Philadelphia

So we continue with the teaching on the seven churches and one of the things we do is we're

not going through each church in detail we're just taking one or two relevant themes and

then just breaking that open.

So last week we took the church of Thayatira and the theme we looked at was Jezebel and

Jehu and the spiritual implications that Jezebel brings that's what we talked about last week

and how it affects the church even today.

So today we take Philadelphia, Philadelphia and so if you go to Revelation chapter 3 verse

Revelation 3:7–13

7 to 13 and remember we are not looking at the passage and going through it and explaining

the strengths, the weaknesses, the warnings, the consequences and the rewards to each church

which would be the proper way to do it we're just taking one theme that we think applies

to us at present and that's all.

So even though I'll read the whole passage we're just taking one theme that is relevant

to us right now and that's it.

So verse 7 starting at verse 7, to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, these

are the words of him who is holy and true who holds the key of David.

What he opens no one can shut and what he shuts no one can open.

I know your deeds see I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut.

I know that you have little strength yet you have kept my word and have not denied

my name.

I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan who claim to be Jews though they

are not but are liars I'll make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge

that I have loved you.

Since you have kept my command to endure patiently I will also keep you from the hour of trial

that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth.

I'm coming soon hold on to what you have so that no one will take your crown.

Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God never again will he leave

it I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God the new

Jerusalem which is coming down out of heaven from my God and I will also write on him my

new name.

He who has an ear let him hear what the spirit says to the churches.

I was just reading verse 10 and thinking of what the earth is going through right now.

Since you have kept my command to endure patiently I will also keep you from the hour of trial

that is going to come upon the whole earth to test those who live on the earth.

Guys one of the things we need to understand is we have to press into be Gaussian in a

world that is being plagued.

We have to encourage people to believe that those that are connected with Christ and with

the body can enjoy robust lives.

That's one of the prayers I pray for Acts 29 and for those that are connected with us

even if you're not part of Acts 29.

So that's something that you have to keep in mind.

So today's theme is open doors.

That's the theme today open doors or an open door.

And so an open door is an opportunity.

An open door is an opportunity.

An open door is an opportunity for effective work for effective work.

I didn't say effective ministry.

I didn't say effective mission.

I just said effective work to advance to advance Christ's to advance Christ's.

Nature, mission, rule and influence.

That's what an open door is.

So when God says I'm giving you an open door he's saying listen I'm creating or giving

you an opportunity for effective work in the different realms and vocations and callings

you have effective work to advance my son Jesus Christ's nature, his mission, his influence

and his rule.

And when it comes to an open door Christ holds the key.

Christ holds the key.

The son of David holds the key.

As in, he has undisputed authority.

He has undisputed authority.

He has undisputed authority to exclude or to admit to exclude or to admit.

He has undisputed authority to exclude or to admit.

So Father, even as we listen to this word, I just pray your protection upon each home,

upon each family, upon each single person, married couple, child, parent, I just pray

your protection.

I just thank you, Holy Spirit, for your desire to protect us.

In Jesus' name, amen.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So Christ holds the key.

He has undisputed authority to admit or exclude.

And that's important to know because when He opens a door, when He opens a door, no

power, no government can shut it.

When He opens or shuts a door, no power or no government, no force, no spiritual power

can shut it.

And that's important.

That's important to understand because as we talk about open door, we have to realize

that when God opens a door, when He creates an opportunity, that nobody can shut it.

No government, no force, no spiritual power, no physical power can shut it.

It doesn't mean there won't be an attempt to shut it.

It doesn't mean there won't be opposition, but it cannot be shut.

Because He has the undisputed authority to exclude or to admit.

Often, doors that you think are shut are not locked.

They are just shut as in leaning.

All you have to do is go push them.

A church must have the ability to know the open doors that are weighted.

People must have the ability.

I must have the ability to know the doors that God wants to open in my life.

And once I begin to get the whiff of it, I must begin to move towards it.

The room that you presently are in, if you have finished exploring, you should look towards

the far end of the room and see if there's a door there in the distance that you need

to begin to walk towards.

Because sometimes we can get so used to the space that we presently occupy, and both spiritually

and physically, because everything starts in the spiritual, we can get so used to it

that even if I were blindfolded, I could walk without hitting the furniture.

And that is when I should begin to question whether there is another door that God has

been trying to open that I'm not stepping through.

Because of different reasons.

Some of the reasons may be valid.

Some of the reasons may be very human.

But they may still not be what God is hoping you will use as an excuse to stay in that

room any longer.

The other thing is, God doesn't necessarily wait for you to taste every dish on the table.

This is not some buffet where you have to taste the pickle and the salt and the water.

Once you've done the main dishes, God can say, okay, you've learned enough, let's move on.

All I'm trying to say is that in our lives, in the life of Jesus, in the book of Acts,

in fact you can break the book of Acts into five different portions, and each one you

can see where it ends and where the next phase of God's activity on earth starts.

You can see the same with Jesus' life.

You can see him at 12 where a new phase starts.

You can see him in the synagogue when he opens a scroll and you know another phase is starting.

You can see him when Peter says, you are the son of the living God, you know that he has

set his face like flint towards Jerusalem.

You can see these marked phases in Jesus' life where each one is the entry into another

space that was appointed to him.

This is why open doors are important.

Because I have an open door before me does not mean that therefore it automatically swings

open.

I have to enter through it.

This is not one of those approach it and sliding doors.

No, this has to be entered through and sometimes there is opposition.

Sometimes there is pressure to prevent you from entering.

Because if you enter, the enemy forces know that it could change your history, it could

change the way your family functions, it could change the way a city or a town or sometimes

a nation functions or sometimes the earth, really.

So there are on one hand God's invitations and drawing of a church, a person to say,

come enter.

Sometimes God draws a nation saying, it's your time, come step into the next phase and

nations stop.

I am talking about pagan nations.

Because God has a destiny for things even when they do not know him.

Isn't that obvious in our salvation?

Once there is a door that one should walk through, you have to enter through and the

thing is not only, I think it's important to write it down.

Not only do you enter, you have to enter not when you fancy but when God times it.

As in you can't decide that God seems to be inviting me to an open door.

I can decide when I step in.

There are appointed times.

There are appointed times.

There are appointed times.

Numbers 14 verse 44.

Numbers 14:44

Preceding verse 44 is the time when God says to Israel, Israel go right now.

You go right now, you can take the promised land and they don't want to.

That door is open.

Yes, there is opposition.

Yes, there are anachs that are giants and we look like grasshoppers.

Every door that leads into the next new place will have giants waiting, which is why we

do not enter.

These giants are familiar with your fears.

These giants capitalize on, threaten the very fears that you presently have.

They know whether it's lust, they know whether it's a grab for power, they know whether it's

a fear of man, they know whether it's some other moral issue, they know whether it's

an intense attachment to a parent or to something on earth that you can't let go of.

They know.

They know our spiritual phobias and they will stand right behind the next door that is opening

to see if you can be prevented from crossing the threshold or having crossed the threshold,

retreat to your foxhole that you have gotten so familiar with that it's almost like your bedroom.

And yet God, during this phase that you have been in the past, has been building enough

strength into you, enough courage into you so that when you stand there and these giants

come against you, if you were to pull out the sword of the spirit or if you were to

call out on the Lord, you will find how quickly they go, but they don't want you to know that,

so you will always stay within your enclave and you will shout loud from within this side

of the wall, never from that side.

The number of Christians who stand in where they have always been and shout is amazing.

If you want to shout, cross the threshold and shout.

You have to enter through and you can't decide when.

So Israel decides not to go in when there is an invitation, when there is promise, when

there is coercion from Moses and Aaron saying, let's go now, when there is encouragement

from Caleb and Joshua saying, let's go now, they decide not to go.

And then when God says, alright, now you will roam for the next 40 years, then they decide,

nope, we will go.

And in Numbers 14, 44, they climb up to the highest point from where they think they can

attack the enemy and it says the enemy annihilated them.

Numbers 14, verse 44.

Numbers 14:44

So there are appointed timeframes.

So be aware of that.

Sometimes these timeframes do come back years later so that God still gives me an opportunity

to fulfill what I missed out on.

But years go by.

So an open door is a God goes with you and before you kind of door.

An open door is a God goes with you and before you kind of door.

It's not an open door which says, and now what do we have behind this door?

No, it's not like that.

It's God going with you and God going before you as you step into this next big room that

you haven't traversed before.

You look around this particular room you are in and everything looks familiar.

And now God is saying, there's a door you want to enter through and you go there and

you're scared because this room is way beyond what you have entered into.

You can't even drag the furniture from the room you were in into that room because that

room is so different in its makeup, so different in its decor, so different in its plushness,

so different in the kind of enemies that exist, so different in its shadows, so different

in its giants that you can't even take what you had.

You have to now begin to depend on him in a way you've never depended on him which

is why Jesus starts off saying, I know you have little strength.

But I am placing a door before you and if I open this door nobody can shut it.

He's not surprised by your lack of strength but he also knows what is within you.

How do we understand God going before us and the enemy's opposition at the same time?

Deuteronomy 9 verse 3.

Deuteronomy 9:3

Deuteronomy 9 verse 3.

Deuteronomy 9:3

Let me know if there are questions for a full on the screen or however.

Deuteronomy 9 verse 3.

Deuteronomy 9:3

Verse 1 to 3.

Here O Israel, you are now about to cross the Jordan to go in and dispossess the nations

greater and stronger than you with large cities that have walls up to the sky.

People are strong and tall, anachites.

You know about them and have heard it said, who can stand up against the anachites?

But be assured today that the Lord your God is the one who goes across ahead of you like

a devouring fire.

He will destroy them, he will subdue them before you and you will drive them out and

annihilate them quickly as the Lord has promised.

We have to do what he tells us to do but there will be a new experience.

Every open door leads into an unfamiliar experience you haven't had before which makes you

more reliant and dependent on the strength of God than you've ever depended before.

And it shows you a side of God you haven't encountered before.

Isaiah 45 verse 2 is when God promises a man called Cyrus that I'll go before you and

Isaiah 45:2

I'll go with you.

Leverage it.

Whenever there's an open door you can really leverage God because it's like, hey I'm with you.

You can take advantage of it like very few other times.

Isaiah 45 verse 2.

Isaiah 45:2

Let's read verse 1 and 2.

This is what the Lord says to his anointed, to Cyrus's right hand I take hold of, to subdue

nations before him and to strip kings of the armor, to open doors before him so that the gates will

not be shut.

Again it's only God who can do that.

I will go before you and will level the mountains.

I will break down the gates of bronze.

I'll cut through the bars of iron.

I will go before you.

An open door is a God who goes with you and before you.

That aside and we won't be talking about what I'm going to say next today.

We'll talk about it in the future sometime.

But as I get accustomed to walking through open doors you will end up walking under an open heaven.

As I get accustomed to walking through open doors where God says, hey here's a new door I want you to walk

through and you step in through it.

You will eventually as you get accustomed to walking through open doors and there can be many such doors that

God opens in a person's life in one year.

As you get accustomed to walking through open doors you will find yourself walking under an open heaven.

In a territory, in an area God will say, okay you've done this so well.

Now I'm going to give you a much wider expanse and I'll disclose to you where the doors are so that you can take

advantage of them, so that you can administer them on my behalf.

Where now it is not God saying let me take you to your next phase, let me take you to your next phase.

You've done it so well that God is saying hey you've reached a place where listen, there, which door do you want to try?

And then you say that one father and God says alright can you administer it on my behalf?

Can you make sure that you become the one who opens and shuts it?

It goes back to what, what's her name?

Jane. It goes back to what Jane was saying, Zechariah 3.

If you do well, if you walk a certain way, listen I'll put you in charge of my codes.

Isaiah 22, verse 22 about Eliakim.

Isaiah 22:22

God says to Eliakim, I'm putting the keys of the house of David on your shoulders.

What you open will remain open, what you shut will remain shut.

What is God doing? He's saying listen this is what I normally do but here's what I'm going to do for you.

Since you've gotten accustomed to walking through every door I'm asking you to do.

Now what's your pick? I've got other doors I want you to check out.

Which one do you want? That one? Great.

Can I appoint you to administer that door so that now that you've understood how I work,

you can decide who goes in and who stays out?

He did this with the disciples.

He said to them before leaving the earth, who you forgive is forgiven.

Who you don't forgive, their sins are retained.

He says to Peter, as soon as Peter says you are the Christ the son of the living God,

he says I give you the keys of the kingdom.

What you bind will be bound on earth, what you lose will be lost in heaven.

But we'll stop there, we won't go further than that with that theme

because let's get accustomed to first walking through doors before we walk under an open heaven.

God begins to disclose doors that you can locate and you can possess

and he'll ask you to administer that on his behalf.

It is a fabulous place to live.

Where it's like being in a house,

it's like being in a very large house where initially you were given keys to certain doors

and then suddenly God is saying, hey, this entire house is yours, which door do you want to try next?

Oh my God, man, you have no idea how scary and wonderful it is

because every door holds giants and treasures.

It's almost like a video game.

Do they still call them video games?

Okay.

Okay.

Just checking.

So recognize the times you are in Acts 29.

Recognize the times you are in if you are in the house.

Recognize the times you are in Acts 29.

Recognize the times you are in if you are listening to this somewhere else

because God is flinging doors wide open for entry.

God is flinging doors wide open for entry.

Like I said, we are taking a theme that is relevant to us now

and the relevance of themes is decided by the Holy Spirit

and it is because he thinks we need it for now and this is the time we are in.

So open doors must be seen with faith where God says,

here's the door I want you to go through now because you've done well here, but let's move on.

I'm a God who is unchanging, not you.

You need to change.

I'm the unchanging one.

So let's now move to the next place so that I can change you and shape you into something else.

So open doors are seen with faith.

And once you see them with faith, you have to wait for him to say, come.

Open doors are seen with faith.

They are launched with command.

Open doors are seen with faith.

They are launched with command.

And you enter into them by well-timed obedience.

Well-timed obedience.

That's how you enter.

And you have scant regard for circumstances.

It doesn't matter whether all the conditions are right or all the conditions are wrong.

That doesn't matter.

Peter did this when he walked on water.

He sees Jesus.

I don't know how Peter even dared ask,

Hey, could I walk on water?

Who does that?

Who in their right mind does that?

I mean, the next time you see someone paragliding, you don't go up to the guy and say, can I paraglide too?

I don't have a glider, but let's just try it.

You don't do stuff like that.

Look at what Peter is saying.

Can I walk on water?

But having received the invitation, he waits for the command.

And once he hears the command, come.

That's when he steps out.

And then he has to time it well.

Once Jesus says, come, Peter doesn't have to wait for the command.

Come, Peter doesn't say, can we go boating a little while more before I step out?

No, he steps out immediately.

There's this thing called, I'm calling it well-timed obedience.

I'm saying to you that if obedience is not immediate, it is not obedience.

Delayed obedience is disobedience.

Delayed obedience is disobedience.

I need 20 confirmation obedience is disobedience.

I will do it once my dad dies or my brother gets married or I get married.

Disobedience.

I wasn't thinking of you, Don.

There's a scant disregard for circumstances.

And the other thing is when I walk towards an open door that I have seen,

like if God shows me an open door that I must walk towards,

it swings open only as I approach.

It swings open only as I approach.

This is why it says it requires faith.

Every door in my life that I have walked through,

and sometimes I walk through six, seven doors in a year

that bring me to another place in God.

Every time God says, okay, here's another door you need to walk through,

it doesn't open just because God says it.

He expects you to now begin to walk in faith.

You see this happening in Acts chapter 12, verse 10,

Acts 12:10

where an angel wakes up Peter and says,

Peter, you're in prison, time to set you free.

And so they start walking.

Peter thinks it's a vision.

And as he's walking, he comes to this huge gate,

and he's thinking what's going to happen next?

But as he approaches the gate, the gate swings open.

That's how this works.

It swings open as you approach it.

And so what happens with open doors is you can accomplish in 10 minutes

what would take a person one year.

You can accomplish in 10 minutes what a person would take one year to do.

The opening of doors is the work of the quickening Holy Spirit.

The opening of doors is the work of the Holy Spirit who quickens things.

You do in 10 minutes.

I was trying to figure out how do I say this, Father?

Do I say 10 minutes compared to 24 hours?

No. I felt God saying no.

You can do in 10 minutes what a person would take one year to do.

That is how quickly you can enter from one place in God to another place in God.

And every time you enter a place in God,

the enemy suffers a loss and the kingdom advances.

And you get the spoils of war,

besides the fact that you discover something amazing about God.

I mean that itself is reward.

But besides that, you get the spoils of war too.

Yeah.

Every time you step into another place in God,

the enemy suffers loss, the kingdom profits,

you get the spoils of war,

besides the fact that any ways you discover something else that is so magnificent about Christ.

Which there is no other way you can discover.

No book will tell you.

No book can tell you like having an actual encounter

with a certain facet of Christ that you haven't seen before.

This is so cool, man.

So let's look at some scriptures that talk about open doors.

So the first one would be Revelation 3.2 that we just read.

I know you have little strength,

but I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut.

I know you have little strength.

What God is trying to say there is,

hey Jacob, these open doors are not by might or power or by your qualification.

These open doors are by my spirit.

I know you have little strength, but you've been faithful.

I know you have little strength, but you've been patient, you've endured.

Those are the qualities that increase my domain.

Those are the qualities that increase my domain.

Faithfulness, endurance, these are what increase my domain.

Giftedness does not increase my domain.

Giftedness brings me applause and gives me a stage.

Faithfulness is the strength of my domain.

Faithfulness and endurance gives me domain, as in influence.

Greater area to rule on behalf of God, tethered to His nature.

Greater area to rule on behalf of God, tethered to His nature.

Because Praful didn't get that line when I first said it.

He looked up at me and then thought, should I ask?

And then he thought, no, he's already commented on my shirt being tucked in.

How I can read your face behind that mask?

So even though you have little strength, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut.

So it's not by might, it's not by power, but it is a quickening work of the Holy Spirit.

And so don't turn back.

Don't turn back because you haven't amounted to much.

Don't turn back because the start you have is so small that people wouldn't even look at you a second time.

Even though you're making progress, it's not evidenced by others.

Don't turn back. Don't despise the day of small beginnings.

Don't quit.

Don't be discouraged.

Man, I was never discouraged when we were building Acts and there were only two people and then six people and ten people and twelve people.

Never discouraged. Never thought, ah, this isn't working.

After three years, it's only fifteen people.

Never crossed my mind.

Don't quit. It's a work of the Spirit.

God will keep opening doors, man.

This opening door thing is such a common thing God does.

We just have to realize that the room we are living in, once we get so used to it,

everything is familiar, then ask yourself this question,

why am I still in this room when I know where everything is?

I've been faithful. I've done everything I'm supposed to.

Now it's Groundhog Day. Father, where is that door you're showing me?

And if he opens it and no one can shut, then it also means that no one can stop you.

If necessary, he'll move you on if the person in charge of the house is not letting you enter another room.

Now the scripture we can look at is Revelation 3.20.

Revelation 3.20.

Where Jesus is saying, if anyone hears my voice and opens the door,

I will come in and supper with you or eat with you.

I will sit right down and eat with you.

I will sit right down and eat with you.

Revelation 3.20.

If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and supper with you.

One of the things that happens with open doors is that you enter into a place of heightened intimacy internally.

As in, I've never stepped through an open door and no church has stepped through an open door,

no incident in the Bible ever occurred where there was an open door and someone didn't step through it

and become even more heightened in their intimacy or reliance upon God.

Because every new door that opens, you end up liking God more.

You end up being more intimate with God.

You end up being more reliant on God, partly because it's highly unfamiliar territory

and it's natural for a child to run to its parent in an unfamiliar place,

partly because you realize what a rewarding, wonderful God he is,

and partly because you just want to be more and more passionate about your service for him.

It all leads to this place where there's a heightened intimacy internally.

But God is literally saying, hey, as I take you through this open door,

I'm available. I'm available to come and sit with you, talk to you like you haven't experienced yet.

And not only is there a heightened intimacy internally,

you will find that there's an increased receptivity in people around you.

Increased receptivity in people around you.

Or externally, there's a greater receptivity to you.

There's a greater receptivity to you.

People begin to notice that, ah shucks, there's something that's changed quite radically in Jacob,

and I need to pay attention to what he's saying more than I normally do.

More than I normally do.

It's half entertaining, half distracting.

I'm talking about Phoebe.

I don't know if you remember what we said on the third day of Clean Hands, Pure Hearts.

We talked about something called 3T65, or T-36, 3T65,

as in remember to spend time, remember to show tenderness, and remember to share your treasure.

And since that day, I've had occasion on every day to either share my treasure, my time,

or an approach of tenderness with some stranger that has occurred every day since Thursday.

This is part of this idea of increased receptivity externally.

I'm just connecting it. It doesn't really connect, but I wanted to remind you.

That for the next 365 days, for me it's now 362 days, because three days have gone by.

For the next 362 days, God's going to provide me an opportunity every day for the rest of the year,

where I will get a chance to share either my time or my treasure,

or some way of encouragement or tenderness or lifting up a warmth with a stranger.

It won't be someone at Acts 29, it'll be a stranger.

I just have to recognize those opportunities every day, and they're going to come every day.

But going back to the open door thing,

these are the rewards of walking through these doors that God holds open.

There's a heightened intimacy internally because God and you begin to sup together like never before,

and there's an increased receptivity externally,

because people know that you have been with Jesus like you haven't been before.

Two or three times in the Bible they talk about that,

and then they realize that these disciples had been with Jesus.

Next one, 1 Corinthians 16, 9.

It says that,

So that is very relevant.

So that is very relevant to what God is doing for us right now.

God is giving us an open door in this city.

He's not saying I will give.

He's saying I have given.

It's almost a Joshua 6.2 cents.

If you go to Joshua 6.2.

Joshua 6.2.

It says that,

It says that,

Verse 1,

Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the Israelites.

No one went out and no one came in.

So it's almost this sense of not I will give you an open door in this city.

It's the sense of he has given us an open door in this city that it is already given.

And so what are we supposed to do?

We're supposed to pray Acts 4.29 and pray Colossians 4.3.

Acts 4.29, Acts 4.29,

which is a familiar prayer we prayed many times over the last four months.

Acts 4.29,

Now, Lord, consider their threats.

Enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.

Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.

When you have an open door in a city,

call God in Acts 29 saying,

Oh God, please, I know the city is difficult, but you've given us an open door.

I know there may be many who oppose us,

but you've already given us an open door.

Oh God, now look at the difficulties we face in the city in terms of speaking out boldly and give us the boldness.

And as we begin to embrace that boldness, as we step into T365,

Oh God, I ask that you begin to stretch out your hands and signs, miracles and wonders.

Because he's not saying I will give you the city.

Sometimes guys, when we go through these meetings and these three-day meetings and the Shekinah seven-day meetings,

we think to ourselves is anything happening? Isn't this futile?

Hey, we've only been at this for four or five months.

Satan has been at this for years.

Finally, things are beginning to break.

The evidence may not be seen yet, but when it comes, it comes like a tsunami.

Yeah.

Because God is God, you don't have to be discouraged because you can't do this anyways.

You just can't obey.

That's all you're supposed to do.

Mine is to obey.

Because I can't heal anybody, I can't save anybody, I can't do nothing for them.

I just obey.

You just obey.

That's it.

Colossians 4.3.

Colossians 4.3.

That's another prayer.

Now that we've been given an open door,

Colossians 4.3.

Colossians 4.3.

Pray that I may, yeah, pray for us too,

that God may open a door for our message so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ for which I am in chains.

As in, yes, you've given us an open door, now pray for us.

An open door exists, now please pray for us.

As in, pray for Jacob, pray for Derek, pray for Sue, pray for Heidi, pray for Gillian,

pray for Prashanth, pray for Pawan.

Because every day these different guys are going out,

begin to pray for people and what are you praying for them?

Not that they have a wonderful day and that, not stuff like that.

Oh God, I pray for Pawan that as he goes out today,

that you would, in the name of Jesus Christ,

because you've given us an open door in this city,

help him to disclose the mystery of Christ to people that he meets.

What a crazy prayer to pray.

We're not praying for protection.

We're not praying for a provision. Why?

Because we know those things are taken care of.

We are praying.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if churches began to pray this strange prayer,

oh God, today as this person goes out,

I don't pray for their protection or provision because you are their father and you take care of them.

I now begin to pray that as they go out,

they will disclose the mystery of Christ to different people as they meet.

When they face opposition, that you or God will give them the boldness to speak,

so that in the face of threats, they'll still stand firm.

And as they do, Father, would you stretch out your hands in healing, science, miracles and wonders,

so that next Sunday when we meet, they will say,

please, please, please, can you boot Evan out of the tech team,

because I have a testimony to share and Jacob will say, yes and amen.

Don't worry, Evan, you're still useful.

Now the open door.

Revelations 4 verse 1, Revelations 4 verse 1, Revelations 4 verse 1.

Revelation 4:1 Revelation 4:1 Revelation 4:1

Hey, Don, why did you turn off the AC, man?

It's pretty hot here. Turn it on.

Don't make it too cold in a mood of vengeance or anything.

That sounded a little angry. You're okay?

Okay.

Revelations 4 verse 1.

Revelation 4:1

After this I looked and behold a door standing open in heaven,

and I heard a voice that sounded like a trumpet saying,

come up here and I will show you what must take place after this.

Open doors allow you to have a chance to see the truth.

Open doors allow you to have spiritual sight that lets you upgrade your level in God.

Open doors, sometimes an open door, not sometimes an open door,

every open door requires a new sight.

Not requires, every open door, what's the right word, not require,

comes with, and every open door comes with a new sight of God

where you are upgraded in your perception of God.

You're upgraded in your perception of God.

And then your perception of God affects your reality, how you walk.

You seek and behold his glory as you step through every new door.

You go, oh shucks, so this is who you are, this is what Paul was talking about,

or this is what Joseph was talking about, or this is what Jesus was talking about,

and you suddenly begin to walk differently in this unfamiliar new room

or new space that you've entered into through the door that got open.

After this I looked and behold the door standing open in heaven and I heard a voice say,

come up here and I'll show you what must take place after this.

And I've said this not a million times yet, but quite a lot,

that Moses had to have upgrades in his perception of God before he could lead people into the next stage.

So the burning bush was not enough to take them through 40 years of the desert,

therefore Moses has to seek God on Mount Sinai.

The burning bush was enough to be a deliverer,

the burning bush was not enough to make him a nation former and leader.

That required Mount Sinai.

And once he sees him on Mount Sinai,

now he's ready to take a stubborn stiff necked people through 40 years of the desert.

In different people's lives you will see this.

With David there were three anointings in his life.

There was the anointing with Samuel, there was anointing in Hebron,

then there was anointing in Judah.

And between each anointing there was the need for David to catch a new sight of God

that would bring him to the next place.

It is the same with Saul.

The Saul who fell off his horse on his way to Damascus

needed to confront and meet God again in the deserts of Saudi Arabia

so that he could begin to say what he said in places like 1 Corinthians 11 and Galatians 2 where he says,

and then Christ himself appeared to me and said,

statements he makes, I was born out of time and yet I'm so fortunate that Christ came and told me this.

As in you 12 have seen him face to face, but I no longer know him that way.

I was born out of time, but I know him according to the Spirit.

What a claim, man!

A question that I often ask of you every year is who is God appearing to you as?

Almost like a faint echo of Revelation 3 verse 13 or so where Jesus says, I'll give you a new name.

Revelation 3:13

My question to him every year is, so what's the new name or new nature or character of yours that you're showing me this year?

Or these two months?

Because sometimes doors open faster.

Next one.

Luke chapter 12, verse 35 and 36.

Luke 12:35

Be dressed, ready for service, like servants waiting for their master,

so that when he comes and knocks, they can immediately open the door for him.

Be dressed, ready for service, like servants waiting for their master,

so that when he comes and knocks, they can immediately open the door for him.

Guys, when it comes to open doors, expect sudden leaves.

Expect sudden leaves.

Expect sudden leaves.

As in many things that you thought would take a lot of time will happen so quickly.

So quickly.

Finances that you needed for a vision that God had given you.

When you were just like a three-day-old believer,

God gives you a vision and you know it's impossible because you don't have the resources or the manpower or the skill or the gifting to accomplish it.

And then as you walk through these doors, suddenly one of the things that happens as you walk through different open doors that God places in your life,

is suddenly whatever you need comes your way without even working for it.

I don't even know how it happened.

Three days after I got born again, God said,

listen, you will be going from nation to nation to nation and he shows me a vision.

Never had a vision before in my life.

Three days, third day after being born again.

I'm just kneeling at my sofa in my living room in Bahrain and praying because I didn't know what else to do, didn't have any friends.

And so praying and this vision comes.

And nothing happened for 13, 14, 15 years.

And then one day, every three weeks going to nations.

How? Where does the money come from, guys?

Which church will allow a pastor to go every three weeks?

It's nuts.

God has the ability to arrange different things.

This is why one must nurture a vision, not force a vision.

One of the problems that happens with young people is that they have a vision and they try to make it happen, won't let go of it.

It's good to be bulldog-ish,

but you may end up having a doll that's all ripped up in your mouth by the time it comes for the vision to be shaped.

You've got to nurture a vision.

And the problem with older people like me is that we nurture the vision so long that it's got no new parts.

Because we sat on it for so long.

Nurturing is to keep looking at it, seeing if God wants to add something, waiting.

Pushing your finger to see if it's ready.

Be dressed, ready for service, like servants waiting for their master, so that when he comes and knocks, they can immediately open the door to him.

Open doors bring sudden leads into your life.

So be alert. Be alert to divine disruption.

Whenever you go through an open door, this is so critical.

Be alert to divine disruption.

Be alert to divine disruption, divine interruption.

I'm not talking about intervention.

I'm talking about things that interrupt what you had planned.

Be alert to this. Be alert to divine errands that you do not understand.

Because that's one way that God tests you to see,

hey, can I trust you with the next door that's going to come after this?

Do you have a looseness or a disentangled disattachment of the things of the earth?

So when I tell you go, you drop everything and you go.

You don't ask why. You don't try to figure it out. You don't try to think it through.

You don't try to reason. You don't try to say, but God said this.

God said this and it's just so like a blooming cloud that I talked about in Job 37, verse 12,

Job 37:12

where God takes a cloud, he loads it with moisture and he puts the cloud through its spaces,

sometimes this way, sometimes that way, sometimes using it for love,

sometimes for extravagance, sometimes for discipline, just wherever you want to go.

Oh, did I mess up your plans, Jacob?

I told you that you would do this and now you're asking me why are you changing plans?

Go read Job 38, verse 2. Some of us need to hear this, eh?

Job 38:2

Job 38, verse 2, read it from the NIRV.

Job 38:2

A friend of mine pointed out the scripture yesterday. I read it and I half fell off my chair laughing and half crying.

Job 38, verse 2, from the NIRV.

Job 38:2

Who do you think you are to disagree with my plans? You do not know what you're talking about.

How's that for a conversation with God?

So it might well be that Derek and Dawn are going to India in 15 days,

but maybe Dawn's supposed to stay back for 10 more days and go to India.

Oh no, no, I can't. This will disrupt my plans. Really?

Who do you think you are to tell me that my plans are wrong?

Alert to divine disruption, divine interruption, divine errands.

And please don't think this is an old people's problem.

It's sometimes older people who train themselves well for years,

and they don't know what to do.

It's sometimes older people who train themselves well for years,

learn how to turn on a dime.

We got to get over this faith dilemma that we had.

I've struggled with it in the past where God tells me something,

and now I have enough stubbornness to stick with it.

But now when God comes and tells me,

listen, I know I told you to go here,

but I want you to stop by Jairus' house because the daughter is dying.

And by the way, on the way, you don't know this,

but there'll be a woman with the issue of blood.

You'll have to stop there too. I just want you to be aware of this.

No, Lord, you told me to go here.

Jairus, I'll send Peter.

A woman with the issue of blood, I'll send Mary,

because my heart is set on what God told me the first time.

God can change your plans.

He can dismantle your neat boxes.

And the sooner we get used to this,

the sooner open doors will begin to open faster

because He knows you are not tied to a plan.

You are tied to Him.

Second Corinthians 2.12

This is a cool one,

where some doors you have permission to either take up or not take up.

It says in Second Corinthians 2.12,

Now, when I went to Troas to preach,

I found that the Lord had opened a door for me,

but I still had no peace of mind.

So Paul's saying, listen, I know that God has opened His door.

It's open there for me to preach the gospel,

but I had no peace of mind, and so Paul doesn't take that door.

So there are times when some doors are permissive,

and a time frame delayed is not an opportunity lost.

Sometimes some open doors are permissive in the will of God,

as in God is saying, listen, if you want this Jacob, it's yours to take.

So if I delay it, it doesn't mean that I lose it.

If I delay it, it doesn't mean that I lose it.

A time frame delayed is not an opportunity lost.

Question is, how do you figure this out?

You converse with Him.

You know there's this open door, but inside you,

you feel that it's not fear that's stopping me from entering,

but there's something about my nature that God knows

and God's nature that I know that affords me the luxury

to maybe take this door up later,

sometimes for reasons that aren't very spiritually valid.

And God will say it's okay.

I mean, I remember writing down this just a few weeks ago

when something like this happened in my life,

and I'll just read it out to you.

Here's what I wrote.

I was asking God, Father, you open this door for me.

Should I take it or should I not?

I just would rather not take it now.

I can take it later.

And here's what I sensed God replying, so I wrote it down.

This is my permissive will for you, Jacob,

but that should be obvious, isn't it?

So I'm okay if you don't take it up.

And you can't be disobedient in it,

because it's in my permissive will.

So no, I'm not disappointed,

but I'm loving this conversation for your sake.

I thought to myself, that is so cool.

He was actually beginning to enjoy the conversation,

because here is an open door,

and God is asking me, do you want to take it?

And I'm saying to him, but if I don't take it,

will I be disobedient?

Will I disappoint you?

You're giving me this door.

Should I take it or should I not?

Will I be disobedient?

Will I disappoint you?

And he's saying, you cannot be disobedient in this,

because it's up to you.

But I'm enjoying this conversation,

because you are so bothered about

whether you're going to disappoint me,

whether you're being disobedient.

I'm enjoying this conversation for your sake.

Sometimes, and I've said this before, guys,

sometimes God delays an answer

just so he can engage you in a conversation.

I do that with some of you.

Dads do that with their kids,

where you ask Dad a question,

and you won't get a direct reply.

Why?

Because the Dad wants you to engage him in a conversation

so you can think some more

before you get to the answer.

Sometimes God delays an answer

just because he wants to engage you in a conversation.

What a loving father.

Is that a pear or an apple?

I hope there's some left for me.

Okay, next one.

I've got two more to go, guys.

Next one.

Act 16, verse 26.

A great earthquake happens

so that the foundation of the prison was shaken.

Act 16, verse 26.

A great earthquake happened

so that the foundations of the prison were shaken,

and immediately all the doors were opened,

and everyone's bonds were unfastened.

So one of the things that happens with open doors,

particularly for Act 29

and what we are presently involved in,

whenever God opens a door in a city,

you must expect bondages to be broken,

prison doors to open.

Bondage is broken, prison doors open.

There must be an opening.

Whenever God opens doors in a city,

and I believe he's already given us an open door in this city.

We already talked about that.

Whenever God opens doors in a city, in a nation,

in a church, in lives,

then expect an unfastening of bondages

and an opening of prison doors.

One must expect it.

And initially, it may be a little difficult to expect

because every time you think you're going to get a breakthrough,

you get results that don't encourage you.

Guys, one of the coolest words that I was given early in my life

and that is essential for an apostolic church

is the word endurance.

To endure, to continue in long,

to continue in long obedience in the same direction,

long passionate obedience in the same direction,

unwavering in what you know is true

and what you know you have seen and will happen, unwavering,

long obedience in the same direction.

The very nature of the apostolic is to endure.

A pioneer or a pioneering church that cannot endure

is not a pioneering church

because you cannot pioneer without endurance.

Simple.

You can have all the gifts, you can have great preaching,

you can plant a hundred churches,

but if I don't see endurance in you,

I'll call you a planter, I won't call you a pioneer.

And endurance is joyful, endurance is passionate,

endurance is unwavering, endurance is not,

oh, woe is me, everybody's making it big but me.

No, it is like absolutely confident of what God has said.

You're this joyful little dynamite stick

that one day will blow up a whole blooming mountain.

Jesus can tuck in his pocket and throw out whenever he wants.

Boom!

The ferocity of God's power,

the ferocity of God's power is always seen

when God opens doors for a church in a city.

Trust it.

You know, even as I say this,

the three people that we prayed for two Sundays ago,

part of me wants to not think about it,

part of me wants to tell you about it

because we prayed for a 23-year-old

that Ranita had spoken about

who was suffering from a disease like ALS.

We prayed for Jillian's landlord's dad,

we prayed for Surian's dad, who's my age.

All three died.

All three died in the last 10 days.

Then you juxtapose that against a message like this

and you think to yourself, where is the power of God?

Absolutely present. Absolutely present.

A city where a church has been given an open door,

we must expect the unfastening of bondages

and the opening of prison doors.

Isaiah 49, verse 24 to 26.

Isaiah 49:24–26

Isaiah 49, verse 24 to 26.

Isaiah 49:24–26

Can plunder be taken from warriors,

or captives rescued from the fears?

But this is what the Lord says.

Yes, captives will be taken from warriors.

Plunder will be retrieved from the fears.

I will contend with those who contend with you

and your children I will save.

What a scripture.

And so he says it over this city,

and we echo it here, we speak it out for him.

Can plunder be taken in Vancouver from warriors,

spiritual powers, forces who have held people captive?

Can captives be rescued from the fears?

But this is what the Lord Almighty,

who has opened the door in the city for this church, says.

He says, yes, captives will be taken from warriors.

Yes, plunder will be retrieved from the fears.

I will contend with those who contend with you

and your children I will save.

What a beautiful verse. What a powerful God.

Last one, which is very familiar

because we've been so stuck in this Psalm forever.

Psalm 24 verse 9, Psalm 24 verse 9, Psalm 24 verse 9.

Psalms 24:9 Psalms 24:9 Psalms 24:9

Open up ancient gates, open up ancient doors,

and let the King of Glory enter.

Open up ancient doors, let the King of Glory enter.

Open doors always lead to a breaking in,

a breaking in of destiny,

a breaking in of destiny and movement on earth,

and movement on earth.

Whenever God gives you an open door,

yes, you will step into it, but others will benefit.

The destiny of others get repaired.

Some of us will start movements on earth

that take on their own juggernaut-like strength and snowball.

But open up ancient doors, open up, let the King of Glory enter.

Breaking in, whenever doors are open,

know that there's a breaking in of divine destiny,

first in your life and then through your life.

Let me say that again.

I can give you example after example from the Bible,

leave alone from my life, but from the Bible,

of people who entered through open doors

and immediately their destiny shifted.

And the moment their destiny shifted,

the destiny of the people around them,

sometimes cities, sometimes people groups,

sometimes tribes, sometimes nations shifted.

The number of open doors that Joseph stepped through

from being in his father's house to Potiphar's prison

to Pharaoh's palace.

And each time, it was not just his destiny that was being shaped.

What did Joseph have more than anything else? Endurance.

The word of the Lord tested him, but he endured.

The ability to endure,

to endure and endure passionately.

I'm highly suspicious of God is molding me, breaking me.

I'm highly suspicious of that.

That's just my problem.

Just so I'll put it out there.

So if he's doing that, try to use a different phrase

when you talk to me.

Open up ancient doors.

One of the things that happens when open doors happens

is that it first breaks into you, changes your destiny,

changes others' destiny.

And what happens is things that have remained desolate,

things that had remained wild and unkept,

suddenly desolate heritages are either retrieved or cleaned up and restored.

That's one of the things that happens.

Every time God has opened a door in my life,

it has always resulted in either Acts 29 or another church

or another nation benefiting tremendously

in something of its inheritance being restored or given to it,

either given to it or restored to it.

Every time God has opened a door in my life that I have stepped through,

either Acts 29 or another church or another city or another nation

has always had some part of its inheritance either released to it

or some part of its inheritance that had fallen into disrepair restored.

And I look forward to this.

I mean I'm waiting for COVID to end.

I'm looking forward to what's going to happen in Kaunas in Lithuania.

I'm looking forward to some of the places that God will begin to restore things

as you begin to keep moving.

I'm looking forward to what this revival will restore to people.

What do you think it is?

An open door, open up your ancient gates, open up your ancient doors.

We've been singing this for ages and after we are done,

Jane is going to sing it again.

How it happens differs.

Sometimes it's a pebble.

Sometimes it's a pebble.

You throw a pebble and it causes these ripples.

Sometimes it's a blooming storm where it comes and sweeps through a place

and before you know it, everything that is needed to be swept away,

swept away, what remains is what is stable.

Sometimes it can be a mustard seed where you don't see its growth.

It is hidden but suddenly it becomes a tree that the birds can dwell in.

Sometimes it's an earthquake where it is so visible that the stones are rolled away.

How God does it isn't my problem.

My thing is be obedient because it will happen.

History is such a cool thing.

It's after the event.

You can exaggerate it, minimize it, redact it.

But my God, history takes time, man.

Alrighty, I'm done.

So let me end with this.

If we are saying that these are relevant themes that the Holy Spirit,

man, it's so cold, Don.

You are pulling out the sweaters.

What's with you?

I think at this rate he may go to India before you go.

Forget about delaying.

I think I'm standing right under it.

Okay.

So if this is a relevant theme that God wants to bring to us,

then I've got some Ramah words that I want to release to us.

Ramah, the best way to...

Only Pentecostals and Charismatics define Ramah the way I'm going to define it

because if you actually went and looked at it from the Greek sense of it,

it isn't what I'm saying.

But taking things out of context is our specialty.

So when I say Ramah, what I mean is a word given to you for a time such as this

that has in it the grace you require.

And so as you receive it, it detonates.

Or sometimes it's on a slow wick and it explodes a little later.

But it is specifically given to you.

It is a specific Jacob-crafted word for Jacob.

God knows me, God knows how I'm wired,

and He sends me a word that has an effect on me.

So I'm going to give you a word that has an effect on you.

So to me, God knows how I'm wired,

and He sends me a word that has in it the grace that I require for this time in my life.

Once I receive it, it detonates.

And God releases to me what is very tailor-made for Jacob.

So that's what I mean by Ramah.

All to say that I just want to release a few Ramah words that I believe God was speaking.

I've written them down and just want to speak them to you.

And for some of us this may apply immediately, for others it may apply later.

For some, it may not apply.

Yeah? God is not an equal employment kind of guy.

He knows what you need and He does it accordingly.

So the first word is relaunch.

As in, God wants some of you who have shelled things,

who were discouraged by the first time you did it,

and you even perhaps got burned.

God wants to release.

All these words are open door connected.

God wants to release this word relaunch.

And if you want to have an idea of the picture that God has in His mind,

John 21 verse 6, where He says to the disciples,

John 21:6

Boys, cast your net on the right side.

The second word is again, all these words are very open door words.

Fresh start.

Isaiah 43.

Oh, praise God. I just got a text from Diana.

She said, Ranita just texted that she woke up from her sleep just now and is pain free.

Praise God. Thank you Father for your kindness, Jesus for you taking pain upon yourself,

for these kind of answered prayers in Jesus' name.

We give you praise, Lord. You are the doer.

You are the doer of these things.

You are the doer, Father. You are the doer.

I give you praise, Jesus. I acknowledge what you've done.

I will give thanks to you, God, amongst the nations.

I will sing praises to you among the peoples, for your steadfast love is great.

For your steadfast love is great.

What's the next line?

It's great unto the heavens, and your faithfulness unto the clouds.

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens. Let your glory fill the earth.

We give you praise above.

Isaiah 43.19, verse 19, where God says, Listen, do not cling to the former events.

Watch for the new thing I'm going to do.

Don't you perceive it?

It's almost like, stop holding on to how you've been trying to do it and it hasn't worked.

Do not cling to the events of the past. Do not hold on to the former events.

Watch for the new thing I'm going to do.

Can't you see it spring up? Don't you perceive it?

Relaunch is not a fresh start. It is to do again what you had done the first time.

First time you fail, but that doesn't mean you don't attempt it again.

Relaunch is to do the same thing a second time.

Fresh start is to start from scratch. It's a new thing.

Do not even consider what you did in the past.

Next one is seek new vision.

Seek new vision.

Maybe for your marriage, maybe for your ministry, maybe for your business.

Seek new vision.

Go to Habakkuk chapter 2, verse 1 and 2, where it's this idea of going up the watchtower.

Habakkuk 2:1

And God is saying, let me give you a new vision that you can write down.

Because the vision you're presently running in is either old or it's...

What's the word when things expiry?

It's reached its expiry date. So get a new vision.

Fourth one. These are all very familiar passages.

Fourth one, extend.

As in whatever you're doing, extend it. Meaning it's very limited.

It's from Isaiah 54, verse 2.

Isaiah 54:2

Isaiah 54, verse 2. Extend what you're doing. It's very limited.

Isaiah 54:2

It's well within your ability to complete what you're doing. Extend it.

Be out there on a limb.

Stretch your tents. Extend your...

Pull out your stakes.

By rope that is longer because you need to extend it.

The limits have to be increased.

The next one, which is a very odd one. I didn't expect this in the middle of open door.

For some of us, God is saying, all is forgiven.

All is forgiven. All is forgiven.

It's from Luke 7, 47.

It's from Luke 7, 47.

Sometimes this may not be for someone at Acts 29, it may be for someone else somewhere.

Luke 7, 47.

Luke 7, 47. All is forgiven.

He looks at the woman who's weeping and wiping his feet.

He looks at people around and he says,

she has been forgiven much, and therefore her gratitude is immense.

All is forgiven.

Again, it goes back to this idea of a fresh start, but someone needs to hear this, Rema.

The next one is step out of the shade.

Step out of the shade.

Step out of the shade.

You know, there's an old Evie song written in the 1980s which says,

step into the sunshine, step out of the shade.

Okay, okay, okay. It's 1980s and she starts crying.

Man, 1980s, some of your parents hadn't met each other.

That is how old 1980s is.

Step out of the shade. It's Judges 6-2.

Judges 6-2, where an angel of the Lord comes to Gideon

and basically asks Gideon to step out of the shade of the winepress that he's hiding in.

Step out of the shade.

Step out of the shade. You may not have all that it takes, but step out of the shade.

You may yet not be fully what you were hoping you would be.

Step out of the shade.

You still have the same circumstances and conditions around you.

Step out of the shade.

Guys, trust me, when I write down stuff like this and share it with you,

I am afraid and feel foolish.

But experiences taught me that if you obey,

somehow God will take this and connect.

And even if I don't hear about it,

what's the worst that can happen? That I was foolish and wrong.

What's the best that can happen? That I was foolish and right.

Last one.

You're not too young. You're not too old.

That's from Jeremiah 1, verse 7.

Jeremiah 1:7

Do not say you're a youth.

And to some of us, God is saying, do not say you're too old.

Do not say you're a youth. Do not say you're too old.

So, if any of these register right now, or if they register later,

take them and run with them.

Yeah?

As far as I know, there are no midweek meetings this week.

But then that was exactly how I thought last Sunday too.

I'll see you later.

I think Jane will come and close with one of those open up the door songs,

or one of those songs.

Why is a response important?

Because a response anchors things.

In our hearts, it anchors things.

Yeah.

You may say, but Jacob, I've already written down these notes.

I'll remember.

We're not talking about anchoring things in terms of remembering.

We're talking about anchoring things as in spiritually anchoring things.

And so, when we respond to what we've been taught through a song or a prayer

that agrees with God, that is when we can walk with Him.

Can two walk except they be agreed?

Can two walk except they be agreed?

An agreement here on earth must be verbalized or symbolized.

Yeah?

That's half the reason why we do something at the end that is either symbolic

or that is a response.

Yeah?