THE MIRACLE OF OPEN DOORS(2)
“For a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries” (1 Corinthians 16:9, NKJV).
The Battle for Breakthrough – Overcoming opposition in Ephesus
Discover the miracle of open doors and the opposition that follows. Learn from Paul’s experience in Ephesus, where a great door opened, and many adversaries arose.
Such glorious testimony of Paul’s exploits at Ephesus did not come cheap. He paid great price to preach the gospel in that land. He had this to say of his experience at Ephesus, “If, in the manner of men, I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantage is it to me? If the dead do not rise, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!” (1 Corinthians 15:32). Paul said this in reference to the great risk he took to preach the gospel at Ephesus. His reference to fighting with “beasts at Ephesus” points to the severe dangers, persecutions, and physical threats he faced in his ministry in that land.
Stepping Through the Open Door with Faith
He faced intense opposition from hostile people (the likes of Demetrius the silversmith) who mobilized members of his trade union to disparage the gospel Paul preached. Paul’s brutal experience serves as a sharp rebuke to the hedonistic and materialistic philosophy that was also prevalent in some circles at that time. The proponents of that depraved philosophy were only concerned with the pleasure of the moment and made very little of the eternal destinies of people: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!” It takes a heart that values eternity to labour at bringing in the harvest to God.
The Power of Perseverance in Ministry
God has set before us an open and effectual door of soul winning this year. Like Paul, let us step through it with confidence and reap the ripe harvest for Christ. An “effectual door” signifies a divine opening for significant impact and breakthrough resulting to a measurable growth of the kingdom and abundant personal blessings. Effectual openings usually evoke strong opposition from the enemy, which only helps to confirms the strategic importance of such openings. The door that God opens cannot but guarantee a powerful, productive opportunity to “gather fruit for eternal life and make remarkable progress in life.
The door that holds souls captive must be strongly guarded by the enemy and therefore requires faith and courage to enter. The fact that God opened the door does not mean that we won’t have to fight for those souls to embrace the freedom that Christ brings to them. On the contrary, we will fight all the way until Christ is fully formed in them. The “adversaries” have once again gone on the rampage to scare us from stepping through the “great and effective door” which God has opened for us. We must call his bluff and go all out to bring in the harvest. Once we step through the open doors by faith, we will experience visible growth, lasting fruit and kingdom advancement that will glorify Jesus and honour our Father in Jesus name.
There are no comments