A Call To The Remnant

I wanted to look at two of the churches in Revelations that Jesus has strong words for. He says to those in Philadelphia… 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 (Rev 3:8) And to the church in Laodicea He says….. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me (Rev 3:20)

The first thing I want to point out may not be the obvious difference between these two churches but do you see that in the first church there is an “open door.” In the second church the door is closed. The reason for the open door in the first church is stated by Jesus. They have a little strength, perhaps meaning they were poor in Spirit therefore they shall inherit the Kingdom of heaven. Secondly they have kept His word. They have stood upon the Word of God even although they are surrounded by what Jesus calls ” the synagogue of Satan,” those who claim to be worshipers of God but are clearly not. And lastly, they have not denied the name of Jesus. They are not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus. And because of all that, they have an open door.

The second church, the somewhat infamous Laodecean church does not have an open door, rather the door is closed. What has caused the door to be closed? The fundamental problem with this church is lukewarmness. Jesus says they are neither hot nor cold and Jesus, using some of His scariest language says that if this continues He would vomit them out of His mouth. Now, what led to their lukewarmness and the closing of the door? They were rich and increased with goods and in their minds had need of nothing. No doubt they imagined that their very riches was a blessing and a proof from God that they were blessed. Where have we heard that before? And yet, they were actually, according to Jesus, wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked. Wow. This is not meek and gentle Jesus.

I want to tell you that I have experienced an open door in the heavens. And at other times the heavens themselves were as brass. What does an open door mean? Lets take a look at Rev 4:1, just a sentence later and probably in the same breath….”After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven.” An open door brothers and sisters. Let us look through this door and see what we can see. “And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.” John, in the Spirit, beheld the throne and the glorious scene all around it. This is similar to the scene we see in Isaiah chapter six where the prophet, in the Spirit, has his own vision.

In short, when the door is open, we are ushered into the glory of God. We come before His throne of grace and mercy. We sense His manifest presence. We speak to Him intimately. We are full of His joy and sing His praises. We are quick to forgive and we refuse to take up the offense, rather we take up our crosses gladly and daily. These are just some of the blessings that rains down upon us from an open door. For that door to stay open we must abide in His Word and His word must abide in us. In short, we read His word and we keep His word. And of course we must never deny Him, not only in name only but also we must not deny Him by our actions.

If you find the door closed and the heavens above you are as brass, then you must search your heart. You must do all that the church at Philadelphia were doing. And if we find that we are lukewarm, we must repent of that lukewarmness. We must submit to the furnace and seek the gold that comes not from the material blessings of this world, but the true blessings that are found through suffering. Will you suffer loss for the cause of Christ? Will you seek Him out as your only passion? Will you forego everything that possibly stands between you and your Lord? Sacrifice, surrender, enduring, overcoming. These are the flames that the Spirit fans that melts away all the dross. And out of that furnace comes gold. It is that opens up the door of heaven, an open door where glory pours forth from.