forget, as I've said,
we don't overcome ourselves. We overcome through the blood
of the Lamb. And the word is this, him that
overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God. What
a mercy. to think of that in our little
lives, that God takes us unworthy sinners, who he has opened the
door to, who's revealed himself to, and who he makes pillars
in the temple of God for his honour and for his glory, to
reveal what he's done for us and to enable us to set forth
the great and glorious truths of the gospel. And I will write
upon him my new name. And so the apostle then says,
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto
the churches. This is good news, is it not? To listen and to hear, and not
to have a deaf ear. but to have an open ear to hear
these wonderful truths that God sets before us. We're thankful
that after all these 2,000 or so years, these words are still
true. as true as they were on that
Lord's Day when they were given to the Apostle John on the Isle
of Patmos and he was able to write them down and we today
after all those years are able to read them together and to
recognize the great truth of these words and may they therefore
come and be applied to our heart because Unless the Holy Spirit
applies the Word, it'll just roll over us, it'll roll past
us, it won't do us any good. But if the Holy Spirit comes
and applies His Word, then it will be food to our souls and
we shall rejoice. in the glorious work of the Lord
Jesus Christ. It will be food and drink to
our souls. It will be strengthening to us.
We may have a little strength, but this will strengthen us more,
that we shall feed on Christ. Well, may the Lord be gracious
to us and bless us to be thankful if he has indeed brought to us
the truth of these words. I have set before thee an open
door. Let us not just pass it over. Let us think. Let us meditate. Has God, in his mercy, set before
you, set before me, this open door? And we have benefited from
it and we bless God for it. And if we haven't, then may we
bless God for it, and thank Him for it, and rejoice in it. Behold,
I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it. No, because it's God's work,
and it can't be shut. God's done it. And yet the Lord
tells us that we've got a little strength, we're thankful for
it, and we've kept His word. May that be so. And it's not
denied my name. Well, may we never deny In the
name of our Saviour, may we indeed be given strength to stand firm
on the truth of God and to hold that fast, which thou hast, that
no man take thy crown. Amen.