The Lord is the one who opens the door of ministry for the church.
• Rev 3:7 “What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.”
• When He does that, no power in hell or earth can shut it.
• When He closes a door, there is no power that can open it again.
• He is the sovereign Lord who is the Head of the church and governs its affairs.
The Lord has been saying “I know your deeds” to all the churches.
• He knows KTCC inside out. He knows our past, our present.
• He knows our successes and our failures, our problems and difficulties, our strengths and weaknesses.
And He says, “I know that you have little strength.”
• The church in Philadelphia was not a large church.
• It does not have many members. It probably lacks resources and finances.
• You may be a small church, but that’s not important.
You have kept My word, and have not denied My Name.
• That’s their spiritual strength. They were faithfully dependent on God.
• They might be small and limited in strength, but they’re trusting God.
The Lord said, “I will open the door for you.”
• There are works they can do. Their ministry will continue.
• In fact, it will be so effective that those from the synagogue of Satan (Jews who are opposing them) will come and acknowledge that God is with them and loves them!
• It’s not about numbers or resources. It is about the power of God at work.
• Human weakness is no hindrance to His work.
• In fact, it is because of this weakness that they were relying on God and see His power at work.
The Lord assures them that it is not their ability but His grace that is sufficient to meet their need.
• The authority to opening and closing doors lies in Christ’s hand.
• 3:7 says He holds the key of David, what He opens no one can shut and what He shuts no one can open.
• This was a picture taken from the OT - someone holds this key, the key to the entire palace of David.
Isaiah spoke of him in Isaiah 22:20-22 “In that day I will summon my servant, Eliakim son of Hilkiah. 21I will clothe him with your robe and fasten your sash around him and hand your authority over to him. He will be a father to those who live in Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. 22I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.”
The Lord opens the door of ministry for this church.
• It has been the same experience for Paul in his ministry.
• 1 Cor 16:8-9 “But I will stay on at Ephesus until Pentecost, 9 because a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me.”
• 2 Cor 2:12 “Now when I went to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ and found that the Lord had opened a door for me…”
• Col 4:3 “And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains.”
I believe this very strongly. Unless God opens the door, you can do all you want and achieve nothing.
• Human efforts can only bring about human achievement.
• Spiritual work requires the Spirit’s work. You cannot convince a person of the need of Christ by mere human explanations, without the Holy Spirit working.
• Paul says in 1 Cor 2:4-5 “My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.”
In order words, the lost are saved when we are serious about reaching out and praying for their salvation.
• How serious are we today, when the lost steps in here?
At our Friday night prayer meeting, we have been praying almost weekly now, for the Sunday worship services.
• In the past we pray usually for the sick and needy, and occasionally for the Sunday services.
• But for the last year or so, we prayed for the services on Sunday almost weekly.
• And we’ve seen visitors walking in almost every week, for both the morning and evening services. Last Sun night, we had 4 visitors, all Chinese nationals.
• If my record is correct, we hadn’t had a week without any visitor in the recent months.
I remembered in the years past, to see such a thing is rare.
• Now you can see people walking in, and most of them uninvited.
• They are strangers walking in on their own, seeking a church to worship, wanting to find out more.
• And frankly, we did not do anything much. It is the work of the Holy Spirit.
The Lord will open the door of ministry, but are we making use of it.
• The door may be opened but we aren’t walking through.
• We need to take note of open doors. We need to be more proactive.
Like this church, we are to be obedient and faithful.
• Never mind if we are few in numbers. The door has already been opened to us.
• We need to touch lives. God has been creating opportunities for us.
• Take a look. Are there opened doors in your life, in this church, that you are not aware of?
• Are we not seizing these divine opportunities because we are too inward-looking?
The Lord will do his part. We must do our part and touch lives.
• We have to learn to do that one by one; one life at a time.
• We like the shortcut way – hold a rally and get 10 or 20 people saved.
• It would be nice to have a big event and then seeing 100 people converted.
But the Lord says, “You need to be faithful in a few things, and then I will put you in charge of many things.” (From the parable of the talents in Matt 25)
• If you are not faithful in reaching the one that step in here, I’m not so sure you can do a good job with 10 coming in.
• Rick Warren started his first service in a new place with 3 people – himself, his wife and the housing agent. He went door to door with his wife.
• I’ve read the stories of how some churches got started, and they shared the same beginning. Few people, reaching out door to door, visiting one family after another.
But they were faithful. They did not give up.
• Reaching out one by one is a tedious task. I would prefer to hold an outreach event and bring in 100.
• God saw their faithfulness. They were tested and they have proven to be dependable. And then God bring in the crowd.
• He is not worried. If you can be faithful in loving and caring for one person, for 2 or 5 people, then I know you can take good care of 200 people, 500 people.
Have we proven our faithfulness to God?
• The Lord will open the door for those who may be weak, but obedient and faithful.
• We need to break out from our cliques and talk to people.
• Whoever steps in here must be ministered to before he leaves this place.
• We are channels of God’s love for them. And we may be his only chance of hearing about Christ.
If we cannot make one feel at home in this place, don’t expect God to bring in 10.
• If we fail to care for the one, can God trust us to care for 10 or a 100?
• I believe the Spirit will not lead them here. They may be better off somewhere else.
• Let’s seize every open door God has given us, and touch every life that step into this place.
• Every soul within your circle of influence is an open door. Use it to glorify God.
I make it a point to touch base with every newcomer on Sunday, if possible.
• Once you make a connection, you have a chance to do more.
• Get to know their needs, pray for them, and explain God’s love to them.
In recent years we are seeing more Chinese nationals coming to our church.
• And many of them shared with us this same thought: They find this church warm and caring. They were here in Singapore for various reasons: To work, to study, seeking a better future for their children.
• Strangers in a foreign land, they came to this church and find us cordial and helpful.
• Eventually they came to know Christ and become Christians.
It happened because some of our bros/sis (those who speak Mandarin) befriended them and helped them.
• So we helped them find a school, rent a room, settle down, give them tuition in English.
• One HK couple came to our church recently (from another church). The husband said he finds KTCC different from the churches he has been to. Here he feels like a family.
• He was hospitalised recently and bros/sis visited him. When he got back home, we visited him. He said he feels like we are brothers and sisters in a family.
These are open doors. God brings people into our midst, so that they can be saved.
• It does not matter if we have little strength. The real power comes from God.
• We have to keep the Word and not deny His Name, just like the church in Philadelphia.
• Is this work easy? No. You must have a desire to serve, make sacrifices.
Hear what the Lord says about this church - Rev 3:10-12
10 Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth. 11I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. 12 Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God.
You see a church that has been enduring patiently, told to hold on to what they have, and to overcome all challenges.
• Is this how we feel today? Or has the Christian life been really been an ‘endurance’? Do we have to overcome anything?
• Or has our Christian life been a cruise in the ocean? Are we doing all that we need to be doing for the Lord, before His return?
The Lord promises us the strength to stand strong (keep us from the hour of trial).
• The Lord says He will make them “a pillar in the temple of God” to show them they will be very secure.
• He said this because Philadelphia experiences frequent earthquakes and often, the only thing left standing after a severe quake are the huge stone temple columns.
• The Lord assures them: They will be very secure in Christ. The names written on them signify ownership. They belong to Christ.
Conclusion:
We do not have to be great, powerful or wealthy to be the church that can change lives.
• If we have little strength but kept His Word and not denied His Name, the Lord will still open a door for us. We can still be effective.
• Lives can be change, even those from the synagogue of Satan, those who are very anti-Christian.
• BUT we need to step through the open door and become the church that would change lives.
• We need to open our eyes and reach out to those who are still searching for Christ.
• It starts with you and me, touching lives one at a time.
