Don't Open The Door

Don’t Open The Door!

Scriptures: Genesis 4:6-7; First Peter 5:8; Revelations 3:20

Introduction

The title of my message this morning is “Don’t Open The Door.” New Light, as we go through 2021 I want to encourage all of us to walk in the authority that God has given us through His Son Jesus Christ. There are many Christians who believe the extent of being a Christian is going to Church, praying and reading their Bibles. They read the stories of the things that Jesus and the disciples did but they do not believe that they are empowered to do the same. We ask for prayer when we are sick but oftentimes we do not believe that God can actually heal us miraculously versus being heal through the actions of a physician. They read about demonic spirits but do not believe they are active today. God had given us authority here on earth and I hope before we leave this world for the next we choose to walk in it because when we do lives change. Although the message is titled “Don’t Open The Door” it is about our authority. Please listen closely as think about how you can begin to walk in the true authority God has given you.

A couple of weeks ago Nikki and I had just gone to bed when we heard a noise out on the patio. We got out of bed, turned on the patio lights and saw an opossum on the patio rummaging through the things we had on the patio – specifically the can that I use to clean out my grill. You see, when you make good barbeque even the wildlife come out to enjoy some! When I saw the opossum, I decided that I would get my pine-sol sprayer and spray the area (and the opossum) so that it would leave as they hate that particular scent. As I went to open the door, Nikki yelled at me not to do it because the opossum could potentially run into the house. As I calmly shared with her that I would not let that happen, she quickly left my side and went across the room just in case it did happen. I could have easily listened to her and just not have opened the door, but I am a man and I do what men do – often going against the sound advice of our wives. While this situation worked out to my favor – what would have happened if the opossum had gotten into the house? Do you think I would have heard the end of it? Do you think there would have been any sleep gotten that night until that thing was found and removed from the house? Sometimes we must use wisdom and don’t open the door!

As you think about my boldness in handling that opossum, consider this: why do we feel obligated to rush and answer the door whenever someone knocks or rings the doorbell? Most of you know that there are times when we need to keep the door closed and that will be the focus of the message this morning. Is it really rude not to answer the door when the person knows you’re home?

When I was younger, I watched scary movies. It always seemed so stupid to me that when the monster, vampire or murderer was roaming through the neighborhood seeking someone to devour that people, knowing that danger was lurking around outside, would always answer the door when the danger knocked. Common sense would dictate that if a monster was at the door, you would not answer it, but that was not always the case. Even though they knew it was dangerous, they answered anyway. I would talk to the TV trying to tell the stupid person not to answer the door, but they would answer it anyway and that would be the end of them. I used to wonder what would happen if they did not answer the door – would the monster go away and they would live or would the monster break the door down. I never found out because the people, as is our nature, were drawn to the door as if they had no choice but to answer it.

But again, why do we rush to answer the door just because someone is knocking? What would happen if we did not answer the door immediately? Let’s say we were busy or in another room and had to make our way to the door. What do people do? They begin to look in the window, if you have one by the front door, to see if they can see anyone moving in the house. This is why I love frosted glass, blinds and curtains because when someone rings your door bell or knocks on the door and you don’t answer immediately so when they decide to look in your door windows to see if you’re home, they cannot see anything. We have a large window on each of our front doors and I made sure that they were frosted. When people come to the door, if we do not answer, they cannot see in the house to know if we are home or not. We also have one of those doorbells with the microphone that allows us to talk to whoever is ringing the doorbell. Now we can find out what they want, tell them to leave, and do it without ever opening the door (although we have that capability we still go to the door and open it thus proving my point.) But logic and common sense would dictate that if the person wanted to answer the door they would do so when they hear you knocking. But for some that is obviously not the case. So by looking in the window, some believe that the person, if they are home, will see them and come answer the door. It gets really bad if they know you are home or they see you walking in the house. Then they keep knocking until they drive you crazy or even call out saying they know you are home. I used to do this to my father and it drove him crazy. He had a loud doorbell and I would ring it constantly until he answered. My father sometimes just stood at the door and let me do it just to see how long I was willing to stand there and ring the bell (he usually gave in by my 4th or 5th ring).