THE DOOR
By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
TEXT:
James 5:9 Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.
There was at one time a tradition of when the married couple first approached the doorway of their new home together, that the groom would carry his wife over the threshold and through the door.
DOOR:
STRONG'S CONCORDANCE DEFINES DOOR AS: a curtain, beads hanging in a row, door, gate, entrance, a way to passage.
WE SELDOM REALIZE HOW IMPORTANT THE DOOR IS TO A HOME AND TO A BUSINESS.
BUT THE DOOR IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THAT... THERE ARE SPIRITUAL ISSUES ABOUT THE DOOR.
Genesis 4:7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
EVERY JEWISH HOME KNEW HOW IMPORTANT THE DOOR OF A HOME COULD BE...
In Biblical times the home had a big door that would open. The big door would allow passage in the day for the animals to come in and go out. The animals lived at floor level. The living quarters was above where the animals lived. For safety there was a small door in the large door that was used at night. The animals could not get out and if there was an intruder he had to step up to get through the smaller door. Not only did he have to step up, he had to duck his head to clear the entrance. This made it real easy to depend the home.
THE SPIRITUAL ISSUES OF THE DOOR ARE REVEALED IN A GREATER WAY IN EGYPT...
THE PASSOVER --- THE DEATH ANGEL WILL PASS-OVER THE HOME WHERE THE BLOOD WAS APPLIED.
Exodus 12:22 And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning. 23 For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.
AFTER THE PASSOVER THERE GREW A HEBREW TRADITION ABOUT THE DOOR-POST HEBREW:
MEZUZOTH (I hold one in my hand.)
Any Hebrew home knew how important the door post were and they symbolized much more than door post.
Ever door way that was an entrance or a exit to a house had to have a MEZUZOTH Hanging there.
There was always one or two verses in the hollow of the wood... written on parchment....
These verses were attached in a reed or a cylinder and then FIXED TO THE UPPER RIGHT HAND DOOR POST TO THE ENTRANCES OF EACH HOUSE.
Deuteronomy 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: 5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. 6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: 7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. 8 And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.
9 And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.
AND/// OR:
Deuteronomy 11:13 And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,
14 That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil. 15 And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full. 16 Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them; 17 And then the LORD'S wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the LORD giveth you. 18 Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. 19 And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. 20 And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates: 21 That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.
I STAND AT THE THRESHOLD... a point or level at which something begins to change.
I am sitting at the threshold at the house of God.
David is saying I had rather stand at the door of God's house and look in, than dwell in the carnal, sinful houses where sin is accepted as the norm.
Psalm 84:10 For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
HAVE YOU EVER SEEN THE PICTURE OF CHRIST JESUS STANDING AT THE DOOR?
HE IS GENTLY KNOCKING AWAITING THE INVITATION: COME ON IN.
Revelation 3:20 ) Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
Revelation 3:20 (MSG) "Look at me. I stand at the door. I knock. If you hear me call and open the door, I'll come right in and sit down to supper with you.
If you look at the pictures of Jesus at the door, you note something that the critics found: THERE IS NO DOOR KNOB. The artist told the critic you do not understand Jesus clearly, you have to open the door. Jesus will never batter the door down.
NOAH'S ARK HAD CLEAR INSTRUCTION, ONE DOOR... THE TYPE OF JESUS CHRIST, ONE DOOR, ONE WAY...
It took 100 years to build the ark. The ark was around 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, 45 feet long.
The ark was three stories high ... an oblong floating house boat
1. ONE DOOR
2. ONE WINDOW
Genesis 6:15 And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.
16 A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.
WE HAVE AN INVITATION INTO THE DOOR TO THE HOLY OF HOLIES (WAS A CURTAIN...)
The tabernacle sat on 15 acres of land.
There was an Outter court and the Inner court.
Sadly to say: The priest got so good at the Outter Court showmanship that they were really into ceremonies without God's presence.
They built a HOLY OF HOLIES over the rock where Abraham offered His only son Issac.
The separation DOOR was a huge curtain.
Exodus 26:31 And thou shalt make a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen of cunning work: with cherubims shall it be made: 32 And thou shalt hang it upon four pillars of shittim wood overlaid with gold: their hooks shall be of gold, upon the four sockets of silver.
33 And thou shalt hang up the vail under the taches, that thou mayest bring in thither within the vail the ark of the testimony: and the vail shall divide unto you between the holy place and the most holy.
TODAY THE DOOR OF SEPERATION IS GONE AFTER CALVARY.
Matthew 27:51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;
THERE IS A DOOR OF HOPE RIGHT IN THE TIMES OF TROUBLE AND JUDGMENT...
THE SINS OF ACHAN BROUGHT DEFEAT AND DEAD OF INNOCENT MEN...
REMEMBER ACHAN NEVER CONFESSED... HE WAS CAUGHT.
REMEMBER HIS FAMILY HAD OPENED THE DOOR ---
SIN'S OPEN DOOR BROUGHT NEW HOPE ...
Joshua 7:24 And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor.
25 And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the LORD shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones.
26 And they raised over him a great heap of stones unto this day. So the LORD turned from the fierceness of his anger. Wherefore the name of that place was called, The valley of Achor, unto this day.
Joshua 8:1 And the LORD said unto Joshua, Fear not, neither be thou dismayed: take all the people of war with thee, and arise, go up to Ai: see, I have given into thy hand the king of Ai, and his people, and his city, and his land:
THE VALLEY OF ACHOR IS CALLED THE DOOR WAY TO HOPE...
Hosea 2:15 (KJV) And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.
Hosea 2:15 (NLT) I will return her vineyards to her and transform the Valley of Trouble into a gateway of hope. She will give herself to me there, as she did long ago when she was young, when I freed her from her captivity in Egypt.
THE LORD TELLS JOSHUA FEAR NOT --- OUR FATHER WANTS US TO FEAR NOT . hE DOES NOT WANT US TO BE DISMAYED... THE VALLEY OF ACHOR BRINGS US BACK TO HOPE...
WE SERVE A GOD THAT OPENS AND CLOSES DOORS.
IF YOU ARE STANDING IN THE HALLWAY AND ALL THE DOORS APPEAR CLOSED, PPRAISE GOD IN THE HALLWAY.
PAUL SPEAKS OF AN OPEN DOOR
1 Corinthians 16:9 For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries.
2 Corinthians 2:12 Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ's gospel, and a door was opened unto me of the Lord,
Colossians 4:3 Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds:
IF THE DOORS ARE ALL CLOSED, WAIT PATIENTLY ---CLOSED DOORS? DON'T GO THERE
JESUS IS THE DOOR, THE ONLY DOOR
John 10:9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
DOOR OF HEAVEN, THERE ARE DOORS IN HEAVEN... 12 GATES... GATES OF PEARL.
HEAVEN WILL BE CHEAP AT ANY PRICE.
Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
Revelation 4:1 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.
CONCLUSION: DO YOU KNOW THE VOICE OF THE SHEPHERD
John 10:3 To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. 4 And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
John 10:9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
The Master stands at the door. His sheep knows his voice. When the Master calls listen and come to the door.
Have you invited the Master to come in and stay?
His servant, Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
