The Door was Shut

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Door was shut.001 (1)If you are not right with God, those of us at Macland Road desperately want you to make things right today. Perhaps there is no better biblical phrase on which to base our appeal than the phrase “the door was shut.” This phrase is found at the end of Jesus’ parable of the 10 virgins who were waiting to meet the bridegroom (Matthew 25:1-13). The five wise virgins were prepared for the event, having their oil ready. However, the five foolish virgins were unprepared, and had to go and buy some oil at the last minute. But when the foolish virgins returned, the door was shut (Matthew 25:10). Despite their pleas, the bridegroom would not let them in (25:12).

From the shutting of the door we learn that our opportunity to obey God is temporary. Though we currently be in a position to obey God, this opportunity will not last forever. Wendell Winkler, in a sermon titled “The Door Was Shut,” observed several things in this connection:

  1. We are not ready for the shutting of the door if we have not obeyed the gospel by believing in Christ and being baptized into water for the remission of sins (Mark 16:16).
  2. We are not ready for the shutting of the door if we are not doing the will of God faithfully. “Cursed is he who does the work of the Lord with slackness” (Jeremiah 48:10, emp. added).
  3. We are not ready for the shutting of the door if we have not repented of choosing to absent ourselves from the saints’ assembly (Hebrews 10:25).
  4. We are not ready for the shutting of the door if we have not made the Lord’s mission of evangelism our own (Luke 19:10).

 Winkler further noticed that there are various occasions when the door may be shut for each of us:

  1. Jesus may return (Matthew 24:36). We will not be able to “borrow oil,” e., to derive salvation from the faithful lives of others (2 Corinthians 5:10).
  2. We may die unexpectedly (Hebrews 9:27).
  3. We may lose our mental or physical faculties. When we can no longer repent, we can no longer be saved. There also have been cases where people were near death and were physically incapable of being immersed.
  4. We may lose our ability to choose to obey God. Our conscience may be “seared,” or so calloused, that we are no longer sensible to the gospel (Romans 1:24, 26, 28; Ephesians 4:19; 1 Timothy 4:2).

 Are you ready for the shutting of the door? If the door has not yet been shut on you, take advantage of the opportunity you still have.