Pastor Toby Powers, Truth Baptist Church, Bremen, GA. www.trumpetoftruthonline.org
I Corinthians 16:9 "For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries." KJV
A GREAT DOOR IS OPEN
I Corinthians 16:9
Intro: Paul, writing to the Corinthians from Ephesus on his third missionary journey, expresses his desire to see the Corinthian converts again and to spend some significant time with them. But he would have to wait until God was through with him in Ephesus where he would tarry until Pentecost, for God had opened for him a great and effectual door in the work there. I want to preach today on “A GREAT DOOR IS OPEN.”
The opened door speaks of an opportunity awaiting that needs to be seized upon. God had opened the door to Paul to minister in Ephesus. God knows how to open the door.
Hosea 2:15, He opened a “door of hope”
Acts 14:27, He opened a “door of faith”
Colossians 4:3, He opened a “door of utterance”
Rev 3:8, “I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it”
John 10:7 & 9, Jesus said, “I am the door” He knows how to open the door! You may think the world is closing in on you, and there is no way, but he makes a way where there is no way. He closed the door to the ark when it rained, but when the waters asswaged, he opened the door again! He had given Paul an open door, an opportunity in the ministry, a place to serve God with the liberty of the Holy Ghost, and it was up to Paul to use the door. God creates the door, opens the door, and it is up to us to use the door!
I. The Description Of The Door:
A. The Prospect Of The Door: Great in its size and great in its significance. The work of God is not a work without purpose. It is a great work, a high calling, a sizeable responsibility, and a significant labor. What goes on in these little Sunday School rooms is bigger than what is happening in the strategy sessions at mega-corporations! We are doing the Lord’s work as he provides an open door! We deal with the prospect of eternity. IT IS A GREAT DOOR.
B. The Production Of The Door: Effectual- Producing an effect, adapted to success, presenting opportunity for great effect. There was a great opportunity for the preaching of the Gospel. There were men that NEEDED to hear. There were men that WANTED to hear. One writer said that the tense of the root word for effectual signified “full of labor.” Paul was saying there was work to do, but God had given the place to do it and the power to finish it. Another writer said that Paul must have had in mind the Circus Maximus before the chariot races began. He was a racer sitting at the starting block; the door to the arena had been swung open, and he was bursting through with the message of salvation for all who would hear it.
C. The Position Of The Door: Opened. The position matters. A closed door is more akin to a barrier than a passageway. God will put those in your life sometimes as well, and if he closes the door, nobody can open it. But, Paul said God had presented to him an opened door. It was not a barrier; it was a passageway to sharing the Gospel. Paul was not about to abandon the place where he was doing business for God so long as God kept the door open.
II. The Disturbance At The Door: (There Are Many Adversaries) We all face them. Sometimes it is from without the church. Sometimes it is from religious people. Sometimes it is from within us! But Paul requested prayer when he was writing to the Thessalonians saying in II Thess 3:1-2, “Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you: And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith.”
A. Your Foe Will Oppose You: I Peter 5:8, Pray the Word has free course, accomplishes its work and God’s purpose unimpeded, not unopposed, just unimpeded. Evil, unreasonable, wicked men may oppose you, but when God opens the door, they can not impede. Isa 59:19 “When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.” Rev 3:8, Even the gates of hell shall not prevail against it!
B. Your Family Will Oppress You: I Sam 1:7, Peninnah oppressed Hannah each year when they went to worship because of her failure to bear children. Sometimes family members will distract you from worship over things that have nothing to do with why you even came to church to begin with. You will have to press through the adversary.
C. Your Friends Will Obstruct You: Psalms 41:9 “Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.” We all face it from time to time. A friend pats us on the back with a knife in their hands!
Are You Experiencing A Disturbance At Your Door? The opportunity to serve God is great, but the opposition is present. You must press through!
III. The Disciple Before The Door: Paul looked at this open door and saw:
A. He Was Chosen: (Opened Unto Me), Others could not do what Paul had been chosen to do. It was his door, his opportunity, his ministry, and his responsibility.
B. He Was Challenged: (There Are Many Adversaries), He was not unaware of the challenges, but he was not scared off by the enemy either.
C. He Was Committed: v. 8, (But I Will Tarry…Until) Will you stay? Will you labor? Will you work? Will you commit?
Do You Realize That You Have Been Chosen? Will You Arise To The Challenge? Will You Commit Yourself To Go Through This Door?
Conclusion: The place you have been called to labor seems so small and little known. But it is great if God is in it, and he’ll not forget his own! Work while the door is open, and until God closes it.
