OGBC Opening New Doors 08/13/17 AM

Acts 16:6-15

Introduction

A. Janus was one of many Roman gods.

1. Janus was the god of gates, doors, doorways, beginnings and endings; he had one face looking back and one looking forward.

2. His name is the root of our month January, and the keepers of his temple were known as janitors.

3. Roman legions marched through the Arch of Janus in the Roman Forum as a symbolic act for the opening/beginning of their campaigns for new territory, wealth, and glory.

4. Unlike Janus, our God is the one true God; the Alpha and Omega; the Beginning and the End.

5. Our God truly helps us make new beginnings, and he opens new doors for us in life.

B. In Acts 16 God opened a new door for Lydia and helped her open a new door of faith for others.

1. Read Acts 16:6-15.

2. Let us consider three doors God opened in these verses.

A. God Opened a Door of Opportunity (6-12)

1. The Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 confirmed that the gospel must be preached to Jews and Gentiles alike.

2. Paul and Silas left on Paul’s second missionary journey to the Gentiles as recorded in Acts 15:40.

a. They wanted to go northeast deeper into Asia, but the Spirit of Jesus redirected them to the west.

b. They travelled to Troas (Troy) crossed the Aegean Sea via the Island of Samothrace to Neapolis on the coast of Greece/Macedonia. They travelled inland to the leading city of the district—Philippi.

3. Christianity comes from Judaism and hence originates as an eastern religion.

4. God closed the door for the gospel to go deeper into Asia but opened the doorfor it to move into Europe.

5. This small change dramatically impacted our world and the spread of the gospel through the centuries.

6. Butterfly Effect: "a property of chaotic systems (such as the atmosphere) by which small changes in initial conditions can lead to large-scale and unpredictable variation in the future state of the system" (Merriam-Webster).

a. First proposed by Edward Lorenz in the 1960s, it is the idea that small causes may have large effects in general and in weather.

b. For example the flapping of a butterfly's wings in Brazil might create tiny changes in the atmosphere that may ultimately alter the path of a tornado in Texas.

c. The butterfly's flapping causes a small change which cascades to large-scale alterations of events.

7. Likewise, a seemingly small change of direction in our life and ministry can have a dramatic impact on the world and on our lives.

a. We must trust God and be sensitive to his direction even when it seems strange or insignificant to us.

b. We must prayerfully consider every choice and opportunity God places before us each day.

c. God can only open/close doors for us as we walk with him each day.

d. Small choices made each day may have a great influence on our future both for good and for bad.

B. God Opened a Door of Eternity (13-14)

1. Paul always went to the Jews first and then to the Gentiles. Where there was no synagogue, which required the presence of ten Jewish males, the small group of Jewswould gather by a river to worship.

2. Lydia was most likely a Jew or Jewish convert from the Asian city of Thyatira and was probably quite wealthy as a seller of rich purple cloth dyed using murex seashells.

3. She was “a worshiper of God” and “opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message” of salvation (14).

4. Normally God opens/closes doors for us. There is one door he will not open for us—the door of our heart.

a. Jesus comes gently knocking on the door of our heart and asking us to welcome him in.

b. The choice of opening the door of our heart to him or not is ours alone. We must be like Lydia.

C. God Opened a Door of Ministry (15)

1. Lydia and those with her believed and were baptized in the river by Paul on the spot.

2. Lydia “persuaded” (i.e., strongly compelled) Paul and Silas to come to her home in Philippi.

3. When Lydia opened her heart’s door to Jesus, she opened the door of her home in hospitality to Paul.

4. Her home became a base for Paul’s brief ministry in Philippi.

a. Paul remembered fondly the partnership and sweet koinoniafellowship he shared with Lydia and the church at Philippi.

b. Read Phil. 1:3-6.

c. Once we open our hearts to Jesus, we must consider how we can help others open their hearts to him.

d. Lydia used the resources God had given her, wealth and a large home, to assist Paul in his ministry.

5. We each must take a fresh account of the resources God has given us—homes and possessions, talents, spiritual gifts, positions of influence. How can we use these resources each day to the glory of God?

a. For Lydia it was to open a door of hospitality for Paul.

b. What door is God calling you to open withhim?

1) It may be the door of new/eternallife as you trust him as Savior and Lord.

2) It may be the door of giving your resources, time, and energy to meet the needs of others.

3) It may be the door of change into a new career ornew ministry to others.

4) It may be the door of perseverance in the work/ministry to which he has called you.

5) It may be the door back to him which you opened in the past but then turned away from.

D. God Opens Doors for Us Each Day

1. What door is God opening for you--opportunity, eternity, ministry?

2. We must act. In fact we will act on every door God places before us.

a. We either open the door or we close it.

b. We walk through theor turn away from it.

c. The choice is ours. May we choose wisely.

3. God is knocking on your heart’s door; opening new doors of opportunity, eternity, and ministry.

4. What is your answer to him today?