Revelation 3:8

An Open Door

An open door. Revelation 3:8 (AV).

I wonder how many of you know how the month of January came by its name? All our months received their names from the Romans. Some of them were called after Roman gods or goddesses, others after famous Romans. July bears the name of the Roman Emperor Julius Caesar and August that of the Emperor Augustus, but who was January called after?

Well, the Romans had a god named Janus. He had two faces, one looking each way, and he was the god of beginnings and endings. He was also supposed to be the doorkeeper of heaven. In the morning he unlocked the doors of heaven and let the sunshine stream out over the world; and in the evening, when the sun went to rest, he locked the doors again. Doors and gates of houses and temples were under his protection, and the beginnings of days and months and years were held sacred to him. So it came about that January, which is the first month of the year, was called after him.

January, then, is the month of beginnings, the month of the open door. The old year is past and gone, and its door is shut for ever. We cannot open it again however much we try. But God has opened for us the door of a beautiful, fresh, clean New Year, and it remains to be seen what we are going to do with it. Of course we have all made up our minds to be a little braver, and stronger, and wiser, and better than we were last year.

But now I want you to think of our text a little differently. I want you to think of it in this way. You boys and girls are just in the January of your lives. You are in the month of open doors, and I hope you will make the very best use of these doors, so that there may never come a time when you wish them open and find them shut.

I want to speak about three doors which stand open for you.

1. The first is the door of Knowledge. This door is never so wide open as it is in youth, and it is never so easy to enter as then. Youth is the time for learning, not only because it is easier to learn then, but also because it is easier to remember afterwards what we learn at that time. So don't forget to go in at the door of Knowledge while it is wide open and easy to enter.

For the odd thing about open doors is that if we enter by them they lead us on to more and more open doors beyond, and each door leads to a better and a more beautiful place than the last; but if we refuse to enter, the doors gradually get closer and closer until at last they may close altogether; and then no power of ours can open them again. That is true of the door of Knowledge, and it is true also of the other two doors about which we are going to speak.

2. Another door that is open to us in youth is the door of Opportunity. All our life lies before us and we may make so much of it or so little. As yet we have made no big mistakes; we have done nothing to spoil our life. We have youth and health and strength and hopefulness on our side, and all of these are big opportunities.

And as we grow older there are other opportunities which will open to us if we are ready for them Sometimes you hear people saying, “I never had a chance.” They say that as an excuse when their life has been a failure. Well, occasionally that may be true; but much more often it is the case that they never took their chance, or never saw it when it came along, or were not ready for it because they had been trifling when they should have been working. So keep on the alert and do your best always, and then you will not miss your opportunities when you meet them.

3. But there is another door we should all go in at the door of Salvation. It is a door that is never so wide open as it is in youth, and it is a door that many foolish people refuse to enter. It leads to freedom, and joy, and love; and it is the best door of all. By our own foolish ways we closed this door, but God sent His Son so that we might be able to find a way back to Him and His love. Jesus said, "I am the door,” and He invites us to enter by Him so that we may find all that we lost by our own foolishness.

But remember that we may shut this door, too, by our willfulness. Jesus never shuts it; He always holds it open; but we may shut it by refusing to enter; and every time we refuse, we close it a little bit farther so that it gets more and more difficult to enter by it.