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Discussion Forum : Devotional Thoughts : I have set before thee an open door!

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 I have set before thee an open door!

(Rev 3:8)I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it.

Praise the Lord, He has set before this church an open door to the throne room of heaven itself. The church of Philadelphia is unique in these opening chapters of Revelation in that the Lord speaks no word against them. Philadelphia is the church of brotherly love and herein lies one of the great keys that open that door. Love for one another and unity of the Body of Christ. This group may have had a ” little strength,” but they had love one for another and there can be no genuine unity outside of love. Also, they have kept the word of the Lord and have not denied His name in the face of fierce opposition from their enemies. Now, who were their enemies that are here in this chapter described as ” The Synagogue of Satan.” Those who worship other gods, who chase after other lovers and to whom Jesus is relegated to second place or worse.

Obviously in our day the ” other gods,” are not so obvious nor named. In those days the gods could be the ashteroths or the baals, basically gods of fertility. Bottom line even in those days, people needed to put food on their table, a roof over their heads and clothes on their backs. These fertility gods were worshiped in order to produce a good harvest. In our day we are way too sophisticated to worship the gods of fertility. Yet the concerns of people today are not so different from the people of the ancient world. The main concerns of most people today are their livelihoods, their careers, the food on their tables, the clothes on their backs. What kind of car they drive, what college will their kids go to, what kind of house they live in, in short, people of today worship their lifestyles and are often jealous of the lifestyles of others.

Now in our day there is a rising tide of opposition against the saints from those of the world. Can I tell you that greatest opposition that will come against the saints will be those of the ” Synagogue of Satan.” People who name themselves after Christ but who truly worship other gods and the living God will reveal their gods in due time. The Lord will bring about and is bringing about circumstances that expose this kind of ” synagogue,” or we can replace that in our day with the word church. He is shaking the very foundations of our societies. And that shaking is revealing much. The more the pressure increases from the culture and the world in general to deny the fundamental truths of the Gospel and of Jesus, the more we see the ” synagogue of Satan,” revealed. And in the midst of all this, God’s word to His uncompromising Body is “Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.” (Rev 3:11)

So this is my encouragement to my brothers and sisters today, hold fast. It is difficult of course but the promises are made to those who endure, those who overcome. Let us be firm in our resolution and passion for the truth that no man may take our crown. And of course we have this open door to heaven itself, a door that no man can shut. The door shines the light of glory upon us. It allows our open hearts to be fed by manna from above and allows rivers of living water to quench our thirsty souls. Those with an open door in their hearts are open to love and open to forgive and open to mercy and compassion. This open heart, this open door is one of the greatest treasures that we have. Stand fast brothers and sisters, no man can shut this door but we can shut the door ourselves, turn our backs so to speak on the glories of the Lord. How does this typically happen? We drift away usually through distraction which leads to compromise. Do not allow yourself to be distracted, no matter what is going on your life you keep your eyes upon Jesus. No matter how dark the world is becoming in your personal life or in the world around you, keep your eyes upon Jesus. Keep the door open.

If we move from the church of Philadelphia to the next church, the Laodiceans, we see the tragic results of this. They are neither hot nor cold, they are lukewarm. They believe, because of their material success that they are rich but we see here Jesus describes them as wretched and miserable, poor, blind and naked. He counsels them to cover their nakedness with His glory. To seek after the true treasures of heaven that can only be found in the fires of trials and the furnaces of suffering for His sake. For is we suffer with Him we shall rule and reign with Him. The Philadelphians, although tormented by the synagogue of Satan had the treasures of love which came from an open heart and filled them and enriched them with glories of heaven which shone into the deepest parts of them through this very door. The Laodiceans had no such open door. Yet the Lord in His great mercy cries out to them that He is knocking at the door of their hearts, He is crying out to them to return to their first love before it is too late.

If the lukewarm man, the lukewarm church would dare to humble themselves, repent and cry out to God, even now at this late hour, He would hear from heaven and heal the lukewarmness of their hearts by opening a door that no man could shut. Consider Rev4:1, just a few sentences later……..”After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven” An open door to heaven brothers and sisters and what do hear from that open door “Come up hither, and I will shew thee things…….And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne………And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings……..Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.

This is the glories of walking with the Lord with an open heart, to walk in His presence and according to His ways. This is the promise of Jesus to His faithful followers, that no matter what happens, no matter how dark the hour , no matter how fierce the opposition, the saints will walk in the glories of God and have access to His throne and to His presence and that He would keep them from the hour of temptation. Now that word keep is better translated guard. To the loving Church who does not deny the name of Jesus and keeps His word, He guards them from that hour of temptation that is coming upon the world. Temptation loses its power for those who draw near to Jesus. To draw near to Jesus we must have an open door in our hearts, our hearts must be open to His glories and then we shall have the power to stand fast and let no man steal our crown.

 2016/3/10 9:26









 Re: I have set before thee an open door!

Amen! Excellent word brother. Thanks for sharing!

 2016/3/10 9:54









 Re:

Thank you bro Jeff...............bro Frank

 2016/3/10 12:34





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