An Open Door

[Music] so [Music] welcome friends i'm so glad you decided to join me again on this beautiful afternoon out in the woods i have a question for you though have you ever locked yourself out of the house i remember one time a few years back when christina and i came home from a trip and we we came to the front door and of course it was locked we usually lock the doors when we leave our home and we realized at that instant as we looked at the keys in our hands the key to the house was locked safely inside the house i still remember going around the house until we found an unlocked window and climbing through that window to get in the house and unlock the door well today as we open god's word together we'll be looking at one of my favorite stories one of my favorite parts of the story of noah the story of an open door but not just that but we'll explore our bibles for the lesson that that open door has to teach us today but before we go any further i want to invite you to bow your heads with me in a word of prayer father in heaven lord thank you for your blessings towards us thank you for this beautiful day and lord thank you for your word which gives us messages of hope and encouragement in the times we live in today lord i pray that as we explore your word that you will guide us and lead us for we ask in jesus name amen [Music] do [Music] doors yes they can be a nuisance an inconvenience sometimes but doors are a necessary fact of life in the civilization that we live in today doors exist to keep evil bad whether it be people or animals or anything that we don't want out and yes to keep some things that we do want in we find in the story of noah this story that we've been following over the last several weeks we find in the description the god gave to noah the specific instructions on how to build this ark we find these words he says in genesis 6 16 and set the door of the ark in its side now it seems almost like it would go without mention that when you make a big boat you would place a door in this boat so that you could get in and out when you want to and yes to close that door when the floods come so the flood waters don't come in to this ship and so we have in genesis chapter 7 a description of the events that follow after noah builds this ark after he preaches perhaps for 120 years to the world that was doomed to destruction it says in genesis chapter 7 but god said to noah come into the ark you and all your household because i have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation god goes on to describe how he was to take with him seven pairs of the clean animals and a pair of each of the unclean animals to the ark to preserve the life not only of himself and his family but the lives of the animals with him god goes on to give noah a description of what would take place how after seven days the rains would come and the floods would break loose from the fountains of the deep it says in verse 5 that noah did according to all that the lord commanded him it gives the timeline there in the 600th year of noah's life is when the flood came and describes how noah took with him each of the pairs of the unclean animals and the seven pairs of the clean animals into the ark and then then in verse 16 so those that entered the ark male and female of all flesh went in as god and commanded him notice those last words and the lord shut him in the lord shut him in god himself it says closed that door that door to the ark to protect noah and his family and sadly as that door rumbled closed so the door the door of mercy for all of the rest of the world the unrepented world outside was closed up to that moment anyone who would anyone who wanted who believed in the lord and the message of noah could have come into that ark had been saved but only noah and his family went in that point in time god shut him in he shut noah into this great ship to protect him from the flood waters the disaster to come we find in isaiah chapter 26 we share these words last time as well isaiah 26 and verse 20 a beautiful invitation of god to flee from the destruction that is soon to fall upon the world come my people enter your chambers and shut your doors behind you hide yourself as it were for a little moment until the indignation is passed for behold the lord comes out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity the earth also will disclose her blood and will no more cover her slain yes sometimes it seems as though doors and walls are something that we should get rid of after all we come out here in nature and we see no doors no walls yes maybe pillars of stone like we see here but in the in the world of civilization in which we live doors are everywhere doers stand there as a means of protection my wife and i shut the doors of our house before we go to sleep yes we even lock those doors not as though the locks on our doors would keep out every intruder but it gives us a sense of security to know that we will know at least we will hear someone breaking in the house before they come in to do us harm yes doors are a fact of life and yes in the scriptures god uses doors not just here in the book of genesis but he eludes and refers to doors many other places doors that are shut and doors that are open for the people of god when i want to invite you to continue journeying with me out here in nature and see what we can find about the doors the open and shut doors in god's word and of course we want to find out what's going to happen to noah and his family as they are shut in behind this door of the ark before the floods come jesus often taught his disciples using parables stories about everyday life stories that teach a lesson jesus in john chapter 10 says most assuredly i say to you he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs up by some other way the same is a thief and a robber but he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep now i thought about that when i was breaking into my house when i had forgotten the and locked the keys inside if any of the neighbors happen to drive by and see me climbing in through the window they might as well have thought i was a thief or a robber after all only thieves climb through the house window when all the lights are off right it's the same way if in ancient times if you would see someone jumping over the wall of the sheepfold you would know that person is definitely not the shepherd perhaps a thief perhaps a robber but definitely not the shepherd but what does all this have to do with jesus why is he telling this story to his listeners he says to his disciples a few verses later most assuredly i say to you i am the door of the sheep you see that door that door of the ark that god closed when he shut noah in to protect him that same door is like the door of the sheepfold that door is jesus christ he is our protection he is the one who keeps us safe he is the one who keeps away the thief and the robber he is the one who gives us the protection that we need yes sometimes we don't like the restriction that a door or wall brings but oh my friends we love the protection that it brings we love the security and how many of us wouldn't long to be secure in knowing that jesus jesus is our friend and protect him he says in verse 9 i am the door if anyone enters by me he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture my friends there's only one way to be saved there's only one way to heaven there is only one way to be a part of god's kingdom and that is to enter by the door you see for centuries men and women have tried and tried to save themselves is natural i i struggle with the same thing i want to save myself i want to do something my friends there was nothing noah could do to save himself from the flood in fact the way the ark was constructed i imagine there was nothing that noah could do even to shut that door that he himself had made if you look at the dimensions of the ark this was a massive boat you see god himself shut that door and yes jesus himself was represented by that door my friends we're living now in the last hours of this earth's history we've already talked about how in the last days jesus christ is our ark of safety and yes my friends he is that door that door of protection that stands between us and an evil world intent on doing us harm yes jesus christ is that door of protection that stands between us and the judgment of god as we follow on through this story we will see just what that means for jesus to be that door as we look at another ancient story about a door in the old testament we find this story in the book of exodus in the time when the children of israel were there in the land of egypt on the very night that god would finally bring deliverance the very last of the plagues of egypt we find god giving to israel through moses specific instructions on how to survive his plague you see the first few plagues had fallen on all the land including the people of israel but after the first few plagues the plagues fell only on the people of egypt the oppressors of god's people but in this last plague this last and most terrible destruction that god had condemned from the people of egypt there were specific and important instructions if god gave the people of israel to save each family's firstborn son you see god had said in exodus chapter 12 i will pass through the land of egypt on that night and i will strike all the firstborn in the land of egypt both man and beast and against all the gods of egypt i will execute judgment i am the lord and that statement should have struck terror to everyone everyone who had seen the nine plagues leading up to this now not just a plague of lice or flies or frogs or anything like this but a plague of death this was none other than the last judgment of god upon the rebellious people of egypt but now god was not making the distinction based on race or nationality god was making the distinction on something very special something that had to do with a lamb and a door see god had said to the children of israel to sacrifice a land that lamb since the very beginning since the very entrance of sin to this world represents christ jesus christ the lamb of god who is slain for our sins for your sin and mine and yet to slay the lamb on that night was not enough because on that night after the lamb was slain a branch of hyssop was taken dipped in that blood and that blood was sprinkled upon the doorpost of the house and that night as the destroying angel came through the land of egypt destroying killing the firstborn in every household when that angel came to that door and saw on that doorpost the blood or the lamb that angel passed over that house and no destruction came to that home you see that blood on the doorposts where's the door it was jesus christ who is protecting that home and no destruction came to that home in the day of judgments that home was under the protecting hand of god and every home which the father sacrificed that lamb was spared and on that night as the whale and cry came from the unbelieving egyptians god through that judgment and through that passover wrought deliverance to the land of israel because the people of israel that night were given liberty to go to go with our flocks of their herds their wives their families their little ones and to go and of course that was not the end of the story that was only the beginning of a very long and arduous journey through which god would teach his people what it meant to be the people of god but on that night as stubborn and rebellious as those people still were those who chose to believe god those who chose to stay under the blood of the lamb were saved and so i believe as we look at the doors in the bible the doors from the day of noah and the door of the ark all the way to the doors that we find mentioned in the book of revelation in god's final judgment upon this rebellious planet earth i believe in the message of the open door we find a message of the mercy of god [Music] so [Music] speaking of doors and keys we find a very interesting and fascinating prophecy given in the book of isaiah isaiah chapter 22 it's not a common passage that we read but in this passage of course isaiah is prophesying the future demise of both israel and judah and he gives this message to shibna the servant the administrator in the palace of hezekiah he says in isaiah 22 15 go proceed to this steward to shibna who is over the house and say what have you here and whom have you hear that you have hewn a sepulcher here why are you making a tomb for yourself as though you're gonna live in this city to a ripe old age and die and be buried in this city don't you realize the prophet is saying don't you realize the judgment is coming to you don't you realize that someone is going to come and take your place as the steward that you're going to be cast out of course i'm paraphrasing this passage here and he says in a very interesting and prophetic picture that his position and responsibility will be given to another and he says of that person who would be his successor in verse 22 the key of the house of david i will lay on his shoulder so he shall open and no one shall shut and he shall shut and no one shall open i will fasten him as a pig in a secure place and he will become a glorious throne to his father's house and so we have as is often the case in the book of isaiah a picture a picture that at first glance seems to be a prophecy of a successor to an obscure steward in the household of hezekiah but as we dig beneath the surface we see a picture a broader picture of how god would take the administration the people of god of the nation of judah and israel he would take that administration away from the unfaithful human stewards and give that administration once and for all to one who would come who would come of the household of david we find a very interesting reference to this same passage in the book of revelation revelation chapter 3 and verse 7. revelation 3 as you may know is a passage that gives special messages from christ to the seven churches in asia minor the actual and literal churches that john would send this letter to an epistle not from john but epistle and epistle from christ himself as a message to his church not only to those seven literal churches that john would send this letter to but i believe to the church in every age and in some way many scholars believe that these seven churches are figurative of seven great periods of time throughout the history of the christian church successive periods of time leading all the way to the second coming of christ this message is given to the church of philadelphia the sixth church the one that precedes the church of laodicea which is the very last church in this list of seven churches so this message is given to the church of philadelphia in revelation 3 and verse and to the angel of the church in philadelphia write these things says he who is holy he who is true he who has the key of david he who opens and no one shuts and shuts and no one opens it's a message if you see if you read further a message of judgment for he says i know your works see i have set before you an open door just as the message of isaiah was a message of judgment to the unfaithful stewards so the message of christ to his church in philadelphia is a message to his faithful people a message that not they but he christ is the one who holds the key he is the one who can open and shut not the doors to a to a palace in a distant land with the doors to another palace or shall we say a temple the doors to a temple in heaven the door of mercy as we have been talking about like the doorpost stricken with the blood the passover like the door of that ark that stands open for a period of time until the final day of judgment comes so jesus gives this message the church of philadelphia that he is the one who opens and no one shuts and he is also the one who shuts and no one can open [Music] yes i love to think of a door standing open a door of mercy and hope but the whole reason for a door to exist is because danger lurks outside that door you see the whole reason for there to be a door on the sheepfold is to keep the wolves and the thieves and the robbers from stealing the sheep the whole reason that there was a door on that ark because one day that door that stood open for so many years that door would be shut when that door was shut the flood waters would come upon the earth and those who failed to heed the warning those who failed to accept the offer of mercy would be sadly forever without hope the book of genesis describes in vivid detail the events that took place upon this earth once that door of the ark was shut we read again in genesis chapter 7 genesis chapter 7 and verse 16 so they entered them so those that entered male and female of all flesh went in as god had commanded them and the lord shut him in now the flood was on the earth forty days the waters increased and lifted up the ark and it rose high above the earth the following verses describe how the waters prevailed higher and still higher over the lowlands then over the hills then over the tops of the highest mountains and in verse 21 all flesh all flesh died that moved on the earth birds cattle and beasts and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth and every man all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life all that was on the dry land died so he destroyed every living thing which was on the face of the ground both man and cattle creeping thing in the bird of the air and they were destroyed from the earth only noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive you see that door that door of mercy finally became that door of protection and those on the outside perished in the flood that came and so my friends i have to wonder what does it mean when we read in revelation when we read in revelation that that door that door stands open that jesus is the one not only who opens the door because i love to think of an open door but he's also the one who shuts and no man can open i believe that that passage there in the message to philadelphia in revelation 3 speaks the time of judgment there's one more set of doors in the bible that i want us to look at before we close to see if we can understand to see if we can know because this is so important how to be on the right side that door in the time of judgment that is even now upon this world [Music] what could jesus mean when he says in revelation i am the one who has the key of david i am the one who shuts and no one opens the one who opens and no one shuts what is it that jesus could mean how could he shut a door after all we've seen how the door of mercy stands open and we love this message this open door of mercy but is it possible too that he is the one who determines a time when judgment comes upon the earth we find in matthew chapter 25 a story a story about 10 virgins 10 virgins who were invited to be attendants at a beautiful special wedding they brought with them their lamps but as the night grew late the bridegroom tarried and they all slumbered and slept but then at midnight a cry was heard behold the bridegroom is coming go out to meet him and as they heard this cry these virgins awoke these bridesmaids awoke and they they looked and their lamps had burned low and gone out but five of them were wise five of them had brought with them extra oil and they were able to refill their lamps and go in to the wedding but the other five were not as wise they were foolish they had they had brought only their lamps with oil in them but nothing extra and when they went to the market to find oil to buy to re-light their lamps while they were away the bridegroom came and the five went in and it says in verse 10 of matthew 25 that the door was shut the door was shut and afterwards the other virgins came saying lord lord open to us but he answered and said assuredly i say to you i do not know you jesus adds to this solemn account watch therefore for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the son of man is coming you see all through the bible through the old testament and the new testament the story of the open door is also a warning of judgment again going back to the old testament we find after that passover story that the children of israel built a tabernacle in the wilderness a sanctuary and that sanctuary was a model a symbol of god's plan of salvation and in that sanctuary were different compartments in the sanctuary and in each of those rooms of the sanctuary was a door a curtain hebrews tells us that that sanctuary was built after the pattern shown to moses in the mountain that was a a type a small miniature of the true sanctuary that is in heaven and friends i believe that just as the ark stood for 120 years as a witness with an open door inviting all who would to come and be safe so now in the sanctuary in heaven there is a door there is a door that stands open opened by jesus himself the one who opens and no one can shut the one who shuts and no one can open he says behold i have set before you an open door an open door of mercy yes ever since christ died and rose again ever since he ascended to heaven a door of mercy has stood open in that sanctuary in heaven but only a few years ago we entered into another time in this earth's history a time unlike the time before not not a time in which we simply go on with business as usual but a time in which we see an ark being built with another door it stands open you see ever since the days of adam and eve's sin and fall there in the garden god provided mercy for all who would call upon his name but then when he gave the message to noah that 120 years and then the flood will come a new door of mercy was opened not just the door of mercy through the sacrifice of a lamb but the door to an ark and so for all of history the door of mercy to god has stood open through jesus christ through the lamb sacrificed by the ancient israelites pointing forward to jesus and then through the prayers of believers all of us able to come boldly before god's throne of grace but now in the last days of this earth's history we see a door not a general door open but a special door a door if you will open to the most holy place the sanctuary of god a door through which we can see his ten commandments held there in the ark of the covenant door that symbolizes like the door of the ark the judgment is coming and only a few more moments then it may be too late but jesus says i have set before you an open door a door of mercy for a few more days friend my question for you is simply this will you enter that door before it is too late jesus says to the church of laodicea just a few verses later in the same chapter of revelation chapter 3. he turns the figure in another sense he says behold i stand at the door and knock now jesus is no longer the door in this metaphor but but he is the one standing and knocking at the door of our hearts he holds the door of mercy open then he says come come will you come through the door before it's too late will you give your heart to me before it's too late will you keep my commandments that i've asked you to keep before it is too late i'm coming i'm coming and i'm coming soon let us pray my friends father in heaven lord thank you for that door thank you for that door of mercy that you have opened in heaven lord may we enter that door before it is too late it's our prayer in jesus name amen [Music] do [Music] you

Channel: Daniel McFeeters

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Length: 38min 28sec (2308 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 11 2021