A Deeper Dive Into the Book of Revelation - Part 83
Jesus had appeared to John on the isle of Patmos and dictated seven letters to him, but John’s adventures were just beginning when that happened! John’s experience was about to get much more awe-inspiring!
“After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, ‘Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.’”—Revelation 4:1 (NASB)
An open door is presented to John, and he is—not just invited—but summoned to “come up here” into Heaven. The purpose for this is to show John “what must take place after these things.” We must remember this as we read the book of Revelation. It is a book of prophecy. John is not being shown things from the past. So, the sun-clothed woman and her child in chapter 12 cannot represent Mary and the baby Jesus, for example, because those were past events. Everything John is being shown will happen after his experience on Patmos.
The Door in Heaven
The only legitimate way to enter Heaven is through the door. That Door is Jesus. Those who are truly His hear His voice and respond to it.
“I assure you and most solemnly say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the sheepfold, but climbs up from some other place [on the stone wall], that one is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep [the protector and provider]. The doorkeeper opens [the gate] for this man, and the sheep hear his voice and pay attention to it. And [knowing that they listen] he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out [to pasture]. When he has brought all his own sheep outside, he walks on ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice and recognize his call. They will never follow a stranger, but will run away from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.” Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what He was talking about.
So Jesus said again, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, I am the Door for the sheep [leading to life]. All who came before Me [as false messiahs and self-appointed leaders] are thieves and robbers, but the [true] sheep did not hear them. I am the Door; anyone who enters through Me will be saved [and will live forever], and will go in and out [freely], and find pasture (spiritual security). The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows].”—John 10:1-10 (AMP)
The End-Time Door
The Door figures prominently in the end times. In Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21, Jesus tells His disciples that the time will come when not one stone of the temple will be left standing upon another because all of it will be torn down.
His disciples asked Jesus, “Teacher, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign when these things are about to happen?” (Luke 21:7 AMP)
Jesus responded by describing what the end times would be like and what signs would signal His soon return. Then He said, “In the same way, when you see these things taking place, you will know that the Son of Man is near, right at the door.” (Mark 13:29 ISV)
The Door is Shut for Some
The door was open for John, but it will be shut to others.
Many people believe that the door to Heaven will be open for all believers, but that it will be shut to unbelievers. That is true if we are only talking about salvation. But when Jesus speaks of the door in Luke 13, He is speaking to people who are calling Him “Lord,” and yet He is saying that the door may be closed to some of them. How can that be?
“Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’
“But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’
“Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’
“But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’
“There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last.”—Luke 13:24-30 (NIV)
Jesus tells His followers in this passage that they should “make every effort,” or “strive” to enter through the narrow door. Do we strive through our own efforts to gain salvation? No, of course not. Salvation is a free gift from God, as we are clearly told in Ephesians 2:8. So Jesus must not be talking about salvation here.
The people who have the door shut to them call Jesus “Lord.” These are believers! How could this be? How could believers have a heavenly door shut to them?
Jesus gives us more clues to this mystery in His parable of the ten virgins. In this parable, all ten of these women are virgins, so they are all righteous. They are all spiritually undefiled, so they are all believers, because in Christ, we have all been made righteous. (See Romans 5:19; Romans 10:10; and 2 Corinthians 5:21.) They are all waiting for the heavenly Bridegroom, which again, shows that they are all believers in Jesus.
And yet, five of these women have the door opened for them, and five have the door shut to them.
Why?
“Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.
“And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.
“Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’
“Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.”—Matthew 25:1-13 (NKJV)
We know that this has to do with the end times, because the last verse speaks of the Lord’s return. We learn through other passages that the Overcomers, who are ready for the Lord’s return, are taken into Heaven just before the beginning of the Great Tribulation period. They are taken in the firstfruits harvest in Revelation 14:1-5. In that passage, these Overcomers are described in this way:
“These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among men, being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no deceit, for they are without fault before the throne of God.”—Revelation 14:4-5 (NKJV)
They go in through the open door because they are ready when the heavenly Bridegroom comes.
Those who are not ready, have the door shut to them. These believers will then need to pass through the Great Tribulation period which will act like the threshing floor of the harvest to prepare them to meet their Lord.
The Overcomers will have three main characteristics: They will have allowed the Holy Spirit and the Word of God to transform them into the image of Christ (Romans 8:29; Romans 12:2). They will be completely consecrated and submitted to Jesus Christ as the Lord of their lives (Revelation 12:11; Revelation 14:4). And they will have a close personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
The foolish virgins, and also the believers that were shut out in Luke 13:27, lack those qualities. In both passages, the Lord personally rejects them because He doesn’t have the close personal relationship with them that he shares with the Overcomers.
The Invitation
In His letter to the church in Laodicea, Jesus had nothing good to say about the believers there. This church was probably full of foolish virgins, with very few Overcomers (or wise virgins) among them. This should be disturbing to us because the Laodicean church speaks of the Church of our age!
And yet, even in the midst of this much lukewarm Christianity, there is hope! Jesus has not given up on us yet! He still declares His love for us and implores us to repent.
“I correct and discipline those whom I love. So be earnest and change your hearts and lives.”—Revelation 3:19 (CEB)
In this age of the lukewarm Church, it is not God who has shut the door, but we have shut the door to Him! But even after His large-scale rejection by believers who have turned aside to worship other things, Jesus holds out an invitation to intimacy with Him for anyone who will hear and respond.
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.”—Revelation 3:20 (NASB)
The Door is Open to the Overcomers
In stark contrast to the Laodicea church, Jesus had nothing bad to say about the previous church—the church of Philadelphia. In His letter to those believers, Jesus expressed only praise for their works, their faithfulness, and their obedience.
This church seemed to be populated by Overcomers! These were the wise virgins who were faithful to their master, and they were ready to meet Him when He returned. For these believers, the door is open!
“I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.”—Revelation 3:8 (ESV)
So, we see that this door in Heaven that is open for John is also open for the Overcomers (the wise virgins)—and those who have prepared themselves to meet the Heavenly Bridegroom when He returns.
But the same door is shut to the foolish virgins—those who did not prepare themselves to meet the bridegroom. When He returns for those who are ready, just before the start of the Great Tribulation period, the door will be shut to those who are not ready, and they will have to endure the threshing floor of the Great Tribulation in order to separate the pure grain from the worthless chaff that they have allowed to still cling to their lives.
It doesn’t matter how we appear to ourselves or how we may appear to others. Jesus Christ is the only judge that matters. He is the One Who has the power and authority to open or shut the door for us.
“Here is a message from the one who is holy and true, the one who holds the key of David. When he opens something, it cannot be closed. And when he closes something, it cannot be opened.”—Revelation 3:7 (ERV)
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