1 Corinthians 16:9
“For a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.”
As Paul comes to the conclusion of this letter, he writes to his friends in Corinth about his future plans. Notice, his plans all centered around serving the Lord and bringing the Gospel to others. He mentions a number of places that he will be traveling, including Ephesus, where he has “an open door.” This is a common phrase, both in our vernacular, and in the New Testament writings. We understand it to mean a way in, and use it with a wide variety of applications. We may refer to an open door for a new job, new house, or even a new relationship. When the term is used in the New Testament, it is restricted to speaking of opportunities for the furtherance of the Gospel. Paul explained this clearly when writing to the Colossians,
“. . . meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains, that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.” Colossians 4:3-4
The term “open” is used throughout the New Testament to refer to things that were closed until the Lord opened them. We read of eyes, ears, and graves being opened. We also read of the heavens being opened, and even the sealed scroll in Revelation was opened by the Lord. When Paul speaks of an open door in Ephesus, he is referring to an opportunity to minister where there was none before. Ministry is like that. There are people in your life who you have attempted to reach out to, and been rejected, but as you continue to walk with Jesus and pray for them, the Lord will open up a future opportunity to reach out to them.
One of the difficulties we face, is how to recognize when we have an open door. In Acts 13, Paul and Barnabas began their missionary campaigns. As we read the accounts, it was clear they had a wide open door to bring the Gospel to their world. Thousands of people were won to Christ, and dozens of churches were planted throughout Asia Minor and Europe.
But, how did they know it was the Lord who was sending them out? Two key elements in determining the will of God are revealed in their story. First, we are told, while they prayed and fasted, the Lord spoke to them. If we want to see doors open to minister to others, we need to seek the Lord. Jesus told us to ask, seek and knock. Perhaps now would be a good time to revisit your prayer list and add praying for an open door to share Christ with family and friends.
Second, Luke records, “So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went” (Acts 13:4). Once they heard from the Lord, once they recognized they might have an open door, they began to walk through it. The only way to be sure we have an open door into someone’s life to bring them to Jesus, is to take steps in that direction. Make a call, text, email, tweet, IM or meet them face-to-face and simply invite them to come with you to church. Or meet for coffee and share the great things that the Lord has done for you.
Keep in mind that with an open door comes adversity, but the difficulties are more than worth the treasure of seeing our friends come to Christ.
Pastor Jim
Although the counsel of Bildad was misdirected when applied to Job’s situation, he still gives some valuable insight. He addresses one of the dangers we face as we walk with the Lord. He warns of a snare set to entangle the righteous. Psalm 91 refers to this as “the snare of the fowler”, or a trap set by the enemy to trip us up. It is important to keep in mind, walking with the Lord is serious business. We must be aware of the pitfalls along the way. Ephesians 5 is an important part of the road map to a successful Christian walk.
It is often difficult to watch someone whose spirit is broken. They had once been so full of life but now seem to be a shell of their former self. They lack enthusiasm, vision, and the will to press forward. As difficult as it may have been to watch Job in this condition, as a reader we can certainly understand why he felt this way. His circumstances had crushed his spirit and brought him to a place where life seemed hopeless.
When I was sixteen years old, driving to my first part-time job, a wild thought entered my mind. I thought, “I wonder what happens after we die?” I realized later I was grappling with one of the deepest philosophical questions man has ever attempted to answer, but at that time I had never considered anything like it before. As quickly as the question entered my mind, I came up with an answer, “When we die we go to heaven.” This was followed by the question, “What is heaven?” To which I answered, “Heaven is getting to do whatever you want for all of time.” I then asked a third question, “Who goes to heaven?” To which I replied,”Those who are good.” This of course brought me to a final question, “Who is good?” My final answer was a little more difficult to develop, but there on the way to work, I determined that I was good and anyone who lived up to my standard was also good and would be allowed into my heaven. In the few minutes that it took, I had asked and answered the most important questions that a person will ever be asked. I had also completely satisfied myself with my answers. Had anyone asked me what happens after we die, I would have spoken with authority, explaining the way to heaven and the purpose of life. As you can see, there was one obvious problem; it was all a product of my own imagination! My way of living, my heaven, even my god, were the product of my own imagination.
When we find ourselves in times of great trial, it is often difficult to discern the voice of God. In Job’s case, the voices of pain, sorrow, suffering, and loss were screaming so loud, the voice of God was drowned out. He could no longer hear God’s Word reminding Him of the great love with which he had been loved. He could no longer hear the voice of compassion, mercy or providence, explaining He would make all things right. All Job could hear was the voice of his anguish, and it was screaming, “God must hate me.”
Job has been plagued by a series of severe hardships that have caused others to believe he must be experiencing judgment from God for hidden sins. The body of the book is like a debate between Job and three men who are convinced he is hiding something. It is important to keep in mind, while their premise is wrong, much of what they say is in fact true. Here we find Eliphaz asking a very probing question that we would all benefit from taking a few minutes to consider. He asks, what it is in our hearts that is carrying us away from the Lord? Jesus asked a similar question, He inquired “what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” Both of these questions reveal that it is possible to have something in our lives which keeps us from true surrender to Christ, and may even be keeping us from salvation.
Confusion broke out in the Corinthian church. Instead of meeting for the worship of God and the study of His word, the church had become a place for people to show off their spiritual gifts. Those with the gift of tongues saw the meetings as a time to speak or even sing in tongues. They thought the church existed to hear them sing. Others had the gift of prophecy, or at least they thought they did. To them the church existed as a place to share the things they thought were most relevant for the people to hear. I can imagine what the scene must have been like as the church gathered, opened in prayer, and then one by one, each louder than the last, the people began to share their thoughts and sing their songs. To the onlooker, it must have appeared to be a Christian version of “America’s Got Talent.”
In the midst of his struggles, Job came to the realization that life is short. He compares life to a wild flower that blooms one day and seems to be gone the next. While it is important to realize the brevity of life, how we interpret that truth, will radically affect our viewpoint on life.
Years ago some good friends of mine were involved in a business transaction that drew a lot of press. It was not long before the papers decided to go public with the story. As we cracked open the paper, it was almost comical to read their account because it was filled with so much error and had even misquoted certain individuals. They had not really paid attention to the facts, or those they chose to interview, and instead wove a story that they thought sounded good.
Love does not behave rudely
Jim Gallagher 