When The Door Is Shut

When The Door Is Shut

09/13/09 AM

Text/Reading: Luke 13:22-30

Introduction

I was listening to a radio broadcast on a local Christian radio station while on the way into work one morning and there was a discussion that revolved around opportunities in life and one of the speakers made the statement: “When one door closes, the Lord opens another.”

Now most of us recognize this philosophy of positive thinking, “when one door closes another door opens” (attributed first to Alexander Graham Bell.) The basic premise is that there will be times in life when we experience difficulties. There are times when everything does not go according to plan, there are losses and failures, there are relationships problems, we lose money or a job or a loved one, and sometimes things go wrong. When one of these things happens and we focus our attention on the difficulty – the closed door, we see only a closed door with its frustration and unhappiness, but if we would only move our focus away from the closed door, we would discover another door open to new possibilities, or perhaps even a multitude of open doors.

And we could spend a lesson or two relating that to God’s word but it won’t be today because today I would like to consider a lesson from what the second speaker said in response to the first. When the first host made the statement “When one door closes, the Lord opens another”, the second speaker said “unless it’s the door of an ark.” And that is the statement that got me to thinking and which led to our lesson today: When The Door Is Shut.

I. One door

A. One door to the ark

1. Genesis 7:15-23 After all had entered as God had commanded; the door was shut behind Noah.

a. There was only one way to salvation and life, the ark. And only one way into the ark, the door.

When the door was shut all life outside the ark perished.

B. One door to the house of the Lord v24

1. The door, the gate, and the way are narrow.

a. Matthew 7:13 - 14 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Luke 13:24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.

2. Entrance through the door is controlled by the owner

a. Jesus was asked, “how many will be saved?” v23

The answer given made clear that it was the wrong question. Jesus said don’t focus on the “how many” focus on the “how.”

II. The Way v23-4

1. There is only one way through the door to the house of the Lord.

a. John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

1) People will say “all paths lead to heaven.”

A national figure recently quoted Muhammand Ali”

“I love this quote. A few years ago, he explained this view -- and this is part of why he's The Greatest -- saying, "Rivers, ponds, lakes and streams -- they all have different names, but they all contain water. Just as religions do -- they all contain truths."” Barak Obama September 1, 2009

Proverbs 14:12 There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.

b. God says there is one truth, the truth that leads to Him and His house.

2. Jesus is preparing the house of the Lord.

a. John 14:1 - 2 “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.

3. The place is prepared for those who know the Lord of the house v25

a. Luke 13:25 “Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open up to us!’ then He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from.’

III. The Wayward v26-7

A. The door is open to all whom the Lord knows v26

1. There is the way (following after God) and the wayward (following after own inclinations.)

Jesus explained that although many people know something about God, not all accept His way.

a. Luke 13:26 - 27 “Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets’; and He will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you are from; depart from Me, all you evildoers.’