The Church at Philadelphia - Law of the Open Door, Pt. 1 - Revelation: The Apocalypse

You're listening to the road with Pastor Teacher Steve Holt.

Though the amounts may vary, the scales of God's justice are equal.

We are given a little bit, a very little bit, to be faithful with.

If we're faithful with something small, God will open doors to more.

He will.

He absolutely will.

God rewards faithfulness and he opens doors.

Today, Pastor Steve continues his series on the Book of Revelation.

At The Road, our vision is to raise up wholehearted disciples of Jesus Christ.

For more information on The Road, visit theroad.org.

We hope you are encouraged by today's message from Pastor Teacher Steve Holt.

Tonight we're in the church at Philadelphia, and we are in the book of Revelation.

If you're new here, we're going through the seven churches right now in Revelation chapters two and three, and it's been really, really fun and really exciting.

And I'm really excited about the church at Philadelphia because it's one of the positive churches.

Five out of the seven really get nailed in this book, but the church at Smyrna and the church at Philadelphia, there's nothing but good said of them.

And as you can see on the map, this is a picture of the churches and where they were located at the time.

John is writing the book of Revelation on the island of Patmos in the Aegean Sea.

And this is the trade route, the mail route of the churches and the cities at that time.

And we're in the sixth.

We're in the sixth city, which is Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love.

Interesting city.

And we'll talk about it in just a moment.

But we're in Revelation 3, 7.

How many of you, as I begin here, would say that you would rather be known as a person who opens doors rather than a person who closes doors?

Raise your hand.

If you'd rather be an open door person, okay, me too.

And we're going to be looking at a church that we're going to call the church of the open door.

And I want to be a church of the open door at the road.

I want God to see our works and open doors for us.

I want my prayer before I went into prayer, and the thing that hit me is I was just sitting there, I was staring at the wall.

That's called meditation.

I was staring at the wall and I was just thinking about the message.

I knew the message.

I knew what I was going to say.

And I said, Lord, is there anything else?

And I felt impressed that the Lord said part of being a wholehearted disciple of Jesus is that you're becoming a person of the open door.

That you're becoming an individual of the open door.

God wants to open doors in your life.

He wants to surprise you with open doors.

And so that's really what this is about here tonight.

And it's so good.

I only got in two verses this week.

And so you're going to have part one is tonight, and part two is next week.

And I guess I've called it the church of the open door, but I was thinking about that again tonight, too, that probably a better title might be The Rule of the Open Door.

We might call it the Rule of the Open Door, Part One, The Rule of the Open Door Next Week, Part Two, because there's some things, there's some, you know what?

I'll tell you a better way.

The law.

It's the law of the open door.

That's a better title.

The law of the open door, part one, the law of the open door, part two.

Nobody likes rules, right?

But we love law?

No.

I think the law of the open door sounds better.

But anyways, part one, part two.

And uh, so I'm gonna share an overview of what this passage is saying, and then we're gonna get really specific next week about how your works open doors.

And what I mean by opening doors is I mean that opportunities that you should not have that come your way.

Situations that are supernatural that you really couldn't have put it together yourself.

But it happens, and you go, whoa, that's a God moment, or that's a God thing.

There actually was things that you needed to do for God to open that door.

And that's what we're gonna talk about a little bit tonight, but in great length next week.

So the church of Philadelphia, Revelation chapter 3, verse 7, starts off this way to the angel, and remember that's the messenger, that's what it means.

Revelation 3:7

It means the pastor of the church in Philadelphia.

Philadelphia was founded in 190 BC by Eumenus II, king of Pergamum, and his unusual devotion to his brother, he named it, or I should say this, we don't know what he named it, but it became known as Philadelphia, which is the city of brotherly love.

Actually, a better translation is one who loves his brother.

So what happened, I won't go through all the history, but he gave the city to his brother when he died.

And so it's the one who loves his brother, and it was known as the leader of the city in Philadelphia, as one who deeply loved his brother, so it became known as Philadelphia.

We don't know if he named it that, but it became known as that.

And it's the youngest of these seven cities.

So it was one of the younger cities, and it was famous for wine, and it was famous for grape production, and Dionysus, this god of mythology, of the Greek mythology, was their main god in the city of Philadelphia, and it was called the Little Athens, because of all the temples that were there, and it still survives today.

Most of these cities don't survive today except in ruin, but actually Philadelphia survives today in modern Turkey, and I have tried all week, and I even looked at the phonetic spelling.

I'll spell it for you.

Alisir or something is the name of the city.

A-L-A-S-E H-I-R, with a dinky little comma underneath the S.

So S looks like a snake or something in the writing of it.

About 20,000 live in that city.

And here's what's interesting: there's five vibrant churches in Alisair today that have about a thousand believers.

So it's significant even to this day.

It is still Philadelphia, and it's still an open door kind of city to the gospel after all these years.

Matter of fact, in the year 600, the domed basilica of St.

John was built there.

It still remains there, just the ruins of it.

I was going to show you guys a picture of it, but I forgot to put it on the slide.

But the archaeological ruins are still there.

And many of the great bishops in the Middle Ages came out of Philadelphia.

So it really was a church that did great things.

And as we come into the last part of these seven churches, gang, there's two churches left.

There's Philadelphia and there's Laodicea.

Now we're not going to get into Laodicea next week.

We're getting into Laodicea in two weeks.

But here's what's interesting about the two cities here at the end.

I could say, without any doubt, that the church of Philadelphia is the church of the open door, and the church at Laodicea is the church of the closed door.

And what we see is the church at Philadelphia, we see a vibrant, dynamic body of believers that are obedient to the vision God's given them.

But then in Laodicea, we're going to see a church that has lost its first love, that is lukewarm, and it's a city of the closed door.

It's a city that's fascinated with itself instead of fascinated with the beauty of Jesus Christ.

So let me bring this to where all of us are, and that is I want to be a people of the open door.

Do you realize that you in your life, by what you do, you become a person that God can open doors for, or you become a person that God closes doors on, that no man can open?

It's kind of scary.

Do you realize that sometimes we're doing stuff in our lives that actually are opposed by God?

I mean, that's really scary.

It's like it's one thing to be fearful of man and people, but to actually be doing stuff in our life that we know, and I and that's the operable word, you know this, because I don't believe God does this with those who don't know.

I believe there's a lot of ignorance really is bliss in the kingdom for a while.

The kind of dumb stuff that some of you were doing right after you got saved is amazing.

And I was doing it too, because we just didn't know.

I mean, God's just a gracious parent to us, he's a father, you know, and all the angels are like, should we take him out now?

You know, no, no, hold off, you know.

And that's based a little bit scripture.

Remember when he's dealing with Pilate, he goes, Man, I could unleash legions on you.

You know, and I bet you he's looked at my life and your life sometimes, and he said, you know, and there's probably been like Gabriel or Michael said, Can we just release some legions on him?

I mean, he's really an idiot.

So thank God he doesn't.

But as you become more knowledgeable and as you come to know more about the workings of the Lord, then what happens is your kind of your obedience factor, it widens out.

And then you you start, as that starts to happen, you get both the privilege of experiencing more of God's power and grace and love, but then there's also an element of responsibility that comes with maturity.

And so what we see here is that God, as we're responsible with what he's told us and guided us to do, he opens doors for us.

So look at verse 7.

These things says he who is holy.

So this is Jesus speaking to John.

I mean, this is straight from the vision.

He who is true, he who has the key of David.

Now I'm gonna talk more about that next week.

What is the key of David?

I'm not gonna go into it much here, but we're gonna talk about the key of David next week.

He who opens and no one shuts.

So there's doors that God can open and no person can shut them, no business can shut them, no government can shut them.

God's gonna open a door.

And shuts, we don't like to read the second part of the verse, and shuts and no one opens.

God actually shuts doors that nobody can open.

I don't care how savvy you are, I don't care how smart you are, I don't care how rich you are, there are doors that God does not want you to go through.

Or, and I'm taking in a negative sense, there are doors, you guys, that you're supposed to go through, but because of your actions and because of your disobedience, God can't open them for you because you're breaking kingdom principles in your life.

Then he says this, and I've got this underlined in my Bible, and I've got it underlined here.

I know your works.

I know your works.

See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it.

For you have a little strength, have kept my word, and have not denied my name.

We're gonna unpack that part next week.

Men and women, when we're faithful, God is faithful.

When we're not faithful, God is faithful.

When we continue to be not faithful, God is faithful to discipline you.

So when we say that when we're disobedient to God, he's still faithful, yes, he is.

But remember, he's father.

He's our father, and he loves you so much that he doesn't want you to stay there.

He doesn't want you to keep disobeying him, and he actually shuts down opportunities for you because you are not ready.

Seen it in my own life dozens of times.

And it would be embarrassing to go through how many things in my life I wasn't prepared for, and God had to shut down doors.

But I want to be a Christian, I want to be a wholehearted disciple of the open door.

How about you?

Young people, listen to me.

Your dating relationships really matter.

The choices you're making on Friday and Saturday night to not do drugs and to not be involved with alcohol, uh, addictions, and things like that in your life, you guys, is opening doors for you.

It is.

When we continue to give ourselves to sex, when we continue to give ourselves to disobedience, you're shutting down opportunities for the Holy Spirit to work.

That's true for all of us.

I'm pointing that at the young people because I figured that out at 18.

Now, before I was 18, I hadn't figured it out.

But after 18, I did figure it out because I got saved.

And it just, nobody gave a message on open doors or anything.

I just got it because I love Jesus.

And so as I started to love Jesus, I started hanging out with people who love Jesus.

And when I hung out with people who love Jesus, when I didn't love Jesus, they did, and so it kind of helped me, kept me going.

And that's why you hang out, that's why you're at church.

Because you're hanging out with people that are stronger than you and and uh and strengthen you and sharpen you in your walk with God.

Here's my thesis tonight.

Okay, this is so not normally me.

So, sorry.

But this is what the passage means.

My thesis tonight is we are saved by grace alone.

Okay, when you're saved, when you come to know Christ, that is the grace of God alone.

You don't have to add anything to it.

You can't be more faithful than someone who doesn't have the Holy Spirit can be, so you can't save yourself.

It's by grace alone.

You put your faith in Christ, you're saved.

But listen to the second part.

But doors are opened or closed by works alone.

Okay.

You see, this guy's he's moved into heresy, and no, he has.

Now we're gonna look at the passage here.

Let me read to you.

We're saved by grace alone, but doors are opened by works alone.

God does this with churches, and he also does it with individuals.

So though this is a message to the church, he also does it with individuals.

And I want to take you to a passage, a really interesting passage.

I believe this is actually possibly where when Jesus gave this word to John on the island of Patmos, it's so close, almost word for word, from this passage in Isaiah, that I thought we should unpack it a little bit.

So Isaiah 22, Isaiah 22, starting at verse 12 and 13, I want to start there because it gives the context.

This is in a time of great disobedience in the life of Israel.

And in that day the Lord God of hosts called for weeping and for mourning.

So God's calling to Israel to weep and mourn, for baldness and for girding with sackcloth.

And then what he means by that is shaving your head.

But instead, joy and gladness, slaying oxen and killing sheep, eating meat and drinking wine, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.

So that's the context of Israel at that time.

They're doing exactly the opposite of what God wants them to do.

Do any of you realize that this is not a time of joy and exuberant praise for the church and for the situation and for the morals and the ethics in America?

But I mean, you listen to some of these guys on TV, you may just think that, man, revival's breaking out.

It's not.

Now, it isn't, you know, it is in certain places around the country because I think there's always, God's always moving.

But generally speaking, this is a word for America too.

God would call us to mourn and to pray us.

We had a 24-hour prayer like a month ago, because we came to pray and repent for stuff in our country.

Well, there's this guy named Shebna.

This guy named Shebna is second in authority under the king at that time in Israel.

He's like a chamberlain or a treasurer over the finances of the country.

He's overseeing the treasury of the Lord.

And I want you to listen to what he says about him, because listen, this is a great, a great illustration of God shutting down a man's life because of his corruption.

Verse 15.

Thus says the Lord God of hosts, go proceed to the steward, to Shebna, who is over the house, and say, What have you here?

And whom have you here?

That you have hewn a sepulcher here.

Interesting.

So the place that he's stealing money, he's stealing from the treasury of the Lord, we believe, and he's actually, listen, he's he's hewing out his own gravesite right there.

God said that.

Pretty scary stuff.

As he who hews himself a sepulcher on high, meaning someone who's getting ready to, you know, he's preparing a sepulchre for when he dies up on a high place in Israel, you're doing it right here, who carves a tomb for himself in a rock.

Indeed, the Lord will throw you away violently, O mighty man, and will surely seize you.

So I will drive you out of your office and from your position, he will pull you down.

This is really a sobering passage.

He's saying that you, as you know, even at that level of authority as a chamberlain and the treasure over Israel, God sees his works, he sees his corruption, and he's saying, what you're actually doing is you're creating a grave site for yourself.

I'm gonna bury you there.

He's shutting down the door on Shebna because of his works.

Now, look at verse 20.

Because simultaneously, God is opening a door.

Then it shall be in that day that I will call my servant Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah.

I will clothe him with your robe and strengthen him with your belt.

So he's gonna take, he's gonna take Shebna's robe and Shebnah's belt, and he's gonna dress out Eliakim to take his place.

I will commit your responsibility into his hand.

He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.

And listen to the next verse.

He says, the key of the house of David.

Remember that?

About the church in Philadelphia.

The key of the house of David, I will lay on his shoulder a sign of authority.

So he shall open and no one shall shut.

And he shall shut and no one shall open.

And so in the case of Shebna, his works have caused doors to shut down for him of opportunity.

And for Eliakim, doors are now opening because of his works and his obedience to the Lord.

The church at Philadelphia, it's interesting, the church at Philadelphia we might call the church of the open door.

But the city of Philadelphia was called the gateway to the east on the route, the trade route.

It's called the gateway to the east.

And what we know historically is that missions and missionaries flowed out of the church at Philadelphia.

Isn't that exciting?

Don't you want to be a church like that?

That we'd be a church of the open door.

We'd be a church that God would give us this community, this city, God would give us nations of the world that we get to be a part of.

And we have like eight missionaries right now that we finance in a very, very healthy and vibrant way that are all over the world.

And it's just going to grow over time.

But we're we want to be a church of the open door.

And so Eliakim became a person of the open door.

Now here, go back to our verse in Revelation 3.

And I want you to know this.

Because this is the beginning of understanding the law of the open door.

I know your works.

I know your works.

Interesting.

Salvation is by grace alignment.

Don't miss that.

But the open door is by works alignment.

God opens and closes door by our works.

God knows your works.

And you think nobody notices.

Pastor Steve never notices when I do this.

And I just say, Amen.

I don't even notice what I do half the time.

Ask my wife.

I'm always asking, where did I put you know that matter of fact, case in point.

You guys know that brown satchel, kind of that canvas-looking satchel that carry everything.

I don't know where it is.

I seriously don't know where it is.

I've looked all over the place.

I don't know where it is.

So it's if any of you guys stole it because it's really cool looking, just give it to somebody and say they found it or something.

But I just went back.

But anyway, I don't know where I did.

I'm sure I lost it.

And it's probably at some ball field in Denver when I was watching a game with my son or something.

I don't know.

So faith, listen.

Faith is something you do.

Faith is not just something you say you believe in.

Really important, gang, because James got it.

And he said, you know, be doers of your faith.

Be doers of your faith.

Don't just say that you believe, but do it.

Because that's what the world's hungry for.

The world's hungry for doers, not sayers.

Our, I mean, we love the internet and we love Facebook and we love Twitter because people are always saying stuff.

Do you ever get sick of all the stuff they say?

And now we're in a political season, an election year.

That's really a lot of saying.

And very little doing after they get elected.

You know, anyway, that's another matter.

But Jesus says here, I know your works.

He doesn't say, I know your faith.

I know your works because your works tell me what your faith is.

Hello?

It's really simple.

But some of us haven't figured it out yet.

It's really sad.

It's a bummer because all these doors, I really feel like sometimes Jesus is right there and he's like, man, I want to open this door for you.

I just want to give you a tremendous impact.

I want to give you an opportunity to have tremendous influence.

I want to bless your business.

I want to bless your finances.

I really do.

But you just never get it.

And he's me too.

So look what he says.

Let's go back over the churches.

Look at Revelation 2.2.

So Revelation 2.2, that's the church at Ephesus.

He writes, To the church at Ephesus, I know your works.

And then here's what's cool: in each of these churches, I've numbered it out.

I find ten, ten works that are represented in each of these first six churches.

So he says to the church at Ephesus, if he at Revelation 2, 2, he says, I know your works.

And he says, number one, he says, I see your labor.

He says, I see you laboring away.

Number two, I see your patience.

Number three, you cannot bear those who are evil.

Number four, and you've tested those who say they're apostles and they're not, and have found them to be liars.

When's the last time we heard anybody say in the church, he's a liar?

Do you realize there's a lot of pastors who lie?

There's people who call themselves apostles and prophets today and they're liars.

I'm not going to name any names because I don't listen to them anyway.

But I mean, I know they're out there because I experienced it in many times in my journey with the Lord.

And so have you.

Some of you are here because you've been in churches with pastors who are liars.

You've had company executives who call themselves Christians and have a little ichthuse or a little fishy on their truck that they drive around and they're total liars.

And they rip you off and they stole, killed, and destroyed your life.

Hello?

Anybody know what I'm talking about?

I mean, so so he's saying, this is interesting, he's saying that when you discover someone's a liar, that's actually a good work.

That's what he says.

I didn't, I'm not making this stuff up.

And then he says, I see your labor.

I mean, some of you guys are in jobs that are just bummer.

I mean, they're just bummer jobs.

And you're just getting ripped, and you're just like being pressed down by your companies, and you think nobody notices, I know my boss doesn't notice.

Guess what?

God does.

He sees your labor.

And many times he wants you to stay there.

He wants you to stay there and faithfully battle and not quit.

So that's what he says at Church at Ephesus.

Then look at Revelation 2.9.

He says to the church in Smyrna, I know your works.

Number five, I see your tribulation.

Number six, I see your poverty, but you're rich.

Do you guys realize that tribulation is a work of the kingdom, and that the Lord blesses tribulation in your life by hanging in there and going through that?

He's there.

Sometimes it's even, we become full of poverty for the sake of the gospel, and that's a beautiful thing before the Lord.

Revelation 2.13.

To the church at Pergamos, I know your works and where you dwell, where Satan's throne is.

And then he says this, number seven, and you hold fast to my name, and you did not deny my name.

And so, men and women, when you're in situations where people are wondering, why, you know, why do you do that?

And you don't say that you're a Christian, you deny his name.

That's what I think it means when we talk about taking the name of the Lord in vain.

Taking the name of the Lord in vain does not mean GD.

It doesn't.

I've taught all my kids to not say G D.

I grew up saying you don't say G D, so I don't want you to say GD around here.

Not a good thing.

But that's not what the passage means about taking the Lord's name in vain.

Taking the Lord's name in vain means denying his name.

Well, I've never said so, I've never said GD.

But at work, when there's opportunity, are you willing to take a stand for Christ?

Well, no, because it could cost me my job.

Well, hmm.

That's a real dilemma, isn't it?

Because there's a confidence that comes when we do the right thing.

And he's saying here, I see your works.

And then look at Revelation 2.19.

And there he's got a he's got three more.

I know your works.

He says, love, service, and faith.

And then he says, patience again.

I hate that.

I don't know why he keeps saying patience.

Let's move past that very quickly.

But then here's what's interesting.

In Revelation 3.1, he gives a negative connotation to works.

And I believe what's happening here is he's giving us an example in Revelation 3.1 of how God shuts doors.

Here's what it says.

And we studied it last week.

To the church at Sardis, I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive.

You have a reputation that you're alive, but you are actually dead.

And so what's happening at Sardis is God's going to have to close that door for them.

So here's what I'm saying tonight.

And it's not easy to say because it sounds like I'm being kind of harsh.

I don't mean to be harsh, but what I'm saying by grace, I pray, and you understand this, is that if you want to be a Christian that walks through doors, that sees God give you incredible opportunities, supernatural healings, supernatural works of God, you have to be faithful with what you've already been given before he can give you more.

Does that make sense?

So look at Luke 19.

So Luke 19, Jesus really emphasizes it here.

Luke 19, 12, he says, Therefore he said, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return.

So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten Minas, and said to them, Do business till I come.

But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us.

Now there's a whole history behind that.

This was said in Jericho.

This is right after the situation with Zacchaeus.

He's in Jericho, has to do with the ruler, has to do with Herod.

A couple things, I'm not going to go into it because of time.

And so it was that when he returned, having received the kingdom, he then commanded these servants to whom he had given the money to be called to him, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading.

Hello?

By doing business with what they had been given.

Strategy, thinking, trading, acting, doing, working.

Listen to verse 16.

Then came the first saying, Master, your Mina has earned ten Minas.

And he said to him, Well done, good servant, because you are faithful in a very little, have authority now over ten cities.

Now here's what he's talking about.

Literally, he's talking about the fact that there's rewards in heaven.

That gang, you are going to be given cities to dwell in.

We studied that in Revelation chapter 1.

Revelation 1 · chapter mention

We're going to see it in Revelation chapter 5.

Revelation 5 · chapter mention

That you're going to dwell over cities, or not dwell over cities.

Some people are going to get a hut, okay?

Because of our works on the earth.

So our works on the earth will be rewarded.

And he said to them, Well done, good servant, because you are faithful and very little have authority over ten cities.

Verse 18.

And the second came saying, Master, your Mina has earned me five minas.

Likewise he said to him, You also be over five cities.

Now, the story, the parable, now takes an interesting turn because I'm going to call it that the first part are the men of the open door.

So the guy with ten gets an open door and he's going to get ten cities.

The guy with five gets five.

He gets double for what he earned.

He earned double and he's going to exponentially bless him.

Now we might call it the man of the closed door.

Verse 20.

Then another man came, saying, Master, here is your Mina, which I've kept, put away in a handkerchief.

For I feared, and that's the operable word, I feared you, because you're an austere man.

You collect what you did not deposit, and you reap what you did not sow.

And he said to him, Out of your own mouth I will judge you, you wicked servant.

You knew that I was an austere man, collecting what I did not deposit, reaping what I did not sow.

Why then did you not put my money in the bank that my at my coming I might have collected it with interest?

And he said to those who stood by, this part I don't like.

This part really doesn't seem fair at all.

Okay?

Take the Mina from so here's this guy, he's kind of, you know, he's he's he's scared, and he's got the little, he's got the coins and a little hanky, and he buried it in the ground and everything, and he's just kind of a like a fearful guy, I guess.

And he's you know, and uh, and so he comes and he's so humble, though.

He's just so humble.

And so here's humble Jesus, the meekest of all men.

This is what he says to him meek Jesus.

And he said to those who stood by, take the Mina from him and give it to the guy who's got ten.

But they said to him, Master, he already has ten.

For I say to you that to everyone who has will be given more, and from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.

But bring here those enemies of mine who did not want to reign over them and slay them before me.

That's a really nice guy.

Jesus is not nice sometimes, gang.

He may look like a surfer boy out of California and all the pictures in our Sunday school classes, but he's really the Lion of Judah.

And so here's what I see.

I see four things in this parable that we gotta get on the law of the open door.

First, apportioning.

Don't miss this.

Number one, apportioning.

God apportions out gifts and talents, gang.

Everybody gets them.

Everybody's got them.

Some get 10, some get five, some get one.

You don't have anything to do with that.

It's not fair, but it's equal.

And what I mean by that is what he's gonna say in the second one, and that is accounting.

Number two, so first apportionment, second, accounting.

We will be held accountable for what we did with our gifts, our talents, our money, and what's been apportioned to us.

And it will be equal.

So do those who have 10, 5, 1, maybe some of you feel like a negative sixth, you know, if you will invest that for kingdom purposes, God's gonna bless you.

I believe he will open doors that no man can shut in your life.

And it's really important that we get this, because I want to be a church of the open door because I like hanging out with people who are open door people.

So, and I want to hang out with you for a long time.

And so, and so apportionment, accounting, here's what he says.

Then came the first thing, Master, your Mina has earned ten minas.

And he said to him, Well done, good servant, because you are faithful in very little, have authority over ten cities.

So he sees, and I think this is the way he works, is he gives us a little bit of something.

And then he empowers us if we'll call on him.

He gives you a little bit of money, he gives you a little business, he gives you a little bit of talent, but you have to work it.

You have to work it, you have to labor over it.

It's your responsibility to do that.

And so, parents with your kids, challenge them to get good at something.

Now, don't let them quit.

I don't know what it is, but God doesn't seem to really get all that excited about quitters.

And so we battle for stuff, and it's small things.

It's like cutting, we cut the grass on Saturdays, which now seems to be in vogue.

We could have said that a month ago.

You actually have grass that grows now, okay?

So you can cut it.

I was cutting it today, but usually Josh cuts it, okay?

But that is a little responsibility.

And if he's faithful as a dad, I give him more stuff to do, but also more blessing because I trust him more.

Hello, right?

So God's similar in that I think what he does is he wants us to be faithful in a little bit, and if we're not cutting corners and we're not cheating and we're not lying, um, then he sees your heart, he sees your labor, and he opens doors.

And you don't get it.

Why did I get that job?

Well, you got that job because you're faithful.

And then number three, they all have to start with an A.

I labored over this for at least five minutes because I was trying to get everything to have an A to it so you remember it.

Okay.

Apportioning, accounting, and then thirdly, awards.

Awards.

And this is not a trophy because you showed up.

This is not a trophy because you were on the team.

This is actually you did something.

Though the amounts may vary, the scales of God's justice are equal.

We are given a little bit, a very little bit, to be faithful with.

If we're faithful with something small, God will open doors to more.

He will.

He absolutely will.

God rewards faithfulness and he opens doors.

But there is this truth.

He who has the key of David who opens and no one shuts, he shuts and no one opens.

So this is my fourth point.

It doesn't start with an A because I couldn't think of anything.

Number four, God also shuts doors according to faithlessness to what he had provided for us.

And he said to those who stood by, take the Mina from him and give it to him who has ten minas.

So he takes away from this guy because he didn't invest it for kingdom purposes.

And here's the phrase, I don't want you to don't miss this today.

The rich always get richer, and the poor always get poorer in the kingdom.

The rich get richer, the poor get poorer.

Now I'm not talking about literal finances, but I could be talking about that.

I mean, if we're talking about someone who's who's using their kingdom finances for God's purposes, the rich are going to get richer, the poor are gonna get poorer.

But what it means also on a broader scale is that you see it.

You see it.

People who are faithful in these little things, God just keeps opening doors.

And we might say, man, I got so lucky.

I mean, it always goes his way.

It could be, though, that there's a faithfulness in the shadows that no one notices but God.

And I'm not talking about I'm talking about good and righteous things.

I'm not talking about, I mean, David really understood this because he has so many songs that don't be envious of evildoers.

Because you see evil flourishing all the time on the earth.

That's not what we're talking about.

I'm talking about kingdom purposes and kingdom righteousness, doors opening.

In finances, in relationships.

I mean, I remember when I was, so you guys have heard the story.

One of the problems with some of you that have been with me for so many years is I don't have really any new stories.

They're always kind of the same one.

But um, but I remember when I was, you know, I was 22, I'm 23, I think it was, I don't remember, I guess I was 22.

I don't know, 22 or 23.

And I'm raising support to be a missionary in Japan.

And that lady that I told you guys about, she challenged me about tithing.

I didn't know anything about tithing really.

And so I started giving 10%.

And I haven't done that, I've done it my whole life.

I missed a few times, but pretty much I give.

10%.

Boom, right there.

It's out the door.

And you guys know where I live?

You know what kind of house I have.

That's impossible.

I'm a pastor.

That's weird.

That can't be happening.

But I equivocate it to faithfulness in my finances every month, year after year after year.

Have we had to pinch pennies?

Have we had not money at the end of the week sometimes?

Absolutely, and God always shows up.

And if you haven't learned that, then you're not gonna get more.

I'm sorry, you just won't.

You'll just keep always hand to mouth, always struggling, giving 2%, giving a couple bucks, you know, here and there.

And I just feel sorry for you.

I mean, I really do.

And it's in business the same thing.

You've learned, you've learned how to lie.

Some of us have learned how to really lie good.

And so we're always talking about how great we are and how wonderful we are, and you know, to the boss or whatever, and we it's you're a kiss up.

I mean, we call it brown nosing.

Some of you have a PhD in brown nosing, okay?

Not many in this church, but there's a lot in other churches.

But if you're a brown noser, stop it.

Stop now.

Quit brown nosing, quit kissing up.

Be yourself, find security in who you are, even though you're a screw up.

Because we're all screwed up.

I mean, we are.

I mean, I love we've got some people in church who help me with different things, and they forget things and miss things, and I do too.

And we're always like calling ourselves ADD and everything.

And I'm ADD.

I mean, I always mess up all the time.

But I try to apologize, right?

I'm trying to get better.

Anyway, I'll never get better on some things.

But anyway, here's what I think the Lord is saying to us.

He's saying that the reality, church, is that if we keep cutting corners, we're not gonna get that open door.

And if we'll learn to be faithful, God opens doors.

He says here that he wants to open doors.

I want to be a church of the open door.

I want you to have marriages of the open door.

I want us to have friendships of the open door.

It doesn't mean we're not gonna go to tribulation.

As a matter of fact, that's one of the works.

Well, Steve, I started tithing and I started giving, and then, man, all hell broke loose.

Yes.

Let me promise you, you start obeying God on anything, all hell will break loose.

I promise you.

Write me, we'll make a testimony of it.

And you can join all the millennia of others that have done the same.

Because you will be opposed at every new step of obedience.

But I'm telling you, it is worth it, right?

And I can tell from many of you, you know what I'm talking about.

So here, so what do we do with this?

Because there's so much more I want to say, but that's next week.

But yeah, let me just end with this.

Do the next right thing.

Just do the next right.

Don't leave here under pressure.

Don't leave here like, oh, I'm just such a, I'm just such an idiot, you know?

You are, we already know that about you, okay?

And so am I.

We're just a bunch of idiots.

But we're forgiven in Christ.

Okay, but here's what I say.

Don't try to look at the whole thing.

Just do the next right thing.

Just do the next right thing.

Do the next right thing with your finances.

Do the next right thing with your spouse.

Do the next right thing on that date.

Do the next right thing in your business practices.

Just do the next right thing.

So do the next right thing.

And you go, well, I don't know where that's gonna go.

Don't worry about it.

Don't worry about where it's gonna go.

Just do the next right thing.

Well, if I say this and she'll say that, and do the next right thing.

And so I don't know where this church is going.

Somebody asked me today, I mean, where's this church going?

I said, I don't know.

Well, you're the pastor, you're supposed to know.

I said, I don't know.

Why?

And I said, because God hasn't told me everything.

I don't know.

He's the He's the leader, I mean, He's the shepherd, Capital S, and I'm small S shepherd, and all I know is do the next right thing.

And that's get a decent message for next week together.

Okay?

I mean, we're planning that September 18th for the open day.

Do you realize what how monumental that is for us to be three months out planning something?

I mean, that's that's amazing.

That's on the level, seriously, of the parting of the Red Sea for me.

Um, but then he remember he says this see, I have set before you an open door and no one can shut it, for you have a little strength, and I love that part.

This we're gonna talk about next week.

It doesn't say great strength.

It doesn't say great faith, it says you have a little strength.

Little.

It's like the time one of my kids came in and all the Barbies' hair had been cut.

Now the scissors were not literally in his hand.

But he was very close to the scissors, and he's the only one in the room.

Did you cut the Barbies?

No.

No.

Absolutely not.

You're sure you didn't cut.

Did somebody come in here?

No, nobody's been in here.

Go to your room.

You have to stay in your room until you tell the truth.

Did anybody did you cut that Barbie, all the Barbies' hairs?

These are American girl dolls.

Hundred dollar Barbies.

Okay.

So finally Liz said, she said, because he'd done this like five times, he still said, no, I didn't do it.

I didn't do it.

By the way, we birthed, all our kids are born liars.

Okay, they're born liars.

So then she said, she said, did you cut the hair of the doll just a just a just a little bit?

Here we go.

So it says here, if you have a little strength and you've kept my word and not denied my name.

We're gonna talk about that next week.

That's that's part two on how we see, what do what do we mean by the works of the kingdom that open doors?

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