Focus: See Doors!

Text: Jh.10:7

"I am the door…"

We find three different doors in the book of Revelation.

The first door is found in Rev.3:8. The Lord Jesus Christ says to the church in Philadelphia, "I have set before thee an open door…" This is the door of gospel ministry or evangelism. The Lord Jesus Christ reveals and introduces Himself to them as the sole possessor and firm holder of the key of David. No man can open the door He closes, nor close the door He opens. He has sole access to the throne of David and reigns from there. Now He places in front of this church of small strength an open door which no man could close for their loyalty to the word and name of Christ. They have neither compromised the word nor contradicted the name of Christ.

This open door is an opportunity afforded them by Christ for the spreading of the gospel of Christ. Luke describes this door as the "door of faith" in Act.14:27. In 1Cor.16:9, Paul says "a great door and effectual is opened unto me…," and in 2Cor.2:12, he says, "a door was opened unto me of the Lord." This is the door of ministry. It is a door of access to places and people for the gospel outreach.

The next door is found in Rev.3:20, which says, "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him…" This is the door of the heart. The Lord Jesus Christ is constantly knocking at the door of our hearts, and it is up to us to open it for Him to enter and feast and fellowship with us. In Act.16:14, Luke tells us of Lydia, "whose heart the Lord opened." 

So there is a sense in which we are required to open the door of our hearts to the Lord, and a sense in which the Lord Himself steps in to open our hearts to attend to His word and respond to the wooing of His Spirit.

The last door of Revelation is seen in Rev.4:1, which says, "After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven…" Then John heard a voice that says to him, "Come up hither, and I will shew thee things…" This is the door of disclosure. God has things to disclose to John from the vantage point of heaven. John needed to see things from the earthly standpoint to the heavenly perspective. The Lord who was seen walking among the churches on earth, is now revealing things in heaven to His servant, John.

We have seen three different doors of Revelation, and there are a few more doors of Scripture, which we have not time to delve into here, but let me also mention Paul's "door of utterance" in Col.4:3. This is the door of fluency - door of gospel communication. God said to Moses, who admitted of having a speech impediment, "Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say" (Ex.4:12). God did a similar thing for Paul. He empowered Paul's mouth and made him speak with clarity, accuracy, fluency and audacity. Paul calls it "the door of utterance."

I close with the door in our text. The Lord Jesus Christ says, "I am the door…" 

He is the door of access to God - the door of salvation and safety. There's no other way or door to God other than Him.

Through His person we gain access to the Father's heart. He is more than our Shepherd; He is the door to the sheepfold. He feeds us in the field and secures us in the fold.

May the Lord open our spiritual eyes to see the doors and experience their impact in our lives. These doors are crucial and beneficial to us in all facets of our life and ministry. See and use the doors!

by Bishop Moses E. Peter