When Opportunities Appear – Dr. Charles Stanley

God's a good god he's a god of opportunities he wants to see us listen interested in life he wants to see his exciting about life when people who call themselves Christians are bored with life and the sort of dissatisfied living in a rut there's something wrong with your vision around you in front of you there are opportunities to do things that listen they would turn your life Inside Out upside down and right side up today on in touch when opportunities appear and Jesus came up and spoke to them saying baptized teaching them to himself foreign ly being confronted with all kinds of opportunities and yet a lot of folks just walk right through life and miss most of them for the simple reason they're not looking they're not expecting they sort of see themselves as sort of outside the realm of the blessings of God and maybe once in a while they'll sense a little bit that's not the way life is because you see God gives us opportunities to guide us and to lead us he also makes their life very interesting and exciting as a result of opportunities because nobody likes sameness sameness creates a dullness and when we have opportunities that challenge us they oftentimes stretch us we begin to be excited about things in life that we didn't even know existed and of all the people who ought to be sensitive to Opportunities God's children should be we have the Holy Spirit living inside of us giving us Direction he's the one who gives us a spiritual eye to see these things that other people do not see and when you think about the fact that you and I have trusted Christ as our savior he is our very life we're going to heaven when we die but he has an exciting life down here before he takes us home because we have the privilege of walking with him living with him listening to him absorbing him understanding him getting a glimpse of what God is really all about you say well you know now I've been a Christian a pretty good while but I never thought about having all these opportunities what do you do and what I want to do in this message is give you a series of opportunities from the scripture that will give you an idea that maybe you're missing some opportunities in your life if you've never trusted Christ as your savior so far you have missed the most important opportunity you will ever have and I trusted before this time is over you'll make a decision you'll take advantage of the opportunity of trusting Jesus Christ as your personal savior well I want you to turn if you will to Ephesians chapter 5 and Paul in this chapter has been talking about the Christian Life and how to live a Godly life it talks about walking in love and the life that we used to live is a life of walking in darkness and that we're not to participate in the life of Darkness any longer so he comes down to this 15th 16th 17th verses that I want to mention a couple things about he says in verse 15 therefore be careful how you walk and when he uses the term walk it's a term which simply means to walk about that is it's a way of life for you he says be careful how you live out your life not as unwise men and women but as wise making the most of your time because the days are evil now when he says making the most of your time there are two Greek words in the scripture for time one of them is Chronos which is like your your watch and uh their watches that have some of that name in them and then Kairos which is simply a matter of an opportunity make the most of your opportunities what he's saying which of course is your time because the days of evil so then do not be foolish but understand what the will of the Lord is now I want to say something I'm going to say probably after every point in this message and that is we are to listen we're to be careful how we walk we're to be wise about our decisions and we are to be alert to opportunities we have to be wise about how we make decisions we're to be alert to our opportunities because many people live in the midst of opportunities every day and never somehow are able to recognize him they think of opportunities as making lots of money or having a new house or going here and going there their opportunities in life that are far more important than those and if you miss them you're going to miss some of the most exciting times in your life and if your life is boring and you sort of settle down into a rut it's because your eyes are closed because you're not being able to see what God has right before you and I trust that In this passage and these passages you'll begin to see some opportunities that maybe you've been overlooking and once you begin to get engaged and seize these opportunities your life is going to be exciting and I want to turn to all of these passages are familiar on purpose I try to choose the ones that I think most people would be conscious of and so I want to begin with the first one in John chapter six if you'll turn there John chapter 6 and it's a passage that most people are familiar with and just so happens this is the only this is the only miracle that Jesus performed that's found in all four gospels Matthew Mark Luke and John and so if you'll notice a beginning in this uh in this first verse scripture says after these things Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee to temerius trying to get away from the crowd so that a little bit a large crowd followed him because they saw the signs which he was performing on those who were sick then Jesus went up on the mountains and there he sat down with his disciples now the Passover the Feast of the Jews was near therefore Jesus lifting up his eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to him he said to Philip where are we to buy bread so that these may eat this he was saying to test him for he himself knew what he was intending to do so Philip answered him and said to 200 Denari worth of bread is not sufficient for them for everyone to receive a little one of his disciples Andrew Simon Peter's brother said to him there is a land here who has five barley Loaves and two fish but what are they among so many Jesus said have the people sit down now there was much grass in the place and so the men sat down and the number which was about five thousand so if you add all the ladies to that who had a big crowd Jesus then took the Loaves and having given thanks he distributed to those who were seated likewise also of the fish as much as they wanted when they were filled he said to his disciples gelled up the leftover fragment so that nothing will be lost so they gathered them up and filled 12 baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten therefore when the people saw the sign which he had performed they said this is true of the Prophet who is who has come into the world they said what's that got to do with opportunities well let's think about it for a moment his is huge crowd of people men and women and Jesus being sensitive to who they were and what was going on said we've got to feed these people and so Philip said well it would take 200 now to nare uh that wouldn't even do it well the Denari was worth 17 cents which was a day laborer salary and it would take eight months just to get 200. so that wouldn't work and so then Andrew says by the way there's a lead here and looking around and talking to the people he has five barley Loaves and two fish and so Jesus said well why don't you bring him over here so Andrew went to find the young lad and so he said to him the master would like to have your Five Loaves and two fish now loaf was just a round barley loaf made out of the cheapest kind of wheat and I'm sure his mother had prepared it for him before we left home that morning and two little fish which were more like hors d'oeuvres because they've been pickled because they didn't know how long they were going to be out there in this hot weather and so forth so he brings him to Jesus and um now Jesus must have had a little conversation with him and probably talked to him as he would uh young lad like that and said to him you know I'd like to have this you know to feed these people and of course he wouldn't have possibly have understood that so Jesus blessed it and he began to break it and that little boy sat there and watched them and the disciples break bread until finally they fed everybody in the whole crowd and you say well what's that got to do with opportunities think about this well that little boy left home that morning the only thing he knew is he was going to find Jesus and he wanted to be in the crowd he wanted to hear what he had to say and so little did he realize that on this day he would experience the greatest opportunity of his lifetime but he didn't know that and so when Jesus asked for his bread and his fish and he gave it to him and he began to multiply it he saw a miracle take place right before his eyes think about this he had the opportunity to give Jesus something that Jesus could use he had the opportunity of watching a miracle take place he had the opportunity of watching all these people fed because of his little Five Loaves and who's his two fish can you imagine that he ran all the way home to tell his mother he must have ran as fast as he possibly could you will not believe what I saw now that's a simple opportunity but look what happened two thousand years later we're still talking about the little boy who had Five Loaves and two fish why because he took advantage of an opportunity he could have kept the Five Loaves and two fish for himself he could have but he said no I'm willing to give them up he had the opportunity to give away something that he had and watch what happened and what happened was that God performed a miracle and he performed a miracle right in front of that little land he would never see anything to match that in his entire life so what did he do he simply took advantage of an opportunity now he didn't expect it he didn't plan it and he didn't anticipate it and this is why I come back to that verse in Ephesians that we are to walk in such a way that we walk a Godly life and that we are to be wise about our decisions and we are to be listen alert to opportunities and when we are what we'll do we'll begin to see opportunities around us that we've never seen before we never even thought about it before he never thought about that he couldn't have planned that and more than likely you walk right by opportunities every day you don't plan you couldn't you wouldn't know it but there it is staring you in the face the opportunity to do one of a number of things what I want you to see in these passages is this God wants us to learn to be alert to his opportunities because one of the ways he guides us and leads us in our life is he guides us and leads us by opportunities he gives us an opportunity to go here we go there we hear something that changes our life or we may see something that we think well one of these days maybe I could possibly enjoy something like that and God begins to open the door you see he creates desires within our heart does he not say that if we Delight ourselves in him that he will give us the desires of our heart God's a good god he's a god of opportunities he wants to see us listen interested in life he wants to see as exciting about life when people who call themselves Christians are bored with life and the sort of dissatisfied living in a rut there's something wrong with your vision around you in front of you there are opportunities to do things that listen they would turn your life Inside Out upside down and right side up because that's who he is now listen aboard Christian is a bad testimony an exciting Christian is is a powerful testimony there are opportunities all around you if you stop and open your eyes and think and become alert alert to what God wants to do in your life and maybe what God wants to do in somebody else's life when you go to work tomorrow morning you will have an opportunity there's no question in my mind you'll have an opportunity to say something do something act in a certain way that God listen will make you a blessing and the person or the business you help in other words he's full of opportunities for us think about this you have eight hours that you work or you have 24 hours in a day does God just want you to sort of flounder around and walk around no he has opportunities that he provides for you to seize for your own good and to be a blessing now there's a second passage I want you to notice here because when I think about all these different ones and and this is certainly one that some people say oh he would never do that but I want you to turn to Matthew chapter four for a moment and um the day before probably Peter has he's watched this awesome miracle that Jesus has performed when he was standing on the seashore trying to teach and they were crowding him into the water so he says could I borrow your boat Peter so he said sure and remember he took him out for a little fishing trip and the Nets couldn't hold the fish now on this day Jesus walks by and says follow me and I'll make you Fishers of Men well first of all let's see who Peter was Peter was a very successful fisherman and um he and Andrew together and their friends uh James and John they were successful fishermen and and get and the Sea of Galilee was flourishing with fish in those days so they didn't need anything they were very successful fisherman so Jesus comes along and says follow me and I'll make you fishes of men wait a minute now you want me to follow you to do what when you say fishes of men I know how to fish I'm happy fishing right here you're asking me to leave my family to follow you without telling me where or how long or what it's going to cost that's right all of a sudden Peter was facing an unbelievable opportunity to him at first I'm sure was a challenge you want me to leave everything boats Nets everything in my fishing business and follow you how we gonna make a living there was yet a thousand questions he was confronted with an opportunity he did not expect he would have said I'm totally unprepared to do this there's no way you could be asking me to do something like this now the reason I'm saying this is because God still works in the same way he still works in the same way he will confront you with an opportunity you're not prepared for in your thinking he'll confront you with an opportunity that May Scare You at first so Peter had a choice to make and he and Andrew probably the Bible doesn't have everything in it but more than likely uh they looked at each other and thought what's this all about and probably they had to have a little conversation between them naturally they they followed them we know that but look at the opportunity they had what they didn't realize was this Peter didn't realize that this tough fisherman would one day stand in one of the most awesome sermons ever preached on the day called Pentecost when 3 000 people were saved which was on the beginning of what God would do in his life and so he on this particular occasion he's facing this opportunity an opportunity to follow the Son of God and to become an apostle and to be walking by Assad to defend him and to preach the truth that he was preaching and the message that he would send around the world he would never have imagined the fact that his name would be repeated thousands and thousands and thousands of time every single Sunday in the world worldwide he was a fisherman who was he he wasn't prepared to be a follower of Jesus Christ listen Jesus Will oftentimes give you opportunities in your life that you do not feel qualified for I didn't say you weren't qualified I said you'd feel it or you don't feel like it's it fits you that's what you feel he will listen he will never give you an opportunity that he doesn't intend you to walk through he will never intend you to walk through something he doesn't enable you to do well at it there are opportunities all around us and this was an opportunity to serve the Lord and sometimes the person says well yeah I go to church and you know I read the Bible and pray and so forth but now don't don't don't don't ask me to do lessons though why not and I think as I as I was growing up I still remember this it used to bother me but I went to a church where there were lots and lots of people and uh lots of people that I knew in the town that I lived in and they were sitting the same seat every Sunday and um a lot of them had a little age on them so a lot of them didn't and I would watch these people and think sometimes I wonder what they're doing because I happen to know a few of them in their business and so forth later on and um I remember on several occasions talking to the pastor and he never named anybody but we were talking about Sunday school teachers and workers and choir members and so forth and how many people sitting out there wouldn't do anything and I remember looking around and thinking um they've been sitting here 57 years and hadn't done a thing yet think about this think about people sitting in church week after week listen listen to this sermon that sermon this sermon that sermon the year after year after year after year after truth of the truth of the truth that's the truth and then say Don't call on me because I can't it is an insult to God to listen to the truth over and over and over and over again that builds you up and strengthens you and increases your faith and gives you confidence and equips you to be what God wants you to be and then you won't do it he said I can't do that and and you you're saying to me that that God has given me an opportunity he should know better because I can't do it God would never give you an opportunity he will not equip you strengthen you enable you all you have to do is grasp it seize it say yes remember what we said walking in a way that's pleasing to God walking wisely and alert to opportunities Peter was alert to this opportunity because what happened he laid it all down he followed Jesus he took advantage of the greatest opportunity he could ever have had and that is to be one of the close followers of Jesus Christ he was one of the Intimates Peter James and John not favorites favorites is one thing intimate is something else when he when when he wanted to get the small group with him Peter was always there he could have still been fishing if he had missed the opportunity if he had rationalized it away if he said no I can't do that and I'm simply saying when God called you to do something it's an opportunity it isn't just the responsibility it isn't just a calling from God it is an opportunity to serve the Living God tell me something in a higher in life than that you say well serve him hell it doesn't make any difference what he called you to do what for example every choir member is important every orchest remembers every teacher in other words every single person is important what he calls you to do is important in the eyes of God so if you're alert you're not going to be saying well that's not an opportunity yes it is all right let's look at something else here because I just want you to see all the different kinds of opportunities that God may send you away now here's one listen carefully I want you to listen very carefully because you're going to think well what's that every woman in here will identify with this look in Luke chapter 10 for example and I want you to look at just a few verses In this passage and this is uh one day Jesus is traveling along and he and his disciples can you imagine Jesus sending somebody along to us he was always sending a message before he was going somewhere and can you imagine him coming to your house and say well dear let me tell you the the master has said we're coming to lunch at your house who's we well Jesus and all 12 of us 13. now the Bible doesn't say that but it implies that and they must have been preparing and so look if you will in this 38th verse of this 10th chapter of Luke scripture says now as they were traveling along he entered a village and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home she was the Elder one of the two she had a sister called Mary who was seated at the Lord's feet listening to his word but Martha was distracted with all her preparations and so she came up to him and said Lord do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone can you identify with that some of you can the elders can but you won't admit it then tell her to help me but the Lord answered and said to her Martha Martha your word and bothered about so many things but only one thing is necessary for Mary has chosen the good part which shall not be taken away from her now uh Martha is the elder one and they've been in the kitchen working preparing for Jesus to come so that was not a surprise and and Mary had been helping her or she would not have said that she's left me so she'd been helping her Jesus and the disciples arrived and so as soon as Jesus sat down pretty quickly after that Mary sits down at his feet and begins to listen to him and uh Jesus the Bible says in the 12th chapter of John that that Jesus loved marry Martha and Lazarus so they had a wonderful relationship a Godly relationship and so Mary shirks her responsibility as far as Martha's Spirit attitude is concerned and if you'll notice what Martha came out and said in fact she's the only one except Peter who would say something like this I think she said Lord now she didn't say now Lord did you know Lord do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone then tell her to help me then she was reprimanding Jesus she was reprimanding him and saying how can you sit there and talk to her when she ought to be in the kitchen helping me here's the difference when Jesus showed up Mary immediately saw this awesome opportunity to be close to him to listen to him to learn from him to watch him to feel his love to be sensitive to him she she saw this as an opportunity now it would have been fine if if Martha had come sit down beside her because in there was food that Jesus wasn't really all that important they could have when they finished they could have gone ahead and finished with the meal but Mary Martha couldn't handle that Mary saw that as an opportunity now I want you to listen carefully she saw it as an opportunity to get to know him better to learn what he's really like on a one-to-one basis right just the two of you talking when you'd love to sit down with Jesus just you and him and just talk and listen to him in fact not much talking about a whole lot of listening and feel his compassion and his love let me talk to you about an opportunity you have every single one of us has the same opportunity every day when you get up in the morning you have a copy of the word of God you can open this book and you can read some of the things that Jesus said you can see how he responded you can see how he treated people see how he forgave you can say Those whom he criticize in other words you can learn an enormous amount sitting in the presence of Jesus Christ by yourself if necessary with an open Word of God listen Matthew Mark Luke John four gospels that tell us everything that God knew we needed to know about what Jesus said how he responded in situations and circumstances every single one of us has that opportunity she didn't have a bit more opportunity than we had in fact we have a better opportunity because she was caught up in her Society in the surroundings in which she lived and the age in which she lived you and I have 2 000 years of History and experience and we have this awesome book called the word of God the Bible so that everything I need to know about him is in here now let me ask you a question are you taking advantage of that opportunity that you start your day with the Lord Jesus Christ and his word that you begin today reading his word and asking him to give you direction for the day and to give you guidance and to make you sensitive to his will his purpose and his plan make you sensitive to opportunities that come your way in other words do you begin the day sitting at the feet of Jesus you said well I can't 2000 years you have the Holy Spirit living inside of you you have the word of God lying before you you can talk to the Lord Jesus Christ personally and he listens to you personally he'll meet every single need that you have he'll give you guidance and Direction he'll bring you to some passage something that he said or maybe something that one of his Apostles said to give you guidance for that day you have the same opportunity that Mary had on you have it a little bit better because watch this her conversation with Jesus was limited your conversation with Jesus and his word is unlimited you can read as long as you want to you can come back to it during the day or at night time you can wake up in the middle of the night you can talk to him he's listening you have that opportunity probably one of the greatest sins of Believers today is that we are too busy to seize the opportunity of spending time with the Son of God which affects every aspect of your life now you spend time with your wife or your husband your children you spend time with your friends you either play golf or you fish or you do this or you do that whatever it might do whatever committee you may be on or whatever group you may belong to how much time do you spend with the son of God that you take advantage of the most wonderful opportunity you could possibly have if you're sitting here and you're under conviction that is the proper response to this message for the simple reason you have an opportunity listen nobody's going to take that away from you at least now you have an opportunity with him every day well let's move on to some of these others because uh they they all apply to us in different ways and I think about this looking at Luke the fifth chapter for a moment another incident that is familiar and I chose the familiar ones on purpose one day Jesus was teaching and there were some Pharisees and teachers of the law of scribes sitting there he was in this house and the house is full of people Jam full and so the scripture says that uh in the 18th verse now some men were carrying on a bed a man who was paralyzed and they were trying to bring him in and set him down before the Lord but not finding any way to bring him in because of the crowd they went up on the roof and let him down through the tiles with his stretchy into the middle of the crowd in front of Jesus seeing their faith he said friend your sins are forgiven you now here's here's the issue these guys knew their friend was a paralytic could not walk could not go anywhere they loved him they said Jesus is close by we're going to get you to Jesus because we hear he heals people from all kinds of disease and sickness and he can raise them from the dead we're going to get you there so they get to the house house is full people standing outside probably and so they couldn't get in now the normal reaction would have been well I'm sorry we couldn't get you in we tried we we thought we got here on time the place is full he's got all these important people scribes and Pharisees and other folks in there and so I guess you just take you back home really sorry no they saw this as an opportunity and here's what I want you to see some opportunities will be difficult to deal with some opportunities will be hard some opportunities would be a challenge now what you have to ask is this if this is an opportunity am I going to give up and quit just because it's difficult am I going to give up and quit because that seems to be a hindrance or a barrier here and these fellas said no we're not so what do they do they climb up on the roof and they start tearing the roof up now they could have said well we couldn't possibly do that because Jesus would get so upset he's the son of God he's the Messiah and he's standing there teaching all these important people and surely we're not going to break up and we're not going to disturb him they saw an opportunity for him to heal their friend and they weren't quitting they just started pulling the tiles loose and I suppose Jesus began to see the dust coming down heard all that and he just sort of stopped and everybody stopped they just kept pulling the towels away then they let him down right in front of Jesus well did that disturb Jesus no he was blessed blessed blessed because he saw that these men had saw an opportunity for him to heal their friend and they weren't going to stop under any condition until they got him to Jesus now you say you think I'm going to have an opportunity like that now yours will be harder probably I can think of things much harder here's the issue when you see an opportunity watch this an opportunity to do the right thing an opportunity to do a good thing an opportunity to do what God's called you to do an opportunity to affect somebody else's life are you going to see it as an opportunity and have a little handicap here there and so forth and so you're going to say well maybe I misread God that's the poorest excuse that is a pure compromise that's the work of the devil I guess I made a mistake I guess God didn't really want us to bring you over here because the Lord already knew that he was going to be busy and wouldn't have time for you besides that we're just causing all this commotion they didn't say that they saw an opportunity to watch this and they love this man enough to listen to be rejected to cost the money whatever's necessary they loved him enough to get him to Jesus to get healed and not only did he get healed he got saved sins were forgiven Jesus healed him right in front of everybody the person who got rejected was not those guys the person who got rejected was Jesus for healing him and forgiving him of his sins you say well I don't think I'd ever get in that kind of situation you don't know that you have no Earth let me ask you a question if you knew that you could take one of your friends somebody that you loved dearly and you had to travel a very very long ways to get them here would you do it I'll tell you how you can answer that question it depends upon how much you love them if you really love them you'll do whatever is necessary the more you love them the further you'll travel more you love them the more money you're willing to pay Jesus gives us awesome opportunities and then we have to decide am I going to seize it not know how much do I have how long will it take will it well in other words all the excuses we can come up with I have to lay that down an opportunity is a favorable time in which God wants to work in our life for us but also for someone else what do you think those guys thought about on their way home rejoicing listen they threw that cut away they were going home praising God and thanking him for healing and thinking you know what we don't care how much it costs to put those towels back we'll put them back and we'll pay somebody else put them back our friend is healed praise the Lord they took advantage of an opportunity that looked like it couldn't work and what I'm saying to you is again and again and again and that's this and that is we're to be careful about the life that we live and how we walk it we are to be wise about our decisions and we are to be listen we have to be alert to opportunities that God just stares us right in the face most of the time there's no warning most of the time all of a sudden you see there's an opportunity for example you go to work tomorrow morning and somebody walks in and says I've had the most difficult weekend of my entire life buying that your antennas go out are you alert to an opportunity right then for God to use you to do what to encourage somebody opportunities are all around you and one of the reasons that some people's life is so dull is because their eyes are closed they walk around like this all the time and wondering why God isn't doing something fantastic in their life because they're not seeing the opportunities we all have them they're all around us we can miss them if we are so wrapped up in ourselves or we can miss an opportunity by excusing ourselves or defending some reason that we don't have the man's life was changed but those four men that their life was changed their life was changed likewise so then I think about uh this whole opportunity uh to witness think about this the Apostle Paul I was mentioned several things first of all when he was in jail at Philippi and the Jailer came out and said what must I do to be saved well there's an opportunity for the Apostle Paul write his face here's the man who's saying tell me how to get right with Jesus Christ take advantage of it Paul traveled the whole Roman world what did he do in the world in which he traveled he was continually sharing Jesus Christ in all kinds of situations now the Philippian Jayla that was that was an easy one for him when he got to to Athens for example in Greece he knew about about these philosophers meeting up on Mars Hill and all the talk and so forth and Acropolis and on and on and on and he had seen these statutes said to an unknown God and they were up there with their philosophy about life and so on so Paul he just he just sees this as an opportunity he could have said well now they're not going to listen to me they've got so many gods already they've got one they can't even name they don't know who he is so they say to an unknown God so why would I want to get in the middle of that Paul just says here's the great opportunity so he walked right into the middle of him he stirs up a little conversation and he preaches this awesome sermon in Acts uh to them and takes advantage of of an opportunity to present he says look you don't know who this God is you you've got this statue to an unknown God I've come to tell you who he is he is Jesus Christ of Nazareth the Son of God and the only savior of the world and to talk about the cross and what Jesus Christ did he took advantage of an opportunity that didn't look like one because it was so shut and dried up with these philosophers who who thought who is this guy showing up telling us about a man who was crucified Rose in the grave and so they didn't listen to him very well and and when he left but what did he do here's what Paul didn't do he didn't say well now if I think they'll listen to me I'll talk to him but if I don't think that well I'm not going to that wasn't the issue the issue is this he had an opportunity to say to a group of men who did not believe in Jesus Christ who was not really aware of who he was he just said here's an opportunity and I'm going in and he told him exactly the message they needed to hear now everybody that you meet who needs Jesus is not going to be all that Pleasant in other words they're not always going to want to hear what you have to say so you have to ask yourself this question I meet somebody who's unsaved this is an opportunity it doesn't mean I only have an opportunity if I can get them saved if they're not saved and I know it I have an opportunity I may only be able to say to them well tell me where you're from uh where did you go to church that don't go to church uh well um how's everything going with you pretty good not too good in other words listen you can start with anybody who is unsaved and if you have the right spirit and you realize it's an opportunity God will use your fumbling in your bungling to do something in their heart you know what will happen they'll think they're not very smart but I really couldn't argue about that I'm not impressed by that so-called Christian but I did hear what he said you see you're not responsible for that you and I are responsible for telling it we're responsible for living it and telling it they're responsible for their response and so if you and I are not taking advantage of our opportunities to tell people about Christ it's because either we feel like there's something in our life that's not right or we're afraid or we think that somehow somebody's not going to listen and that's not an issue at all we're not responsible for that let me give you a couple more right quick the 19th Chapter of Luke is another story that we know really well so I want you to turn that for just a moment because here is another opportunity of a different kind Jesus is passing through Jericho and as a result there's a man there by the name of Zacchaeus he was a chief tax collector and he was rich and he is trying to see who Jesus was and was unable because of the crowd for his very small statue so he ran on the head and climbed up into a sycamore tree in order to see him for he was about to pass through that way now let me tell you something about who he was Zacchaeus wasn't just the guy who climbed the tree Zacchaeus Was a tax collector collecting taxes from Israelites for the Roman government and they called him a Publican and a sinner because they saw him as a traitor and if somebody said well do you know who Zacchaeus is yeah I do he's a traitor he's an extortionist because they did take more than I suppose that's how he got his part he's an extortionist he's a sinner he's he is he is a publican he's working for the Roman government against his own people yeah we know I mean we hate him they hated tax collectors so that's how popular he was so he is about Jesus coming and he has an opportunity maybe to see him didn't hadn't seen him before didn't know anything about him much just for things he'd heard but here was an opportunity for him to see Jesus and he had strong curiosity so he goes down the street and he tries to because the Bible says he's real short he couldn't get he couldn't see over the crowd so he tries to get up in the front and they see who he is you're not getting by me because they hated him he and there was they they saw him as a thief to some degree so nobody let him in so he could have said well I guess there goes my opportunity to ever say Jesus may not come back this way again which he did but he refused to give up his opportunity he ran ahead the scripture says and climbed up into a sycamore tree now sycamore tree would be easy to climb so he climbed up so he was above everybody else and so here is his opportunity isn't this just like Jesus I love this remember with bartimaire's story that here he was walking among a Jesus walking among crowds and poor old blind Bartimaeus and nobody over here cries out to Jesus and Jesus stopped called him to him and healed him now here is the most hated man in town up a tree and remember in those days uh no dignified person would ever even run in public let alone climb trees and so his ex up the tree watching Jesus pass by and what do you think happened of all the people in town when he sows that kiss he stopped and said Zacchaeus come on down I'm going home to eat lunch with you today he came down and what happened he said well how do we know he really got saved here's how you know he said I'm going to give back four times what I've taken he talked about what he how he was gonna he was gonna give away so much of what he had because he knew that some of it was dishonest and when he finished confessing and repenting of his sins Jesus said this man he's become a believer now suppose that case had said ah crowds are too big I can't get in I guess this was my chance and I missed it and so let's go back he saw an opportunity and he wasn't going to let some excuse keep him from seeing the Lord Jesus changed his life and think about it we still talking about him two we we don't know any of those Pharisees and Sadducees we don't know anybody else's name that whole crowd the only person we know is Zacchaeus he took advantage of an opportunity to meet Jesus and we're still talking about him what would you have done that day would you have said well we might as well go home we can't see him or would you have said here's an opportunity of a lifetime and I'm not going to miss it I wonder how many opportunities you have missed because somebody didn't like it somebody was in the way you thought it cost too much and which you missed a wonderful wonderful opportunity and you see it changed his life can you imagine the testimony that he had in town when he started giving people back what he had taken from them because of his relationship to Jesus Christ he became listen think about this not only did he get right with God he became the most popular man in town and the strongest witness to who Jesus was by a transformed life opportunities every day every different every different facet of life and all kinds of situation circumstances and then I would just come to uh one last one and that is everybody that knows him uh we don't know him for good reason but we know him in the 10th chapter of mark and um you remember what's going on scripture says in the 17th verse as Jesus uh was setting up on a journey a man ran up to him and and knelt down before him and asked him good teacher what shall I do to inherit eternal life now he don't and so Jesus said what about the ten commandments so he listed a few of those not the first ones but the last six and so uh he said what else can I do it was all doing now here's the things I have done as so to speak to to deserve it what must I do and Jesus knowing what the issue was that he he not only had riches his riches had him and so he said to him he said sell what you have give it to the poor and come follow me look at the difference here was an opportunity to have the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ and he rejected it over something material that would one day pass away and he had nothing left so I'll ask you a question would you happen to be one of those persons who has heard the gospel many many times but you have refused the opportunity to ask Jesus Christ to forgive you of your sins and to repent of them you have turned down Christ's offer of salvation you have refused to seize an opportunity to have the gift of eternal life I don't know what your reason's been doesn't make any difference it's a poor decision let me just say this it's one opportunity if you miss you'll spend eternity suffering the consequences that's not what I think that's what God says and the reason this man's in the scriptures is a warning as to where riches can't capture a person's life blind them to truth blind them to reality blind them to the consequences of Disobedience and sin Jesus never criticized him he just knew that his God was in his hands and that he could count it and he walked away and turned down the most important opportunity anyone ever faces the opportunity to receive Christ to have the gift of eternal life and to have Christ as your friend your savior and your lord is that where you are you've heard the gospel many times you say well I never saw it as an opportunity it's an opportunity and remember this it's a passing opportunity you will not always have the opportunity so what would you do about it the wisest thing you can do is this is confess to Jesus that you're a sinner because you know you are confess to him that you wasted a lot of your life that you've let other things take his place in your life that you have rejected over and over and over again the message of the Gospel you've heard it and watched it on television you've heard it on the radio you've heard it from your friends but you've never been willing to take advantage of the opportunity if you're willing to ask him to forgive you for that and tell him that you believe that his death on the cross was for your sins and he paid your sin dead in full on the cross and that he's the son of God and that you're accepting him as your personal Savior and surrendering your life to him that will be taking advantage of the most important decision you'll have to take to turn it down one more time could be your last opportunity you said you're trying to scare me if I could that would get you into heaven I would but I can't but you have no assurance that you'll ever hear it again the wisest thing you can do Wherever You Are is to make a decision right now to accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior Surrender Your Life to him and let him work and live through your life and that is my prayer father how grateful we are that you're patient with us that you're loving you're kind you're forgiving and I pray the Holy Spirit this morning not will but has already deeply penetrated every single heart to think about these opportunities that we've mentioned knowing that there are numerous opportunities that are unmentioned I pray that every person here would consider seriously each of these especially what Jesus said to Mary and the Martha this is the most important Let There Be confession repentance this morning over failure to spend time each day with you in meditation and prayer learning from you Let There Be confession repentance God over opportunities to Bear Witness but failed to do so and many other things that may come into our life we want to be Godly people we want you to have your way in every single opportunity and we want to seize them courageously confidently that you will work at the grade benefit to us and the people involved we love you and praise you in Jesus name amen God guides us through the opportunities he creates it's our responsibility to respond in obedience at intouch.org learn more about following Jesus and growing in faith and obedience there you can find today's message when opportunities appear along with a library of free and inspiring messages from Dr Stanley sermon notes and resources to help you dig deeper into the riches of God's grace download the InTouch app to take the teaching of Dr Stanley on the go or follow us on YouTube Facebook and Twitter dad dad we tried the drill I'm with you buddy okay the Spirit-filled life is a life lived through Us by the Holy Spirit and the goal is to demonstrate and to express the character of Jesus Christ an intimate look into the ministry of Dr Stanley the Spirit-filled life a new addition of one of his classic books this biblical perspective on the work of the Holy Spirit can deepen your intimacy with God nearly 2 000 years ago the Apostle John recalled Christ's great unveiling Revelation God's climactic story of Hope fulfilled warning the day of Wrath judgment blessed are those who will live forever in the new Heaven and Earth people ask me oftentimes well if you go on the photograph what are you going after well this morning is a perfect example of something I would never go after and that is a burnout Forest with a bunch of flowers in front of it I wouldn't have thought about such a thing but I walked along that path and I I saw that and I thought hmm would this make a good photograph or not what would you say is that the best you can do I think it's beautiful and I'll tell you why because I thought following death there's life and those old dark dead trees and all those beautiful flowers in front of it just a reminder how good God is because the truth is all of us look like that Forest before we got saved and now after we've been saved he's been working on us ever since fertilizing us cultivating us pruning us shaping us into what we ought to be like and so the wonderful thing about the grace of God he never gives up on the child of God and when I looked at that I thought here is a beautiful picture of God's goodness and love and mercy and Grace that no matter how bad the background is in our life look what he can do when he works in our hearts amen touching the world with a passion for God and compassion for people in touch with Dr Charles Stanley is a presentation of In Touch Ministries this program is made possible by the grace of God and your faithful prayers and gifts

Channel: In Touch Ministries

Views: 1,207,062

Keywords: Charles F. Stanley Dr. Charles Stanley Dr. Stanley In Touch InTouch God Jesus Holy Spirit Christian, Charles Stanley, Religion (TV Genre)

Id: iTyeIy7sjQo

Length: 57min 58sec (3478 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 24 2018