Through the Open Door

By David Faust

In years past, most churches didn’t lock their doors. On the Ohio farm where I grew up, our family never locked the doors to our house. Today, home security systems are common, and cars have alarms and automatic locks. In cities across America, metal gates cover storefronts at night. You can’t approach the White House in Washington, D.C. and stroll unchecked through the front door. Armed guards, fences, and sophisticated surveillance systems keep intruders from getting inside. 

But if the Lord opens a door, no one can lock you out. Has he ever opened a door for you?  

The Key Holder 

In the book of Revelation, Smyrna and Philadelphia were the only two of the seven first-century churches that received no rebuke in a letter from the Lord. In Philadelphia, believers endured hardship patiently though they had only a little strength, and the Lord commended them for keeping his word and for refusing to deny his name.   

The Lord introduced himself as the “holy and true, who holds the key of David” (Revelation 3:7, New International Version). In biblical times, most houses weren’t locked at night, and the keys to public buildings were much larger than the ones we use today. Small keys were about six inches long, and some were two feet long—too big to carry around in your pocket or purse! Large keys were carried on a rope or chain slung over a person’s shoulder, and no one made multiple copies of them. It was an honor if you were trusted to carry a key, for it symbolized power and authority.  

Christ is the door-opener for heaven’s kingdom. He holds “the key of David” (v. 7) for he fulfilled messianic prophecies about David’s royal line of kings.  

Christ holds the key to our salvation. He said, “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved” (John 10:9).  

He holds the key to our hope. Death is mysterious and scary, but the Lord declared, “I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades” (Revelation 1:18). Whatever else lies beyond death’s door, the Lord Jesus is there. To be “away from the body” is to be “at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8). 

Christ holds the key to our prayers. He is the “one mediator between God and mankind” (1 Timothy 2:5). Did you ever write a note and ask someone to pass it along to a friend or family member? When we pray in the name of Jesus, he faithfully shares our concerns with the heavenly Father. 

Step Forward 

Christ the key holder told his followers in Philadelphia, “See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut” (Revelation 3:8). What happens when the Lord opens a door for us? 

At first, the door may appear to be closed. Paul wrote that “a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me” (1 Corinthians 16:9). Open doors usually come with opposition. For every opportunity, there is an obstacle. When you drive your car, every traffic light isn’t green. Some lights are yellow and red, requiring you to slow down or stop. Has a door slammed in your face when you lost your job or when your health took a nosedive? Delays and obstacles don’t mean it’s impossible to move forward. Alexander Graham Bell once observed, “When one door closes another door opens, but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the ones that open for us.” 

When the Lord opens a door, you don’t have to break it down. Sometimes we push and try to force results only God can achieve. “With God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26), but church leadership advisor H. B. London pointed out five things you and I cannot do: 

• You cannot control everything. 
• You cannot fix someone else. 
• You cannot explain everything about God’s plan. 
• You cannot meet everyone’s expectations. 
• You cannot do what you do alone. 

When the Lord opens a door, it usually involves an opportunity to spread the gospel. Acts 14:27 says God “opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.” Colossians 4:3 says to pray “that God may open a door for our message.” The church exists not only to benefit people on the inside; we’re here for those on the outside. Do you pray regularly for opportunities to talk with friends about Christ?  

When the Lord opens a door, you still need to step through it. Through the cross and the resurrection, Christ has done what only he can do. We must respond by believing in him, turning from our sins in repentance, obeying him in baptism, and following wherever he leads. Let’s walk through the doors God opens for us! 

This is the sixth in a series of weekly articles based on Christ’s letters to the seven churches in the book of Revelation. Next week: “Lukewarm.” 

David Faust serves as contributing editor of Christian Standard and senior associate minister with East 91^st Street Christian Church in Indianapolis, Indiana. He is the author of Married for Good.