God of the Open Door

Breaking the Code
God of the Open Door

I. Introduction

A. One of the keys to understanding Revelation is recognizing its genre: it is a work of .

B. Interpretive Lens

1. Lens

2. Lens

3. Lens

4. or Lens

C. The New Testament church was a place!

II. Philadelphia

A. Revelation 3:7-13 (NLT)

1. An “open door” stands for the to be used by .

B. Revelation 3:8 (NLT) “I know all the things you do, and I have opened a door for you that no one can close. You have little strength, yet you obeyed my word and did not deny me.”

1. The greatest gift God can give a church—or an individual—is the gift of an “ ”!

a. There’s no tragedy like the tragedy of an abandoned open door. Every time God opens a door, we have a choice: stay or step !

2. What is the door of opportunity God is opening up ?

a. Doors don’t swing open for ; they swing open for .

3. “I have set before you an .”

C. Revelation 3:7 (NLT) “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Philadelphia. This is the message from the one who is holy and true, the one who has the key of David. What he opens, no one can close; and what he closes, no one can open.”

1. This image of the “key of David” is the image of .

D. Isaiah 22:22 (NLT) I will give him the key to the house of David—the highest position in the royal court. When he opens doors, no one will be able to close them; when he closes doors, no one will be able to open them.

1. A “key” was always a symbol of , and power, and .

2. No person, no problem, no power on this earth can keep you from what has called you to do!

III. Laodicea

A. Water Problem (lukewarm)

B. Banking Capital (self-sufficiency)

C. Eye Salve (blindness)

D. Black Wool (nakedness)

E. Revelation 3:14-22 (NLT)

1. Christian

a. Atheist: disbelief in the existence of a supreme being.

2. Christian Atheist: someone who in God, but like He doesn’t exist.

3. The “door” to your .

a. If you open that “door”—even just a little bit—Jesus will .

IV. Conclusion