Acts 16:6-10 Closed Doors

Rev. David Holwick E

First Baptist Church

Ledgewood, New Jersey

February 4, 2018

Acts 16:6-10

CLOSED DOORS

I. Doors can be open or closed.

A. He wasn't famous enough.

Even if you are not a sports fan, you should know the name

Shaquille O'Neal.

Shaq is 7-foot-1 and weighs 325 pounds.

His size and athleticism made him one of the greatest

basketball players of all time.

He played on teams that won four world championships.

He also displays a joyful attitude and infectious smile that

have made him a prominent pitchman for many products.

This is a man who can walk into just about any place and have

doors open for him.

One day a few years ago he decided to put his celebrity

status to the test.

Shaq knew that President Obama loved basketball and so he

decided to visit the White House unannounced and uninvited.

He said that he didn't try to use any of his political or

law enforcement connections.

He just put on his best suit, got in a cab and got dropped

off at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Shaq went up to the gate and said, "Hey, I'm in town, I would

like to see the President."

Guess what happened?

The White House guards turned him away.

Later that day he tweeted, "The White House wouldn't let me

in, whyyyyyyyy?"

#66009

B. Doors are a common metaphor in the Bible.

1) Matthew 7:8 -- Jesus says in his Sermon on the Mount:

"For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds;

and to him who knocks, the door will be opened."

2) Luke 13:25 -- Jesus speaks of the Second Coming in the form

of a houseowner who says, "You will stand outside

knocking and pleading, 'Sir, open the door for us.'

But he will answer, 'I don't know you.'"

3) Revelation 3:8 -- Jesus says, "I know your deeds. See, I

have placed before you an open door that no one can shut."

4) Doors signify opportunity and acceptance, or rejection.

C. We naturally prefer open doors.

1) Open doors give a sense of opportunity and fellowship.

a) They are positive.

2) Closed doors mean you are shut out.

a) We even speak of slamming a door in someone's face.

1> Shaq probably felt like this.

2> His self-esteem took a hard blow.

b) Sometimes, it feels like God has shut a door on us.

1> Something we were hoping for, or depending on,

is taken out of our grasp.

2> Why would he do this to us?

c) Can closed doors be opened again?

II. When God closes your door.

A. Paul's missionary trip in Turkey is an example.

1) Paul liked to bring the gospel to new areas but in this

case he was thwarted.

a) Phrygia and Galatia are in central Turkey and represent

the limit of what he had evangelized previously.

b) He tries to preach in the province of Asia, which

was in southwest Turkey, but can't.

c) He then tries to preach in Bithynia, which is in

northwest Turkey, but he can't there, either.

2) We don't know why, or how, the Spirit shut his door.

a) It may have been a vision one of them received.

b) It may have been a washed out bridge, or local

opposition, or a lack of interest from the

audience. We don't know.

B. Spiritual people can feel God has shut them out.

1) The experience of a Christian leader with cancer.

Steve Hayner had been the president of InterVarsity

Christian Fellowship, and also president of Columbia

Theological Seminary.

A few years ago he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

He endured extensive chemotherapy but tests showed his

disease was still growing.

Hayner wrote a blog post for the many people who were

praying for his healing.

He commented one day:

"Many are praying for one of God's 'big' miracles.

We are as well.

But it is not how God answers prayer that determines our

response to God.

God is committed to my ultimate healing.

But being cured of my cancer may or may not be a part of

that healing work...."

One woman told Hayner that it was disturbing to her to see

so many thousands of prayers being given on his behalf

and yet there was no evidence of physical healing.

It made her question if God really heals, and if the amount

of prayer has any special impact.

To her, the unanswered prayer was a closed door from God.

#12071

2) Many other situations can shake us:

a) Promotions that you expect, and then don't happen.

b) Kids you pour your life into, and then they go astray.

c) Deep trouble in your marriage ends in failure instead

of the reconciliation you prayed for.

III. Why your door may be closed.

A. God may be testing you.

1) He wants to see where your faith is at.

The way we react to a closed door may reveal what our

spiritual foundation really is.

A Christian leader named Ian was asked to speak to a

businessman's staff at work.

Ian agreed, and when he was done, one woman asked to speak

to him privately.

She said that at age 22, she and her boyfriend were in a

major car accident.

He was killed and she was badly injured and needed a

number of surgeries.

She said that after all this, she had lost her faith.

Ian responded by offering her an analogy.

He said that when huge ships are built they don't turn big

hoses on them to see if they leak - instead, they sail

them out on the open water.

Such trials prove if a ship is seaworthy.

In the same way, a person only knows if their faith is real

when they go through trials.

Then he asked the woman, "Can I ask you honestly, did you

lose your faith or did you find you had none?"

She said, "Ian, I guess you are right, I had none."

#66008

2) When Paul and his companions faced a closed door, they

tried another door - and another.

a) If your faith is real, don't let one closed door defeat

you.

b) Keep checking other doors until you find one that opens.

B. God may be sending a message to you.

1) A closed door can be a sign that something is wrong.

2) In the Old Testament, the Jews entered the Promised Land

and attacked the large city of Jericho.

a) You may be familiar with how they circled the city for

seven days, then blew their trumpets, and the walls

came tumbling down.

b) You are probably less familiar with what happened next.

1> They advanced to the small city of Ai and were

soundly defeated.

2> The Jews were appalled - why did God close the

door so quickly?

3> It turns out someone in the Jewish army had kept

some loot, so God allowed them to be defeated.

4> One major disobedience is all it takes.

c) Are you having doors closed because of a secret sin?

Norman Vincent Peale told the story of how when he was

a boy, he found a big, black cigar.

He slipped into an alley and lit up.

It didn't taste good, but it made him feel very

grown up.

Then he saw his father coming and quickly put the cigar

behind his back and tried to be casual.

Desperate to divert his father's attention, Norman

pointed to a billboard advertising the circus.

"Can I go, Dad? Please, let's go when it comes to

town."

His father replied quietly but firmly, "Son, never make

a petition while at the same time trying to hide a

smoldering disobedience."

#2078

God sees what you are doing.

Perhaps some setbacks and disappointments are his way

to get your attention and get you back on track.

C. God may have a higher goal in mind.

1) The closed door may block something that is not the best

for you.

a) A broken engagement may mean that person wasn't the

one God wanted for you.

b) A new job that falls through could lead to one that

better fits your abilities and talents.

2) Closed doors can open new ones that you didn't anticipate.

a) Paul's closed door resulted in a new opportunity for

mission on another continent.

b) Since the north was shut and the south was shut, he

went west.

1> God sent him of a vision of a Greek man who says,

"Come and help us." So he went to Greece.

2> It became one of his most significant works: he

reached Philippi, Thessalonica, Corinth, Athens.

3> The continent of Europe was ripe for hearing the

gospel and thousands responded.

3) The closed door may make you available to be a blessing

to someone else.

a) God can use your closed door to be a witness to others.

b) Thorns in the flesh may serve a higher purpose.

In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul wrote about a "thorn in the

flesh" that caused him no end of trouble.

We don't know exactly what it was.

Some think it was a physical infirmity - an eye problem

or a speech impediment or recurrent malaria.

Paul said this about his situation:

"I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan,

to torment me.

Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away

from me.

But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you,

for my power is made perfect in weakness.'

Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my

weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

...

For when I am weak, then I am strong."

When people understood all that Paul went through and

yet his faith was strong, it had to make them ask,

"How can he be like that?"

When the questions came, he had an answer.

[1]

Your persistent closed door may open a door for someone

else to find God in a deeper way.

IV. Closed doors are not God's final word.

A. Don't quit after the first one you encounter.

1) Persevere until you find an open door.

2) Some Christians quit trying even before they turn the knob.

3) They don't want to succeed - instead, they want an excuse

to shut down.

B. Some closed doors open later.

1) Paul was not able to evangelize Bithynia and Asia.

2) But soon after someone else must have, because Peter's

first letter is addressed to Christians in these areas.

3) You are not expected to do everything - just find the one

thing God wants you to do.

a) God is the doorkeeper.

b) He is the one who opens and shuts.

V. You can open the most important door.

A. One door is never closed to us.

1) Jesus is at the door of our heart. Rev 3:20

B. We must decide to open it and let him in.

=========================================================================

SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:

This sermon borrows heavily from the sermon “When a Door Doesn't Open,”

by Rev. Ken Larsen, Faith Covenant Church of Farmington Hills, Michigan,

October 23, 2016 (Kerux Sermon #65765).

[1] “When a Door Doesn't Open,” by Rev. Ken Larsen (Kerux Sermon #65765).

# 2078 “Unanswered Prayers,” by Kirk Russel, Deforest, Wisconsin,

Leadership magazine, September 1983. Original source is

John Allan Lavender, Why Prayers are Unanswered (Judson Press,

1968).

#12071 “God Is Committed To Our Ultimate Healing,” by Rev. Ken Larsen in

his sermon “When a Door Doesn't Open” (Kerux Sermon #65765).

It is adapted from the article “Columbia president affirms

faith despite spreading cancer,” by Leslie Scanlon,

The Presbyterian Outlook, July 29, 2014; <link>.

#66008 “Did You Lose Your Faith Or Did You Find You Had None?” by Ian

Leitch, Life Before Death! A Restored, Regenerated, and

Renewed Life (Green Acres Press, 2007). Secondary source is

the sermon “When a Door Doesn't Open,” by Rev. Ken Larsen

(Kerux Sermon #65765).

#66009 “They Wouldn't Let the Superstar In,” by J. E. Skeets, Yahoo

Sports Blog, "Shaq rejected at White House," July 27, 2009.

Secondary source is the sermon “When a Door Doesn't Open,”

by Rev. Ken Larsen (Kerux Sermon #65765).

These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be

downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html

=========================================================================