The Tupelo journal., 1903-05-08

F8@k%MlI3IlY to visit TIL e
~ churches there,
when unexpected
" the door of further and fuller serv-
ice was opened TO him, and, writing tc
the Corinthian brethren, he says:
But l will tarry at Ephesus until ZEN
tecost; for a great door and etfectual
is opened unto me, and there are many
adversaries." 1t is interesting n
important to note two things at
the outset in connection with TINS
experience of the great apostle In
Ephesus: In the first place Paul
was not so set in his purposes and
plans and methods as to blind him to
the unexpected opportunities opening
before him; and secondly, he was ever
ready to adapt himself to the new con-
ditions and make the most OF them.
Perception and adaptability are quail
tiles which are Indispensable in Chris
tian service, even as they are also IN
the secular affairs of the industrial
and commercial world. God wants men
and women whose eyes are wide open
and whose hands are keenly alert.
Such an one was Paul. Read the life
of Paul as God has recorded it in the
Acts and the Epistles and observe how
forcibly these two qualities are Illus
trated by this great and brave and
faithful soldier of the cross of Jesus
Christ. At Philippi how many mod
ern-day preachers and Christian work
ers are there who would have been
quick to observe that down by the riv-
erside where q few women were gath
cred in prayer was the open door of OPP
portunity, and how many would have
been willing and ready to adapt their
carefully prepared and Bible
readings to the peculiar needs of that
slim and humble audience? If ours
had been the Jail experience of Paul
and Silas, how many do you suppose
would have been wide awake and alert
enough to see with the opening doors
of the prison the swinging of the door
of opportunity, and have been ready
with eager hands to point the way of
salvation to one who had but a few
hours before SO brutally imprisoned
them? At Athens amidst the Greek
scholars and philosophers, at Jerusa-
lem when facing the mobs, on ship
board when tossed helplessly by the
storm, among the rough, ignorant,
half-civilized islanders, at Rome in the
prison house of the Caesars, every
where, Paul's perception in discover
ing open doors of service and his
adaptability in fitting his message to
the peculiar needs are always mani
fest. And God needs just such men
and ONE to-day.
THAT Paul was enthusiastic over the
new and unexpected developments
at Ephesus is evident from the adiec-
tives he uses 10 describe the door which
has opened to him. 1t was great and
effectual. and we need but to read the
story of Paul's closing work at Ephesus
in the nineteenth chapter of the Acts
to realize how nightly it stirred not
only the city but the entire province of
Asia Minor, of which Ephesus was the
commercial and political center. En-
thusiasm Ten theos, God in us) is a
condition as essential to the successful
issue in the Christian warfare as is
steam in the operation of the big manu-
featuring plant. Perception discovers
the door, but enthusiasm measures its
dimensions. Adaptability equips for
the service, but enthusiasm furnishes
the power which uses every ability and
fnon1}x- in tho oornp1icInon r. H.
work. Paul was an enthusiast of the
most pronounced type. The one who
is face to face with an open door must
needs be, if it is to be entered and its
possibilities adequately realized.
What was the explanation of Paul's
enthusiasm? Surely not the adver-
saries which awaited him on the other
side of that open door, of which he
speaks in our text. Some vision, how
ever, came to him through the open
door which thrilled him and made him
realize that, notwithstanding the many
adversaries ambushed along his path
way. it was a great and an effectual
work which he was to be permitted to
accomplish. What was thatvision? 1t
was the vision of the God Whose hand
had swung wide the door. His glory
streamed through and marked with
bright light the pathway which Paul's
feet we're to tread. His power over
Swallowed every turn in the way and
marked where the adversary Law hid
den. This was II of the conclusive
evidences to Paul that it was an open
door of opportunity before which he
stood. The fact that God stood there
with the drawn sword of His Word
ready to strike a decisive blow against
the goddess Diana and her devotees
made Paul realize that that was the
place for him to labor rather than in
Macedonia and at Corinth where he
had laid his plans to go and where his
desires were leading him.
THIS is important for the Christian
TO remember. The doors of serv-
ice which God sets are often in another
direction than that which plan and in
clination would indicate. Paul felt led
to preach the Word in Asia and repeat
edly essayed to do so, but instead OF
persisting in the direction which his
plans and inclinations would lead him
to believe was the open door, he was
sensitive to the leading of the Holy
Spirit and found the open door God
wanted him to enter was behind him
and across the Aegean sea Human
plans and desires are not safe guide
posts to point out the open door God
has set. It is SO easy to see what we
want to see, and believe the thing