Why is That Door Closed!

 

Quotation

          Let us be clear, we are in a spiritual battle! Satan is a deceiver, liar, murderer, accuser, tempter, destroyer, evil one. His purpose is to drag us to Hell with him. He was defeated by the work of Jesus and is condemned to spend an eternity in Hell and wants to take each of us with him. As the Bible tells us, he is wily, methodical and uses elaborate, complex snares and devices to accomplish this task. But with the full armor of God, we can withstand these attacks by Satan. We can instead choose to spread the good news of the gospel to everyone we meet and be the light and salt to the world of God’s hope to the lost. We need to stop negotiating and partnering with the world! 

 

Barry Denzil Haney, MD

 

Scripture

 

Therefore, seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;

 

2 Corinthians 4:1-9

 

Reflection

 

Alexander Graham Bell said this:

 

“When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us. Defeat is nothing but education; it is the first step towards something better.”

 

Many in today’s world view a closed door as a missed opportunity, and in doing so miss the other options that exist. They instead quit, accepting the failure or set-back. They fail to see the thing missed out on may not have been what was right for them at that time.

 

The Bible talks about closed doors. God sometimes closes doors in our life to redirect us. One of the hardest things for a Christian to accept is things happen in God’s time not ours. 

 

To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

 

            God sometimes closes doors to protect us from a decision we have made he knows will harm us. God may close a door because He is telling us no, directing us to move on. When He closes a door, he may be reminding us we have taken our eyes off Him, telling us He is in control not us.

 

            God knows we are sometimes “stiff-necked”. When we are stiff-necked, extremism is often one of our recurring faults. Extremism often leads to failure which saddens God. 

 

            One of the greatest verses in the Bible gives us the hope we have in Jesus:

 

                        For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

 

            But because we are stiff-necked, we tend to believe in one of the following: extreme grace or extreme faith. Those in the extreme grace camp become passive that ends up in lasciviousness. They believe there is no need for them to do anything, they do not need to go to church, they do not need to pray, they can do anything they want to do because they are saved by grace. Those in the extreme faith camp believe they need to control and make God do something. They believe they can do this by their works, a form of legalism, by their faith they will make God do something.

 

            Extremism leads to error and ultimately failure. As Christian we need to discover the fine balance between grace and faith. Grace is what God has already done for us before we ever existed, faith is our response to what God has already done. The glory of God is the manifestation of His grace that depends entirely on faith. Do you believe? Your response needs to be, “I do believe”. You then need to surround yourselves with things that show this, the full armor of God.

 

            Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. (Ephesians 6:10-20)

 

 

Church, prayer, scripture reading, relationship with Christian friends, all are part of the armor of God to help us overcome whatever addiction is separating us from a relationship with God. When trying to defeat Satan’s snare, it often is an uphill battle but one that can be overcome with the help of the Holy Spirit. All we need to do is ask and the door will be open! 

 

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For everyone that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Matthew 7:7-8

 

True Christianity isn’t about me living for Jesus which generates pride, it’s about letting Jesus live through me. We need to live from Jesus not for Jesus. Extremism closes the door to the fruits of the Spirit, the living waters flowing through us. The secular world, driven by Satan’s lies and deceptions, is responsible for extremism in today’s church. They are attempting to divide the Church. Let us not allow Satan to divide us and prevent us from sharing the good news of the Gospel to the unsaved!

 

Rebecca Pippert wrote, “As our cultural landscape becomes increasingly secular, secularism does not have the power to erase our human longings for meaning and worth. If anything, it increases them…. So even if people can’t quite articulate what they feel they are missing, the longing and wistfulness are there. But they will not know where to look unless Christians both live and tell the good news of what God has done for all in Christ.”

 

 

We need to be the salt and light of the world. We need to be involved politically and spiritually in our communities. We must engage the secular world and stand for religious freedom. We must be bold in proclaiming the Good News of the Gospel, bold like the atheists, agnostics, and Marxists on our college campuses today who are attempting to spread the lies and deceptions of Satan to our youth, in a brazen attempt by Satan to drag our children to hell with him!

 

Illustration

 

The story has been told of a mental hospital that many years ago devised an unusual test to determine when their patients were ready to go back into the world. They brought a candidate for release to a room where a water faucet was left on so that the sink overflowed and was pouring water all over the floor. Then they handed the patient a mop and told him to mop up the water. If the patient had enough sense to turn off the faucet before mopping up the water, he was ready to be released. But if, as in the case of many, the patient started mopping while the water was still flowing, they kept the patient for more treatment.

 

As Christians, all of us face the world in which we live and are confronted with the need to do battle with the evil that dominates it. But, like the patients in the mental hospital, until we realize where the source of that evil is, we will make no real contribution. To see less evil in the world means that we must conquer the evil that is pouring forth from our own heart. That is conversion. Then, to deal with the evil around us, we need a “mop and bucket,” the spiritual armor that God has provided for us. (Green)

 

Prayer

 

Our Heavenly Father,

 

Thank you opening the door, the open door to Heaven!

Faith is the opening you give us to Heaven, through

Your Son Jesus! Thank you for this gift of salvation, to

protect us from extremism of grace and faith!

 

Because Satan is alive and well, we will put on the

full armor of God to protect us from Satan’s lies!

Help us to be the salt and light of the world. 

Help us to remain involved in our communities. 

 

Help us remain engaged with the secular world and 

stand for religious freedom. Help us to remain bold 

and proclaim the Good News of the Gospel, to the 

entire world about the hope we have in Jesus.

 

In the precious name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior,

 

Amen!

 

 

Worship

 

Open Door (Nate Moore and Maryanne J George)

God Bless You,

Barry

 

Green, Michael P. 1500 Illustrations for Biblical Preaching. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2000. Print.