Weekly Bible Study – September 8, 2014

The Doctrine of The Open Door. Part 3

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1 John 1:9 says: "If we confess our sins, He (God) is faithful and just to forgive us our sins (known sins) and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness [unknown or forgotten sins]." NKJV (New King James Version) [italics added]

If you have never personally believed in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior (that is, believed in Him for eternal life), the issue for you is not to name your sins; the issue for you is to have faith alone in Jesus Christ alone for eternal life:

John 6:47 says: "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me (Jesus Christ) has everlasting life." NKJV [italics added]

Notice again what Jesus said in John 6:47: "…he who believes in Me (Jesus Christ) has everlasting life." It doesn't say, "will have"; it says, "has." Therefore, the very moment you believe in Jesus Christ for His promise of everlasting life, you have it (it's really just that simple; nothing more and nothing less), and it can never be taken away from you (John 10:28-29). Furthermore, the gift (Ephesians 2:8c) of everlasting life (also called eternal life in scripture) is available to every human being; there are absolutely no exceptions.

John 3:14-18 says: "¹⁴ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. ¹⁷ For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. ¹⁸ He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." NKJV

Let us now bow our hearts and take a moment to prepare for worship and learning God's Word. If there is any known sin in your life, this is the time to just cite it privately to God the Father with your thoughts directed towards Him. With your head bowed and your eyes closed, you have total privacy in your mind and soul:

Study to show yourself approved to God!

Grace Bible Church
Robert R. McLaughlin Bible Ministries

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STUDY TITLE:

The Doctrine of The Open Door. Part 3



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Terms & Abbreviations used:

PPOG = Predesigned Plan of God
Human Good = Evil + Good Deeds while not in fellowship with God
OSN = Old Sin Nature
TLJC = The Lord Jesus Christ
SSE = Spiritual Self Esteem
PVTD = Positive Volition Towards Doctrine
+H - The Happiness of God
NVTD = Negative Volition Towards Doctrine
Doctrine = Bible Truth

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BEGIN BIBLE STUDY
Unless otherwise noted, all scripture quotes and references
are from the NASB – New American Standard Bible

The Doctrine of The Open Door. Part 3

We have now established enough information concerning the kind of people God can use to fulfill His plan and why we must always be available to the doctrine of the open door, the doors of opportunity that the Lord offers all the members of the human race to choose. Whether it’s the kind of doors that Abraham faced when he went through the wrong doors, such as the door of selfishness and fear. The kind of doors that Sarah, Abraham’s wife, had to face and decide what to go through, when she faced the doors of bitterness, anger, or jealousy verses gentleness, love, or selflessness. She could be used by God and glorify God if she is willing to follow the Lord Jesus Christ through the open door of God's love, grace and mercy.

We could have talked about the doctrine of the open door as it is also revealed through Abraham’s son Isaac, who committed the same sin as his father Abraham, he lived in fear of losing his life and therefore he willfully lied and told the men of Gerar that Rebekah was not his wife but his sister.

GEN 26:1-2, Now there was a famine in the land, besides the previous famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham. So Isaac went to Gerar, to Abimelech king of the Philistines. And the Lord appeared to him and said, "Do not go down to Egypt; stay in the land of which I shall tell you.

This time, however we see God closing certain doors to protect His people.

“Sojourn in this land and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham. And I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; because Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My laws." (GEN 26:3-5)

God still blessed Abraham even when he went through the doors that God was shutting.

So Isaac lived in Gerar. When the men of the place asked about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” for he was afraid to say, “my wife,” thinking, “the men of the place might kill me on account of Rebekah, for she is beautiful.” And it came about, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out through a window, and saw, and behold, Isaac was caressing his wife Rebekah. Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Behold, certainly she is your wife! How then did you say, ‘She is my sister’?” And Isaac said to him, “Because I said, ‘Lest I die on account of her.’” And Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.” So Abimelech charged all the people, saying, “He who touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.” (GEN 26:6-11)

Isaac had the opportunity to learn from his father’s mistake but he didn’t. What kind of people can God use and why should we always be available to the doctrine of the open door, because God can use those who even learn the hard way. Young people learn from your elders. Learn from your parents if you see that they have lived for God. Learn from your parents even if they haven’t lived for God. Learn from their positive position toward doctrine (PVTD) and their success as well as their failures. For the word from God is ISA 29:24, They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.

The message Bible translation of ISA 29:24 says, “Those who got off-track will get back on-track, and complainers and whiners will learn gratitude.” What kind of people can God use and why should we always be available to the doctrine of the open door? Well, individuals like Isaac, God used a man filled with the fear of self-preservation.

It's interesting that this was all found in the book of Genesis, the first book in the Bible, perhaps to give every single one of us the hope and confidence from the forgiveness of our Creator, Jehovah Elohim, the Lord God. Then we have Jacob, naturally crafty and sly, who stole the birthright from his brother Esau as he lied deceived his father Isaac.

Now it came about, when Isaac was old, and his eyes were too dim to see, that he called his older son Esau and said to him, “My son.” And he said to him, “Here I am.” And Isaac said, “Behold now, I am old and I do not know the day of my death. [he is going to live about 43 more years] “Now then, please take your gear, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me; and prepare a delicious dish for me such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, so that my soul may bless you before I die.” And Rebekah was listening And Rebekah was listening while Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game to bring home, Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Behold, I heard your father speak to your brother Esau, saying, ‘Bring me some game and prepare a delicious dish for me, that I may eat, and bless you in the presence of the Lord before my death.’ Now therefore, my son, listen to me as I command you. (GEN 27:1-8)

The Hebrew word for listen is a Qal imperative of shama meaning here to obey. By the way, Jacob is 77 years old and not married and still taking orders from mommy.

“Go now to the flock and bring me two choice kids from there [these are not children, they are baby goats], that I may prepare them as a delicious dish for your father, such as he loves. Then you shall bring it to your father, that he may eat, so that he may bless you before his death.” And Jacob answered his mother Rebekah, “Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man and I am a smooth man.” (GEN 27:9-11)

We will see just how smooth he really is. The word for smooth is the adjective chalaq which, although it refers to his skin, its basic meaning is to be smooth with the tongue.

“Perhaps my father will feel me, then I shall be as a deceiver in his sight [by the way, he is a deceiver, deceivers just don't like to be identified]; and I shall bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing.” (GEN 27:12)

Here is the true nature of Jacob, he doesn’t care about doing something wrong and deceiving his father, he’s just concerned about what will happen if he gets caught.

But his mother said to him, “Your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, get them for me.” (GEN 27:13)

All three verbs here are in the imperative mood, meaning obey, go and get them, and remember that old momma’s boy is 77 years old. Here we see Rebekah doing the same thing that Sarah did, trying to achieve the divine promise by human viewpoint. In reality she will never see her favorite son again after this ordeal. He will leave for almost 20 years and she will die. Once again we learn the lesson that human viewpoint never can assist divine plans but merely complicate matters even more.

So he went and got them, and brought them to his mother; and his mother made a delicious dish such as his father loved. Then Rebekah took the best garments of Esau her elder son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son. (GEN 27:14-15)

She’s getting her boy all dressed up in garments of deception.

And she put the skins of the kids [the goats] on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. Momma’s boy has no hair on his body so mommy glues fake hair to her little boy’s body. She also gave the delicious dish and the bread, which she had made, to her son Jacob. Then he came to his father and said, “My father.” And he said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?” And Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your first-born [liar]; I have done as you told me [liar]. Get up, please, sit and eat of my game [liar, he should have said eat of my game of deception], that you may bless me.” (GEN 27:16-19)

Notice how smooth he is with his lies.

And Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have it so quickly, my son?” And he [Jacob] said, [get this] “Because the Lord your God caused it to happen to me.” (GEN 27:20)

Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come close, that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not.” So Jacob came close to Isaac his father, and he felt him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” And he did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands; so he blessed him. And he said, “Are you really my son Esau?” And he said, “I am.” So he said, “Bring it to me, and I will eat of my son’s game, that I may bless you.” And he brought it to him, and he ate; he also brought him wine and he drank. Then his father Isaac said to him, “Please come close and kiss me, my son.” So he came close and kissed him; and when he smelled the smell of his garments, he blessed him and said, “See, the smell of my son Is like the smell of a field which the Lord has blessed; Now may God give you of the dew of heaven, And of the fatness of the earth, And an abundance of grain and new wine; May peoples serve you, And nations bow down to you; Be master of your brothers, And may your mother's sons bow down to you. Cursed be those who curse you, And blessed be those who bless you.” Now it came about, as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had hardly gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting. Then he also made delicious food, and brought it to his father; and he said to his father, “Let my father arise, and eat of his son's game, that you may bless me.” And Isaac his father said to him, “Who are you?” And he said, “I am your son, your first-born, Esau.” Then Isaac trembled violently, and said, “Who was he then that hunted game and brought it to me, so that I ate of all of it before you came, and blessed him? Yes, and he shall be blessed.” (GEN 27:21-33)

He recognizes that Jacob has the blessing. He could of overruled and changed his mind but doctrine resident in the soul wouldn’t allow him to, by means of doctrine resident in the soul Isaac blessed Jacob, (HEB 11:20). The reason why he trembled violently is because he realized the serious mistake he was going to make by blessing Esau and not Jacob.

When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me, even me also, O my father!” And he said, “Your brother came deceitfully, and has taken away your blessing. Then he said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob, for he has supplanted or deceived me these two times? He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing.” And he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” (GEN 27:34-36)

Now think about this passage for a moment. Esau obeys his father, goes out hunting and brings back a delicious meal like Isaac loves. He speaks the truth and he does not lie. Jacob never leaves the house, willfully lies and deceives his father, substitutes a goat for the venison, lies to his father and even uses the Lord’s name to do so, and yet Jacob receives the blessing.

In fact ROM 9:13 says, Just as it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” says the Lord!

But Isaac answered and said to Esau, “Behold, I have made him your master, and all his relatives I have given to him as servants; and with grain and new wine I have sustained him. Now as for you then, what can I do, my son?” (GEN 27:37)

Even though Isaac was old and blind, he was spiritual. And his spiritual eyes were now opened to the fact that God had overruled and Esau was not God’s choice. He had this thought in the back of his mind anyway because he remembered what the Lord said to Rebecca in GEN 25:23, And the Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb; and two peoples shall be separated from your body; and one people shall be stronger than the other; and the older shall serve the younger.” Through doctrine resident in the soul, Isaac recognized that giving the blessing to Jacob was the will of God, and that takes a great man. It takes a great man to learn from being deceived that something was the will of God and not to get bitter about it. He could have gotten bitter toward his wife Rebecca and his son Jacob, but as we will note he did not. When you can learn from being deceived by someone without getting bitter or angry toward them, that's an indication of the fact that you have grown up spiritually. Isaac learned the lesson that the apostle gives in ROM 9:16, So then it does not depend on the man who wills [Isaac] or the man who runs [Esau], but on God who has mercy.

And Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father.” So Esau lifted his voice and wept. (GEN 27:38)

The true meaning of HEB 12:17 is brought out here, because when it says in HEB 12:17, For you know that even afterwards, when he [Esau] desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears. The repentance here was not on the part of Esau trying to repent, but Esau yelling and crying but not being able to change Isaac’s mind. Therefore, the repentance has to do with changing the mind of Isaac not Esau.

Then Isaac his father answered and said to him, “Behold, away from the fertility of the earth shall be your dwelling, And away from the dew of heaven from above.” (GEN 27:39)

This is a prophecy from Isaac that Esau would not participate in the blessing of the earth's richness and the dew of heaven as Jacob would.

“And by your sword you shall live, And your brother you shall serve; But it shall come about when you become restless, That you shall break his yoke from your neck.” (Gen27:40)

In other words, there will come a time when you will break free. In a sense this is a blessing which is why HEB 11:20 says, By means of doctrine resident in the soul Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, even regarding things to come.

So Esau bore a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him; and Esau said to himself, "The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob." (Gen27:41)

So, what kind of people can God use? Men even like Esau who forfeited the double portion blessing from God for the garbage and refuse for the cosmic system. God even used the hardness of Esau's heart because God can use all kinds of people, even the wicked for Hid own glory. We read in ROM 9:13 Just as it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled; that {there be} no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a {single} meal. For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance or no opportunity to repair by repentance [what he had done, no chance to recall the choice he had made], though he sought for it with tears. (HEB 12:15-17)

That my friends is the hardness of the heart. Esau later regretted that impulsive act and wanted God’s blessing-but by then it was too late, tears or no tears. This is why we should always be available to the doctrine of the open door or the doors that the Lord opens? Even if it is ministering to those involved with evil. For example, Joseph’s brothers and their jealousy was used by God as Joseph said;
“And as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.” (GEN 50:20)

Then God’s grace was magnified when Joseph said in GEN 50:21, “So therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.” So he comforted them and spoke kindly to them. God used the jealousy of 11 brothers to accomplish His will. Joseph went through the open door of divine providence, trusting in the character and nature of God. For the scripture says in ISA 45:7, I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

What kind of people can God use and why should we always be available to the doctrine of the open door or the doors that the Lord opens? Well, there is Moses, who in EXO 2:12 willfully murdered a man with his own bear hands and at times lacked confidence concerning God's calling upon his life. There was Gideon, an Israeli soldier, was troubled with fear, Judg 6:23. But God gave him the victory in spite of his fear of the Midianites, the Amalekites, and the soldiers of the east. Samson, separated for the Lord as a Nazarite, basically became a wild man after perverted women, Judg 16:1. There is King Saul who lived a life of anxiety and jealousy toward David that it practically drove him crazy and he ended up actually committing a form of suicide, 1SA 31:4. Then we have David, who willfully sinned; Told a lie that wiped out an entire city, (city of Nob); 1SA 22:19. Thousands were killed in battle because of David pretending to be crazy in the city of Gath; 1SA 21:13. He failed in his responsibility as the King of Israel.

Committed adultery; Tried to get the woman's husband drunk to cover his sin; 2Sa 12. He learned through experience.

He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, But he who confesses and forsakes {them} will find compassion. (PRO 28:13)

David, also like Moses, committed murder, willfully lied. Purposely disobeyed God's command about the ark.

Ignored the word of God and men were killed as a result. In 1Ch 21, he rejected the promises of God and even questioned the faithfulness of God. As a result, 70,000 people died. And then of course, we have his failure to forgive Absalom, his son, completely, 2Sa 19. Here's a man, David, who was oriented to grace better than almost anyone in life, but he failed to use grace in regard to one he loved so dearly. And then we have David's son, Solomon, born from the woman David murdered for, Bathsheba. He lived an excessive luxurious lifestyle in 1KI 4:22-23. He married all kinds of ungodly women in 1KI 11:1-2. Lived in excessive sensuality in 1KI 11:3. He even sanctioned idolatry in 1KI 11:4-7He ignored completely DEU 17:17, Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he greatly increase silver and gold for himself. We know that because in 1KI 11:3, And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away.

What kind of people can God use and why should we always be available to the doctrine of the open door or the doors that the Lord opens? Well, in 1Ki 19, there was Elijah, who just had a tremendous victory over 450 of the prophets of Baal and then he runs for his life from the threat or a letter from a woman, Jezebel. Remember - Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. A woman who has been rejected in love can be very angry and dangerous.

The following link is to a good news message describing how one can receive eternal life:
Ticket to Heaven, it was written for anyone not absolutely certain about their eternal future.