I've entitled the message for
tonight, Open Doors. Paul asked the Colossians to
pray for him. He said, continue in prayer and
watch in the same with thanksgiving. And then he makes a special request
to the Colossians, 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 also am in bonds, that I may make it manifest as
I ought to speak." Now, he asked for three things in this request. He said, pray for me, first of
all, that the Lord would open a door for me to preach. You
know, we ought to be praying the same thing, shouldn't we?
We ought to be asking the Lord to open up a door for us to preach
the gospel to people who've never heard. What a joy that would
be. And he said, pray for me that
I might make the mystery of Christ manifest. That's what we want
to do in preaching. We want to make the mystery of
Christ manifest, that I might preach it boldly and make it
manifest as I ought to speak. Now the concept that I want us
to consider is this thing of God opening doors. It's really thrilling to think
of that God is always in control of every event. Opening doors,
closing doors, exercising His sovereign control,
causing His sovereign will to be done. Everything that happens,
everything that happened to you today, everything that's going
to happen to you tomorrow, was all according to God's sovereign
will. Him opening doors for something
to take place and Him closing doors for something to not take
place. Christ identifies himself as
he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David,
he that openeth and no man shutteth, and he that shutteth and no man
openeth. Revelation chapter 3 verse 7. Now in your own experience, how
many times have you had doors opened to you? How many times have you had doors
closed to you? We're thankful for the doors
he's opened, and we're thankful for the doors he's closed as
well. Now, for a door to be opened,
it first had to be closed, didn't it? You don't open a door that's
not closed. You open a closed door. When
we read of the Lord opening hearts, and we read that in the scripture,
we read of him opening ears. We read of him opening eyes. We read of him opening mouths. We read of him opening the understanding. That means at one time, this
heart was closed, shut up, closed down. The ears were stopped up. so
they couldn't hear. The eyes were shut, so they could
not see. The mouth was closed, so it couldn't
really speak the praises of God. It couldn't really speak the
gospel. The understanding was darkened,
so it could not see. Now, if I can't see, and if I
can't hear, and if I can't speak, it's my fault. Let me show you
that in the scripture. Turn with me to Matthew chapter
13. It's a reality and it's my fault. Verse 13, Therefore speak I to
them in parables, because they seeing see not, and hearing they
hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the
prophecy of Isaiah, which saith, By hearing you shall hear, and
shall not understand, and seeing you shall see, and shall not
perceive. For this people's heart is wax gross, and their ears
are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed. Not they've
been closed, they have closed them, lest at any time they should
see with their eyes and hear with their hearts and should
understand with their heart and should be converted and I should
heal them." Now, the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, didn't he? Scripture
says that. He said, even for this same purpose
have I raised thee up that I might show my power in thee and that
my name might be declared throughout all the earth. God hardened his
heart. And what did he have to do to
harden his heart? Nothing. Nothing. All God's got to do is leave
me or you alone and we will not see, we will not hear, we will
not understand. Our hearts will be hardened. But thank God He is the God who
opens. And only he can open that which
was closed. When we read of him opening the
scriptures, that means it was a closed book. And when he opened
heaven, heaven had been closed to us. Turn with me for a moment
to Luke chapter 24. I love this passage of scripture. This is about the two on the
road to Emmaus, and the Lord was speaking to them, and they
did not yet know who he was. And we read in verse 27, and
beginning at Moses, And all the prophets, he expounded unto them,
and all the scriptures, the things concerning himself. And they
drew nigh unto the village, whither they went, and he made it as
though he would have gone further. But they constrained him, saying,
Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.
And he went in to tarry with them, and it came to pass, as
he said it meet with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and
break it, and gave it to them, and their eyes were opened. You
know, they were looking at the Lord. They didn't know who He
was. They heard the things He was saying. Now, I don't understand
this. I don't understand if maybe the Lord looked different in
His glorified body and they didn't recognize Him. But I know this.
They couldn't see Him. They heard Him, but they couldn't
see them until their eyes were opened. Notice it doesn't say
they opened their eyes. It says their eyes were opened. The Lord opened their eyes. And they knew him, and he vanished
out of their sight. And they said one to another,
did not our hearts burn within us while he talked with us by
the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures. The only way the scriptures are
gonna be open to me and you, to where we're going to understand
with hearing ears the message, is if he opens the book up to
us. Look in verse 45, verse 44. And
he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto
you while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled,
which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets,
and in the Psalms concerning me. Then opened he their understanding,
that they might understand the Scriptures. Lord, open my understanding,
that I might understand the Scriptures. Open up my eyes, so I can see
and recognize the Lord Jesus Christ. Now would you turn with
me to Matthew chapter 3. Beginning in verse 13. Then cometh Jesus from Galilee
to Jordan and to John to be baptized of him. Don't you think it's
remarkable that the Lord was baptized? I think that's an amazing
thing. I understand why me and you are
baptized, our confession of Christ, but he was baptized. He wasn't
a sinner like you and I are. He was baptized. Now why? I think I have some understanding.
When we're baptized, this is what happened Sunday morning,
when we're baptized, we confess our only hope of salvation as
a union with the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what we confess. My hope
of being saved is that when He lived, I was in Him and I lived
in Him. When He died, I was in Him. I died. My sins were paid
for. When He was raised from the dead,
I was raised from the dead with Him. That's what I'm confessing.
My hope of salvation is union with the Lord Jesus Christ. Well,
the Lord was baptized because He was confessing His union with
us. We confess our union with Him.
and he confesses his union with us. What a blessing. Now let's
go on reading. But John forbade him, saying,
I have need to be baptized of thee, comest thou to me? Now
put yourself in John's place. If the Lord Jesus Christ came
to you and said, would you baptize me? What would you say? Huh? I certainly don't feel qualified
to do that. Now I have need to be baptized
of you. Me baptize you? That doesn't seem right. And
I love the way the Lord answers him. Verse 15, And Jesus answered
and said, Suffer it to be so now. I know it seems completely
inappropriate. I realize that. But suffer it
to be so now. For thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Now there's one of my favorite
verses. When Jesus Christ fulfilled all righteousness, He did it
as an us. He did it for everyone He was
united with. When He fulfilled all righteousness,
I did too. All the us that was in Him. Then
He suffered Him. He was baptized. Verse 16, And
Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the
water, and lo, imagine picturing this, as soon as he comes out
of the water, the heavens were opened unto him. And you know who else they were
open to? Everybody in him. You see, the heavens were closed,
but because of what the Lord accomplished on Calvary's tree,
the heavens were opened, and lo, he saw the Spirit of God
descending like a dove upon him, and lo, a voice from heaven saying,
This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Now, how
can heaven be open to somebody like me or you? Being in Christ,
God is well pleased. Turn back a few pages to the
book of Zechariah. It's the second to the last book
in the Old Testament, chapter 13. Now, this is a prophecy concerning
what our Lord typified in baptism, his complete salvation. But look
what it says in chapter 13, verse 1. And this was such a sweet
verse to meditate upon. In that day, there shall be a
fountain open. Here's the word. In that day
there shall be a fountain open to the house of David to the
inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness. Now this is where we get that
hymn, there is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's
veins and sinners plunge beneath that flood, lose all their guilty
stains. The dying thief rejoiced to see
that fountain in his day and there may I, though vile as he,
wash all my sins away." Oh, do you know anything about sin and
uncleanness? If you do, you know you can't
get it off yourself. No matter how much washing you
try to do with yourself, it will not leave. There it is. There's only one thing that can
wash away sin and uncleanness. It's that fountain open, the
blood that flowed from the wounds of the Lord Jesus Christ when
He died on Calvary's tree. It was a fountain open for sin
and for uncleanness. Oh, if you're sinful and if you're
unclean, this is good news to you. A fountain open for sin
and for uncleanness. Now, while here on earth, He
opened His mouth. I love the way the Sermon on
the Mount begins. It says, He opened His mouth.
Aren't you glad He opened His mouth? Aren't you glad He speaks? Aren't you thankful? He opened
His mouth and taught them, saying, Blessed be the poor in spirit
Those who truly don't have anything to recommend them to God. Not
a thing. Not a good thought. Not a good desire. Nothing! Theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn,
who in their heart mourn over their sin. You know, I've said
this before. You mourn at a death. When there's nothing you can
do. to bring them back. That's when you truly mourn.
You mourn over your sin. When you see, oh, you hate it
and there's nothing you can do about it, you can't get rid of
it, there it is. The Lord says, blessed be they
that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Every single one of
them. Blessed are the meek. They believe that whatever God
sends their way is right. Blessed are the meek. Theirs is the kingdom of God. Blessed are they that hunger
and thirst after righteousness. They know they don't have any
of their own, but they're hungry for it. They shall be filled.
Blessed are the pure in heart. You know, that's talking about the
heart of the new nature. That's all that's talking about. It's
only the pure in heart that can see God. An unbeliever cannot
see God. Blessed are the peacemakers,
they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are the persecuted,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. He opened his mouth.
Every word in this book is him opening his mouth. And after
his perfect life, after opening the fountain by his death, he
continues in his work of opening. Turn with me to Acts chapter
16. This is such an encouraging verse to me. Verse 14, and a certain woman named Lydia,
a seller of purple, evidently she was an entrepreneur, she
was a businesswoman, of the city of Thyatira. Now the city of
Thyatira is a place where Paul was forbidden to go. The Holy
Spirit said, you can't go there. That's where she was from, but
the Lord pulled her out of there so she could hear. She didn't
know this was an open door of the Lord, but it was. The Lord
plants her there at Philippi, where Paul is preaching the gospel,
and she hears what he's saying. She worshiped God, she heard
us, whose heart the Lord opened. Her heart was closed. Your heart's closed, too, by
nature, and my heart's closed, too, by nature, and we can't
even hear the gospel, and we don't want to hear the gospel. Her
heart was closed so that she couldn't hear the word of the
Lord. But when the Lord opened her heart, what was the evidence?
She attended to the things which were spoken of Paul. She listened
to what he was saying. She became a hearer. Now, that's what happens when
God does something for somebody, when he opens their heart. They
become a hearer. She listened to what Paul said. She heard what he said concerning
the character of God. His holiness, his absolute sovereignty. She heard what he said regarding
the character of man, his complete depravity. She heard what he
said concerning the gospel, how God saves sinners by Christ,
by what he did. She heard, she listened to the
things that he said. Now, when the heart is opened, the
ears are opened so that you hear with hearing ears. That's the
evidence of an open heart, an open ear. The Lord said, he that
hath ears to hear. That's the gift of God, to be
able to hear the gospel. He that hath ears to hear, let
him hear. Now when you hear, let me tell
you two things that happen when you hear. This always happens
when we really hear. It's one thing to hear audibly,
and it doesn't mean anything. You hear, you might even agree
with it, but it doesn't do anything for you. When you really hear,
when God gives you hearing ears so that you hear the gospel,
number one, you hear the message. as God's message, as God's word. Not man's word, not the preacher's
word, but God's word. Hold your other finger there
in Acts 16, and I want you to see this in 1 Thessalonians chapter
2. Paul said in verse 13, for this
cause also thank we God without ceasing, because when you receive
the word of God, which you heard of us, you received it, not as
the word of men, not as Paul's word, not as the preacher's opinion,
not as a denomination or distinctive, but as it is in truth, the word
of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe. You hear it as God's word, and
you hear it as gospel. You know what gospel means? Glad tidings. Good news. When you hear, you hear the gospel
as gospel. You don't hear it as a judge
and as a critic to see whether or not you agree. You hear it
as good news. You listen as the one on trial
listens to the pronouncement of the judge whether or not you're
guilty or justified. You'd listen carefully then if
you were going to listen to what the judge had to say, wouldn't you? Oh,
how carefully you'd want to hear what he said. You listen as one
hearing the reading of a will to see if I'm in it and to see
what's in it for me. Oh, how carefully we listen. You'd hear as the cancer patient
hears the doctor say, you're cancer free. It's gone. You're healed. You hear as David
heard Nathan after David confessed his sin. He said, I've sinned.
And Nathan said, the Lord hath put away your sin. How would
you hear that? How would you hear if the Lord
said to you, the Lord hath put away your sin? You hear as Paul heard when groaning
under the weight of his thorn. And Christ said, my grace is
sufficient for thee. Oh, if Christ says that to you,
How you hear it? Now when the heart is open, when
the ears are opened, the eyes are opened. He giveth sight to
the blind. How many times did He heal blind
men to picture Him healing spiritual blindness? And when He gives
you eyes to see, you see. You see, you're appreciative
of the world as far as this is my father's world. I'm appreciative
of the beauty of the world. I'm appreciative of God's might
in the creation of the world. I'm thankful for the blessings
that are here on earth, but you see the world. I'm not talking
about just the planet Earth. I love the planet Earth. It magnifies
the Lord God, His creation. I love the animal kingdom. I
love the plant kingdom. I love the planet Earth. I love
to watch animal shows. I love that kind of stuff. It
glorifies my father, and I admire seeing it. But as far as the
world, the lust of the flesh, the lust about the eyes, the
pride of life, you see the world for what it is, empty. vanity, an enemy of God. You see the world for what it
is. You see man's religion for what it is, obnoxious to God. You see the maxims and desires
of the world for what it is. Wouldn't you see? And how differently we see the Lord. Well, really, it's the first
time we see Him. We don't see Him before He opens our eyes. And
when you see the Lord, you see Him in an altogether different
way. I remember just as a young person, I'd think of the Lord
as this person who was up in heaven waiting to smash you,
waiting to get you. You'd think of Him as wanting
to spoil all your fun, and you wished He wasn't that way. And
when you think of His sovereignty, you wouldn't even like it. Oh,
but when you see Him, you love everything about Him. You love
every one of his excellent attributes. You wouldn't want to change him
if you could. And you see him very much like
Isaiah saw him, high and lifted up. And remember what Isaiah
said about himself when he saw the Lord? Woe is me. What about Daniel when he saw
the Lord? He said, when I saw him, my comeliness turned to
corruption. When Job saw him, he said, when
I saw him, I've heard of thee with the hearing of the ears.
I've heard stuff about you, but now mine eyes see of thee, wherefore
I hate myself, and I repent in dust and ashes. I can tell if
someone has seen the Lord by how they see themselves. I really
can. Somebody walks in pride and vanity,
they just never have seen the Lord. If you ever see the Lord,
you're going to see yourself to be the very chief of sinners,
the very worst person alive. That's how you'll see yourself
if you've ever seen the Lord. I love that scripture in John
chapter 6 verse 40. This is the will of Him that
sent me, that everyone that seeth the Son. and believeth on him
may have everlasting life." Now, what do you do when you see the
Son? Every time when you see the Son, who He is spiritually,
you will believe on Him. You'll rely on Him for everything
in your salvation. You won't look to yourself for
a thing. When you see the Son, You believe
on Him. You rely on Him. You trust Him. You look to Him. You rest in
Him. You know that all, all, 100%,
all that God requires of you, in every way, He looks to His
blessed Son for. Now, that's what happens to folks
who see the Son. They believe. They believe the
Gospel. They believe on Him. Now, I think
this is interesting. We're talking about Him opening
the eyes of the blind. Did you know the only people
who see are the people who are blind? That's one of the great
mysteries of the gospel. Turn with me to John chapter
9 and let me show you that. Verse 39, And Jesus said, For judgment
I am coming to this world, that they which see not blind people
might see and that they would see might be made blind. Now what in the world does that
mean? If you say, I can see why God
would save me. I have fill in the blank. I can
see why God would save me. I fill in the blank. You've been
blinded. Somebody else says, I cannot
see why God would save me. I can't find one reason in myself
as to why the Lord would look in favor toward me. You know
what? You've been given sight. That's
who he came to save. He came to blind those who think
they see, and he came to give sight. to those who cannot see. And when the heart is opened,
the eyes are opened, the ears are opened, the mouth is opened. If thou shalt confess with thy
mouth the Lord Jesus. I love the way David said in
Psalm 71, Lord, open thou my lips, and my mouth shall show
forth thy praise. The only thing that's any good
that comes out of my mouth is if he opens my mouth. Lord, open
my mouth, and my lips shall show forth thy praise. If you confess
with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that
God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. By your
words you'll be justified, and by your words you'll be condemned.
You know, your words will match up with the words of the gospel.
Your words will expose what you really believe. What's a man
believe? What he says he believes. In Acts chapter 14, verse 27,
we read of the door of faith being open to the Gentiles. Do
you know there was a time when there was no gospel for the Gentiles
in their experience? Remember the way the Lord said,
I came not but for the lost sheep of the house of Israel? There
wasn't any gospel for the Gentiles, but there is now. Great is the
mystery of the godliness. God was manifest, justified in
the Spirit, seen of angels, believed by the Gentiles. Is it a mystery
to you that you're getting to hear the Gospel right now? Is
that mysterious, a glorious gift of grace? The door of faith is
open. Not only do you hear the Gospel,
you believe the Gospel. You believe what you're hearing.
That's because God has opened your heart. God has opened the
door of faith. I turn to Revelation 20. This
is the one we're going to end with. I want to spend a few minutes
here. And I saw, verse 11, and I saw
a great white throne And the infant sat on it, from whose
face the earth and heaven fled away, and there was no place
for them. Well, that's a powerful image,
isn't it? His face is such that the earth and heaven runs away
from him in fear because of his great power. And this is speaking
of the Lord Jesus Christ in judgment. Verse 12, And I saw the dead,
small and great, presidents, kings, men no one's ever heard
of, insignificant, stand before God, and the books, plural, books
were opened. And another book, singular, was
opened. So here we read of the opening
of two books, which is the book of life, that one single book,
is the book of life. And it's got the record of one
life. It's the Lamb's book of life, with the names of the elect written
in it. And do you remember how Christ
said, I am the way, the truth, and the life? There's only one
life that God will accept. Jesus Christ's life. And if I
am in the book of life, His life, His perfect life, is my life
before God. Now when that book's opened,
that's the book I want to be in, don't you? The Lamb's book
of life. But he says, the dead, the spiritually
dead, the dead in sins, were judged out of those things which
were written in the books, plural, according to their works. If I'm outside of Christ, every
bad thought I've ever had, every bad motive I've ever had, every
bad deed I've ever had, remembered or unremembered, is recorded. Now, I don't understand how all
that's going to work. I mean, time will be no more at that
time, and somehow it can all be done in an instant, but everybody's
works are going to be exposed. The ones we remember, the ones
we do not remember, and divine justice will be meted out. God will most certainly punish
the wicked. There is a place called hell.
And men that go to hell go there because of their works. Hell
is according to a man's works. Now we... The reason there are not rewards
in heaven is because heaven is not according to your works.
Heaven's according to the grace of God. That's why there's no
rewards in heaven in different positions. Christ is our reward.
Heaven is the gift of God's grace, not of works. But hell, men are
given exactly what they deserve. They're judged according to their
works. Verse 13. And the sea gave up the dead
which were in it. And death and hell delivered
up the dead which were in them. And they were judged every man
according to their works. And death and hell were cast
into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And
whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. Thank God there is a book of
life. And you can know right now whether
your name is written in that book. You don't have to guess. You
don't have to wait till judgment day to find out. You can know
right now if your name is written in that book. The Lamb's Book
of Life, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Isn't that wonderful to think there's a vast multitude whose
names were written in that book before time ever began. Now this is who God is. I mean
this stuff is just, it's just who God is. All the works were
finished from the foundation of the world. Now how can I know
if my name is written in the Book of Life? Well, Paul said
to Thessalonians in 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 verse 4, he said, knowing,
brethren, beloved, your election of God. How do you know, Paul? He said, for our gospel came
not unto you in word only, but in power, and in the Holy Ghost,
and in much assurance. It didn't come in word only.
It came you knowing this is God's word. This is the truth. This
is the gospel. The Holy Ghost is the only way
it comes, where it comes in power. And that much assurance isn't
much assurance that you're saved, it's much assurance that He is
the Savior. Much assurance that this is the
gospel. Now here's where assurance comes
from. It's from not even thinking about assurance. It's from not
even thinking about whether or not your name is written in the
Lamb's Book of Life. Because I guarantee you, if you
start trying to figure out whether or not you're one of the elect,
you're going to have all these doubts coming, and you're going to start
wondering, and there isn't a day that goes by when I don't think
at some point, could I even be saved? If I think this way, if
I do that, could I even be saved? I understand that, but let me
leave you with what Philip said to the Ethiopian eunuch after
Philip had preached the gospel to him. Oh, wouldn't you love
to heard that message? Scripture says he opened his
mouth. It actually uses that word. He opened his mouth and
at that same scripture, he began to preach unto him Jesus. He
was in Isaiah 53, the great glorious truth of Christ's substitutionary
work for his people. He was wounded for our transgressions.
He was bruised for our iniquities. And the part he was reading was
that part where he said, he opened not his mouth. And I love thinking
about that, the Lord opening not his mouth. I told some of
the kids in vacation Bible school, I've been accused of things before
that I didn't do, and I defended myself. Now, most things I never
got caught at, but if I got accused of something that I didn't do,
man, I was gonna defend myself. I was gonna open my mouth. Why
didn't the Lord defend himself? Because he's guilty. Because he was guilty before
God. And then the Ethiopian says,
I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet himself or some other
man? Some other man. He opened his
mouth and that same scripture preached unto him Jesus. And
then they come up to water. Evidently it said something about
baptism. And the Ethiopian eunuch said, see, here's water. What
doth hinder me from being baptized? You give me a reason why I personally
should not be baptized. I want to know. If I shouldn't,
I don't want to do it. Maybe I don't understand enough.
Maybe my faith isn't great enough. Maybe my experience isn't great
enough. Why should I not be baptized? Tell me. Philip said, if you
believe with all your heart, you may. Now I want us to notice
real carefully what this man said. He did not say, I believe
with all my heart that Jesus Christ died for my sins. You can believe that and miss
Christ all together. All you got to do is believe universal
redemption. You believe Jesus Christ died for your sins. Isn't
that so? He didn't say, I believe I'm one of the elect. He didn't
say, I believe that I've been regenerated and born again. He
didn't say, I believe that I'm a Christian, but let me tell
you what He did say. He did say, I believe that Jesus is the Son
of God. Do you believe that? What do
you believe concerning Him? Do you believe that He is God
the Son, the Creator of the universe? The successful savior of sinners
who if he died for you, you must be saved because of who he is.
Do you believe that? Beloved, that is faith. That is God-given faith. That
is saving faith. Quit trying to figure out whether
or not you're saved and look right now. to the Lord Jesus
Christ, the only Savior of sinners. Now, if you do that, it's because
He opened your heart. It's because He opened your eyes.
It's because He opened your ears. It's because He opened your understanding
that you might understand the Scriptures. Let's pray together.