A Great Door Is Opened Unto Me (2 Of 2)

Illus: Pastor Jack Hinton was on a short-term missions trip. He was leading worship at a leper colony on the island of Tobago. A woman who had been facing away from the pulpit turned around.

Pastor Hinton got his first look at her, and he said, "It was the most hideous face I had ever seen." He said, "The woman's nose and ears were entirely gone.”

She lifted a finger-less hand in the air and asked, “Can we sing Count Your Many Blessings?"

Overcome with emotion, Hinton left the service. A team member followed him, saying, "I guess you'll never be able to sing that song again."

"Yes I will," Hinton replied, "but I'll never sing it the same way."

• Some people can face all kinds of difficulties in life, and they can see blessings.

• Some people can be surrounded by blessings, and they go through life complaining as if they do not have a thing in this world to be grateful for.

The same thing is true concerning OPPORTUNITIES. Some can go through life as if life has passed them by, and they have never had an opportunity in their life.

But that is not so. THE DOOR OF OPPORTUNITY HAS BEEN OPENED BEFORE THEM ON MANY OCCASIONS, BUT THEY HAVE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO FIND THE DOOR.

Illus: Have you ever tried to find a door in a dark room? I am convinced that the reason God gave us toes is so that we can find the bedpost.

Many have been bumping around in the dark. The door of opportunity has been opened for them on many occasions, but they never could find it.

The things they do with their lives have no ETERNAL VALUE WHATSOEVER!

Illus: When they die you can calculate:

• How many hamburgers they ate

• How much air they have breathed

• How many cars they bought in their life time

• How many pair of shoes they have bought

But you cannot calculate what they have done for Christ because their lives have had NO ETERNAL VALUE WHATSOEVER!

We mentioned in a previous message, how for us to enter these GREAT DOORS God has placed before us we have to:

(1) SURRENDER TO HIM

(2) SACRIFICE FOR HIM

Once we do THIS, we need to be prepared for-

II. THE OPPOSITION

“...there are many adversaries”

You will notice that the most popular man in the church today is the apostle Paul.

Every Sunday, all over this nation, preachers are preaching about him or the things God inspired him to write in the scriptures.

But this man who is very popular today, said that when he took advantage of these OPPORTUNITIES that God placed before him, there were “Many Adversaries” there to stop him.

Notice, he did not say a few adversaries, but many adversaries.

Listen, the reason that many do not take advantage of THE OPEN DOORS OF OPPORTUNITY that God has placed before them, is because the moment they start to walk through those doors, the devil meets them and says, “Where do you think you are going?

If anyone is not determined, guess what? They will not be able to take advantage of those opportunities.

Illus: Remember when David came to the campsite of his brother, and the giant Goliath was blaspheming the God of Israel, and David wanted to know who the big mouth was that was blaspheming the God of Israel? They told him, and David wanted to know why no one had shut him up by now.

There was not a man in the whole camp that had the courage to stand up to Goliath. But David was willing.

THIS WAS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR HIM TO DO SOMETHING FOR THE LORD.

They made fun of him, and Goliath really thought it was funny.

It seem like David did not stand a chance, but in spite of the fact that everyone thought he was crazy for his willingness to do something about this evil giant called Goliath, David went out to face the enemy.

HE SAW IT AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE A STAND FOR THE LORD, AND THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT HE DID, AND GOD BLESSED THE STAND HE MADE.

Listen, you can’t walk up to the devil and smack him GOOD, and not have him smack you back.

• The Bible says, “All that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecutions.”

• But some seem to translate that verse to read, “All that live godly in Christ Jesus shall live happily ever after!”

Paul said there was a GREAT DOOR opened to him, and there were also MANY ADVERSARIES who were trying to stop him from doing what God wanted him to do.

Listen, the devil is not going to pick on someone that is not doing that much. Why? Because what little they are doing to oppose him is so insignificant, they are not worth his time.