THINGS GOD OPENS TO BLESS PEOPLE

Part 1

Mal. 3:10

Morning Meditation 8/25/17

"Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it."

Open doors invite one to go from one place to another. You may say to a friend our door is always open to you. We understand what that means.

There are also closed doors. Those doors are forbidding. They say you are forbidden to enter. Some people may have a key to the door and they can use it at will. They are always welcome. But you have to have a key to enter.

God has some doors. Our text has a shut door. However, there are conditions that can be met to have those doors open. When Mal. 3:10 says, "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it."Some have said this is one of the great revival verses of the Bible. I certainly know God pours out blessings upon the tither.

THE FOUNTAIN OPENED FOR SIN AND UNCLEANNESS

"In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness."

That fountain has become enlarged and Jew and Gentile alike are invited to come and drink from that fountain.

That Christ is that fountain in the New Testament is illustrated clearly in two passages of Scripture in John's gospel. First in,

John 4:6-14, "Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat) Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life."

The outcome of our Lord's discussion with this woman was that she drank of that fountain and many others came to drink because of her faith.

God has made the plan of salvation so simple. It is as simple as taking a drink of water. When Jesus said to the woman in verse 14: "But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life."

When Jesus said,"whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him" used the verb drinketh and put it in the aorist tense, the active voice and the subjunctive mood. The aorist tense means a single drink at a point of time. The active voice means that the one drinking has to make the choice to drink. Jesus never forced belief in Him upon anyone. The subjunctive mood is the mood of possibility. In other words, it is possible for anyone to drink but it is not forced upon anyone. Note what this verse teaches:

1. The offer of this water is offered to "whosoever." Jesus died for all and all can be saved. But they must exercise their faith in Him at some point of time. A personal soul winner may be talking to him or it may be during a service at church but he must make a definite intelligent decision.

2. The offer is an invitation to drink. It is not just to some who look at this fountain, but to those who actually drink. There must be the act of drinking.

3. The water of which Jesus speaks is a gift. It is received by faith. It is not something one has to work to get. He must received it by faith as a gift.

4. When the person drinks, he then has within him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. The words "springing up" means, "to gush up, to spring up." It is in the middle voice which means that the well of water within will of itself gush up, or spring up." The believer who has taken one drink has within him from that point on a well of water that gushes up of itself and will never need the help of man to make it flow, and it is a well that will never run dry.

5. Jesus makes the application when He says, "springing up into everlasting life." It is everlasting life that is the subject of our Lord's talk with the woman at Jacob's Well.

Then the Lord used water as a fountain of which He is the source in John chapter seven. Jesus said in John 7:37-39, "In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified)"

In this passage the one who thirsts and comes to Jesus for a drink will have flowing rivers of water from his inner being. Here the believer becomes a source of water for others. This could well refer to soul winning. Once a man has taken a single drink he has a permanent well of water in him and he will never have to drink again for salvation. But when he continues to come to Jesus and drink the well turns into rivers so that others can get their thirst quenched by coming to him for a drink.

We might ask ourselves as Christians do we just have a well which takes care of our personal need, or do we come back to Jesus and continue to drink so that we become a source of blessing to others so that others can be saved through our testimony?

HEAVEN IS OPENED TO THE CHRISTIAN

Mark 1:10-11, "And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him: And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

This is where heaven was opened to Jesus at His baptism. Not only was heaven opened, the voice of the Father spoke the words, "Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.." Jesus was in His late twenties and was entering His public ministry. His life up to this point was well pleasing to His Father. Heaven was opened to the Son of the Eternal God. An open heaven means an ever available God. God has made Himself continuously available to the believer.

This is brought out in Hebrews 10:17-22, "And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; And having an high priest over the house of God; Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water."

1. A believer can enter the holiest because his sins have been forgiven and forgotten. Therefore the barrier that once shut him out of God's presence has been taken down by Jesus Christ.

2. A believer does not have to come to God with an offering for sin because Jesus has offered a once-for-all offering. Hebrews 10:10, "By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."

3. Because of these things a believer can enter the holiest with boldness by the blood of Jesus. This means, because of the shed blood of our sacrificial Lamb, that the way into the holiest is always open to us.

4. The holiest, where God resides, is open to us because we have a High Priest who is there ever to make intercession for us.. Hebrews 7:24-25, "But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them."

There is another passage in Hebrews that invites the sinning saint into the holiest. Hebrews 4:14-16 says, "Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."

John Gill comments on verse 14: "Seeing then that we have a great high priest, &c.] That Christ is a priest, and an high priest, has been observed already in Heb 2:1-7, but here he is called a great one, because of the dignity of his person, as follows, and the virtue of his sacrifice; and because of the place where he now officiates as a priest, heaven and with respect to the continuation of his priesthood; and likewise because he makes others priests unto God; and this great high priest is no other than the Word of God before spoken of: so the divine Logos, or Word, is often called a priest, and an high priest, by Philo the Jew. This great high priest believers "have", and have an interest in him; he is called to this office, and invested with it; he has been sent to do his work as a priest; and he has done the greatest part of it, and is now doing the rest; and saints receive Christ as such, and the blessings of grace from him, through his sacrifice and intercession:"

Gill continues: "that is passed into the heavens; he came down from thence, and offered himself a sacrifice for the sins of his people; and having done this, he ascended thither again, to appear for them, and to make intercession for them; whereby he fully answers to his character as the great high priest: and what makes him more fully to appear so is what follows,"

Jesus, the Son of God: the former of these names signifies a Saviour, and respects his office; the latter is expressive of his dignity, and respects his person; who is the Son of God in such sense as angels and men are not; not by creation, nor adoption; but by nature; not as man and Mediator, but as God, being of the same nature with his Father, and equal to him; and it is this which makes him a great high priest, and gives virtue and efficacy to all he does as such: wherefore,

let us hold fast our profession: of faith, of the grace and doctrine of faith, and of Christ, and salvation by him, and of the hope of eternal life and happiness; which being made both by words and deeds, publicly and sincerely, should be held fast; which supposes something valuable in it, and that there is danger of dropping it; and that it requires strength, courage, and greatness of mind, and an use of all proper means; and it should be held without wavering; for it is good and profitable, it recommends the Gospel; and it has been made publicly before witnesses; and not to hold it fast is displeasing to God, and resented by him: and the priesthood of Christ is an argument to enforce this duty, for he is the high priest of our profession; he has espoused our cause, and abode by it; he has bore witness to the truth of the Gospel himself; he prays for the support of our faith; he pities and succors; and he is passed into the heavens, where he appears for us, owns us, and will own us."

I don't like to make long quotes but Gill makes such a good explanation I wanted to share his entire explanation of this. Jesus is that fountain that has been opened for Jew and Gentile and anyone who will can come and drink freely.

I will close on this note for today. I will continue on this theme in the next meditation. So I will call this part 1. May the Lord bless this to our hearts.

In Christ

Bro. White