The Tupelo journal., 1903-05-08

the GorlnthS OF their OWn purposes and
desires to see the doors great and eff
fectual opening before them in the
place where they are now at work.
Their plans are so important and must
be pushed so hard that there is no room
for vision of Gods plan and Gods meth
DDS. While the mind is painting a rosy
hued vision of the great work to be
done over in Corinth, the opportunity
right at hand is being neglected.
THE open door which God sets is al
ways great and effectual, for .
work with God in it is a tremendous
opportunity and means d glorious VIC
tory. Oh, yes, the open door may be
an obscure n in the home which to
enter means unappreciated service, pa
tient waiting, loving watchfulness,
faithful Christ-like living; but if the
dear n is brought at last to the feet
of Jesus is it not better that you tar
ried at the Ephesus of Gods opportuni-
ty than to have gone into the Mace
donna of your W plans, even though
to walk there meant prominence. and
the praise of men? The open door may
be set apparently in the most unfruit-
full part of the Lords vineyard, and
there may seem to be a larger and
better opportunity for our powers and
abilities in another direction which it
will take great conservation and hui
mility to resist, but if the place where
God has appointed us to labor is
obediently and faithfully occupied we
will find ourselves building gold, silver
and precious stones into the enduring
structure of Gods purposes. On the
other hand, if we fail to see the open
door of opportunity at Ephesus and
rush off into the larger field of Mace
donia, though we may build so high
and so wide as to win the praise of
men, yet that which we build will only
be wood, hay and stubble, which will
burn tiercely in the day when God shall
try our works. If God could only have
every Christian in a church enter the
door of opportunity which He would
set for them, do you know what would
result? There would be a mighty
throb felt there as the power of God
found a channel through which to
pour, the community would feel the
influence thereof until every work Of
darkness was made manifest and a
howl was raised similar to that which
rang on the air at Ephesus as Demetri-
us and his fellow-craftsmen ran
hither and thither in mad rage be-
cause the profits of their heathenish
trade were cut off. Adversaries would
be stirred up, but sin and selfshness
and greed would be revealed in their
true light, and there would be q great
turning to the Lord as q result. One
reason to-day why the world is so I'M
conscious of sin and its need of a Saw
our is that there is not enough of the
light of Jesus Christ shining in the lives
of Christians to make sin and the need
manifest. There are a great many
lamps which are nodded after the pat
tern of Christian character and which
are set to burning with the flame of
human purposes and feshly zeal in the
name of the Lord. but they never re-
veal the sin spots. they never make any
stir. But the Christian afame with
the zeal of a Paul which can hold him
patiently at the Ephesus of present OPP
portunity will shine with such intensi-
ty as to drive sin from its haunts and
stir the strongholds of the false gods
and goddesses to their foundations.
THERE is something suggestive of
change and newness in the thought
of a door of opportunity. The side
the door we stand the same self we
have been. the same field of operations
is about us, the same God is above us.
But on the other side of that door we
expect to develop into a new self. we
expect to discover unknown riches in
the field we have worked over and
over again, we expect 10 experience
and rejoice over new manifestations
of Gods power and glory as the new
opportunities make it possible. And
in all this the soul is never disappoint-
ed. The newer and larger and better
self cannot be found over in Macedonia
or at Corinth: but right here al Ephesus.
where God has opened up a door OF
service for you, you may develop new
beauties and new powers even as tho
bud in the garden plot will open to =
larger and fuller and more fragrant
experience if it is content to abide
there instead of roaming the green
fields yonder, which seemingly promise
an enlarged sphere of usefulness.
! Paul had been laboring in Ephesus
about two years. He had worked il
thoroughly. you may be sure. (Oh.
that it might be said that your field
| of service and mine had been worked
half as faithfully He had conclud-
ed that his work was finished and he
was about to withdraw, when new pos
sibilities were discovered there. 1t be-
came a new field TO him at once. Many
such surprises would greet the Chris
tians to-day if they would Begin more
diligently to work the present field.
It is a new field which lies on the other
side of the door of opportunity which
God sets. II vas a new and more per-
feet revelation of God which Paul
found as he continued to labor at
Ephesus. He came to know God bet
ter, he learned: more perfectly of Gods
methods, he came to depend upon Him
more fully as he faced his adversaries.
1t is so with every Christian who en-
tiers the door which God sets. New Vi
sions of God are obtained, more is
learned of the ways in which God
works and the sou comes sweetly to
rest upon Him, even though the tumult
| raised by the mob deafens the ears