Divine Openings (Easter)

DIVINE OPENINGS

Luke 24:1-3, 13-16, 28-32

INTRO.- I Cor. 16:9 Paul said, “A great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me.”

A GREAT DOOR HAS OPENED TO ME. Many times throughout our lives certain doors are opened to us. Doors of opportunity.

ILL.- A motorist, after being bogged down in a muddy road, paid a passing farmer five dollars to pull him out with his tractor. After he was back on the road he said to the farmer, “At those prices, I would think you would be pulling people out of the mud night and day.”

“Can’t,” replied the farmer, “AT NIGHT I HAUL WATER FOR THE MUD HOLE.” That farmer made his own door to some fast money.

Every day doors open to us. Sometimes we are aware of those doors and sometimes we are blind to them.

ILL. - Some years ago an energetic young man began as a clerk in a hardware store. Like many old-time hardware stores, the inventory included thousands of dollars’ worth of items that were obsolete or seldom called for by customers.

The young man was smart enough to know that no thriving business could carry such an inventory and still show a healthy profit. He proposed a sale to get rid of the stuff. The owner was reluctant but finally agreed to let him set up a table in the middle of the store and try to sell off a few of the oldest items. Every product was priced at ten cents. The sale was a success and the young fellow got permission to run a second sale. It, too, went over just as well as the first. This gave the young clerk an idea.

Why not open a store that would sell only nickel and dime items? He could run the store and his boss could supply the capital. The young man’s boss was not enthusiastic. "The plan will never work," he said, "because you can’t find enough items to sell at a nickel and a dime."

The young man was disappointed but eventually went ahead on his own and made a fortune out of the idea. His name was F.W. Woolworth. NOW YOU KNOW. Years later his old boss lamented, "As near as I can figure it, every word I used in turning Woolworth down has cost me about a million dollars!"

Open doors. F. W. Woolworth saw an open door of opportunity and didn’t pass it up. As a result, he made a fortune out of it.

The same thing that happened to him materially can happen to people spiritually.

ILL.- Bob Russell is the Senior Minister of the Southeast Christian Church, Louisville, KY. He has been there since the church started around 1965. At that time, they had about 130 people in their morning worship service. The best I recall, they have been through three building programs and are now worshipping in a building that seats 9,000 people. Their average weekend attendance in three services runs about 14,000. And no telling how many people they will have for their Easter services.

Bob Russell said that he wanted to preach in a church that was interested in reaching out to the lost, not one that was interested in just maintaining the status quo. APPARENTLY, GOD OPENED A DOOR TO THAT CHURCH. God good took Bob Russell seriously and opened a door and the Southeast Christian Church has been growing ever since.

Whenever God opens a door, we need to walk through it! This goes for all Christians! God doesn’t open doors for a select few. He opens doors for all His people. WE NEED TO BE “OPEN” TO HIS OPENINGS! We need to be open to divine openings!

PROP.- In Luke chapter 24 there are several divine openings that we need to think about this resurrection Sunday.

1- The opened tomb

2- The opened eyes

3- The opened Scriptures

I. THE OPENED TOMB

Luke 24:1-3 They went to the tomb and “found the stone rolled away.” AN OPEN TOMB. AN EMPTY TOMB.

ILL.- Have you ever been to Hornet, Missouri? It’s located about 10 miles south of Joplin, MO, and just a couple of miles from Oklahoma. WHY WOULD YOU EVEN WANT TO GO THERE? Because it’s there that you can see the famous “Spook light.” Yes, it’s true. What?! You’ve never heard of the “Spook light”? It’s a light that travels up and down a certain road near Hornet, MO. Here’s what people have said about it.

ILL.- The Missouri Department of Natural Resources’ 1990 book, Geologic Wonders and Curiosities of Missouri, reads, “Some people think that the light at the Devils Promenade is the ghost of an Osage Chief who was murdered near this spot; others say that it is the spirit of a Quapaw maiden who drowned herself in the river when her warrior was killed in battle." Other theories . . . . are those of marsh gas, automobile lights driving east on Highway 66, and Quapaw, Oklahoma airport beacon lights. . . . .