That's my favorite hymn. Would
you turn back to 1 Corinthians chapter 16. A great door opened. Paul says to this church in verse
five, now I will come unto you when I shall pass through Macedonia. For I do pass through Macedonia.
That's where the church at Philippi and Thessalonica and Berea have
been founded in Macedonia. And it may be that I will abide,
yea, in winter with you. You didn't know if that would
take place, but it may be. that you may bring me on my journey
with us wherever I go. For I'll not see you now, by
the way, but I trust to tarry a while with you, if the Lord
permit." You know, that is to be in our thinking at all times. if the Lord permit, if the Lord
will. Oh, I pray that that's always
in my thoughts. If the Lord permit. Don't you
love the way he's in control of everything? He who is too
wise to err, too kind to be cruel, he has complete sovereign control
over everything, and I love the hymn, This is My Father's World.
I love thinking about that. This is my father's world. I
will tarry in Ephesus until Pentecost. Four, verse
nine. Four. A great door and effectual
is opened unto me. And there are many adversaries. Open doors and closed doors. That's the only kind of two doors
there are. Open doors and closed doors. Turn with me for a moment
to Philippians chapter 16. Not Philippians, Acts chapter
16. Verse six, now, when they had
gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia and were forbidden
of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia, stop there for
just a moment. There were people in Asia, a
lot of people, and they wanted to go there to preach the gospel.
I no doubt wanted these people to hear, and yet God's word says
they were forbidden of the Holy Ghost. Now, I don't know of anything
more sobering than that. No, you're not going there. No door was open there. Verse 7, after that, after they
were come to Mysia, they assayed, they attempted to go into Bithynia. Now, there ended up being a church
established there many years later because Peter speaks of
these people in the first epistle of Peter. But at this time, and
they were come to Mysia, they say to go
into Bethany, but the spirit suffered them not. Another door
was closed. They wanted to go here to preach
the gospel and the door was closed by God himself. These people
at this time were not allowed to hear the gospel. Do you and
I have any idea what a privilege it is to hear the gospel? What a privilege of grace. Verse nine, and they
passing by Mysia came down to Troas and to Vision. appeared to Paul
in the night. There stood a man of Macedonia
and prayed him, saying, come over into Macedonia and help
us. And after he had seen the vision,
immediately we endeavored to go into Macedonia, assuredly
gathering that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them. Don't you reckon they were excited
when they entered into this city, knowing that the Lord had determined
for them to preach the gospel? How exciting that must have been.
Maybe they were frustrated over these closed doors, but now God opens
a door and he opens a heart. I love to think of them going
into this city, Philippi, and there wasn't a synagogue. I've read where if you had 10
Jews, you could have a synagogue. They must not have had 10 Jews
in this city. And so they started asking around where people meet
together. And there was a place where prayer was wanted to be
made by the river. And that's where the Lord opened
the heart of Lydia. Now, Paul says back in our text,
1 Corinthians 16, a great door is open to me of
the Lord. Who opened this door? The Lord
did. It's a great door. Anything the
Lord does is great. Amen. Anything he does is great. He's the great God. And he opened
a great door. And this is another example of
how salvation is of the Lord. Everything begins with him. He
purposed it, he purchased it, he applies it, and he's the one
who opens the door for the preaching of the gospel. I love the scripture
in John chapter four, he must needs go through Samaria. Why
must he go to Samaria? Because one of his elect is there.
That woman at the well. And he's going to bring the gospel
to her, open her heart, give her saving faith, reveal himself
to her. And think about this. The Lord's
done the same thing with you. There was a door open for you
to hear the gospel. and believe. He gave you the
faith. He opened the door. Salvation is of the Lord in every
respect. Now this door was open for the
preaching of the gospel. And when the door's open for
the preaching of the gospel, somebody's going to hear and
somebody's going to believe when God opens the door. Now, if God
hadn't opened the door, death will come out of it. If they
would have went into these places, no one would have been converted,
no one would have believed. But God has opened this door,
and somebody's going to hear. As a matter of fact, the church
at Philippi was the church that Paul was probably closest to.
If you read the epistle he wrote to Philippi, the church that
he had the most personal friendship with, and they were the people
that esteemed him the most highly. And this door is opened. First
we'll have Lydia, then we'll have the Philippian jailer, and
then a church is established through that. I think that anytime
the Lord opens, I don't think it, I know it, anytime the Lord
opens a door, somebody's gonna be saved. Whether one or many,
somebody is gonna be saved. He does not do this in vain. I think of when he said to Paul
at Corinth, he said, fear not, hold not thy peace. No man's
going to harm you because I have much people in this city. And
that's what gave him the assurance to keep preaching the gospel
there. And he preached there for 18 months. God said, I have
much people in this city. Now Paul says a great door is
open to me and it's great because of who opened it. Anything he
does is great. He's the great God His salvation, I love what
the writer to the Hebrews says in Hebrews 2, 4, how shall we
escape if we neglect so great a salvation? Oh, how infinitely
great His salvation is. He's a great Savior. His grace
is great. Preach to great sinners. And
He saves many through that. That's great. I think of the
great things that took place before time and during time for
a sinner to be saved. I am continually mystified and
in awe of the fact that Christ is called the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. I stand amazed by that, that
before there was a sinner, there was the Savior, the Lamb slain.
God's elect have always been viewed in the Lamb slain, never
independently of that. And the Lamb slain is eternal.
We don't know a whole lot about what took place before time began,
but we know the Lamb was slain before time began. What an incredible
concept. We know of the great covenant
of grace and the great election, God choosing a people before
time began and giving them to His Son, choosing them in His
Son, and predestinating everything that they might be perfectly
conformed in the image of Christ. What great things took place
before time. What great things took place
during time when God became a man? How great is that? God was manifest
in the flesh. In the flesh, he kept God's law
perfectly for somebody. He did what He did as a substitute
for His people. What a great thing it was when
the Son of God was nailed to a cross. He was not a victim. This is God's eternal purpose.
He comes to be nailed to a cross to put away the sins of His people.
It's a great thing when He dies. No one can understand that. The
God-man dying? He was alive and all of a sudden
He's dead. They take a dead man down from
the cross. How great He was when He was
raised from the dead. Oh, the great things that took
place for our salvation. Notice what else Paul says. He
says, for a great door and effectual is opened unto me. Not only has
God opened this great door, it is effectual because he is the
one who opened it and he is omnipotent. That's why it's effectual. I
love the simplicity of this. That word effectual is the same
word the writer to the Hebrews translated powerful. Powerful. A great door and powerful. The
omnipotence, the power of God is involved in the opening of
this door. Now the word of God is quick
and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. And all
the great truths of the gospel are effectual. I love thinking
of it this way. How effectual is election? If He chose you, you're saved.
All that the Father giveth me shall come to me. How effectual
is Christ's atonement? If He died for you, you must
be saved. You can't run the risk of the
hazard of the possibility of being anything but saved. Your
sins have been blotted out, put away. You've been given His righteousness. His redemption is effectual.
God the Holy Spirit, His work in the new birth is effectual.
It's the Spirit that quickens, that gives life. How effectual
is the work of God the Holy Spirit. How effectual is the preaching
of the gospel. Let me read a passage from Isaiah
55, beginning in verse 10. For as the rain cometh down and
the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the
earth, and maketh it bring forth, and bud, that it may give seed
to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that
goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall not return unto me void,
but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall
prosper in the thing whereto I send it. Now that's the living
word, the Lord Jesus Christ. He shall not fail nor be discouraged.
And that's the gospel preached. It is effectual. I'd like you to turn to First
Thessalonians chapter A great door and effectual. First Thessalonians chapter one. Verse four. Now let me give you some background
before I read this verse. Paul had been here for the first
time only three weeks before this and got ran out of town. But a church was started. Now
look what he says to these people. He says, knowing brethren beloved,
your election of God. Now, Paul, how do you know you
don't have access to the Lamb's book of life? How can you look
at these people that you've only known a few weeks? And say, knowing,
brethren beloved, your election of God. Like I said, they hadn't
heard the gospel until three weeks before this. And here he
writes to him. And he says, knowing, brethren
beloved, your election of God. How you know, Paul? For our gospel
came not unto you in word only, but also in power. and in the Holy Ghost. That's why it came in power and
in much assurance. Now, realize this is not talking
about assurance of personal salvation. When you heard the gospel we
preached, you had much assurance that this is the gospel of God. This is the gospel that fits
the character of the living God. This is the gospel of scripture.
When you hear the gospel, that's the way you hear, in power. And the reason you hear it in
power, when you know it's God's word, is because of the Holy
Ghost. God the Holy Spirit taking his
word and making it effectual to you. And when he does that,
you're assured this is the gospel. Look in 1 Thessalonians chapter
two, Verse 13, for this cause also thank we
God without ceasing, because when you received the word of
God, which you heard of us, you received it not as the word of
men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually,
there's that word, which effectually worketh also in you that believe. Now, Paul said, I'm tearing at
Ephesus because God has opened a great door and effectual. He's going to do his work through
it. And then he says, there are many adversaries. There are many
opponents. There are many that will be opposed
to this great work. Now, wherever the truth is preached,
Satan will be at work, and men are adversarial to the gospel
because they have no love for the Word of God. They have no
love for the God of the Word. They have no love for the gospel,
and when they hear the gospel, they think they're the loser
by it. You know, the only person who thinks they're the winner
by the gospel is the sinner. Anybody that has anything of
their own, they think they're the loser by it, and they feel like
it's costing them something, so they're going to be opposed
to it. There are many Adversaries, this is what the Lord is talking
about when he talks about persecution for righteousness sake. The adversaries
of the gospel. Turn over to Colossians, back
a few pages to Colossians chapter four. Verse two, continue in prayer
and watch in the same with thanksgiving with all praying also for us.
that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery
of Christ, for which I also am in bonds, that I may make it
manifest as I ought to speak." Now, Paul asked the church at
Colossae, pray that the Lord will open up a door for me to
preach. And I love the way he calls it
a door of utterance. That word utterance is the same
word, generally translated word, or the Logos, the divine Logos. And the definite article is in
the original, that he may open up a door of the word. I love that. That he might open
up a door of the word. Now, if God opens a door, I'm
gonna walk through it. If God doesn't open a door, nothing
will happen. I may try to force my way through
it, nothing will happen. But if God opens a door, We are
encouraged to pray for this. You and I should be praying for
this, that the Lord would open doors for us to preach His gospel. A door of utterance. The Word. The Word. Here's the
way the Word is preached. Here's the way the Word is used.
In 1 Corinthians 1.18, he says, Preaching of the cross, that's the same
word utterance, that's the same word logos, the word, the word
of the cross. That's what we want to preach.
The word of the cross, the glorious cross of the Lord Jesus Christ
that reveals the character of God. I can't know God apart from
what the cross declares with regard to him. All of his attributes
are manifest. in the cross, His holiness, His
sovereignty, His absolute justice, His purpose, His grace, His mercy,
His independence, His power. Everything God is, is seen in
the cross. The cross is the whole counsel
of God. Pray that the Lord opens up a
door of utterance for the declaration of the Word. The Word of the
cross. I love what Paul said to Timothy.
Timothy, preach the Word. Whatever God declares, preach
it. Don't apologize for it. Don't
try to hide it. Don't try to make it more palatable. Don't try to make it. Just preach
it. You know, a lot of problems we
have is when we try to do the work of the Holy Spirit and try
to explain. Here's what this means. Here's what I think it
means. No, just preach the Word. God the Holy Spirit will apply
it according to His will. I love to be able to do that.
I just preach the Word. I can't make anybody believe.
I can't really even explain it to you. You'll understand it
unless God the Holy Spirit does it. And that's what we're doing.
Preach the Word. Timothy, preach the Word. Now, notice he says in Colossians
chapter 4 verse 3, with all praying also for us that God would open
unto us a door of utterance. And I love this, to speak the
mystery of Christ. One of the things that I hope
I'm experiencing this, you know, we sing, More deep, the streams
on earth, I've tasted. More deep, I'll drink above.
And I was thinking, I've tasted a little bit here. More deep,
I'll drink above. But the thought of mystery. The
gospel is so mysterious. I love that. Now, I'm not talking
about mystical. But it's mysterious. A mystery in the scripture is
something we could never have known, except God was pleased
to make it known. How do we know the Bible's the
Word of God? Because it says it is. That's a great mystery,
isn't it? All Scripture is given by inspiration
of God. The prophecy came not in old
time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they
were moved by the Holy Ghost. God tells us in His Word, this
is His inspired, God-breathed Word. How mysterious. We would have never have known
that or figured it out had not God made it known. How would
we know that God is one God in three distinct persons if we
don't have the Bible to tell us this great mystery? Great
is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh.
What a mystery! When he was speaking of marriage,
the two shall become one flesh, talking about the union between
a man and woman in marriage, he said, This is a great mystery, but
I speak concerning the church. This is about the union between
Christ and his people becoming one with the mysteries of the
gospel. That's what we preach, the mysteries
of the gospel. Let me say this about a mystery.
A mystery is impossible to intellectually comprehend. Can you comprehend
God being one God in three persons? Can you comprehend eternal union
with Christ? Can you comprehend Christ in
you, the hope of glory? You believe. You believe. It doesn't mean you're, I'm not
saying, well, I'm just, I'm believing whatever I hear. No, you hear
this mystery, you're awed by it, and you believe it. And that's the way gospel preaching,
that's the way gospel hearing, that's the way gospel faith works. You hear the mysteries of God,
the mysteries of the gospel. How would you know of the fall
of Adam did not the word of God reveal it? And what happened
as a result of the fall? How we fell in Adam? All of this
is known but the great mysteries of scripture that we preach.
And look what he asked them to pray for. He said, with all praying, verse
three, with all praying also for us that God would open into
us a door of utterance. And I hope we're praying for
that, for ourselves. I hope you'll pray that for me.
I hope you pray that for yourself, that this week, the Lord would
open a door of utterance for you to preach the gospel to somebody.
with all praying also for us that God would open into us a
door of utterance to speak the mystery of Christ for which I'm
also in bond. I'm in jail right now because
of preaching this. But look what he asked them to
pray for, that I may make it manifest as I ought to speak. Clear, concise, not foggy. Look at Ephesians chapter six.
Turn back a few pages, Ephesians chapter six. Verse 18, praying always with
all prayer and supplication in the spirit and watching there
and do with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.
And for me that utterance may be given unto me that I may open
my mouth boldly. to make known the mystery of
the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds that thereof
I may speak boldly as I ought to speak." Now, Paul is saying,
if I'm left to myself, I won't be bold. I'll be vague. I'll
be obscure. Pray for me that I'll be enabled
to preach the gospel with boldness. That's not talking about some
kind of macho attitude. That's talking about making the
gospel clear and plain with boldness, not ashamed of it, proud of it.
I love the way Paul said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel. Now with these things in mind,
turn back to Acts chapter 16. This is where we're going to
close, Acts chapter 16. God opening this door. Verse 10, Acts chapter 16, verse
10. And after he had seen the vision,
immediately we endeavored to go into Macedonia, assuredly
gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto
them. Therefore, loosing from Troas, we came straight, of course,
to Samothracea, and the next day to Neopolis, and from thence
to Philippi, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia,
and a colony. And we were in that city abiding
certain days. Now, they'd never been there,
but they knew the Lord had called them to preach there. They looked
for synagogue. There wasn't. They looked around
town. They inquired where people met. Was there anybody meeting
in the name of God? Verse 13, and on the Sabbath
day, we went out of the city by riverside, where prayer was
wont to be made, and we sat down and spake unto the women which
were sorted thither. I love to think about this. There's
a bunch of women around a river, trying to pray by the side of
the river, and Paul and Luke come to these people, and they
start speaking to them. I would love to have known exactly
what they said, but they came and spoke to them. Verse 14, and a certain woman
named Lydia, a seller of purple. She was a
business woman, an entrepreneur of the city of Thyatira, which
was mentioned earlier where he wasn't allowed to preach the
gospel. She wasn't there in Thyatira. She was in Philippi. And the
Lord had pulled her out of Thyatira into Philippi to hear the gospel. Now, later on, there would be
a church in Thyatira. We can read about it in the book
of Revelation. It's one of the seven churches, and it's one
of the churches that the Lord didn't have any rebukes for.
But this woman, Lydia, is singled out, which worshiped God, heard
us, whose heart The Lord opened. That's so powerful. Whose heart? The Lord opened. Now every one
of us have a closed heart. Closed to the gospel. And it
will remain closed unless the Lord opens the heart. And that open heart is the new
heart he gives. The Lord opened her heart. Now what took place? She attended. She listened carefully
unto the things which were spoken of Paul. Now that, when God speaks,
you know what people do? They listen. If God speaks to
you, you know what you're going to be doing? You're going to
be listening. listening to what He says from His Word. That's
a supernatural work of grace. There's so many people that never
really listen. Oh, they listen, they hear the
words, but they don't hear the words. But God opened this woman's
heart and she attended to the things which were spoken of Paul. And evidently she believed the
gospel when she was baptized. And her household, she heard
the gospel. She confessed Christ in believers'
baptism. And she besought us saying, if
you judge me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house
and abide there. And she constrained us. Now there
is a great door of effectual opened. And remember how Paul
said there were adversaries? Let's go on reading. And it came
to pass as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with
the spirit of divination met us. which brought our masters
much gain by soothsaying. The same followed Paul and us,
and cried, saying, these men are the servants of the Most
High God, which show unto us the way of salvation. Is there
any error in that statement? No. That's a good statement. It's a true statement. Could
anyone be saved by hearing that statement? No, the gospel is
not in that statement. Now what she was saying was true,
but she wasn't preaching the gospel. She was giving some accurate
data, nothing more. 18, and this did she many days. Everywhere
Paul would go, she'd point out to everybody, these are the servants
of the Most High God who show unto us the way of salvation.
Everywhere Paul would go, she'd be following him, making this
announcement. I guess she thought she was doing
him a favor. Verse 18, and this she did many
days, but Paul being grieved. This was getting on his nerves
to no end. He was grieved. He turned and
said to the Spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ
to come out of her. And he came out that same hour.
Now here we have the adversary. The adversary is identified not
by the error spoken, But by what was not said, the content of
the gospel was not in her speech. Verse 19, And when her masters
saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and
Silas, and drew them into the marketplace, and to the rulers,
and brought them to the magistrates, saying, These men, being Jews,
do exceedingly trouble our city, and teach customs which are not
lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans. Now
they were upset because they lost money. That's why they were
exposing these men at this time. I mean, they made a lot of money
off her. And when they saw that the hope of their gains was gone.
And the multitude rose up together against them and the magistrates
rent off their clothes and commanded to beat them. And when they laid
many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison. charging
the jailer to keep them safely, who having received such a charge,
thrust them into the inner prison and made their feet fast in the
stalks." Now, picture Paul and Silas. The Lord has opened this
door, got closed right quick, didn't it? Here we are in prison,
bloody, beaten, our feet in stalks. I can't even imagine how dirty
that place was. Verse 25, And at midnight Paul
and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God, and the prisoners heard
them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the
foundations of the prison were shaken, and immediately all the
doors were opened, and everyone's bands were loosed. and the keeper
of the prison waking out of his sleep. You know, he didn't hear
Paul at this time. He was asleep. And the keeper of the prison
waking out of his sleep and seeing the prison doors open, he drew
out a sword and would have killed himself supposing that the prisoners
had been fled. He knew what was gonna happen
to him. But Paul cried with a loud voice saying, do thyself no harm
for we're all here. Then he called for a light and
sprang in. and came trembling and fell down
before Paul and Silas and brought them out and said, sirs, what
must I do to be saved? There is no more important question
you can ask yourself. Now he was convinced he couldn't
save himself. What must I do to be saved? Did Paul say, well, There's nothing
you can do to be saved. South Asians by grace. You're
coming into God's presence on legal terms. No, he didn't say
anything like that, did he? He gave him exactly what to do. What
must I do to be saved? I can't save myself. I'm convinced
of that. What must I do to be saved? And then were given this answer,
and they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt
be saved in the house. And they spake unto him the word
of the Lord. Now, if all you hear is believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and you'll be saved, you haven't
heard the gospel. But he began there. And then
he spake unto him all the word of the Lord. It was a gospel
message that he heard. And he took them that same hour
of the night and washed their stripes and was baptized, he
and his, straightway. And when he brought them into
his house, he set meat before them and rejoiced, believing
in God with all his house." Now, I love that. He said, believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. What did
he do? He believed in God with all his heart, with all his house. And when it was day, the magistrate
sent the sergeant saying, let those men go. And the keeper
of the prison told this thing to Paul. Now, Paul still had
the stripes in his back, feet probably very roughed up from
being in those stalks. And I love Paul's way of dealing with this. The
Philippian church says, you can go. and go in peace, but Paul
said to them, they've beaten us openly, uncondemned, being
Romans, and have cast us into prison, and now do they thrust
us out privately? Nay, verily, but let them come
themselves and fetch us out. And the sergeant told those words
unto the magistrates, and they feared when they heard they were
Romans. You see, if you were a Roman, Paul was a Roman, he had protection,
he had rights, and he's digging it in a little bit at these guys.
You, you, it isn't right. And they came and besought them,
begged them, and brought them out and desired them to depart
out of the city. And they went out of the prison
and entered into the house of Lydia. And when they had seen
the brethren, they comforted them and departed." Now that
is an open door. opened into Macedonia, Lydia's
heart opened, the adversary, the false prophet comes in, Paul's
thrown into prison, there the gospel is preached so clearly,
and the church at Philippi was born from this event. A great door opened. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you that you're pleased to make yourself
known to sinful men and women. How we thank you that you love
sinners. How we thank you that Christ
is the Savior of sinners. What a glorious, great Savior
He is. How great your salvation is. Lord, we ask that our hearts
might be opened, for they'll be closed unless you open them.
And Lord, we ask for open doors to preach your gospel according
to your will, that we might make known the mysteries of thy gospel
and enable us to do so boldly. Bless this message for your glory
and for our good. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.