Every time I stand to preach the gospel, or pick up my pen to write an article, I do so with the prayer that God may be pleased to use what I say or write to reveal Christ to his people. As a preacher of the gospel, I fully realize that my only place of service, my only usefulness to the souls of men, is holding up the crucified Christ and calling for sinful men to look to him and live. The gospel preacher is like that pole upon which the brazen serpent was fastened; his one and only task is to hold up Christ before men. I make no apology for constant preaching Christ, only Christ, and nothing but Christ to men, for that is what God sent me to do. Once again, I lift up Christ before you, and bid you look to him.
I want you to know Christ. I want you to know who he is, what he did, why he did it, and where he is now. I know that until you know Christ, as he is revealed in Holy Scripture, you cannot be saved. Salvation comes to sinners only by knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ (John 17:3). I do not suggest that a person has to be well educated, or that a person must have a clear knowledge of Bible doctrine to be saved. But I do say, upon the authority of Holy Scripture, that no one can ever be saved apart from the revealed knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. We must know him!
I want you to trust Christ. If ever you truly come to know Christ, if he is revealed in your heart by the power of the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the gospel, you will trust him. And believing on Christ, you shall be saved, you shall have everlasting life (John 3:14-16). Will you now trust Christ? His blood is a sufficient atonement for sin. Trust his sacrifice to satisfy God's justice. His righteousness is meritorious with God. Trust him to give you acceptance with the eternal God.
I want you to love Christ. If we trust him, we do indeed love him (I Cor. 16:20). All believers love Christ. To know him is to love him. But, oh, I long to be ravished with his love! And I want you to be ravished with his love. That is why I hold him constantly before you. I want your heart to ever grow in and be consumed by love for Christ.
And I want you who know, trust, and love the Lord Jesus Christ to live in the nearest possible communion with him. Nothing on this earth can be more delightful, sanctifying, and honorable to a believer than fellowship with Christ. Could I choose one thing for myself, or for you, upon this earth, I would not ask for riches, honor, health, or even an end to all sorrow and pain. I would ask, as I do, "Blessed Father, let us, your children, live in the conscious awareness of sweet fellowship and communion with your dear Son, our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ."
With that in mind, I want you to look at Revelation 4:1, "I looked, and behold, a door was opened in heaven." Here the apostle John was permitted to gaze into the secret glories of the world above. His eyes beheld things, which no other man upon the earth has ever seen. Through that opened door, John was allowed to enter the holy place. He entered into the glorious presence of Christ. He saw the throne of God. He saw Christ upon the throne. He saw the unfolding purpose of God in providence by Christ. And he saw the ultimate end of all things, bringing glory, praise, and honor to Christ. And his very soul was overwhelmed!
Proposition:Tonight, I set before you A Door Opened In Heaven, and bid you enter in. May God the Holy Spirit cause you to behold the door and enter in.
Divisions:I. There is A Door Of Access To God Opened In Heaven For Guilty Sinners.
Way back before the fall of Adam, Lucifer, the son of the morning, led a rebellion against the throne of God. One third of the heavenly host turned traitors against their Creator (Isa. 14:12-14; Rev. 12:1-9). These angels that fell were forever cast out of heaven; and they are reserved in chains of darkness until the judgment of the great day (Jude 6). For them, no mercy was extended, no offers of grace were made, no ransom was provided. For them, there was no door opened in heaven.
Then God made man upon the earth. And Adam, like Lucifer before him, revolted against God's throne. He rebelled against God's right to rule his own creation. And as soon as he sinned, God cast him out of the garden. God cast man out of his presence (Gen. 3:24). Man, by his willful rebellion, was alienated from God. Adam did the same thing that Satan had done; and he received the same just condemnation. But for man, "behold, a door was opened in heaven." No sooner had man sinned than God promised a Redeemer for man (Gen. 3:15, 21). Against the angels who fell, the door of access to God is permanently shut up and barred. But for man, the door of mercy is opened.
A. This door of access to God was Virtually Opened in the Covenant of Grace.
When the three Persons of the Holy Trinity entered into covenant agreement to save us, the Door in Heaven was opened for us – (Jer. 31:31-34; 32:38-40; II Tim. 1:9).
In that everlasting covenant, it was agreed that God's elect would be redeemed by the blood of Christ, by which atonement would be made and God's justice would be vindicated. And in the mind and purpose of God, the deed was done. The Lamb was slain and God's elect were redeemed before ever the earth was made (Rev. 13:8; Rom. 8:29-30). It was through this door, opened in heaven in the covenant of grace, that God's people who lived and died before the coming of Christ entered into heaven. "Before it was shed, the anticipation of the blood-shedding availed with God for the salvation of his people" – (C.H. Spurgeon).
B. This door was Actually and Effectually Opened When our Lord Jesus Christ died at Calvary as the sinner's Substitute.
When God came into this world in human flesh, it was evident that he came to save. God would not need to clothe himself with our nature to judge us. But he must clothe himself with our nature if he is pleased to save us. Is God one of us? Then there is a door opened in heaven for sinners. Now, since God has come down to man, I am fully persuaded that man can go up to God. The angels knew the meaning of the incarnation. Through the opened door they came down to earth with their songs of joy and gladness (Luke 2:10-14; Matt. 1:21).
But it was not enough for the Son of God to become a man and live for us. His life alone could never have done us one particle of good. The Son of God had to stand in the place of his people, as our sin-bearer, and die as our Substitute. When he did, then, "Behold, a door was opened in heaven!" Oh, behold the crucified Christ! The cross of Christ has opened a door in heaven for sinners, by which we have access to God. How was that door opened? How can a holy, just, and true God receive, accept, pardon, and justify guilty sinners? Only by substitutionary redemption!
1. Christ was made to be sin for us. (II Cor. 5:21).
2. Christ died as our Substitute, satisfying the wrath and justice of God's broken law in our place (Gal. 3:13).
3. Christ put away our sins, which were imputed to him (Heb. 9:12, 26).
4. And when he died, "behold, a door was opened in heaven," by which sinners may come to God (Heb. 9:8-12; Col. 2:14).
Our Lord Jesus Christ took the cup of God's wrath and drank damnation dry. When he shouted "It is finished!" he took the great veil which separated God and his people, and, with one tremendous pull, he rent the veil from top to bottom, never to be put together again. The blood of his cross opened the door in heaven. The rent veil says to sinners, "Come, enter in, draw near to God, for the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all sin!"
C. Then, at the appointed time, the door was Manifestly opened in Heaven by the Resurrection, Ascension, and Exaltation of Christ.
Though our Lord himself entered immediately into heaven, he left his body behind in the grave for three days. That holy thing slept in the grave. But it did not see corruption. On the third day, Christ arose from the dead. Then, forty days later, he was received up into glory in a most public manner, taking possession of it as the Forerunner of his redeemed people. Once for all, forever, the door was opened in heaven, by which God's chosen, redeemed people must enter into glory. When David saw this event with the eye of a prophet, he sang with joy, "Lift up you heads, O ye gates; and be lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in! Who is the King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle…the Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory!" (Ps. 24:7-10).
D. I want you to know the Comfort and Joy of This Blessed Fact, There Is A Door Opened In Heaven.
What does this mean to us? What does this opened door in heaven say to men and women like us upon the earth?
1. We can draw near to God in prayer, fellowship, and sweet communion, without fear of rejection (Heb. 4:16).
The passageway to glory-land is not blockaded. We have access to the Father by his Son Jesus Christ. Brokenhearted sinners may approach the living God.
2. Moreover, this opened door in heaven is a door of hope for lost, perishing sinners – (Heb. 7:24-26; I John 2:1-2).
There is access for sinners with God. Christ Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost. Poor, straying prodigals need not fear coming home. The door to the Father's house is open. You do not have to stand at the door knocking, month after month, begging for entrance. The door is opened! Enter in! The Lord Jesus Christ is that door. By him, if you enter in, you shall be saved. If you come to Christ, you have come to God. If you trust Christ, you are saved. "He that cometh to Christ cometh to heaven; he is sure of heaven who is sure of Christ." (C.H. Spurgeon). The door is opened in heaven. If you will enter the door, you will be saved. And when you do, you will see that God made the door, God opened the door, God gave you both the will and the power to enter the door, and God will by no means cast you out.
III. Now, let's look at the text from another angle. "Behold, a door was opened in heaven." There is a door opened in Heaven by which God's Saints may behold the Glory That Awaits Them.
We know very little about heaven and our future estate in glory, because God has been pleased only to reveal a portion of it to us. But we can be assured that we know all about the world to come that can be good for us to know. We must be content for now to have a very limited knowledge. God knows best what we need to know. Yet, God has revealed some things to us by his Spirit. There are times when, to all who love Christ, there is a door opened in heaven, through which we are allowed, by Divine illumination, to see some things in the city of our Great King.
A. In Times of Private Worship, Meditation, And Prayer, We Are Sometimes Allowed To Have A Glimpse Of The Glory That Awaits Us.
Have you not experienced this in your own closet? You are studying the word of God, meditating upon Christ, calling upon God in prayer; and suddenly, by the power of the Holy Spirit, you are allowed to truly worship God! Perhaps, the worship lasts for only a few moments, but in those few moments your heart and soul are ravished by the goodness and glory of God. Those few moments are heaven on earth! What a delight it is to feel in your soul that you are redeemed, justified, and reconciled to God. What will your joy be when at last everything that now separates you from God shall be taken away, when sin is entirely gone, when night and day forever you shall worship and serve God? If meditating upon Christ is so glorious, imagine what it must be to see his face! To hear his voice! To lay your head upon his chest!
B. A Door Is Often Opened In Heaven In The Joy Of Public Worship As Well.
Regrettably, we often go to the house of God with little profit to our souls. We sing, read the Word, pray, and hear the sermon, and go home none the better. But then, there are times when we sing, read the Word, pray, and hear the sermon, and go home rejoicing for we have met with God in the company of his saints. At such times, the house of God is the very gate of heaven! But, if it is sweet to gather now in the house of worship for an hour, what will it be to gather around the throne in one eternal session of worship, where the King is always present, where the songs are always lively, where praise never ceases?
C. Another Door Is Opened In Heaven In The Fellowship Of God's Saints.
Oh, how blessed it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! Nothing this side of heaven is more delightful to my soul than true, spiritual fellowship with the people of God. It is blessed to meet our brethren for the first time, and then to renew fellowship with them again and again. But what will that fellowship be in heaven, when all sin, all bigotry, all carnal strife is forever ended?
1. We will know one another on the other side.D. Very Often A Door Is Opened In Heaven To Us At The Lord's Table.
Astronomers select the best spots on earth for their observatories. Usually, they select high places, secluded from the rest of the world, so that their instruments may not be shaken or disturbed. They want to see the heavenly bodies as clearly as possible. Surely, if there is one place most suitable to be a heavenly observatory, it is the Lord's Table. Sometimes Christ hides himself from his people during the preaching, as he hid himself from the disciples on the Emmaus Road; but he makes himself known to them in the breaking of bread. How I prize this solemn ordinance of our Lord! The wine and the bread are telescopes to our hearts, by which we see our Savior! But if the emblem is precious, what must it be to see Christ himself, to live with him forever, and to drink the new wine with him in his Father's kingdom!
What will heaven be? "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit" (I Cor. 2:9-10). There is much we do not know; but there are some things we do know. Heaven is:
III. Briefly, let me remind you that There Is A Door Opened In Heaven By Which All Who Believe Shall Enter Into Eternal Glory.
Soon, every believer will hear his Master's voice saying, "Come up hither," and we shall enter into that kingdom prepared for us from the foundation of the world. (II Cor. 5:1-9). Surely, you would not wish to postpone this glorious climax to your pilgrimage. What is there amiss between you and your husband that you do not wish to be with him? Are you content to be an exile from your homeland? Surely not! "We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and present with the Lord."
A. What Is The Source Of Our Confidence? The Door Is Opened!Being washed in Christ's blood and robed in his perfect righteousness, we who believe shall enter heaven in a wave of glory and victory! Let us live in anticipation of the great coronation day. Christ himself shall put a crown on your head, a palm in your hand, and bid you sit down with him on his throne!
B. If you are in Christ, you shall be with Christ in heaven; Only Be Sure That You Are In Christ.
Lay hold of Christ. Cast away all other hopes. Bind yourself to the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. You can never be drowned in the flood of God's wrath, if you cling to the cross.
Thank God, there is a door opened by which sinners have access to God, a door opened by which believers may look into their heavenly inheritance, a door opened by which all who believe must enter into eternal glory. And that Door is the Lord Jesus Christ.
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