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SERIES: THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST, WEEK 11

TITLE: THE CHURCH WITH AN OPEN DOOR

TEXT: REVELATION 3:7-16

INTRODUCTION: (1) THE WORD “DOOR” IS USED MANY TIMES AND IN MANY WAYS IN THE BIBLE.

* IN FACT THE WORD “DOOR” IS USED 70 TIMES IN THE NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, AND IN ITS USES, BESIDES SPEAKING OF A LITERAL DOOR THAT GIVES US ACCESS TO SOMETHING; IT IS USED METAPHORICALLY TO SPEAK OF QUITE A FEW THINGS.

** FOR EXAMPLE, IN PSALM 141:3 THE PSALMIST SAID: (READ IT).

*** NOW HERE IN THIS VERSE THE WORD DOOR IS USED TO DESCRIBE WHAT COMES OUT OF OUR LIPS.

(2) THEN IN PROVERBS 5:8, SOLOMON SAID TALKING ABOUT IMMORAL WOMEN, “KEEP YOUR WAY FAR FROM HER, AND DO NOT GO NEAR THE DOOR OF HER HOUSE.”

* AND HERE THE DOOR OF AN IMMORAL WOMAN’S HOUSE IS SOMETHING THAT MEN ARE TO STAY FAR FROM, IN OTHER WORDS DON’T GO NEAR WHERE SHE LIVES, DON’T PUT YOURSELF IN THE PLACE OF TEMPTATION.

** IN PROVERBS 26:14 IT SAYS: (READ IT).

*** NOW HERE A LAZY PERSON IS LIKE A DOOR THAT GOES BACK AND FORTH ON ITS HINGES, HE TURNS OVER AND DOESN’T GET UP BUT STAYS IN BED WHEN HE NEEDS TO BE WORKING.

(3) THEN IN THE N.T. THE WORD DOOR IS USED IN MATTHEW 6:6 WHERE IT SAYS: “BUT YOU, WHEN YOU PRAY, GO INTO YOUR INNER ROOM AND WHEN YOU HAVE SHUT YOUR DOOR, PRAY TO YOUR FATHER WHO IS IN SECRET, AND YOUR FATHER WHO SEES IN SECRET WILL REPAY YOU.”

* NOW THE USE OF THE DOOR HERE HAS TO DO WITH US GETTING ALONE WITH THE LORD AND PRAYING IN SECRET, WE SHUT THE DOOR OF OUR PRAYER CLOSET, WE GET ALONE WITH THE LORD.

** THEN IN MATTHEW 24:33 IT SAYS: “EVEN SO YOU TOO, WHEN YOU SEE ALL THESE THINGS, RECOGNIZE THAT HE IS NEAR, RIGHT AT THE DOOR.”

*** NOW IN THIS CONTEXT IT IS TALKING ABOUT CHRIST’S RETURN, AND WHEN WE SEE CERTAIN THINGS HAPPEN, KNOW THAT HIS RETURN IS EMINENT, VERY NEAR, AT THE DOOR.

(4) THEN IN JOHN CHAPTER 10, JESUS SPEAKS OF HIMSELF AS THE DOOR OF THE SHEEP. IN JOHN 10:7 HE SAID, “TRULY, TRULY, I SAY TO YOU, I AM THE DOOR OF THE SHEEP.”

* IN V. 9 HE SAID: (READ IT).

** AND HERE IN THIS CONTEXT JESUS IS SAYING I AM THE WAY TO HEAVEN, I AM THE ENTRANCE TO SALVATION.

(5) AND THEN IN REVELATION 3:20 JESUS SAID TO THE CHURCH AT LAODICEA, (READ IT).

* NOW HERE JESUS HAS BEEN KICKED OUT OF THIS LUKEWARM CHURCH, AND HE’S KNOCKING AT THE DOOR WANTING TO COME BACK IN AND BE PREEMINENT, THE HEAD AND FOCUS OF THAT CHURCH AGAIN.

** NOW WITH ALL THOSE VERSES IN MIND, YOU CAN SEE THAT THE WORD DOOR IS USED MANY TIMES AND IN MANY WAYS. BUT THERE’S ONE MORE USE OF THAT WORD THAT I WANT TO LOOK AT TODAY WHICH HAS TO DO WITH OUR TEXT.

*** AND THAT IS, THE LORD JESUS CHRIST SAYS TO THE CHURCH AT PHILADELPHIA, “BEHOLD, I HAVE PUT BEFORE YOU AN OPEN DOOR WHICH NO ONE CAN SHUT.”

**** AND HERE THE WORD DOOR IS USED AS A METAPHOR TO TALK ABOUT AN OPPORTUNITY FOR MISSIONARY SERVICE, AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE GOSPEL TO BE PROCLAIMED, AN OPEN DOOR FOR MINISTRY.

***** AND THE CHURCH AT PHILADELPHIA HAD AN OPEN DOOR FOR MINISTRY BEFORE THEM.

***** AND LIKEWISE, ON OUR 22’D ANNIVERSARY AS A CHURCH, WE HAVE A GREAT OPEN DOOR BEFORE US.

(6) SOMETIMES I THINK WE HAVE MORE OPPORTUNITIES THAN WE CAN HANDLE AND THE QUESTION IS WHICH OPEN DOORS WILL WE WALK THROUGH.

* AND THE CHALLENGE FOR US AS A CHURCH IS, WILL WE TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE OPEN DOORS BEFORE US AND WILL WE BE OBEDIENT TO CHRIST OR JUST COAST AND BE SATISFIED WITH THE STATUS QUO?

** BUT THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER TODAY IS, WHEN CHRIST SITS AN OPEN DOOR BEFORE A CHURCH THAT NO ONE CAN SHUT, THAT CHURCH MUST WALK THROUGH THAT DOOR OR BE DISOBEDIENT.

*** AND DEAR CHURCH WE MUST BE OBEDIENT. THIS IS NOT AN OPTION FOR US, IT’S AN IMPERATIVE, A MUST, A MANDATE (WILL WE HAVE VISION OR VANISH AS A N.T. CHURCH?)

**** AND BIBLICAL N.T. CHURCHES HAVE A CLEAR MANDATE TO MAKE DISCIPLES OF ALL NATIONS, AND I PRAY THAT WE WILL BE OBEDIENT TO THAT MANDATE.

(7) WELL, THE CHURCH AT PHILADELPHIA HAD A GREAT OPEN DOOR AND THEY WERE A MODEL CHURCH SO I CAN ONLY ASSUME THEY WALKED THROUGH THE DOOR, FOR WE’RE TOLD THAT THERE STILL IS A CHRISTIAN WITNESS IN THAT CITY IN TURKEY TODAY, NOW CALLED ALASHEHIR.

* BECAUSE OF THAT, I’VE TITLED OUR MESSAGE TODAY ABOUT PHILADELPHIA, “THE CHURCH WITH AN OPEN DOOR.”

** AND UNDER THAT TITLE WE’LL LOOK AT 4 POINTS TODAY BY THE GRACE OF GOD.

*** NO. 1 THE CORRESPONDENT TO THAT CHURCH, THE LORD JESUS AND HOW HE PRESENTS HIMSELF, V. 7; NO. 2 THE COMMENDATION FROM CHRIST TO THIS CHURCH, VV. 8-11A; NO. 3 THE COMMAND BY CHRIST, V. 11B; AND NO. 4 THE COMMITMENT BY CHRIST TO THIS CHURCH, VV. 12&13.

**** AND WITH THAT OUTLINE TO HANG YOUR THOUGHTS ON, LOOK AT V. 7 WHERE WE’LL SEE OUR FIRST POINT THIS MORNING, THE CORRESPONDENT. LOOK AT REVELATION 3:7 PLEASE.

I. THE CORRESPONDENT, (READ V. 7)

A. NOW THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, THE DIVINE AUTHOR OF THE SEVEN LETTERS GIVES THIS LETTER TO JOHN, AND JOHN GIVES IT TO THE ANGEL OF THIS CHURCH, AND THEN IT IS GIVEN TO THE CHURCH AT PHILADELPHIA.

* AND THE WORD PHILADELPHIA LIT. MEANS “BROTHERLY LOVE” DERIVED FROM THE GREEK WORDS PHILIO (TO LOVE) AND ADELPHO (A BROTHER).

** AND IN 189 B.C. ATTALUS II, THE KING OF PERGAMUM BUILT THIS CITY AS A TRIBUTE OF LOVE TO HIS OLDER BROTHER EUMENSES II.

*** NOW IT’S INTERESTING THAT KING ATTALUS BUILT THIS CITY WITH THE INTENT THAT IT WOULD BE A CENTER OF GREEK CULTURE AND LANGUAGE, A MISSIONARY OUTPOST FOR SPREADING HELLENISM TO THE REGIONS ROUND ABOUT AND THAT PURPOSE WAS ACCOMPLISHED.

**** BUT IN CONTRAST OUR SOVEREIGN GOD’S PURPOSE WAS THAT THE CHURCH THAT WOULD BE PLANTED IN THIS CITY WOULD BE A MISSIONARY OUTPOST FOR THE SPREADING OF THE GOSPEL.

1. WHICH IS OUR MANDATE, OUR COMMISSION AND HOPEFULLY OUR PASSION.

* BUT MOVING ON WITH THAT LITTLE BIT OF BACKGROUND IN MIND, NOTICE THAT THE HEAD OF THE CHURCH, THE LORD JESUS, INTRODUCES HIMSELF WITH A DESCRIPTION REFLECTING HIS CHARACTER.

** CHRIST INTRODUCES HIMSELF AS THE ONE WHO IS HOLY AND TRUE.

*** AND FIRST OF ALL THE WORD HOLY DESCRIBES WHAT IS FREE FROM SIN, AN ATTRIBUTE THAT ONLY GOD HAS, SO CHRIST IS COMMUNICATING HIS DEITY, THAT HE IS GOD HIMSELF.

**** JESUS PORTRAYS HIMSELF AS THE ONE WHO IS UTTERLY SEPARATE FROM SIN; THEREFORE HIS CHARACTER IS ABSOLUTELY UNBLEMISHED AND FLAWLESS.

2. AS THE HOLY ONE, HE IS UNIQUELY SET APART FROM EVERYTHING ELSE AND NOTHING CAN BE COMPARED TO HIM.

* BUT ALSO HE IS THE ONE WHO IS TRUE. AND THE WORD TRUE HERE IN THE GREEK DENOTES THAT WHICH IS GENUINE, AUTHENTIC AND REAL.

** THIS WORD SPEAKS OF ABSOLUTE REALITY, OF WHAT IS TRUE AS DISTINCT FROM FALSE.

*** AND IN THE MIDST OF FALSEHOOD, PERVERSION AND ERROR THAT FILLS OUR WORLD, THE LORD JESUS CHRIST IS THE TRUTH, THE ONLY SAVIOR (READ JOHN 14:6).

**** AND MAY WE AS A CHURCH NEVER BACK DOWN FROM THAT REALITY IN THE MIDST OF RATIONALISM, RELATIVISM AND PLURALISM. CHRIST IS THE ONLY ONE WHO IS TRUE IN A WORLD OF FAKES.

- AND HERE HOLINESS AND TRUTH ARE CONNECTED IN CHRIST, AND QUITE FRANKLY CANNOT BE SEPARATED, FOR THERE CAN BE NO HOLINESS WITHOUT TRUTH.

3. NEXT, CHRIST DESCRIBES HIMSELF AS THE ONE WHO HAS THE KEY OF DAVID IN V. 7.

* NOW A KEY IN SCRIPTURE REPRESENTS AUTHORITY, WHOEVER HOLDS A KEY HAS CONTROL, THE POWER TO UNLOCK AND OPEN A DOOR OR TO LOCK AND CLOSE A DOOR.

** AND THE TERM “KEY OF DAVID” APPEARS IN ISAIAH 22:22 WHERE IT REFERS TO A MAN NAMED ELIAKIM, THE STEWARD OR PRIME MINISTRY TO ISRAEL’S KING.

** AND BECAUSE OF HIS OFFICE, HE CONTROLLED ACCESS TO THE KING.

**** NOW JESUS AS THE HOLDER OF THE KEY OF DAVID (THE HOUSE OF DAVID BEING A DESIGNATION OF THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST) JESUS ALONE HAS THE SOVEREIGN AUTHORITY TO DETERMINE WHO ENTERS HIS KINGDOM.

4. CHRIST IS THE ABSOLUTE AUTHORITY, THE ONE WHO HOLDS THE KEYS OF DEATH AND HELL IN REVELATION 1:18.

* BECAUSE OF THAT, IN THE LAST PART OF V. 7, IF HE OPENS A DOOR, NO ONE WILL SHUT IT, AND WHEN HE SHUTS A DOOR, NO ONE OPENS IT.

** JESUS DETERMINES WHO WILL ENTER HIS KINGDOM, THE ONE WHO IS HOLY AND TRUE. HE HAS SOVEREIGN CONTROL OVER HIS CHURCH, HE’S THE ONE WHO OPENS THE DOOR AND HE IS THE ONE WHO SHUTS THE DOOR. HE HAS THE FINAL WORD AND I CAN REST IN THAT, FOR HE KNOWS BEST, FOR AGAIN HE IS THE ONE WHO IS HOLY AND TRUE.

*** AND THIS IS HOW JESUS PRESENTS HIMSELF TO THE CHURCH AT PHILADELPHIA. NOW AFTER HE DOES THAT HE STARTS TO COMMEND THIS FAITHFUL CHURCH IN V. 8, SO LOOK AT V. 8 WHERE WE’LL START TO SEE OUR 2’D POINT TODAY, THE COMMENDATION.

II. THE COMMENDATION (READ V. 8)

A. NOW THE LORD OF THE CHURCH KNOWS THEIR DEEDS AND KNOWING THEIR DEEDS OUR LORD DOES NOT CONDEMN THIS CHURCH FOR ANYTHING, BUT COMMENDS THEM FOR SEVERAL THINGS AND REMINDS THEM OF OPPORTUNITIES AND GIVES THEM SOME PROMISES.

* AND FIRST OF ALL, JESUS PUT BEFORE THEM AN OPEN DOOR WHICH NO ONE CAN SHUT.

** AND THE WORD DOOR HERE IS USED FIGURATIVELY OF THE OPPORTUNITY FOR MISSIONARY SERVICE, OPEN DOORS FOR THE GOSPEL AND SERVICE TO HIM, OPEN DOORS FOR EVANGELISM.

*** AND NO ONE COULD SHUT THOSE DOORS, SO THEY WERE AT A POINT OF GREAT OPPORTUNITY.

**** FOR IN THE N.T., AN OPEN DOOR SPEAKS OF OPPORTUNITY FOR THE GOSPEL AND FREEDOM TO PROCLAIM THE GOSPEL.

1. FOR EXAMPLE, WHEN PAUL AND BARNABUS RETURN TO THE CHURCH AT ANTIOCH AFTER THEIR FIRST MISSIONARY JOURNEY, PAUL REPORTED THIS TO HIS SENDING CHURCH IN ACTS 14:27.

* ACTS 14:27 – “WHEN THEY HAD ARRIVED AND GATHERED THE CHURCH TOGETHER, THEY BEGAN TO REPORT ALL THINGS THAT GOD HAD DONE WITH THEM AND HOW HE HAD OPENED A DOOR OF FAITH TO THE GENTILES.”

** AND THEN IN I CORINTHIANS 16:8&9, PAUL EXPLAINS HIS TRAVEL PLANS TO THE CORINTHIANS AND INFORMS THEM.

*** I CORINTHIANS 16:8&9 – “BUT I WILL REMAIN IN EPHESUS UNTIL PENTECOST; FOR A WIDE DOOR FOR EFFECTIVE SERVICE HAS OPENED TO ME, AND THERE ARE MANY ADVERSARIES.”

**** AND THEN IN II CORINTHIANS 2:12&13, PAUL WROTE THIS TO THIS CHURCH: “NOW WHEN I CAME TO TROAS FOR THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST AND WHEN A DOOR WAS OPENED FOR ME IN THE LORD, I HAD NO REST FOR MY SPIRIT, NOT FINDING TITUS MY BROTHER; BUT TAKING MY LEAVE OF THEM, I WENT ON TO MACEDONIA.”

2. AND FINALLY TO ILLUSTRATE THE PRINCIPLE OF AN OPEN DOOR, PAUL SAID THIS TO THE CHURCH AT COLOSSE IN COLOSSIANS 4:2-4 – “DEVOTE YOURSELVES TO PRAYER, KEEPING ALERT IN IT WITH AN ATTITUDE OF THANKSGIVING; PRAYING AT THE SAME TIME FOR US AS WELL, THAT GOD WILL OPEN UP TO US A DOOR FOR THE WORD, SO THAT WE MAY SPEAK FORTH THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST, FOR WHICH I HAVE ALSO BEEN IMPRISONED; THAT I MAY MAKE IT CLEAR IN THE WAY I OUGHT TO SPEAK.”

* NOW WITH THE WORD DOOR USED METAPHORICALLY LIKE THIS IN SCRIPTURE, WE SEE OPEN DOORS AS OPPORTUNITIES AND PRAYING FOR OPPORTUNITIES TO SPREAD THE GOSPEL.

** AND THE CHURCH AT PHILADELPHIA HAD AN OPEN DOOR BY CHRIST SET BEFORE THEM WHICH NO ONE COULD SHUT.

*** AND THEIR RESPONSIBILITY WAS TO WALK THROUGH THE DOOR. AND WITH ALL OF OUR OPEN DOORS AS A CHURCH WHICH I WILL ELABORATE ON SOME IN MY CONCLUSION TODAY, WE HAVE THE RESPONSIBILITY AND PRIVILEGE TO WALK THROUGH THEM.

**** BUT NEXT NOTICE AS WE GO BACK TO V. 8, CHRIST SAYS TO THE CHURCH AT PHILADELPHIA, YOU HAVE LITTLE POWER OR A LITTLE STRENGTH.

3. NOW THIS IS NOT A NEGATIVE COMMENT, BUT A COMMENDATION OF THEIR STRENGTH; FOR IN V. 8, THE REASON CHRIST GAVE THEM AN OPEN DOOR WAS BECAUSE, SINCE, THEY HAD LITTLE STRENGTH, THEY KEPT CHRIST’S WORD AND HAVE NOT DENIED HIS NAME.

* FOR THEIR LITTLE STRENGTH WAS MANIFEST IN TWO POSITIVE WAYS: THEY KEPT HIS WORD AND DID NOT DENY HIS NAME.

** SO IT APPEARS THAT LITTLE STRENGTH OR LITTLE POWER MAKES REFERENCE TO THEIR NUMBER AND RESOURCES.

*** IT APPEARS THEY WERE NOT A BIG MEGA CHURCH WITH A LOT OF BUCKS, BUT THAT DID NOT MATTER AS FAR AS ETERNAL IMPACT WAS CONCERNED.

**** FOR THE SIZE OF THE CHURCH IS NOT THE ISSUE WHEN IT COMES TO OPEN DOORS, BUT WHETHER THE CHURCH KEEPS CHRIST’S WORD, ATTENDS TO HIS WORD, AND OBEYS HIS WORD AND IN THE PROCESS DOES NOT DENY HIS NAME, IN SPITE OF PRESSURES WE’LL SEE IN V. 9 THAT WERE PUT ON THEM TO DO SO.

4. AND YOU KNOW WHAT THE BOTTOM LINE HERE IS: OBEDIENCE AND FAITHFULNESS. CHRIST DOESN’T CALL HIS CHURCH TO BE OUTWARDLY SUCCESSFUL WITH THE CRITERIA WE USE AS A CULTURE TO DETERMINE SUCCESSFULNESS, BUT HE CALLS US TO BE FAITHFUL, TO BE OBEDIENT TO HIS WORD AND TO NOT DENY HIS NAME.

* AND THE IRONY IN OUR DAY IS, SOMETIMES CHURCHES IN THEIR DESIRE TO BE BIG, COMPROMISE CHRIST’S WORD AND DENY HIS NAME AND HAVE LITTLE IMPACT.

** FOR THEY WATER DOWN THE WORD AND THE GOSPEL TO BE MORE USER FRIENDLY AND MARKET DRIVEN TO QUOTE, REACH THE MASSES, BUT IN THE PROCESS ARE NOT VERY EFFECTIVE IN REACHING PEOPLE BECAUSE THEY HAVE COMPROMISED THE VERY GOSPEL THAT HAS THE POWER TO SAVE, READ ROMANS 1:16, I CORINTHIANS 1:18.

*** WELL, THE CHURCH AT PHILADELPHIA WAS FAITHFUL AND OBEDIENT. AND IN V. 9 CHRIST GIVES THEM A PROMISE FOR NOT COMPROMISING. LOOK AT V. 9 PLEASE.

B. READ V. 9. NOW IN RESPONSE TO THE FAITHFULNESS OF THE BELIEVERS, CHRIST PROMISES THIS CHURCH THAT HE WILL HUMBLE THEIR ENEMIES AND MOST LIKELY SAVE SOME.

* LET ME BRIEFLY EXPLAIN. CHRIST REFERRED TO THE ENEMIES OF THE CHURCH AT PHILADELPHIA AS THE SYNAGOGUE OF SATAN.

** AND THIS SYNAGOGUE OF SATAN WAS MADE UP OF JEWS WHO WERE JEWS PHYSICALLY BY BIRTH, BUT NOT JEWS SPIRITUALLY THROUGH FAITH IN CHRIST.

*** FOR IN THEIR OPPOSITION TO THE GOSPEL AND TO CHRIST BEING THE TRUE MESSIAH, THEY COMMUNICATED LIES, AND WERE DOING THE WORK OF THE FATHER OF LIES – SATAN.

**** AND OBVIOUSLY THERE WAS A LOT OF OPPOSITION BY JEWISH PEOPLE TO THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST AT PHILADELPHIA AS THERE WAS AT SMYRNA.

1. AND AT SMYRNA AND PHILADELPHIA, THOSE JEWS WHO THOUGHT THEY WERE DOING THE LORD’S WORK AND CONSIDERED THEMSELVES A SYNAGOGUE OF GOD, IN REALITY WERE A SYNAGOGUE OF SATAN, A STATEMENT THAT WOULD BE HIGHLY INFLAMMATORY IN OUR AGE OF POLITICAL CORRECTNESS.

* BUT THAT WAS CHRIST’S ASSESSMENT OF THEM. AND HE WILL MAKE THESE ENEMIES OF THE GOSPEL TO BOW DOWN TO THEIR FEET SO THAT THESE PEOPLE KNOW THAT CHRIST LOVED THIS TRUE N.T. CHURCH.

** AND TWO INTERPRETATIONS OF THIS COME TO MIND. NO. 1 BOWING AT SOMEONE’S FEET DEPICTS ABJECT, TOTAL DEFEAT AND SUBMISSION.

*** MEANING THOSE OF THE SYNAGOGUE OF SATAN, THE PHILADELPHIA CHURCH’S ENEMIES WOULD BE UTTERLY VANQUISHED, HUMBLED AND DEFEATED.

**** GOD’S ENEMIES WILL BE JUDGED, IF NOT IN THIS LIFE, FOR ALL ETERNITY.

2. BUT ANOTHER INTERPRETATION SEEMS MORE FAITHFUL TO THE TEXT.

* AND THAT IS, IT IS BETTER TO SEE THIS PROMISE TO THIS CHURCH AS DESCRIBING A DIVINE WORK OF GRACE IN THE CONVERSION OF THESE ADVERSARIES WHO WILL THUS DEMONSTRATE IN A PUBLIC WAY THEIR CHANGE OF HEART.

** AND THE BOWING DOWN HERE IS WORSHIP, NOT DIRECTED TO THE CHURCH, BUT TO CHRIST IN THE PRESENCE OF HIS SAINTS, THROUGH SALVATION THEIR HEARTS ARE HUMBLED AND BOWING AT THEIR FEET STRESSES THEIR HUMBLING. THEY CANNOT GET ANY LOWER THAN THE FEET.

*** THEIR ENEMIES THINKING WILL BE REVERSED. THEY WILL SEE CHRIST’S LOVE FOR HIS CHURCH, AND THEY UNDERSTAND FOR THE FIRST TIME THE OPERATION OF DIVINE GRACE.

**** SO THIS INTERPRETATION COMMUNICATES THE PHILADELPHIA CHURCH’S FAITHFULNESS WOULD BE REWARDED BY THE SALVATION OF SOME OF THE VERY JEWS WHO WERE PERSECUTING IT.

3. IN OTHER WORDS, THESE JEWS WERE A PART OF THE OPEN DOOR THAT CHRIST HAD GIVEN THIS CHURCH.

* AND I’M GOING TO STOP WITH V. 9 AND PICK UP IN V. 10, LORD WILLING NEXT WEEK.

BUT IN WRAP UP AND IN APPLICATION: (1) WHAT JUMPS OUT AT ME TODAY FROM THE CHURCH WE’VE STUDIED IS THE OPEN DOOR THE LORD HAD SET BEFORE THIS CHURCH WHICH NO ONE COULD SHUT AND HOW THEY DID NOT COMPROMISE IN THE MIDST OF PRESSURE FROM THE SYNAGOGUE OF SATAN, THEIR ENEMIES, BUT KEPT CHRIST’S WORD AND DID NOT DENY HIS NAME.

* AND I SAY BY GRACE, THE SAME THING JUMPS OUT AT ME AGAIN BY GOD’S GRACE ABOUT FAITH BIBLE CHURCH AFTER 22 YEARS OF EXISTENCE.

** WE’RE NOT A BIG CHURCH OR A SMALL CHURCH, WE HAVE A LITTLE STRENGTH.

*** OUR FINANCIAL RESOURCES HAVE ALWAYS SEEMED TO BE SMALLER THAN MANY CHURCHES.

**** BUT BY GRACE WE HAVE KEPT CHRIST’S WORD BY TRYING TO OBEY IT AND USE IT AS OUR CHURCH MANUAL AND BELIEVING IN IT’S ABSOLUTE SUFFICIENCY BY TEACHING AND PREACHING IT.

(2) AND IN SPITE OF OUR FAILURES WE HAVE NOT DENIED CHRIST’S NAME.

* AND CERTAINLY WE HAVE AN OPEN DOOR BEFORE US THAT NO HUMAN BEING CAN SHUT.

** AND THAT DOOR APPEARS TO ME TO BE A MASSIVE OPEN DOOR THAT YOU CAN DRIVE A SEMI THROUGH.

*** AND THAT OPEN DOOR BRINGS GREAT RESPONSIBILITY AND GREAT ACCOUNTABILITY TO THE LORD OF THE CHURCH.

**** WILL WE HAVE THE VISION AND OBEDIENCE TO WALK THROUGH THESE DOORS OR WILL WE COAST AND BE SATISFIED AND JUST SURVIVE?

(3) BELOVED THE LORD SOVEREIGNLY STARTED THIS CHURCH, THE LORD SOVEREIGNLY EVEN DIRECTED US PROVIDENTIALLY TO THE LOCATION WE BUILT AT, FOR WE LOOKED AT FOUR LOCATIONS.

* AND WHEN THE LORD PROVIDED THE MONEY TO BUY THE GROUND ON MARKET AVE., THERE WAS NO KING’S CREEK, WASHINGTON SQUARE, STONE HEDGE, MONTICELLO, MONTIBELLO, THE TWO NEW NEIGHBORHOODS BEHIND US. (OPEN DOORS).

** AND WE HAVE GREAT OPEN DOORS LOCALLY THROUGH OUR FRIENDSHIP CENTER OUTREACH, THE NURSING HOME MINISTRY, OUR CAFE MINISTRY WHICH WILL ROLL OUT NEXT YEAR.

*** WE HAVE A GREAT OPEN DOOR WITH OUR T.V. MINISTRY, OUR AWANA MINISTRY, EVEN OUR FLOCKS.

(4) WE HAVE GREAT OPEN DOORS THROUGH OUR 10 WEEK EVANGELISTIC BIBLE STUDY WHICH IS A COMPREHENSIVE STUDY OF THE GOSPEL CALLED THE RED BOOK.

** WE HAVE GREAT OPEN DOORS THROUGH OUR YOUTH MINISTRY.

** WE HAVE A GREAT OPEN DOOR IN RUSSIA THROUGH THE ANTIOCH PROJECT, IN AUSTRALIA THROUGH BILD AND IN THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE IN MEXICO. WE HAVE OPEN DOORS IN SPAIN AND ITALY.

*** AND WE HAVE OPEN DOORS AS A BILD RESOURCE CHURCH AND THROUGH OUR TRAINING IN SENDING OUT MEN TO REFORM CHURCHES AND PLANT CHURCHES.

**** AND WHAT I’M TRYING TO SAY IS WE HAVE A GREAT OPEN DOOR.

(5) MAY WE IN PASSION AND IN CHRIST’S STRENGTH, WALK THROUGH THOSE DOORS AND MAY WE HAVE THE VISION IN 2006 TO GO ON IN A GREATER WAY FOR THE PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL.

* AFTER LUNCH TODAY, WE WANT TO COMMUNICATE WHAT WE ARE CALLING “VISION 2006” AS WE WILL CALL YOU TO COMMITMENT TO WALK THROUGH THE DOORS THAT CHRIST HAS OPENED FOR US.

** MAY WE BE FAITHFUL AND OBEDIENT. I CLOSE WITH PROVERBS 29:18. READ IT, EXPLAIN IT AND PRAY.