In The Hour Of Trial: Open Door

And so, out there on the department store floor, they even created a front door for Mrs. Slocombe, right in the middle of one of those fake walls. Now you could easily walk around either end of this wall, but there was a door cut in the middle of it, and on that door were two locks, three chains, and a solid bar, all of which Mrs. Slocombe faithfully put into place before going to bed. Well, her co-workers, one by one, came up to visit. All of them knocked at this well-locked door, and most politely waited for her to come and undo two locks, three chains, and a solid bar. But her last visitor just couldn’t wait, and while Mrs. Slocombe labored to open two locks, three chains, and a solid bar, he just walked around the end of the wall and scared her out of a year’s growth!

You cannot keep the hour of trial locked out. No amount of hiding will do it. No amount of pretending will accomplish it. You can only live in trust that He who has brought you thus far will not leave you now. Spiritual security is a gift from Christ Himself.

I knew of a church that was suffering tremendous vandalism damage. Windows were being broken, graffiti were being written on the walls; all the security systems in the world were not sufficient. And when the insurance company canceled their policy, the pastor persuaded the trustees to take a bold step: unlock the doors. Unlock all the doors. Literally no security at all. They invited the youth of the neighborhood in for recreation and other programs, day and night; and within a month all the vandalism stopped!

You see, trusting Christ is our real security, even in the hour of trial.

"Because you have kept my word of patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming."

III

So: some doors are equipped with panic hardware, so that we can quickly get out where there are opportunities to serve. The Lord sets before us an open door, which no one can shut.

And some doors are equipped with two and three security systems; but it is the Lord who protects us in the hour of trial. It is the Lord who shuts doors, which no one can open to harm us.

But now some doors are always almost never locked. Some doors swing wide to embrace us and bring us inside. Some doors need no locks, for they point to welcome. Some doors send the message, "Come in, you belong here."

The good news this morning is that whoever you are, whatever you have done, wherever you have been, there is a place where you can be at home. There is a place where you can be secure.

"If you conquer, I will make you a pillar in the temple of my God; you will never go out of it. I will write on you the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God ... and my own name." If we conquer, if we will be faithful, there is a place where we will always be at home.

There is a place where the doors of embrace will always be open.

When I first came to this church, I noticed those huge metal covered doors we have at all of the offices. Big panels of sheet metal cover every inch of each of the doors down the corridor. To me, the impression it gives is forbidding, stern, unwelcome. If I had my preference, it would be for a door with a window in it, or at least for a warm wooden door. But we have steel covered doors, and I made up my mind that, except when I am counseling with someone, I would work with my door standing open. I am not going to be barricaded behind an iron curtain.