INTRODUCTION
Opening Statement: I remember applying to graduate school back in 1994. I submitted all of the necessary papers and finally received my acceptance letter. I was so excited that June day as I read my letter of acceptance. That letter meant so much to me that I kept it. [Read a portion of the letter] I was finally going to attend a school where all of my required classes would be Bible classes. It was a thrilling thought! But, there were a few “small obstacles” that looked pretty big at the time. For example, I didn’t have any money (that tends to throw a kink in your plans). Donnette was pregnant with Will. I had no way of securing a place to live 3 miles from downtown Dallas, TX. Even if I did make it there, I had no job waiting for me. But still, somehow, I knew this was the right idea, but I wasn’t sure on the timing. It wasn’t until August, 1995 that I finally made it to Dallas to begin graduate school. It took an entire year of providential experiences to convince me that this was a very real possibility for me and that God had in fact set before me an open door. For example, Dallas Seminary gave me some advanced standing credits, due to my Bachelor of Arts in Biblical Studies. God provided a Dallas Seminary extension site close to where I lived so that I could at least begin my studies to see how they were going to go. He gave me the opportunity of taking a 1-week summer class on the DTS campus. Before I left after that week there in Dallas, I had a job waiting on me if I decided to return, a place to live, and an “A” in the class. And the icing on the cake was one evening after I got back from Dallas. God sent softball-sized hail on my 1987 Honda Accord, which was already paid for. So the insurance adjuster just wrote me out a check for the dents and damages, which I never had fixed, but used the money to move to Dallas, TX. That hailstorm, known by insurance agencies as “acts of God”, financed my trip to the southwest to study theology.
Transition: The apostle Paul would call this “An Open Door.” He refers to this thought in his first letter to the Corinthians. Today, we will be equipped in how to know a new opportunity or an open door when we see it and how to make a proper decision.
Title: An Open Door
Review: Last week we talked about being equipped. Today, I want to do some equipping.
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Opening Statement: Have you ever wanted something to happen so badly that you began to orchestrate things and manipulate situations so that you could get what you wanted? Maybe it was a job, a boyfriend or a girlfriend that you wanted, a raise, an award. Rather than allowing God to orchestrate things and open the door in His time, you shoved and pushed and pulled and twisted and pried until you were just exhausted and spent. And still, the door remained closed.
Transition: Summer is often a time when we are tempted to do this. During our entire lives, but especially the summer season, important decisions are made, new opportunities are considered, and a transition into a new phase of life often occurs. We need to be equipped and prepared for these changes during this summer season. Paul helps us to do this. Paul occasionally used the door as a metaphor for opportunity (cf. 2 Cor. 2:12; Col. 4:3) or a place of transition. He does so in 1 Corinthians 16.
Background: Paul is in Ephesus on his third missionary journey, and he is writing to some friends in the church at Corinth advising them of his travel plans. Let’s read what he said…
Exposition:
1 Corinthians 16:5 But I will come to you after I have gone through Macedonia [Paul wanted to follow up on this church that he had planted in Corinth. New Christians need follow-up. But he also wanted to plant churches as he traveled to Corinth.] — for I will be going through Macedonia— 16:6 and perhaps I will stay with you, or even spend the winter, so that you can send me on my journey, wherever I go. [Paul wasn’t sure where he would end up after visiting the Corinthians.] 16:7 For I do not want to see you now in passing [There wouldn’t be enough time to visit.], since I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord allows. [Sometimes God changes our plans]. 16:8 But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, [Jewish annual feast or national holiday]. 16:9 because a door stands wide open for me, of great opportunity, but there are many opponents.
Paul had great plans. He knew Macedonia was in his future. He knew that Corinth was in his future. And he also knew that God was opening up a great door for him in Ephesus. Sometimes, our greatest open door is right where we’re at in the present. In fact, Paul ended up staying 3 years there, more than twice as long as he ever stayed any place else on his journeys. Ephesus became a center from which the gospel flowed throughout all the provinces surrounding them.
Key Word: I think there are some GENERAL CONCLUSIONS that we can make about Paul’s open door and the “open doors” that you and I will eventually encounter.
Proposition: When Paul saw that great door opening for him, he saw that it was a door of opportunity, a door of obligation, and a door of opposition.
Transition: An open door is…
OUTLINE
A Door of Opportunity
Explanation: Paul saw the opportunity in Ephesus and he called this opportunity an” open door.” There were so many people who needed to hear about Jesus, and Paul was determined to share the Gospel with them. As it turned out, he was able to capitalize on the open door in Ephesus for three years.
Observation: Now you only have to read the 19th chapter of Acts to learn what that wide door was. There we are told that Paul had been driven out of the synagogue and he had to rent a lecture hall to teach in. The apostle gathered people in that hall and taught them the Word of God. The effect of that phenomenal teaching was that the gospel literally exploded throughout the whole Roman province of Asia. Thus, churches were started all over the place. Paul said, "I’m not going to pass that by. Yes, I want to go to Macedonia. Yes, I want to see you Corinthians. But for now, I must exploit this open door.”
Application: Our first CONCLUSION: An open door will be wide open. You will not have to push or twist or pry it open. When God opens a door, it will be wide open and obvious. There will be many things that will confirm this open door.
I think you have a wide open door when your opportunity…
Fits your talents and abilities. Paul’s passion was sharing the gospel. His writings indicate that he was really good at it and could present the gospel to the lowly peasant as well as the members of the kingly court. When the lecture hall opened up in Ephesus for Paul to use as his base of teaching operations, it fit his talent and abilities. Lecturing and teaching about Christ was second nature to Paul. Open doors fit your talents and abilities. If you can’t sing, I doubt God is calling you to Nashville.
Meets your family and personal priorities. If an open door causes you to compromise your family or other important priorities, it’s not an open door. It would be a setback. Paul apparently wasn’t married neither did he have children. This explains why he could go on three missionary journeys and see new traveling and ministry opportunities as an “open door.”
Grows you spiritually. Open doors will contribute to your spiritual growth, not undermine it. Paul could call his Ephesian ministry an “open door” because it not only grew him spiritually, but it grew others as well.
Sits well with your closest friends. Paul had some close friends that traveled with him. He mentions these friends by name in some of his letters. He writes how they were an encouragement to him in doing the work of ministry. You know you have an open door when your closest friends come in alongside you and say, “You can do this.”
Steps you toward your dreams and goals. Paul wrote to the Romans, “Whenever I go to Spain…I hope to see you in passing… (15:24).” Paul’s goal was to eventually make it to Spain with the message of Christ. This opportunity in Ephesus and the surrounding towns would step him toward this goal.
Squares with Biblical values. The Bible certainly supported Paul’s goals of teaching the Gospel and of giving his time and energy to such a noble cause. An open door will square with Biblical values.
Gives you a sense of success and accomplishment. After spending so much time and energy on his journeys, Paul eventually testified, “I have finished my course… I have kept the faith… There is a crown…the Lord shall give to me…” An open door will give you this sense of accomplishment.
Illustration: When faced with a major opportunity, I take a sheet of paper, draw a line down the middle, label one side advantages and the other side disadvantages. If it’s a true opportunity that fits the above criteria, the advantages side will always come out ahead. Does your open door fit your talents and abilities? Does it gel with your family and personal priorities? Will it grow you spiritually? Do your closest friends support you? Is it a step toward a greater, God-exalting goal? Does it violate Bible principles? Will it provide you with a sense of success?
Transition: An open door is sometimes…
A Door of Obligation
Explanation: Paul also saw a door of obligation. He said, "The door is opened to me." He didn’t say it was opened to Timothy or Barnabas or someone else. It had opened to him. He felt a personal obligation to stay in Ephesus and preach the Word of God to them, even though there were some deep concerns in Corinth.
Application: Our second CONCLUSION: At times, an open door will strike you as a sense of responsibility…a responsibility to do your best at what you’ve been called to do. An open door goes beyond “I may do this” or “I’d like to do this.” An open door says, “I must do this.” An open door will be a conviction. There will be a sense in which you have to do this.
Illustration: I heard James Dobson talking this week that he’s going to be on Larry King Live and Larry King has asked him to talk about children. Dobson said, “I view this opportunity as a responsibility.” In other words, he couldn’t say “No” to the obligation he felt to speak out for children. This sermon assumes that there are times when God calls us to do something. He places his hand on us and calls us out and asks us to support something very close to his heart. And when we recognize God’s call, we must walk through the open door. Dobson has answered this call in particular regarding the Larry King interview and he has answered the call to defend the family his entire life.
Transition: An open door is sometimes…
A Door of Opposition
Explanation: The Apostle Paul also saw a door of opposition. He said regarding Ephesus, "There are many who oppose me." And if you read the 19th chapter of Acts you see what the opposition consisted of in Ephesus.
Observation: Ephesus was the second greatest city in the whole Roman world. At the heart of it was the Temple of Diana, a pagan temple where idols were worshipped in degrading sexual ways. The Christian church stood against the whole traffic of that temple, and yet it was the heart of the city; it was the banking place for all the merchants, and everything gathered around it. In Ephesus also were Jewish synagogues that bitterly opposed what Paul was doing. They hated him and hounded him everywhere. Further, Ephesus was given over to superstition and magic and the occult practices. Then there was the overall authority of Rome, with its indifference to spiritual things. Against these many adversaries, a tiny church stood, absolutely contrary to everything for which the city stood, and yet with such power and force and effectiveness that it was overturning the economic system of the city; the silversmiths were getting all upset because their idol making business was being destroyed. They were upset about losing their profits.
Application: Our final CONCLUSION: An open door will often be opposed. Beware of a wide door where there are no adversaries. There will always be those who oppose you and any strides you may make in the right direction. Go ahead, and walk through that open door, even though there will be opponents who criticize and want to defeat you. The presence of opposition does not mean you have moved out of the will of God. Facing opposition doesn’t mean that God is closing the door.
APPLICATION
Some of you are standing in front of the open door of …
1. Salvation. This is the greatest open door. You have the opportunity today to walk through this open door today. Perhaps during this sermon, you felt a sense of obligation to walk through this door. Don’t ignore that.
2. A Career Choice or Move. Do you have a career opportunity that you’re really excited about? Is a position coming open that you’d loved to be a candidate for? God will open the door if it’s meant to be. You don’t have to pry and pound. Faithfully do your job and the right doors will open in due time. Try not to take the politics of it too seriously.
3. A Relationship. Maybe you’re looking for a relationship. Don’t focus on finding the right person; you be the right person. You don’t have to coheres or deceive or manipulate. God opens doors, wide doors, and when He does, you’ll know.
4. An Investment. You’ve been extremely blessed by God and now you would like to make a significant contribution of some sort to God’s kingdom on earth. You have an open door. It’s called Family Life Center. We’ll put your name on it for God’s glory if you would like to walk through this open door.
5. Education. Perhaps you are looking to go to college. Fill out your paper work. Do you tests. Apply for scholarships. God will open a door. It may be a surprise or it may not be your first choice, but He’ll open the right door for you.
Question: Are you standing in front of an open door? After we have done all we can to determine the leading of the Lord, we must decide and act, and leave the rest to the Lord. If we are in some way out of His will, He has ways of moving us where we need to be.
