In the New Testament, a door can refer to a real one or a figurative one. A figurative door represents an opportunity that can be found opened or closed. And just as a real door which is closed needs a key to open it, a figurative one needs a key of knowledge to allow entry.
Jesus said to the religious legalists of his day: “Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered.” (Luke 11:52)
Revelation knowledge is the key to the door of spiritual opportunity, in that it can open people, cities, or even nations that have long been ‘closed’ to the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Here are four ‘doors of opportunity’ that were opened by the Lord to Paul the Apostle:
1. The Door of Faith that God opened to non-Jews through Paul’s preaching during his first mission (Acts 14:27).
2. The Door of Macedonia that God opened to Paul in a night-time vision (Acts 16). It prompted him to cross over to what is now the EU. In so doing, what was a small Middle Eastern and largely Jewish ‘sect’ spread quickly and soon became a world religion.
3. The Great and Important Door of Ephesus (Acts 19; 1 Corinthians 15:32; 1 Corinthians 16:9). Paul fought “wild beasts” at Ephesus — men driven by worse than animal instincts.
4. The Door of Witness that opened to Paul in the court of Nero — the “lion” of 2 Timothy 4:16-18 from whose “mouth” he was delivered (Colossians 4:3). Paul was killed by Nero’s order only after he had “fought the good fight, finished the course, kept the faith, and was ready to receive from his Lord Jesus a “crown of righteousness”.
After entering Open Doors of Opportunity, we’ll encounter opposition from demons that dress themselves in people, but in defeating them, we will experience the miraculous power of God and will see His kingdom established in the lives of those who respond to the Gospel. (2 Timothy 4:7-8) What Door of Opportunity is now opening to you?