Celebrating the Past, Serving the Future | The Open Door

Celebrating the Past, Serving the Future: (Part IV)

THE OPEN DOOR

Acts 14:27 (ESV)
27 And when they arrived and gathered the church together, they declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.

1 Corinthians 16:5-9 (ESV)
5  I will visit you after passing through Macedonia, for I intend to pass through Macedonia,
6  and perhaps I will stay with you or even spend the winter, so that you may help me on my journey, wherever I go.
7  For I do not want to see you now just in passing. I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits.
8  But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost,
9  for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries. 

In God’s providential care towards us as His people, we need to always be sensitive with His “closed doors” and “open doors.” If you have walked with the Lord for quite sometime now, I’m sure you have experienced the reality of these “closed doors” and “open doors.” Even for us as a church, we have great examples of how God worked through this means. Many of you probably still remember 2006-2007, when we became really serious in pursuing our vision of acquiring a bigger facility for our church; there were several properties we seriously pursued. There was the firing range in Montville, New Jersey. We looked at it several times, but we came to know that it was in a flood zone. Then, there was the church facility in Paterson that we decided to submit to the congregation for a vote. I believe the advantage of the negative votes over the “Yes” votes was only about one or two votes. But we still took it as God “closing the door” for that facility. Until about October of 2007, when God eventually led us to this property in Randolph. Finally, God “opened the door” for us to purchase this facility. 

As we come to the conclusion of our sermon series this month of November, I want us to highlight the significance of an “open door” for us as believers and as a church. For the past couple of weeks, we have been studying together this concept that the church is a building. With this emphasis, we talked about our foundation, which refers to Jesus Christ. The next were the walls, which is applied to all the believers, who are still being added to grow the structure of the building. And then, Pastor Glen preached about the mosaic stained windows, which directly applies also to Christians who need to reflect the image of Jesus Christ to the world.

So, this morning, we will end our sermon series specifically focusing on the open door. You see, if we are just sensitive with God’s guidance in our lives, He finds a way to show us our effective paths through the “open doors” He presents to us. Obviously, when we talk about the door being open, it simply means that God is opening an opportunity for us to advance and to move forward. While a door that is closed suggests that we ought to stop and not proceed with our plans. It is definitely for our greater efficiency in life when we listen to His leading. It would be tragic to go through life without keen attention to “open doors.” Have you ever considered the possibility that at this point in your life, you have missed many “open doors” already? My prayer is that we would be able to always take advantage of the doors that God is opening to us. Now, in order not to miss our opportunities, let me give you at least three basic recommendations:

I ACKNOWLEDGE THAT ONLY GOD CAN OPEN DOORS FOR US.

Our first text, which is Acts 14:27, happened at the end of the first missionary journey of Paul and Barnabas. They returned to their home church in Antioch of Syria in order to report their successful missions endeavor. Remember, this was the church that God had used to commission and support them for their worldwide ministry.  Now, if you examine carefully their praise report to their church, they specifically magnified the fact that it was God who opened the “door of faith” for the Gentiles to come to the saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Let’s reflect upon this truth for a minute. I’m sure you would agree with me that the apostle Paul would easily be one of the greatest evangelists and missionaries that God had used to impact the world with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, right? And if this is true, it is amazing to stress that his efficiency did not happen because he was bold enough or smart enough to open doors for himself. God gave him all the “open doors” he had in his entire ministry. You see, for all of us who are actively serving the Lord and want to see people come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, I believe, this is really a very encouraging truth knowing that if I seek God’s guidance as I serve Him, He will give me “open doors” as well.

To prove this truth, let me lead you to Revelation 3:7-8 (ESV):
7  “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.
8  “‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. 

In order to fully appreciate this passage, let’s establish first that the Philadelphia Church was one of the seven churches in Asia that Jesus Christ had address through John the Beloved in Revelation 2-3. With these words to the Philly church, first, I would like to focus on the last sentence of verse 8, saying, “I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.” It is quite clear that according to the world standard, this was a church with a very little power. What does that mean? Perhaps, this statement is directly stressing their size as a church or their economic standing. In other words, they were few in number or they don’t have a big budget as a church. However, as plainly stated as well, they were also powerful in God’s eyes because the people of the church faithfully kept God’s Word and never have denied their commitment to Him. 

Now, as a result of their faithful commitment to the Lord, it is evident in this passage that God has opened a door for them that no one would be able to shut. This is really the truth we should never take for granted. Since, it is only God that can open the door of opportunities for us, we want to make sure that we stay faithful to Him while patiently waiting for Him to open many doors for us. Don’t try opening doors by yourself because they are not usually the best doors for you. It is still better to trust God to open the doors for us. 

 II ACCEPT THAT OPEN DOORS CAN SOMETIMES INVOLVE OPPOSITIONS.

Today, one of the most common misconceptions that we should address is that “open doors” are always smooth and without troubles or oppositions. However, when you go to the Scriptures, it is absolutely a false idea. This truth is clearly conveyed in our next text in 1 Corinthians 16:5-9. Reading the earlier verses, Paul had expressed his intention to visit Corinth passing through Macedonia where some churches were already planted in major cities like Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea. However, instead of proceeding right away with his travel plans, Paul felt he needed to delay because of the “wide door” of opportunity that God was opening in Ephesus. 

However, what is really interesting to see is Paul’s discernment of “open doors” that included the presence of oppositions. This perception is worth emphasizing because more often than not, most people see oppositions as a sign of “closed doors.” This attitude of Paul is very visible in his ministry in the city of Lystra. Notice what happened:

Acts 14:19-22 (ESV)
19  But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead.
20  But when the disciples gathered about him, he rose up and entered the city, and on the next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe.
21  When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch,
22  strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. 

If you go back to verse 19, you will find some Jews from Antioch and Iconium who were against the preaching of the Gospel stirred the crowd in Lystra. This open opposition led to Paul being stoned and later, being dragged outside the city. When the other disciples came to check on him, he simply stood up and went back to the city of Lystra. Yes, the next day, he left the city and went to Derbe to continue preaching the Gospel. However, after his preaching period in Derbe, which probably lasted for a couple of weeks, he went back to Lystra and Iconium to encourage the followers of Jesus emphasizing to them that through many tribulations they are to enter the Kingdom of God. By the way, Iconium was the city where some of the Jews who came to Lystra to stirred the crowd to stone him. But these enemies did not prevent him to go back to this city to fulfill his ministry. 

Do you share the same perception with regards to “open doors”? Or do you always expect that “open doors” should be smooth and without hassles? Again, the Bible is quite plain that often we can expect that oppositions can surround great opportunities from God. Why? It is because Satan wants to hinder God’s work. Consider Paul’s words to the Thessalonian church: 

1 Thessalonians 2:17-18 (ESV)
17  But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, in person not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face,
18  because we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, again and again—but Satan hindered us. 

Here, Paul made a reference about his attempts to visit the believers in Thessalonica. However, he was not able to see them because Satan has been hindering him. Well, this opposition from the devil is expected whenever we have the prospect of accomplishing a greater work for God. 

III ASK THE LORD DILIGENTLY TO OPEN DOORS FOR YOU.

Lastly, if you desire to see many doors of opportunities to open for you, you have to be intentional of diligently asking the Lord for those “open doors.,” even to the extent of asking other believers to intercede for you. Consider these words that Paul wrote to the Colossian believers:

Colossians 4:2-4 (ESV)
2  Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.
3  At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison—
4  that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. 

In this passage, Paul once again took the time to exhort the Colossian believers concerning being steadfast or unwavering in their prayers. If you examine verse 3, included in this exhortation was a humble request to pray that God would open some doors for them to share the Gospel to others. Perhaps, it is worth noting that Paul wrote these words while he was imprisoned in Rome. For sure, this imprisonment resulted in fewer opportunities to share the Lord Jesus to others. With Paul greater effectivity as a minister, he did not hesitate to ask other believers to pray for him and his team that they would have many “open doors” to share. 

How many of us are intentional in asking the Lord for some “God appointed conversations” where you get to share the Gospel to others? I really believe that once we are actively asking Him for open doors, He will honor this desire and give us many opportunities. Remember, God is the doorkeeper. He is the One who is in control to open or close doors for us. So, let’s continue to diligently ask Him. 

Do you know that the great missionary works of the apostle Paul and Barnabas were born out of praying and fasting? Let me show you the passage:

Acts 13:1-3 (ESV)
1  Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
2  While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”
3  Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off. 

Before Paul (Saul) and Barnabas became itinerant missionaries, they were two of the teaching elders in the church of Antioch of Syria. However, during a time of prayers and fasting of all the elders, God has impressed to the leadership of the church that Paul and Barnabas should be separated because of the calling to them from God to be missionaries. As a result, both of them were sent by the church in Antioch to fulfill their sacred calling. So, God can clearly show his open doors upon our lives through our prayers.

My prayer for us this morning is that we will be more conscious of the doors that God is opening for us and we will always have the confidence to walk in them. If you and I desire for many open doors, let’s continue to delight in our Doorkeeper. The Psalmist clearly declared:

Psalm 37:23 (ESV)
23  The steps of a man are established by the LORD, when he delights in his way; 

May God continue to open doors for us as individuals and as a church! God bless us all!

-Dr. Jeremiah Lepasana