it's good to be with you again at the beginning of a new week sharing with you keys to successful living which god has placed in my hand through many years of personal experience and christian ministry the title for my talks this week is the door only you can open a door of course is a familiar feature in the life of all of us the use we make of a door can be crucial in deciding the course of our lives on the one hand we can open a door and let someone in on the other hand
we can close a door and keep someone out depending on who the person is this decision that we make in opening or closing the door can have a decisive effect on the entire course of our lives in particular there is one door in your life which only you can open the decision which you make in opening or closing that particular door will determine the course of your life not only in time but also in eternity can you guess what the door is there's a very vivid picture of this door in the book of revelation in
a message that jesus sends to one of the seven churches in asia the church in laodicea the message is found in revelation chapter 3 verse 20. it is jesus who is speaking bear in mind he's speaking to a christian church this is what he says behold i stand at the door and knock if anyone hears my voice and opens the door i will come into him and will dine with him and he with me we need to ponder the implications of this picture here we have a christian church established before the end of the first
century they acknowledged the name of christ they professed faith in him they repeated the creed probably prayed sang hymns they celebrated the communion or the eucharist in memorial of him and yet where was jesus his words indicate very plainly he was on the outside seeking to gain admission isn't that an amazing picture a church that acknowledged jesus that believed in him that sang his praises prayed prayers in his name and yet he was not there he was on the outside isn't that astonishing and he was seeking to gain admission he was very humble he wasn't
going to force his way in he didn't say if you don't do what i ask i'll batter the door down he said i'd like you to open the door and if you open the door i will come in but it's very clear from the words he uses that the opening of the door is not something that he will do it's something that the person addressed must do and in the greek language it's very clear too that when he comes to that question of opening the door he's not speaking in the plural to a group of
people he's speaking individually to each person in that church if you individually will open the door i will come in why was it that he was on the outside were they insincere not necessarily well then what was missing i believe the words of jesus give the key to answering that question what was missing why was jesus on the outside listen to what he says again behold i stand at the door and knock if anyone hears my voice and opens the door what is the key it's contained in that phrase that begins with if if anyone
hears my voice that was the problem in that church they were not hearing his voice and consequently he was left on the outside i want you to know that this is the decisive personal relationship which alone makes us true christians it's hearing his voice it's having direct communication with jesus it's not a form of worship or of religion or a ritual all those things that may be good in their place but not one of them is the substitute for the vital essential which is hearing the voice of jesus that speaks about a relationship with jesus
which is direct it's intimate and it's continuing it's not confined to a certain day of the week or a certain out of the day or a certain type of building or certain forms of ceremony it's something person-to-person if you will hear my voice jesus makes it plain really in many different ways and in many different places in the new testament that this is what he's after in our lives he's not just come to bring us religion or good theology or even a lot of knowledge although these things can all be good in their place but
the vital thing he stresses again in john chapter 10 verse 27 my sheep hear my voice and i know them and they follow me again the crucial issue hearing the voice of jesus if you don't hear his voice you can't follow him because he leads by his voice that's the picture of an oriental shepherd his sheep followed him because they recognized his voice and they went where they heard the voice jesus says in the same context they don't know the voice of a stranger they won't follow a stranger so the key to following jesus is
hearing his voice and concerning those who hear his voice jesus says i know them and then he goes on to say and i give to them eternal life and no one can pluck them out of my hands you see what total security there is in that intimate personal relationship with jesus where you hear his voice he knows you he gives you eternal life and there is no power in the universe that can pluck you out of his hand let's look at that picture from revelation once more here's jesus standing outside the church pleading for admission
and he says if you will hear my voice and open the door i will come in imagine that a church that was already in existence within about 60 years of the death of jesus with its worship with its ceremonies with its prayers with its hymns and yet without jesus isn't that a solemn thought could you picture jesus outside the door of the church perhaps that you attend or the church on the street where you live which you don't attend maybe you don't attend any church but there's a picture of the lord of glory the lord
of life the savior the eternal king in his humility standing outside the door and saying if you'll hear my voice if you'll open the door i will come in what are you relying on for your personal relationship with the lord is it the fact that you were baptized or confirmed is it the fact that you go to church or that you read your bible or that you sing hymns or that you offer money to the lord's work i don't want to belittle any of those things they're all important but yet they are not sufficient without
that great single central experience of knowing jesus personally hearing his voice and making him a part of your life the amazing thing about almighty god is for reasons i think we'll never fully discern he wants to share the life of his human creatures he wants to come in he wants to be part of our life if he's not part of our life it's not because he doesn't want it it's because we haven't met the conditions and i'd like to ask you personally at this very moment what is your relationship to jesus have you heard his
voice and if you heard his voice what did you do did you open the door you might say well i never rejected him but i want to tell you that's not enough if somebody's outside the door asking for admission you don't have to reject that person you just have to do nothing and he remains outside and you remain without him there's only one adequate response and that's the response that jesus asks for to open the door and to invite him in he won't push his way in he's a gentleman he doesn't come in uninvited if
you want jesus christ in your life as savior and lord as your friend and companion your counselor and help her you're going to have to take action maybe you've heard his voice even as i've been speaking to you today maybe for the first time you've realized that there is a savior who wants to come in who wants to help you who loves you who cares for you who knows you intimately and yet he's not on the inside of your life he's on the outside i want to challenge you as i close this message today what
are you going to do about it are you going to open the door or are you going to leave it closed
