An Open Door
1 Corinthians 16:5-9
* When one door closes, another opens, but we often look so long and regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one that has opened for us.
-- Alexander Graham Bell
* What comes to your mind when hear the term open door? A door is a movable barrier use to open and close the entrance to a building, closet, room, or vehicle. Cyber Salvage is the business I frequent for computers and supplies. On the front of their building is a huge door which makes the building almost impregnable when closed and almost inviting when open. This is how a door operates and gives us our concept for Paul’s message and our message today. If it is closed, it is impassable and conversely, if it is open, it is a welcome sight because it means come in, this is the way.
* To read the life of Paul is to understand that He was all about finding the door God was opening and walk through it. At the same time, He had no desire to attempt to force open the door that God had shut. Several times he writes about God’s shutting the door and He does not disobey the leadings of the Lord. In our text, there are at least 3 open doors which we need to consider and understand.
1. Door Of Opportunity – At least 3 times a week I receive and email, normally in my junk box, that says, “Opportunity of a Lifetime”, or “This is your Opportunity to be your own boss” (reading this one, I wonder if it’s an advertisement for a divorce attorney). Seriously, everyone likes a good opportunity.
* Paul knew that any door which God opened was a great door of opportunity. Consider His words, I want to come to see you, spend time with you, and even stay there for the winter months, BUT God has other ideas. He has opened this door for me and I have to walk through His door. HCSB says “wide door for effective ministry” and KJV says, “A great door and effectual is opened for me.” He uses the word “great and effectual”. The Greek word for effectual is the word from which we get our word “energy” while the word for great is the word from which we get our prefix “mega.” What was so great about Paul’s open door, after all, he was in Ephesus. Why would a Christian think that this evil town was such a great place to be? It was a thriving, bustling city as well as a very decadent town! The Temple of Diana (Artemis) was located there. The worship of Artemis (or Diana) was an evil unto itself. Additionally, Ephesus reported was a sanctuary for criminals. For most, this is not the place to be, yet Paul understood the great opportunity for Him.
* It is in the darkest of night that the light shines the brightest! Someone once said, the pessimist sees the problem and the optimist sees the opportunity. The Bible says, in the opportunities “I” will help you to overcome the problems! From a purely humanistic view, Paul had no reason to remain in Ephesus, yet, Paul sense that God was breaking the ground for a great work and He, Paul, was to be a part of it. So Paul gave Himself FULLY to the work.
* It is my sense that God is preparing this congregation for a great work. The preparation is not easy or quick, but needed. As we move forward through these next 6 months, I believe, God is giving each one of us an “open door of opportunity” to be a part of a work which we cannot explain. How long since you were of part of something like this?
* On my desk I have the list of possible ways we can reach out and touch this community with the gospel, but my leading from God is that first we have some personal business to do in the area of our motivation.
* You see, our motivation should not be to build a “large membership,” that would be a result. Our goal is to be motivated to bring people the gospel of Jesus so that the Holy Spirit can change hearts and lives.
* Let’s do a motivation check. (don’t respond) How many would walk through an open door, if you know that $1M was awaiting you? In fact, how many would walk through that door on the outside chance there was that much money waiting? Now, would you walk through a door for 10 souls? Yes, you say. But what if that door required you to make a significant change to YOUR life? What if it impacted your schedule, you money, and even your hobbies?
* Paul just finished (16:1) talking about handling money, now he talking about handling life and time. In a letter just a few years later, Paul would say to the Ephesians, “make the most of every opportunity.” Why? “Because the days are evil so do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” What is that? That we discover His personal door of opportunity and walk through it. We have a great door.
* The second door I mention is one that I “sense” though not said. It is the
2. Door Of Obligation – As I read Paul’s words, I sense that he really wants to come to Corinth to reconnect with the people & renew the friendship. Yet, Paul always carefully considered what Christ had done for HIM and, as we read in the letter to Rome (his next letter), Paul felt an obligation. In Romans 1:14 he writes, “I am obligated to the Greeks and Barbarians and that is why I am eager to preach the gospel to you.”
An Open Door – Pg 3* This is not a choice for Paul, this was obedience versus disobedience. An obligation is something we owe, a debt not satisfied, and a loan with an outstanding balance. Paul felt this obligation to do what NO one else could or would do because he knew God had called Him to do it.
* Obligation is one of the serious issues surrounding the 21st century Baptist church today. I never ceased to be amazed at the number of “believers” who refuse to obligate themselves to the Lord’s word. Honestly, many of the new churches are, from the very beginning, asking people to sign “membership covenants” which have half-dozen statements of commitment (obligation) on it. It is becoming clear to many that ‘if we won’t sign our commitment, then we are probably not committed or obligated.
* Not attempting to be unkind but, we tend to obligate ourselves to the temporal and release ourselves from the eternal. Think about it; most of us do not hesitate to sign a financial commitment card for a boat, car, or house, but we are simply not going to sign a commitment to the church. There are many other illustrations (which all of us can think of) where we sign and obligate ourselves for things on earth and refuse to sign anything that commits us to things of a spiritual or eternal nature.
* I submit that some may well miss heaven and make hell because of our propensity to ignore or deny the obligation we have to the Lord. The door Christ opens is the door of both opportunity & obligation. But there is one more door and it is a door we need to be wary of. It is the;
3. Door Of Opposition – The last phrase of our text tell us that Paul was not working without problems. He said, “This is a great big wide open door but many do oppose me.” Never forget, where there is great opportunity there will be great opposition. One of the myths many buy into is that ‘because you face opposition, you are outside of God’s will.” Do you know what truly saddening truth which I have observed? In the days of Paul, his opposition came largely from people outside of the faith. Today, the sad truth is that the more you attempt to focus the attention of Jesus and the principles of scripture, the more internal opposition steps up.
* At a former church I pastured, God was tremendously blessing. People were matted in the hallways like flies. We had been on two morning services for close to 5 years and were still growing. We have just gone through the extended process of presenting to the church building plans and were laying forth the financial parts which all received unanimous support.
* I was headed into the second morning service surrounded by this mass of humanity and one of our ladies grabbed me by the arm to say, “I want to talk with you.” Okay. “It’s about this building we don’t need.” Really? Come on. Make no mistake; every time you step forward in faith, someone is going to be grabbing your arm to pull you backwards. Know what it’s like?
* It is like the days of Nehemiah when Sanballat said, “Come down off the wall and let’s talk about this.” The modern day problem in the church is this; we expect our Nehemiah to come down off the wall and talk about it. Turn with me to Nehemiah 6 and let’s see how he responded.
* I submit that the spiritual approach to the Lord’s work is to stay focused on the prize, the open door of opportunity.
* Did you know that someone is always going to say
> “Stop” – stop changing, no matter what good it does.
> “Don’t” – don’t believe you can make a difference.
> “Quit” – quit trying to find ways to reach new people.
> “Continue” – continue doing what you’ve always done.
* Satan’s words are simple and easy to recognize; be comfortable, be satisfied, don’t upset your convenience. Keep doing what you’ve always done in the way you’ve always done it and don’t worry about others.
* There was a TV commercial 8 or 10 years ago which showed an angel on each shoulder. One was the good and the other was bad. While I don’t mean to be trite, I could suggest that God is on one shoulder with the doors of opportunity and even obligation while the enemy is on the other should with the door of opposition. The question is “Who will we listen to?” Who will win the battle? The winner is the one who wins and owns your life!
