OPEN DOORS COME WITH ADVERSARIES
1 Cor. 16:8-9
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. A man came up to the preacher after service and said, “That was an excellent sermon, but it was not original.” The preacher was taken aback, for he had written it himself.
2. The man said he had a book at home, containing every word the preacher said. “Okay, bring it.” The next day, the man brought the preacher a dictionary.
B. TEXT
"For a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries." 1 Cor. 16:8-9, KJV.
C. THESIS
1. Paul tells the Corinthians his reason for staying at Ephesus: because a great door, and effectual, was opened to him, and there were many adversaries.
2. It seems like a contradiction that a bad situation should be a good one, but that’s exactly what Paul thought. He saw difficult situations as opportunities to speak about Jesus.
3. Let’s pick up his rationale as we study how “Open Doors Come With Adversaries.”
I. A DOOR OF OPPORTUNITY IS OPENED
A. WHAT SUCH A DOOR LOOKS LIKE
1. Paul’s “great door” means a “widely-opened” door. A door is a means of admittance to a closed building, and an open door invites approach into the entrance.
2. Paul perceived that this “wide door” was a summons from God for him to evangelize this great city of Asia Minor. Ephesus was a large city that was a center of large pilgrimages to worship the goddess Diana.
3. The idolatry (sex-cult) and vice which prevailed were some of the worst in the Roman Empire. Human sorrows, difficulties, and temptations abounded; so that there was a desperate need for evangelistic and pastoral labor.
4. Further, there seems to have been a remarkable hunger for truth and to hear the gospel of Christ. Paul describes his ministry as being “effective” – successfully received.
B. PAUL’S EPHESUS MINISTRY IN THE BOOK OF ACTS
1. In Acts 18:19-21, Paul arrived in Ephesus and reasoned with the Jews, but only stayed a short time.
2. Paul returned in Acts 19 and the entire chapter details his 1). praying for 12 men to be filled with the Spirit (19:1-7); 2). his teaching the Jews & then the gentiles for 2 years (8-10); 3). the special miracles God worked and the incident of the 7 sons of Sceva; and 4). the great riot of his enemies.
3. I would guess it was the second visit (Acts 19) he refers to as the great door of success he wrote the Corinthians about. The whole subcontinent heard the Word, great miracles of God occurred, the witches burned their scrolls, and so many people left idolatry that the artisans rioted. This is one of those place he “turned upside down!”
4. Amazing results! Paul was enabled to bring over great multitudes to Christ. So Paul determined to STAY at Ephesus, as long as the revival held high.
5. Paul shows us that the opportunity to win people to Christ should be viewed as an assignment from God and cause us to set aside extra time to that productive field.
II. SATAN RAISED UP OPPOSITION
A. THE DIVERSITY OF OPPOSITION
1. It’s amazing how many directions opposition came from; it arose from both Jews and Gentiles. It didn’t come from just one subgroup of sinners, but from all. And they had different reasons to oppose the truth.
2. Paul offended the JEWS by preaching Jesus as the Son of God. He offended the GENTILES by exposing the foolishness of idolatry. When I was a teenager, my lost parents didn’t like how extreme my sinful life was with drugs and wild living. But when I became a Christian they didn’t like how godly my life became because it exposed their selfish, sinful lives! (They would rather I was a decent sinner!)
3. Opposition to God is part of the human problem of separation from God. If they opposed Jesus, they will oppose us. The disciple shouldn’t expect to be above his/her Master.
4. The opposition ran the gamut of possibilities; from slander and misrepresentation to open hostility and violence. Somehow Paul saw that God was with him no matter how the attack occurred – including beatings & stonings. He believed he was called to suffer along with Christ; we may be too.
B. SUCCESS FOR GOD CREATES ENEMIES. Great success in the work of the Gospel commonly creates many enemies.
1. The devil opposes soulwinners and disciplers the most, and creates the most trouble for them. Why? Because they are tearing down his kingdom.
2. Paul, like a gladiator, viewed his competition with excitement and gusto. “Greater is He who is within ME, than he that is in this world!” 1 Jn. 4:4. Some think he alludes to the custom of the Roman Circus, and the doors of it, at which the charioteers were to enter, as their antagonists did at the opposite doors.
3. True courage is whetted by opposition; and it is no wonder that the Christian courage of the apostle should be animated by the zeal of his adversaries.
4. Earl Nightingale said, “Wherever there is danger, there lurks opportunity; whenever there is opportunity, there lurks danger. The two are inseparable. They go together.”
5. Lewis Grizzard said, “The game of life is a lot like football. You have to tackle your problems, block your fears, and score your points when you get the opportunity.”
6. Wayne Dyer said, “Everything is either an opportunity to grow or an obstacle to keep you from growing. You get to choose.”
7. Winston Churchill said, “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”
III. GOD OFTEN WORKS DURING HUMAN DISPLACEMENT
A. WHEN GOD IS THE ONLY ANSWER
1. When people have no answers for life’s problems – that’s when they have to turn to God. After the attack on 9/11, the U.S. Government couldn’t help us – people turned to God. During COVID, when everyone was told to stay home for months, there was no one to save us but God. When countries are dragged into wars and face annihilation, the people turn to God for comfort and hope.
2. Controversies serve to draw attention to the cause of Christ, and the gospel is sure to profit when Christian leaders can find a way to involve the Gospel in meeting human needs.
3. So don’t panic when the world falls apart or the bottom falls out; it’s really an opportunity for God. When people no longer have any WORLDLY solid foundation, they then can discover GOD as their real foundation.
B. HOW DID PAUL VIEW THE RISE OF ENEMIES?
1. It actually excited him, because he knew that Satan wouldn’t fight so hard unless there was a great prize to be won. Satan, as a guardian cherub, senses when his territory is in danger and begins to fight the emissaries of God.
2. The situation actually GREW PAUL’S FAITH in God’s power and brought it to a higher degree. “Where sin abounds, God’s grace does much more abound” Rom. 5:20.
3. Obstacles serve to test the quality of the believers, and to bring out their courage and faith (like silver, which by fire, separates from dross). The 3 Hebrews rose to prominence because they took a difficult stand for God. Result? God prospered them and faith in Jehovah spread.
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. In March 2009, a gang of Muslims in Jos, Nigeria broke into Bishop Benjamin Kwashi's house to kill him. He wasn't home, but his wife was. They beat her terribly.
2. A year to the day after, in March 2010, they came back. They broke into his home and dragged him out to kill him. They had machetes and clubs. Benjamin asked for just a moment to pray before they began. So he knelt there on the dirt and began to pray.
3. A moment later he felt someone holding his hand. He looked up, and it was his wife. She could have run, but instead she broke through the attackers and knelt with her husband. A moment later, he felt someone holding his other hand. He looked, and it was his teenage son. Benjamin begged his son to leave so that he wouldn't be killed as well.
4. And his son said, "Father, they've all left. They're all gone." Why did they leave? Benjamin said he has no idea. We can only guess that the God of Heaven convicted them and made them go away. Since that time, Bishop & Mrs. Kwashi’s presence has safeguarded the Christians in Jos and they came to national prominence because they wouldn’t leave or be afraid.
B. THE CALL
1. Let’s pray to have greater courage to witness and faith to see the opportunities that God puts before us.
2. PRAYER
[This contains some thoughts of Matthew Henry and J.R. Thomson.]
