Spiritual Opposition

When God Opens a Door and the Adversaries Show Up

“For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries.”

- 1 Corinthians 16:9

Paul did not say, “A great door is open, therefore the path will be easy.” He said, in essence, that the very same God who opened the door also allowed the opposition. That is a needed lesson for every spiritual leader, every pastor, every soulwinner, and every church family that is serious about getting the gospel to the world.

There is a false idea that if God is in something, there will be no resistance. Yet the New Testament tells the exact opposite story. The Lord opened doors for Paul in city after city, but those open doors were often surrounded by conflict, pressure, slander, persecution, confusion, and fatigue. Opportunity and opposition frequently travel together. Gospel advance always disturbs darkness. When a church is comfortable, self-contained, and merely maintaining appearances, Satan is not greatly threatened. But when a church begins to pray, witness, give, send, disciple, and press the gospel outward, the adversaries begin to stir.

The presence of opposition is not always proof that you are out of the will of God. Very often, it is proof that you have stepped into a battlefield where something eternal is at stake.

As Warren Wiersbe wisely said, “Where God guides, He provides, and where He provides, the enemy often attacks.” That is the pattern of ministry. God opens the door. The enemy opposes the work. The servant of God must not panic. He must discern what is happening, stand fast in the Lord, and keep pressing forward.

Below are five signs of spiritual opposition, especially when a church is intent on spreading the gospel.

1. DISTRACTION

Spiritual Opposition Often Tries to Pull Us Away From the Main Thing

One of the first signs of spiritual opposition is distraction.

When a church gets serious about the gospel, suddenly everything else begins demanding center stage. Minor issues become major debates. Petty concerns rise to the surface. Time gets consumed by things that do not matter eternally. Leaders get pulled into side battles. Church members get stirred up over preferences, personalities, and secondary matters.

That is not accidental.

The enemy loves anything that moves us away from prayer, the Word of God, soulwinning, discipleship, and gospel generosity.

In Acts 6:1-4, a legitimate need arose in the early church, but the apostles recognized the danger of being pulled away from their central calling. They said, “It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables” (Acts 6:2). They were not devaluing service. They were protecting priority. They understood that if Satan could not destroy the church from the outside, he would gladly distract it from the inside.

Nehemiah understood this as well. When Sanballat and Geshem tried to lure him away from the work, Nehemiah answered, “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down” (Nehemiah 6:3). That is the language of a focused leader.

A church under spiritual opposition will often find itself busy, but not fruitful. Active, but not effective. Occupied, but not advancing. There is a difference between motion and mission.

How Do We Deal With Distraction?

We deal with it by returning again and again to God’s priorities.

A pastor must keep the pulpit central. Leaders must keep evangelism before the people. The church must keep asking, “Does this help us get the gospel out, make disciples, and glorify Christ?” If the answer is no, it may be a weight that must be laid aside.

“This one thing I do…” (Philippians 3:13) is still the mindset of fruitful ministry.

John Stott said, “The church exists for mission as fire exists for burning.” That is exactly right. Once a church forgets why it exists, distraction begins to feel normal.

So when distraction shows up, do not merely reorganize the calendar. Reassert the mission.

2. DISCOURAGEMENT

Spiritual Opposition Often Attacks the Heart of the Workers

Another clear sign of spiritual opposition is discouragement.

When the church is trying to move forward for God, there will often come a heaviness, a weariness, or a sense of deflation that is more than natural fatigue. Workers begin to wonder whether their labor matters. Leaders begin to question whether the burden is worth carrying. Soulwinners feel like nobody is listening. Mission minded people begin to feel isolated.

Paul knew this battle well. In 2 Corinthians 4:8-9, he wrote, “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.” Notice how deeply emotional that language is. Paul was not pretending ministry was easy. He was saying that God sustains His servants in the middle of crushing pressure.

Discouragement is one of Satan’s oldest weapons. Elijah experienced it after one of the greatest victories of his life. After Carmel came collapse. After fire fell, his feelings fell. In 1 Kings 19:4, he said, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life.” That is what discouragement does. It blinds us to what God has done, isolates us from what God is doing, and exaggerates the darkness around us.

A church engaged in gospel work must understand this. There will be seasons when the devil whispers, “It is not working. Nobody cares. You are wasting your strength. Nothing is changing.”

Those whispers are not from the Shepherd.

How Do We Deal With Discouragement?

We deal with it by strengthening ourselves in the Lord, just as David did in 1 Samuel 30:6. We go back to God’s promises, God’s presence, God’s power, and God’s past faithfulness.

Sometimes the remedy is spiritual. We need prayer, Scripture, and renewed faith. Sometimes the remedy is relational. We need a word from a godly friend. Sometimes the remedy is physical. We need rest. But in every case, discouragement must not be allowed to rule the spirit.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones famously said, “Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself?” That is deeply helpful. A leader cannot live by his feelings. He must preach truth to his own heart.

When discouragement comes, do not make permanent decisions in a temporary fog. Go back to the Lord, and keep walking.

3. DIVISION

Spiritual Opposition Often Seeks to Fracture the Unity of the Church

When a church is reaching people, giving to missions, and pressing the gospel outward, one of the enemy’s favorite tactics is division. If he can divide the workers, he can diminish the work. If he can create suspicion, resentment, jealousy, or strife, he can rob the church of power.

Paul warned the Corinthians repeatedly about this very danger. The church at Corinth had gifts, energy, and opportunity, but it also had carnality and division. In 1 Corinthians 3:3, Paul said, “For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal…?” Division is not a small matter. It is a mark of spiritual immaturity and a tool of hell.

The enemy does not always have to introduce heresy to weaken a church. Sometimes he merely needs to inflame ego, preference, insecurity, or offense. Suddenly people are hurt, camps are formed, motives are questioned, and the energy that should have been spent reaching the lost is wasted on internal friction.

Psalm 133 reminds us, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” (Psalm 133:1). That unity is not accidental. It must be guarded.

How Do We Deal With Division?

We deal with it by pursuing humility, charity, and biblical reconciliation.

Leaders must not fuel strife by impulsive words or partisan spirit. Church members must refuse gossip and assume the best where they can. Offenses must be handled biblically and quickly. The mission must remain bigger than personal preference.

In Ephesians 4:2-3, Paul urges believers to walk “with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Notice that unity must be endeavored after.

It takes work.

It takes grace.

It takes self denial.

Charles Spurgeon said, “Satan always hates Christian fellowship; it is his policy to keep Christians apart.” That is still true. Isolated coals go cold. Connected coals stay hot.

Where division is forming, spiritual leaders must move quickly, wisely, and biblically. Do not ignore it. Do not inflame it. Do not feed it. Deal with it in truth and love.

4. DECEPTION

Spiritual Opposition Often Comes Through False Thinking, False Teaching, and Spiritual Confusion

Whenever gospel work advances, deception is never far behind. The enemy is not only a roaring lion, he is also a subtle serpent. He attacks not only with pressure, but with perversion. He loves to cloud truth, distort motives, weaken conviction, and sow confusion.

Paul warned the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:29-30, “For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.” That is sobering. The attack may come from outside, but it may also rise from within.

When a church is focused on the gospel, deception may appear in many forms.

It may be doctrinal compromise.

It may be worldly philosophy dressed in Christian language.

It may be emotionalism without truth.

It may be pragmatism that says results matter more than righteousness.

It may be the old temptation to soften the message so the world will applaud.

But Paul’s ministry was marked by truthfulness. In 2 Corinthians 4:2, he said, “not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth…” Gospel ministry must never be built on manipulation, novelty, or compromise. Truth is still the power.

How Do We Deal With Deception?

We deal with it by saturating the church in Scripture.

The answer to error is not cleverness. It is truth.

The answer to confusion is not reactionary anger. It is clear biblical teaching.

The answer to spiritual drift is not mere criticism. It is courageous doctrine with a burning heart.

In Ephesians 6:17, the believer is told to take “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Churches do not stay healthy by accident. They stay healthy because pastors preach the Book, teachers teach the Book, and believers test everything by the Book.

A. W. Tozer wrote, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” If that is true of individuals, it is also true of churches. A church’s view of God, truth, holiness, and the gospel will shape everything else.

When deception appears, leaders must not become timid. This is the hour for clarity, conviction, and courage.

5. DELAY

Spiritual Opposition Often Tries to Wear Us Down When Fruit Does Not Come Quickly

One of the hardest signs of spiritual opposition is delay. The church prays, gives, witnesses, and labors, but visible results do not come as quickly as hoped. Doors seem slow to open. People do not respond immediately. The labor feels prolonged. The harvest feels distant.

Delay can become a breeding ground for doubt. It can make faithful people feel forgotten. It can tempt a church to back off, ease up, or settle into maintenance mode.

But throughout Scripture, God often works through seasons of waiting. Paul experienced open doors, but he also experienced imprisonments, detours, setbacks, and long stretches of endurance. In Galatians 6:9, he wrote, “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” Notice that reaping is connected to not fainting.

The enemy knows that if he cannot corrupt the church, he will try to exhaust it. If he cannot stop the sowing, he will try to make the sower quit before harvest.

Think of the farmer in James 5:7, who waits for the precious fruit of the earth with patience. Gospel work often requires that kind of endurance.

There are tears before sheaves.

There is plowing before rejoicing.

There is intercession before ingathering.

How Do We Deal With Delay?

We deal with it by remembering that fruitfulness belongs to God, while faithfulness belongs to us.

We keep sowing.

We keep praying.

We keep preaching.

We keep knocking on doors.

We keep supporting missionaries.

We keep discipling believers.

We keep inviting sinners to Christ.

We do not measure everything by immediate visible response.

Hudson Taylor said, “All God’s giants have been weak men who did great things for God because they reckoned on God being with them.” That is exactly it. The work is too great for us, but it is not too great for Him.

Delay is not denial. Silence is not absence. Slow growth is not no growth. If God has opened the door, stay at the post and trust Him for the harvest.

CONCLUSION

Open Doors and Many Adversaries

Paul did not separate the open door from the adversaries. He put them in the same sentence. That is the lesson. A church can be in the center of God’s will and still face distraction, discouragement, division, deception, and delay. In fact, when the gospel is going forward, these things often intensify.

So do not be shocked by opposition. Recognize it. Discern it. Face it biblically.

When the enemy distracts, return to the mission.

When the enemy discourages, strengthen yourself in the Lord.

When the enemy divides, pursue unity in truth and love.

When the enemy deceives, stand on Scripture.

When the enemy delays, keep sowing in faith.

The devil fights what threatens his kingdom. A gospel centered church threatens his kingdom. A praying church threatens his kingdom. A soulwinning church threatens his kingdom. A missions hearted church threatens his kingdom. A church that believes the gospel is still the power of God unto salvation threatens his kingdom.

So let us not retreat because there are adversaries. Let us rejoice that God has opened a great and effectual door, and let us walk through it with courage.

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord…” - 1 Corinthians 15:58

Because every open door worth walking through will have adversaries standing nearby. But greater is He that is in us, than he that is in the world.