But I will come to you after I go through Macedonia, for I am going through Macedonia; and perhaps I will stay with you, or even spend the winter, so that you may send me on my way wherever I may go. For I do not wish to see you now {just} in passing; for I hope to remain with you for some time, if the Lord permits. But I will remain in Ephesus until Pentecost. A great door and effectual is open unto me and there are many adversaries." (1 Cor. 16:5-9)
Paul said it was important that he remain in Ephesus. For years the goddess Diana had been the chief deity of that city, and shrines to her were the industry of the city. Not only was the Temple of Diana a place of pagan worship and a treasure-house, but it housed a museum of statuary and paintings. The temple brought vast numbers of tourists to the region.
Ephesus was a sanctuary for the criminal, a city of refuge where none could be arrested for any crime when in bowshot of it's walls. Outside of or around the temple was where thieves, and other criminals resided. The silver craftsmen would certainly oppose anything which they saw harming as harmful to their revenue. There was not a previous foundation to build upon, and the various ethnic backgrounds represented could be a social barrier. Paul also suffered form a physical handicap.
In what way did he perceive that there was a great door and effectual in this place? He saw this in the Spirit, during a time of prayer! It was given to him by revelation, and as a man of faith and prayer, he knew the voice of God and the realm of the Spirit was a familiar one to him. God was his source, not man. Paul knew that Yeshua haMashiach/Jesus Christ is the only foundation that could be laid by any man. The Lord would enable him to transcend any ethnic or social barriers, through the power of His Spirit. (Zechariah 4) He was not afraid of financial lack or of persecution, but he fully trusted in his God to provide for him, like he provided for Elijah who was fed by ravens.
THE OPEN DOOR IS MESSIAH
I and my Father are one." (John 10:31)
I AM the door of the sheep. All that came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. I Am the door. By me if any enter he shall be saved, and shall go in and go out an dfind pasture. The thief comes not but to steal, kill and destroy. But I am come that you might have life, and have it more abundantly. I Am the Good Shepherd: the Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. (John 10:7-)
From the "closed door" which the apostles were not given the key to at that time, in Asia and Bithynia, we understand that there are prophetic times and seasons in God:
"And they went through Phrygia and the Galatia region, having been by the holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And coming to Mysia they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Yeshuaa/Jesus forbid them not." (Acts 16:6)
It wasn't that the apostles didn't know how to preach, but od wanted them in another place at that time. There is a time in which God gives or provides open and abundant access, and there is a time in which the Lord closes a door. Your friends or relatives in wanting you to stay where they have access to your fellowship, may tell you: Why do you want to be a missionary to Africa? There are plenty of people around here to win for the Lord! Understand that this seeming affectionate remark can nevertheless, be the device of Satan. Do not be enticed to disobey the Lord. God is omniscient, or all-knowing. He is Lord of the seasons and Lord of the Harvest. He is the Lord of Hosts, who knows when an invidual, or particular region is open to salvation. We read in Acts 9, of a man's salvation. His name was Saul of Tarsus.
But Saul, still breathing threats and against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he journeyed he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed about him. And he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" And he said, "Who are you, Lord?" And he said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting; but rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do." The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. Saul arose from the ground; and when his eyes were opened, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias." And he said, "Here I am, Lord." And the Lord said to him, "Rise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for a man of Tarsus named Saul; for behold, he is praying, and he has seen a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight." But Anani'as answered, "Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to thy saints at Jerusalem; and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call upon thy name." And the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; for I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name."
So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came, has sent me that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized, a and took food and was strengthened.
The name Saul of Tarsus was not an unfamiliar one to the early church. He persecuted the church greatly. From the disciple Ananias vision of Yeshua/Jesus, we learn that God appeared to him, to tell him that a "door of salvation" had been opened, with the salvation of Saul, which meant greater access to the church to preach the gospel.
SHUT THY DOORS ABOUT THEE AND PRAY
If the door is open, why do we have to pray? Prayer acknowledges that God is the giver of all that we possess. Through prayer we c an thank the Lord for the answer even when it is not here, believing the answer is on the way. A person maay presumptuously believe that they know the precise course of action to take. Only through prayer can God reprove us as he did the disciples who attempted to go into Asai and Bithynia, but were by the Holy Spirit.
The Lord admonishes us to "Shut thy doors about thee." When you have done this, "Pray to the Father in secret." (Matt 6:6) It's a private matter between you and God. What are "thy doors," which this speaks of, that we are to shut about us? First we must have the door of the Mediatorship of Messiah in our lives through accepting his salvation, being water baptized, and receiving the baptism in the Holy Spirit, as was commanded at Pentecost. There is one Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. In this, the doors speak first of the doors of salvation.
For this door of salvation to remain open, we must have continual access to God, as Father in Christ Jesus and to His eternal and unchanging word. God must have access to spiritual fellowship with us, based on covenant relationship, through the shed of Messiah. Furthermore, this "door" speaks of a place of intimacy with God.
Believers should form a habit of continual prayer. This means that you do not depend upon a location, but you should be available for God to speak a word of faith or instruction into your heart. The believer has the ability to reach out and to touch God at any time or place, and to enter into His throne of Grace, to obtain help in time of need. But it is good that we also form a habit of prayer in our home, automobile, or a place where we can daily meet with God.
Our successful, abundant, and victorious is gained through knowing God and Christ on an intimate basis, not in just obtaining an intellectual understanding of God. A superficial knowledge of God is insufficient. It is only when we become willing to put our own will aside, and doing our own thing, speaking our own words, that God will cause us to ride on the high places of the earth. We will successfully confront the intensifying spiritual assault coming from the world around us. Our training must be individualized and personal. One on one between ourselves and God, who knows us intimately. We must know Messiah as the Lord our Righteousness. As the Teacher of Righteousness--the who is girding us for battle, with truth. We must allow Him to eat with us, search the scriptures with us, stand in the battle trenches with us, and we must march side-by-side under the administration of the Lord of Hosts in each day's battles. It is only with this kind of personal contact and attention that we can be instructed by our Lord on a moment-by-moment basis.
If we insist on marching to our own drummer and giving attention to God on an infrequent basis, or we pay acquiescience to stay on His good side, then we have fail to understand the meaning of the of Christ, burial and resurrection of haMashiach/Christ in our lives. The of haMashiach/Christ paved the way to the Holy of Holies, that the door to God's throne of Grace that it can remain open to us. We have the priviledge to talk to our Heavenly Father, in Christ. Yeshua/Jesus was poured our because God wants you in Him, and he wants to dwell in you, as His holy temple.
In knowing haMashiach/Christ as "Abba", our Father, we begin to understand God's will as never before. We can comprehend not only what God requires of us, but why God requires it, that we might be strengthened and grow up in haMashiach/Christ who is the Head, in all things. By coming into a close, friendly relationship with God, we understand through the spirit how and for what God wants us to pray, and how to stay within the center of His will.
THE REVELATION OF YESHUA haMASHIACH/JESUS CHRIST
The Apostle Paul when was apprehended by haMashiach/Jesus Christ, while enroute to Damascus. He was not looking for such an encounter, and it caught him by surprise. But there as he gazed into the blinding brilliance of the shekinah glory of God, he received the revelation of Yeshua haMashiach/Jesus Christ that saved his soul and transformed his life. He understood that the fulness of the Godhead dwells bodily in Messiah.
As a Jew he was of the tribe of Benjaamin. As touching the law he was blameless.He was a Pharisee of the Pharisees. But it was not till Paul was converted to haMashiach/Christ that he fully knew what it meant to be Abraham's seed! Paul fulfilled the law in being a lover of God. As a person totally devoted to the Yeshua haMashiach/Lord Jesus Christ, God was ever his focus. As a man that loved God with all of his heart, mind, soul and strength, he was a true worshipper of the Most High God. As a true worshipper, the Lord communicated His will to Paul and made him a labourer in His harvest field. He could never do the great work entrusted to him in his own strength. He was prayer warrior, to such an extent that he sought the Lord in prayer more than the customary religious standard of his day demanded, as constituted by the hours of prayer set in Judaism. He said: I thank my God that I pray more than you all.
KNOCK & THE DOOR SHALL BE OPENED UNTO YOU "And I say to you ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you." (Luke 11:9)
The disciples of Yeshua/Jesus who accompanied Him daily, clearly saw the effect of prayer in His own life. He spent large amounts of time in prayer, frequently by Himself. He prayed prior to ministry, and at times all night. The disciples comprehended that the demonstration of God's power and wisdom flowing freely from Messiah's life, was in direct relation to this continual, intimate fellowship with His Heavenly Father.
BE YE LIFT UP YE EVERLASTING DOORS (PSALM 24:7)
You split the earth with rivers, torrents of water swept by, the deep roared and lifted it's wavews on high. (Habakkuk 3:9-10
The Hebrew term for everlasting "doors" in Psalm 24:7, is pethach meaning an opening or entrance of a door. When in prayer we perceive that God is leading us to do a particular work, the scriptures teach us to speak to those doors with God's commanding power, and to command them to open that God in us might give access through His mighty power. That through the authority of the King of Glory we may enter in, in the same way the apostles were told to find a foal of a donkey and to say "The Lord has need of it!" Those doors represent access in many ways, shapes and forms. They speak of the provision that God's gospel worker will need! It's a declaration to the territorial spirits that guard the gates of cities and nations. It can be a heart opened toward us to extend or provide hospitatity. Or it might represent the influence of the air waves, such as a television or radio ministry, the gift of airline tickets to an international city, meals, hotel accomodations, or some other financial blessing. Is there a promise in God's word that you know has abundant access in hamashiach/Christ, because of the atonement? Then the door is open to God's throne of grace!
You can proclaim the salvation of cities before it happens, because God has announced it to us, in proclaiming His will for a city, when he says "Go up." Or do not go! Then these are brought to bow the knee to Messiah, and these become in Him provision from that realm which is eternal.
SOBER AND VIGILANT
"Be sober be vigilant for your adversary the devil walks about seeking who he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world." (I Peter 5:8-9)
There is intense spiritual warfare against the believer. The access to the believer must be guarded, by he himself, that demonic access is not obtained to the eye gate, the eargate, or the door of the heart. The scripttures warn: Be sober, be vigilant, for your adversary like a roaring lion walks about, seeking whom he may devour. God gives us information aabout Satan as a spirit being, that we might have insight into the warfare against us.
Satan has demons under his administration, and sends these to oppose the revelation and manifestation of God in the life of the believer and the work of God. These attacks can come in the form of jealousy, aand James 5:9 states: Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door. Distraction, indifference, unmercifulness, divisiveness, unkindness, slander, or other things. We must not be ignorant of Satan's clever strategies or devices.
In saying that Satan walks about as a "roaring lion," God is teaching us that there are signs of the devil's presence in a thing. He announces himself, just as a lion roaring over his prey. How will we know it's Satan? If we dwell in God and He in us, the Lord will announce to us, Satan's deeds and kingdom long before it manifests. In this way, we will not be caught unaware!
CALLED TO BE A DOOR KEEPER IN THE HOUSE OF GOD
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of God. (Psalm 84:10)
"We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not."
Proverbs 13:3, reads this way: "He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life: but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction." Keeping "yourself" has much to do with guarding your mouth, and watching your words, so that you speak in agreement with God's Word. There are devices or stategies of the devil, that exalt themselves against the knowledge of God contained in the pages of His holy word. These come to a person as "evil imaginaions," but since Satan has the ability to appear as an angel of light, he makes these sound wise and plausible to the unwary!
By "keeping yourself" you who are the habitation of God through the Spirit, are being a "doorkeeper," in the house or Temple of God. The Apostle Paul wrote: A great and effectual door is opened unto me, but there are many adversaries. What enemies oppose you? They are there to test you. But the door is open to you. It is a gate that is powerful and effectual. The term "effectual" is the word energeo,meaning to be mighty in, to work effectually in, to show forth ones self. When the disciples marvelled at the miraculous deeds of Messiah, Yeshua hamashiach/Jesus Christ said: "Greater works than these shall ye do." You will need to guard this door God has given you in prayer, and to go through it in God's timing, and exactly as He shows you to.
