By the Rev. C. Dennison, TBS Deputation Speaker

‘Behold, I have set before thee an open door’ (Revelation 3.8).

One difficulty many Christians, churches, and assemblies face is how to discern the will of God regarding doors of service. This is also true for the work of the Society, and in the Lord’s goodness we are in a position of increased opportunities and expanding work. How do we discern what doors God would have us enter? Scripture has some guiding principles.

Firstly, God is sovereign in opening doors. In 2 Corinthians 2.12, Paul says, ‘when I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel, and a door was opened unto me of the Lord’. We may desire certain doors of service, and we can gravitate towards certain doors due to emotions or personal experience, but ultimately, the Lord opens the doors He would have us enter. This has been the experience of the Society in longing for faithful translations in certain languages: no door seemed to open until the Lord Himself did it without us.

Sometimes the Lord may seem to open doors but we do not have the resources to undertake the work. We are then obliged to pray for assistance and wisdom so that we may be good stewards of both the open doors and our resources.

Secondly, we are to identify the doors God opens. To the church in Philadelphia the Lord Jesus Christ wrote, ‘behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it’ (Revelation 3.8). The door the Lord would have us enter will be an open door. It will not be a closed door, a locked door, or a door that other men can shut. It will also be ‘before us’, indicating that it will not be hidden, nor will we have to search it out.

The Apostle Paul experienced the Lord opening doors and closing doors. He desired to preach the Gospel in Asia but was ‘forbidden of the Holy Ghost’ (Acts 16.6). The Lord closed that door to him. However, Paul discerned the doors the Lord would have him enter. In 1 Corinthians 16.9, Paul said ‘For a great door and effectual is opened unto me’.

In the work of the Society various requests are brought before us. While many of them are genuine, not all fall under the remit of the Society. As we have been called to translate, publish, distribute, promote, and uphold the Word of God, works beyond this cannot be deemed an ‘open door’ for the Society.

Thirdly, we are to enter the door God opens. The church in Philadelphia was not merely notified about the open door; they were to use it. God is sovereign in opening the doors, but we are to enter these open doors. Not entering the door the Lord opens, and seeking out our own doors, is poor stewardship. Oftentimes, we enter through the door with simple faith, not knowing how God will bring certain projects to pass. It is only when we trust God and submit to His Will that we observe His sovereign, guiding Hand upon the work of the Society.

Fourthly, we are to pray for open doors. In writing to the church at Colosse, Paul asked for prayer: ‘Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ’ (Colossians 4.3). It should be a matter of earnest prayer that the Lord would open doors for the work of the Society. The door we are to pray for is a door to advance the Kingdom of Christ through the translation, printing, and distribution of Holy Scripture. In this, we are not to pray for the advancement of our name but the advancement of Christ’s Name.

Fifthly, we are to give God the glory for open doors. In Acts 14.27 we read of Paul and Barnabas, ‘And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles’. Paul and Barnabas acknowledged that the open doors afforded to them were not due to their own talents, ability, or wisdom, but all glory belongs to the Lord. This Annual Report is a record of how God has opened doors for the Society, and He is to have all of the glory.

Since 1831 the purpose of the Society has been to ‘to promote the Glory of God and the salvation of men, by circulating, both at home and abroad, in dependence on the Divine blessing, the HOLY SCRIPTURES, which are given by inspiration of God, and are able to make men wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus’. May God continue to open doors for this purpose, for the glory of His Name.

‘For a great door and effectual is opened unto me’ (1 Corinthians 16.9).

First published in Quarterly Record 652. Published online 9 September 2025.