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 The Door
GOOD MORNING !!! Sorry, I was shouting a bit. Didn’t mean to be quite so excited.
This coffee business is something Della and I really take a shine to. Back when we lived in Lake Charles, Louisiana, we had a friend who owned a coffee roasting business. Man, I found out more about coffees, grinds, blends and growing locales than I had ever known in my life. We found out that not only is there a distinct difference in the taste of the coffee based on how long it is roasted, there is a huge difference in the amount of caffeine and tannic acid – that stuff that gives you heartburn when you drink too much of it.
We can talk more about that later, but my coffee’s ready for today. Pour yourself a cup, pull up a chair, and let’s talk.
I’ve been leading you all down a merry path for the past few days with my references to “The Door,” and keeping those of you who haven’t figured it out guessing. Let’s see if we can actually get to the understanding of “The Door” before this coffee break ends.
If you’ll recall, I’ve made mention of the seven letters to the seven Ekklesias in Revelation 2 & 3. Let me talk about one of those letters today: the one to the Ekklesia in Philadelphia.
"These things saith He that is holy, He that is true, He that hath the Key of David, He that
openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man
openeth....."
These things saith.....He that hath the Key of David? Now we're getting somewhere!
What do we do with a key, anyway? Would you believe, unlock a door?
O.K., then. What door?
Ahhh. I thought you'd never ask. How about the door to the Tabernacle of David?
But I thought that door was opened when Jesus rent the veil in two!
Yup! It was! But, remember when Caiaphas stitched it back together again? He didn't want that door to remain open.
And the Lord makes it clear with His introduction to this letter that He has the Key of David; and no man is going to stitch the veil back together again when He rips it open; no man is going to close the door that He opens; and no man is going to open a door which He closes. The Key of David both locks, and unlocks, this door.
OK! So, what's the door?
"I know thy works: behold I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it...."
Riiiight! So, what's the door?
Ready? You're sure?
W O R S H I P ! ! !
I don't get it! Worship. Naaahhh! Can't be that simple!
Why would worship be the door?
Because worship can only occur within the spirit realm. Worship can only occur as love which is transmitted between your spirit, and the Spirit of God. Oh, yes! We do sing while we worship. We do play our instruments. And we treasure the fact that the Lord has given us these things as "keys which trigger the response of worship” in our spirits. But, they are not worship, nor are they a substitute for worship.
I can sing with my voice, and play instruments with my hands, and worship in my spirit. I can also sing with my voice, and play instruments with my hands -- and not worship. The singing and vocalizing with my natural voice is not the worship which the Lord hears in the spirit. It is the singing in my spirit -- the joy, the love -- the worship going forth in utter, abandoned adoration of and response to, the Lord Jesus Christ, His love and the desires of His heart!
That's worship!
Living in His presence, living in the spirit, communicating with Him in the spirit, responding to every whim -- every desire -- every expression He communicates within the spirit, and carrying that desire out in my life -- whether it be painful change (and the pain is only to the flesh), or joyful obedience –
That's worship!
That is the door to the Holy of Holies. That is the door to intimacy with our Bridegroom! That is the door to the revelation of His heart and purposes for His Bride!
When we respond to His beckoning, and lay aside the Tree of Knowledge, He opens the door of worship to us. When we refuse to make decisions based on our understanding, and respond only to Him, He opens the door of worship to us. He triggers the response within our spirits so that we can, in turn, worship.
When we choose a decision-making process of our own which is predicated on having eaten of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and respond to external stimuli -- the things which please, or satisfy our flesh and our emotions, the things which agree with our "knowledge about Him" or our "knowledge of Scriptures" -- He closes the door of worship, and the access to the Bridal Chamber.
Does it mean we lose our salvation? No! We are not talking about fire insurance. We are not talking about avoiding Hell. We are talking about a love-relationship.
Jesus is not willing (read that, "desirous") that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance; and He has made a way of escape (from Hell) for those who will accept Him, and the price He paid on the cross.
His objective, however, is not just about getting people to Heaven. Actually, Heaven really isn't even an objective! His purpose is to have a Bride! And there is a loooooonnng way between "salvation," and being a part of His Bride.
Hence, Ekklesia.
Hence, worship!
But, wait! We have only talked about the door (of worship) having been opened, and no man being able to shut it.
".....For thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and has not denied (rejected) my name
(read that, onoma)."
O.K. Kept what "word?"
"The word of my patience." Oooooohhhh! Nasty! Can we skip this part?
Sorry! It doesn't work that way.
The word for patience in the Greek text is: hupomonee (pronounced:
hoop'-oh-mah'-knee). It is translated in the Latin text as a word we are far more familiar with:
sufferentia.
Yuuuckk! Suffering? Because you have kept the word of my "suffering"?
Now you're beginning to get the idea! But, let's put it in a slightly different context.
Oh, Yippee!
Wrong! Not that different! The word, hupomonee, means:
to be constant and enduring in the midst of suffering; to be steadfast and patient in the midst of the processing of the Lord; to be sustaining and enduring during the trials and tribulations
which come about as a result of, and in spite of, our responses to the Lord.
Got the picture?
There is no avoidance of any of the processing of the Lord, if we are to enjoy intimacy with Him. The apostle Paul tells us that Jesus,
"learned obedience by the things which He suffered." (see Hebrews 5:8)
We have been indoctrinated from our youth with the concept that "pain is bad," that "suffering is evil," that "tribulation is something from which to escape." These are lies! It is nothing more or less than the deceitful prevarication of the Beast in our society, to make us believe that our flesh "deserves" comfort; that a "loving God" would
never want to see us suffer.
The last concept -- that a "loving God" would never want to see us suffer -- is a gross distortion, and perversion of the real truth.
The real truth is that the Lord does not want to see us suffer eternity, separated from Him.
The real truth is that the Lord does not want to see us suffer the same torments which He will bring upon our old adversary and enemy, Satan.
It is a lie, however, to believe -- and to project the idea -- that He is concerned about the sufferings of our flesh. He is concerned -- but only to the extent that He, our Bridegroom, has, Himself, likewise been
"touched with the feeling of our infirmities." This in no way implies that He is going to "fix things" so that we avoid the same pain and suffering He went through.
On the contrary, "He learned," through the things which He suffered, and we must also "learn." Why, pray tell, should we be so arrogant as to think we are going to avoid the same processes He went through. Yes, He died on the cross -- physically -- and in that sense, we do not have to die on the cross; but, at the same time, we do have to die on the cross --
the cross of our flesh! We, therefore, enjoy (!) "the fellowship of His sufferings."
Welcome to Ekklesia! Are you enjoying it, now? Uh huh!
Suuuuurre!
The Ekklesia in Philadelphia had learned to respond to the very heart's desire of the Lord Jesus Christ. They had learned how to rise above the temptations and sufferings of the flesh. They had learned how to
WORSHIP!
"Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee."
Wow! The fakers and religious people are going to come and worship.......Me?
No! No! No! And again, No!
"I will make them to come and worship before thy feet....." The word, "before," in the Greek text is:
enopion, which means: "in the sight of."
Get it? Because we have left all to worship Him, and suffered the reproach and the rejection of the religious, Tree-of-Knowledge-eating fakers, who pretend they have a love-relationship with the Lord, and don't, the Bridegroom will bring about the day when they are made to come and worship Him in our presence.
He will justify what He has done in us! He will cause them to know that we have chosen a genuine love-relationship with Him -- no matter what the cost! He will show them the real Bride whom He has chosen!
Now, do you see it?
There is a warning to Philadelphia, however; and this warning indicates a place of weakness.
"Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown."
This is a warning which comes to those who have come this far in their relationship. In case I haven't mentioned this before, the seven letters are progressive. Each successive letter is a stage of overcoming. The letter to Smyrna, for example, comes from the position that they have overcome The Fear of Evil, as expressed to Ephesus -- but not The Fear of Death. The letter to Pergamos comes from the position that they have overcome The Fear of Evil, and The Fear of Death, but not The Fear of Man. And so it goes.
The Ekklesia in Philadelphia had overcome all of the obstacles and problems described in the first five letters, but they still had a place of overcoming, of their own.
Do you know what it was?
Complacency!
They had entered into an intimate relationship with the Lord. They had learned what it meant to live worship.
But, they were at a place of relaxing their guard. It is what frequently happens to those who come to a place of wonderful and marvelous relationship, and experience the Lord in a dimension that few people know: they get the feeling of "having arrived." "This is the pinnacle of life in Christ Jesus," is the subconscious thought which goes through their being. And, indeed, they are walking in a rarefied spiritual atmosphere that few Christians ever seem to know.
Despite their experiences thus far, however, this is not the end! This is not the Pinnacle. We have not even arrived at the beginning, yet!
That being the case, there remains the possibility that one can lose their crown -- their place of rulership -- their place of overcoming -- by becoming too much "at ease" in this place. There is a strong chance, at this juncture, of letting down one's guard -- of becoming unwary of the pitfalls that the Enemy is just waiting to unleash.
For that reason, the Lord makes a promise to those who are at this place:
"Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, which is New Jerusalem, which cometh down out of Heaven from My God: and I will write upon him My new name."
This is the promise of promises! This is the promise we have all been waiting for! This is the invitation David was expecting when he said,
"And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord, forever!"
YEEESSS ! !
Do you see it, now?
Obviously, I’m not going to finish what I started today on “The Door,” but now you’re beginning to get the picture. We’ll try and wrap this up tomorrow.
The picture drawn in the letter to Philadelphia has some really spectacular promises to those who understand the Key of David, the Door of worship. When you see and understand the promises, the significance of the Door throughout history takes on a new dimension. The Law of Moses begins to make sense. The Tabernacle of Moses makes sense. The Tabernacle of David takes on a whole new meaning.
Now…..if I can just get you to turn the Key of David in that door in your own life…….
May the blessings of the Lord be poured out on you throughout this day!
--Regner
Regner A. Capener
EKKLESIA HOUSE
RR-15, Box 6180
Mission, TX 78574-9589
(956) 583-5355
Chat
with Regner
This article may be reprinted, reposted, copied and re-used – in whole or in part – with proper attribution.
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