It's Time to Go Through Your Open Door — Carter Conlon

Cornelius and the Open Door of God

If you'll turn with me to the Book of Acts, Chapter 10, the title of my message today, it's time to go through your open door. It's time, folks. Father, thank you, Lord, for the touch of heaven in this service today.

Thank you, Lord, for your presence. Thank you for the strength of your Holy Spirit. Thank you, Lord, for the incredible promise that is the very source of our strength, God, your promises to us, your willingness to be our strength and to guide us into the future.

Thank you, Lord God, when everything looks dark, you promise to raise up a standard against it. And so, Lord, we yield our bodies to you this day as a living sacrifice, which your word tells us is only our reasonable service.

We ask you, Lord God, to grip our hearts and grip our minds with your will and your way for each of us in the days ahead. Thank you, Lord, that you have something supernatural for every person who's gathered here, something that only you can do through our lives.

Give us the grace, Lord, to understand it and to embrace it. Give me the strength to speak it. And I ask this in Jesus' name. Acts chapter 10, beginning at verse 30. So Cornelius said, four days ago I was fasting until this hour, and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house.

And behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing and said, Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms, or that means your gifts, your deeds are remembered in the sight of God. Send therefore to Joppa and call Simon here, whose surname is Peter.

He's lodging in the house of Simon a tanner by the sea. When he comes, he will speak to you. So I sent to you immediately, and you've done well to come. Now, therefore, we're all present before God to hear all the things commanded you by God.

Then Peter opened his mouth and said, in truth, I perceive that God shows no partiality, but in every nation, whoever fears him and works righteousness is accepted by him. The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ, he is Lord of all.

The word you know, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea and began from Galilee after the baptism, which John preached. How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

And we are witnesses of all things which he did, both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging on a tree. Him, God raised up on the third day and showed him openly, not to all people, but to witnesses chosen before by God, even to us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.

And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that it is he who was ordained by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To him, all the prophets witnessed that through his name, whoever believes in him will receive remission or forgiveness of sins.

While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. And those of the circumcision, the Jews, in other words, believed, were astonished as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.

For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then Peter answered, can anyone forbid water that these should not be baptized, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord.

Then they asked him to stay a few days. A phenomenal moment in history. I just read to you an amazing moment that happened really just through a hungry heart. There's incredible power in a hungry heart.

And if you have a hungry heart today for the things of God, there is something that God can do through you that will astound you. If you have this passion in your heart, the scripture says that Cornelius was a man who had a deep reverence for God.

Way back in the beginning of chapter 10 says he was a devout man, one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people and prayed to God always. So he had a deep reverence for God.

He was a generous man and he was a seeker of God, yet he didn't know God the way you and I do today. The fullness of salvation was not yet revealed to him, yet he still had this inner hunger for God. And we don't know exactly what his prayer was, but the scripture tells us in Jeremiah chapter 29 verses 11 to 13.

Seeking God Beyond Familiar Boundaries

Let me read it to you. The Lord says to his people, I know the thoughts that I think towards you says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you a future and hope. Then you will call upon me and go and pray to me and I will listen to you and you will seek me and you will find me when you search for me with all your heart.

When there's something inside the heart. Now keep in mind this word was spoken to God's people at a time when they were living inside boundaries, which fell short of his intended purpose for their lives.

They were captivated essentially when Jeremiah spoke these words and they knew what they were called to be just as you know it, don't you? You know, as the children of Abraham, as the scripture says, you're called to be blessed by God to the point where you become a blessing.

And I become a blessing to people all around us in the world. But yet many times we find ourselves living within certain constraints and boundaries that we know. We know in our heart say, this is less than what I'm created for.

Does anybody here have that feeling today? That you're created for something more maybe than what you're doing right now or you're created to travel a little farther than your past and present boundaries are allowing you to go.

And there's a cry in your heart as there had to be in the people of Israel at this time and there was in the heart of Cornelius. It's God, I want you to break me out of the boundaries that have restricted my life up to this point.

The boundaries of my mind, the boundaries of what others have said about me, the boundaries of just my natural existence today. I want outside because God, I feel somehow that you've created me for more than this.

Jesus Christ himself told us in the gospel of Luke chapter 11 verses nine to 13. Listen to what he said. So I say to you, ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be open to you.

For everyone who asks receives. How many? Everyone who asks receives. Are there any exceptions? No, because everyone who asks receives and he who seeks finds and to him who knocks, it shall be open. Now this is red letter in my Bible.

That means it came right from the mouth of Jesus Christ himself. He said, I say to you, ask, it will be given to you. Seek, you will find, knock, it will be open. In other words, there's something God has for you and for me that is beyond our natural ability, but it's not beyond the ability of God.

And you and I have a relationship with the living God. As a matter of fact, because of Christ, the living God through the Holy Spirit is now inside of your physical body. So that means the old boundaries, the old barriers, the old ways of living are now destroyed.

And you are now a new creation in Christ Jesus. There are no limits to what God can do through a surrendered vessel. If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?

Or if he asks for an egg, will he give him a scorpion? Now he says, if you then being evil, now that's in contrast to the children, how much more will your heavenly father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?

How much more, how much more will God not give to us when our hearts are in a place where we're saying, Lord, I want more of you than I have known. I want more of your presence in my life has been aware of, up to this point of my life on this earth.

And so the book of Acts chapter 10, verse 30, it says, Cornelius said, four days ago, I was fasting until this hour. And at the ninth hour, I prayed in my house and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing and said, Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms are remembered.

That's your desire to do good. Your desire to be different. Your desire to break out of your limitations. You're not here this morning because you want to be evil. I'm pretty sure of that. There's always an exception, I suppose.

But you're here because you want to do good. There's many here today that you're like the apostle Paul, the type of person you described in Romans six, seven, and eight, where he says, I know what to do.

And I secretly desire it and delight in it, in my inward man. But there's another law in me warring against what I know is right. And it's bringing me back into this law of captivity. And Paul concludes by saying, oh, wretched men that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death?

Who will break me out of these boundaries? This inability to go forward, this mediocrity, when I feel like I'm called to something so much greater in God. And Cornelius, he says, your prayer has been heard.

Your alms are remembered in the sight of God. Send therefore to Joppa and call Simon here, whose surname is Peter. And when he comes, he will speak to you. Now here's what the Lord said to this man, Cornelius, your cry has been heard.

Calling for the Word God Has Prepared

Now call for the word that I have prepared for you. You see, that was Cornelius' part. God didn't say to Cornelius, he's going to be at your door at three o 'clock, be prepared for him. He could have done it that way.

But there's something in this that you and I need to see. If you have a hungry heart, if you want more of God, if you're seeking, if you're fasting, if you're praying, you're saying, Lord, would you use my life to make a difference in this generation?

If you are aware as I am of the encroachment of evil, the flood of evil that's coming upon our present day society, if you're a part of that living church of God that says, I want to make a difference, Lord, I want you to use my life, God, to open a way of life to people who are living in death.

Let me be light to those who are in darkness. My God, would you fill my lamp with oil so that not only I can see, but others through my life can begin to see a way into freedom and into eternal life. And this is what the messenger said to Cornelius.

Your cry has been heard. Now call for the word. And you see, folks, it has to be that way. There's got to be something in your heart today that says, God, speak to me. Give me the word you prepared for me, for me.

You have something for me. You have a plan for my life. You have something for my future. I want more than a generic word. For the church, I want your word for me, your word. I want you, God, to speak to me.

There was such a hunger in this man's heart that when Peter showed up at his door, the scripture says he fell at his feet to worship. And Peter made him stand up and says, don't do that. I'm just a vessel.

I'm just a man like you are. He was so hungry. He said, God, I want your word. God, I want your plan for my life. And somehow, someway in this generation, we've got to break out of the box of self-focus and say, Lord, what would you have me to do?

What is your plan for my life? Where do you want to take me, my God? What can be done through my heart that hungers for you? And then suddenly Peter begins to speak. And as he begins to speak, the way of the gospel begins to open to this man.

Now he has gathered his family. He's gathered his friends. He's gathered his close acquaintances. Matter of fact, the scripture says when Peter arrived, he was surprised to see the house full of people that were there because of one hungry heart.

You know, when you're really hungry for God, people will gather around you. They will listen to what you have to say. They won't listen to a religious phony or fraud. They won't care about your scriptures if you're speaking one thing and living another way in the workplace.

But when you're really genuinely hungry and it's obvious that you're hungry for God, people will gather around you. We're also looking for hope. They're also looking for a way forward in their season of struggle, their time of difficulty, the fears maybe that are prevalent in their minds.

And suddenly Peter begins to speak. And I don't know what's going on in Cornelius's heart and the people that are with him. I can only surmise it because the scripture doesn't tell us. But suddenly Peter begins to speak about Jesus Christ, how God anointed him, verse 38, with the Holy Spirit and with power.

I can imagine Cornelius is saying, is that possible that I could be mine? Could God also anoint me with the Holy Spirit and with power? Can I, as Christ once did, can I go about doing good and healing all who are oppressed by the devil?

Could God be with me as he was with this man, Jesus, who was raised again from the dead on the third day, given this quickening power of God's Holy Spirit, brought back to life from a place of death, taken out of the restrictions of everything that humanness can bring upon someone and given life divinely by God himself.

And there was such a hunger in this man's heart. And this is what you and I need today in our generation, hunger. If we don't have it, we should ask God for it. Give me a hunger for your kingdom. Give me a hunger to do right.

Give me a hunger to be kind. Give me a hunger, oh God, that your power might be in my life and that I can be used as an instrument to set free those who are oppressed by darkness. Give me a hunger so that my voice might have power for good, to push back the darkness that would want to swallow an entire generation.

God, put a hunger in my heart that can only come from you. And Lord, you tell me that if I am hungry, that if I ask for bread, you're not going to give me a stone. If I ask for a fish, you're not going to give me a serpent or a scorpion.

And you said that if I know how to give good gifts to my children, how much more will the heavenly father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him? And so God, I recognize that I need your Holy Spirit.

I need something inside my life more than my own determination, my own strength, and my own will. I need to be carried by the spirit of God. I need to learn to walk in unison with the Holy Spirit of God.

And I desire that this body be a vessel of God, a vessel of the Holy Spirit of God. I ask Lord that you reach through my hands and begin to heal, that you speak through my voice and begin to give direction to those who are in darkness.

I ask you, God, to see through my eyes that I might not live as a natural person, but God, that I might see what spiritual vision, things that natural people who live outside the kingdom of God can't see.

Oh God, help me to see the future of people around me. Help me to speak into their lives. Help me, oh God, use me to make a difference. And the scripture says, while Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word.

Now, God is a gentleman. He does not force himself on anybody. There had to be such an openness. There had to be such a yearning in these people that when Peter started speaking, they knew that what they were hearing was divinely empowered.

The scripture, of course, doesn't tell us everything probably that was shared in that room. It gives us more or less a synopsis of it, but they somehow knew there was a divine empowerment. There was a hunger in every heart.

And while Peter was speaking, this is the cry of my heart. Oh God, cut short my sermon if you want to and fill your people with your Holy Spirit. While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell on all those who heard the word.

Talk about a moment of hunger. Talk about a moment. Aren't we supposed to wait for the end of the message to respond? Isn't everything done by formula? Well, thank God that God operates outside of our ways of doing things.

Thank God that his ways are not our ways and his thoughts are not our thoughts. While Peter was still speaking, the whole house, you can just imagine, just imagine in your mind, the whole house, suddenly the Holy Spirit descends.

These people become God-gripped and they start to speak, the scripture says, with other tongues. In other words, the very thing that happened in the book of Acts chapter two to the Jewish believers is now happening to the Gentile believers.

And they are speaking about these wonderful works of God with an ability that only God can give. Amazing, amazing. Cornelius became the open door to the Gentile world. Up to this point, the gospel was only for the Jew.

Do you understand that? Only for a little sliver of land, just a little wee piece of real estate on the face of the earth. The gospel to this point was only for people inside that boundary and of that particular culture.

But God used one man, one man who went through a door because he was hungry for more. God used one man to open the way to eternal life and the empowerment of God to the entire Gentile world, unless you're Jewish here today, which is you and I.

One Hungry Heart Can Open the Way for Others

Phenomenal. When you have a hungry heart for God, you have no idea what God is going to do through your life. You have no idea in your hunger for God what kind of doors are going to open before you and how many people's lives will be affected because you were so thirsty for him that you were willing to call for his word.

You didn't care what people thought about you. You didn't care what they said. You were just starving for the word of God. You wanted to know what God had for your future. You wanted the power of God to be able to see it accomplished.

You wanted to honor him with all your heart. You were willing to fast. You were willing to pray. You were willing to seek him with all your heart. You saw the promise that was there in whatever texts he had that showed him the character of God.

There was something in the heart of this man that knew that God could use him for more than what he had experienced. Suddenly, this incredible door opens through one hungry heart. That's the point I feel the Lord would have me make today.

What God can do through one hungry heart. What God can do. See, Cornelius couldn't take the gospel to the Gentile world. It would be foolish for him to try, but God could through him. God could make a difference.

When you are willing to hear the word of God for you, when you're willing to have your heart open to his will and way, beginning with your own house, to your friends, to your neighbors, to people you've not met yet, in places you've never gone, there's no limit to what God can do through a hungry heart.

It's an amazing miracle. I remember in my own life when I was young, I had no ability to speak. I was afraid of people more or less in crowded rooms because of past experience. I had little to offer the kingdom of God, except I had a hungry heart.

I had a constant prayer, Lord, I want to serve you. Lord, I want to serve you. Lord, I want to make a difference. I began to pray in secret. When I was a young cop, I was walking the beat one day and I just started praying in secret, Lord, I want to win a hundred thousand people to you before I die.

Then I began to be specific in my prayer. I said, I don't want them to just be people who raise their hand in a service somewhere, but people who actually live for you, who actually walk with you, who actually end up at your throne.

You can look them in the eye and say, well done, good and faithful servant. I'd never preached a sermon. I had no ability to speak in public whatsoever and never gone anywhere outside of the confines of what society around me told me I was or wasn't or where I could go or where I couldn't go.

But I had a hungry heart and I believe that God could do more through me than I could ever hope to do through myself. I was willing to embrace the impossible and let go of all these realms of what seems possible in the natural and what others had spoken and even what my own heart at a certain point believed.

And I prayed. I said, God, I'm asking you to do something so far beyond me. Fast forward. I wrote it all in the book called It's Time to Pray. I'm in the fields of Nigeria in the midst of a civil war.

Somewhere between four to 700 ,000 by local estimates, people are gathered in this. You can't see an end to the crowd in any direction. And I remember that first night preaching to both nominal Christians, Christians and Muslims, and talking about the worthlessness of all religion that has no compassion for its neighbor and asking people if they're willing to open their hearts to receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

And that night about a hundred thousand people raised their hands to receive Christ as their Savior. I went back to my hotel room and suddenly it dawned on me, God, a prayer I prayed years ago when all I had was a hungry heart and no ability.

You have answered it in one hour. You answered my prayer in one message. And I got down on my knees beside my bed to give him thanks. And the first thing he spoke to my heart when I got on my knees, he said, Carter, don't limit me.

Christ’s Open Door and the Church’s Faithfulness

Don't limit what I can do. Don't put boundaries around me. There's no limit to what can be accomplished through a hungry heart. The book of Revelation chapter three in verse eight, there was a particular church there called Philadelphia.

And he says to this church, he said, I know your works. See, I've set before you an open door and no one can shut it. For you have a little strength. You've kept my word and you've not denied my name.

In other words, I know your heart hungers for me. He was saying to this little strength church, I know that you want my presence in your life. I know that you don't have a lot of confidence in yourself or in your own abilities, but I've set before you an open door that no one can shut.

I've set before you. I'm speaking to somebody here this morning. I'm speaking to somebody online, to somebody in the balcony, to somebody in the annex, to somebody in North Jersey, to somebody at summit, to somebody I've set before you an open door.

No one can shut it. You only have a little strength, but you've kept my word. As much as you've known, you tried to walk with me and you have not denied my name, which means you have not allowed unbelief to grip your heart.

You still believe that I'm God. You still believe that I can do what I say I will do. You still believe that I have thoughts about you for the future. You still believe that my plans for you are for good and not for evil to bring you to a desired end.

You still believe that all things are possible with God. You still believe you only have a little strength. You already know it can't be accomplished by any amount of your own effort. You don't have a resume on your wall.

You don't have a certificate that could ever perform this, but you still believe that I'm God. And so I've set before you an open door. I've set before you an open door and I'm going to do something so powerful in you and through you.

He says that people will come and worship at your feet. People will come and have to acknowledge that I have loved you. Not by power, not by might, but by my spirit, says the Lord. They will acknowledge that I've loved you.

Hallelujah to the Lamb of God. Glory to the name of Jesus. Pastor Teresa and I have not brought to you as two of your pastors in this church, we've not brought to you a theory about God, but an experience with God.

We've walked with God. We've seen what God can do. We've known his power. He set before us in the littleness of us, strength and open door. And we walked through that door. We had no idea where it was going to lead when Pastor Teresa and myself and a bus driver started getting together on Tuesday night in an area of 40 square miles with no testimony of Christ that was of any real strength for over a hundred years.

They called it a pastoral burnout area. I was told that nothing ever survives at anybody has ever tried there. And so God took three people with no strength, no training, no ability. None of us had ever preached a sermon.

And we began to meet on Tuesday night and we began to pray. We said, God, for your namesake, for your namesake, Lord, set the people free in this area, for your namesake, do something, raise up something.

We weren't even thinking about ourselves. We were just asking him to do what only he can do. Praise be to God. I remember the night we broke through as if it was yesterday, a sudden surge of joy. We were all in different areas of the living room.

We were just praying. We met every Tuesday and we just started at seven and we finished when we finished. And we were praying that God, for your namesake. I remember my person, there's people, Lord, who say it can't be done.

I don't believe that. I don't believe there's anything you can't do. I don't believe there's any situation you can't change. I simply refuse to believe there's an area of the country you can't break into.

I don't believe what they've said about you. That's a dishonoring thing to your name. And so God, for the sake of the people and for the glory of your name, do something in this area. And then suddenly we broke through and there was nothing tangible.

It was just something in our heart. We knew we had passed through a veil of some sort and the joy of the Lord that hit us was just unspeakable. It was amazing. I remember I started laughing. I was in the corner and I thought, boy, this is so irreverent.

I shouldn't be laughing. And I tried to suppress it, but my shoulders were shaking and I started laughing. Just the joy was bubbling up in me. And then I turned around and I looked and I saw Pastor Teresa and her shoulders are shaking.

And I looked at the bus driver and he's laughing. The joy of the Lord hit all of us. We broke through. We broke through and suddenly there was a door, just a little door. I've set before you an open door.

And he began to call us to go through that door. And the rest is history. And because we went through that door, churches were established. People are still being fed there today. Many, many people came to Christ.

We went through that door. It led us into many, many different places and ultimately here today. I've set before you an open door and we were praying, God, send somebody, send somebody, raise up somebody, bring in somebody.

And we're always thinking like big name, big budget, the way you naturally think. And then one day it just dawned on us, us for real. You want us to do this? I've set before you. See, we didn't have anything but a hungry heart.

And so you don't have to have certificates on your wall or this four foot resume, just a hungry heart. And like Cornelius, just because the man was hungry for God, suddenly the way of salvation is open to the rest of the world.

He was the door that God chose to send this incredible news through to the Gentile world. Just one man with a hungry heart, which is my point. You have no idea what God will do through you. There are many people here today that if you yield to God's plan for your life, he's got something so much bigger than anything you've thought your life could amount to.

Taking the First Step Through Faith

But now you have to send for his word. Say, Lord, speak to me, speak to my heart. And it starts with one little step. And then another step, you don't end up on a platform before hundreds of thousands in a day, starts with a step of faith.

And then you start working from there and you just keep going through every door way he opens, you just keep going through it. This generation needs to see the church again, empowered by the spirit of God.

Now, if that's you today, here's what you have to have to respond today to this. You have to have nothing, no ability. You have to feel almost completely paralyzed spiritually. Feel like you have nothing to offer God, but you have a hungry heart.

You say, Lord, this is what I have. Now I'm sending for your word for me. Come and speak to me. Tell me what you have for my life and give me the courage to believe that through my life that you can do something that's so much bigger than I could even think or imagine.

For that's what your word tells me that you do. And that's what your word tells me that you are. And so Father, I thank you, Lord, that you are calling to your people at this time in this generation, Lord.

This is your word, Lord, to your house. God, we recognize that we need your Holy Spirit. We know that without the anointing of your spirit, we go nowhere. We can't accomplish anything other than maybe a few good deeds, but Lord, you can take us so much farther.

And you showed us, Lord, in this story, what you were able to do through one hungry, honest heart. Oh, Jesus. I just want to thank you for Cornelius today. Thank you, Lord, that somebody came before us that you could flow through and bring a message of redemption to each of us here today.

Lord, we ask you that you would flow through us now to others that we could become the open door of your life and the message of hope and the strength and the power that people need to get through the darkness of this day.

And Father, we thank you for it with all of our heart in Jesus' name. We're going to worship for just a few moments. I'm going to give an altar call here in the main sanctuary and in the annex as well, over in North Jersey and at home.

An Altar Call for a Hungry Heart

Here it is. Here am I, Lord. Send me. Here am I, God. Give me your word. Give me your plan. Give me your spirit. I want to be used of you, Lord, in my generation. I want my life to make a difference. Lift your hands to the Lord.

Now, out loud, in your own words, just tell him, just ask, say, God, send me your word, your word to me. Just go ahead. Lift your voice to the Lord. Just ask him. God, give me your word. God, give me your word.

God, give me your word. God, speak to my heart. God, lead me where you want me to go. Give me courage to believe you, Lord. Give me courage, God, when it seems impossible. Help me to believe, Lord. Help me, God, to keep going forward and never backwards, Lord.

Help me, Lord, God. Help me, God, to honor your name and to let you be God inside of my life. Hallelujah.

Thank you, Lord Jesus. Thank you, Lord. You tell us in your word that you are the door. And, Lord, we thank you today that as we give you, O God, a heart, we just ask you, O God, please keep it alive.

Keep us wanting you above all things. Thank you that you're more than willing to answer that. Thank you, O God, that we don't want to limit you. Thank you for forgiving us and loving us. Thank you for ministering to us.

Thank you, O God, you are our future and our hope. Thank you, Lord, when we just follow you, you become the door of opportunity. Lord, you are the plan. You are our way, O God. We just thank you that as we walk with you, you will be the open door and you will say, follow this way.

I can use you this way. I will love you this way. I will heal you this way. Thank you, Lord Jesus. You're our open door. We don't have to search for you, Lord. You will create a way where there is no way.

Where there's a wall, you become a door. Where it's shut up, you become the door of forwardness. Thank you, O God, Lord. You, Lord, you know what we need. And I just thank you today. There is never a restriction with you.

There are never limits with you. It is a limitless love. It is a limitless love, the way that, O God, you will lead our lives. Thank you, Lord, that when we have a heart for you, nothing is impossible.

Thank you. When we have a heart for you, the devil is defeated. Thank you. Our sin is forgiven. Thank you, O God. You love us, Lord, and you will continue to love us. Thank you, Lord. You have the plan and you know what you will do with our lives.

Thank you. We don't have to worry. We don't have to live in anxiety. You are the plan and you have the plan, O God, and it's a great one. So, Lord, we just thank you today. We know now, O God, a hungry heart for you, O God.